Xavier and Eulene did not linger much around the College and left through the same route they had used to exit—the pool.
When they returned, the pro-VC wasn't there. Nevertheless, the duo walked through the same passageway they had used to arrive and exited through the shelf to the PVC's office.
"Welcome back!" the scholarly middle aged man said. He stood up from his seat.
Xavier responded with a nod.
The man waved his hand. A gust of wind pushed the bulging book back into its place. The shelf returned to its original spot, covering the secret passageway.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"He said he will let us know of the test soon," Xavier responded.
"Is that so?" the academician approached Xavier and put forth his hand. "Congratulations for passing the preliminary interview. And all the best for your upcoming test. Trust me, you will need it."
"Thank you." Xavier shook his hands with the man.
The duo soon left.
In less than an hour, they reached their villa in Edenhelm. The tower had yet to chime thrice.
Three days passed uneventfully. Finally, on the fourth day, the thing that they had been waiting for—arrived.
Ding. Ding. The doorbell rung twice.
Meow! The purple eyed Loki walked towards the door, with its claws all brandished.
"It is an expected visit," Xavier's voice came from behind. "I'll answer the door."
The cat halted in its track and jumped out from Xavier's way. It began to play with the ball of yard it had been fiddling around.
Xavier opened the door. Outside, stood a man wearing a dark blue uniform and a cap of the same colour. On the cap, there was an insignia of a pigeon holding an envelope.
It was the post service.
"Mr. Godwin?" the man asked.
Xavier nodded.
The mailman checked the name on the envelope he had in his hands again, before passing it to.
Xavier gave the sender's name a customary glance. It was from the University of Aramon.
"Your sign please." The mailman handed him a piece of paper.
Xavier signed the paper before bidding the mailman farewell. He took the letter to the tea table, where awaited Eulene.
Eulene snatched the letter away from Xavier, tore the envelope open and began to read through the letter.
Xavier sat opposite her on an extravagant sofa.
The more Eulene read, the more she frowned. The letter had the seal of the University alright, but there was nothing special within its contents. All it said was that the university would be recruiting professors soon, and all the expert scholars were invited. There was nothing related to their test. Was this a cryptic message?
She locked onto this hypothesis, and slid the letter to Xavier's side of the table without saying a word.
Xavier raised his hand up in the air. A couple of seconds later, his hat flew all the way from his room into his hand. He had no reason to wear the hat all the time, especially at his home.
He brought out a vial from his hat. It was transparent and a yellowish liquid inside. He thumbed the cork out and spilled the yellow liquid on the paper.
All the ink that was touched by the solution disappeared. Xavier's use of hydromancy ensured that all of the potion touched the paper evenly. Soon, the piece of paper was empty. Even the blue seal of the university disappeared.
Eulene watched the process with attention and did not raise any objections. After all, he was the expert.
Xavier snapped his fingers. Visible gusts of wind played above the small surface area of the paper, drying the soaked document in a matter of seconds.
Xavier finally turned the piece of paper around. On the other side, there was an entirely new set of words—one that did not exist before.
Xavier read through the letter nonchalantly before passing it to Eulene.
Eulene spotted a completely new blue seal—one that was different from the insignia of the University of Aramon. There was a striking image of a butterfly—wonderfully detailed but still, carrying mysterious vibes.
She hypothesised that it was the insignia of the College of Magic. And she was right.
Eulene read through the letter in a second. There was nothing much, stating the name of a school she had never heard of before and tomorrow's date. Other than that, the sender requested them to wear the most professional of their clothes.
All the letter answered was the 'when' and 'where' of the test. There was no answers to 'how', 'what' and any other questions.
And why was the test happening in a school? Or was it just a rendezvous point?
She stopped her train of thought and handed the letter back to Xavier. She had another question in mind.
"The method that you used," she said, "can it solve all the cryptic messages?"
Xavier shook his head. "There are tens, if not hundreds of ways to take care of cryptic messages. It depends on the cypher used by the sender. And the one used by the college on this is one of the most basic cyphers. I reckon the headmaster used it because I revealed myself as a potioneer and such method is basic among adept potioneers."
Eulene nodded in understanding.
"Still," Xavier continued, "to be sure, I checked the hidden constitution of the paper. My hypothesis was correct."
"Do you have any idea what the test could contain?" Eulene asked.
"If it's the same as 107 years ago, I have the gist of it. But I can't confirm anything right now. We'll have to check with our own eyes."
Eulene nodded. She was feeling a tinge of nervousness. And that nervousness bore an iota of fear.
Last time she felt nervous, she got engaged. What now? She did not even dare to think of it. She rushed to her room and began to meditate—calming her mind and enforcing her Dao heart.
Xavier, on the other hand, went to his study and picked out a book he bought a couple of days ago and began to read.
The incoming test, not by any means, was easy.
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