At the Kromo Memorial Museum of Art in Rephidim, a "field trip" of prospective apprentices of the Collegia Esoterica from the Sphere of Illusion visits. Included in this group is a Kitsune by the name of Francisco, who is trying to adapt to the ways of magic in this world – which are quite unlike magic in his own.

The purpose of this trip is to have a test to determine the fitness of the students to continue with their studies, and each student is to find a subject to replicate with a magical illusion. Francisco finds a mask from the Savan and slowly and carefully works with cantrips to fashion a construct of the mask – despite the attempts of Zarnan the Hekoye cub to distract him with a dead vermite (rat-bug).

Francisco manages to swallow his fears just long enough to complete his assignment, and the instructor actually mistakes an oversight in the construction of the illusion (It has no reverse side.) as an intentional "feature". Thus, the kitsune passes the test (though he only gets an "Average" grade), and becomes an official Apprentice of the Sphere of Illusion.