Chapitre 1: Exam
"Oh nooo, it's already the cockcrow ..." Richard thought, immediately closing his sleepy eyes. "God of the Mountains I beg you to tell me that I'm wrong".
It was not the God of the Mountains to answer but his wife Doris "It is time to get up old man".
At home there is a couple, a man and a woman, about thirty but with the appearance of forty. The two share the height, about one meter and eighty. He is robust and broad-shouldered, with tanned skin and black hair. His eyes are narrow and have the color of wood. She is slim and well proportioned, with light brown hair and big blue eyes. In youth they were certainly considered attractive but could not be called beautiful. Now the hellish work and misery have left on both dug faces and deep dark circles.
Resigned to his wife's words, Richard gets out of bed without opening his eyes, moving only by using his memory to the window near the table to get dressed. He is proud to have the ability, under normal conditions, to be able to get dressed, have breakfast and get to the mine without even turning on the brain.
Today, however, it is not the usual day.
Every two years, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the Lord of the city sends his Examiner to check in all his possessions as prescribed by the previous King.
Today is the day when the Lord's Examiner will present himself near the well of this place forgotten by the Gods, "Mountain Ass". A settlement born in the last fifteen years around the iron mine located on the slopes of this nameless mountain. A handful of houses, a well, two shops and a blacksmith. Nothing more. So small that the Lord has never considered the settlement not even worthy of being called village.
The purpose of the Examiner is to verify the unique skill of every child who has already completed ten years. Richard's examination was about twenty years ago and the ability that was found engraved in his soul was "Constitution". This skill gives it some resistance to illness and fatigue. A fairly common skill among slum people. His wife Doris, on the other hand, is famous in Mountain Ass for her "Common Herbs" skill. A skill that cannot replace a doctor but can help for small everyday problems like fever, irritation, cuts and burns.
Thanks to these two skills, the couple has managed, in these years of hard work, to carve out a modest life in this settlement and to give birth to their only son Simon.
Richard's brain started immediately this morning trying to think what his son's skill is. Some of his colleagues have already sensed the strength of their children from the jobs in which they are brought.
A good skill with a good utility factor will give these children the chance to have an easy life and a good job.
Those who will be found with a useful power to the Lord will be taken to the city to work for him and their standard of living will have a noticeable improvement.
The unlucky ones with unnecessary and unknown skills will continue their miserable life here at the mine.
Every time Richard looks at his son, he remains perplexed. The other children who run around the mine love to play games like war or to make simple speed races. Simon instead prefers to stay at home, do not get dirty, listen to the speeches of adults and hit them with thousands of questions, peek at any sheet of paper with some written letters or simply sit and talk alone while he invents absurd stories talking to himself.
The other children are all strong and sturdy, able to go out into the woods alone to pick mushrooms or wood. His son is thin and weak despite Richard doing everything to feed him to the best of his ability.
For days he has been thinking about what skill Simon could help him survive in this world. Days of constant thoughts and suppositions. Finally today he remained with only one hope. The hope that the skill of the child should be something that amazes the Lord and makes him end up in the city to work for some noble or merchant. Physical work is not for him.
After this endless series of thoughts during breakfast, Richard decides to resign himself to fate and go to vent his frustration in the mine.
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The same evening, after a dinner of potato soup and stale bread, Doris collects the dishes from the table and begins to wash them.
Dinner was the quietest moment of the day. The tension on Richard's face did not allow anyone to open his mouth. While Doris arranges, the husband observes the road outside the window while Simon seems to count with his fingers while mumbling in a very low voice.
Simon took his father's black hair but his mother's blue eyes. The thin and pointed face is a balanced mixture of their two faces, but the dry and slim body is only his. Initially Doris wanted to spend a lot of money to have the child checked by a city doctor, but even the latter did not find anything related to an illness.
Once finished placing the house, the woman approaches the two men of the house and without saying a word opens the door to make them understand her intent to go to the exam. The other two, impatient, stand up at an incredible speed and in a moment they pass her in the direction of the well.
At about fifty meters from their house you can already see a small crowd. Even those who have no children in the exam have gone out to enjoy a bit of entertainment.
The Examiner with a solemn voice, once verified the presence of all the children chosen for the exam, announces the beginning of the event. After he has sent the children back from their parents for not having to deal with them, he starts recalling them one at a time.
The first is a stocky little boy with a taurine neck attached to the leg of a man who is obviously his adult copy. The Examiner puts a hand on the child's forehead and after closing his eyes he invokes mysterious words. By removing the hand, the crowd is now able to see a bright word on the child's forehead. Few of the crowd can read, but fortunately the Lord's official announces it solemnly to everyone. "The skill is 'Miner' so this child will be a great miner!"
Four other children followed him: the second child has the "Farmer" skill, the third child the "Sew" skill, the fourth "Common Kitchen" and the fifth, the luckiest of all, the coveted skill " Examiner".
The parents of the fifth child can not hold back their joy and rushing to embrace their son they immediately start asking the official about the future of the child. The latter taken note of the name reassures them by confirming that the child will be instructed by Lord's officials to work as an official Examiner.
Now only two children miss the call. Simon, the next in line and Desmond his only friend.
Stein, Desmond's father, worried about his son's increasing agitation, approaches Doris and Richard and asks permission to pass Simon in the row so he can take his son away as soon as possible and reassure him.
Doris, aware that after the drowning incident, Desmond has no longer been a lucid and quiet child but is becoming feverish and easily agitated, without thinking twice consenting to the request.
The child walking towards the examiner is encouraged by a smile from Simon and a simple phrase "Do not worry".
The amazed Examiner announces "Warrior" giving rise to many murmurs.
Unlike the previous situation, the father does not run from the official full of joy but approaches bowing and apologizing for the situation. Desmond cannot work for the Lord because of his mental situation; he will always have to be followed by someone because of his inability to be self-sufficient.
Doris, undecided about how to behave, just give a pat on Stein's shoulder as he passes by. From the corner of her eye she notices the continued growth of her husband Richard's anxiety. Simon instead congratulates Desmond as if nothing had happened.
Doris pushes her son to the well while the father begins an endless series of prayers to all the gods.
The result this time seems slower than other times and is ... "Emperor!".
The Examiner rereads the word several times before repeating it aloud.
The crowd bursts into a loud laugh as more people start heading home, commenting on the absurd sentence.
Some skills are common and their function is known, others, much rarer, must be analyzed by a group of experts to understand their function and benefits.
'Miner' very simply helps to dig with more efficiency and speed but 'Emperor' what is it for?
No one has ever seen a son of a miner with such a pompous skill. Not even the sons of the Lord or of the King himself have similar skills. So it seems like a bad joke.
Dejected Richard begins to retreat to his home trying not to look anyone in the eye. Doris even, in despair, embraces Simon with a few tears in her eyes.
This skill will not only be useless but makes Simon the laughing stock of everyone.
Simon will have to find a job without even having a useful skill ....
Simon, unlike his parents, leaning on his mother's shoulder, smiles thinking of some fantastic story in his mind.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone