บท 15: Exams
Planning to sleep early, I eat as quickly as possible and begin up the stairs.
"Fionn honey, how are you? Are you excited?" My mother, holding my hand in hers asked, unwilling to let me escape the conversation. "There's so much talk about it in town. And once you get in we'll be able to tell everyone about our amazing son that made it into the academy. Noksal's quite difficult to enter you know, even if you reach 5th level, they have the exams, picking only the top 30 students that managed to reach 5th or above. We are so proud of you Fionn, and we know you won't let us down now will you?" her tone suddenly dropped, causing memories to flash in my head, warning me of her sudden mood swings.
Oliver, unconcerned about the potential failure immediately refuted the possibility, "as if any child of ours could possibly fail to enter our alumni school. Those three short years were among the best in my life, though of course monster-level talents that reach B rank before the 3rd year's end could graduate early." Clapping his hand on my shoulder he left, bringing away my mother and leaving me on the stairway, wondering how long it would take to reach that level.
The exam began at 6:30 in the morning, the sun barely having risen over the horizon, and took place in the assembly hall used for the naming ceremony, however, the location had some temporary adjustments made for it to be used for the occasion. Between the sparring ring, the written examination is filled with tables and chairs, and the scanning area, where a skeleton of a woman waited. Her skin, stretched tight across her bony features made her look undead, however, her stern voice and commanding aura grabbed our attention.
"Group up in here you lot! Once the doors shut, no one will be allowed to enter, and we will begin." As the doors slammed shut, dead at 6:30 there were gasps of surprise from around me, seemingly shocked by the sharp drop in population since the name day. From then, the 109 had been cut down to 80, the previously packed room, seemingly sparse with room. The pressure from the deadline pushes people to challenge creatures beyond their capabilities. After the shock faded the bag of bones that was directing the exam shouted for us to line up by name, and so one by one we were called into a small tent and were then returned back to the group. Four amongst the earliest called group had attempted to sneak into the exam, having failed to reach 5th by the deadline. Each of them was thrown out of the hall by another of the assessors, a giant of a man, with a bald head and scarred face. The moustache on his face was neatly groomed and delicate in appearance, a stark contrast to the rest of him, and the brutality of his evictions, throwing the failures into the dirt, breaking both their bones and their hopes of entering Noksal.
"What do you reckon they emphasise in their assessment?" The small boy behind me, Megnar or something asked. "Oh, I just mean, I am not much of a fighter. Not my speciality you see, so I was wondering whether you think that I will be at a disadvantage in this."
"Well the school wants hunters, powerful enough to support the academy once they've reached their peak, and in a society run by the strong, I would, in their shoes, select the best fighters, or those with the talent for it, so unless you're a genius, I'd say you're at a disadvantage."
"Well genius is relative, but I appreciate your honesty." stretching his hand out he chirped up, "I'm T.. Mattius, Mattius Megnar." Looking him over he was frail looking and pale as if he'd spent the last few months sitting in a cave or a dungeon, but there was something that made him special. His eyes were clear and expressive, but he looked so bored by the whole crowd and ordeal, and he's now bright eyes had looked dull until I responded to him, as if something in my words brought him to life.
Taking his hand I return the greeting, "Fionn Malkor. I take it you're some kind of mage?"
"...yes. I specialise in word magic, limited only by creativity, and mana. You will get the chance to see it later on in the duels." While seemingly nervous when explaining, I could sense some anger as he spat the word mana.
"Mana?"
"Oh haha, stamina for mages was traditionally called mana, or so I read in a book somewhere." This time the nervousness seemed real, the sudden avoidance of eye contact and the self-comforting behaviour of clasped hands. "Anyway," he continued, hoping that I would forget the slip of the tongue, "I use stamina, or mana, to write a word in the air, and then manifest that thing in the air. Technically I think I summon the item, but regardless I can only hold possess it for 10 seconds. The more complex the item or thing, the more stamina it requires."
"That's ridiculous, how could anyone wield that power at such a low level? Though limited by the duration and your lack of stamina, instantly summoning a lion, or a shield with which to defend yourself is powerful."
"A lion huh? That might be feasible, after all the appearance doesn't match strength. My creations are limited by my rank too, regardless of my will. More importantly, it will give me time to maneuver or strike." Taking my rough idea, Mattius had sunk into thought, now silent and calculating potential uses for his word magic. Luckily, he returned from his thoughts, and began speaking about his 2 weeks in preparation, "actually I didn't get out and hunt that much, I spent most of my first week in the library, as I felt nervous about our new lives in the academy. 'He's not a noble, or his family would have told him everything he needed, and he'd have used a private library, but his speech is so clear, articulate.'
"Malkor!" comes the old woman in the tent, and leaving Mattius I duck into the scanning room. Bare but for the table and the old woman sitting across from me there wasn't much to look at. "Give me your hand boy," she commands, already having grasped my wrist, and a faint glow emanated from her hands.
*Ding! User's level has been revealed*
"Noted. Fionn Malkor, Age 17, Level 7. Melee fighter..... You may go now."
The wait for the remaining teens didn't take long, but there were those that were annoyed at being required to wait. 'Nobles no doubt. I'm sure that being forced to wait a few minutes is their definition of hardship.'
"All examinees follow me into the written assessment area." Seated in rows and surrounded by assessors, cheating was difficult to achieve, and presumably, magic cheating would be somehow restricted too. "You have one hour. Begin!" Flipping open the test paper my body's instincts took hold, allowing me to write in a fairly legible writing. The test was split into sections, discussing monster details, military tactics and ethics, and the history of the city and the nation of Tianmar in which it resides. Looking at the monsters, they were easy to identify, but if it was;t for the former Fionn's studious nature and interest in monsters I would have failed, however, the amount of information he held was absurd, giving me confidence in passing even if I had to rely almost solely on his knowledge. While my time in the library had given me some knowledge of the city, and Fionn's parents had occasionally explained things about the nation itself, I was not confident in this section, the feeling only growing as I moved to the military tactics and group hunting formations. At the end of the question paper, there was a final section, unlabelled but with a question and room to respond. "Why do we kill monsters?" For teens that have little understanding of people, this would be difficult, as would it be for those blinded by grief or revenge, who would respond that they are a threat or because they are wild beasts.
Handing in my paper I waited in the combat arena.
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