The Blade Alchemist

The Exam

Drake POV

I woke up to a knocking on the front door as I rubbed sleep from my eyes. "Yawn. Just a minuet!" I hollered to the door. I looked at my watch, 7:30am. "Well, at least I got to sleep in a little." I climbed out of bed, walked to the door, and opened it. "Yes?" There stood the hotel desk clerk. "Mr. Ganters, you have a telephone call at the front desk." I yawned again and nodded. "Thank you, I'll be right there." I walked back to the bedroom and quickly changed. "I wonder who it could be?"

Once dressed, I walked to the front desk and the clerk handed me the phone. "Mr. Ganters speaking."

"Yes, good morning. Is this Mr. Drake Samuel Ganters?"

"Yes it is. With whom am I speaking?"

"This is Sergeant Ponter from Central Command sir. I'm calling to give you the time and place for your exam."

I grabbed a pen and paper. "Go ahead."

"The exam starts at 10:00 am, sharp. It will be taking place at Central Command in room #308.

"10:00am, #308. Got it. Thank you."

"Thank you sir. And good luck." Click.

I gave the phone back to the clerk and walked back up to my room. Okay. I have two hours to grab something to eat, do a quick study, and make it to the exam. I went to the restroom and got a quick shower and combed my hair. It was starting to get a little long, the back touching down to the middle of my neck. I checked my facial hair and saw it was okay then left the room again. As I walked down the stairs, the clerk called to me again. "Oh, Mr. Ganters. You have another phone call." Walked back to the desk a took the phone. "Mr. Ganters."

"Drake, we're sorry we can't make it to see you off. But we are stuck with these notes right now." It was Al. "Oh don't worry Al. I understand, you don't need to worry about it." I heard the phone rattle on the other end. "Hey, Drake." Now it was Ed. "Don't forget everything we taught you. Just go in there and take it slow." I chuckled. "Only two and a half hours for the test, and your telling me to take it slow? Yeah, okay. Thanks guys. I'll call you when I get back to let you know how I did."

"Sounds good. We'll be waiting." Click. I gave the phone back to the clerk and went next door for a good breakfast. While eating, I poured over some last minuet reading to keep my mind prepared. I paid the waitress and started my walk to Central Command, led by Sergeant Brosh. "You ready for this sir, er...Drake?" I smiled and nodded. "As ready as can be. Thanks." He smiled back as we continued to walk. We got to the Command Center and Brosh escorted me in. I walked to the room the exam was in and as I round the corner, I see at least fifty other people waiting outside. Oh great. Talk about competition.

We all waited for about twenty minuets, then the door opened and there stood a military official. "Good morning gentlemen. Please begin taking your seats. The exam will begin in five minuets." Everyone took their seats, with me a few rows from the front. The door opened again and in walked what appeared to be a middle ranked officer. "Good morning alchemists. Your exams are now being handed to you. Do not open them until you are told to do so. When the time begins, you will have two and a half hours to finish your exam. If you finish beforehand, you may stand up and leave the room. After the time is up, close your exams and leave them on this desk as you leave." My exam was handed to me by the official and I placed it on my desk. "You may begin."

I opened to the first page and the first question was for me to draw a diagram of the periodic table. Again, good thing I paid attention in chemistry. I finished that and continued to answer the questions the best I could. Ed wasn't kidding. This shit is HARD! Finally I came to a question that told me to write an essay to explain my answer. Perfect. I started writing. After a while, I heard the buzzer go off. "Time is up, pencils down now. Please place your exams on this desk and leave the room. You will receive a call from someone later, letting you know if you passed to the next round. Thank you."

I looked at my watch, 12:32pm. "Well, time for lunch." I walked down the hall and found Sergeant Brosh. "Afternoon Drake. How did you do?" I just stared at him. "I'm going to kill Ed. He didn't tell me it was that hard." Bross just chuckled. "How about some lunch Drake?" My stomach growled and I nodded. "Hell yeah. I'm starving." We walked to a small cafe and ordered a small lunch. Afterwords, we returned to the hotel and the clerk was waiting for me. "Oh, Mr. Ganters, you received a call while you were out. The person left this message for you." I looked at the paper and there was a call back number with an extension. "Thank you. May I borrow the phone?" He nodded and gave me the phone.

I dialed the number and extension. "Central Command, Segeant Ponter speaking."

"Hello Sergeant. This is Mr. Ganters returning your call."

"Oh yes, Mr. Gatners. I was calling to inform you that you have been selected to proceed to the next portion of the exams. It's at 10:00am in room #260."

10:00pm, #260. Thank you." and I hung up the phone then dialed Ed and Als number.

"Hello?" I smirked. "Hey Ed. I made it to the next round bud." I could practically see Ed smiling on the other end. "That's great Drake! I'm sorry, but we really can't talk right now. But good luck tomorrow." I smiled. "Thanks Ed." Click. "Well, off to bed then. I walked up to my room, changed for bed, and looked in the mirror. Well, one down. Two to go. I climbed into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, I returned to Central Command and walked to the room for the next part of the exam. This time, I only saw about twelve to fifteen people. Wow, that many were not selected? The personnel were called in one at a time, and they were in the room for about fifteen minuets. Finally, my name was called and I entered the room then closed the door. The room was pitch dark except for two things. A slightly lit desk with five military personnel sitting behind it, and a slender chair with three very odd, stubby, weirdly shaped legs. That's odd, a chair like that shouldn't stand. "Take a seat alchemist. The world of alchemy is all based on balance. If you have the gift, it will not refuse you." the center man spoke. I walked forward and sat down in the chair perfectly. The man smiled. "Very good. So tell me, Drake Ganters, why do you want to be a State Alchemist?" All five men were watching me very, very closely. I took a deep breath.

"I made a promise to my grandfather, who was in the military, before he died that I would do everything I can to help others. I promised that I would not take my life for granted. I will join the military, State Alchemist or not. But I know my alchemy skills are useful to the military. I want to become a State Alchemist to help people, protect them, and save lives." The men continued to stare at me, and that is when I noticed that the man in the center had some kind of sword sitting next to him.

"Very well, Drake Ganters. You are dismissed. You will be notified of your results." I gave a slight nod, then turned around and left the room. After I closed the door, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I regained myself and me and Brosh returned to the hotel. As I was walking to the stairs, I heard the desk phone ring and the clerk pick it up. "Baskins Hotel." I could slightly hear the voice on the other end. "Yes sir, one moment please. Mr. Ganters, you have a call." I walked up to the desk and took the phone. "Ganters."

"Evening Mr. Ganters. This is Sergeant Ponter from Central Command. I'm calling to inform you that you were selected to proceed to the final portion of the exams. This portion will take place in the Central Command courtyard. The exam begins at 10:00am."

"The courtyard at 10am. Thank you." Click.

I hung up then dialed Ed. "Hello?" "Hey Ed. I made it! The final exam is in the Central Command courtyard at 10:00am." I could hear Ed shouting to Al. "Hey Al! He made it! That's excellent Drake. We'll be there, promise." I chuckled. "Thanks Ed. See you there." Click. I hung up the phone and continued back to the room. The next day, Ed and Al met me out front of the hotel and we walked to the exam. "So how are the notes coming Ed?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, their coming. Slow, but coming. And how about you? Nervous?" I slightly nodded. "A little, but I think I know who I'm want to fight." Ed turned to me. "Oh really? Who?" I just smiled. "You'll see."

At the courtyard, there was only me and four others taking this exam now. The trials began and I watched as the other alchemists performed great shows for the examiners. "Next up, Drake Samuel Ganters." a man called. "Good luck." Ed told me. I turned back, smiled, and gave a thumbs up. I stood in the center of the field and looked at the observers. "Good morning, Mr. Ganters. Please proceed and show us your skills." the older man with the sword spoke. "Thank you sir. I apologize, but my alchemy is more based on combat than regular use. Therefor, I would like to challenge someone in a duel." The older man smiled. "I see. Very well. And who is it that you wish to duel?" I pointed straight at him. "You sir."

Everyone gasped, including Ed and Al. "Drake! Are you mad!?" Ed asked me. "I challenge you sir." The man started laughing and the man next to him yelled at me. "Who do you think you are!? How dare you chall…." He was silenced by the old man. "I accept." He walked forward, stopped about twenty-five feet from me, and drew his sword. "But I'll have you know, I may be old, but my skills are far from lax." I nodded, pulled my sleeves back a bit to expose the arrays on my bracers. I pressed my hands to the ground on either side of me, and retrieved a sword from the ground in each hand. I heard everyone gasp again. I picked up a ready fighting stance and waited for the duel to start.

"Fighters ready!?…..Fight!" a man called. The old man charged right at me faster than I could blink. Holy shit he's fast! I parried his sword out of the way and swung at him. But he was just too fast. He rolled to the side I took a stab at me. Like I did with Ed, I used my bracer to block the blade. I swung down at him, he turned and sliced clean through my left sword, cutting the blade of close to the hilt. I discarded the blade and rolled away from his second strike. I did a back flip off my hand, using my array to pull a small knife from the ground as I did. I turned in mid air and threw the knife at him, that he blocked. "Using the metal that's in the ground, huh? That's quite the feat. But I it won't help." He swung at me and he sliced through my second sword. And came at me again, trying to finish me off, but I turned just in time and grabbed his arm.

"Oh really!? Then how about this old man!?" I grabbed his sword with my other hand and took the metal to form a short sword. I turned and swung at him while jumping back. I landed and everything stopped while everyone stared with gaping mouths. I saw that the old mans sword had hit me, but it only ripped through my coat. I looked at him, and saw that his swords blade was cut down to only a few inches long. His uniform jacket had a yellow aiguillette hanging on the right side that was cut off, the piece lying on the ground.

"You used my own weapon against me. That's quite the skill Mr. Ganters." He said as he stood up straight. He returned the busted sword back to it's sheath and placed his hands behind his back. "Very well done. We have found our alchemist." Everyone clapped their hands as I stood straight and saluted him with my sword, swinging it to my side. "I enjoyed the fight sir. I hope we can fight again sometime. You are an excellent opponent." He smiled. "As are you." He turned around and left the field.