Ch. 3: The Exam
The exam…, the Grado Royal Sorcerer Exam ….the final step to achieving my goal…., was finally here. I had attempted to master the Wisdom Rune, but it was too complex for me…to master in a month, anyway…. Still, I had learned many ways to manipulate the darkness…in methods you could not even imagine. Still the exam would be a significant challenge. It would be no meager task...but I believed I could do it. The day of the test, I left to Grado Castle only to find several other magicians… I saw very few familiar faces of classmates in the crowd. I admit my class was not exactly an….exceptional bunch. I stood in line and quickly signed the form. After all the participants seemed to be here and signed in, I suddenly heard a thunderous voice ringing through the air. Everyone turned around and saw a rather large man in a cloak. He must have been a sorcerer, but his obvious vastness made him resemble more of a warrior or knight than a magician.
"Everyone, hear me! I am Lapys, the First Examiner. I will tell you the Rules of the Exam. The Exam will be divided into three sections: Written, Skill, and Interview. I will head the Written portion. It is a section to test your knowledge, but hold your abacuses….it will only be on your knowledge of the dark arts, not your general knowledge. This test will separate the idiots from the prodigies….," he said with a chuckle, "Some will pass, some will fail…but I wish you all luck."
Lapys and two assistants, a cheerful female and a sullen male, led us to a dark room.
"Here you will take the Exam…," said Lapys.
Was he….sane? This room was so dark we probably would not even be able to see our tests…also, it would be impossible that cheating would not exist in a room like this. Fortunately, each participant was supplied with a small candle.
"The candle will burn only for approximately two hours…that's the time limit for this exam. If you continue to write on the test after your candle burns, cheat in any way shape or form, or talk, even just saying 'hi'…I will not reveal the consequences, but I admit that an instant dropout is part of the…consequences chuckle. You must receive a seventeen out of twenty to pass but, try to get the highest score possible since it will be entered in your total."
He and his assistants began passing out the papers to the exam. The questions were difficult but nothing I could not handle. I began.
'Question number one…give a brief summary about lunar flames.'
Hmm… lunar…flames? That was….the Luna spell….this would be simple…
I began writing, 'Lunar flames are not actual flames. When spiritual energy is converted into darkness, the dark power can be materialized in the form of black orbs surrounded with an aura. The magical dark aura around the orbs resembles flames, hence the name. These flames possess the mysterious ability: they have no strength on their own, but they rely on the magical potential of their caster. Because of this ability, the flames can penetrate even the strongest defenses….'
As I stopped writing, I noticed there was a small black circle hovering next to me. Afraid that they might think I was cheating, I did not turn my head, but out of the corner of my eye, there was a small eye glaring at me inside the circle. It was a spell known as scrying, used to see far distances….was someone cheating! I said nothing, not because I would fail when I talked, but because even if he or she was cheating, someone who was so pathetic that he/she resorted to cheating, would probably fail in the Skills Exam.
I suddenly heard a voice form one of the participants, "Lord Lapys, someone is looking at my test!"
Lapys frowned and opened his eyes a bit larger and said, "I said 'NO TALKING'."
"But…someone is cheating, there was a small black cir-," she turned and yelled in horror, "but…but it was right here, there was a circle with an eye in it…where'd it go? Oh no, it disappeared!"
"No buts…you fail…," said Lapys.
She was dragged out of the room by one of the assistants while crying. Without a word, I continued the test. Two others were caught and disqualified for cheating. I was able to answer until number 16, but the last four questions left me baffled…
'This is bad…I have to answer at least one of these to pass,' I thought.
I looked at my candle, it was rather diminutive…compared to the long one I had started with at least… It would scarcely last 20 minutes… The scrying circle next to me had dispersed; perhaps the cheater noticed that I would be of no more use. I decided to skip number 17 (translate this: Emote Knusire Wsaeht Dratir…. etc. I believe you understand my point). I am quite knowledgeable in the ancient language, but I had never seen these words before... Number 18: How are phantoms resurrected... Phantoms are resurrected by summoning arts, and I did not know much about them. I put the word 'summoning scroll' (later I found out it was a summoning circle) on the blank… I gave a guess at number 19: What long-range spell did Gorgons and Mogalls use that transformed their shadows into several bolts of darkness shot at the target.
'Shadow….is…shot…..Shadow…shot……Shadowshot? Well it is worth giving an attempt,' I thought.
Last question: What is the ability of Gleipnir. Gleipnir, the Magical Law…the legendary righteous spell of Darkness that was used by Grado. This spell was used to defeat the Demon King, Formortiis, but how… It somehow transferred Formortiis's soul into the Fire Emblem of Grado…, but how? Even experts would not know the answer to this question… Suddenly a mental projection appeared in my mind, it was Grado fighting the Demon King. Suddenly, Grado created a mysterious vortex that absorbed dark energy and unleashed them in the form of dark projectile beams. As these projectiles touched the earth, dark chains leapt from the very spot the beams had landed. These chains lashed at the Demon King and bound him. Formortiis tried to struggle free, but to no avail. The shackles of dark energy attached to the Fire Emblem and began dragging the Demon King's soul into the Sacred Stone. It was a long hard battle, but eventually the soul of Formortiis was finally absorbed into the Sacred Stone. Suddenly, I came back to my senses. The mental projection…who had sent it to me! I decided that I might as well use the information I had just learned to answer the last question. Right after I finished writing, suddenly the room was covered in blackness. I had answered the last question in the nick of time. I suddenly heard scribbling noises from the participant sitting next to me. Hmph…someone was trying to write after the time limit was over. Suddenly something miraculous happened; the answers I wrote on the paper began glowing.
Lapys said, "This is no ordinary sheet of paper… It is infused with magic. Your answers on the page will glow crimson, blue, or yellow. Answers that are right will glow blue, wrong answers will glow crimson, finally chuckle yellow answers are ones that were answered by secretive…methods."
Obviously, anyone with even the faintest glow of yellow on their paper was disqualified. I looked at my paper, #1-16, #19-20 were correct but #17-18 were wrong.
"Many of you will have noticed a small scrying circle next to you… Well, it was not the work of cheaters, but my assistants."
The cheerful one's smile broadened, while the sullen one slapped his forehead. I understood that the true purpose of the black circle was not to make sure we were not cheating; it was to see our response toward an unknown presence that was secretly watching us. Many could not receive the 17 points or higher. Only 27 out of the 62 participants passed.
"Hmm… not bad… more have passed than last year…. You truly are an exceptional bunch aren't you?" Lapys chuckled.
I was too deeply worried to answer him… What had shown me the past of Grado and Formortiis…? Suddenly, Lapys had a look of astonishment on his face and was staring at me.
"You there, what is your name?" he said quietly.
"Me….?"
"Yes you…" It was most definitely…me.
"My name is…," I was reluctant to answer him, "Knoll…son of Neill."
"Hmm… what a striking resemblance to your father, you have…." Lapys walked away.
Using his thunderous voice again he roared, "Those of you who passed, good job, but to those of you who failed, you still have next year chuckle. And finally, the consequences for the cheaters are that they cannot take the test until the year after next (the failed examinees grimaced). If you wonder why I only disqualified two cheaters right away, it is because those lowlifes who are the earliest to break the rules didn't deserve to even know the secrets of the paper. Those of you who passed follow him," he pointed to the male assistant.
"I am…Kaito… I will be your Second Examiner and Head of the Skills Exam… Pleased to meet you…imbeciles. You guys who passed….follow me. If you failed…get lost…"
The ones who passed followed the ornery examiner to the next station. He took us to a field.
"Here you will prove your potential….as a mage that is…. I want you to demonstrate your abilities in front of me… If your skills are pathetic, then you will fail. First, cast the spell known as Flux to destroy the targets."
Targets were set up about 10 meters away from of us. Cleverly, the targets were facing downward since Flux was an attack that dispersed when formed and struck adversaries from below. Unfortunately 10 meters was a long distance away and the targets seemed nearly impenetrable. A strong focus would be needed to destroy something that remote and sturdy.
One tall magician cast a very large Flux sphere that was about thrice as large as a normal one. Nearly everyone marveled at him, but the orb failed to reach its target.
"You fail, if you waste too much energy for a single attack, you will not be able to use it several times. Also, you braggart, if the spell is going to miss, there is no point in making it so large. You should learn how to conserve you energy, too much of it escapes when you use that technique."
Angered, the magician tried to attack Kaito, but the examiner easily dodged and poked the participant on the back. Suddenly, the participant was engulfed in a black inferno. He was mortally wounded, but fortunately alive.
"I recommend you don't ever attack me again, because next time, I'll kill you," said Kaito while slapping his forehead.
Many failed to hit the target, but more than half of the examinees passed (I passed obviously). Then suddenly one by one Kaito began throwing something at each participant. I examined it. It was a knife.
"Stab yourselves…," Kaito calmly said.
Many of them were cowardly and refused to do so. I, of course, was an exception. A little pain would not matter for Grado's benefit.