Summit's eyes slowly creaked open, and then quickly closed, before opening once more, ready. The fuse light in his room started burning in the top compartment, indicating that it was time for him to wake up. It was probably the morning. He could never know for certain because of the lack of windows so far down the cliff-side, but his internal clock was usually spot on. So, he rarely felt the need to see the sun in his home. He still wanted to, the sun could be enchanting and beautiful in the morning, another thing he lost in the Indestructible City, but that's not the end of the world. Unlike the dragons that were the end of a small world.
As he sat in his bed, slowly gaining consciousness second by second, until he realized, today's the day! He thought. It was the day of the interview. His routine expatiated from there as he got ready and dressed. After he looked ready, he opened his room's door to the main room of his home. In there, his parents were talking between each other by the dining table. They were wearing their baker's uniforms, identical as always. The uniforms were just a simple brown, but they also had an apron. The aprons were very dark from the ash that they encountered every day, and it was the one article of clothing that separated their outfits.
After a few seconds, Acorn had noticed that Summit entered the room. She looked at Summit joyfully, as always. "Good morning Summit!" She greeted. "Are you excited for your interview?"
"You know that I am. I'm finally done with getting knowledge. Soon, I'll be able to give it," Summit answered.
"You know, I'm so proud of you. Becoming someone so generous person, just like your mother," Oakley complimented.
"I thought that you wanted me to be a baker like you?" Summit asked.
"We did, but we noticed how much you hated it. I remember one time when you were about eight when you tried to bake something, but all you did was start a fire. Lucky us, coming back when we did so we could help you. I'm glad that you found what you wanted to do," Acorn explained.
Then quickly, Oakley tapped Acorn's shoulder and said awkwardly "I think we'll need to go soon, if I remember correctly that is." Acorn chuckled a little at Oakley's tone.
"Well, I guess we should get going. We have to get to work and all," Acorn explained. "Remember though, you need to eat breakfast, I made it for you today. I think you'll like it." She then moved herself and revealed a plate and cup. The plate had a balanced breakfast on it. A few pieces of toasted bread, and some little berries. The cup contained a reddish pink liquid, it was most likely a fruity tea of some kind.
Quickly after his parents walked out of the house, Summit started to eat the scrumptious breakfast laid out for him generously made by his parents. Every part of it was nice, but he could tell that the fruits were starting to go bad because of how it was getting softer. After that, all he had to do was clean out his mouth, put on his shoes, and he was ready for the most important day of his life so far, the day of his interview. Because if he could impress his interviewer, he would become an apprentice, and get one step closer to being an adult with a job.
He opened the front door of his home. He began to walk all the way towards the centre of the fourth level as it swirled around and around with people, creating a vortex. Then, he went up the stairs to the third level, and then to the second level, and finally to the first level of the city, the location of esteemed City Centre. It was where the richest citizens lived, like the Invincible Lord, and many of the owners of the biggest stores. At the exact centre of the centre, there was a huge sundial built underneath a man-made hole that let sunlight flow down into the cavern. On the sundial, there was 10 markings, representing the ten hours of the day.
Summit made through the crowd located in the enormous City Centre, and sat down on a bench that was right next to the central sundial. At the moment, it was moments before four o clock, and paradoxically moments before his interview. Four o clock came and went, and it took minutes of fidgeting after 4 before his interviewer, Mr. S, would arrive. Summit did not know what the "S" stood for, but that was a question he would not ask. After all, he was the interviewer, not the interviewee. But eventually, he saw Mr. S approach his in the chaotic city centre.
He looked to be an older man, the particular age seemed undefinable by Summit. Mr. S seemed to be balding, and his hair was partially grey, and partially brown. He also looked somewhat miserable, like he had to do a boring chore. Summit stopped fidgeting at the sight of him, to not look unprofessional.
About half a minute after Summit first saw Mr. S approach, he had made his way through the dense crowd of the central sundial and staring directly at Summit. "Excuse me, are you Mr. Summit?" Mr. S asked. He sounded flat, croaky, muffled and he tended tended to lightly roll his "r"s. Summit could not imagine having to listen to someone with that voice talk all day. But he could at the very least hear what he was trying to say, unlike some people he's been taught by in his past, like some of the Dragonmancers that would also act as teachers if their normal teacher was not there.
"Yes, I'm-am Summit," he responded quickly.
"That is good, I have to do your interview. I am hoping to do this faster rather than slower," Mr. S said. He started to walk rather quickly, in as straight a line that he could in the dense crowd. Summit made his best efforts to follow him through the shifting and rotating maze. After they got out, Summit was able to follow Mr. S much better.
As Summit barely managed to follow Mr. S, his mind began to wonder into his fears. What if he's not what he seems? Summit thought. What if he's evil? What if he's working with a dragon? What if he's going to kill me? And the town? Summit was starting to spiral in irrational fears. No no no, that's not real, dragons and humans don't work together, that was a freak accident. Summit started to calm down.
Eventually, they made their way to the place where Mr. S probably worked. A plaque by the school's entrance indicated that it was fittingly named the City Square School. Much like the rest of the first layer's architecture, this building was more lavish than the other building that were simply carved from the stone that composed the mountain's body. This building was different; it used accents made of different rocks like granite and even small amounts of marble, as well as a lot of carved, stained, and sanded wood. My dad would love to have a door like this. Summit thought about the incredibly detailed door that led to the whole school.
Mr. S opened the door for himself, and Summit skirted himself as the door closed. As Mr. S and Summit walked down the hall. Summit saw how beautiful the school was. The floor was made of wood, as was the trim that covered the walls and door frames. In the classrooms, he could see that the desks and chairs were even made of the more comfortable wood, instead of being carved out from the uncomfortable stone of the mountain. Eventually, Mr S stopped walking forward and started walking into a classroom, presumably his own.
Summit followed suite, and he saw that the classroom was like any other. A chalkboard stood at the front of the class, with about 20 seats and desks for all of the students that would attend. Summit started to observe the seats, and he slowly started to walk over to one of the desks to sit down. But before he could sit down, Mr. S was one step ahead by placing a couple pieces of paper on the desk he was about to go to, and speedily walked to his desk. He grabbed an hourglass and said "you have until this hourglass to finish the test on you desk." Mr. S flipped over the hourglass, and timer started.
Summit quickly got onto the desk with the papers, dipped his quill in the ink reservoir, and began to write his exam. It was very hard, quite a bit harder than anything he did while in school. Summit was able to work, think, and occasionally guess what to do, but it never felt fair. To him the hardest part by far was anything to do with dragons. It would trigger his fears in an instant, bringing him to a screeching halt while he slowly traded through those hard to answer questions. Sadly though, there were a couple questions left unanswered at the end; time had run short.
Mr. S picked up the sheet of paper, and took it to his desk silently to mark. It took several minutes for him to finish, but after a while, he returned the exam to Summit's desk. "79 percent, it will do," he said. Then, Mr. S took his chair and slid it over to the other side of Summit's small desk. Because Mr. S' chair was taller, he appeared to stand above Summit. That bred stress within the mind of Summit. "For the next part of this, I will give you some sample scenarios that you could encounter as my apprentice."
Oh no! I had to study for that? I thought that I supposed to learn about that after I became an apprentice. Summit thought.
"My first example is rather common. In many of my lessons, there will be someone who is not paying attention because they think that they already know what I am teaching. What will you do to stop that student from disrupting the class?"
What should I do? What if the kid doesn't know the whole thing? What if he does? Summit paused for several moments as he pondered. I've got it! "I think that it would be a good idea t-to give the kid the work or whatever he needs to work, but I would remind him to still pay some attention. After all, there is a good chance that the-y don't know everything."
"That sounds reasonable Summit. Although you should never take anything from my desk without my permission." Mr. S was serious, as usual. "Next, the opposite. If a student does not know a part of a previous lesson, what would you do."
I think I know this one. "I think that I could explain it again, but in a different way. That way the student can try to figure out in a new way." I think that that's a good id-
"That is not correct," Mr. S responded with efficiency. "You should explain it in the same way. That way I can build on it easier."
That makes no sense! I can't let him think in such a backwards way. "That doesn't sound like a good idea, if the kid couldn't figure it out that way, it clearly won't work. And I think that they can connect the two ideas even if they don't perfectly fit together."
"If the student cannot understand how I teach, they cannot connect the way that you and I teach." Mr. S was starting to bubble with anger.
"Why won't you ever l-listen to me? I think that my ideas c-could work if you just tried them."
All of the sudden, Mr. S slammed his right fist into the desk. "Because I do not want to do this! I'm not interested in getting an apprentice!" Summit's body slightly jerked back at the sudden reaction from the usually calm but stern Mr. S.
"Why won't you let m-me help though?" Summit stammered out.
"I am getting older, they want to replace me. I know it. I tried to get rid of you by making it too hard, but you made it past me anyways."
"It's not the end of the world, we n-need more teachers, they just want to help with it. Please let me b-b-be an apprentice." Summit said with fear from his desperation to become an apprentice.
"Well, I give up. I might be making my replacement, I might just be helping. But I guess that I cannot be a hypocrite, so I will let you be my apprentice. I will see you every day but the last, from 3 o'clock, to 7 o'clock."
Summit started to walk away slowly with a small smile, "goodbye!" He said, leaving the City Square School.