Eritance - Chapter 34

“What is this test about?” I asked. The man immediately responded with a, “I do not recall asking you a question recruit. There is no reason that you should be speaking out of turn. I hope you will learn to be more disciplined in the future”.

I couldn’t believe that was the response I got to such a simple question. I was beginning to wonder if coming here was the right idea after all. I mean, if I was going to be treated poorly, what was the point?

Although, I thought that, I gritted my teeth and didn’t say anything after that. I had joined so that we could all be together, and I didn’t want to risk being kicked out, or getting the others who actually wanted to be here kicked out.

We silently followed the man out of the quarters and into the grand hall again. He led us down a different path this time. Down this hallway there were many paths that splintered off into different rooms. We entered one of the rooms and inside there was a slender man with glasses standing next to three big boxes. Each of these boxes were made of stone and had crystals points out of the top and the sides.

The crystals seemed to correspond with the arched gateways that I had seen the night before. One had yellow crystals, another blue, and the third had purple crystals. They all had an engraving in the center in the shape of a hand.

“Welcome new recruits” the man said jovially. “It is always exciting to meet people who want to end the tyranny of the emperor by joining the rebellion. I am looking forward to seeing what your different aptitudes are”.

I had a feeling that these machines had something to do with the test. I turned out to be right. “The test is quite simple really” he said. “You will place your hand on each of the crystals. Depending on the brightness and the hue of the crystal we will be able to determine which academy is best for you”.

Simon went first. He walked up to the yellow crystal and place his hand on the engraving. The yellow crystals glowed faintly with a soft yellow hue. He then walked up to the purple crystal and put his hand on the engraving there. When he did this the purple crystal glowed more brightly and with a deeper hue than the yellow crystal did. Finally, he put his hand on the blue crystal engraving. Once he did this the blue crystal turned a deep blue and a bright glow could be seen. “Mhm, interesting. You seem to have at least some affinity for all the academies, but your true affinity lies within the warrior academy” the man with glasses said.

He then beckoned the man who had led us there over and had him lead Simon over to the warrior academy.

Next, he had Ciara come up to the crystals. She repeated the process that Simon had gone through. However, while her affinity towards the blue crystal was certainly deep in hue, the purple crystal had shone very brightly and with a rich purple color. The man with glasses smiled at this and said, “excellent! We have another talented mage in training. It has been a long time that I’ve seen such a deep hue of purple on the first exam”.

As he said this another person came in, this time a female, dressed in a purple robe with stars all over it. She led Ciara out of the room, presumably to the mage academy.

Finally, it was my turn. I put my hand on the purple crystal first, hoping that I could become a mage. I had a picture in my head of a skilled battle mage wielding both lightening and fire. It was just too cool, I was very excited. My excitement was rewarded when a very bright light with a deep purple shone out of the crystals. It was bright enough where the man with glasses had to shield his eyes, being caught off guard.

“Well there you have it” I said. “I’m a mage too. I’m ready to go”. “That’s not how it works, you have to test all of the crystals first, before you can leave”. “Why? I’m clearly a mage. There is no point in wasting time” I said. However, the man in glasses would not budge on this. I sighed and put my hand on the blue crystal. I was even surprised at what happened next though. The blue crystal emitted a deep shade of blue that was almost black, and another blindingly bright light came out of the blue crystal as well.

I was shocked. The man in glasses didn’t seem to know what to say either, so the only thing left was to test the yellow crystal. We both leaned our heads forward in anticipation which turned out to be a bad idea. As I put my hand on the yellow crystal a golden light erupted forth that was dazzling.

I was at a loss for words. After some time, the man in glasses said, “Well this is certainly unprecedented. We’ve never had this happen before. We’ll have to stick to protocol. Even though you would make a skilled mage or warrior in your own right, you’ve qualified to enter the relic user academy”.

“What’s that?” I asked. “All recruits that qualify are given a lower grade relic and educated more rigorously. These recruits will quickly advance throughout the organization”.

I was excited! It seemed fortune was smiling on me. But wait a minute, I thought. I was wondering why I even had to take this test. I was already a relic user. Is it possible nobody mentioned that to them? I was just about to tell the man that I was already a user when a sudden thought popped into my mind. What would happen if I tried to use two relics at once?