"Next is… Jeremiah Blackwater, please come here"
I stood up, went down the stair and walked up to Gabriela Mercer.
When my name was called, some of the other candidate seemed to wake up, and started mumbling to each other. "Blackwater ? Is that … ?" I could hear. I could feel many eyes looking at me.
[Yep, that's me. So what ?] I wanted to say, but I had a lump in my throat. I looked at my hands; they were shaking. I clenched my fists to control it.
"Please hand me your notification letter. I'm going to ask you to sign right there," she said while looking at me with blatant curiosity
I gave her the letter and sign on the piece of paper on the table.
"Perfect. Please stand inside the machine, your back against the wall. It won't take long. Don't worry, you won't feel anything. I am sure you will do just fine." She could see I was stressed, so she tried to reassure me.
[On what basis can you be so sure I'll pass the assessment ?] I wanted to roar, but then again, no word came out.
With nothing else to do, I stepped into the strange coffin and turned around to face Gabriela. She activated two switches and said "I'm going to start the device now. Please try to not move too much."
I nodded and waited. I closed my eyes to try to control my body.
I heard Gabriela push the big button on her remote controller, and some turbine started buzzing lightly. Beyond that, I really couldn't feel anything. Weirdly, this helped a bit, and my body relaxed somewhat. I felt a bit dumb inside the machine, so I chose to keep my eyes closes.
[One way to not have to face the glances of the other people, I guess,] I told myself.
A few seconds later, I heard Gabriela Mercer's voice again. "Mister Blackwater ? It's done, please step outside."
I did as I was asked and waited. She touched the same two switches and tapped on her remote controller. A piece of paper went out of a corner of the coffin. She took it, put a stamp on it, her signature, and handed it back to me.
"Those are your elemental affinities results. Congratulations. You have to keep this piece of paper, as it will serve as your notification for the Entry Examination at the dates indicated. I will keep your previous notification letter."
I took the paper and read it.
***
COMBAT MAGE MILITARY ACADEMY
____________________________________________
SURNAME : Blackwater
FIRST NAME : Jeremiah
DATE OF BIRTH : April 21st 2198
CHOSEN IDN : M198BAT90CA002
____________________________________________
RESULTS : COMBAT ELEMENTAL AFFINITY
Water element : D- Ranking
Lightning element : C+ Ranking
Fire element : null
Earth element : null
Light element : null
Darkness element : null
Space element : F+ Ranking
Time element : F- Ranking
____________________________________________
ALLOWED TO PASS ENTRY EXAMINATION FOR : Water element, Lightning element
WATER ELEMENT EXAMINATION DATE : May 5th 2213, 08h15, on Water Element Training Ground.
LIGHTNING ELEMENT EXAMINATION DATE : May 4th 2213, 13h15, on Lightning Element Training Ground.
Please present yourself at least 15 minutes before the written date. Failure to show on time will be considered as forfeiting your duty to pass the examination, leading to legal consequences.
____________________________________________
Done on May 4th 2213, at COMBAT MAGE MILITARY ACADEMY. Please keep this document.
***
I felt relief, but also a hint of disappointment.
I had a C+ ranking in lightning element, which was above the average of those taking the Entry Examination. On that aspect, I felt my chances to go through the Exam went up by a little bit. Not only that, I had a D- ranking in water element; mediocre ranking, but enough to be able to take water as a secondary element and pass the Entry Examination. However, I was still unsure I would want to pass the exam for water. Of course, since I had gotten my powers, I tried to discover as many affinities as I could, but I had never managed to do anything with water, despite it being the element most similar to lightning. Weird. I was not sure what I would demonstrate if I took the exam. We would see in due time, because fortunately, the lightning element would be the first exam I would be taking. It was clearly my best chance to get into the Academy.
I also discovered that I had F+ and F- rankings in Space and Time elements ! Even with such low ranking, I had a total of four element affinities, something less than 10 percent of the chosen children had. I still would have to inform myself in which ways those two peculiar elements could manifest themselves which a low affinity like mine. I highly doubted I would be able to create time dilation areas, but there might be some useful stuff to learn.
Looking at the assessment like this, I should be very happy. But I could see in the eyes of Gabriela Mercer that she shared my disappointment. Given my… situation… I could have hoped for something else. Fortunately, Miss Mercer was a professional and quickly hid her emotions. She asked if I had some questions, and since I didn't, wished me a good day and good luck for the incoming exams.
I went back to my seat, not really knowing what to think. The little fatty seated next to me stared at me with doubtful eyes.
"It didn't go well ?" he asked.
"No, no, don't worry. It went well. With C+ in lightning, D- in water, at least I can take the Entry Examination," I said a bit sadly.
"Woah, you can take two Exams if you want to! I guess you will want to make lightning your main affinity, right ?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. To be honest, I never felt any affinity with water, so this is a surprise to me."
"Don't worry, if you're really a Blackwater, you will be fine," he said with a grin.
I didn't have the heart to answer with animosity to such an honest guy, so I didn't say anything.
"Anyway, if you ever want to take the Water Exam, you should be asked to attend tomorrow morning, right ?" I nodded. "Then I guess we might see each other tomorrow !"
I answered with a smile, before turning my attention back to the paper sheet in front of me.
I thoughtfully waited until all the candidates were assessed, not bothering paying attention anymore.
------
It was only half an hour later that all the 100 candidates in this group had been all assessed by the device. Vice Principal Lancaster, who had come back five minutes earlier, concluded the session.
"I want to thank everyone for your patience. I know that for roughly half of you, the results are not those you wanted, and I am sorry for that. For those who won't go to the Entry Examination, the result paper sheet you've been given by Miss Mercer will serve as proof of your presence today. You will need it if you ever want to use magic in your future civilian life, so please keep it with care. For those of you who passed the preliminary assessment, you should have the dates of your Entry Examinations. Please be on time. If there are no question, I wish you good day."
The Vice-Principal and Gabriela Mercer oversaw us while we were going out of the amphitheater, saluting us as we passed through the exit.
It was now 11h45, and looking at a plan of the campus, I would need at least 45 minutes to go to the Lightning Element Training Ground on foot. I could take one of the numerous shuttles of the campus, but I felt I needed to walk for a bit.
The Lightning Element Training Ground was just next to the Water Element Training Ground, on the banks of Lake Winnipeg, to the North. I decided to bring out some fried carrot chips out of my luggage, because I had to eat something, but I didn't think my stomach could keep inside a real meal. I also checked for the umpteenth time my hotel reservation in the nearby city, Negginan, who had really flourished from a 500 souls fishermen city into a mid-tier city with more than 20000 inhabitants thanks to the presence of the Academy. I had initially planned to stay two nights, and go back to my hometown on the 6th, but I wasn't really sure what I was going to do if I didn't get in the Academy. If I passed the exam, great ! School wouldn't start before August anyway, so I would need to head home anyway.
But if I failed… I wasn't sure yet. I felt so much pressure to succeed. I saw the tears in my mother's eyes when I left, how much she wanted me to be like him. But what if I couldn't ?
No.
No no no no no no.
I shouldn't think like that. I couldn't afford to think like that. The hundred people who would get in the Academy surely wouldn't think of a plan B. They would believe a hundred percent in themselves and their chances.
Focus. Ever since I had gotten my powers, I worked day and night to get used to them in order to be able to bring a convincing presentation of them during the Examination.
Actually, chosen children would get their powers when they turned 14, but would only need to pass the Entry Examination after they turned 15. That was because of mainly two reasons. Firstly, the chosen needed time to stabilize the use of their powers. Some were faster to control them than others, but the military and the government noticed that it wasn't actually an indication to how well those powers actually developed as the chosen children became adults. So, they let everyone at least a full year to get their powers in check. The second reason was a consequence of the first one : they only wanted to do one Entry Examination per year, since it was really hard to organize, and halving the number of chosen for each test didn't mean half the work (in case they wanted to do two Entry Examination per year). Plus, this also meant that the Combat Mage Cursus wouldn't need to be too disconnected from the Civilian one.
A lot of the chosen would then spend the year training by themselves, or with family support, to prepare the Entry Exam. A very few extremely fortunate families could send their chosen in preparatory classes, which boasted a success rate to the Entry Examination of 10% (much better than the statistical 1% of chosen), but that wasn't my case. My family wasn't rich. Plus, my parents didn't see the need either, since He didn't go to a preparatory class either, so why should I. So I tried my hardest following the meager resources I could find on the Internet.
I stopped my musings when I encountered a black dome of insulation material with its top cut off. I didn't need the sign to know I had arrived at the Lightning Element Training Ground. I had seen it so many times in picture. The dome was made in a super insulating plastic material laced with some magic. It was necessary to protect the rest of the campus of the destructive power of lightning, especially if some of the students don't have full mastery over the intensity of their power. They still needed to have an opening to the sky for people who needed or wanted to use the cloud to form thunderbolts, like me. I actually could not form my own lightning yet, I needed to conjure it from the sky.
As soon as I passed the gate, I heard thunder coming almost continuously. It reminded me that the Lightning Element Training Ground was one of the loudest Training Ground because of the nature of lightning, so they had to put an additional phonic insulation ward around the dome to avoid incommoding the other people living on the campus.
The noise indicated that there was actually someone passing the Examination right now. Indeed, as I entered the dome, a staff member of the Training Ground asked for my results sheet and then asked me to wait for my turn.
I could not see the chosen passing right now, but if I had to guess, they were someone extremely powerful. I could hear thunderclaps continuously for several minutes, and if the chosen's power were as destructive as they were loud, it should not be a problem for them to enter the Academy.
Five minutes after the thunderclaps stopped, I saw a young lady come out of the examination area. Her wavy white hair was still charged with static electricity, so she should be the one who was just taking the exam. Even if she wasn't stunningly beautiful, I felt my heart skipped a beat when my eyes met hers. I was thoroughly impressed by the confidence she exuded, as if the examination had been only a formality. She probably never had the doubts I nourished, and for that I resented her a little bit. Wasn't it too unfair to have everything ? Yes, I know, I am hypocritical, I have already been blessed by the heavens, I am a chosen child, but now that I was in front of her, I felt what maybe all the other children who met me felt : the feeling that someone was absolutely out of reach, living on another plane of existence.
She exited the dome without throwing me a second glance.
Three minutes later, a member of the jury called my name and ordered me to follow him inside.
Time to meet my destiny.