Cypher circles around the other side of the table while Cain seemingly explains the rules of the game. "We can keep the creation count low and keep it at five, sound fair? Oh, and we'll set the winnings to just ten gold on each side." Cypher nods his head, preparing himself. Cain smiles at the image of what seemed to be three orbs forming around the area in the same chaotic manner as the man he had just won against. Cypher quickly starts the creation of three orbs and promptly looks around for the other two. CYpher raises his eyes to the top of their sockets and lucks out on his guess finding the two above his head; he quickly sets the other two of his orbs within the spheres.
Within about two seconds, all five orbs that Cain created were overlapped by Cyphers. A loud bursting sound erupts from each of the overburdened orbs marking Cypher's victory; Cypher held in the small amount of joy he felt from beating Cain. Cypher looked at Cain only to see a halfway shocked expression caused that little bit of excitement within Cypher to manifest into a small grin. However, he already knew he had good odds of winning with his mother having specialized his training within manipulation. Cypher walked over, placing a hand on Cain's shoulder as he took the ten gold from his stacks of hundreds.
Cypher opens his mouth to speak, "Before you continue to steal the rest of these people's money, we need to look for other people to join our legion; I claimed our dorm." Cain shrugged off Cypher's hand, not responding to his words. Cypher sighs as Cain call out for another challenger, and surprisingly, or rather not so since given Cain's recent defeat of which isn't looked over by the crowd, another person comes to gamble against him. A man with reddish-brown skin and pale, sickly yellow-colored eyes walks towards the table, placing down what seems to be five black cards worth one hundred apiece.
Cypher's eyes widened at seeing the amount of gold thrown down; it honestly surprised him that someone would be willing to lose that amount of money in one go. Cypher didn't understand the concepts of money, at least in its entirety. Cain's face falls into its natural look of disinterest as he sees the challenge more disrespectful than anything; he tilts his head to the side, waiting for something. The other person seems to understand as he calls out, "Ten." Cain nods his head reading himself.
Cypher glances over the both of them, paying close attention but even then, less than half a second passes by before several cacophonous booms are heard; Cain's noise pulls itself upwards towards his face as he grabs five of the black cards in his stack and throws them on the preexisting ones on the table. The other man grabs the cards and places them within his packets, and begins to make his way out of the crowd. Cain sighs, lowering his head, "Two loses back to back, eh, I think I'm done for the day."
The crowds seemed to be crazed at the outcome of the duel, and Cain just gathered the mountain of wealth he stole from everyone who seemed to share the victory of someone else somehow. At that point, a sound echoes out throughout the entire hall, taking the attention of all held within. Cypher and Cain turn towards the voice, recognizing it as the headmasters. The doors to the building were thrown open; the cold wind from the night's sky had not yet reached the area Cypher stood.
Behind the headmaster were carts with red bowls stretched out to look like disks just tall enough to hold a slashing liquid inside. The people accompanying the carts carrying the bowls all allied themselves behind the headmaster as he cleared his throat, "Alright, given that most of you decided to spend your time within the halls of the evaluation area, we can get through this quickly. Gather into the categories of affiliates," As he speaks, he begins to lift his left-hand point towards one of the many bowls set up, "Manipulation or terror, Enchantment or Amazement, Attack or rage, Defense or vigilance, Healing or grief, Nullification or loathing, and finally Admiration or Status."
As he spoke, people began forming lines in front of the various bowls, at which point the people placed behind said bowl called out for everyone to hear, "These bowls contain leeches that, once attached, will drain you of exactly one ml of blood. However, if you have a special affinity for the category you're being tested in, they will stay attached for an extra ml, more so if you have an exaltation within the said category, they will not stop until they are removed. Of course, you should all already know how this works; your specific affinity excluding the status category will remain hidden for you to uncover yourself."
As the women spoke as if the speech was to give directions, the hands to the people up front were taken and placed with the bowls. Cypher waited for his turn to finally arrive, listing the common and uncommon affinities listed and the same categories for attack and status typings since it seemed he knew less than he should. However, most of the system always seemed like common sense to him. The most common seemed to be the most obvious ones when it came to status, frost, and flame; when it came to the rarity of affiliates in the other categories, it seemed as if everyone had an affinity in every type. And when it came to attacks, there was an even split. Though not one exaltation was called yet, eventually, Cain's turn came up. He had an affinity for everything and, to Cypher pleasure, an excitement in lighting his form of attack. This attracted everyone's eyes, though when his affinity for status was made evident, people truly began to stare. "Your affinity for status seems to be Curse."
Everyone at that point began to murmur, with Cypher being one of the only ones more focused on themselves. Now that Cain had proven himself as someone who was at a different tier in its entirely, Cypher hoped he wouldn't disappoint. When it came to his turn, he placed his hand in the bowl with any instruction; the pain from the leech's bite was tolerable; he had an affinity for everything. When it came to his affinity for his attack, lighting was called out, with no exaltation. Though when it came to status, as Cypher retracted his hand from the blooded water, the leech held on and held on for dear life. The woman gasped, her eyes going wide and nearly screaming out, "IT'S EXALTED NECROTIC!"
Everyone's heads in the room turned on Cypher, jealousy, and excitement written over all of their faces. Even the headmaster violently turned his head, but before anything else could happen, another shriek was heard, "EXALTED LIFE DRAIN!" Eyes widened as each head threw itself towards the new excitement. A man with similar skin to Cypher's, showing a mixed origin, stood tall with his hand dripping blood. Everyone broke into loud chatter; a mix of slurs, praise, and curses came from the crowd. Cypher kept his calm exterior as he turned his gazes back to the leech, stripping him of his blood but not before catching the broad smile on the headmaster's face.
As Cypher pinched the mouth of the creature, ripping it off, another voice yelled out, "MANA." Cypher didn't even bother turning his head; instead, just merely placing the leech back into the water, the growing noise of the crowd beginning to hurt his ears. The headmaster, after a few moments, seemed to have enough of the excitement as well, "That's enough, exciting or not, I don't want to feel as if I drank myself into a coma if I can't even actually get drunk. Shut up and continue the evaluations, and please stop screaming at the children's results and my wish to keep them private."
As the evaluation continued, Cypher walked past Cain, his interest in the man with exalted life drain. A hand placed itself on Cypher's shoulder, at which point he turned back only to be faced with Cain shaking his head, "He's already going to be getting a lot of requests, and he doesn't like he's the type to like attention. Wait for a better moment." Cypher listens to what Cain says and nods his head in response.
"Oh, and what about the golden-haired kid who had Mana, thats just as if not more so rare than exaltations." Cypher looks at Cain as he finishes, merely stating, "I don't care what abilities that my members have; I only look for people of interest. That's the only reason I talked to you." Cain smiled while nodding his head. "My head hurts; where did you say our dorm room was?" Cypher returned Cain's smile as he placed his hands behind his head and began walking with Cain towards their dorm room.