CHAPTER 28: EXAMINATION
Capricorn Prime, the vast society of mages, was divided into three: South Central, and North. Each of the divisions had a Lord Commander at its head, while central Capricorn had a premier, together with its Lord Commander.
Ashviel, Kael and Kyra stood behind a long line of Capricorn aspirants, before Irashai, the registrar, a short stout man. He had a couple other women that helped him to attend to the candidates, specifically in collecting the fees. The line gradually waned down to the last three to enlist.
"Name?" asked Irashai, not taking up his face to look at the applicant.
"Kael Zephyr," answered the golden-haired young man.
"Fee?" asked the registrar, writing down the name in a big record book.
Kael dropped a bag of coins, and the women began counting it. When they were done, they tore him a badge with the Capricorn emblem on one side, and the inscription of his candidate number on the other side. One of them told him he was to keep it on his person at all times during the duration of the examination.
"Next," said Irashai as Kael took the badge.
Ashviel moved towards him. "Ashviel Zephyr," he said.
The registrar raised his head sharply. "Oh? You don't look like twins to me."
"Well, we aren't," said Kael. "We are brothers."
"Which is the older brother?"
"I am," continued Kael.
"You don't look much older," said the registrar, and one of the women frowned at his questioning.
He looked between both Ashviel and Kael for some time, before shrugging indifferently. "Fee?"
"Of course," said Ashviel, and he offered his bag of coins to the women. They also handed him the badge and it was Kyra's turn to enlist.
"Kyra" she said, affixing no surname to her name. She went through a similar procedure, and the three went to the large common room to join the other candidates. They sat by a table and ordered for food, but a distasteful concoction was brought to them, and at an outrageously high price.
"You don't get any better," said a stately sylph as she sat by their table. She had long yellowish hair fashioned in twin tails, which complements her affable way of speaking to give her a pleasant look and demeanor.
"I'm Roxanne," said she, and then extended a handshake to them.
The three also introduced themselves with their first names, and began a discussion about Capricorn.
"So," said Roxanne, "your first time here?"
"Yeah," answered Ashviel.
"Good luck then, I hope you pass."
"Not your first time then," said Kyra.
"Yea, it's my third and final time. If I come a cropper again, then goodbye to becoming a mage," said Roxanne. "300 gold heads spent already."
"Why not join another society?" Kael asked her.
"Libra, Lucha, Riant Tomb, Dark Dawn, or which?" said Roxanne, mentioning a number of mages societies. "Well," she continued, "they are mostly dangerous. Besides, I have my reasons for coming to Capricorn."
"Would me mind telling us?" asked Ashviel.
"I'm sorry," said she, "but I can't."
That was all right to Ashviel. He himself was not going to give himself away for love or money.
"It's alright," said he.
"Anyways, when do we start the test?" inquired Kael. "The registrar doesn't look so cordial."
"Irashai has always been so," said Roxanne. "And the examinations start tomorrow for us, I mean those of us without circuits."
"How about us, candidates with circuits?"
"You're in luck then, it begins in an hour," said Roxanne.
"An hour is too short," said Ashviel. He had not expected the tests to start so soon, and in his current relaxed state, he was in no way prepared for combat.
Just then, a hefty middle-aged man entered, fully dressed in Capricorn uniform. A number of the candidates stood up immediately, and without questions, followed the man out of the room. From the way they moved, it was apparent that they were used to the activity, as most of them were not taking the examination for the first time.
"That's the coordinator, you follow him," said Roxanne.
"Thanks a lot, Roxanne," Ashviel said to her and he rushed with his friends to join the procession. They walked for some minutes, and then arrived at the end of Newland. A very lofty gate, made from four jointed gates, stood before them, very tall and imposing. Boldly graven on it was a flying golden falcon, and beautiful as the sight appeared, it only awakened a rage in Ashviel.
As he began to picture what the insides would look like, the candidates suddenly turned away from the gate and went into one building by the side.
"It must be the testing center," said Kael.
"Yeah," said Kyra. "Remember how Trevor said how they won't let us in until we pass the test."
Just as they had guessed, the building was the actual testing center, and the candidates trooped into it. The inside of the building was surprisingly simplistic, consisting of only a long corridor with several rooms opposite each other on each floor. On the doors of each room were small cards that showed candidates number.
The three compared the card numbers to the one on their badges, and discovered that their training rooms were in the top floor. Their rooms were next to each other, with Kael at the front and Kyra at the end.
Ashviel entered his room, and saw a man sitting on a chair, waiting for him. Though the man was in a plain black wool robe, Ashviel was certain that he was a Capricorn mage.
"Welcome," said the man. "Are you ready?"
Ashviel looked at the man closely. He bore no weapon, at least no visible ones. Ashviel looked around intently, trying to comprehend the essence of the objects in the room. A dartboard was hung behind the man, and small cups were arranged at different levels round the wall. Yet there was no weapon in sight, and Ashviel concluded that the test would not be a direct combat assessment.
"Yes, I am ready," he said firmly.
"Hence show me your fire Rek," said the man.
Ashviel raised his right hand and a small fireball formed on it.
"Wind," said the man.
Ashviel concentrated a large amount of wind Rek on his hand, so much that the examiner gave a satisfactory nod.
"Force?"
Ashviel stood still for a moment, thinking of how to display his force Rek.
"Shall I transmute my fist?" he asked.
"If you can," replied the man. "Just show it to me."
He transmuted his fist, and the man gave another nod of his head. Ashviel was flustered as he thought of what the examiner would ask next – shadow Rek. Even though he now controlled shadow Rek with ease, he knew without doubt that his display would not be as pleasing as the previous ones were.
Fortunately, shadow Rek was not among the criteria the examiner based the tests on. "That was to assess your power," said he. "The next would be for the speed and precision of your magic attacks."
"Alright," said Ashviel.
"Fire at the dartboard here, and let's see how close you can get to the bull's-eye.
Ashviel pointed his finger at the board, generating a thin but powerful strand of fire Rek. Fire Rek had always been his favorite form of Rek and with his constant practice and the tricks learnt from Trevor, firing at the center of the board should be easy.
He took aim and fired straight at the bull's eye, blasting it off in the strike.
"Striking!" remarked the examiner, truly impressed by Ashviel's shot. "Finally, I'll want to you…" he started, looking at the cups as he spoke. He returned his gaze to the dartboard then shrugged. "That won't be necessary anymore," he said, "you have passed already."
Ashviel's face lit up with pleasure, "I have passed the test," he said.
"Not all of it," said the examiner. "You'll still have to go through Dark Forest to become a member of Capricorn Prime."
"Dark Forest?" asked Ashviel.
"Yes" said the examiner, "it will be for just a day, some hours actually. Regardless, you've passed my test."
"Then am I free to leave now?"
"A moment," said the examiner. He reached into his pockets and retrieved a small card, on which he scribbled some words, and then handed it to Ashviel. "Give it to the coordinator and he'll lead you to the Dark Forest."
"Okay," said Ashviel, and made to leave the room.
"One thing," said the examiner, "I didn't catch your name."
"Ashviel."
"Great, I'm Master Shen," said the examiner. "I wish you the best of lucks."
"Thanks."
Ashviel got out of the room, and was surprised to see Kyra and Kael waiting for him by the door. A number of the candidates had also finished, and they walked out with mixed expressions, most glad and others, dejected.
"What took you so long?" Kael asked him.
"The test of course," he answered, happy that his friends had also passed the first phase.
"They're heading for the forest now," said Kyra. "Let's go."
"Yeah," the two others affirmed.
"And guess what Ashviel," said Kael as they joined the candidates moving with the coordinator.
"Guess what?" inquired Ashviel.
"The Dark Forest is within the gates," said Kael.
"That means we will be going in," added Kyra.
They got to the grandiose daunting gates again, but this time, one of the gates was flung open, and the hundred or so candidates entered Capricorn.
Ashviel was not certain if he should feel fortunate or not. Nonetheless, he decided to let his emotions rest for the time being.