All Father, why have you forsaken your child? I really have tried to be a good person so far. What have I done to deserve this-
"Az- Um I mean June… what are you doing?"
"Nothing, just wondering what will come on the written exam."
He couldn't exactly tell Callum he was praying because there was no other way he would be able to pass this exam.
The only bright side was the fact that none would be any the wiser when the Prince of Alfonsi failed the Yelrine entrance exams and slunk back to the Asteri palace in a puddle of his own shame.
Callum was quite talented in making sure he looked as unrecognizable as possible. His hair was a deep purple, only a few shades darker than his eyes. Azra had wanted to change the color of his eyes but Callum claimed that unlike applying a potion to his hair drinking them were faulty even at the best times and since Azra didn't like the idea of his eyes randomly changing color he decided to leave it as is.
Under the alas of June, a shopkeeper's son with an unending thirst for knowledge Azra was happy enough to treat this as a small outing. The written exam didn't bother him much, but the practical…
There was no way he could see himself passing. On one hand Azra had only ever used mana manipulation on small plants so attempting a grand feat would undoubtedly put himself and everyone here in danger. Not to mention the fact that he wanted to hide his mana manipulation ability.
On the other hand he could pass if he performed a spell with enough precision to impress Professor Nile. There was only one problem there… Azra couldn't use magic at all. No magic meant no spell. He was screwed.
Azra silently cursed himself for being so stupid as to think that he could enter Yelrine without displaying his strange and dangerous gift or blatantly exposing his largest weakness. Most times he prided himself on his rational deep thinking but it appears he still had much to learn.
What would dad do in this situation?
While the disguised Prince was deep in thought Professor Nile was waiting for no one. In quick time he had separated the people here to take the test from anxious overbearing parents and guardians here to supervise the proceedings and results.
They were led to a separate waiting area while the test takers were spread out evenly leaving space between them. The diversity was wide as always, age ranging from nine years old to an elder who looked above eighty-five.
Nile could even make out a few dark mages who may have traveled from beyond Wanderer's Edge. This he found strange, the people of Amaryllis used fundamentally different magic. Why they would want to study light magic at Yelrine he wasn't sure. Still, he brushed it off and kept going.
"We will begin with the practical test. You have one hour to answer the question to the best of your ability… what else? Oh, I don't particularly care if you cheat but if you do it, do it well. You don't want to be pulled from the exams for something as stupid as cheating do you?"
Disbelieving murmurs floated through the crowd. Many unable to fully believe their ears. Was he really saying it was fine to cheat so long as they didn't get caught?
Leaving the unspoken question in the air Nile turned to his apprentice Clara who had just joined him. Dressed in a white blouse that displayed the school's emblem of a book and wand with a knee-length pleated skirt she stepped forward. Her round face was perfectly accented by a pair of wire frame glasses that tucked into her short jaw length auburn hair.
With a deep breath her eyes closed in concentration as she lifted her hands in the air, hundreds of stiff pages and pencils materialized before floating towards the crowds.
Loud sounds of exclamation and surprise came from many people. Creation magic was a rare and difficult specialization that required extensive knowledge on the
Little did they know that this was a test for Clara and if she failed she would be demoted to a class with her juniors. She glanced at her professor and master as each person got their own paper and pencil. He gave a subtle nod of approval.
Clara almost sobbed in relief, she had passed. All her hard work and practice did not go to waste.
Nile turned his gaze to the exam takers, most who looked confused by the blank paper before them.
"There is only one question and after I say it your one hour to come up with an answer and explanation will begin."
With pencils poised, the area was quiet enough to hear if a person breathed too hard.
"You are in a battle against an unbeatable enemy with only enough magic for one basic spell. Which one do you use? Your time starts now."
No one moved to write, some still blinking in confusion as they looked at the man as if he had grown another head. That was an impossible question and he had to know it. There was no way they could answer it.
Nile gave a dry look back at them.
"Staring at me won't give you the answer. Time is passing as I speak."
Perhaps Azra should have been more worried about the written exam after all. What kind of question was that? How was he meant to answer it? No wonder Professor didn't care if you tried to copy.
Trying to ignore the fact that Callum was next to him writing as if it was the easiest thing in the world, Azra focused on his own paper. With a question like this, there was no definitive right or wrong answer. Clearly the Professor wanted to know what you would do if your back was against the wall with no other alternative option.
In that situation there were two options, run or fight with what little you had. Truth be told Azra had never been in such a dire situation. Sure there were times when things were hard to do or dangerous, but he never had to deal with it alone. He always had someone there to help him, Anna, his father, his friends.
Continuing with that train of thought Azra realized there was a third option. Call for help. But could he do that? The way the question was asked made it seem as though you weren't to rely on anyone but yourself. Then again it was never explicitly stated that he couldn't… so onto the next portion of the question.
One basic spell, was there a basic spell to call for help? The most Azra knew of were communication spells that took a considerable amount of magic. Searching his brain Azra tried to remember every spell he had ever read about, because he had read many.
Despite never being able to use magic himself Azra was enamored with it. He read every spell book he could find. Including the one's locked away in his father's personal library that only the Prince and King were privy to. There were scrolls and binding there that had been preserved over thousands of generations growing with every King's inheritance.
There were some days that Azra spent hours pouring over the fragile dusty pages. Among the many ancient spells, he remembered one that was used when magical communication was in its early development.
Azra bit his lip as he wrote, unsure with his answer. He wasn't sure if it made any sense and there was a large chance that it won't be considered as a proper response to the question. Still, this was the best he could come up with no matter how unconventional.
"Time is up."
Sounds of frustration echoed through the crowd as their papers were swept away from them and floated to a long table along with two chairs before Clara that she prepared.
"You have an hour break to explore the public area of Yelrine. You will be called back when the results are ready."
Nile watched as they left, rolling his eyes as he overheard some of them discussing the ridiculous answers they wrote down.
He turned his gaze to where the mountain of papers lay, sighing. He hated paperwork but at least it was only one question he asked.
Clara looked at him with concern and worry.
"You really should have requested more assistants for the entrance exam. How are the two of us supposed to sort through all of this in sixty minutes?"
"Most of them will be generic answers. Separate into two piles, boring and unique. The goal is to identify out of the box thinkers, so skim through and pick out what looks interesting."
The two sat and began to swiftly look through the pages. As Nile had said, many of the answers were generic and boring. Leading to most of the pages going into the larger pile which unfortunately mean those applicants had failed.
While looking at one page in particular Clara couldn't help but giggle. Nile gave her an arched eyebrow in question.
"Nothing, some of these people are really elaborate liars, they'll write down anything so long as it sounds interesting. Even if it's not true. Here, take a look at this."
Nile took it and skimmed over the answer. Only for his eyes to widen and for his back to straighten as he reread all the words with a flabbergasted look on his normally glum face.
"This… Who the hell is June?"