Stephen, not at all surprised by the results of the chronomancy exam retrieved the card from beneath the platform. "Thank you, Von. If you wish to wait in the lobby for your friend, you may, or if you would prefer to relax outside after this stressful event, we understand. Many people enjoy relaxing by the waterfall outside afterwards just to sooth their minds. Either way, the results will be available to you in about fifteen minutes. Just let me know your choice, and I will present them to you myself.
Still feeling the different magics awakened within him, he was curious to see if he could excel at more than one of them. He knew his chronomancy was pretty good, and with the help of his system, his arithmancy was also good. The others, he didn't know if they were decent or just average. Then of course, there were the ones shortly before the chronomancy test. He was horrible at those. He probably has no talent with the two of them at all.
Curious about his results and hoping to see how his best friend fares with the platform portion of the exam, he told Stephen, "I think I will wait over there where I can watch what happens when Monica takes the test."
The spikey green-haired man nodded. "I understand, but to tell the truth, there isn't much to see. It's pretty boring to watch. The only thing that happens is the disk beneath the person changes colors, that's about it."
Von's eyes widened as he couldn't believe it as so much seemed to happen when he was the one being tested. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally nodded as if he understood. "Okay, but I still think I want to watch."
Stephen bowed his head slightly, "as you wish. I shall see you again soon."
Von returned to the antechamber and stood near Oren. Looking at the elf, he thought about the status of the elf and how he was a master pyromancer, adept with metallomancy, and expert level in both xylomancy and chloromancy. This seemed like a lot of studying, but considering Master Oen was an elf with a lifetime many centuries longer than a human, it seemed likely all elves would have time to learn magic to their fullest potential.
Looking up at the Smith, he asked, "This may sound impudent, but after we get done here, we will have a few days before we catch up to our time. Could you teach me some of your magical and other skills? I wasn't tested for xylomancy, so I don't know if I have aptitude for it, but pyromancy, metallomancy, chloromancy, and smithing? I know I can't learn much in a week or so, but I'd like to try."
With an amused grin upon his face, the tall elf knelt down to Von's level. "I would be honored to help you learn, but you can't learn everything I know in a week or two. I have well over an eon of practice and experience spent honing my skills in my fields. In fact, I stopped being an instructor here almost 1,100 years ago."
Von's mouth fell as he took an involuntary step back. Eyes stretched wide for the second time in ten minutes. "You look younger than my father did the last time I saw him. How can you be so old? How long do elves really live?"
"Well, we live until we die, or until we choose to travel to the forest beyond. So far, wanderlust hasn't struck me, but I do get some aches on cold mornings. With luck, I will live a few more centuries." At this, he gestured towards the testing chamber where Monica had exited the same door Von had earlier. She looked quite exhausted already as the blue-haired woman beside her offered her a seat and a glass of water.
Von waved at his lifetime friend and seeing his silly grin, she smiled back and gave a wave. "This is harder than I imagined. Finding the right books became easier once I relaxed, but the math was terrible. I never was good at math, and I chose something called 'perfect numbers' from the list of choices. I don't even know what makes them perfect, but it was horrible making them fit where they needed to be. I mean how are the numbers 6, 28, 496, 8128, 33550336, 8589869056, 137438691328, 2305843008139952128, and others 'perfect'?" I ended up having to just close my eyes and pick a number. I did like the pictures on the cards though. I think I might want a set someday just for the artwork."
"You be, Mon! The next part was more fun for me, may you too!" Von grinned remembering the different powers flowing through his aura during the test.
Feeling somewhat rejuvenated after yelling across the room with Von, and hearing the next part was easier, she stood and waited to catch the blue-haired woman's attention as she spoke with some green-haired man. The man seeing Monica stand lifted his head toward Monica to let Brook know the young girl was ready to continue.
Having several blank cards in hand she placed them in her robe before keeping the final one in hand. "Do you have on you, or are you attuned to any magical foci?"
Monica turned her head from side to side. "No."
Hearing this, the blue-haired woman continued. "Okay, please step onto this platform."
She then held out her hand in case Monica had any difficult balancing on the two steps. As sometimes the step onto the platform felt wobbly to some and due to the stresses of the previous tests, more than one person had lost their footing. Once Monica was safely in the middle and seeing the platform not change colors, she nodded before placing the card from her hand beneath the platform.
Brook made a motion and the disk beneath Monica's feet turned translucent and whispy remaining so for about a minute before returning to its solid white color. About thirty seconds passed before crimson became the color of choice again, for only a minute then returning to white.
Von found it incredulous each test was less than a minute. To him, he felt as if each lasted nearly a half hour, but seeing it from the outside, it was shorter indeed. In reality, the entire test took less than the time it would take one to properly drink one tea.
A pale yellow was next followed by green, then a deep grey almost black with small pips of white. During this entire time, Monica didn't seem to move in the slightest. Remembering these tests, he was surprised again as Monica made no movement during any of them. She stood there stoically as if nothing was happening at all. He was positive he must have done some movement as each experience filled him with wonder.
Seeing his expression, Oren placed his hand on Von's shoulder. "It feels much different on the inside, doesn't it?"
With a quick look up at the elf, he asked, "how long does the whole test really take?"
"Yours was pretty short. Maybe fifteen minutes all told. Your friend there seems more normal, it will probably take a half hour total. By the time she is done, that lad over there will likely be returning with your results and an offer to attend the academy based on his face."
Von hadn't been paying much attention to Stephen but did notice the man's eyebrows raised just as Monica's platform turned the earthen brown. He watched for another moment until it went to white then ocean blue before seeing Stephen gesture toward him while discussing something with four others as they passed around the dark cracked card from his experience during the arithmancy test.
The others' eyes all moved toward Von and upon seeing him looking at them, they quickly averted their eyes. Various motions were made with lots of head shaking. Eventually, one of the group, a pink-haired ample-bodied, heavy-set woman in her late thirties or early forties wearing glasses, held up one finger before walking to a section of wall and placing her hand upon it. She disappeared from the spot.
Looking for the woman, Von saw no sign as to where she might have disappeared and returned his attention to Monica whose platform had already changed to black. He watched while occasionally peering around for the pink-haired woman as the platform beneath her went white, then a glowing white, white again, then orange-red, and white again. At that moment, as Monica should be grasping the power of pyromancy, the heavy, pink-haired woman reappeared on the spot she left followed by an older stern-looking brown-haired woman whose lines on her face showed an age which seemed to have not yet reached her hair.
The woman walked to Stephan and grabbed the card. Examining it closely, she took it and a clean card from the desk. Moving to Von, she said, with a gentle expression, "please, tell me you name, young man."
"Von Zupan, ma'am."
"You don't need to call me ma'am, I am not an instructor. I am just a senior level examiner. I needed your name in your own voice to be able to verify this card with the burnt out one before re-collecting the results from your arithmancy test. Thank you, Von. I'll be back soon." Taking the two cards with her, she passed through the door into the room where his testing started so recently.
Curious to what she was doing, he watched for a moment before realizing the entire room was glowing a bright red stemming from the disc beneath Monica's feet. The examiners looked at the sight and most stepped back. A purple-haired woman standing near Stephen, turned to the pink-haired woman, and said, "What do you think, Carla? Are there really two so strong in one day?"
With this, the pink-haired woman smiled. As a supervisor, if she could convince the two of them to attend the academy, she would receive a healthy reward. Perhaps even a few more days off this year with a bonus for being on her shift. It would depend on Jodep's mood, but at the very least, he would give her a monetary bonus. "I hope so!"
A moment later, the previous ambience returned to the room then the color of the platform turned the sickly dark green. Von was distracted as the door to the individual rooms opened and the senior examiner returned holding not one, but a handful of cracked, grey, cards.
The purple-haired woman made a beeline to the pink-haired woman before exclaiming, "there are two of them! This one made the whole room turn red, including the reception area, during the events of her tychomancy evaluation!" She gestured at small girl currently stepping off the platform having ended her trial.