The orb began to shift, it stayed a neutral colour for a profoundly long time. It kept shifting and shifting. The proctors had their mouths agape watching as the orb began to slowly change colours.
It seemed like it wasn't giving me an element at all, the previous figure that appeared behind me didn't even seem that overwhelming anyway.
I focus more, the Resan had to be poured constantly or I would fail this challenge. The orb begins to twirl around and around, the insides were still a neutral colour but finally something appeared. It was the slightest bit of a dark blue, surrounding this blue was darkness. It was a small dot of blue and an everlasting amount of dark.
The proctors gasp, they could not believe what they were seeing.
The woman with the auburn hair speaks first. "His potential now makes sense..."
The proctor with the snake jacket chimes in, "Unbelievable, his potential is near limitless if this is true..."
Another adds on, from another group. It was a woman with raven black hair. "There must be a mistake, this cannot be true."
The other applicants behind me were intrigued, they've never seen these proctors so involved with an applicant before.
"Lightning." The woman with auburn hair decides, she didn't state the reason why they were surprised yet. I wanted to know.
"Why is that so surprising?" I ask idly.
"Boy, you are at the lowest level a person could be at, if this orb did not shift, we still couldn't be able to reject you. Your potential had no number, it was limitless. You are an anomaly in this world. Surrounding your lightning was pure darkness, you are currently a dual element." The man with the snake jacket adds on.
The other applicants behind me gasp, they've never heard of anything like this before.
A boy standing in line is particularly furious with the man stating that. "That's ridiculous! Dual elements don't exist. The only people with dual elements are those who have trained for years, hundreds of years!"
The man shakes his head. "You know nothing, even lightning on it's own is a gold standard in elements, to be paired with darkness, it's profound..." The man's quivering with excitement. "I cannot wait to see you grow, boy."
I'm caught off guard, what had just happened? They all praised me, but I did nothing. I don't even know what my powers consist of.
"Boy, your figures mentioned you are a vampire, of which clan do you belong to?"
I remember what Morgana said, never state her name, or her clan around others. It would only lead to trouble.
"I don't know... I am clanless." My voice is shaky, but it seemed to portray a good lie onto the people in this room.
The woman with auburn hair frowns before once again speaking. "Go to the waiting room boy, wait until we are done here. You have passed."
"Thank you!" I say merrily, I cannot believe I had made it through this trial, I don't know what happened but I will gladly accept that outcome.
I walk over and enter the room, inside were the others who had passed. Grok'on, Orin, and Endrick were all waiting, sitting down in silence and watching the rest of the trial unveil. Once I entered they all looked at me with wide eyes.
"Monster." Orin mumbles.
"What a display, well done, good sir!" Endrick says.
Grok'on raises both his arms in triumph. "Well done, soft meat, you are worthy of praise."
I nod my head at Endrick and Grok'on.
"Why is everyone surprised?" I ask, I was clueless.
Endrick leans forward whilst he is seated, "You are a dual element user, they're almost never found. If they are, they would have trained for years to gain that status. Above all, your potential figure, it had no number. They don't know where your potential lies. You even have lightning, it's quite the news."
My smile is obvious. "I didn't realise it was that big of a deal, what about that black stuff?"
Endrick shrugs. "Darkness, there are not many who can use such an element, it's fickle and it's dangerous. But its power is one of the greatest. Since most people do not have it, most do not know how high its ceiling can go."
"Oh, thanks for telling me Endrick. Everyone just kept it to themselves, it was terribly confusing."
"No problem man, here I thought I was the going to be the biggest shock of this test, then you showed up. Way to steal the show." Endrick laughed.
He really didn't seem that bad, maybe his demeanour in the beginning was just a front. Deep down he seems really cool.
Orin finally speaks up. "You can be all buddy-buddy with a freak all you want, I will have no part in it."
Endrick stands up. "A freak? What, do you consider everyone who is stronger than you a freak all of a sudden? You sound really envious."
Orin seems perplexed, she also stands up and stares at Endrick. "Envious? Of what, of being a complete anomaly? Stop sucking up, Endrick."
Endrick steps closer, the atmosphere in the room heats up intensely, but it's broken short when the door opens and another person walks into the room. We were not watching the trial, but a girl had also walked into the room. This sudden interruption caused everyone to sit down, the girl simply walks to her seat and sits down. The air was thin, the silence was deafening. What once was a room full of malicious intent had turned into one of pure awkwardness. How weird.
The trial continues and we all just sit in this new silence that had been presented by the new girl entering the room. I can feel Orin's eyes beaming into the back of my head. She really did not like me. I had no idea why though, because I got a surprising evaluation?
The next few people get rejected, their elements didn't even manifest into the orb and their potentials were low. I had gotten used to the cutthroat nature of the academy by now.
Some more roll into the waiting room until everyone had a turn in the trial. The lights suddenly shimmered, the test was over, and I had passed.
We all exit the room and in front of us was another door, we didn't even see the proctors anymore, the screen that was in the waiting room had disappeared and darkened, our only exit was this door. We all enter and we are transported back into the main room.
112 students remaining.
The last few left, and there were still around two more groups that had to go. Now we just had to wait. As we pace over to our previous positions, I spot Veron, he nods at me smiling all giddy. I return the smile, my lips curling emphatically. Cayus also gives me a solemn nod, I go back to where I once sat and rest. The use of Resan had tired me out, especially with back-to-back applications of it. I had to go and dig deeper into myself, to find out what had transpired and what this new knowledge could help me achieve.
The next group enters the door.
I need to get stronger.
12
Another group emerges from the doors, they seem exhausted. A lot of them were dropped this time, as the numbers in the main hall have thinned, I have been able to see more people. Most seem familiar to some extent, people I had seen before and noted. Of course, Veron and his Everi clan-men were all here. Cayus was with them just engaging in idle conversation.
100 students remaining.
Trial over.
That was it.
We had done it, we passed! I take another look at the overview of the number of students remaining. I see that person with white hair who cleared the first trial with me, he did it without much effort too, it was obvious he would pass this. I notice people whispering, while they're whispering their eyes would turn over to me. Being a vampire lends itself well to eavesdropping and sneaking looks at people.
Some of the things I heard were to do with my trial.
"Did you hear... that vampire is a dual element user."
"What a monster."
"He needs to be taken out, he's too dangerous."
"He's a liability."
"His potential even had no number."
I shake my head, drowning out the noise with my own thoughts. It was annoying to listen to, and someone must've told everyone about the trial to allow it to leak out to this effect. Who even said anything? Perhaps it was Orin, she really didn't like me, seemed bitter. My eyes shift over the room and lock onto the girl, she's whispering and gallivanting around. Of course.
My eyes then rest on Endrick, I can see him shrug at me, his finger runs a circle around the side of his head, after this gesture he points over to Orin. He called her crazy. I laugh, nodding my head at Endrick. She truly had a few screws loose.
This brief moment of respite was broken when the proctor, the woman with auburn hair erupts out of the doors and addresses us all. Her hand is affixed to her throat, I can see the Resan now. It was directed towards her throat.
"Greetings hopefuls. You have made it far into the trials, however, now is the time where you will truly prove your worth to us. The next trial is... The Trial of Strength. You will be battling against each other, one on one. It will be a tournament style battle. There are one hundred of you now, this number was no coincidence.
She adjusts her hand on her neck and then waves her free hand over the area, numerous doors would erupt out from the dark marble floor, opening and resonating with an astounding amount of Resan.
Rest today, for you will be battling for the spots in the academy. Do well, and you will be a student in the most prestigious place in this continent. Fail, and you shall be forever expelled from ever applying again. It is victory, or failure. Now, goodbye. Rest well."
She also slips away into one of the doors, followed by the rest of the proctors. We're left with the rest of the reaction, the amount of groans and gasps that emerged from the room was ridiculous. Everyone was in a state of shock. Forever barred from entry into the academy if we fail?
I can't even fight, I can't utilise Resan in a fight. Thanks to Orin, I have a huge target on my back now. Great. I get up and just walk to the door quickly, I cannot waste time idling around here.
Veron catches me as I almost make it to the door, "Dual element, huh? Wow, for being clanless you're amazing."
I nod at Veron, giving off a fake smile, I wanted to get away from everyone right now, lest my mind be corrupted and I cannot get ready for this fight. "Just luck, I have no idea what that even means."
"That means you have power beyond what anyone could even know about here. You are the only one with dual elements here, do you know how rare that is? You'll be winning that fight in no time. I don't want to be up against you." Veron laughs as he says that.
I shake my head at him, "I don't even know how to use Resan properly."
Veron laughs even harder as if I've said the funniest joke that has ever come to his ears. "Ridiculous, of course you do! I know what you're doing, that's smart, get everyone's guard down."
My face scrunches up. "I'm being serious Veron, I don't even know my clan, I don't know anything about Resan either."
Veron stops laughing, and he stares at me, dead-pan. "Are you serious? If you're serious, you're going to get slaughtered. The whole point of these trials was to weed out those who could use Resan, could withstand it, had potential in it. At some point, everyone here had to have been in contact with Resan in the past."
I keep shaking my head at him, "Sorry, I'm serious."
Veron sighs whilst his eyes still rest on me, "Take this, read it, study it, pray."
He hands me a parchment, I don't open it yet, but I nod at Veron. "Thank you, Veron."
Veron places his hand on my shoulder, "Good luck, Gian. I hope to see you again."
With that, I depart and go over to the door. When I enter the door I am transported into a room, it was much smaller than the others I had been in before. The Resan had pushed me through into my own private room. A waiting room.
The room was light blue, the walls, the ceiling, all of it light blue. Against the wall was a large bookcase, near it was a comfy looking chair that was close to a fireplace. On the other side of the room was a bed, it was a single and looked particularly comfortable. I resist the urge to lay down and opt to sit down on the chair.
I open Veron's parchment; scribbles and utter gibberish cover the page, at the top was a note from Veron.
Make sure to use Resan to see that which cannot be seen.
I smile at the note, and then begin to pour my Resan onto the page, as well as letting some shift over to my eyes. Resan was easily controllable, I think so at least. I didn't have much trouble pushing it into objects or onto different parts of my body.
The page opened up, the scribbles begin to light up and I was met with something ferocious in nature...