When Dorin's time finally came, he noticed that the ones who went before him were still hanging in the hallway, while the ones at the back came closer as he went past the fallen doors.
"Good luck Dorin!" called his Aunt, staring at him intently.
[Good luck] wrote Sebastian.
Dorin nodded at them and proceeded to the middle of the examination room.
There were no windows in the room. There were 4 people seated at the long table at the far end; 2 women, a man, and a person in a cloak. There were metal plates in front of them, telling their name and position. The first from the left was a Professor Belladona Dimitrio, head of 'Magic Flora Studies'. She was old with long purple hair peppered with silver and looked at Dorin with interest. Next to her was the another woman, this one looking about in her late teens. Professor Kylyne Rose Raevers was written in front of her, under which says 'Head of Charms'. Beside her was possibly the only male in the group, Professor Randale Morell, the 'Head of Arcane Magic Arts'. He was black skinned with deep gray eyes. At the other end was the hooded person. On the plank was written 'Pan Phineas – head oracle'. The hood was of deep velvet, the color of midnight, and the only part visible under the cloak were the tips of his bony white fingers.
"Please state your name and background information," Said Professor Dimitrio with a knowing smile.
"My name is Dorin Silvius, from Quercus Kingdom. I'm 13 years old, and wish to apply for scholarship to study Defense Magic."
Professor Morell seemed to perk up at the mention of his name.
"What is your element, Dorin?" he asked.
"My element is wind," Dorin answered, his clear eyes looking straight at the professors.
"How about your lightning magic?" Professor Morell inquired.
"Well, I can make sparks..." Dorin raised his right hand and made sparks appear from his pinky finger. The examiners did not look impressed.
"Well, first of all, we will determine your rank level with a simple exercise..." said Professor Raevers in a sweet voice.
Upon saying this, Pan Phineas took out a long box from beneath the table. When opened, Dorin noticed that they were small bell tree leaves of different colors.
"Have you ever seen a Belltree before, young man?" Asked Pan in a raspy whisper.
Dorin just shrugged.
"These are leaves from a magical tree called Belltree. It gives off a chime when touched by a mage with a certain amount of magic in their being."
"This is just a simple exercise," Prof. Dimitrio said with a gentle smile in her wrinkled face. "You need only touch the bell leaves one at the time, starting from the red one," she explained.
"Come closer, don't be shy," Raevers said with a sultry smile that did not match her young face.
Dorin did as was told and touched the red leaf first.
It did not give a sound.
He then touched the purple one.
Still no sound.
"I guess aunt Agate's charms really do work well," he thought to himself.
Next, he touched the blue bell which gave a soft flicker. The green gave a broken little tinkle, but it was the yellow one that rang true. It filled the room with a sharp sound and lighted up like a sunset.
"A rank 2," said Professor Morell.
He sounded disappointed.
"Okay, let's move to the level exam..."
"In a moment." Pan suddenly interrupted. "Young man, can you show me your back?" he asked. Dorin looked at him, questioning.
"Is there something wrong, head Oracle?" Prof. Althea suddenly called from the door. She was standing there, watching the proceedings with Gen. Marcus and the rest of the students behind them.
"I merely want to check something," said the head oracle. "And I believe that I asked the child, not his aunt."
Prof. Althea reddened, but kept her mouth shut. Dorin looked at the examiners.
"Go ahead, Dorin," said Professor Morell.
Dorin opened his vest and took it off, then he proceeded to take the buttons off his dress shirt. The onlookers by the door craned their necks to look inside the room.
"Wait," called Professor Raevers. "Can't we do something about that door?"
Professor Morell took some leaves from his pocket, whispered to it, and blew it towards the door. It grew as it floated towards the onlookers and blocked the opening.
They could hear the people outside heave a disappointed sigh.
"Now, take off your shirt and turn around please," Professor Dimitri said.
Dorin turned his back to the table, showing his bare back, his muscular body, gaunt.
The hooded person nodded. Professor Morell stood from his seat and held his wand over Dorin's body. They gasped as the hiding and binding spells on his back came in full view of the examiners.
"Would you care to explain the wards on your back?" Professor Morell asked.
"Well..." Dorin thought saying the truth would be the easiest and the best way out, so he did. "My mother said it was a protection spell," he answered.
"A protection from what?" Asked Professor Reavers.
"She never told me," was his simple reply.
"That is a very powerful hiding spell," said the oracle head. "It also binds you to the castor for as long as you both are breathing,"
"Is that bad?" Dorin asked genuinely alarmed.
"Not if the spell was cast by your mother... I hope..." said Professor Dimitri.
"Do you have any other spells on you, Dorin?" Professor Morell Asked.
"Well... just these lightning spells..." saying this, Dorin gave a small spark on his elbow. A bright yellow mark flared up as he did. "I used to get hit by lightning when I was smaller, so mother made a ward to send them away."
"You got hit by lightning?" Professor Raevers asked, "How often?"
"Well... 3 times that I remember..." he said, counting in his hand, "But they say I was like a lightning rod when I was much younger... I don't remember that though..."
"And you're still alive?" Professor Raevers sounded perplexed.
"Well, it did hurt a bit..." Dorin defended, "and my hair turns out all frizzy..."
Someone suddenly laughed.
Dorin looked at the direction of the oracle head and saw his shoulders quivering. Pan suddenly threw back the cloak to reveal beautiful golden hair that fell down in torrents. Pan's face was a whole different subject, though. The left side was horribly mutilated. The left eye bulged out like a sickly yellow ball with a red pinprick in the middle, the whole nose, non-existent, showing a bonny stub and half of the jaw bone. The rest of the face gave a pallid look, the color of bone, and looked the same texture. The right eye was glazed over, forever blind to the physical world.
"A thunder god in the making!" Pan exclamed. "No wonder your mother was hiding you."
"Impossible!" Professor Morell gasped, "The thunder gods were wiped out at the end of the last revolt."
"Not all of them," said Professor Dimitri, "The youngest dragon was lost at the seige, but his body was never found."
"Perhaps he was an illegitimate child from the Heilig household?" Professor Raevers hinted.
"Then why can't he control his lightning?" Professor Dimitri asked.
"The hiding and binding spell might also be repressing his powers..." Professor Morell uttered. "Tell us, who is your mother?"
Dorin almost panicked, then thinking quickly, he said "Hera. Hera Silvius. We were brought there after the revolt..." he quickly added, "as refugees."
After all, that's the name the people from the nearest village call his mother when they come to visit occasionally.
"For a mage to make wards such as this one, I wonder who she truly is," asked Professor Morell.
Dorin felt worried, but he gave a sigh of relief when the 4 examiners did not question him further, and simply muttered among themselves.
"Okay, Dorin Silvius," Professor Morell finally said, "it's time for you to show us your specialty magic. But before that, are there other wards on you that you should tell us about?"
"...No?" Dorin asked back.
"Are you sure, young thunder god?" asked the oracle head.
He was looking at Dorin's feet.
"No." Dorin said with more conviction. "No, I am not sure," he said to himself, "And that is not a lie."
He noticed the tips of what remained of the oracle's lips lift a little.
"Then go ahead and..." Morell started.
"A moment," said Pan. "Come closer."
Dorin stiffened.
"Don't worry, I won't bite," Pan said with a chuckle.
Dorin walked towards the cloaked figure, still wondering whether it was a man or a woman, when the oracle suddenly stood up in one fluid motion and touched Dorin's arms as soon as he got near the table.
The hands were bony and stone cold.
Pan whispered incantations under their breath and pulled at his elbows.
Golden threads of magic trailed off from his forearms as the bony fingers pulled them away.
"Release." The oracle head hissed as they gave a final pull.