by Aaron Oster
“Take a bath, you smell like a horse’s ass.”
Arnold left the tavern with Weasel trailing right behind him.
The information he’d received was quite troubling. If the man was to be believed, then Sarah and her companion had managed to ride themselves off a cliff.
Arnold marched right up to the city gates, forgoing their horse altogether.
It would take too long and, according to the man, the area where they’d last been spotted was only a mile or so from the city walls.
As he got closer, he could see that the gates were closed. Two guards were posted on either side and they moved to block him as he approached.
“Stop right there! No one leaves the city after dark!”
Arnold didn’t even slow down. Grabbing both guards by the fronts of their tunics, he hurled them a good twenty feet. When they landed a few seconds later; he didn’t hear them cry out.
Marching right up to the gates, he picked his foot up and kicked it open.
There was a sound of splintering wood and shrieking metal as the massive gates were torn from their hinges. He could hear the sound of commotion behind him as guards came running out of the guard house at the base of the wall.
He ignored them and broke out into a run, moving swiftly down the road. He could hear Weasel’s light footsteps following behind him and he slowed to allow him to catch up.
“You getting anything yet?”
He shook his head.
“Guess we’ll need to get closer.”
They ran on for a few minutes before Weasel stopped him.
“That’s where they went off the road.”
Arnold nodded, letting Weasel take the lead as he moved slowly through the forest.
Weasel had a special skill called detection. With this skill, he could pick out even the tiniest of details. That skill, along with another one he refused to disclose, made him the best tracker in all of the kingdom.
He stopped as Weasel held out a hand, and waited. After a few moments he motioned to him and Arnold followed him once more. This went on for the next few minutes, with Weasel crouching and muttering to himself and Arnold following silently along.
He could hear the distant sound of shouting coming from the city and knew that the guards had likely been sent after them.
Now that they were here, he regretted what he’d done. Once the guards arrived, he would have to go back to the city and wait for Lord Simon to get him released. Otherwise, he’d spend his entire trip being harassed by soldiers.
He could see where the ground ended abruptly up ahead, and Weasel was already crouched by the cliff’s edge, examining something.
Arnold waited patiently for him to finish, even as the sound of hoof beats grew louder. Finally the man straightened and walked back to him.
“Are they still alive?”
“Something definitely went over that cliff, but it wasn’t them.” Weasel looked quite happy, an expression he usually never wore. “That boy is quite clever. Are you sure we have to kill him?”
Arnold shrugged. “Lord Simon wants him dead.”
Weasel sighed. “What a shame.”
“Tell me how they fooled the trackers into thinking they were dead.”
As he began to speak, Arnold could feel his respect for the boy growing. By the time he was done talking, he wholeheartedly agreed with the man.
To think, that they had sent their horses over the cliff and faked their own deaths. Then to throw any trackers off, they lowered themselves under the lip and moved along it until it was safe to emerge.
He wasn’t really sure how they’d done it, but Weasel said the most likely scenario was that Sarah had created handholds for them. Truly resourceful.
“You’re quite right,” he said as horsemen burst into view and surrounded them. “It really is a shame.”
13
Morgan could feel his heart racing in excitement.
They were finally here. After weeks of travel, they had finally made it to the city of Heraldia.
It had taken them nearly a month to reach the border, but luckily for them, the rest of their journey had gone smoothly. It wasn’t hard to get into the Central Kingdom. All Sarah had to do was present her family crest and tell them that she was heading for the academy.
It was a risk showing anyone her seal, but Lord Simon had no power in the Central Kingdom. It was also quite common for the nobility of other countries to send their children to the academy, as the Central Kingdom was the only neutral place in the five kingdoms.
As for not having any guards, Sarah easily explained it away as not wanting to arouse suspicion that she was gone. The guards at the gate had nodded and told her that the tryouts for the academy were already ongoing, and if she wanted to make it in before the term started, she would have to hurry.
So now they ran through the streets of the city, dodging around people as they went. According to Sarah, today was the final day of preliminary tryouts and Morgan didn’t want to miss it. Sarah, who was running behind him, grabbed his arm to slow him down.
“Calm down,” she said with a laugh. “We still have plenty of time to make it.”
He smiled back, deciding that she was probably right and slowed to a walking pace.
“So, what do you think the test will be?” Morgan wondered.
“It shouldn’t be too hard. From what I’ve heard, all they really want to check is whether you have an ability or not.”
Morgan was surprised to hear this. “There are people without abilities who try and get in?”
“All the time,” she answered. “At least half of the people who try out don’t have any ability at all.”
“So why bother trying to get in in the first place?” Morgan wondered.
“Beats me.” Sarah shrugged.
They walked on in silence for the next few minutes, each enjoying the warmth of the sun as they walked through the wide main street. The weather in the Central Kingdom was always nice, never too hot or too cold; which made it a very attractive spot to live in.
They passed a few stalls selling food and Morgan breathed in deeply, allowing the wonderful aroma of freshly baked pastries to wash over his senses. He could feel his mouth begin to water, and was debating whether to make a small detour; when the crowd around them thinned and he got his first good look at the academy.
They were on a hill overlooking the grounds and he could hardly believe his eyes. A massive section of the city was devoted to the school, and Morgan stared in awe as people streamed through a multitude of gates below. The entire academy was walled off and he could see hundreds of guards patrolling around the perimeter.
“Why are there so many guards?” Morgan asked as they began walking down the hill.
“There are probably several hundred nobles from all over the five kingdoms in there right now. Although this is a neutral kingdom, that wouldn’t deter assassins from trying to kill one of them. Those guards up there are some of the strongest in the world. From what I’ve heard, the minimum rank to join is 24 and most are even above that.”
Morgan felt his respect for this King Herald go up a few notches.
Even though they’d thrown off their pursuers when they’d escaped City Six, he was way too paranoid to believe that they weren’t still being followed. If King Herald took the security of his school this seriously, they might actually be safe from whoever Simon had sent after them.
It took another half an hour to reach the academy gates and a further fifteen minutes to get in. As they were passing through, a man asked them to stop and ran a flat piece of metal over their bodies before letting them pass.
“What are those for?” Morgan asked the guard, curiously.
The guard looked surprised, as though he wasn’t used to people talking to him.
“It’s a magical ward detector. Checks to see if you’re carrying any dangerous or potentially destructive items.”
Morgan thanked the guard for the explanation, and he and Sarah headed
toward the main courtyard. There was a raised platform in front of a massive stone building. Several desks stood on the platform and a line of people snaked out from where they were set up.
“Excuse me,” Sarah asked the last person standing in line. “Is this line for tryouts?”
The girl turned and gave Sarah a nasty glare. “Yeah, not that you’ll ever get in. This school is for talented people, not nobodies like you.”
“Friendly crowd,” she muttered, eliciting a laugh from Morgan.
This made the girl glare at them once more.
As the line slowly inched forward, Morgan began to grow nervous.
What if he wasn’t good enough to get in and the academy kicked him out? He didn’t have any doubts as to whether Sarah would get in, but him?
It took nearly two hours for them to reach the front of the line, and Morgan turned to Sarah as the person in front of him went up to one of the tables.
“I’ll meet you over there when we’re done,” he said, pointing to a large fountain in the center of the open courtyard.
Sarah nodded. “Good luck.”
“You too,” he said, as one of the people motioned him forward.
He walked up to the table, where a young looking woman was taking notes on a piece of paper. She put down her pen and looked up at him with a professional smile.
“Welcome to the Central Academy for Mages and Supers, or CAMS as everyone around here calls it. Here at CAMS, we strive to educate the next generation of talented young individuals, and help them on their paths to success.”
The woman stopped here and rifled through a few papers before bringing out a blank sheet.
“I’ll need your name, rank and ability type.”
Morgan was loathe to divulge this information; but decided that since it was being asked, everyone would be expected to.
“My name is Morgan and I have a rank 4 super ability.”
He had decided to enter the academy as a super, as Sarah was already a mage and he could learn all he needed from her at the end of the day.
The woman scribbled on the paper for a few moments before tearing off a strip and handing it over to him.
“Take this paper to room number eight. Good luck.”
Morgan thanked the woman before heading inside the building. The entryway was massive and the ceiling towered at least thirty feet over his head. People were milling about, all holding piece of paper and looking around at the myriad of doors dotting the wall.
Looking straight ahead, he could see a door with the number 4 emblazoned on it in red paint. Looking to one side, he could see the room with the number 8 just a few doors down and headed toward it. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Morgan knocked once and entered.
The room was made of solid stone and light streamed in from above through open slats in the ceiling. A man was sitting behind a stone desk in the corner of the fairly large space and Morgan shuffled awkwardly in as the man didn’t seem to notice him.
Even sitting down, he could tell that the man was quite tall. Just over six feet, and he had short blonde hair and dark colored eyes. His face was smooth and had the same sort of ageless quality to it that Morgan had seen on Samuel; the stranger who had healed him. The man finally looked up as he approached and he could see a bored expression on his face.
“Hello, my name is Morgan. I was told to come here,” Morgan said, handing over the slip of paper.
The man took it, not even bothering to look and placed it down on his desk.
“My name is Instructor Gold. Let’s see what you can do.”
“What I can do?” Morgan asked, uncertainly.
“Yes, show me your skills; if you have any,” Gold said, waving impatiently.
Morgan stared at the man for a few seconds, then he shrugged. Taking a few steps away from the desk, he used fly, instantly feeling a weightless sensation overtake him as he floated up off the ground.
Gold’s disinterested look vanished in an instant and he sat up straighter as Morgan did a lap around the room. He landed in front of the man, who was now looking at him in a whole new light.
“I’ve seen people fly before, but only on very rare occasions,” he said excitedly. “Do you have any other skills?”
“Yes, but I’ll need to hit something for you to see it. I’ll also have to hit it twice so you can see the difference,” Morgan answered.
“Excellent!”
Gold pushed away from his desk and walked to the center of the room.
Morgan started at him in astonishment as he motioned him over.
“Go on then, hit me.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to accidentally kill you or anything.”
To Morgan’s dismay, however, the man just laughed.
“Much as I appreciate your concern, I doubt you could cause me any significant harm. Now come on, we don’t have all day.”
With a mental shrug, Morgan walked over to him and took up a fighting stance. Then he drew his arm back and punched the Gold’s abdomen as hard as he could. He didn’t budge even an inch. Morgan looked up to see if he’d caused him any discomfort, but the man’s face betrayed nothing. He then used his heavy handed skill and drew his fist back, slamming it into Gold’s abdomen once again.
Instead of hearing the expected crack of bones along with a cry of pain, Gold just smiled.
“Fascinating,” he said, smoothing the front of his shirt where Morgan’s fist had made contact. “I could definitely feel a difference there, just over twice the power of your first attack.” He walked back to his desk as Morgan stared at him in shock.
Just what kind of monster was he?
Gold sat back down behind his desk and looked down at the paper. “So, you’re at rank 4, and you have a super ability. If you don’t mind me asking, just what is your ability called?”
Morgan, still in shock from his complete inability to hurt this man, answered without thinking. “Gravity.”
“Ah, that would explain the flight, as well as the increased striking power.”
Gold steepled his fingers and stared at Morgan for a few seconds, his eyes appraising him in a new light.
“I can already guess at your strength and agility, but would you mind telling me about your other attributes?”
Morgan nodded and quickly listed them off to him. He immediately knew he’d made a mistake when Gold’s eyebrows shot up in incredulity then narrowed in suspicion. He stared at him for a few seconds and Morgan could feel a cold sweat beginning to break out as he did.
After a few more tense moments, Gold leaned back in his chair and a pleased expression crossed his face. He then waved his hand and a stone chair rose from the ground.
“Have a seat.”
Morgan stared at the chair for a moment, then reluctantly sat down.
So this man was most likely a mage, he realized. That was quite troubling, as he hadn’t been at all damaged by his heavy handed skill. Worse still, he hadn’t even bothered using his mage shield, which meant that this man was on a whole other level of power.
His nerves ratcheted up another notch as Gold appraised him and the silence between them began to stretch.
“I would like to ask you to do something for me.”
Morgan almost breathed a sigh of relief when Gold started talking, but he contained himself with an effort of will.
This man was way too perceptive and he wouldn’t miss something as obvious as that.
“We normally do our testing in two phases. The first is to determine if the person actually has an ability, and the second is to determine combat readiness, ranking in the class and whether that student is worthy of a scholarship.”
“Since King Herald only offers them to the top fifty students of each class per year, we have to be very selective of who we give them to. The second test is also recorded, as the instructors will be choosing which students they would like to teach.”
Only the top fifty students of each class?
Morgan was dismayed at
this news.
He’d really been hoping to be able to get in on that scholarship, as he hadn’t wanted to lean on Sarah for the money.
Gold could see his expression and nodded.
“I can see that the gravity of the situation is sinking in; no pun intended,” he said with a light chuckle.
“The reason I’m telling you all this now, is that I’d like you to preform the second part of the test for me now. What do you say?”
“If it’ll give me a better chance of getting a scholarship, I’ll do it now,” Morgan said.
Gold nodded and gestured to the center of the room once more. There was a loud rumbling sound and then a stone golem rose from the ground below. It was roughly man-shaped and stood just a few inches taller than him.
Morgan stepped up to the thing and examined it from all sides. Then it moved; its head slowly following him as he walked around its body.
“You will fight against this golem until you either destroy it, or it renders you incapable of fighting. There is no need to worry about injuries, as we have plenty of healers on hand.”
Morgan nodded and stepped up to face the golem. His heart was pounding as adrenaline rushed through his body and he took up a fighting stance.
“Ready?” he heard Gold’s voice ask.
Taking one last deep breath, Morgan nodded.
“Then begin!”
14
Morgan tensed as the golem shot towards him with astonishing speed.
He’d been expecting it to be a lot slower, seeing as it was made of stone.
He dodged quickly to the side and used heavy handed, feeling his CP drop by 20 and the timer begin to count down in his head.
He ducked under a swing from the golem and brought his open palm up, smashing it into its chest as he straightened. The force of his skill, along with his momentum, should easily have shattered a normal piece of stone; but the only discernable damaged he could make out, was a small line of cracks spreading from where his strike had impacted.
He dove to the side as the golem’s knee came up, wincing as he wasn’t fast enough to completely dodge the attack. He got quickly to his feet and felt at his ribs. Thankfully, they were still intact, though he was sure that a nasty bruise was already spreading under his armor.