by Chris Vines
“The test requires your age to be between fourteen and sixteen and have opened one meridian. The test evaluates your affinity with each element and the number of meridians you have easily openable versus those that can be opened with Alchemy. As an example, I was rated as moderate affinity with Metal and low with all others, and a talent level of three/six. Moderate affinity is normal, and a talent level from one/two to four/seven is normal as well. A high or exceptional affinity is rare, especially in more than one element, and anything over seven/eleven is very rare outside of the nobles.” Elena was explaining the test to me again, which I took as a sign of nervousness.
Just then a loud voice thundered over the crowd, “All test takers move forward into the square. Family members may line the edges but make space for all the testers. We will begin in five minutes!”
I looked over at Elena and gave her a quick hug, “See you after.”
“I’ll be watching.”
I pushed forward, and the crowd began to thin out. When I reached the square, I saw about five hundred other youths here to take the test. The square was packed full of people, almost all of them as nervous as I was. The majority of people here would be normal, with a normal life ahead of them. The benefit to the test to them was knowing their elemental affinities. By opening a couple more meridians, they would eventually reach the peak of Aether Gathering and be healthier and stronger than they would otherwise. For those with high talents, though, this would be the start of their journey to stardom. Hopefully.
Off to the right, I saw Jon along with two other guys and a girl. The others of his group were dressed in rougher clothes, and so guessed they were probably children of the laborers Jon’s family employs. Across the square I spotted a group of three boys and three girls dressed in silk and decorated with jewels. Each pair of people was standing just slightly apart from each other. One of the boys was the asshole from the market, Nicolai, and what was probably a sister or cousin was standing beside him in quiet conversation. She was a tall, red-haired, beautiful young woman, but the look of disdain on her face made her unapproachable. Two young men were standing off to the Haodha’s left, both broad-shouldered, black-haired, and Asian looking. Off to the extreme right were two young women in brown and green dresses, tall, fair-haired and pale-skinned. The group of nobles stood front and center of the crowd, with a space around them as if other people were afraid of intruding on their space.
As I walked over to speak to Jon, the gates on the other side of the square opened and five adults walked out, carrying various equipment. Two were carrying statues that were vaguely human shaped with a large square base, one was carrying a large clear sphere, one a large stack of papers and writing instruments, and the last a large table. Holy crap, that table must weigh several hundred pounds. It’s made of stone! I thought to myself. The person holding it acted like it weighed nothing.
The table was set down in the middle of the square, with the papers deposited on it. The statues were placed to the left of the table and the sphere to the right. I noticed that one of the statues was vaguely male and the other just as vaguely female. The statues were pale green, and slightly translucent. Behind the adults hauling equipment, a group of older teens ran out holding chairs, and the adults took a seat to preside over the test.
The man who had carried the table spoke out in the same thundering tone as before, “We are ready to begin. You will first come to the table and get a recording paper. You will then go to the Element Testing Sphere and have your affinities tested. From there you will go to the Talent Statue of your gender and have your meridians tested. Finally you will come back to the table to have the results recognized. Directions will be provided from there based upon Talent and Affinity. Now, who will be first?”
No one immediately stepped up. I wanted to, but I also wanted to wait until after that young noble from the market had left, as I was getting more and more confident that I would have a ridiculous talent level. As time dragged on, you could see the tension in the kids’ faces, trying to psych themselves into stepping forward. After a minute, one of the Asian looking noblemen stepped forward and proclaimed “I, Lo Xiao, shall be the first, and amaze all with my talent!”As he reached the table, the Haodha children followed him, with many of the others starting to line up.
I stood beside the line near the end, more interested in watching than participating. At least for now. I heard from the front “Exceptional Affinity in Ice, Moderate in Water and Air. Great, go to the Talent statue. You, girl, come forward. Ah, a Haodha. High in Fire and Lightning and Moderate in Metal. Very good!” As the Lo kid got to the statue, we heard “Excellent, the Lo Clan never disappoints. Let’s see, nine openable, up to twenty one with alchemy. Excellent! Amazing! Go report to the center! You will of course be offered a place here! Next! Ah, Miss Haodha, let’s see. Nine! Nine openable, twenty three possible! Amazing, this year is already a superb catch!”
I finally got in line, at Jon’s urging, near the end of it. The annoying noble child was announced as Exceptional in Fire and High in Metal with eight openable up to eighteen. He had the highest Affinity until, “Exceptional in Wood and Water, High in Earth, Moderate in Ice. Astounding! Come hurry, you will skip to the front here. Yes, touch the statue in the hand prints. Thirteen openable, up to twenty six! I… I am beyond words. Come, I shall take you in to meet the Vice Dean for new students immediately.” A fourteen year old girl was pulled along by a thirty something old man with a shocked look on her face.
My breath caught upon seeing her. “Jasmine?” I whispered. She was nearly the spitting image of Jasmine, my former fiancée. Lightly tanned, with dark brown hair and a heart shaped face, she was the quintessential girl next door, though her skin was rougher than Jasmine’s was.
“No, I heard her name as Jamila. Are you okay?” Jon said to me, concern on his face. I waved away his question.
Notable results were the other two noble girls, who were from the Volkov family and had Exceptional Wood and High Earth. The older was an eight/seventeen and the younger a nine/nineteen. The other Lo Clan was High in Ice, Air and Water, and eleven/twenty three, causing another commotion. Finally, Jon was up ahead of me. As he walked over to the Affinity Sphere, I walked up to the table. “Name and clan.”
“Uh, Kupiec Aiden, no Clan.” I responded, looking at Jon. “ High in Air, Moderate in Ice. Good!” I heard the moderator tell Jon. I grabbed the sheet from the monitor with a “Thank you” before heading over to the Affinity Sphere.
“Place your hands here and here” the moderator gestured. With a deep breath, I put my hands on the sphere. Slowly, lights formed in the center. A bright yellow grew until almost the entire sphere shined brightly enough to make me squint, then vanished. Red filled up most of the sphere, followed by light blue and silver light followed by brown taking up half the sphere. Tiny flashes of green, dark blue and purple occurred, and then the sphere blanked. I looked up at the moderator and saw a face full of shock.
“Outstanding in Lightning, Exceptional in Air, Fire, and Metal. High in Earth. I … I … I’ve never seen or heard of the like. Place your hands on it again, I have to confirm this.” I did so, and it repeated the sequence. I heard “six, with eighteen possible, good!” from where Jon was getting his testing. “Go, uh, go get your Talent tested.” The moderator gestured to the next kid, who was staring at me with unabashed awe. I flushed at his look.
Jon had turned around when he was finished, and saw the look on the moderator’s face. I gestured at him to move on and mouthed “I’ll tell you later” to him. I was excited for him since High Affinity in Air was great. “Put your hands on the handprints” the disciple watching the statues said with a gesture. As it had been nearly two hours since the start, he seemed to be lagging in enthusiasm. I put my hands where indicated, and lights started glowing in the statue, tracing out my meridians. Blue lights flared up the Life meridian, and then around my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. More lights went down every limb, with several flowing circ
les through my torso. The disciple’s eyes continued to get wider while he stared at the statue. After a minute, the light turned green and traced down every finger, more through my torso, upper legs, and head. “Sixteen. Sixteen openable, up to … uh remove your hands, wait for it to clear, and then put them back.” I did, and after the sequence repeated he said “thirty five with alchemical assistance. Thirty five. There are five meridians you have the ability to open that I’ve never even heard of, much less seen. Remove your hands.” I pulled my hands off and he put his on. Lights flared, almost entirely blue. “Ok, it’s still working. Come.” He gestured emphatically at me, wanted me to follow him to the center table. As we walked, he waved at the gates with a couple of signals.
We got to the table, and the disciple stepped in front of the next person in line. “Mentor Alain, call Headmaster Glav, she’s going to want to come down personally for this.”
“What do you mean?”
“This,” he pulled my card out of my hand to find my name, “Aiden, has sixteen openable meridians, with up to thirty five openable. He is Outstanding in Lighting, Exceptional in Air, Fire, and Metal. Holy Light! He’s Exceptional or better in FOUR ELEMENTS! Along with more open meridians than I’VE EVER SEEN, and openable beyond what we thought was POSSIBLE. Use the stone to signal the Headmaster. I’ll take the punishment if she decides it is necessary.” After the moderator’s outburst, everyone around was looking at me. Thankfully, the jerk-face noble was gone, but the Volkov girls and Lo boys were still there. The boys were looking at me as a rival, someone who would be able to compete with them, as was the older Volkov. The younger looked at me with interest and curiosity. That is someone who might be a friend, I thought as I watched them. Most of the other people around were looking at me with awe, including Jon. I couldn’t help but be bashful. Over at the edge, I saw Ma watching me with wonder in her eyes, happiness exuding from her. Well, hopefully I can turn this into something that will help them too.
As I looked back at the moderator, the gates to the school opened again. Out of the gates walked three armed and armored people, covered head to toe in plate mail, surrounding a dignified older woman. As she walked up to us, the disciples running the test bowed. “Why did you call me out?” She asked in a grave tone.
“This candidate is worthy of your personal attention, Headmaster Glav.” The moderator from the table said, offering her my filled in card. “He’s Exceptional or better in Air through Metal, and High in Earth. I’ve never heard of a five Elemental Affinity before. He has up to thirty five openable with Alchemy as we know it. He is probably the greatest potential candidate anywhere in the kingdom has seen in many centuries.”
“Hmm, amazing!” Her face immediately brightened. “Your potential is astounding, come, I shall show you the school. You will of course be provided all you need to study here!” She grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards the gate. I looked over at Jon and Ma, who were now standing together with Jon’s parents, and shrugged helplessly at them. I followed the Headmaster through the gates.
CHAPTER SIX
I entered the grounds of the Azyl Academy behind Headmaster Glav. In front of me, a nicely paved road led to a square with an ornate fountain in the center. Surrounding the square were nine buildings, four to my left, four to the right and one straight ahead. The buildings to either side were six stories tall, while the building straight on was only two levels. The buildings looked almost like apartment buildings, though the sides had occasional carvings and decoration on them. Beyond the building to my left was a park, with trees and flowering bushes growing around a series of paths and the occasional small pavilion. The occasional flicker of a bird or other animal was visible, especially near where some of the plants glowed.
As we walked, she remarked, “Your natural talent is astounding and more than meet the criteria for us to admit you to the Academy without any tuition. I strongly encourage you to accept this. Nowhere else in the city will be able to support or assist you in growing your strength as we can. I saw you had no Clan listed, are you affiliated with any Clan?”
“Uh, no ma’am. My parents own the Kupiec Scribing Store. We occasionally have some nobles shop there, but not often. We mostly sell to other merchants.”
“Good to know. I recommend for most unaffiliated students to stay that way through at least the first year. Give yourself time to grow in knowledge and power before binding your fate to another’s. Now, for a tour.” She pointed off to the buildings. “The buildings to either side of the road are the student dormitories. Straight ahead is the food pavilion. We require all students studying here to live on campus. The first tier dorms are to the left, which is where you will be living. To the right are the fourth tier dorms, where the oldest students live. Beyond is the Meditation Grotto. You are free to use it anytime you are free. There are inscriptions on many of the pavilions to increase the density of Aether and purify it. The pavilions are available to the person, or people, who arrives first, though first and second tiers must defer to third tiers or higher after half an hour.
Beyond the Meditation Grotto is the physical training field. Physical training is held daily in the afternoon and is a mandatory course for all students in your tier. Your body is just as important to gathering Aether as your talent is. A healthy body keeps your center and meridians healthy as well. Down the road that splits the Grotto from the fields, you will find the classrooms, the smithy, the alchemy workshop, the inscription workshop, and the armory.
“You are allowed into the classrooms at any time, but not in any of the elective workshops without supervision or permission. You will be learning the history of our nation and world, military tactics, gathering techniques, politics and etiquette, and an elective. At the end of every year, you are given a test to see if you can ascend to the next tier. It is very rare to move from one tier to another after only a year, though. Ascending to the second tier requires you to pass a test on history, geography, and politics. You also must reach the high Fog level for gathering and pass the tactics exam.” I’ll need to work hard on the tests, I thought as she explained, since I’m starting with such a disadvantage.
“Graduates from here are often picked up for the officer corps and government positions, along with joining many of the top clans. I expect that the rumors of your talent have already reached the heads of the Clans and they will be discussing how to woo you to join them.”
As Headmaster Glav finished speaking, we reached the fountain. “What electives do we have to pick from, ma’am?” I asked politely, showing that I was paying attention.
“You will take a single introductory lesson of Alchemy, Blacksmithing, and Inscription. If you had Wood or Water Affinity you would be able to take Healing instead of Blacksmithing, as they are the only gatherers who can heal others. After the introductory lessons, you will be able to choose which to stay with.”
“Thank you,” I said. I saw a stream of people entering into the food pavilion.
“If you head in you will meet Counselor Might, who will be the head of the first tiers this year. He will have someone assign you a room and your starter gear. From there, you will receive a pass to get back in tomorrow. You will have tonight to say goodbye to your family, and will be able to visit them once a month for the first year. Passes out are available more often for higher tiers and senior first tiers may occasionally receive permission to stay off campus some nights. I wish you luck in your journey here, and may you astonish us again with your success.” With that, the Headmaster gestured to the door of the pavilion and then turned to walk off.
“Thank you, Ma’am, for your introduction and help.” I called after her before entering into the food building. Multiple rows of tables were on either side of a couple walkways between them, and across from the entrance was an enormous counter with platters of food on it. Wow, this place is huge compared to the other buildings I have seen on this world! I thought. The dining hall could have easily held five hundred people. A line of young people
led to the counter. I recognized a couple of them as others with high talent, such as the nobles and the beautiful girl who looked like Jasmine. I started walking to get in line when someone tapped on my shoulder. Looking back, I exclaimed “Jon, you got in too?”
“Yup, they always offer admission with discounts to anyone with over ten openable meridians. My parents said we will be able to afford the tuition, but to hurry and get to the next tier, as tuition halves again at that point. Still expensive, but worth it. From here we will have great options and connections. Just my attending here will get my parents more business. Of course, I doubt they’ll charge you tuition at all, Mr. More openable meridians than should be possible.” Of course, he said that just as we reached the line for food, causing everyone standing in front of me to turn towards me.
“Uh, um …hi. I’m Kupiec Aiden. I guess we will be classmates.” I said, my skin turning red from the attention. Why am I flushing so much? I was fairly used to standing in front of large groups. Is this some of Aiden coming through? Or is that I spent so much time basically alone the past six months, I thought while the girls in front of me looked me up and down.
“I am Volkov Bet, and this is my younger cousin Volkov Vaya. Put your talent to use and I will speak for you to my father, Volkov Neyka. There is always room for talent in the Volkov Clan.” With that she turned away, waiting imperiously. The younger Volkov gave me a chagrined look, leaned forward, and whispered “She’s always like that. As the heir, she takes her position very seriously. Don’t take it personally. I hope to see you around more.” She turned back to Bet and they grabbed plates. We were just about at the front of the line. They grabbed their food and headed over to a table with the Haodha children. I avoided looking at the table, in case Nicky recognized me.