by Weiqi Wang
Sighing in her heart, Dileys had to continue the trip and show the group all the seven departments. The Fire department looked like a sheet of flames spreading over its territory; the buildings in the Wind department were all cool and streamlined in appearance, in sharp contrast to the bulk and dense feeling of the Earth department. Buildings in the Light department were made of unknown materials that changed their colours if observed from different angles; the Darkness department was just the contrary — the buildings are all black, and the group couldn’t find the doors and windows in them. The last stop was the Lightning department, the only department that had just one building — it was a skyscraper, tall and thin. Dileys had always wanted to climb to the top of it — it must be a marvellous view of the entire campus.
The group had finished enjoying the tour by noon, cheering and waving along the way. Dileys sent the freshers back to the gathering point, then left with Soarame for lunch.
‘That was truly amazing.’ Soarame still couldn’t get over the tour. ‘Where are we going after this?’
‘The town zone.’ Dileys was satisfied to see Soarame impressed by her tour. ‘The morning tour only covered the students’ zone, which is restricted to wizards only. There’s a town on campus too, and it’s very different — most people there are not wizards; it’s almost like another Cylone City! You will be impressed.’
‘How big is this campus after all?’ Soarame couldn’t help asking.
‘It’s big enough for you to have more fun than you can handle, without going out of it.’ Dileys claimed with excitement. ‘The students’ area has all kinds of organisations to join; they hold a lot of events and activities — sometimes sport games. The town has so much going on too; lots of students get jobs there for practice.’
‘Jobs?’ Soarame’s eyes brightened. ‘I want to find a job too, so that I can make some money.’
‘Already? You just got here!’ Dileys was surprised. ‘What kind of job are you looking for?’
‘I don’t know, I want to have a look and choose. We are going to the town anyway, right?’
‘Okay, let’s find out. I suggest picking some work where you can practice magic at work.’ Dileys took out a booklet — it was a list of regular job openings. ‘I got myself a gardening job, because I can play with Water while I’m doing it.’
‘That’s cool. But don’t all jobs require magic here?’
‘No, most jobs here are ordinary, as most people in town are not wizards.’ Dileys patiently explained some basics. ‘Even our school staff, most of them are not wizards — like guards, chefs and cleaners. After all, we don’t have that many wizards in the world.’
‘Got it.’ Soarame nodded. ‘So what jobs do we have here?’
‘Let’s see… chop firewood? Carry timber? No, the age limit is older and it’s probably better for Wind students… Library work? Mail delivery? These are fine, but are not relevant to Water magic.’ Dileys paged through the booklet. ‘How about washing dishes or mopping floors? These could suit you.’
‘No thanks... I’ve done that at home. Are there any fun jobs?’ Soarame was a bit disappointed to see that most of the interesting jobs were for older students.
‘Fun jobs?’ Dileys went further through the booklet with Soarame for a little while —
‘How about this?’ Soarame picked a job called “ice engraving — helper. Minimum age: 12. Minimum school grade: 1.” According to the description, this job was to help the engraver artist prepare ice cubes, cut roughcasts, sand the work and so on, so that it could be exhibited to public when it was ready. This looked very interesting to Soarame, as he had always appreciated the arts — when he was living with Filton, he carved wooden blocks with his little knife from time to time, but never got a teacher to train him how to do it better.
Following the instructions in the booklet, Soarame and Dileys got to the engraver’s studio. The studio was not a giant building; the size was similar to Filton’s, but well decorated.
‘There we go.’ Soarame was excited. ‘Can’t believe we actually have an art studio here.’
‘I know, right? The campus is big and has a lot of different things.’ Dileys agreed. ‘This is just the edge of the town. There’s a lot more in the town. You’ll be impressed when we get there.’
‘How can I help you?’ A man came up to greet them soon after they walked into the studio building. The three of them had a quick talk and got to know each other. The man was actually the sculptor himself, named Dafinol. Dafinol was very easy-going and showed the two to his exhibition room, so that Soarame could see if he liked this place. The room was freezing, and they saw lines of nicely-done ice sculptures on the tables there.
‘You can touch them if you want.’ Dafinol suggested. ‘They won’t melt as long as you don’t grab them for too long.’
Soarame put his hands on a sculpture of a dragon. He recognized this one at first glance, because his master had shown him various pictures of dragons and repeatedly emphasised the dangerous nature of these creatures. Upon physical contact through his bare hands, Soarame could feel the extremely slow but steady movement of Water Elements within the sculpture, as if they were trying to talk to Soarame and convince him that they were alive; if Soarame was able to guide them, they were ready to follow Soarame’s will.
‘You like dragons?’ Dafinol was pretty proud of this work “Dragon Roar” himself; he was glad to see Soarame immersing himself in it.
‘Ahh, yes of course.’ Soarame woke up from the fantasy of Water Elements. ‘It’s so vivid and alive — did you ever see a live dragon before?’
‘I wish.’ Dafinol sighed. ‘But I’ve only seen pictures.’
‘They are dangerous.’ Dileys said, as every wizard was told. ‘You are not afraid to see a real one?’
‘No, if I could get to see a real one, I’d happily to do anything in exchange.’ There was fanaticism in Dafinol’s eyes. ‘I live for carving, die for carving. That’s what I do with my life. If I could see a real dragon and make a sculpture of it, I would never regret it no matter what.’
‘This man is a real artist! I respect him.’ After the two walked out of the studio, Soarame still could not get over Dafinol’s words. Soarame’s job had been confirmed, so from then on he would work in the engraving studio on the weekends. As for the salary, Dafinol was generous enough to offer 10 gold coins a day, which was more than Soarame expected — perhaps, soon enough, he would be able to send money to Filton!
‘This job is fun, right?’ Dileys was happy that Soarame had got what he wanted. ‘As I told you, the campus is as much fun as Cylone City.’
‘Nice, so we don’t really have to leave school at all.’ After his unhappy experience in Cylone, Soarame liked this idea.
‘That’s exactly the point.’ Dileys said. ‘Look, we are in town now.’
‘Oh right, it does look like Cylone City — is this a bank?’ Soarame was walking pass a big building decorated with red diamonds. ‘I have some coins in my dorm to deposit.’
‘No, it’s an office of Cylone Auction Hall. People can deposit their works here so that they don’t have to go out to Cylone for the auction every time.’ Dileys explained. ‘Dafinol must be familiar with it; I bet his sculptures are popular there. You should ask if you can attend an auction with him some time.’
‘How much does a sculpture usually fetch?’
‘That I don’t know, but it won’t be cheap.’ Dileys suddenly thought of something. ‘Soarame, if you can carve your own work, you’ll make a lot more money.’
‘Oh yes! Why didn’t I think of that?’ Soarame was enlightened. ‘I’ll ask Dafinol if he’s willing to teach me.’
The two spent the entire day walking around the town. Soarame enjoyed the tour and found all kinds of interesting things. Upon Dileys’ insistence, Soarame even got his hair cut and now looked even cuter. The boy really liked this place; although there was some distance between the students’ area and the town within the campus, it was much more
convenient than getting through the maze to go out. Soarame and Dileys split up when they got back, and agreed to meet again to check out the results of Soarame’s college application when it was announced.
The results didn’t take too long to come out. Three days later, the admissions building was crowded. Soarame and Dileys made a great effort to get close to the callboard to look for Soarame’s name.
‘Soarame, look!’ Dileys said. Soarame followed Dileys, only to find that it wasn’t his name she was pointing at —
‘Kriagon, major in Wind and Fire, minor in Light, Halston College.’ He read from the board.
‘Remember that chubby boy?’ Dileys said in surprise. ‘He’s actually not bad! This means that his gift in Wind and Fire are both at least “capable”. For Light it doesn’t reach that, but he still can give it a try.’
‘In our school, the grade of a student is based on the magic power he reaches, regardless of his age. For example, the age of a Grade 3 can vary from ten to fourteen, but it’s not surprising when someone is younger or older than that.’ Dileys knew that there were lots of basics for Soarame to understand. ‘A student of any major can graduate from the institute as long as he reaches Grade 6, and must graduate if he reaches Expert level, which maps to Grade 7 but we don’t have that grade here.’
Soarame listened and nodded. His master had told him about four ranks for wizards: Novice, Adept, Expert and Master. Accordingly, Levels (or Grades) 1 to 3 were different sub-levels within Novice; 4 to 6 were for Adept; 7 to 9 were Expert; and finally, Level 10 meant Master. Soarame knew that his master wanted him to become an Expert before graduation, not just a Grade 6. ‘How many years are we supposed to stay here?’
‘It really depends. Most graduate in a few years, when they are about 20 years old. But I heard that some crazy genius graduated as early as 16 in the past, and some stay much longer.’
‘How old is Rodka, then?’ Hearing this, Soarame had to ask.
‘Ah... Rodka is an absolute star here!’ On hearing the name “Rodka”, Dileys’ eyes suddenly shone up. ‘Grade 5 in Wind, Fire and Light, but only 17! What a genius… do you know how hard that is?’
Realising the greatness of Rodka, Soarame couldn’t help his feelings of admiration. It seemed that Soarame really had to work hard, as he definitely wasn’t the only one with gifts.
Seeing how Soarame marvelled, Dileys was satisfied and changed the topic. ‘We haven’t found your name yet, Soarame, hurry up!’ The two again started searching for Soarame’s name.
‘Soarame, I’ve found it!’ Said Dileys after a while. ‘Your college is… What? Why?’
****
‘Your name is Soarame?’
In a meeting room, a skinny old wizard in a leather chair raised his head, scrutinising Soarame. By his side, there were five other wizards gazing at Soarame too. Soarame recognised one of them, Aertiuno, who had given him the entry test the other day.
‘Yes, I’m Soarame.’ Soarame was a little nervous; he had no idea what was happening.
‘Soarame.’ Said the old wizard expressionlessly. ‘You are a new student, with a mere “capable” gift in Water, and you choose not to learn Lightning for now. Why do you think Stanfaul College should admit you?’
‘Err…’ Soarame pondered for a while, but didn’t really know how to answer; so he asked a question in reply. ‘Sir, why am I the only one here? Everyone else has their colleges announced.’
‘Because they all picked their college in a reasonable way, except you.’ The old wizard was still expressionless. ‘You can call me Dean Romboton. I’m the Dean of Stanfaul College. This is Dean Akex, the Vice Dean.’ Dean Romboton introduced the wizard on his left; he was red-faced, potbellied man, quite different from Dean Romboton in shape.
‘Soarame, in case you don’t know, students who apply for our college are all highly gifted in at least two lineages. I see you have a superior gift in Lightning, but that’s just one lineage and it’s deactivated.’ Dean Akex took over from Dean Romboton. ‘With a capable gift in Water, which is your only major, it’s likely that you will be the weakest student in maybe the entire institute, for at least a few years — assuming that you work hard enough. And you should know that, in the magic world, power counts for a lot.’
Soarame listened in silence. His master had once told him that the rule of gift assessment had been in dispute for decades. Normally, a student should not be judged on his gifts; but this was a magic institute, cultivating wizards to protect the world, so it judged students’ potential not only for the greater good of the world, but also for the safety of students — if one was not gifted enough to learn some certain spell but went for it, that could result in serious injury. Therefore, after accidents had happened multiple times in the past, the institute enforced this seemingly cruel gift-assessment policy. Also, the colleges competed with each other in all kinds of events and matches in order to achieve their rankings in the institute, hence they all wanted their students to be as strong as possible at all times.
As a consequence, just like Dean Akex pointed out, Soarame was very likely to be the weakest student in the entire institute, at least for the next few years. Of course, Soarame hadn’t thought about this when he submitted his college application. Now, the odds were actually stacked against him — he was summoned to this interview, held by the Deans from three colleges that he applied to.
Soarame crossed his fingers nervously. Thinking of Dileys’ bewilderment upon seeing his name on the callboard appended with “college to be confirmed”, Soarame knew that all his questions would be answered here in this interview.
‘Soarame, are you with us?’ Dean Romboton’s voice sounded again. ‘We are still waiting. Why were you so brave as to choose Stanfaul?’
‘Err… I can perform Lightning later?’ Soarame was not sure what else to say; he really wished his master hadn’t asked him to keep the Wind gift secret. ‘And I really adore the Great Libral, so I just had to give his college a try.’
‘Well, this puts you at risk now. If you can’t impress us today, you may be denied by all three colleges, and we are not sure where to put you if that happens.’ Dean Romboton looked at Soarame. ‘How about this? I offer you another chance to redo your college application. Think carefully now and tell me your new first choice.’
‘Stanfaul College is my first choice.’ Soarame pondered a bit but was not willing to change.
‘Are you sure?’ Dean Romboton arched an eyebrow. ‘You won’t have another chance.’
‘Yes sir.’ Soarame took a deep breath and held it. ‘I must give it a try, and I have no regrets whatever happens.’ Soarame recalled Dafinol’s words days ago and was infected by his courage.
Hearing Soarame’s words, one of the old wizards beamed a hint of smile on his face. Soarame didn’t know that this wizard was actually the most superior member of the committee — the Principal of the institute, Gazbell, the one who Scankeen had visited before he left. Hearing Soarame’s words, Gazbell knew that this boy had passed the first test. Dean Romboton and Dean Akex glanced at each other, and both found a hint of approval in each other’s eyes — they were also pleased to hear what the boy had said. The school seemed to be cruel on students by judging their gifts, but at the same time it could test their confidence, attitude and belief, too.
‘Nice job, Soarame.’ Before Dean Romboton said anything, another old wizard chopped in. ‘You adore the Great Libral so much that you decided to put Bosstin College before Halston College? Do you know how hard we work to get a better ranking for our college?’
Soarame had a brief puzzle before he realised what was going on — needless to say, this wizard was the Halston Dean.
‘Dean O’heven’s question makes sense. Why did you put Bosstin before Halston? It’s a sharp contrast to the rankings.’ Dean Romboton asked.
Soarame pondered for a bit but finally decided to tell them the true reason. ‘Because I think Halston may not welcome Water students as much as Bosstin.’
>
‘Nonsense!’ Dean O’heven was astonished to hear that. ‘Who told you that? In our school, we all treat students of any lineage equally.’
‘Mr. Dean, a student from your college laughed at me for majoring in Water.’ Soarame had to speak up for himself. ‘But I can’t tell you who.’
‘Not possible!’ Dean O’heven was upset to hear Soarame’s accusation, and glanced at Gazbell while responding. ‘Halston does not have this kind of student; you must be mistaken.’ Immediately after he had spoken, Dean O’heven already regretted challenging Soarame. A matter like what Soarame described could be as bad as people wanted it to be, or as trivial. Therefore, in front of the Principal, this had to be properly handled.
Gazbell looked completely impassive, but he was actually amused. He was actually the one that made this interview happen, because he wanted to observe Soarame in person. Of course, he hadn’t told anyone about Soarame, so that they could feel free to ask tough questions. In that way, Gazbell would have a chance to see Scankeen’s apprentice’s reaction under pressure, and see if he really had a strong enough heart to become a great wizard later on. However, he hadn’t expected that Soarame would be able to put the pressure back on them, and he didn’t want this topic to be expanded. ‘Dean O’heven, you should clarify this matter, but for now let’s move on to the next question.’
‘Certainly. I’ll go do it right now.’ Dean O’heven was thankful that Gazbell let him walk away. He left the meeting room, with one last glance at Soarame.
Closing the door, Dean O’heven looked thunderous. He knew that Soarame was not lying; all senior wizards were very sensitive to people’s mind waves, which resonated when one was performing magic, thinking hard, getting emotional or nervous — such as when telling a lie. Dean O’heven guessed who Soarame was describing — one of his favourite students, named Casavin, fit that style. He had been turning a blind eye out of fondness for the boy, and it had been so far so good. However, mistakes had happened this day; therefore, actions had to be taken.