Aethernea

by Cloe D Frost

  And besides, what were the odds of getting someone annoying?

  Kiel suddenly felt chills travel down his spine.

  He looked up at Elaru, and then checked out the two professors, but nothing strange was taking place. He spread his mind to check his surroundings, but he found nothing out of the ordinary.

  Why did he suddenly get a bad feeling?

  Kiel shrugged and shook his head. Elaru might be right, he was worrying too much.

  He continued filling the papers until he reached a section about the practical part of the exam. He needed to pick which practical exam he would take, assuming that he collected enough points to be eligible to take it.

  There were many types of mages entering the university with varied specializations and skills, it was unrealistic to expect everyone to have the same skill set and even more absurd to test for it. Therefore, the university prepared different scenarios that examinees could choose to better display their particular skillset.

  Kiel slowly looked over his options, the only thing he could go by was the name of the scenario, they didn’t provide any additional details.

  There were many scenarios tied to a specific profession such as “Healing and damage control”, “Herbalism & Alchemy”, “Arts & Crafts”, “Engineering and enchanting”, “Beast handling”, etc.

  There was also a variety of scenarios that required or could be completed with a varied skillset such as “Hunt” and “Apprehend and rescue”.

  It was here, faced with so many different options, that Kiel understood that even now, with the abundance of mana, he was still severely lacking as a mage.

  Having plenty of mana couldn’t turn him into an incredible mage. Mana could only open the path for him that leads towards that goal. It was up to him to walk down that path.

  Currently, he could cast a variety of magic spells, but most of them were low-level spells that every mage knew. Granted, his execution of them was flawless, but what he could do with them wouldn’t be enough to excel in any of the offered scenarios.

  He had no specialization, he wasn’t particularly skilled in any area.

  Kiel felt cold sweat rolling down his back.

  Didn’t Elaru say in her previous evaluation that he was skilled enough to get full points in the practical part of the exam? What scenario did she have in mind? He looked up at her, like a little pechuh asking for help.

  When he realized what he was doing, he quickly looked down at his papers, disgusted by himself. He didn’t need anyone’s help. He was always on his own, and he relied only on himself. That made him independent and competent. That’s who he was. He didn’t need help!

  He exhaled quietly, calming himself down.

  He went to the top of the listed scenarios and mentally gave them his evaluation of what skills were needed to excel in that scenario.

  “Healing and damage control?” That needs knowledge of healing magic, familiarity with the bodies of argel and elibu, medicine and medicinal plants, diseases and ailments.

  He continued down the list, often stopping to cross over a scenario that he thought was impossible for him.

  Soon enough he was left with only a few options. Most of the leftover options were vague and Kiel couldn’t tell exactly what skillset would be necessary.

  There was only one scenario where the required skillset was quite clear – “Battle Royale”. Obviously, the test would require him to show his combat prowess.

  He was alone most of the time with his only opponents being trees, so he found it hard to gauge his own battle capabilities.

  Still, Kiel felt that this was the test that he had the highest chance of excelling at.

  The magic that he was the best at was acceleration magic. And even if he couldn’t beat his opponents, he could at least run around fast enough to avoid their attacks. In the worst case scenario, it could turn into a battle of attrition, and since Elaru’s mana pool was larger than most people, he would win when his opponents ran out of mana.

  Kiel circled the “Battle Royale” option, satisfied with his choice. He wasn’t useless after all. He even had a few days before the exam, so he could use them to brush up on his skills and prepare.

  His satisfied smile quickly left his face when he turned the next page of the sign up forms.

  He needed to report his “special skills” so that Muni could prepare to test his speciality. Special skills were different from the practical exam. You could get special points only if you had extraordinary, rare abilities. The main purpose of this test was to give peerless geniuses a higher chance to be accepted into the university and separate them from everyone else.

  There was a large list of offered “special skills”, such as “Aethernea wielder”, “Possesses flawless recollection”, and “ingenious breaker”.

  Kiel went over the list quickly. His heart tightened.

  Elaru made it sound like all his problems would be solved if he had enough mana. When he finally felt a sea of mana rolling through him, he felt like he could do anything. That he was now better than everyone else. He even entertained the thought that he would score the highest on the exam and make his family shocked. He thought that these exams would be his stage. That he would show everyone that he was a genius mage. He would finally get the respect he deserved.

  Looking at it now, if he didn’t ace the practical and if he didn’t apply for a special exam, he couldn’t hope to reach the top 10.

  He would pass the exam, but he would at most be above average among other nobles.

  In fact, his grandfather might even say that his performance embarrassed their family name. He might even be ridiculed in the end.

  His fist clenched. He wouldn’t be able to surpass his ass of a brother. He would always be in his shadow.

  His knuckle turned white and he was slowly losing all feeling in his hand.

  When his eyes passed over “pure mana wielder” entry, he gritted his teeth. He was a pure mana wielder, but he couldn’t let anyone know about it. It felt unbearable. Those 25 points were so close yet out of reach!

  His mind echoed with ridiculing words of others. He could see them sneering at him, mocking him. Telling him how unremarkable he was. How he was never special. And even if he was no longer a non-mage, he was still a nobody.

  The voices got louder and louder, his head hurt, his breathing became raspy.

  And when the voices became so loud, he thought his head would explode, suddenly, everything went quiet. His eyes focused on two words.

  “Spell replicator”

  He stared at the two words dumbfounded.

  “Spell replicator”

  His eyes widened. How could his mind go so off track?! He could weave anything! It didn’t matter if he didn’t know a spell, because as soon as he was confronted with it, he would learn it very quickly.

  Spell replicators were mages whose job was to replicate spells. They would be given an enchanted item, a magic artefact, or even a spell design itself, and they would use it to replicate the spell.

  Spell replicators had only two skill requirements. One, they needed to be able to weave mana flawlessly, so flawlessly to be able to create a perfect replica of another spell. And two, in case they weren’t given a spell design but shown the spell, they needed to have a mana sense powerful enough to sense all of the details in the given spell, so they would be able to replicate those details.

  His weaving was flawless! And his Mind was very sensitive to mana! That is exactly why he could have such flawless weaving.

  He fit both requirements!

  Kiel’s eyes lit up.

  He circled the two words on his paper and smiled unconsciously.

  No one could beat him in basic mage capabilities. He lacked knowledge, but not ability.

  He would shine like a Xium gem! He would show everyone that he wasn’t a common rock! His family would feel endless regret for the way they had treated him.

  After filling up the initial form, he was greeted with a bunch of pa
pers with rules and regulations that he needed to be aware of (and sign that he had read them). He also needed to sign a document that stated that he takes all responsibility for any damage (or death) caused by the exam and the university is in no way accountable for it. It was the university’s way to avoid any legal responsibility.

  After he passed the filled papers back to the elibu going by the name of Rau Eryey, the man gave him another paper. The paper contained the schedule of the exams, so Kiel would know when and where he was supposed to take his exams.

  The friendly argel took out a round ceramic plate, the size of a large badge, and another signature pen.

  The argel man used the pen to write large, bright blue numbers on the plate – “5642”. He then turned the plate around to the other side and offered the plate to Kiel.

  “Sign your name here, on the back.”

  Kiel took it and quickly wrote down his elegant and curvy signature.

  Ahon Tonrai’s chocolate eyes seemed to smile as he explained. “This is your proof of identity and your exam pass.”

  Finally, Kiel had got his exam pass. He smiled softly and thanked the man. He had made it! He managed to sign up for the exam! All he had to do now was pass it.

  Ahon continued speaking in a gentle and pleasant voice explaining the purpose of the plate:

  “This is your entry number.” He motioned to number “5642” that he had written on the plate. “For the sake of privacy and ensuring everyone receives equal exam conditions, we don’t use your real names on the exam, but instead, we refer to you by your number. Don’t lose it. You can’t enter the exam without it.”

  Kiel thanked the man again politely, smiling his charming smile, before bidding both men farewell.

  He noticed that Elaru seemed to have gotten pretty friendly with the two while he was filling the forms. They waved them goodbye and wished them good luck on the exams.

  “Hope to see you in school!” Ahon smiled brightly.

  “You most certainly will!” Elaru grinned back.

  While they treated them both with respect and good intentions, he could tell both of them were especially friendly towards Elaru.

  Kiel didn’t know why that fact made him feel uncomfortable. They clearly didn’t have any bad or indecent intentions. Was it that he envied people who could make others like them while still staying true to themselves?

  He shook his head and put it to the back of his mind. It was beneath him to feel jealous.

  Kiel and Elaru exited through the foyer through the university gates in silence. After they were out of earshot and line of sight, Elaru turned to Kiel and asked: “What now? Any places you want to visit?”

  Kiel looked towards the horizon into the golden setting sun that died the sky orange. It had been a long day.

  “It is getting late. The only place I want to visit is an inn.”

  “Hmm, I know of a cozy little inn nearby that has an excellent cook.” Elaru suggested with a smile.

  Kiel didn’t protest her suggestion. He had never stayed in an inn before so he had no idea what Ashar inns were considered good, or where to even begin searching for one.

  * * *

  Kiel quickly found out that his definition of “nearby” didn’t match with Elaru’s definition of “nearby”.

  The only reason why he chose not to complain was because the small inn in front of them didn’t look bad at all.

  It was a small tavern, but it looked well cared for and friendly. It was in a good neighborhood filled with little houses that were glued to each other like canned fish. The houses were built from warm colored bricks and decorated by pots of flowers.

  Kiel stared at the wooden sign in front of him showing a large pot and two words – “Hot Pot”.

  Hot Pot? Seriously?

  He shook his head and followed Elaru inside.

  As soon as they entered, they noticed a middle aged, short, plump woman sitting at the reception desk. Her almond eyes were reading the newspaper while her thin lips were sipping on a glass of lemonade. Her brown hair with a few orange strands was tied into a plat on the back of her head covering her argel round ears.

  Kiel could tell that the woman wasn’t a mage because her mana drifted around freely, showing no sign of forming a Mage Armour.

  The woman didn’t bother to look up before saying “Sorry, we’ve got no available rooms left.”

  Kiel stopped in his tracks. He would have walked out if he didn’t see Elaru completely disregard the woman’s words. Elaru leaned on the counter. “What about that nice little comfy one on the attic?”

  A flash of recognition washed over the woman’s face and she looked up in surprise. When her eyes fell on Elaru, her face spread in a wide grin. “Dear, you are back from your quest? What took you so long?”

  Elaru scratched her head sheepishly, giving Kiel a side glance. “Ah well… I got sidetracked.”

  The woman noticed Elaru’s glance and shifted her eyes onto Kiel’s soft smile, before looking him up and down.

  “What do we have here?” The woman chuckled warmly before taking a sip of her lemonade. Her thoughts were written clearly on her face: Where did you pick up this pretty boy?

  Elaru turned towards Kiel, smiled in delight and motioned her hand towards the woman. “Kiel, this is Mira. She and her husband own this little tavern.”

  Then she put her left hand on Kiel’s shoulder and motioned towards him with her right hand. “Mira, this is Kiel.” Kiel noticed how she purposefully avoided mentioning last names. “He is my… “

  Elaru struggled to find the right words. Friend? Colleague? Fellow future student? Partner?

  “…mate!”

  And of course, she had to choose the word leaving most room for misunderstandings. And the way she said it wasn’t helping either. She said it with pride, glee and delight.

  Mate was a tricky word. When used to refer to a male and female pair, it would mean that the two are romantically involved. When used by people of the same gender, it would mean they are good friends.

  Kiel’s smile froze.

  He wasn’t sure if Elaru used the word “mate” as a short for “soulmate” or if she was trying to say that he was her good friend. But at this point, it didn’t matter. He had to fix the damage.

  The argel woman, whose name seemed to be Mira, almost choked on her lemonade. After a strong coughing fit, she managed to squeeze out. “Mate? Is he the reason you got sidetracked?”

  “Yeah!” Elaru nodded before Kiel could stop her.

  Mira looked at Kiel sternly, like a mother inspecting her future son in law.

  Kiel’s eyebrow twitched. He was just about to fix the misunderstanding but Elaru beat him to it.

  “So, is my room free or not?”

  Mira turned to her, surprised, but nonetheless, she took the keys out of her desk. “Well… yeah… “

  “Then we’ll be taking it!” Elaru declared.

  Kiel almost face-palmed himself.

  Mira was flabbergasted. “But there is just one bed in there!”

  Elaru didn’t quite get the problem. She looked at Mira, confusion written all over her face. “So?”

  “There is two of you!” Mira tried to clarify.

  But Elaru, being Elaru… misunderstood completely… “Ooh! Don’t worry it’s a double bed, so we can both fit!” She waved it off.

  Kiel stood frozen. He wanted to set things clear, but he didn’t even know how to go about fixing it.

  Elaru snatched the keys from Mira’s shaking fingers and waved her bye. “We’ll be coming down to dinner soon! Mmmm, I sure hope chef’s special is on today’s menu!” Without further ado, she ran up the stairs gracefully. She knew exactly where the room was.

  Kiel stood glued to the spot, his face frozen into a soft smile. It wasn’t until Elaru called out to him that he was shaken out of his stupor.

  “What are you standing around for? Come on!”

  Kiel rubbed his temples and slowly followed her upstairs.
<
br />   How would he resolve this issue?! This girl had no common sense!

  * * *

  Coming up in the next episode:

  “What do you mean it’s big enough?!? However you look at it, it’s a one person bed!!”

  Who the heck is Wade?!

  He sighed and removed his hand. I’ll just have to teach her some mann… “what the heck are you doing?!” His thoughts were interrupted by the sight in front of him.

  Episode 13 – Hot Pot

  Episode 13 – Hot Pot

  Previously:

  By the time Kiel was done signing up for Ashar University entrance exams, the night was already falling. Elaru leads Kiel to a small inn, Hot Pot, whose owners she seems to know. However, there is only one room with one bed available and they have to share.

  * * *

  By the time Kiel came up to the attic, Elaru had already unlocked the room and entered. The sturdy doors to the room were enchanted to open only with the right magic key. Kiel didn’t expect a small tavern to have such an enchantment.

  And it wasn’t just the door that was enchanted. As his mind probed the surroundings, he noticed that the walls had a sound isolating magic array formation set up. It would make sure no sound entered or exited the room, giving them utmost privacy.

  The night had just fallen, and there was not much light coming through the windows. However, the room was bathed in a warm light coming from many yellow crystals embedded in the ceiling.

  Not bad, not bad at all.

  It was probably safe enough to leave their belongings here while they ate dinner. And Kiel could also relax knowing that no one would be able to hear him being an ass.

  As he entered the room, he was still busy contemplating how he would solve this issue of a single bedchamber. Elaru was too impulsive and she didn’t care for etiquette and social norms.

  His thoughts paused when he saw the insides of the room. The room was filled with wooden furniture and it had a very warm and pleasant feel to it. Just like the rest of Hot Pot. But that wasn’t what surprised him. What surprised him was that the room was filled with mementos, books, and personal items. It didn’t look like a room one would expect to find in an inn.