The Entrance Examination

For a while now, a little, red demon has been glaring at me. I was skipping along the city streets, enjoying the refreshingly cool, morning breeze. I let out a satisfied sound. "Ahh~ I'm so full! Aunt Tabitha, you definitely chose a great restaurant!"

"Of course!" the woman replied with gusto. "I know these streets and their best places like the back of my hand!"

Especially since we were now enveloped in such a pleasing atmosphere, I tried my best not to be too bothered by the red demon, who had now started to growl audibly. However, I thought that maybe I could appease it a little, so I peered down at its crouching form. It was festering in its own grumpiness. Holding out a cautious hand, I poked at its pinkish cheeks.

It screamed. "Gah! Don't go annoying me more, ya bastard!"

Immediately, this little demon was hit on the head by a much bigger demon. "Watch yar language, son! We didun raise ya to go sproutin' out such grody words!"

I flinched as I watched Joren curse out even more, and this time due to pain. His curses only earned him even more scoldings and beatings from his father, although I knew very well each hit was probably only as heavy as a kitten's paw.

I felt a presence come near me. "I know you've probably already grown used to us, but I will still apologize for my family's rowdy behavior," Tabitha told me, although she had a smile on her face as she stared at her family's antics.

"Oh, I actually find it quite endearing," I reassured her. Then, I shrugged. "Besides, the noise does keep me entertained."

She laughed a bit and softly agreed with me. The rest of the early morning, we walked towards the less crowded areas of Lunaris City, my left hand firmly held by the red-haired woman.

~~

Letting the last box of merchandise fall to the ground, I straightened up in a hurry and gestured at Joren excitedly. "I'm done here!"

He grinned and then glanced back at the wall clock hanging inside his relatives' underground storage area. "We still have about an hour 'til noon. We gotta leave now!"

I quickly kept pace as he ran back up to the main house, shouting at the windows, "Ma, Da! Me and Therion are going out for a bit, alright?!"

Immediately, the figure of a woman could barely be seen through the hazy glass window as she shouted back, "Don't go too far!"

Joren immediately grabbed at my arm and dragged me away. When we had just passed through the lot's gates, Tabitha called out again, "Come back in an hour, do you hear?!"

"Yes, Ma!" Joren replied back without even slowing down.

Based on the pamphlets I've seen days ago, the entrance examinations should be held at the central plaza of the city. Around two years ago, I had walked through the central markets, so I had a vague memory about where the plaza could be at. At first, our travel was smooth, but the closer we got to the center, the denser the people became. At one point, we couldn't even manage to move at all.

"What is up with this crowd?" I screamed in agitation.

"Iz always like dis at dis time of the year, child!" a booth owner replied from beside me. He gave me a toothy smile. "B'sides, who would'un wanna see such a spectacle, aye?"

I looked forward, and just above the heads of the people, I could glance the strong gusts of steaming air caused by-

"The Cameli-elephant thingies!" Joren proudly shouted at me, to which I laughed at quite hollowly before correcting him. "It's Cameliphanti, Monty."

"Yeah, yeah!" he said mindlessly, and then asked, "But how are we supposed to even get through this crowd?"

I thought about it gravely. '... How can we do that?'

Scanning my eyes around my surroundings, I knew the wall of people won't be dispersing any time soon, so waiting around won't do us any good. Besides, we only have a better chunk of an hour left to go through the exams. And if we choose to go around and look for more sparsely populated areas, time would only be our enemy especially since we don't even know our way around...

I looked up the tall and closely-knit rows of buildings surrounding us; most even towering over the humongous Cameliphanti themselves. And then a memory of a dream aided my thoughts. "... I've got an idea."

~~

We spent a good half of our remaining time chalking up to building owners so we could get access to their rooftops. Finally, a kind-looking old lady let us up onto her tea and poetry store, telling us how she too had once wanted her own daughter to enter the Academy. At the top of her building, she urged us on by patting at our behinds, cheering out, "Go get 'em boys!"

"T-Thanks, granny!" I shouted back, rubbing at my butt. That certainly left me a bit confused, but also a load more encouraged.

The first jumps were relatively easy. There was hardly any gaps between each building, and their heights were somewhat similar. When a large gap did come in between us, Joren and I had to use a bit of magic to aid us.

But soon, an obstacle came in our way. "Gosh, who knew we'd run out of buildings?"

"And how are we even gonna get down from here?!" Joren asked in a panic, constantly staring behind him, where a huge clock was embedded in a tower's outer walls.

11:56.

"F-Four minutes!" he screamed out shrilly, and then started to run around the edges of the building, looking for hand and foot holds. I knew it was pointless, though. The plaza was still a bit of a distance away, and the crowds were still very much a hindrance if we were to go on foot.

I gazed around me again, trying to look for a solution to our problem, but found myself getting drawn to the entrance examination itself. A row of examiners in fancy, sapphire robes sat on a long table, and a child stood at the center of a round, raised platform on the plaza. There were no longer any children left in line. She was probably the last one to undergo the tests.

'I have to think...'

But I kept staring at the process. The girl was now kneeling in front of a pole-looking object... The plaza started to glow around the girl. Just as the light died down, the sole examiner right in front of the girl started to shout; so loudly or perhaps, magically-enhanced, that the sound carried well even up here where we stood many meters away. "Fanny of Elrock, heir to the duchy: Pass with a medium green pigment!"

A few shouts of praise and congratulations came from the surrounding crowd below us.

I stared as the girl had gotten back up and thrust up a shining object in her hand. She was probably filled with great joy and pride that she wanted to show her token off. Even with the distance between us, I recognized the bubbly twin pigtails on her head.

'So that girl passed...' I thought, but I was soon broken from my reverie when the examiner started to announce the end of the examinations.

Joren screamed at them as loudly as he could, but it only proved fruitless. The crowds had began to erupt into an excited wave of noise. The exams were about to end...

Then, an image of a young girl with the whitest hair appeared in my mind. I knew I had to enter the Academy, no matter what...

So, I decided to do what my gut was telling me to do.

Gulping down at probably what was my most stupid idea, I called for my panicking companion and placed us just at the very edge of the rooftops. I looked down at the street floor, meters below us, and then at the nearby Cameliphantus. It had just exhaled a few minutes ago, so I knew it would take another any moment now.

I looked at Joren, and upon seeing my face, realization soon dawned upon his own and he slowly turned pale. I knew he already had a good grasp of what I was about to do.

"Do you trust me?" I screamed at the shaking boy beside me. My feet were tingling with excitement and my heart seemed ready to burst out of my body at any moment.

"No!" he replied, gripping so hard at my arms. He kept looking down at the ground far, far below us. "I don't! I don't! I don't!"

"Well..." I shrugged, grabbed him by his shirt, and thought, 'Too bad, then.'

I jumped, dragging him down with me.

"AaaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Wooo-yaAAHHHHHHH!!!"

And just as we were about to collide on the humped backs of the Cameliphantus, its blowhole opened just in time and out came a gust of hot air. The updraft bounced us up and into a temporary stop, afloat for all to see. I was able to wave at a gaping child in the middle of the heavy crowds, him tugging at the sleeves of his maid, pointing up at us in disbelief. Well, while I waved and smiled back in midair, my companion wasn't having as much fun as I was.

"Th-The wind's dying down! Therion, Therion, we're gonna drop!" he screamed and flailed around in a panic.

"Relax!" I shouted through the noisy winds, but I knew he had a point. Any moment now, the breath of the humongous creature would cease and we would end up as two flattened boys on the city pavements. So, I reluctantly grabbed for his hands, closed my eyes, and gathered in me the lighter kind of magic that I hadn't used in the longest of times.

"Notes," I whispered to myself, and was gladly replied with a blast of wind that threw us to our sides. Guiding the complex air blasts to the precise measurements, I blasted our bodies softly and gradually along the long line of Cameliphanti. Just as we would slow down from my wind magic, we would then be picked up by another updraft from the creature's exhalation. I kept this up, more jumping through air than actual flying, but soon, we have made it past the large crowds. With one last blast of wind magic, I dropped us down onto the middle of the plaza, just in time to shout at the examiners, who were starting to stand up for the final words.

"Wait! We're here for the examination too! Please have us!"

A row of examiners from the prestigious Lunar Academy for Special Mages faced us; both looking a little bit surprised and mildly affronted. Their expressions were comical, to say the least.

I dropped the boy in my arms into the ground, where he squatted down in a tired heap. Guessing that he won't be of much help any soon, I stood up straight and faced them alone. Left with no option, I could only give them my most winning smile. "Heh heh!"

A particularly stern-faced man with high cheekbones, stood up from his seat and harshly declared, "I believe we have already announced the end of the examination. I regret to say that you have arrived too late."

My eyes didn't fail to see the judging way the examiner had glanced up and down at us and our simple clothes, and how he had especially frowned on Joren, who was panting and shaking from our peculiar way of travelling.

After patting at him and asking about his health, I stepped forward towards the line of examiners, some looking at us in interest. I said as loudly as I can, "It is a well-known fact that the entrance examination for the prestigious Lunar Academy for Special Mages starts at seven in the morning and ends at noon during the last day. And as far as the world is concerned..."

I looked behind me, and gestured grandly at the giant clock embedded on the Clock Tower. Almost as though this was a show, the hands clicked together at the 12th hour at the very next moment, the bells tolling loudly. I spun forwards with a grin. "And as you can see and hear, we have arrived barely a minute before the end of the examinations! So, we aren't late. Just... fashionably on time."

I did a flurry of a gentleman's bow that I have often seen numerous men do from my past life. I straightened up to bow again slightly at the stern-faced man. "Please, if you would have us."

Then, I felt a hand grip at my shoulders, and I turned to see Joren standing proudly beside me, already looking like he had recovered from our exhibition, his hair a flaming red underneath the noonday sun. He, too, bowed at the examiners, "Please!"

And, as though spurned on by our little show, the watching crowds suddenly shouted with us too. "Please! Please, examine them!" they screamed again and again in festive tones, all too excited by this exciting set of events.

Joren and I looked at the crowds and then at each other, our faces both appalled and overjoyed by the scene we had caused. Even some of the examiners looked like they were enjoying the show.

""Please!"" we both shouted again and bowed at the examiners. ""Please let us go through the exam!""

Probably driven by the sincerity of our voices, or more probably due to the loud shouts from the crowd, the man was left with no choice but to obey our demands. After all, no matter how one may look at it, Joren and I really weren't officially late, and only came just in time. He sighed, and reluctantly said, "Fine. You may take the entrance examination, but as usual, you will be judged fairly, and if we deem you unworthy, then we can only decide firmly."

He looked at the cheering crowd with a cold look that quickly silenced them down. He flicked his robes forward, urging us to near the center of the platform. As we had barely seen from a long distance away, we were led to the upraised scepter in the middle of the exam area.

"State your names, origins, and if possible, your child of God results," the examiner told us, standing stiffly behind the scepter.

Joren looked at me once, and said clearly, "I am called Joren, a commoner, and... I haven't gone through any ceremonies as a child."

Upon hearing that, the crowd started to mumble in disappointment. I couldn't really blame them, since they've probably been witnessing how commoner after commoner had failed their tests the whole morning. Looking forward, though, I noticed how the examiners held professional and expressionless expressions.

I sighed, before speaking out as well. "Eleftherion, a commoner, and I also don't have any results to give."

The man's stoic face almost broke down and I could almost imagine his look of dismay at my words. But then, she quickly recovered and said to the boy beside me, "Joren of no high rank, come forward and be tested by the scepter."

Joren gulped down in nervousness before coming forward with shaky legs. Even though I knew he would do well, a feeling of worry still crept up inside me. Just like how the other child had done, Joren knelt slowly at the front of the scepter and bowed his head down. The seconds ticked by and my anxiety grew with every passing moment, and then...

The scepter glowed brightly, and I had to suppress a shout of joy, and when it had finally died down, I saw a frozen Joren looking down at his hands, where a pale blue glass token was visibly shaking from his grip. I grinned.

A blue token! That must mean he has incredibly rare magic potential!

Joren quickly got up from his kneeling and looked at me with disbelief plainly painted on his face. He mouthed, "BLUE TOKEN?!", and I gave him a double thumbs up.

"... Joren of no high rank: Pass with a light blue pigment..." The examiner was clearly shaken by the results as it wasn't every day one could witness a commoner pass the exams, much less with flying colors. It was common knowledge that the lighter the colors of a magic stone, the more powerful a person was. He looked down at my red-haired friend with a warm smile. "You are now cordially invited to enter the Lunar Academy of Special Mages. Will you accept?"

Joren looked like he was still in a state of disbelief when he muttered, "N-No-yaAWTCH!"

He soon came into his senses after I had pinched at his sides. He screamed loudly, "I-I mean, yes!!! I accept the invitation!"

I sighed in relief, and the crowds roared in excitement, disbelief, and joy. Joren stared at the screaming and clapping crowds with a dazed look, and soon came to smile back at them. But soon, I lost my own calm when the examiner's eyes turned towards me. Amidst the noise, he announced, "Now, Eleftherion of no rank, come forward and be tested by the scepter."

The noise immediately died down, and an almost expectant quality hung in the air, much like the buzzing positive energy about to come down from a lightning during a storm. Joren quickly hid his happiness and swiftly gave way for me. He smiled at me reassuringly as I passed by, to which I replied with a much smaller smile. My nerves had suddenly attacked me and now I found I was shaking just as much as Joren did as he approached the scepter.

Facing the scepter up close, I felt a great power. I felt the need to come closer...

"Ah-hemm!" A cough from the stern-faced man brought me back into reality. I quickly shook my head from my daze and set a knee down unto the ground. Breathing deeply, I bowed my head low and stared at the hard, gray floor.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.

Through my heightened senses, I could almost feel time slow down. I could hear the slow ticking of the gigantic clock a great distance away. I could hear the soft mutterings and whispers from the huge crowd. Through the ground where I knelt, I could sense the deep beatings of the two hearts of each of the humongous Cameliphanti creatures. I shivered as I felt an alien power come out of the scepter's gem, and flow into my body, seeping through my skin. Coldness... So cold...

And then, time resumed. A bright light suddenly blinded me temporarily, and then I found something hanging down my neck. Carefully, I grasped at the cold, rectangular token, and brought it upwards. I stared at it in wonder.

"Clear..." I muttered in shock. "It's clear..."

"E-Eleftherion of no high rank: Pass... with a clear white token..." the examiner looked down at me, his thin face deathly pale. "Child, you are now cordially invited to enter the Lunar Academy of Special Mages. Will you accept?"

My hands still shook as I held my token, but after seeing something incredibly different about it, I ripped it off my neck and swiftly hid it inside my pockets. Still staring up at the examiner, I said, "Yes, I accept the invitation."

"Good," the man said, although I knew he had noticed my sudden action. "Then this ends the final day of the Lunar Academy's entrance examinations. To all the accepted students, congratulations, but I will remind you that your rigorous journey is only just beginning. To the children who weren't able to pass, your future won't be any less because of this. Walk forth with pride, and who knows? Just like the High Wizard Josefo, you might just get your token in your fifth try!"

A great cheer came from the crowd, and then, a dozen mages suddenly pointed their wands towards the sky, chanted a spell, and out came colorful bursts of light from their wand tips. The sky was soon colored with fireworks, and images formed into wondrous patterns. Music and wisps of light soon followed this magic display, and dancing wispy animals started to drift around the crowd. An owl-shaped wisp flew around me, but it elicited the wrong kind of feelings and I instinctively flung my hand at it, making it lose form immediately.

Joren was soon befriending a mighty wisp dragon, and he followed it around, careful all the time to not come into contact with it. I observed the scene with such great amusement that I didn't sense the man approach me. Just when a hand was about to touch my back, my senses reacted and I had grabbed at it with swift movements. The examiner looked down at me in shock, and then looked at my hand. I quickly removed it from his wrist and apologized.

"No, it was my fault," the examiner said, gently rubbing at his wrist. "I snuck upon you too silently."

I stared up at the thin-faced man. He didn't look like much, but that usually meant that he was too strong for me to actually truly size him up. I still said, "I still apologize for my actions, and this also includes the blatant show of our magic when we first arrived."

"Oh, that." Unexpectedly, he smiled. "You made quite an entrance. That was some exquisite show of primary elemental magic."

"Yeah, well..." I muttered. "It wasn't much. I once dreamed about flying truly in the air, and I suppose that made me desire to enact that mode of travel."

"Well, whether it was brought about by quick thinking or childlike dreams, it doesn't matter much-" he told me, his light gray eyes trained on my own. "... Since you passed the exam with great results. Now, this may be rude of me, but might I have another look at your token?"

I quickly grew defensive, and it showed in my demeanor. My red-haired friend, as though sensing something was going on, quickly abandoned his dragon and ran to my side. Upon seeing the examiner, he quickly bowed a greeting. Then, he proceeded to act like my hero.

"Oh, yeah!" Joren shouted, as though remembering something important. "Therion, we gotta go back to our parents! We're gonna be late for that important lunch, right?"

He then proceeded to wink at me in a way he probably thought was quite inconspicuous. I sighed, but decided to play along. "Right!" I shouted out loudly. "I'm sorry, examiner, but we'll be sure to be back by sundown! And as for the token..."

I decided to show him a very quick glance of it. I brandished it out, making sure only one side was seen by him. He stared down at it for the longest second, and I was about to swiftly return it to my pockets, but then my friend suddenly pushed at my shoulder, and I tripped slightly. I looked back at him to complain and found him trying to evade the wispy dragon. "Hey!" I screamed at him in annoyance, but only belatedly understood what I had just done.

Looking down at my hand, I had overturned the token. The other side was clearly open for the examiner to see. I tucked it inside my hands, but when I looked up... The utterly surprised look on the examiner's face was all I needed to know.

He had seen it...