Testing and Patience

"Please sit down, a list of papers will be handed to you. Fill them out to the best of your knowledge. Use of tools is not permitted, this is a test of your ability not a test of what you can find out after the fact. 33 pages, 33 materials. Don't bother looking around, each of you will be monitored." The Instructor stood near the six tables, only six people were taking the test and today was the day.

Errit sat among them, waiting for the time to start.

"And begin." The administer was panning his eyes across the room, making sure none of them were cheating, it had become a problem.

Images came to life as Errit lifted the page and inspected it. He fed some energy into it and a strange metallic fragment was displayed in the ghostly image. 'Currenite or Currenium' He tried to look closer, he chose to write it as Currenite because it didn't look like it was a piece of something that had been crafted already. Then he started listing what it was for. 'Used for bonding multitudes of metal during forging, plating and exterior building coatings. It does not rust.' Errit put the bit about the building coatings in, he hadn't read it but he had observed it personally very early in his journey.

The next Question was about a long, flat, foot-shaped leaf, it had two distinct strips hanging from its top that looped gently over half of it. Errit remembered it easily. 'Slipper Tree. Soul-Setting, Anti-Curse, named because they resemble a shoe from earth. They ward off evil when worn until they are torn. Can be used in alchemy for chasing away bad spirits when thrown as a weapon, impacts can help with correcting behavior and it makes one hell of a bug repellent. The Herb itself is quite punishing to the user, it creates a rash against close surfaces after long exposure.'

Question after Question, things were fairly easy to answer. Then, he came to one had wasn't so sure of. It was a claw like plant, indistinguishable between that of a body part from a treant and that of a seed pod. Errit wondered for a while, he jotted down some notes on another ledger, set the paper down beside it and looked to the next page in the stack.

It was a Fruit. The sides of it hand bands of fire held together by scarred flesh. Its aura in the image was black, very black. 'Memesis Fruit' The name came to his head, Errit wrote it down. 'The Fruits of Carnage, better known as the Memesis Fruit, it helps those who eat it experience all the traumas of their lives at once. Its particularly painful to eat, those that do successfully eat the full fruit will be freed from their long standing fears and traumas. To date, only four trees for Memesis Fruit have ever been located. All of them reside in the Royal Gardens of Zao City.'

Errit's stomach growled throughout the entire testing session. There were still seventeen left to fill out when it had started, he got a dirty look from the instructor and administers. Looking down at the next page, he was very fortunate. It was an herb he had a particular interest in, it was an ingredient of the true self potion. The Nights flight Larkspur. Jotting down what he knew, it took up too much space, he flipped the paper over and finished his explanations. The administers scoffed a little, clearly amused.

He went on to fill out the remaining pages and tried not to attract extra attention or make large movements. One of the Final pages had a scale, it was just a single scale and it was small. 'Smaller than a dragon scale and not as thick, thin. a fish, from its size and diverging color at the top I'd say this came from a snakehead fish. approximately 9 feet in length, which means it was over 90 years old when this scale was discarded. They harden over time, they are particularly useful in the production of jewelry and magical accessories. Snakehead fish are native to the mountains, they spawn only during the winter when seeking warmth.'

The Final page of the exam had a blank page. It was blank except for the test requirement, Write down a material you think no one else knows about. Anything is fine, it will go uncounted in our test results. Errit was stumped.

He had seen a lot of things since coming to the world, but what could he write about, what could he discuss without giving away secrets. He couldn't discuss the Moonflower, he was literally sworn to secrecy on the matter. Then, Errit remembered the Phoenix Lords Feather.

He started writing. 'Phoenix Lords Blessing, a Feather of a Phoenix Lord, freely given and earned, it carries the willful and hopeful intent of the Phoenix Lord. Protective Charm. Generates a spark in interest and power. Luck altering, it shares a relationship with the Phoenix Lord of its origin and can become a cursed Item. Generates heat, relieves all symptoms on the body from exposure to heat. Creates heat resistance. Regenerative properties, a psychic tool.' Errit felt like he did a good job, he drew a feather that closely resembled the one he had previously. He couldn't help generate an image, he simply didn't have it anymore. Thinking that he added. 'Explodes after use.'

Finishing his stack of papers he looked to the side and saw one last paper. It was still sitting there, eyeing him. Errit grabbed at it and looked again. 'Kerawood Treant Claw Pod, the seed from a species of treants and trees that are known to have hallucinogenic properties, they create illusions around them to bring in unsuspecting victims. Cursed Trees, they are often times the homes of Horesanic Bats. The Bats enjoy the bugs that tend to the withering corpses and carcasses at the foot of the Kerawood Trees. The Claw Pods are used as method to collect discarded bits of .. things. Each Pod can detach itself and wander freely to search for a place to root. Only the blind have been known to survive encounters. Subjects caught by the Kerawood tend to wait their entire lives for something to happen in its presence, losing focus on everything around them.'

He set the paper down on top of the rest, there was no order to them. Others in the room noticed his distinct and fast method of answering, jealousy clouded the room. The others were mostly finished, but Errit had been the first. He had even taken his time. Feeling productive, he closed his eyes and waited. It was better to be mentally prepared if he had failed. Errit didn't feel like he was going to fail, most of the questions were straight forward, he even had a nice selection of the herbs that were in the questions sitting in his ring.

Some of the others finally finished, when the last had put their final page to the stack the test ended.

"Please wait here. We will go over each of your papers individually and openly." He walked a few steps back and placed one of the pages onto a projection like device. It sent the hologram of a paper, handwriting and the images that came on it into the air for everyone to see. It was not Errit's paper but the older man beside him.

The Old man Gulped. he had been through the tests twice, this was his last chance. The Image was crystal clear, it was a Death Apple. Written down was Sweet Somers Apple and its description, a rudimentary one at that. The Page was marked a failure and the next brought up to the screen. One by one, they continued until he had failed three times. When he had failed for a third time during the test, he was disqualified from taking it again, his ninth attempt was his final. The instructor helped the old man to his feet and escorted him out.

Errit was next.