Chapter 11: Specialization test

"Is there anything else you want to ask about?" Lorraine asked.

"Thanks, that was all. But I will trouble you to direct me to the examination center as this is my first time here, and I don't know my way around this place," Vincent said as Lorraine nodded.

Lorraine looked at Vincent with a smile. "No worries. Just follow me, and I'll bring you to the exam center."

"Okay,"

"Hilary, cover for me for a while," Lorraine said to her colleague.

"Alright but don't forget to treat me, later," Hillary replied.

Vincent followed along as they walked towards the elevator. They arrived on the 6th floor after taking the elevator. Then, as they arrived at the specialist's examination room, Vincent saw a row of tables and chairs. Except for them, only a middle-aged man with a scholarly look could be seen lazily sitting in a chair in this room, and he didn't even turn to look in their direction as if he didn't notice them entering the room.

"Hello, Old Jack!" Lorraine exclaimed.

The middle-aged man was shaken up from his dreamy state, and he lazily glanced in their direction, and said, "What brings you here, so late at night?"

Jack is the supervisor for the first test. He likes to work night shifts as there's a lot of time to slack off. Night's the time when only a low amount of individuals visit the adventure association.

"This boy here wants to take the examination. I'll leave him in your care. If he passes then take him to the combat examination center." She said before smiling towards Vincent. "I'll be in the registration office. If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to bother me."

Vincent nodded. Then, Lorraine stepped out of the room and took the elevator to return to the first floor, and she then returned to her workspace.

Meanwhile, Jack carefully sized up Vincent and after a while, he asked, "What do you specialize in?"

"I wish to participate in the inscription specialization exam," Vincent replied.

Jack felt that this youth in front of him must be joking. To specialize in inscriptions, one would need to memorize over 30 books. It was already hard to purchase such books and even harder to memorize those books, but a person also needs to be able to inscribe them to pass the exam.

How could a person so young, be able to memorize and inscribe inscriptions?

Old Jack gazes at Vincent incredulously. "Are you sure? The exam set by the adventures association isn't easy to pass. First, I would ask you questions. The questions can only be answered by a participant who truly understands all the contents of the inscription. Then, you need to draw different kinds of inscriptions within a certain time limit. Otherwise, you will fail and won't be able to try this registration exam for six months," he said seriously.

If Vincent fails to pass the adventure association registration examination, then he won't be able to take the same test for six months. However, he was confident in his ability and knowledge.

"Yes, sir, I am sure." Vincent nodded seriously. "As long as all these questions are about inscriptions, I can easily provide an answer."

"Since you are confident, it must mean that you are have prepared for this. Just take a seat anywhere, and we'll begin the exam," Jack said.

"Do I need to take off my backpack?"

"Nah, there is no need. My eyes will be focused on you the entire time, so you better no cheat. Otherwise, you'll be automatically disqualified."

"I understand," Vincent said as he walked to the nearest chair and sat on it.

"I will ask five questions. If you can provide three correct answers then we'll move to the next stage." Jack said, "What is an inscription and how is it created?"

"Inscription is a type of expendable weapon created by using a beast's heart blood and its energy core," Vincent answered. He continued by providing the answer to the second question: "First, a beast's heart blood is used to inscribe inscription patterns. Then, a suitable energy core is integrating into the inscription to complete it. For example, energy cores related to flame and heat are compatible with fire inscription."

"All right! Question two. Name two types of things that can be created by using inscriptions? Also, briefly explain the method of their creation.

"They are beast's equipment and talisman. A weapon or armor gains a special effect once an inscription is successfully inscribed on them. Similarly, if a person draws an inscription on a piece of paper made out of energy conducting wood, he can create a talisman."

"What affects the quality of an inscription?"

"An inscription is made up of many inscription patterns. If the patterns aren't inscribed correctly, the quality of the inscription decreases."

"Define three different grades of inscription."

"No.1: Enchantment-Grade Inscription: Inscribed on armor or weapons to give them special effects. The special effects last until the inscription is damaged. The help of an inscriptionist is necessary to repair inscription patterns.

«No.2: Magic-Grade Inscription: Created by Inscribing a magic technique in the scroll. It can be quickly activated during battle to hurl a fireball at the opponent or create a shield to defend from the opponent's attack.

«No.3: Auxiliary-Grade Inscription: Inscription created to be used for auxiliary purposes such as instant clean, communication, voice recording, and image recording, etc are defined as Auxiliary-Grade Inscription›

After hearing Vincent's explanation, Old Jack beamed a smile. His words were clear and concise and easily understandable. That just proves his perfect knowledge of the subject of inscription.

"Good! Good! Let me ask you these two hard question 'when inscriptions were first introduced, there were classified into five grades each vastly different than the others. However, later on, one grade was banned. Which one is it? Why did the Earth Federation ban the practice and creation of this type of inscriptions?'" Old Jack was impressed with Vincent, and he asked a difficult and a disgusting questions in excitement.

Vincent considered for a moment and replied, "It was the Cursive-Grade inscription. Cursive-grade inscriptions create Cursive-grade weapons and talismans. They were considered the strongest type, also. However, the materials were only obtainable through the dead bodies of tortured humans and demi-humans. That's why there were banned."

Old Jack nodded his head in improvement. He had started to view Vincent in another light. It wasn't a daily occurrence to meet a talented and knowledgeable youth in the middle of the night.

Old Jack questioned him several dozen more times, but each time Vincent provided him with an accurate answer. Jack's eyes opened wide like saucers with his jaws threatening to touch the ground and his eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets as he was shocked to know that Vincent, a young boy is more knowledgeable than a professional inscriptionist.

"You have passed the first part of this test with full marks. Now, you just need to draw one correct inscription out of three to pass the second part. It has a time limit of thirty minutes." Old Jack said before he walked up to him, and passed a question sheet.

Vincent took it and read the questions. He needed to draw the inscription patterns of three distinct grades to pass with full marks.

Under the scrutinizing gaze of Old Jack, Vincent took the ink brush that was on top of the table and dipped it in the black inkpot. The moment it was stained with sufficient ink, he pulled it out and started to fill the answer sheet with answers.

The time limit of the test was thirty minutes, but Vincent completed the test in around 17 minutes. He purposely draws the shortest and easiest inscriptions of different grades as he wanted to be done with this test as soon and as fast as he can.

"I'm done," Vincent said as he handed over the answer sheet to Old Jack.

From the movement of Vincent's hands, Old Jack had already determined that he had passed as he was looking only at his hand movements throughout the span of 17 minutes. However, he still stared at the inscriptions drawn by Vincent, one by one, before he exposed a smile.

"Boy, you could become an expert painter with a little bit of training." Old Jack congratulated Vincent, "Congratulations! All the answers are right. You have passed this test with full marks."

Vincent smiled. It wouldn't be a lie to say that he was feeling a little bit prideful and happy. The years of hard work have finally paid off. He has been studying inscriptions ever since he was four years old, and then he thanked Old Miller from the bottom of his heart, as he truly taught the essence of inscription to him.