6 2

"Students! Your paper will begin in twenty minutes. Put away all your learning material and enter the venue sect by sect in the order specified in your examination letters. Sit at the table corresponding to the student number allocated to you in the letter. For easier navigation, each table is numbered according to your student numbers, and a name placard has been placed upon each table. You will be given further instructions after being seated. Please enter the venue with your examination forms in hand."

"Ah, we arrived just on time!" Alexei said. The students of the Verbatium sect were the first to enter the venue, and afterward, the other sects entered in neat files. Haochen walked to the front of the hall, tucking his form back into his robes. The students from each sect had been separated from their sects and scattered around the hall to prevent any plagiarism or cheating. He glanced around as he approached his table. Kol was at the opposite end of the venue. He could see his friend looking around, bored. About three tables away he noticed the Prince from before inspecting the Quill dip pen and bottle of ink placed on his table, seemingly finding the silver on the bottle fascinating. As if noticing Haochen's stare, he looked up. Haochen jilted a little at being caught and coughed awkwardly, not knowing what else to do.

Calibri stared at his face for a moment, then suddenly turned in his chair to give Haochen his undivided attention. Feeling his stare, Haochen glanced at him.

*Ba-dump*.

He frowned and raised his hand to rub at his chest again. It was a very odd ache like his heart was lurching, and there was a strange feeling below his diaphragm; like his stomach had dropped. Calibri tilted his head, still looking at him intently. His violet eyes flicked to Haochen's chest, then back to the young man's face.

"I noticed you rubbing your chest earlier, and again just now. Are you unwell?"

Haochen looked down at Calibri who was looking at him expectantly and slowly shook his head.

"Do you have a heart condition? Or did you eat something strange?"

Haochen shook his head.

"Are you anxious?"

Haochen thought for a moment. "I don't know. This hasn't happened before."

Calibri stared at him, thoughtful. "I have some ground roots that are very useful for stress or anxiety, here, you'll feel better." He said and extracted a small purple pouch from within his sleeve. Standing gracefully, he walked towards Haochen to hand him the pouch. "That's not necessary, your majesty-" Haochen started.

"Don't be scared, I'm not trying to sabotage or drug you." Calibri said, a laugh tinging the edge of his words.

"No, it's not that… I'm not scared or anxious, so you don't need to waste it." Haochen said.

Calibri raised a brow and put a hand on his hip. "Young Master, it would make your parents worried if you suffered an attack during the exam."

"It won't, your Majesty. Thank you though."

"Your Majesties, the test will begin soon, please take your seats." An invigilator said.

Calibri looked questioningly at Haochen. "Majesties? Oh! Are you a prince?"

Haochen nodded.

"Wow! A real-life prince? Wait, wait." Calibri said, going closer to Haochen whose eyes widened.

*Ba-dump!*

He felt the odd feeling again, but this time he stayed silent and still, as if he were afraid to disturb the silver-haired man's observation session. Calibri did something odd; he wafted the air in front of Haochen towards his nostrils and inhaled, then he tilted his head, looking at nothing in particular.

"You do smell like what I think a prince would smell like." Haochen raised both his brows and spoke slowly. "Your Majesty, you're also a prince."

Calibri's eyes flicked to Haochen, staring at him blankly as if processing the information. "Yes, but you're a 'Prince-Prince'." The matter-of-fact tone confused Haochen.

"A 'Prince-Prince'?"

"Yes, it's a prince who is a real prince." Calibri said with a nod.

"Aren't you a real prince?" Haochen asked. Calibri laughed lightly, rubbing the crystal teardrop earring at his left ear. "Yes, but there are princes like me, and then there are princes like you."

Haochen furrowed his brows. He was about to ask what that meant, but the invigilator was coming back. Calibri looked at the invigilator and his eyes widened. "Oops." He said, stepping back and making a face. He looked back at Haochen and smiled. "Good luck with the exam and don't psyche yourself out, you'll be fine." Calibri said, shoving the little pouch into Haochen's hands and before he could argue Calibri had already walked off. He was seated by the time the invigilator was back next to Haochen. Haochen looked at the pouch and sat down, frowning.

Calibri must have packed the pouch for himself, but he'd given it to him. He stared at Calibri for a while unconsciously, wondering why someone would be so kind at a time where it was every man for themselves. Everyone wanted to be placed within the top sixty students, if not for themselves, for their sects. Usually, the Grandmaster of the sixteen sects was just and fair. Abuse of power was unheard of, and the decisions made were so that all people regardless of their sect could thrive. However, it was also an opportunity to place yourself in a position of unquestionable authority even if you were not part of the royal family, with the power to override decisions of other sects at your own discretion. It would mean that great honor would be bestowed upon your sect for producing a candidate with the strongest source of power. This exam only took place towards the last four years of the present Grandmaster's fifty-year reign, so it wasn't a small or mediocre event. This exam had tremendous weight. This generation was lucky enough to fall within the time of the Grandmaster's retirement. All those who had great power but were born in the years prior were not considered for candidacy, but they were trained relentlessly to be able to help the young cultivators harness their true powers and unlock higher levels of cultivation when the time finally arrived.

Calibri pressed the balls of his palms to his eyes. It was bright, even inside the hall. Blinking hard, he glanced around at his fellow Verbatians who seemed to be suffering. They looked to be on the verge of migraines, rubbing elegant fingers against their sensitive eyes in agitation. Calibri furrowed his brows and glanced towards the man at the front of the hall. According to Alexei, there was a rule against having incantations on themselves, but without the incantation that temporarily cast a film over their pupils, the lighting would make the exam uncomfortable. He raised his hand and after a minute the man noticed him, and came over with a smile.

"Young Master, the examination will begin soon, it everything alright?" He asked.

"Yes Sir, but there's a slight problem, can I inconvenience you to assist me?"

"Of course, of course! It's not a problem, what can I assist you?"

Calibri glanced around again. "Sir, my people are not very used to such bright conditions, our eyes are very sensitive to light. When we leave our land we usually cast an incantation on ourselves to allow us to handle brighter lighting conditions, and the incantation usually lasts about four hours. Would it be possible for us to be given permission to recast the incantations on our eyes?"

The man looked thoughtful. As the head examiner, he couldn't ignore such an issue, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if what Calibri said was the truth, or if he had mischievous ideas in mind. Noting his uneasiness and fully understanding the reason for it, Calibri smiled calmly and began to pull off his forearm concealing sleeves; revealing more porcelain skin. "Have you been given access to the Verbatium color codes, Sir?"

The man blinked. "Yes, I have." He looked at Calibri's forearms wearily. Calibri nodded. "As you can see, what I've told you is true."

A few people began looking over at them when they noticed Calibri pulling off the forearm concealers. The Head Examiner stared at Calibri's face for a moment and then his eyes moved to his forearms.

Haochen glanced over and frowned, wondering what Calibri was doing. He couldn't hear the conversation but after watching Calibri speak for a moment, his attention shifted to the Head Examiner who reached out and began inspecting Calibri's forearms, as if he were looking for something suspicious. All the while, Calibri looked unfazed as if having his body inspected by someone else was completely normal. The man let go of his forearms, bowed and then walked to the front of the venue.

He cleared his throat. "Can the Verbatium students please line up outside the venue."

The other students in the venue began to mumble as they got up to exit the hall. Haochen glanced towards the other end of the hall and caught Kol's eye. The green-eyed man looked at him, equally confused and shrugged.

After two minutes they'd all left the venue, and after an additional five minutes, they all walked in readjusting their forearm concealers, as if they'd put them back on. They looked happier as they glided towards their seats.

Haochen watched as Calibri made his way to his seat, smiling his wine-filled dimpled smile all the way.

"Students, please face forward. Your exam will soon begin. Invigilators, distribute the examination booklets. There should be no conversing or looking around at anything other than the booklet in front of you." The Head Examiner said, his voice echoed with the help of the voice amplification enchantment upon the podium.

After the examination rules were read and the huge hourglass at the front of the hall was turned, the exam began. Nothing could be heard except the sounds of quills scratching against parchment, but as time progressed, there were more and more agitated sighs. The exam was very long and unimaginably difficult.

About halfway through the eight-hour-long session, Haochen himself sighed and rubbed his temples. His eyes found their way to the pouch at the corner of his desk. There was no way he could glance at Calibri without an invigilator thinking he was cheating, so he kept his eyes on the pouch. After a minute, he reached out and tentatively picked it up.

Calibri was a prince, it was a plausible notion that he'd given him the roots to sabotage him so that he could take over his father's role as the Grandmaster of the 16 sects. But for some inexplicable reason, Haochen felt sure Calibri wouldn't try to sabotage him. As if he could trust the stranger.

With resolve, he pursed his lips, brought the pouch to his nose and inhaled.

At first, he felt no different, but after a few minutes he felt an overwhelming calm wash over him, and there wasn't a trace of fogginess in his mind. He smiled absently realizing that Calibri was right, and he might have actually been stressed.

Adjusting the quill in his hand, and keeping the pouch in his left hand, he continued the examination.

***

"Time is up! Students put down your quills. Invigilators, collect the scripts." A man on the podium said. Soon, the invigilators flicked their wrists causing the scripts to float off the tables towards them. It would have been a beautiful process if not for the fact that some of the scripts had to be physically yanked out of the hands of the students who hadn't finished and were clinging to their scripts. Haochen handed his in calmly, then turned to see if Calibri was done. He needed to thank him and return the pouch. But upon doing so, he realized that not a single person from the Verbatium sect was in the hall. He frowned and turned to the person behind him.

"Excuse me, Miss. Did Verbatium leave already?" He asked.

The girl looked up surprised. "You didn't know? They all completed the exam 2/3 of the way through, then left."

Haochen blinked twice.

"Oh. I wasn't aware of that. Thank you." He said, turning around. How hadn't he noticed them leave? His eyes trailed to the pouch and he pursed his lips. The only way he'd be able to return it was if Calibri got into the top sixty students along with him, because there was no way Verbatium, that conservative sect, would let him into their land to return a pouch of herbs and roots.

A tinge of disappointment at not being able to convey his gratitude stabbed him somewhere near his lungs making him sigh and pick up the pouch once more. It was made of silk and looked fit for someone of royal backing. Surely Calibri would have wanted it back.

"I didn't finish it, it was too long, the damn thing." Kol said coming up to him. Haochen looked around and realized that people had already begun to leave the venue. He stood up.

"Did you?" Kol asked, placing his hands behind his head leisurely.

"I did, but just barely." Haochen said.

"Lucky. Did you see the truth-blurters leave early? And what's that?" Kol asked, eyeing the pouch.

"It's Calibri's." Haochen said. Kol made a face. " As in the princess?"

Haochen was quiet. "I don't know if I was seeing things since I was pretty far, but did he sniff you before the exam?" Kol asked as they walked.

"I wouldn't say he 'sniffed' me. He kind of wafted the air." Haochen said. Kol looked at him with a raised brow.

"Wafted the air? I told you they were weird. Why would you go 'waft' a stranger? Why would you want to smell another person in the first place? Talk about a lack of personal space. Anyway, I'm glad this is over with." Kol said, he continued to talk as they exited the hall.

Haochen was quiet, thinking. In his opinion, Calibri was a kind person. Peculiar, but kind.

He was still holding the pouch as they entered the courtyard. After a long look at it, he tucked it into his robes. He'd hold onto it for the time being. Hopefully, he'd have the opportunity of encountering its owner later on and returning it.