1 Chapter 1: Introductions
Walking along the street to join his place in the queue, Sparky notices the various military and police personnel that are scattered about the place.
He also takes a brief look at the others in the queue with him, some are wearing costumes, some are wearing uniform, some are practicing levitating pop bottles and some just appear to be quite nervous.
Sparky on the other hand looks completely relaxed, in fact, he has no intention whatsoever in participating in the application test.
"NEXT!" A staff member calls over to him loudly and he casually walks over to the desk.
"Hello there" she greets him with a smile.
"Hi, gosh isn't this sunshine gorgeous" he remarks in polite conversation.
"Uh I know it's just fantastic" she replies equally pleased with the weather.
"Fill in this form please" She tells him politely and hands over a tablet.
He begins to fill it in, stating his actual name, Ryan Writedesk, his ethnicity, white British, his age, twenty five, whether he is male or female, he circles male although there are other options such as transgender and prefer not to say, then where he is from, Birmingham.
He taps on 'next page at the bottom right hand corner of the screen, the next question asks whether he is participating as a student, will soon be a student or is representing an organisation, he selects the option for representing an organisation, this brings up some new fields of information to be filled in, including the name of the organisation, which he fills in as Sparks Sorcery, his position within the organisation, which he fills in as Managing Director, and the purpose for him visiting the public test tapping on the option, 'Scouting for Students', finally he presses 'submit'.
"Here you go" he says and hands it back over politely.
She reviews the information displayed on the computer screen in front of her before passing him the relevant ID tag labelled 'work representative',
"Please go on through to security" she tells him with a smile.
"Thank you" he replies and heads on through the marquee.
"Arms out" a soldier instructs him and he does so allowing them to pat him down.
"Ok carry on" they tell him.
He wonders through the marquee passing by some individuals who are sat down talking to each other, but his attention is drawn to a small crowed that has formed in the courtyard.
He soon realizes what they are all excited about and looses interest, they are all gathered around 'the Sorcerer of the State', he has become quite the celebrity since taking on the role and is notorious for being quite harsh and blunt.
Completely ignoring the Sorcerer of the State, Sparky instead takes a look at what the test will entail, it's quite simple really, there are three hoops floating in the air, one is green, which is the lowest to the ground, the next is yellow, slightly higher and then the highest one is red.
All you have to do is send an object accurately through each of the hoops, depending on how well you do or not determines if you will be offered an apprenticeship or scouted for a college placement.
It may look quite a silly test, however, it gives an idea at how good your level of control is taking into account how long you are able to use that level of control as the hoops are also at different distances.
He decides to take a seat in the 'Work & College Reps' marquee noticing a familiar face sitting down already.
"Fancy seeing you here" he says to the lady as he sits down next to her.
"Sparky, I didn't think you were coming today" she tells him in a happy tone.
"I changed my mind, you know I've never understood why colleges scout for students when they can just apply directly to the college" he states whilst placing his arms behind his head.
"Well we would all like to have the next best talent to show off, you know that" she replies.
"Speaking of students, how are your lot getting on?" He asks.
"Well there are one or two that need improving but generally they are all becoming quite good at barrier control" she replies noticing a podium being brought out nearby.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the test will start in five minutes please give a warm welcome to Malcom, the Sorcerer of the State" a female voiceover announces, the small crowd begins to cheer as Malcom makes his way over waving.
"There is one in particular I think you will be quite interested in" she continues to chat with him as the pair of them look over at the news reporters scattered about the place.
"We're here in Birmingham city center, where this years batch of hopeful contestants will be showing off their skills to try and earn an enrolment on the UK's Sorcery Apprenticeship Scheme" a reporter can be heard saying whilst the media takes position to start recording.
All the major news outlets are here including some from abroad.
"Good morning everybody, let's get this show on the road, we will start with ages forty and older can we have number seventy four, Rupert Greenbelt" Malcom announces to the crowd, he looks through the crowd and notices Sparky having a stretch and a yawn.
"We're hear talking to one of this years youngest contestants Nial, tell me Nial are you excited about taking part today?" The reporter asks holding the microphone over to him.
"Yeah I'm looking forward to it" he replies with a smile.
"And we have mum and dad here with you, how well do you think he will do today?" She asks holding the microphone to them.
"Well he has been practicing very hard, as long as he tries his best that's all that matters" his mother replies.
"Thank you for speaking to us and good luck with the test Nial, looks like we are about to start and we will head over to watch the test begin" the reporter states.
Rupert Greenbelt steps forward and takes his position at a blue line on the floor.
"Now it's quite simple, you have to try and move each metal block through one of the hoops" Malcom explains and indicates to a set of metal weights painted white with rings of blue paint on them.
