89 The Test of Waning: The Imbrium

'What was that?' I thought, as goosebumps trailed up my back.

The moment we realized it wasn't either of us who had spoken, we both flailed around in surprise. Telken, however, was very much calm as he looked down at us from a slightly higher branch.

"Tell me, oddly strong Sinus Fidei, what made you come here in such a hurry?" he asked, his smile the same one as before our escape. He didn't wait for a reply. "You surely can't have a goal now, do you? But you run around like you do have a purpose, with you hopping around the treetops like tiny monkeys..."

Then, the older boy's smile grew wider, and then he looked down at us with squinted eyes. "Unless, of course, and I do feel bad about saying such dishonorable things about you, but... I suppose this can all make sense... if you both lied.

"One. You lied about being left behind by your teammates. With the capability and smarts you both just showed off, I doubt even the high ranked Frigoris would simply throw you off, even as mere Sinus Fidei. No, lads like you with great potential won't ever find themselves without a team. Yes, so that means you went up here in a hurry to find your teammates... And do what, exactly?"

Albert and I stayed completely still, him in fright, and me in contemplation. The noble didn't look that hostile. In fact, he almost had his guard down, but I knew he was stronger than he looked, especially after having caught up to us this fast after dealing with that monster.

He rubbed at his bare chin before continuing his soliloquy. "If you were going about your test as we were, then you should have immediately said yes to our proposal of teaming up, or at least simply consider it. But you vehemently, and quite rudely, refused. There's always a possibility of you already teaming up with another group, but that's unlikely given the amount of time we had since the start of the test. So the evidence could only suggest that you are both without a second team, and without the drive to accept our invitation. Although it does hurt my feelings, I do see something more important in this set of events."

Then, he finally showed a bout of aggression when he leaned over us, his teenage build towering over us completely. "Tell me, then. What were the instructions that you received?"

"... Why would you ask that?" I asked quietly.

He laughed shortly, before staring down at my eyes. "Don't kid with me, kid. What were your instructions?"

"W-We told you," Albert exclaimed in a panic, his lips trembling, but his eyes unshifting. "We didn't read it."

"Couldn't," Telken muttered, his eyes facing upwards towards the sky as he thought. "I believe it should be, 'We couldn't read it'."

"... Y-Yes, that's what I meant! The seniors took off before we could even read it!" he answered back, this time more confident.

"Hm." The noble leaned his shoulder against the tree trunk, looking as though he was in perfect peace. He tutted, "Now that wouldn't make sense at all."

This time, I decided to talk. "Where's your team?"

His brows went up, probably surprised at my daring. "I left them behind to deal with the monster."

'So that's how he caught up to us so quickly...' I thought, and allowed myself a small sigh. At least he came here alone.

"Why did you follow us?" I asked. "If you're looking for more teammates, then shouldn't you be looking for stronger students? Besides, I don't think the both of us are much of an addition to your team. We're not worth it."

He shrugged. "That might be true, but if I followed the instructions we received, it would be quite boring, yes? I'd rather go around and look for trouble. And besides, dear boy, I'm quite curious myself. You see, I'm older than you both, and I've taken far more tests than all you ever did combined. And there's always something different in every cycle's test. In the years I've taken and retaken them, I was only ever sure of one thing."

"And what is that?" I murmured.

He smiled his usual smile. "The rules can be bent, and the winners... Well, no one knows how anyone ever passes these tests. We don't even know who makes them. To tell you the truth, this cycle's test might be the most interesting of all. After all, it only ever happens once in a blue moon when all the test takers, of all ages and rings, come together in one area."

He leaned over us even more, his smile growing wider in my vision. "I think this will be very interesting."

What should happen next should be us running off, or him attacking us, or us just screaming yet again, but somehow, that didn't happen. What did happen was him suddenly falling down like a human doll, his eyes rolled over, his body all stiff. Instinctively, I caught him before he could free fall to his death. When I looked up, it was to the sounds of Albert cheering and Charles laughing.

"Whew!" Charles grinned as he rubbed at his knuckles. "I didn't know that'd work!"

It took a while for me to finally laugh myself. "... How'd you find us?"

The brown-eyed boy snorted. "That guy talks a lot."

~~

After carrying the unconscious body through the mouth of the cave, we finally allowed ourselves a sigh of relief. However, I knew that we could only rest for a short while before his teammates would trace him straight to us.

"Where were you- Uhmm... what is that?" Kendra asked with a suddenly pale face, gulping down as she stared at the body in our arms.

Snickering, I said, "He's alive, not to worry."

"Oh, goodness," she murmured with a hand over her mouth. "Why should my mind imagine such morbid things?"

I laughed a little bit more openly before we set the boy down on the ground, none too gently.

"... What exactly happened?" the newcomer, Jordan, asked.

Charles shrugged. "I know very little, but I do gather that these two were followed back here by him. An inner ring student, right?"

Jordan spluttered as he bowed his head repeatedly over at Charles. "Ah, of-of course, Your Highness."

Charles looked at me with a troubled smile, hand scratching at the side of his head. He said, "Umm... Therion, won't you do the honor of telling your tale?"

I nodded enthusiastically, and started my recounting, if only to bring Jordan's attention away from the poor prince, whom he seemed to treat like the Goddess Luna herself. Halfway through my story, however, I felt like the our captor-turned-captive was starting to rouse.

Not even explaining my actions, I jumped towards the sideward lying body, ripped a piece of my top, and proceeded to tie his hands together at the back. Inwardly, I chided myself for not doing these earlier.

"Therion?" Joren asked from above me, worry in his tone.

The next moment, however, the teenager did finally wake up, greeting us with an elegantly proclaimed curse. He smiled up at our faces, taking us all in. Then, he turned to me, who had him firmly in my grasps. He told me, "You're not so cute if you keep mistreating me like this, kid."

I sneered down at him. "If I had acted even the slightest bit slower, our positions would be interchanged."

"Now, now." He shrugged with a little pout. "I'd never harm such young little students! To think that your team would all be composed of Sinus Fidei. Imagine that, taking on this sort of test with an age group so young!"

We were silent at first, before Albert finally broke it with a defiant look. "Age doesn't matter. Besides, we didn't even know the test would be joint like-"

"Oh, but age does matter, dear boy," Telken cut him off. "Experience comes with age, and in this Academy, it is especially magnified. A year of learning might not seem much, but the Academy makes sure we grow exponentially with time."

"... So what?" I said with a glare, prompting him to look at me. "If this test was meant for every student of every ring, then we can pass it too."

The teenager, however, only snorted. He smiled at me yet again, his eyes crinkling up in delight. "Good luck with that, kid."

I almost wanted to spit at him, but every instinct in my body told me not to do it, not only because it was a nasty thing to do, but also because I knew I didn't want to piss this noble off. After a moment, I let go of him and allowed him to sit up straight. Sitting down next to Joren, I observed him as he observed us back in silence. Even while he was the center of all our attention, his smile never wavered.

"I'm Telken of House Laurent, ranked sixth in the Procellarum's Mare Imbrium," he announced with a small bow. "Although that title might seem very magnificent, I believe it is a load of... balderdash. Personally, I think my rank should be lower, as I think many a strong colleague doesn't even show up in the cyclical ranking festivals. Ah... But I realize none of you might even know of these customs yet. Are all of you new students?"

"... We do belong to the most recent batch," Charles admitted calmly.

Telken laughed good-naturedly. "How brave of you to take the test then!"

"Well, I haven't got much choice because I was seeded, but these others here, they're the brave ones," the crown prince replied with a hint of pride.

Telken's smile turned into a smirk. "I wasn't praising you, you know. Sinus Fidei should know their place. Taking the test this early will only mean utter defeat."

Joren glared at him. "What's that s'posed to mean? You were once Sinus Fidei too!"

Telken titled his head with a nastier smile. "I was Sinus Fidei Maximus. And it would do you well to know that most of who get into the Mare Imbrium are the students who were seeded in their first tests, much like you, boy with the brown hair and eyes."

"Well," I started, feeling annoyed. "It would also be good for you to know that it was this group of Sinus Fidei who have got you knocked out and tied up right now."

For a long moment, we simply stared at each other, him with his smile and me with my empty gaze. Our wordless battle was interrupted by a soft cough. Kendra was gazing back and forth at us, nervousness plastered on her whole body. She mumbled, "C-Can we all calm down?"

"What for?" Joren snorted, obviously pissed off as well.

Jordan also huffed, and said arrogantly, "That Telken is the one who should calm down. He's the one in the worse position now."

Kendra looked over at us in worry. "Then what should we do? His team might come looking for him, right?"

Finally giving an actual suggestion, Albert announced, "I suggest we interrogate him, while we can."

~~

From the slow back and forth of our group and Telken, we gathered more information about the Test of Waning.

At first, Telken only told us things we already knew. The Test of Waning was the examination every student must go through in order to advance a ring. In most cycles, the test for the different rings are separated, but having joint tests like this one was not unheard of either.

Just as Telken had said before, every test was different, and the basis for passing was very vague.

"I've tried entering Mare Cognitum for almost two years now, to no avail," Telken said with an easy shrug. "Most people don't get ever get to reach that ring at all, but I'm determined... Besides, I'm still young. I think I can afford to waste a few more years of my youth away."

"... And what of the previous tests? How did the students pass?" Albert asked.

Telken took a long time trying to act like he was thinking deeply, obviously trying to buy more time, but we kept calm. Nothing good would happen if we hurry him anyway. Besides, so far he was compliant.

"Last cycle, no one passed at all," he admitted, to which some of us gasped at. He pouted with a small frown. "It's not unusual to have no passers at all in one test, especially if you're an Imbrium wanting to advance to Cognitum. Of course, there were passers for Mare Frigoris and Mare Imbrium, but I wasn't there to tell the tale."

"Then what of your test as a Sinus Fidei... Maximus?" Kendra asked.

He took another long while to think, before finally saying, "It was easy. I was seeded on my first cycle, so I had no trouble entering... The test itself, if I could remember, was some sort of battle royale. We were told to beat each other up until only a score was left standing. Of course, I was one of the last ones left alright, but... only five of the twenty of us actually advanced to Mare Frigoris."

"... That doesn't make sense," Joren said with a deep frown. "Ya all managed to survive 'til the end, but then why only five-?"

"I told you," Telken drawled on. "No one really knows how the test operates. From my experience, the initial instructions and rules mean nothing. The test goes as it pleases, so if you ask me, it's all about luck. I mean, there was this year when only one student, a girl at that, passed the test to Mare Imbrium simply because she fell over some sort of secret treasure."

I felt Joren jump at the word, "treasure", but thankfully, Telken didn't seem to notice the blunder.

"T-Then does that mean we shouldn't follow the instructions?" Jordan asked in disbelief. "Then what's the purpose-?"

"I didn't say that you should just chuck up that piece of paper and do whatever you want," Telken said with an exaggerated sigh. "I'm just saying that you should do your best to follow it, but make some decisive risks when the time comes. I won't say anything much about it, since I too am struggling with simply passing, but well... I suppose you just got to pray you get lucky this time."

Almost simultaneously, Charles and I sighed at that moment, making me exchange a weary smile with him.

"Well," Telken continued on, leaning against the cave's moist walls. "In my case, I guess I'm out of luck this time, being imprisoned by a rabid pack of Sinus Fidei. Now, if you excuse me, I am going to take a nap, praying that my incompetent teammates would find me."

With that, he smiled his usual smile at us, before leaning more towards the wall and closing his eyes, effectively ending our interrogation.

Feeling a hand tug at my sleeve, I looked back to see Charles tilting his head out to the side. I stood up with him and accompanied him to a secluded corner of the cave.

"So," Charles whispered softly. "What should we do now?"

I sighed through my nose. "I don't know. Maybe we should just knock him out again and leave him in a ditch?"

Charles chuckled at that but then pursed his lips. "But what about the test? If what he said is true, this will probably be harder than most tests."

"I know," I murmured, but then felt the light weight inside my shirt pockets. The piece of paper was vague, but at the same time, quite simple to follow. Maybe our luck was just showing itself, in the form of this cryptic paper. I found myself smiling, causing the boy to smile with me. I whispered, "We don't have much to do anyway. So let's go treasure hunting."

Charles grinned wider, a twinkle in his eyes. "Yeah, if we do it right, mother luck might just smile down at us."

Chuckling, I looked around at our team. Albert was whispering in hushed tones with Kendra and Joren, probably recounting our earlier tale in more detail. The light-haired Jordan was standing gloomily at the side, nervously keeping an eye on the sleeping upperclassman.

We didn't know each other for that long. One of us was a stranger who was oddly infatuated with the crown prince. None of us had had any classes on teamwork together, or have had much classes together at all. To make it worse, we were all Sinus Fidei of the latest batch.

It was a good team.

Smiling, I murmured, "Now all we have to do is deal with Telken."

"Yep," Charles said excitedly, his hands hidden inside his pockets. "After that..."

"Yeah," I said, jumping on the balls of my feet, already anxious to leave the cave again. "Let's just avoid meeting other teams on our way."

With a hilariously monotonous voice, Charles said, "Goddess forbid we meet more talkative Telkens."

I was still laughing when I finally decided it was time.

"Come on," I said as I tugged at his sleeve. "Let's gather the team up."