Chapter 5

The group skipped the reception and went directly to a beautiful glass elevator, which took them to the 30th floor, where the exams would be held. When the elevator door opened, they were greeted by a long and majestic hallway. The walls were adorned with intricate engravings detailing the fundamental principles of alchemy, and the floor emitted a soft glow, as if imbued with mana.

As they walked down the hallway, a beautiful and elegantly furnished waiting room awaited them, filled with shelves, books, and desks scattered around, where various people of all kinds were doing last-minute reviews.

"Well, now you just have to wait for them to call you and you should head to the door with the indicated number," Sigrún said to Erik, pointing to some doors that could be seen a little further down the waiting room.

"Alright, I'll be waiting around here then."

"Okay Erik, we have to go. We'll try to come back before your exam is over, but if we can't, we'll see you at home, okay?" Eleonora commented with a slight smile, and Erik nodded and replied.

"Alright, see you later then."

Erik smiled slightly while Sigrún and Eleonora bit their lips a little mortified, as they wanted to give him a small farewell hug, but after looking around a bit, they shook their heads and left the building, where they disappeared in bursts of light, reappearing again in the meeting room of the faction.

…

"It's a pleasure to see you again."

The director, who was the only one in the meeting room, greeted the women who appeared suddenly, who took their respective seats and replied.

"What do you need now, old man? We've already done even more than what was asked of us, and I'm not willing to leave the planet for at least 20 years," Sigrún commented a bit annoyed with her arms crossed, and Eleonora nodded slightly in agreement.

"Hahaha, don't worry, I didn't call you here to make you do something, and as for those 20 years, I agree. News of your achievements is making its way around the galaxy, surprising everyone, so it's only fair that you get some well-deserved rest."

"So what's this call about, Director? Did something happen?" Eleonora asked, a little curious.

"More than something happening, I mainly called you to talk to you about something." The director's expression became somewhat serious, and he continued, "How much do you know about the Children of Myst? Or better yet, how much do you know about Erik?"

The expressions on Sigrún and Eleonora's faces immediately turned serious, and they sat up straight and attentive.

"So you already know, Director," Eleonora commented in a slightly solemn tone, to which the director nodded and continued.

"Yes, although it may not be easy for others to notice, that's not the case with me. I personally knew a Child of Myst; in fact, I was present during the crusade against him, where he was ultimately killed."

The mana from Sigrún and Eleonora burst wildly from their bodies, ready for a battle, but the director continued speaking.

"Calm down, I have nothing against Erik. That case was very special." The director leaned back a little in his chair, as the mana from Eleonora and Sigrún settled down, after which he continued, "In the universe, the birth of a Child of Myst is seen as the greatest blessing for a civilization and is said to mark its ascent, but there was one exception to this, and that was the case of the Silvari…"

...

....

.....

….

Erik sat at one of the available desks and took out some notebooks, where he began to scribble some mathematical calculations and some magical circles and runes, until a melodious and elegant voice sounded near him.

"Direct disciple Erik, it is time for your exam."

Erik looked up and found a beautiful woman with red hair looking at him with an elegant smile. She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress, similar to the ones worn by Sigrún and Eleonora's assistants, so he simply nodded, put all his things into his storage ring, and stood up.

"Thank you for letting me know, where should I go?"

"Please follow me."

Erik followed the woman to one of the doors, and upon passing through it, he saw the so-called examination room. It was a large room with a gleaming marble floor, several individual stations fully equipped with all kinds of ingredients, tools, and cauldrons. Above, on elevated platforms, several people dressed in the faction's typical uniform observed the entering Erik with keen eyes.

Erik looked around and noticed something strange, asking the woman, "Am I the first one here? I don't see anyone else."

"Actually, direct disciple Erik, you are a special case and will be the only one evaluated in this round," the woman replied politely before bowing and speaking for the last time.

"Direct disciple Erik, if you'd like, you can move to the center of the room, and once there, you will be informed about the exam. Excuse me, I can only accompany you this far."

"That's fine, thank you anyway."

Erik moved to the center of the room, where there was an individual station that was larger than the others but equipped in the same manner, only with more ingredients. The moment Erik entered the workstation, one of the people on the elevated platforms spoke, attracting his attention.

"Direct disciple Erik, today you will be evaluated on your knowledge in the field of alchemy. The exam will be divided into 5 parts: Material Selection, Mixing and Proportions, Reaction and Transformation, Ethics and Safety, and finally, the oral defense exam. Any questions?" The one who spoke was a man who appeared to be in his 40s, with dark skin and black hair, sporting a serious and unyielding look.

"No."

"Then let's begin. In the first exam, you must differentiate and categorize all the ingredients found at your workstation. You have 1 hour, begin."

Erik looked at the large pile of ingredients at his workstation, sighing a little at the sheer amount of mixed items present. Without saying anything, he conjured dozens of phantom hands. At the same time, a pile of blank eyes and dozens of feathers appeared in his hand, which he tossed into the air, where they were caught by the phantom hands.

At Erik's rear, an elegant and comfortable chair made of solidified Myst formed, where he sat comfortably. Meanwhile, his phantom hands picked up the ingredients and separated them, while other phantom hands wrote their names on sheets and grouped them together.

The examiners on the upper part, for their part, watched the spectacle in surprise. Not only was this a never-before-seen way of controlling solidified Myst, but the young man only looked at some ingredients from time to time himself, and everything else was done by the hands of solidified Myst almost automatically.

Initially, the examiners wanted to deliberately increase the difficulty of the exam by increasing the number of ingredients, their rarity, and similarity. This was mainly due to the young age of the examinee. After all, it was uncommon for someone under 200 years old to take the exam, so they wanted to be sure whether the young man was as good as he seemed. But the performance he was giving them was unexpected.

Time passed in silence, and about 20 minutes later, Erik looked up and spoke in a neutral manner, "I'm finished." The man who had spoken earlier nodded, and immediately all the ingredients, along with the sheets accompanying them, flew into the air and divided so that each examiner could review a part. After a couple of minutes, the man spoke again.

"There's no mistake here."

"None here either."

"None here either."

One by one, all the examiners said the same thing until it came to the last of them. The man who seemed to be the leader of the group of examiners nodded and spoke again.

"You have passed the first exam, direct disciple Erik, You have 30 minutes to prepare for the next exam"

"Ah, that's not necessary, I can do it immediately."

"Then let's continue."