Shocking the Examiners

Jerod and Madam Zell came out of the teleportation hall at the Hilas Magic Academy. Surprisingly there were a number of people in front of them leaving the building. A person overseeing the inbound teleportation area stopped them and took their information before waving them through.

Looking around Jerod noticed the setup for the teleportation hall was similar to that of Starsan county which meant that he showed up in the noble teleportation area. Seeing the disdainful looks the people close to him were sending to the people coming out of the other teleportation halls he was reminded that nobles in other counties weren't the same as Lord Yama.

'I guess Lord Yama thought of even this. It makes more sense now why he allowed us to use the noble teleportation hall and why he had a tailor make a set of clothes for me.'

Yes, Lord Yama provided Jerod with a tailored outfit saying that he wanted him to represent Starsan county well during his entrance exam. The outfit was made with very good material and had the Baron's insignia embroidered on the back. This indicated the territory the wearer was from, whereas if the insignia was embroidered on the sleeves it would indicate that the wearer was in service of the household, or on the chest indicating familial relation to the Baron.

Having this outfit on put Jerod a step above normal commoners. While he was not treated as a noble he was not completely disrespected as a commoner either. Jerod made a mental note of this favor from the Baron and planned to repay it in the future.

Jerod followed the crowd out of the teleportation hall and entered the academy grounds. Madam Zell escorted him to a check in station where she indicated that she was recommending Jerod to the school and would like an audience with the headmaster. After hearing that the person checking in a student was a Madam the teacher had a shocked look on his face, bowed and ran into the building.

Shortly after the teacher returned and escorted Jerod and Madam Zell into the school where they were lead to the headmaster's office. After knocking once the door was opened and they were beckoned to enter.

"Zell! It is great to see you. I don't remember the last time I ran into you. When I heard that you were recommending a student could you imagine the look in my eye. This must be a special student if he has caught your eye."

The headmaster was a grey haired, skinny, old man. His skin was full of wrinkles but he sat with dignity and the sharpness of his pale blue eyes showed the vigor of his mind.

"Headmaster Brian, it has been quite some time. I have indeed brought you a special child to enroll in your school. I will let his talent speak for itself in the entrance examination."

Madam Zell would be allowed to sit in on Jerod's examination and she was expectantly looking forward to the looks on their faces when he showed his talent.

"Allow me to introduce myself young man, I am Master Brian the headmaster of Hilas Magic Academy. I have been running this school for the last 40 years. In my prime I was once the royal court magician and still hold some ties to the royal family. If you are as talented as Zell makes you out to be then I would be happy to make use of my connections for you in the future."

Jerod was surprised that the headmaster of the school was only a master magician. This brought a new light to Madam Zell who was at the same magic rank. Magicians are categorized by ranks in accordance to their power in order of Apprentice, Novice, Journeyman, Master/Madam, and Sorcerer/Sorceress. There are rumors of a rank above Sorcerer dubbed Sage however in the known history there had never been a Sage documented.

Jerod bowed and said, "It is my pleasure to meet you Headmaster Brian. I hope I can live up to the standards expected of me."

"Quite good! Alright, since Zell is here I don't see why we shouldn't proceed with your entrance exam. Do you need to prepare? Normally we could just skip this process but it seems Zell wants to gloat about your talent. The earlier we get it done the sooner you will get to go into the grounds to explore before the entrance ceremony."

Thinking about it Jerod didn't really see any reason he would need to prepare ahead of time. He had thought to ask Madam Zell about what he should do for the entrance examination but since she seemed to want to keep his talents to herself he was sure she wanted him to go all out.

"No preparation is necessary, please show the way."

With that the headmaster smiled and snapped his fingers. Unexpectedly the three of them were transported out of the room in that instant. Jerod then found himself standing in a circular room with a white floor and black walls. In front of him sitting at a desk were seated Headmaster Brian, Madam Zell, and four unfamiliar people.

Headmaster Brian smiled at Jerod and spoke. "Handy trick isn't it Jerod. Within the school I, the disciplinary committee, and the department heads have the ability to teleport without the need of a teleportation hall. With me are some of the department heads gathered for conducting special entrance examinations. This allows us to expedite recommended students such as yourself. We will conduct introductions after your entrance is officially accepted after your examination.

Now the content of the exam. We request that you show us your proficiency in all of the elements you are able to gather. We will grade based on strength and number of different elements you display. When you are ready please begin."

Jerod nodded and thought for a moment. Since it seemed that there were high expectations of him he decided that he should use his actual spell list rather than just displaying the elements like he had for Madam Zell a few years ago. He had been practicing magic for a few years so he was certain that she knew he was capable of casting a spell of each element. Thinking this Jerod began.

Gathering the wind magicles Jerod cast Whirlwind. Seeing that Madam Zell had a smile creeping up on her face he continued.

Earth Spike, Fireball, Water shot. Jerod paused here unsure of if he should cast frost lance since it technically was a subspell of the water element. He decided that it would show a different type of strength of the water element since it had different effects.

Jerod proceeded to cast Frost Lance, followed by a Destruction Bolt and ended with a Light Heal showing his proficiency with all of the elements.

From the time Jerod cast his first spell to the brief pause in the middle followed by a spell never seen before to the end where a child of 6 successfully cast both a darkness spell and healing magic the faces of the judges were blank. Their faces were cramped so much that they couldn't even blink away the illusion they had just seen before them. This had to be an illusion otherwise what kind of farce was this? Who would think that a child trying to enter academy could already cast spells better than 2nd and 3rd year students? Not just one spell either! He cast a legitimate spell from all six elements and a spell they had never seen before.

Headmaster Brian had a surge of inspiration and turned to Madam Zell. "Zell, you have been teaching Jerod as your disciple for the last few years haven't you? It makes so much more sense now. You gave us a fright not mentioning anything, we thought he was just a talent you happened to see on your healing rounds."

Madam Zell had a cramped look on her face. "Disciple? No, no... That would mean I took him in as my own and had him travel with me."

Madam Zell looked at Jerod with surprise in her eyes. The spells he had just displayed aside from the Frost Lance were all spells that she had demonstrated to Jerod once in the past. This kid was more of a monster than she had imagined. Not only was he able to clearly see each of the different elements of magicles but he could replicate spells after seeing them once? He also created a spell of what might be a new element without any training? How else could you describe that but as a monster?

Seeing Madam Zell's face Headmaster Brian knew he had it wrong. This, Jerod, was a must have talent. Putting on a sickeningly sweet smile on his face he immediately stood up and walked around the desk to Jerod.

"Jerod my young student! Let me first start by saying welcome to Hilas Magic Academy. You will receive the best care and studying here. Before we send you off to explore the grounds I wanted to ask you about one of your spell demonstrations. In the middle you had a brief pause and followed it up with that shot of ice. Tell me what exactly was that spell?"

Zell rolled her eyes at the political nature of the headmaster immediately. This was one of the main reasons she had stay away from nobles, always with the schemes and ideas in their minds.

"Jerod, I am sure we are all curious about the ice spell. Before you decide to share the details, remember that spells you create on your own are your property. You do not have to share them with anyone if you don't want to."

"Yes, yes! She is right Jerod. In all the excitement of your entrance exam I merely forgot to mention some things. While you are not required to share spells with anyone, if you do submit them to the school you earn merit points. Merit points can be used for additional school resources, special tutoring sessions, and increased access to the library. Since this ice spell is something we haven't seen before I am willing to compensate you quite heavily with merit points. What do you say?"