Bird Illusion Painting

"Okay, let's move on to the third and final test of the Promotion Exam." Cyrus sighed, coming to the end of the entrance exam for the five Aspirants.

"This test is simple. You should look at a board on the other side of this door and say how many birds there are and what colors they are."

'That's it?' Liam continued to hold his spear while Mary, to his right, sat on the wooden bench with her arms crossed over her chest and a silly look on her face.

"That looks... Easy?" She looked at him with interest.

"What's the point of something like that?"

"Maybe it's an easier test…"

The three men in the back seat muttered to each other while Liam looked at them out of the corner of his eye.

'There is nothing simple in this world. This is the last test, so it's probably the most important. I have to concentrate and do it well.'

While each of the candidates had different opinions, First Officer Cyrus finished his presentation. "Every hit you make in this test is worth 3 points. If there are 6 birds in one of your tests and you say you saw 3 of them and got their colors right, you'll get 9 points. If you say you saw 4 birds, but none of them are the right color, you won't score anything.

Liam Porter, you're first again. The time for this test is one minute."

Liam left his spear with Mary and went to door number '3'. As he stopped next to Cyrus, he couldn't help but ask, "First Officer, I have a question."

"Speak up."

"What are these points we get on the tests?" Liam drew the attention of his four fellow Aspirants to Cyrus.

The black-haired man looked at Liam with a challenging look. "Right now you have 63 points, Aspirant. If you surpass the 80 point mark, we will promote you, while those with less than 80 points will remain as Aspirants."

Everyone understood the purpose of the score. It was the way to evaluate them and say whether they met the requirements for promotion.

'That makes sense. As much as there's no guarantee that we'll be promoted, the Promotion Exam really must have the possibility of promoting disciples... This is my chance. I need to score another 17, or rather 18 points in this test. I have to match 9 birds and their colors.'

Liam didn't know how difficult this was, so he entered room number '3', determined to try as hard as he could.

As soon as the door locked, the lights inside came on, revealing a black-walled room only 8 square meters in size.

On the longest wall of this rectangular room was a large painting depicting a green field on a sunny day.

To say that it looked like a painting would be incorrect. From Liam's point of view, it looked more like a large television showing a video than a painting!

Liam circled his mana through his eyes, focusing on the landscape depicted, when suddenly he saw a white bird in one of the corners of the landscape.

Then the image changed, revealing a volcanic landscape with a lot of smoke in the sky. Strangely, Liam smelled the smoke as he watched and counted three birds in all, one red and two gray birds.

The scenery change repeated three more times, each time for ten seconds. 

In the last ten seconds of the test, Liam saw a scene on a lake where a giant sea monster was swallowing a boat.

'There are fou—no, five birds! There's a white bird in the sea monster's mouth!' Liam counted, having counted 15 birds in the six pictures he had seen.

Then the lights went out in the room and the door unlocked.

For a moment, Liam hesitated, having found this test oddly easy.

'What is this for?'

Cyrus's voice interrupted Liam's train of thought. "How many birds did you see in the first picture?"

"One white bird..."

Liam quickly answered Cyrus' questions about the birds he had seen in the six scenes he had seen.

Listening to Liam's last two answers, Cyrus couldn't help but stare at the black-haired young man in front of him, forgetting for a moment to register Liam's result.

'I must notify the Guardian. Despite his low natural talent, this brat has potential.'

"Well done. You scored 21 points in the third test. Congratulations, you've scored the minimum required to be promoted to Initiate Outer Disciple." First Officer Cyrus congratulated as he recorded Liam's score.

'21 points? That means I got more than half the birds I saw wrong.' Liam frowned.

He was thrilled to have surpassed his goal. But he couldn't ignore the test he had just taken. He was absolutely certain that he had seen 15 birds!

"First Officer, did I get the colors wrong regarding some birds I mentioned?" He asked quietly.

Cyrus understood what was on Liam's mind. He and all the members of Demon Gate had passed the series of three tests that this team of five had to pass. The tests were always the same, so he had already felt something similar to what new members would feel.

"You got the colors of four birds wrong and named four other birds that didn't exist in the scenes you saw. You will learn this in no time, so don't stress about your mistakes now. Sit down and wait for the test to end."

Cyrus called Mary, who would score 18 points on her test, followed by Seth, who would score 12 points. In the cases of Amias and Ajax, the two would be the last of the group, both getting 9 points each.

At the end of the five minutes of this last test, each of them would leave the room number '3' with an uncertain expression on their faces, having missed several birds they thought they had seen.

The test itself seemed easy. Despite the initial strangeness of a moving picture, they all passed the test without feeling tired or even tested. To them, the final test of the exam had just seemed like a big joke.

But, as Liam suspected, their score meant a lot!

...

Looking ahead from where they were, where the group had arrived dozens of minutes ago and where there was no sign of the carriages or Amos' men, Cyrus said, "Tomorrow morning, find the Records Hall. You will receive your gift of sect membership and your mandatory and optional duties.

My men will lead you up Peak Thirteen by the hour. You won't get another chance to have your questions answered by such kind seniors, so ask them anything you want. 

Don't forget, your new protection period ends in two days. After that, you will lose your novice status and be considered conscious members of the sect's written and unwritten rules. Be aware of this," Cyrus said as he bid farewell to the group and the three Officers who would guide them.

"First Officer, we'll see you later," said one of the three masked men who would now lead Liam's group.

Seeing the group of eight leave, with the five newcomers to the sect following the three Officers, Cyrus turned and made his way into the Peak Thirteen administration building.

He made his way through the building to the one he had passed with Liam's group, and soon found himself in a room overlooking the other peaks of this beautiful region.

"So? Anything interesting for me?" The Guardian asked, drawing Cyrus' gaze to one corner of this old living room, where many books were stacked on an old shelf, with several scrolls scattered around the place.

The Guardian of Peak Thirteen was reading a letter; his eyes focused on the black ink on the aged paper in his hands.

"One newcomer seems to have the aptitude to become a Runemaster. He got seven birds right in the final test of his exam." Cyrus stopped next to the Guardian and gestured with the clipboard containing the results of Liam and the others.

"Oh?" The Guardian of Peak Thirteen took his eyes off what he was reading and picked up the item with the report of Liam and the others joining the sect.

"43 stars, defeated four Spirits by taking a chance, and hit seven birds..." The Guardian muttered as he ran his eyes over Liam's profile, a look of incomprehension on his face.

He brought one of his hands to his chin and looked at the man with his head down next to him. "Is it really right? It's not normal for someone with his cultivation to score so low in the talent test. And his result in the last test doesn't match his natural talent."

"I thought so too. But I'm right. Nothing unusual happened during his tests, Guardian," Cyrus said in a calm tone, sure that nothing supernatural had happened.

"Interesting. Give his case to Eliakim Badders. Let him handle the boy's case for us. If anything new comes up, come and report to me."

"Yes, Guardian."

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