Rewards

"What were you thinking, that could have killed us." Typh shivered at the thought of the skeleton. Her usual brashness was replaced with a cynical rationality.

"No, I can feel them watching us, they would not have allowed us to die nor get crippled. Think about the outrage, the protests. This is an academy, not a slaughterhouse. You must be exteremly retardet to kill of all but the top talents."

She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head in resignation.

"I hope you hold yourself back when it counts, or your rash actions will kill us all."

'They aren't rash, just calculated!'

~

The night went over like a flash. A few were confused that they had not been taken, jet were too scared to look.

The skeleton and the cage had disappeared in the morning, and discussions about last night were fervent. What happened? We both saw no need to educate them.

Suddenly, the door which had been closed up since the first day, opened with a strange creak. With confident strides, the old veteran that greeted them at the theater entered the room. His eyes were emotionless and serene.

"Have we passed?" One of the nobles asked, too reliefed to care about the remaining nine days.

A loud laughter echoed through the dome. "What makes you think so?" His voice was sharp and carried an intimidating aura.

"But we all learned a spell. And most of us fought for an unmarked door an won ." The self porclaimed noble send a gaze at one of the 'Lucky few' who did not get taken despite their inability to secure a safe room.

The instructor shook his head, slightly disappointed. "Only because it stood on a randomly placed stone steel does not make it true. When someone proclaims themselves god will you also workship him? Do not belive everythin in front of your eyes without thinking for yourself."

You will be called one after another, and graded. Remain here and eat until then."

The room remained frozen for a moment, until the aura of the mighty mage receded. He was already gone when they wanted to ask more questions.

"Damn, they are unreasonable." someone complained. A slightly round noble next to him spoke up. "Called it." He gleefully counted the coins he had just won. "If I am right all those who were kicked yesterday already got their grade."

They did not wait long, after all only twelve still remained.

Vincent was called last. As he walked out of the building, he marveled how good the fresh air and bright sky felt.

"Over here."

He glanced in the direction of the voice. An army tent was set up next to the exit, that of a centurio.

Inside a plain wooden desk stood, the figure of the old veteran behind, leaning into a confortable chair.

"Sit." It was not a command, jet his body followed immediately. His brother always controlled his aura, leaking not even the slightesd bit of mana. Vincent followed the habit.

"You are a bit of a special case." His lips curled upwards. "How did you come to the idea we were assassins?"

Vincent looked away, embarrassed. 'So they were watching. His antics must have looked strange for them.'

"My brother warned me, people could target me."

The man in front of him skimmed through a couple of files.

"Your brother, there is nothing in here. There is nothing in here at all, you are recorded as an orphan picked up by the military. Care to explain?"

Nero's voice was tense, his brown eyes bore down, expecting an answer.

Vincent considered, his brother never told him to hide his identity. A mistake someone like him would never commit if he truly wanted no one to know of it.

"It stands there, right? My name is Vincent Horatier"

Nero waved his hand dismissively. "The empire is massive, there are many of that name even in Rome. How should I know who adopted a little kid?"

Vincent shrugged his shoulders. "He did not adopt me, we are biological siblings. His name is Arminius Horatier."

For a moment everything was quiet, then the old veteran slightly opened his mouth.

"You are His brother…. That monster had family?" He shook his head. "Do not worry, I am not his enemy, but he is right. There are many that could target you, if only they knew."

He leaned back and his fingers rhythmically taped the desk. He shivered slightly.

"Let me guess, you were mostly in the company of his soldiers. They are loyal to a fault."

Smiling slightly his voice got less serious.

"The headmaster will deal with most of the trouble, there are few who dare to make a move on this ground, a costs much to high to deal with a single kid. And it is not like we will have to hang it in the open."

He put the documents back where they were, no longer paying them any heed.

"Well we will not treat you with bias, even if you were the emperors son."

Vincent nodded, he did not plan to leech of others status.

"Your performance was honestly incredibly, you trained yourself, got an allay and avoided conflicts to the best of your abilitys. You dealt with the headmasters summon perfect. You did not get surprised, calmly assessed the situation and even captured the assailant for research."

Vincent stumbled a bit when he heard about the headmasters summon, no wonder they let it attack the students. without worry.

"Keep it, the headmaster gave the okay. He will take back the energy in a week, take that chance to do some research."

He nodded, thankful. If he could replicate a magic core, maybe he could crack the issue of intellegance and magic in one go. And different than summens, his mosters could survive forever.

"The only puzzling thing was your last decision, why did you attack the executioner."

Vincent knew the moment would come, so with confidence he held up two fingers.

"There were only a limited number of possibility's. Either it was a real threat, in which case it would be the only logical conclusion to ambush it. Like you said, why trust a random stone stele, it could come back tomorrow well prepared and with full mana, in which case we would have died for sure.

Or it could have been send by the school as a test, and a challenge to overcome. Why not try, when we got nothing to loose."

Nero thought for a moment.

"I do not approve of your decision for it risked your teammate, though I understand your decision. It would have been even better if you told your plan to the other students, your chances would have improved. But my opening speech still stands, results are what matters – you killed it.

So, you passed the exam, but we decided to give you a little extra. "

He leaned forward, his eyes laying heavy on Vincnet. "What do you want?"

"A laboratory, something where I can research." Vincent took a piece of paper and started drawing. His eyes were frevent, exited"Something like this, or this. Ah, and a water supply and…:"