Pre-protector Exams (1)

I walk into my classroom and stop, surprised by the changes inside. For one, the classroom is about five times its usual size. Second, there's a lot more space between each table than I remember. It seems this is the way they write their exams. I hadn't been in a class as a Student so I had no way of knowing this is the way things would be.

As I walk to my seat, others begin to notice my arrival, and almost immediately the class is filled with murmurs. As I sit, Tobi, who is a bit farther than normal from me, asks with suppressed excitement. "Is it true you fought the Majin?"

Silence fills the class. Even without looking around, I can tell that the eyes of everyone are focused on me. I put two and two and figure out the reason for the earlier murmurs. Somehow, everyone in here managed to find out that I fought the Majin all those weeks ago.

Ignoring the rest, I focus on Tobi and nod. "I did. Kinda."

A loud snort pierces the silence of the class. "You didn't do anything. My brother told me that you were possessed by a Fasuru during the fight."

Even without seeing who said those words, I can immediately tell that it's Keldin. It seems the little bastard is still determined to continue irritating me. "I wasn't possessed," I correct him, "we were bonded. And also, during the first half of the fight, it didn't help me. So yes, I fought the Majin for a while."

"And you almost became a cripple in the process. You should have just let the thing do the fighting for you throughout."

This time, I ignore him. Tobi asks about the details of the fight and I tell him as the entire class listens. I note that, despite knowing the outcome of the fight, they still let themselves be drawn into my tale. For instance, when I told the part where Drew almost got himself killed, I spotted several people who looked like they were holding their breaths. Then I told how he opened his third eye and I swear I could feel the excitement in the air.

Just as I get to the part where Hugo arrives, a Teacher walks in and then pauses, staring at the strange scene in the class. Normally, even if we are about to write our exams, the class would be a bit noisy, after all, it is full of kids. But right now, it is so silent you could hear a pin drop, and there is currently only one person speaking. Me. The Teacher follows the gaze of everyone and stops at me, a questioning look in her eyes.

For a moment, everything seems to freeze as everyone stands still. Then we stand and greet the Teacher. "Karenatha Zimear!"

After giving me another long, searching look, she walks to the front of the class. As we all sit down, I note that she is someone I have yet to see.

She waves her hand and a moment later a sheaf of papers and a pen appears on every table in the class. "The written exam begins… now," she says, taking a quick glance at a watch on her wrist. "Good luck."

A bit anxious, I open the exam and am immediately met with numerous questions concerning noers. The alphabets, their uses, forbidden combinations, and more. I smile and relax. None of this is beyond my expectations. Picking up the pen, I begin to write the answers in the space provided. Quickly, I finish the first section and move on to the next.

The next section is a bit more complicated, containing groups and noer and asking me to identify their uses based on them alone, fix some so that they could perform a particular function, and create noers off the top of my head to achieve something.

More than half an hour passes like this, but finally, I complete it. Just as I am about to notify the Teacher, a grade appears on the front page. A+. I don't stop the smile that comes to my face.

The Teacher looks directly at me at that moment. "You're done?" It's a rhetorical question because the next moment she snaps her fingers and a small doorway appears behind her. "Go through there for the next part of the exam. Leave your answers on the table."

Nodding, I do as she says. A few people glance at me as I get up, but most just stay focused on the papers in front of them As I walk through the doorway, it disappears behind me. I keep moving forward until I get to a small room. There are three Teachers currently sitting down inside, two of which are holding a small book.

The Teacher without a book points at a circle of noers on the floor. "Stand there." I do as he asks and he nods. "Which of the Tryer Circulation Techniques did you learn?"

"The second?" I reply.

"Okay then, perform it."

I do as he asks. After a few seconds, he turns to look at the other two Teachers. They nod at him and he turns back to look at me. "Alright," he says, "Go back the way you came."

I turn back and see that the doorway has appeared. I move back through it, but instead of getting back to the classroom, I find myself in another different room. There is a table in the center of the room on which are several Testers, and a Teacher sitting behind them, reading a book.

"Place your hand on the Testers," she instructs.

Once I am done she quips. "Seventy-nine? Impressive. You'll soon get to Eighty-two at this rate. Alright, go back the way you came." From the beginning to now she hasn't looked up from her book. How she managed to tell what the purity of my Uua is, I do not know.

As I move back through the doorway, I pray that I don't have to come back through it. Moving back and forth like I am doing is getting a bit tiring.

This time, the doorway takes me to what seems like a pretty large waiting room, with lots of chairs arranged within. There are a few people, wearing the black Apprentice robes sitting within. It seems they finished their exams before me. Scanning their faces I realize that I don't recognize a single one of them. They must be from a different class than mine.

Slowly, more and more people begin to trickle in. When there are fifteen of us, a Teacher walks into the room and commands us to follow him. "This is the last part of your Pre-protector exams. Pass it, and you're good to go. Like your Apprentice exams, what you have to do is simple, defeat three Azzures. And yes, I said Azzures, not golems. If you fail this, however, then you'll have to repeat the Apprentice class."

He comes to stop in a room with several circles of noers at the edges. "One by one, step into the center of those noers and you'll be transported to the temporary arena," then a mischievous grin appears on his face. "One more thing, anyone who wants can watch this part of the exam, so don't embarrass yourselves too badly."

Is he trying to make us nervous? I can't help but wonder.

Then it is my turn.