The Culmination of a Year's Work

Saiph walked in through the doors of the library, a wave of booky musk crusading against his nostrils as he did, and walked upstairs back over to the various languages. In the geography section of the general exam, there were a few questions regarding the natural languages contemporary throughout the middle worlds of the Tower. Saiph thus had his curiosity piqued.

In order to satisfy his curiosity, he went over to the encyclopedia section of the library. There were quite a few different sets but Saiph eventually found the one he wanted: "Common Languages of the Middle Worlds".

Saiph skimmed straight through book labeled "H-P", looking for the language he could read. Although he couldn't remember what it was called, just that it started with an 'M'. He soon found what it was: Mortales. The incongruous nomenclature relating to the naming of languages still felt strange to Saiph. He had never heard anything like it before. However, they were still written using the characters that he could read and pronounce.

Saiph turned to the section labeled 'History' under Mortales and started reading.

After about half an hour, Saiph closed the encyclopedia. It turned out that Mortales was the language of the Holy Scripture kept in the heart of the Academy and the foundation for humanity itself. No one really knew where it came from, originally. It had been the language that the founding fathers of the Academy and the originators of humanity had always used.

No other race used the language, either, making the name 'Mortales' synonymous with humanity and humanity's presence.

Curiosity satisfied, Saiph moved on to a set of encyclopedias about the order of beasts and classifications of them. He soon found what he wanted and delved into it.

There were six classifications of beasts: Carnage Beast, Chaos Beast, Desolate Beast, Sovereign, Monad, and Godbeast.

Through a bit of reading, Saiph found out that Carnage Beasts were about as powerful as Magic Initiates, whereas a Monad would be around the level of a True Mage.

This gave Saiph the shivers; if Monads were that strong, then how powerful was a Godbeast? Of which, the book didn't list anything about other than the fact that they exist.

However, there was also a "Soul Creation Mage," which didn't exist here. Saiph took mental note of the curious absence but didn't ask around about it yet.

…

More time passed and Saiph went back to the lodging that he had stayed at the previous night. The next day, he came back to the library and read up on some Spagyric information.

Saiph continued the lifestyle of living at the library for all of his free time, only leaving to eat or sleep, for a few days until, one day, an announcement rang out on all of the potential students' IDs.

Saiph was sitting in the library, reading a book on the native Flora Magicae of the 53rd world, Arches, when the spare ID in his pocket buzzed loudly. Alarmed, he grabbed it posthaste and observed what it had inscribed on the front of it.

"All examinees, please come to the stage where you received your aptitude test to receive notice regarding your acceptance into the Academy."

Saiph felt a faint tremor of anticipation erupt in his heart and rushed to put the books away, stumbling in the process.

No matter how confident he feigned to be, the excitement and suspense of knowing whether or not he would be placed into the most prestigious cluster of humanity in the entire Tower of Worlds was too much for a young boy such as himself to handle calmly.

Saiph was soon outside, running through the streets. Many other children could be seen doing the same thing as Saiph; the giant horde pushing everything out of its way.

Soon arriving at the declared stage, Saiph gazed up at the few people standing atop it. He was near the front and thus had a decent view of the things on it.

The Gauge was still exactly where it had been a few days ago. However, now, instead of a single announcer, there were four people standing up on the stage.

The salient and foremost figure looked to be about the same age as Saiph's father. He had straight, silver hair tied in a ponytail down to his hips, it seemed. Comparing him to the other three figures standing on the platform, he seemed to be quite tall, as well.

Saiph's heartbeat incrementally increased as time went onward until, finally, the salient figure held his fist up in the air, calling for silence.

The just-prior rowdy crowd died down in an instant, leaving only a resounding silence echoing across the area.

A few beats later, the man lowered his fist.

"Thank you for your attention." His voice was projected across the entire crowd of 20 thousand people without issue, evenly distributed across everyone. It wasn't overbearing at the front or too quiet in the back, truly equal.

"I am Kazuto Murata, the current headmaster of the Academy. I shall be holding this position by the time you all graduate, as well. For, my time to leave Veritate is in 33 years."

Murata took a few seconds to let his words sink in.

Saiph was confused by the headmaster's statement; it directly contradicted his father's words about how long people live in a world. Was Veritate different than Orion?

"To my right, Mrs. Craedlin, our board member representative of Alchemy. To my left, Mr. Podolski, our board representative of Runecraft. Also to the left, Mr. Miller, the representative of Blacksmithing." The headmaster gestured to the respective people as loud applause roared from the massive crowd.

"For those 10 thousand of you who are about to leave Veritate and go back to your homes, you have my condolences. As the figurehead of mankind, the Academy can only afford to take in the best. If we were to try and receive all of you, the Academy's system -- the one left by the Holy Scripture, one thousands of years old -- would break down in just a few years.

"Now, without further delay: the results of the admission exam. Please check your temporary identification plates for your results."

Saiph felt a faint buzz go off in his pocket. He heard hundreds of them go off all around him instantaneously, like nothing he had ever heard before. They weren't Bad Vibrations, per se, but still loud enough to annoy Saiph.

All 20 thousand children concurrently reached into their pockets and whipped out their ID plates.

Saiph's head went dizzy as he saw his results…

Success!

The plate's backdrop was covered in a veil of green light, affirming his inclusion to the top 50th percentile of examinees. In black, a large number "2" was engraved in the middle.

Saiph quickly looked around, seeing plenty of red lights shining onto people's faces- most filled with absolute despair.

He could only feel minor pity for these unlucky souls; Heaven had not given them the opportunity to strike itself down.

"May you all live prosperous lives. Goodbye." The headmaster's voice rang out once more.

WHOOM

All of the previously-red ID plates burst into a glowing blue light, absorbing their holders into them.

Promptly, half of the occupants were just… gone.

Where did they go? Would they be okay?

Thoughts raced through Saiph's head as he felt minor trepidation about the ID plate currently residing in his hand, reminding him of his rife mortality.

If… the Academy wanted him dead, couldn't they do it without anyone knowing with a mere snap of the fingers?

Saiph thought back to his father's words about his older brothers, both of whom were allegedly disappeared.

Thinking about his supposed older brothers made Saiph think back to his sister, who was most likely still here at the academy somewhere. Up until now, he had been so focused on getting into the Academy and learning more about the abounding field of Magic.

The headmaster started once again. "For those of you still here with us, you will see a number, one through three, on your ID. That is the quality of life and education you will receive here at the Academy.

"Threes: You do not have the talent to become Mages. You can, however, assist the facility, working here for the remainder of your life, if you so wish."

Loud clamor spread out momentarily before the offenders remembered their place and shut their mouths.

"Twos," the headmaster continued. "You are our normal students.

"Ones: You are our honor students- people with lavender or magenta talent, or perhaps even a lucky few who got through with outstanding written test scores. Your dorms will be far more lavish, your teachers and available classes more qualified. Twos, to you, I speak this: Aspire to one day be promoted to the realms of an honor student and success will soon find you. Thank you for your time. You will find a dorm on your own; they will have signs showing for availability."

With a flash of light, the headmaster flew off the ground with serene grace, flying high into the sky.

A wave of sighs in clear admiration resounded through the crowd of students.

After a few moments, Saiph stopped following the figure of the headmaster and looked back to the stage to view the other three teachers. However, they were nowhere to be found; the stage was empty of all occupants.

"Oh, I need to get a dorm quickly," Saiph said aloud to himself before running over to the stage and hopping on top of it to escape the admittedly attenuated crowd. However, it was still a force of about 10 thousand people; there was no way Saiph was going to contend that.

He ran off down a street, looking for the declared signs of vacancy to find his new home here at the Academy.