Chapter 16
The martial training room was empty. Zale checked the smaller rooms meant for training abilities. Empty. He thought maybe the dining hall would be where his master was but it too was only filled with a couple monks. He grabbed some fruit to eat on the go as he headed toward the Senior Abbot’s office. The food that was left in his room wasn’t enough to fill his stomach since he had been asleep for three days. The hallways were even empty on the way to the Senior Abbot’s office. Wherever they were holding the guild tests must be where everyone was. He was almost running when he reached the office door. He did not want to miss taking the guild tests. He tapped on the door three times.
“Come in.”
Zale rushed in and saw the Senior Abbot shuffling some papers around on his desk.
“I was just about to come get you personally. Wade just informed me you woke up. How do you feel?” the Senior Abbot asked.
Zale couldn’t sit down because the Senior Abbot walked right passed him grabbing his sleeve and dragging him back into the hallway.
“I feel fine sir. Sore and burnt, but nothing that won’t heal.”
They left the Spirit Hall. It was a good thing Zale sought out the Senior Abbot, because he would have continued scouring the Spirit Hall.
“Good, your master was waiting at the testing to beg them to stay another day for your sake. It’s fortunate that you woke up earlier than Wade expected. I imagine Malchi will be very happy he doesn’t need to make a fool of himself to the guild representatives.”
Zale found it hard to imagine Malchi begging anyone for anything. His master was always extremely stern and demanding. The only time he had seen Malchi anything but lord-like was when he had first found him in his drunken stupor. The fact that Malchi was willing to lower himself for his benefit touched Zale deeply.
The Senior Abbot walked briskly directly toward City Hall which was located directly next to the Spirit Hall. While normally being neighbors would mean just a few steps away, in the case of the Spirit Hall and City Hall it was quite the opposite. The Spirit Hall was the representation of the Emperor and his will. The City Hall was the power base of the local hegemon. The Jeskai Family was the local leadership in Jeskai City. Delvers Ridge was much bigger than Jeskai City so Zale could only wonder how powerful their leading family was. Either way, the two compounds were massive beyond the scope that normal citizens could truly comprehend. There was a reason Zale could do his morning runs inside and meet Malchi’s strict requirements.
The walk to the neighbors took them close to fifteen minutes. The guard at the gates to the City Hall bowed politely to the Senior Abbot clearly recognizing him. When they entered the City Hall the difference in architecture was as distinctive as possible. While the Spirit Hall was modest and practical, the City Hall had lush carpeting compared to the rough wood of the Spirit Hall, and vast amounts of frivolous decorations. Some of the displays were even Spirit Artifacts. Zale couldn’t even imagine how much excess money was required to be able to buy Spirit Artifacts to display. That was the equivalent of throwing money away in Zale’s opinion.
The Senior Abbot hurried him through a hallway and into a large room almost twice the size as the martial training room in the Spirit Hall. In the room was four distinctly different tables set up with lines going to each one. Zale saw many familiar faces that he had seen training over the last week as well as many faces that were new. One thing was shared between all the faces, grim determination. Frustration and denial was splashed across many boys and girls as they left the front of the line and joined the back of another, their test obviously not going well. If it was easy to join a guild, then there wouldn’t be such a grand desire to join them. While it depended mostly on natural talent and possibly in rare conditions abilities one was born with, it didn’t stop all the students from wishful thinking. This was the equivalent of a golden ticket. Being accepted into a guild meant most schools would offer enrollment despite how the individual did during the tournament. Only the most prestigious schools would turn down guild members.
Malchi stood at the side of one of the tables talking to one of the guild representatives. He had a smile on his face as he laughed. The Senior Abbot nudged him to go to his master.
“I will leave you here then. I have to go pay respects to the city lord. Hopefully I will be back in time to see at least one of your tests.”
“Zale gave a quick bow. “Thank you very much sir for escorting me all the way here. As far as my tests go, I don’t have any high expectations so don’t trouble yourself to just see me fail.”
“No negativity. The first step in success is believing you will succeed. Someone who belives he will lose will lose, it is only natural. It is not a question of if you will succeed but of how, when, and where. That is how one should think.”
Zale bowed a second time. “I will do my best to correct my mind set.”
“See that you do,” the Senior Abbot reprimanded.
The students in the four lines all took notice of Zale and the Senior Abbot. The students that Zale didn’t recognize especially scrutinized the interaction with care. It seemed the Senior Abbot didn’t personally involve himself in student affairs. Malchi saw Zale walking toward him and looked relieved. He indicated for Zale to go to the back of the line and wait his turn. Zale did as he was told.
Although the line was long it moved very quickly. It seemed that the test was very easy and conclusive. He was worried on the walk over that he possibly should have prepared for them. He had been unconscious the last three days and didn’t really know anything except what primary school taught which wasn’t a lot. When he reached the front of the line a man with arms as thick as tree trunks sat in front of a table that held three clumps of metal. It seemed the guild he was about to test for was the Artificers guild. Zale approached the table.
“Name?” the representative asked.
“Zale Ashwater.”
The man looked between Zale and Malchi and grinned.
“Alright Zale, the test is actually very simple. All I need you to do is hit each one of these clumps of metal with this hammer. The metal has already been purified and imbued with spirit energy. When you hit each piece I will be able to tell how well your spirit energy resonates with the metal. Resonation is the most important thing for Artificers, it allows us to create Spirit Artifacts out of metal that a normal person can’t.”
Simple enough. Zale picked up the hammer. It was hefty, much heavier than he thought it would be. He knew how hard he hit the metal clumps didn’t really matter. Spirit energy was what the spirit gems in every person’s hands connected with. It was what gave birth to abilities. It grew and became more powerful as the person matured and changed throughout life. Everyone’s spirit energy would be different, no two exactly the same. This test was purely based on luck. Some people were able to resonate with the metals infused with spirit energy, others weren’t. This relaxed Zale because it wouldn’t matter if he passed or failed because it was out of his control.
Slam.
The piece of silver metal on the right slightly shook as the hammer hit it.
Slam.
The middle clump of black metal barely moved at all.
Slam.
The left piece of metal that was a greenish color didn’t move at all but let out a clear ring.
The proctor frowned as he watched each metal be struck by Zale in succession. He let the note of the last piece of metal hang in the air a bit before he spoke.
“I’m sorry, you do not have a high enough resonance to be an Artificer. You do have slightly higher compatibility than average, but it is so small that it doesn’t even come close to our standards. Good luck on your other tests.”
Zale wasn’t discouraged. He bowed in respect and entered the second line. There was nothing to be discouraged about when it came to things such as this. It was only worth getting angry or disappointed about things one could change, and even then it was only worth it if you used the anger or disappointment productively. It was very easy to allow anger and disappointment to turn into self-loathing which was never a good thing.
Malchi exchanged a few words with the Artificer representative and then shifted to the front of the line that Zale was waiting in. He then started talking to the proctor of the test in a very familiar manner. Zale wasn’t surprised, these tests happened every year. It was very likely that the same proctors came every year. How long had Malchi been in Delvers Ridge? It was almost guaranteed that he was acquainted with many of the higher echelons.
When it was Zale’s turn he approached the table. The proctor this time was very skinny and wore glasses. On the table were twelve metal rods that seemed to be able to snap into one another. On one end was a ball bearing, while on the other end was a socket the ball bearing could fit into. It was clear this was the Spirit Array guild.
“Name?”
“Zale Ashwater.”
The man smiled the same way the first proctor had, and wrote his name down in the ledgers. He then quickly connected the rods on the table into a very intricate pattern.
“I’m going to count to five then disconnect them. Pay close attention to how they were connected.”
The proctor finished connecting them and counted down from five. In a flash they were in pieces again. Zale had a good memory so he was confident that he could remember the formation they were in.
“Now you make the formation,” the proctor ordered.
Zale fumbled with the first metal piece as he figured out the trick in snapping the ends together, but after that he was able to quickly re-create the formation. The proctor nodded his head in approval and ripped it apart. He then added four more rods so that there was a total of sixteen and created a more complex formation. He then counted down from five again until he dismantled it. Zale recreated the new diagram perfectly again. This process continued until Zale had perfectly re-created a diagram that consisted of thirty-two pieces at which point the proctor nodded his head in approval and took out a powder and handed it to Zale.
“Your memory is more than adequate. The last part of the test is being able to properly control the power of the world. I will make a true formation that will simply produce light. When you spread that powder across the formation it will activate it. You will be in charge of the formation. To produce a ball of light you will need to distribute the energy perfectly throughout the formation.”
The proctor made a simple twelve-piece formation and gave the signal for Zale to proceed. The powder flew out. Zale could feel the energy around him congregate into the pieces of the formation. At first it seemed easy, it was almost the same as controlling the discharge from the eel. It seemed that the energy was seeping into the formation perfectly. A soft glow began to form in the center of the formation. He was excited, he was about to succeed. The only problem was that the energy of the room wouldn’t stop going into the formation. He could tell the formation was already filled, as more and more energy entered the metal rods the table began to shake. If he didn’t stop the energy the formation would break.
Snap.
One of the pieces snapped out of the socket breaking the formation. Zale had failed. It was different than the discharge of the eel. With the electricity he had been able to move it and direct it. With the power that the formation summoned he was only able to consolidate it. He was completely unable to move or control it. The proctor shook his head.
“Very close, your understanding was much higher than most. However, we cannot teach the ability of regulation which is what allows defensive formations to exist on their own. If you would have been able to adjust the power so that it self-regulated, then you would have passed the test. Good luck on your future tests.”
Zale moved into the third line. Malchi moved as well but stayed very far away from the proctor. In fact, he made sure the proctor didn’t even see him. As Zale neared the front of the line he realized why. The guild he was currently in line for was the Tower of Sages. They were known for being conceited and self-absorbed. This attitude was one of the main reasons they distanced themselves from worldly affairs. They thought themselves above everything.
This line moved the fastest of all, and Zale was at the front in no time. The only thing on the table was an orb. The man asked for Zale’s name, and wrote down his information in his ledger like the other proctors. There was no smile though, or glance toward his mentor.
“Place your hand on the orb,” the proctor ordered.
Zale nervously touched the orb. His vision became blurry and he saw nothing but white. Images flashed in front of him of his childhood. His mother making his winter clothes during the fall. His sister walking for the first time. His father teaching him how to ride a horse. They were his happiest memories. Then dark clouds formed above the images. Lightning struck down on all of the memories, shattering them into pieces. Zale watched in devastation. He wanted to protect them but he was scared. His hesitation made him sick. He wanted to brave and face the lightning. He didn’t want to surrender. He jumped into the storm and everything faded back to reality. It was over as fast as it began.
Zale was lost. He had been ripped from reality then brought back to it so fast it was extremely disorienting. The proctor had the hand he had placed on the orb lifted up. It seemed the proctor had forcefully broken the illusion. Zale took his arm back and cemented himself back into normalcy.
“Very strange. It is very rare for someone to not submit to the illusion. Everyone sees different things, but one thing is always the same. The illusion strikes right in the heart. Unless someone is able to recognize the illusion and bring themselves out of it they are trapped. You failed to detach yourself but instead were able to resist the illusion. Good luck with your next test. Someone like you may not be destined to be a sage, but I will definitely tell my apprentices to look out for you.”
Zale bowed again in respect as he entered the last line. Three failures. He didn’t really care. Malchi walked over and started talking in a very familiar manner with the last proctor. By process of elimination it was easy for Zale to tell that the last guild was for Glyph Masters. Luckily it seemed the line was almost non-existent so he was at the front very quickly. On the table was only a small tray of sand. The proctor smiled at him.
“Zale Ashwater I assume?”
“Yes sir.”
The proctor nodded and faced the sandbox.
“I’m going to draw glyphs into the sand. They won’t be as complicated as the ones you saw during the Array Master exam, but I will wipe them away directly after I draw them. You will then need to re-create them as best you can.
Zale nodded his head in understanding and the proctor immediately began. A symbol was drawn into the sand and then quickly brushed away. Zale mimicked it perfectly. This continued for close to fifteen minutes. The entire time Zale never made one mistake. Malchi nodded his head in approval. The proctor stopped and smiled.
“Good, you have excellent memory which is extremely important for a Glyph Master even more so than an Array Master. We must work on the fly during combat so a good memory makes thinking of glyphs much easier. They need to be second nature. The last test will be powering a glyph. I will make one for light. Just prick your finger and let a drop of your blood fall onto the glyph.”
Zale bit his finger while the proctor drew a simple glyph into the sand. A drop of blood fell into the impressions of the glyph. Instantly Zale felt a connection with the symbol. He felt it drawing from his strength. He let it have his power. His head felt light but the glyph begun to shine with light. He was afraid he would overpower the glyph like he had with the formation during the Array Master exam. As the glyph became filled with energy though, he had no problems cutting it off. It was his energy, not foreign power. It was his to control. As he cut the string that connected him and the glyph the power he left coursed with life and a small light birthed above the glyph. He had succeeded. Malchi beamed with happiness. The proctor extended his hand for Zale to shake.
“Welcome to the Glyph Master guild,” the proctor said.
Zale stood there speechless.