01.33 - An Open Secret

Back at the annex, Kass and Merope’s eyes were focused on Vega.

“Looks like I am not the only one who has some explaining to do!” said Merope.

“Who are those nine?” asked Kass. “You never told us there were candidates from House Stellaris this year!”

“And not just any,” said Merope. “They usurped my sister and all scored in the top 10.”

“Honestly,” said Kass. “I feel stupid for bragging about our candidates now.”

“I swear, I had no idea,” said Vega defensively. “But I have a suspicion.” She stared at Aqua, who looked away while scratching the back of her head.

“I am not permitted to give you an official answer,” said Aqua.

“No need to,” said Vega. “They decided to participate in disguise. I have a vague idea of Hannah’s strength from her sparring matches with my brother. Then there were the fireworks, and Luc’s involvement, together with Gabe and Uriah. Add the fact that there are nine candidates, and there is really only one sound conclusion.”

Aqua sighed and remained silent.

The Cuddle-Fish looked at Aqua and each other.

Finally, Cuddles spoke up. “It’s Luc and the other Limners.”

Aqua gave him a stern look.

“What?” he asked. “Vega pretty much said it all already.”

“Wait,” said Merope. “Aren’t they our age?”

“Hannah is about as old as my brother,” said Vega. “Luc was born in the same year as me. The rest are more or less in between.”

“And they manage to rival my sister?” asked Merope. “Isn’t the exam for adults? Nineteen and up?”

Vega looked at Aqua once more.

“Fine,” Aqua said. “There are official restrictions, but there are ways around them.”

“Like what?” asked Merope.

“A letter of recommendation from the rulers, for example,” said Aqua.

“Did you…” Vega began.

“No,” said Aqua. “They had help from Terra. I don’t know the exact details.”

“And the five of you?” Vega addressed the Cuddle-Fish.

Bubbles looked away. Puddles began to whistle. They were terrible liars at best.

Finally, Cuddles confirmed her suspicion. They had known from the start. It was one of the reasons they had suddenly been so eager to watch the broadcast.

“This doesn’t leave this room,” said Aqua. “At least for now. The general public does not know about those nine, and it should stay that way for a while. This isn't exactly the best-kept secret, but it is better than letting everyone know the facts of the matter.”

“This isn’t exactly a great secret,” said Vega. “Anyone with a bit of effort and intel will figure it out.”

“Maybe,” said Aqua. “But if they do, House Stellaris will just officially deny it. Anybody worth their salt would not attempt to reveal it to the public, but keep it as a bargaining chip. If they take and pass the exam, and their age is revealed, it might cause a bit of trouble, but this was done with the knowledge of the guild master after all.”

---

The broadcast meanwhile had concluded the Core Capacity test stage and filled the pause between it and the first combat tests with other things.

“Now,” said one of the anchors, “we’ll continue with a short recap on ‘The Standard Model of IT’. Meant for those generally less inclined in the ways of Aura, and those whose school days have long since come and gone.”

“There are the origin as well as three pairs of regular Domains:

0: Void.

I: Space and Time.

II: Matter and Energy.

III: Body and Mind.”

A graphic showed a black dot with three pairs of colored lights emerging from it. The pairs split and rearranged themselves into two lines.

“The regular Domains themselves are split into Two Trinities, Ethereal and Somatic. Ethereal Spells are generally harder to master than Somatic ones. Spell difficulty within a Domain is ordered in a similar fashion.”

The two lines fused into a single one that showed a progression from easiest to hardest.

“Thus, the difficulty of mastering spells, from easiest to hardest, are as follows:

Body, Matter, Space, Mind, Energy, and finally Time.”

The line duplicated itself, as the individual items paired off into new combinations.

“Pairs of Domains, in turn, give rise to the Six Paths:

Energy & Body: Augmentation

Time & Space: Transmutation

Matter & Mind: Manipulation

Space & Energy: Creation

Mind & Body: Deviation

Time & Matter: Destruction”

The screen showed a dodecagram with the IT Domains and Paths arranged on it, made up of two overlapping hexagrams, shifted by 30 degrees, like fields on a clock.

“The Standard model combines all Domains and Paths and maps their relations at the same time, with black triangles connecting the Trinities, and with lines connecting each Domain with the Paths it gives rise to.”

“Going clockwise, starting at the equivalent of 0 or 12 o’clock, the order is as follows:

00: Path of Deviation.

01: Domain of Space.

02: Path of Manipulation.

03: Domain of Energy.

04: Path of Destruction.

05: Domain of Body.

06: Path of Transmutation.

07: Domain of Mind.

08: Path of Creation.

09: Domain of Matter.

10: Path of Augmentation.

11: Domain of Time.”

Just as the seemingly bored anchorman was about to give even more platitudes of something the average viewer should know since middle school, Aqua turned off the broadcast.

“They’ll start airing the combat tests in about two hours,” she said. “Let’s not waste the time in between. So, who wants some pizza?”