Final Phase

Although Erebos Afkoran thought of himself as a rather poor conversationalist and generally boring person to talk to, the exact issues he faced when confronted with a difficult social situation often proved to be of nerves and timing. Regardless of how little he thought of his own eloquence, the sheer amount of thoughts that passed through his head on what he could say were certainly not those from someone who had no interesting conversational ability.

The conversation, or rather confrontation in Erebos' mind, with the old man was certainly no exception. Upon being told by this old man, whatever position he might hold, that he looked forward to seeing his performance in the third phase, countless strings of thoughts stretched and crossed in his mind. "The third phase is only for those who pass the first two, so does that mean I did?" "How would he know, from merely sitting in this chair and watching the whole time?" "Who was this old man, making such a statement as if certain that I would pass?"

Such thoughts came and went through Erebos' mind in mere moments. But, as one must provide a response in a conversation, Erebos had to pick a single string and express it. Settling on his most poignant thought of all, Erebos steeled his nerves and asked the old man his most pressing question.

Erebos: "...Huehh???..."

Stroking his beard and chuckling at the sputtering Erebos, the old man leaned back, closing his eyes and grinning in a cheerful manner.

Old Man: Well, let's not drag on and distract the examinees, but let's just say I have a keen eye for those who have potential. I've been at the Capital for nearly 60 years now, and let's just say I know a future student or two when I see them. Hehe, this is just between us three, of course."

One could assume from the old man's words that he was some official at the school who had a role in the student selection process. Such an observation would normally be made by Erebos, if not for the fact that he was dwelling on his conversational failure from earlier and merely looking aghast upon the closing remarks from the two in front of him. Mentally slapping his cheeks and pulling himself together, he straightened his expression and forced out a farewell to the old man. Sensing that Erebos was flustered and disconcerted at his previous remarks, the old man accepted his brusque response with a smile and averted his gaze to the third group of examinees.

Taking such an opportunity to abscond with Jiron in his wake, Erebos awkwardly bowed his head and quickly headed out of the nearby door. Continuing at a brisk pace down the hallway into the lobby of the town hall, Erebos didn’t stop and turn around until his nerves had finally settled down. He happened to stop near a row of benches running along the wall of the lobby, and he dropped down with more force than he had intended. Realizing just how fatigued his body was after accruing the stress of the last few hours of examination, Erebos leaned his head forward and propped up his chin with his arms.

Jiron settled down next to him a little more gracefully, and gave Erebos’ side a light jab with his elbow.

Jiron: “You look a little exhausted pal, but that receptionist over there is totally interested in you.”

Hearing Jiron’s frivolous remark, Erebos glanced upwards upon hearing such an absurd proposition. That really wasn’t something he was concerned with at this point in time, but he couldn’t help from checking if Jiron’s observation was true.

To his surprise, the receptionist he had previously conversed with was indeed peeking at Erebos from behind her desk. While one would normally be hesitant to return such a stare, Erebos knew that no matter which way his gaze was directed, any observer would see the same featureless grey eyes. He could consider that a positive of his condition, but doing so would imply that he thought being able to stare at others without consequence was a good thing and seemed far too creepy to even consider.

Erebos: “She’s probably just checking out the weirdest looking guy in the room. Oh, and probably the gray-eyed guy next to him.”

While the receptionist couldn’t possibly catch Erebos’ glance, she could definitely see Jiron chuckling at Erebos’ remark while he glanced between him and the receptionist. Noticing his look, the receptionist hurriedly averted her head and proceeded to make herself look busy.

Embarrassment piled upon Erebos’ already existing surplus and caused him to bury his face in his hands, while Jiron looked far too satisfied with the outcome of the situation. After giving Erebos a brief moment to calm down, Jiron ceased his chuckling and put on a more serious expression and voice.

Jiron: “How about that, though? Tacit confirmation of us passing the exam from the Headmaster of the Capital himself, huh?”

“H-headm-master??” sputtered Erebos at a statement that Jiron probably somehow thought would calm him down. The reality of his awkwardness and rudeness towards the old man set in, confirming the notion of his importance within the Capital. A void formed in the pit of Erebos’ chest, and he felt as if his entire body was about to be consumed by it. He already felt abashed considering he wouldn’t want to lock up and subsequently be rude to anyone, but the fact that such actions were directed towards the Headmaster, the most senior position in all of the capital, made his social fumblings far, far worse.

Erebos: “B-but what was he doing there, of all places?? Why here, why now?? Shouldn’t the most important person in the capital have some kind of guards, or something?? And why would he concern himself with some random exam in some town in some kingdom of Rafda??”

Firing off questions rapidly, Jiron leaned backwards with an somewhat exasperated yet smirking expression.

Jiron: “He said he likes to take drop into exams going on here and there, and there was word among the capital administration that there was a huge turnout in these parts. And I wouldn’t think one of the strongest artificers would need someone to protect him along with countless third years and administrators.”

Trying to find an issue with Jiron’s explanation for the sake of arguing and relieving his stress, Erebos failed to fault him after considering his points. There were plenty of strong artificers around, and even Erebos was surprised at the sheer number of examinees that had shown up. Drooping his head in resignation, Erebos felt a firm slap on his back and shot a glare towards Jiron. All he saw, however, was him making a stupid grin and gesturing with his other hand towards the exit.

Jiron: “Well, we got plenty of time before the results, so let's grab something to eat and relax a bit, huh?”

Dropping his scowl and accepting his invitation, Erebos straightened his back and headed towards the exit along with Jiron. They pushed open the sturdy doors of the town hall and set out for lunch, taking their minds off the stresses of the exam and enjoying their momentary respite.

***

Hearing the clock tower's chimes declaring it was 9:45, Erebos and Jiron started to make their way back to the town hall. After taking his mind off of the exam for an hour, the anticipation and suspense rapidly built in Erebos’ stomach, almost to the point where he was feeling sick.

Erebos: “Well, I guess this is it. I know the Headmaster or whatever said that we’d make it, but I just can't convince myself until we see it for real.”

Jiron: “C’mon, you know there’s nothing to worry about. Even without that old man, I’m sure we’d still ace this exam. I certainly don’t need any handouts.”

Despite Jiron’s confidence, Erebos could still detect a hint of anxiety in his voice. No matter how much he could rationalize his acceptance, Erebos would have to see the results first hand to finally calm his nerves. Even without the tension of possible failure, he thought that he’d probably feel nervous regardless considering that this was the culmination of all of his past years of effort. Thinking back on his performance in the physical, his inexplicable failure only worsened his stress.

But no matter how much time he spent stressing, Erebos could not halt the incoming results, and he and Jiron made their way back to the town hall. Joining the stream of other examinees who waited for the 9:45 bell, Erebos and Jiron filed into the procession heading towards the meeting hall.

Too nervous to make banter with Jiron, Erebos waited in the hall along with the countless other examinees, filling their air with apprehension.This feeling peaked, however, when the clock tower finally struck 10 o’clock and the administrator entered the hall. Joining the group of examiners at the front, the administrator unfurled a large scroll he was carrying and cleared his throat loudly, silencing the murmurs.

Administrator: “With the conclusion of the first and second phases of the entrance examination, those scoring sufficiently have been reviewed and cleared for the third phase of the exam. For those participating in the third phase, please find the examiner who previously administered your exam. For those whose names I do not read, regional academies use the results of our exam for admission, and their acceptance lists shall be posted in this hall tomorrow at 10 o’clock.”

Reciting his instructions without a hint of emotion, the administrator held the hearts of hundreds of examinees in his grasp. Swiftly transitioning from his speech to his list, he prepared to read off the names of those accepted into the Capital.

His stomach aching and head thumping, Erebos vainly tried to calm his nerves in the last moments. Occupying his mind with reassuring thoughts, he mused to himself, “Even if I don’t get admitted to the Capital, I’ll still probably get a regional acade-”

Administrator: “Afkoran, Erebos”

Erebos: “-m-muh uh??”

Distracted by his thoughts, Erebos did a double take when he heard his name announced and shot a stare up at the administrator. Not noticing Erebos’ reaction or simply disregarding it, the administrator continued to duly list off the names of examinees.

The tension that was binding Erebos’ chest burned away in almost an instant, replaced entirely by a heavy weight in his head and sudden disconcertion. He still hadn’t fully taken in the reality of the situation when he finally noticed that someone had slapped his back a little too hard, leaving a stinging sensation. As Erebos turned his perplexed expression to Jiron, the moment he made eye contact he heard another name he recognized.

Administrator: “Galira, Jiron”

The nervous smirk that Jiron was pointing at Erebos suddenly melted into a full, relieved grin, and he gave Erebos another firm slap on the back. Muttering under his breath,

Jiron: “See, I told you we had nooothing to worry about.”

Trading a dumbfounded expression for a pained one, Erebos blinked a few times and let the reality of the situation set in. He and Jiron had both been accepted to an academy, the Capital at that. The administrator finished reciting the list and rolled the scroll up, only amounting to about 30 or so names. He and Jiron were two of 30 in this crowded hall, where hundreds of his peers had taken the same exam.

He really was accepted to the Capital.

Acceptance and bliss then dawned on Erebos’ face, which drowned out any possible feelings of anxiety or stinging that he previously felt. Matching Jiron’s grin with an equally broad smile, Erebos didn’t even bother to listen to whatever else the administrator was saying at the moment. He didn’t want to boast to those who didn’t pass, but he couldn’t help but give a firm high-five to the similarly joyful Jiron.

Basking in their success, Erebos faintly noticed the mumblings of other examinees who filtered towards the exit. Taking his eyes off his own pride for a moment, he noticed around 30 other examinees who still stood in the same place wearing a range of satisfied expressions, and he thought that this must be the others who were accepted. He felt a tinge of sadness when he couldn’t recognise any other faces from his immediate town, surmising that everyone else who was accepted must be from neighboring towns and villages who didn’t host their own exam.

Erebos didn’t have time to dwell on this, however, as the administrator once again cleared his throat and resumed his speech.

Administrator: “For those left standing, find the examiner who previously administered your exam and follow their instructions. The final phase is essentially a placement exam, and your immediate lineup of classes will be determined by your performance.”

Shaking off his contentment and concerning himself with the arrived third and final phase, Erebos steadied his expression and scanned the crowd of examiners. Catching the girl’s gaze, Erebos averted his eyes and started to make his way towards her and looked behind himself towards Jiron. Gesturing towards the girl, Erebos started towards her along with Jiron, but before he turned back around, he glimpsed the figure of the old man, the Headmaster, seated in the row of chairs by the door. He seemed to almost wear a satisfied expression, eyes twinkling. Getting up and brushing off his robes, he gave Erebos a wink and exited the hall.

Considering his brusque confrontation with the Headmaster earlier, Erebos felt slightly ashamed at the thought that the old man had somehow seen some kind of potential in Erebos and possibly had a hand in his acceptance. Erebos might have dwelled on this thought for a moment if not for Jiron, who lightly flicked him on the forehead.

Jiron: “I don’t know what’s so interesting back there, but that pretty examiner girl is staring daggers at you right now.”

Erebos returned his attention to the girl and resumed walking towards her alongside Jiron. She was indeed glaring at the two of them, but Erebos assumed that she was just trying to be intimidating like before and paid no heed to her ostensible hatred.

Girl: “Well, if it isn’t the two buddies lucky enough to catch the eye of the Headmaster, hmm?”

After hearing such words steeped in a hateful tone, Erebos reconsidered whether or not her demeanor exuded actual hostility. He had doubts as to whether or not that old man was the occupant of such an important position of the Capital, but Erebos assumed that a student would recognize her own headmaster. Relinquishing his doubts, he instead focused on clearing away the notion that the Headmaster’s recognition had played a significant role in their acceptance.

Erebos: “Headmaster or not, we would’ve gotten in regardless. I don’t think that old man would go so far as to force two incompetents in on a whim.”

The girl scowled at his argument, and Erebos sensed that even though her attitude towards the Headmaster was harsh at the moment, she probably held respect towards him and his decisions. She suddenly dropped her scowl and replaced it with a somewhat smug expression, completely changing the tone of her voice.

Girl: “Yeah, I guess he must’ve seen something in you guys to give such glowing recommendations during the exam scoring. That’s observers for you, always saying they see something in an examinee that the tests don’t show. Well, I guess it’s true that Galira here probably would’ve gotten in regardless. I’m not so sure about you after your display during the first phase, though.”

Gesturing towards Erebos during the last bit of her statement, he seemed to pick up her earlier scowl and prepared to defend himself.

Erebos: “It’s not like I knew what was going on anyway, and I’m sure my second phase score more than made up-”

Girl: “Alllllright, let's get you two seated, shall we?”

She cut his defense off as she pushed on their backs, leading them to around the same place they were seated at during the previous phases. Laying out three pieces of paper on the table in front of them, she pushed their shoulders down and had them sit next to each other. Erebos and Jiron glanced at each other when she walked off without a word, but they soon saw her return carrying two slender rods.

Girl: “These wands are designed to let beginners utilize their own flux, so you guys are going to be making some basic inscriptions. The wands themselves are artifices designed to help draw out your flux, so the extra mediation doesn’t let you inscribe anything too powerful, but it's enough to start.”

She held out the wands to Erebos and Jiron, and they each took one in their hands. Turning over the roughly six inch rod of crystal, Erebos examined the tightly wound inscription spiralling down the wand.

Girl: “Oh, by the way, the whole thing is rock crystal, so don’t drop it. The inscription is pretty complicated too, so they’re kinda valuable. Just a warning.”

Grasping it slightly tighter than before, Erebos laid the wand on the table and kept his hand over it to prevent it from rolling off. He looked expectantly towards the girl, waiting for further instructions. Preparing her own paper, presumably her observation sheet, the girl continued her explanation.

Girl: “All right, so we’re just going to be seeing whether or not and how well you can use the wand to make a basic, functioning inscription. The first classes for most people are wand usage and training, so it helps to find out who can already do it before your schedules are arranged.”

Stepping in between them, the girl then unsheathed a similar wand from a holster around her waist. Hers, however, lacked an inscription and had wooden bracing, indicating that it was intended for a higher level student such as herself. Holding it like a pen, she placed its tip on the middle sheet of paper.

Girl: “First, just hold it like you’re writing with a normal pen. I know this sounds a bit silly, but just concentrate on trying to make your flux flow through the wand onto the paper. You don’t really know how it feels until you do it, so just take your time and try to write anything on the paper.”

Erebos and Jiron both picked up their wands and followed her lead. Placing the tip of the wand on the paper, Erebos traced out his name to no avail.

Looking over at Jiron, however, Erebos noticed a faint line appear tracing the path of his wand.

Jiron: “Eh! Look, I already did it!”

Refocusing from Jiron and the encouraging girl giving a thumbs-up to him to his own paper, Erebos tried again. Imaging what it would feel like to push out one’s bodily energy through a wand, Erebos once again traced out his name. This time, however, a faint line similar to Jiron’s appeared towards the end of his tracing.

Restarting his name, Erebos made a progressively bolder line as he continued. Finishing on the last few letters, he was in the final motion when-

Girl: “Well, looks like Mr. Perfect Handwriting is having some trouble making anything come out!”

Blurting out from over his shoulder, the girl then knocked his back and threw off his writing. Erebos huffed in frustration and shot her a menacing glare.

Erebos: “I was about to finish my name, until you went and messed me up!”

Girl: “Uh, what do you mean? You weren’t writing anything.”

Becoming more bewildered than angry, Erebos readied the wand again and proceeded to inscribe his name once again. It seemed that if an inscription was incomplete or incompatible, it would promptly fade away, so he supposed that she might’ve just missed it and cleared away any evidence of it by accident.

Moving the wand once more, he made a distinct tracing of the first few letters of his name. He was about to finish until the girl spoke up once more, saying,

Girl: “Yeah, you’re definitely not inscribing anything. You’re just moving around your wand.”

Catching the attention of Jiron as well, Erebos thought that if the girl was just teasing him Jiron would at least affirm his successful writing.

Jiron: “She’s right, bro. Are you just trying so hard you’re imagining it?”

Frustration and confusion welled up in Erebos, who could very clearly see the writing appear on the paper. He was about to continue arguing when the girl snatched the wand from his hands and held it up to her face.

Girl: “And look, you even managed to break the inscription on this, just like how you blew out the testers. How in the world are you supposed to be an artificer if you wreck every inscription you touch?”

Erebos could see for himself that the wand’s inscription was indeed missing, and the only cause of that could be what she had already said. At this point Erebos started to feel somewhat anxious, wondering how he could actually be an artificer if that truly was the case. But forging past this anxiety, he desperately tried to redress his earlier grievance.

Erebos: “Whatever about the wand and testers, I was still definitely inscribing something. How about letting me finish before you say it's not doing anything?”

Girl: “You’ve already sidetracked this test, so just hurry up so we can move on. It’s not a big deal if you can’t do it right now anyways, most can’t right away.”

Sighing at her response, Erebos took back the wand and tried to rewrite his name one more time. Since his name probably wasn’t an inscribable word, it would just disappear like before, but he wanted to finish it just for posterity. Retracing his name like his previous attempts, he managed to finish off the whole word without interruption. Setting the wand down and leaning back, he admired his work for a second until he realized an abnormality. His name, which should have promptly disappeared after being written, remained on the paper. Reaching out to try and lift the paper to examine it more closely, he also noticed that he couldn’t quite lift or move the paper. It was seemingly stuck to the table.

Looking inquisitively towards the girl, he was even more perturbed when he noticed her expression. A state of pure unease spread across her face, staring directly at the stuck paper. While it was strange that he couldn’t move it, he didn’t see what there was to be so shocked about.

Erebos: “The paper seems-”

Girl: “What did you just do??”

Interrupting him mid-sentence, the girl’s tone of voice was far too exasperated for simply sticking the sheet to the table. Furrowing his eyebrows, Erebos was about to ask what she meant when she looked straight into his eyes.

Girl: “The paper… where did it go?”

Erebos wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that question. The paper was still on the table albeit in a strange state. His nerves flared up and all he could do was stutter as the girl leaned over the table and felt the paper.

Girl: “What did you do? You weren’t hallucinating when you said you were writing something, were you?

Assailed by her strange questions, Erebos shrunk back in his seat and Jiron leaned over and looked at the supposedly missing paper as well.

Jiron: “Maybe he’s seeing something we’re not with those wacky eyes of his, huh?”

Bringing Erebos’ strange condition into the issue, Jiron made a guess as to why they couldn’t see his inscription or the paper. While his eyes and vision were certainly abnormal according to everyone else, he didn’t imagine that they would let him see something others couldn’t. He saw less than regular people in most cases, so why would that change in this situation?

Despite his doubts, he failed to think of a counterargument as to why he could see what they could not. There was a chance, however slight, that Jiron and the girl were somehow teasing him or something, but that small chance was refuted by the other examinees around them taking notice.

“Did you see what he did?...”

“His paper really did disappear, huh? What kind of inscription did that?...”

Hearing various murmurs around the vicinity, Erebos shrunk further and drooped his head. Even his first steps in artificery were plagued by his inherent weirdness, somehow involving his abnormal vision. He figured that it might have posed some difficulties in his studies, but he hadn’t considered that there might be a deeper, fundamental issue with his condition that affected his sight only as a symptom.

What if his body didn’t allow him to use flux like an artificer normally would? Although he had made an inscription appear on the paper and made it into some kind of artifice, what was its use if no one else could even see it?

Such questions and countless others raced through Erebos’ mind, all centered on the ultimate mystery of the situation: why could he write an inscription that nobody could see but him, and how did he make the paper an artifice that disappeared for others and couldn’t be touched by him as well? He might have given such questions more thought if it wasn’t for the girl slamming another piece of paper in front of him.

Girl: “Wow, you can make some paper disappear, but so what? Don’t write your name or whatever you did last time, try making an actual inscription. Write ‘Hide from Air’ and see if it works.

As she instructed him, Erebos noticed that a few of the other examinees in the room were lifting up and dropping their papers. Watching them fall quickly to the ground, as if lacking any air resistance, Erebos figured that the inscription made the paper ignore the air while falling. The girl told Jiron to do so as well, and he quickly joined the ranks of the five or so other examinees who had inscribed their first artifice as he lifted his inscribed paper and watched it fall quickly to the floor.

Girl: “It looks like more people than usual are getting the hang of it this year, so why don’t you give it a go too, huh?”

She prodded Erebos in the back, and he lifted his wand once more. Writing out the characters for the inscription, he lifted his wand at the last stroke and watched to see if the words would fade away. He handed the complete artifice to the girl, and scanning her eyes over it, she made it obvious that she still couldn’t see his writing.

Dropping the paper, it fell to the floor the same as Jiron’s and the other successful arifices.

Widening her eyes at the result, she made a pained expression as she set the paper back on the table and started scribbling on her observation sheet. Curious as to what she could even say about his performance, Erebos looked inquisitively at her. She turned around and hid the paper at his look, and looked back over her shoulder.

Girl: “Well, I guess I might as well go and finish this report on you two, so I’ll be taking my leave. As of now, it looks like we’ll be going to the same academy, so I’ll probably see you two around at some point. It’s Kalthira by the way, Rumina Kalthira.”

Switching between a genuine smile, a smirk, and then sticking out her tongue, Rumina turned away with a swish of her long hair and joined the other examiners congregating at the front of the hall.