The Apprentice Exams

As I walk into the class, the first thing I notice is that it is bare, except for a long table opposite me where five men in green robes are sitting behind. I can recognize two of them as my teachers Master Shawn and Master Hogan, as for the rest, I don't recognize them except the one on the far right who looks a bit familiar.

I bow a bit as I greet. "Karenatha Zimear."

They all nod, accepting my greeting.

"So you're finally here." Master Shawn says. "I was beginning to think you would never arrive. Seth, inform Grand Master Zarel that we are about to begin."

Only after Master Shawn mentions the name did I notice that there is someone else in the room. A boy with dark brown messy hair who looks around my age and is slightly shorter than me. He is wearing a white robe similar to the one Drew's team got when they entered the In-between. He is a protector then.

I watch him leave the room before turning back to look at the Teacher on the far right, wondering where the sense of familiarity came from. A moment later it hits me. He's a member of the House of Parliament, famous for his racist way of speaking. Seeing someone like that here shocks the heck out of me.

He raises his eyebrows, noticing me staring at him. "Is there something interesting going on on my face?"

I shake my head and look at the ground, resisting the urge to bring out my phone and check the time. Not too long later the door opens and I feel an oppressive aura pressing down on me. Grand Master Zarel is here.

I turn and see his expressionless face as he walks into the room, that glowing white orb floating behind him as usual. His eyes sweep across the room and the teachers in the room unconsciously adjust themselves. His eyes rest on me for a moment before he turns away.

"Let's begin," he says, "I don't have time to waste."

Master Hogan nods and stands. It seems he will be the one conducting the exam, while the rest are just here to judge my performance. To put it simply, they will decide whether I pass or fail.

Master Hogan pulls a strange-looking orb out of thin air. Its surface is filled with elaborate grooves that form and connect different noers. I recognize it almost immediately, the Tester, it is used to determine the purity of one's Uua. Master Hogan had shown it to me when explaining why if one's Uua doesn't reach a predetermined level of purity then one won't be allowed to progress.

"This is the Tester," Master Hogan says, stopping in front of me. "We will use it to determine the purity of your Uua. If your purity doesn't reach sixty, then you will be automatically disqualified."

"That's a bit too low." Grand Master Zarel interrupts. "A boy with such great potential should face something more challenging than that. Increase it to seventy-five."

Master Hogan hesitates for a moment before nodding. He turns to face me while I begin to panic inside, the purity of one's Uua only increases the more one uses the purification noer, but I just learned the noer not too long ago. Even with the time I spent in the Lands of Time, I doubt the purity of my Uua is even up to seventy, not to talk of seventy-five. Besides, a purity of seventy-five is what they use for the Protector exam, and I am not even close to being a Protector yet. I shoot Grand Master Zarel a look as I realize something, he wants me to fail. But why? I haven't done anything to him, or does he just hate the fact that he couldn't wipe my memories that time?

"Place your hand on the Tester and inject a bit of your Uua into it." Master Hogan's face is calm but his voice is a bit tense. He didn't expect this either.

I place my hand on the Tester and inject a bit of Uua dejected. It's obvious that I have already failed the exam, I might as well get it over with quickly.

The Tester glows briefly and Master Hogan closes his eyes briefly as he senses something. When he opens his eyes there is a bit of confusion on his face.

"His purity is seventy-six?" he says sounding unsure. There are more than a few looks of surprise on the other Teachers' faces, even the Protector, Seth, looks surprised, but none are as surprised as I am. I sneak a glance at Grand Master Zarel to see that he looks unconcerned by the fact that I passed. Did he expect it? I am not sure.

We move unto the next part, which tests my knowledge on various types of noer I should know as an Apprentice. The exam format is quite simple, one of the Teachers will call out a noer and I have just three seconds to reproduce it accurately in the air with my Uua. They can also ask for the description of the noer. Or they can produce the noer themselves and ask me for its name and description. I pass this section quite easily, though I keep sneaking glances at Grand Master Zarel, wondering if maybe he'll throw in some advanced noer and ask me to identify it or risk failing. Thankfully, he doesn't do anything like that.

After that, we move on to the last section. The practical section. According to Drew, it would probably take the form of combat. They'll throw me in a situation where I have to fight something. Most of the time one can only win through the use of specific noers that they have already taught.

Master Hogan directs me to stand in the center of the room just before the last part of the exam. I do as he instructs and waits. Bright light shines and fills my vision, when it clears I am not in the room any longer. Instead, I am in a rocky desert, with small stones littering the ground and large slabs of rock appearing sporadically. The sun beats down mercilessly on the place, making the desert reminiscent of a grill. I look down to see that my clothes were gone, replaced with the ones I used for my lessons with Master Shawn.

A normal person would have fainted within minutes of coming here, but as a Laen I am tougher than a normal person. Still, I use the enhancement noer just to make sure nothing unexpected happens. As soon as I activate the noer, the heat becomes a bit more bearable, as my senses also become sharper and my body stronger.

A few seconds later I hear a strange sound coming from my left. It is so faint I wouldn't have known it was there if I hadn't been using the enhancement noer. I smile inwardly. So the enhancement noer is one of what they want me to use.

I turn to my left and frown immediately. There is nothing there. Even my enhanced eyesight can't detect anything out of the ordinary yet I can still hear the sounds and they are getting louder. I activate second sight and stare at the thing in front of me.

"Ooh shit," I say as I stare at the stone golem in front of me. It is more than a head taller than me, made entirely out of stone in a way that makes it look buff. Most importantly, it is covered in pretty strong Uua. I know immediately that I have to defeat it to pass.