7 Zell's First Assessment

The first day of school arrived at last. Zell was excited about meeting children his own age. He had spent the first ten years of his life inside the duke's manor and had little contact with anyone aside from his own family. Sure, the duke and duchess have had numerous parties, even parties for the children, but the children were never allowed to attend.

"Big brother!" Rose yelled to Zell as he stood by the door, fully dressed and ready to depart for school. Elenore had dressed them both in the school uniform, which was the same for both males and females. It consisted of a plain white shirt with black slacks and a long navy-blue robe that draped from the body.

"Yes, Rose?" Zell asked as she rushed toward him.

"We get to go to school today!" She cheered. "Is it not the most exciting thing ever?!"

"Yeah, I am looking forward to it." Zell answered. "Who knows we might even make friends."

"I know I will!" Rose said. "I am the legendary hero; everyone will want to be my friend! But do not threat big brother, I can give you some of my friends if no one wants to be your friend!"

Zell knew she was insulting him, as she always did. He just smiled and patted her on the head and said, "thanks dear sister I don't know what I would do without you." He always kept a smile, afraid of what might happen if he lost control. His stats may be glitched and he is completely unaware of his level, but he knew he was strong, far too strong.

Before they left Zell's mother pulled him to the side. "Son, this school you are going to... Just don't let them get to you too much, okay? They can be rather harsh to nobles. They claim it is to make us into better rulers, but to be constantly talked down to... I think they just find it enjoyable. Anyway, try and endure it. I love you and take care of your sister for me." She said.

"I love you too." Zell said as he left with Rose.

When they arrived at the school building, they were met at the gate by a security guard dressed in a suit of armor. "Halt!" He said, stopping the children in their tracks. He looked over them for a second. "Oh yes, Duke Kelbor's children, we were expecting you today. Allow me to explain how this institution works. First you will both have to be placed in your classes. We do not have grades or years here so the fact you are first-year students is irrelevant. What matters is your class, and your proficiency in said class. The classes at this academy are as follows: Knighthood, Mercantile, and Scholar. You will be placed in whatever class best fights your attributes, which we will uncover through a series of tests. Rose of course is exempt from the testing because of her status as the hero." The guard made eye contact with Zell. "But you, young man, must be placed."

"If I don't take the test, what class am I in?" Rose asked.

"Knighthood, of course." The guard answered. "Knighthood is more than just combat training; you must learn the very essence of nobility. You learn to govern and to interact with nobles. Mercantile class is all about the making and producing of goods and then the sales of those goods. They also dabble in services. Scholars are the most boring of the lot and spend their days in reflection and study. I'm sure they do something for the kingdom, but I fail to see their purpose in the grand scale of things."

"So where do I go to get evaluated?" Zell asked. [I could keep the lowest profile as a scholar and perhaps even find out what is wrong with me.]

"Just head down the path there and you will see a large building, go inside for your test." The guard instructed. "Also do try to be placed into the Knighthood class, anything else would be considered an insult to your family, including the king."

[Great, now I must place in the knighthood problem, who knows what might happen otherwise.] Zell thought.

"As for you Rose, please enter the building behind me and wait for the rest of the class to arrive. Then we will determine what rank of Knighthood you should be in."

Zell left and followed the path until he reached a large structure. As he walked inside, he found a large group of students his age, each being assessed to find out what their futures would hold. He waited in line until it was his turn at the check in table. "Hello, my name is Zell Neuval, I am here for my examination."

"Oh yes, the older brother of the hero." The woman at the check in table replied while looking Zell over. "We are expecting remarkable things out of your sister, great things indeed. Don't feel bad if you are not quite at her level, she is legendary after all." She shuffled some papers around and handed Zell a large stack. "Please take these papers to the classroom over there and begin to fill them out. This will give us an idea on what to evaluate you on next."

"Alright." Zell said as he did as instructed. He opened the papers and to opinion-based questions. Question one: If you had to choose a weapon to defend yourself, what would it be? "That's simple. Zell said to himself as he answered. Zell was an observant child and always paid attention to his surroundings. One thing he noticed was that all adult nobles he had seen always had a saber on their belt. In this kingdom a saber was a symbol of status and nobility. If he wanted into the Knighthood class, he would need to give them the answers a noble would give, and so he wrote saber as his answer.

Question two: You find a man stealing from a noble house to feed his family, what do you do? "Oh, I don't like this question at all." He whimpered to himself. He knew what the answer would be due to the fact this scenario had occurred when he was a small toddler. A man was found picking the apples from the duke's orchard. He was brought before the duke and executed for his crimes against the nobility. Zell wrote: Execute him.

Question three: You see a lesser race such as a goblin, what is the best method to deal with the problem? "What problem?" Zell asked himself. Due to being isolated he was unaware of the kingdom's xenophobic tendencies. He used his high intellect stat to piece together the proper answer. [If they are wording it as a problem, that most likely means they feel as if its mere existence needs to be eradicated. I doubt they would just want to stop at the death of one either.] He thought to himself. He wrote: Hide and follow it back to its home and kill every last one of them. Simply writing such things made him feel sick in the pit of his stomach, but he knew he had to place himself in the Knighthood class.

The rest of the five hundred questions went by without much of a hitch, Zell was able to deduce the correct answers for nobility without much effort. When he finished, he gathered his papers and went to turn them back in to the woman who gave them to him.

She took them from him and started looking through his answers. She looked very pleased with his responses. "Well Mr. Neuval, you are definitely on your way to knighthood, I have never seen such a perfectly answered test in all my years of teaching. I really do hope you pass the next two trials and make it into my class."

"What class would that be?" Zell asked.

"I teach Knighthood Rank Ten, which is the highest rank, reserved for the future leadership of our fair country." She replied. "As the son of a duke I do hope you make it in, I am sure your sister will. I digress, please make your way to that room over there and you will begin your next test.