The Storm Part 1

The test was simple. In fact, it came off as a game.

But, let's start from the beginning.

By the time the noontime bells struck, the seeded and non-seeded students were all gathered at the main hall. Much to my amazement, I saw a lot of my Sinus Fidei batchmates, most showing excitement, while others exhibited nervousness.

A select few, however, looked quite bored.

Prince Charles was one of them. Although he didn't look particularly disinterested, he looked as though he wasn't there to take an important test at all. When he saw me enter through the wide, double doors, he immediately made a beeline towards me with a wide smile, as though he was in a royal ball rather than an examination hall.

"Therion!" he shouted, making a few of the people around him to look towards me. I fought back the natural urge to blush in embarrassment.

"Hey, Prince Charles," I muttered back just as he stopped right in front of me. "Better we move away from the entryway. We wouldn't want to hold back other test takers."

"Oh, of course!" he started, and immediately urged me to walk on forward. With me walking side by side with the crown prince of the Empire, I wasn't so surprised to see how most of the other students, including the higher years with higher rings, began to look at me with particular interest. I tried to ignore their stares. I mean, it came easily. After all, I spent a good part of one life being the flower of the ballroom.

Their stares were far more heavily laced, though.

"Who is he?" I heard one student ask.

"Is he a royal? Or a high noble?"

"That's Eleftherion," an older student murmured loudly. "The wonder boy with commoner roots."

The corner of my lips twitched. 'Why do they have to keep giving me such distasteful names?'

"Wonder boy?" the smiling prince whispered beside me. I was annoyed when I realized how much taller he was compared to me. Well, I'll just have to blame it on our age difference.

"Well, I do wonder a lot," I replied with a blank face. "For one thing, I'm currently wondering why a prince would take the Test of Waning on his very first chance."

He blinked down at me, his warm eyes crinkled up in his smile. "I'm seeded, just like you. Well, but I do wonder a lot too. How come you're here, commoner boy?"

I grinned up at him. "It's not only the princes who get seeded, you know?"

He laughed. "I should have known! It would have been quite off if you weren't, with all the ruckus you've been causing."

Sneering at him, I said, "That really might be the criteria for getting seeded, because if so, I now understand why they chose you too."

He snorted, and then landed a small punch at my arm. I was about to retaliate when I remembered where we were and who he was. I could only smile back with evil eyes. "I'll let you go for that just this time, crown prince."

He shrugged with a pout. "Not like you could land a punch, anyway."

I was about to just curse all circumstances and hit him squarely on the face when our examiner teleported onto the center of the hall, where a small platform was erected just for the occasion. At his almost silent, but powerful, arrival, the whole hall mellowed down into stunned silence.

The man looked old, but also quite young... He was the definition of an ageless person, when youth was clearly gone, but time hadn't quite taken its toll yet.

'Strong,' I thought almost immediately, sensing the power that suddenly radiated from him. He was definitely more powerful than Professor Whitaker, and at the moment, he seemed more aggressive than even the Head Professor Raghnall. Although, I still had a firm belief that the head professor was much stronger.

Regardless, this man was definitely dangerous.

I felt the pressure increase, and instinctively, I gathered a shield of notes around me. Then, an invisible explosion erupted with the man as the center, causing the gasps and shouts from the students around us.

Not long after, as though sensing the extreme discomfort of the students, the man finally smiled. Almost all at once, the pressure he exuded died down. The hall almost released a collective breath of relief. Beside us, the Sinus Fidei suddenly collapsed onto the ground, as though they were released from a giant's evil grasps. Only a few were left standing, including Charles and I. Due to this spectacular phenomenon, though, I easily saw my other friends from across the hall. Joren was helping a kneeling Albert up, with much struggle.

Sensing my gaze on them, Joren looked up and waved weakly at me. I smiled back at them. A secret worry about them not being here finally disappeared, and I had more courage to take the test now.

"Are you okay?" the crown prince asked me, making me glance towards him. He looked perfectly fine, although a single bead of sweat rolled down his temple.

I nodded at once, and quickly looked around. Many of the older students were still standing, but most of the Sinus Fidei had collapsed. I saw that a few of them had actually become unconscious, while the others were panting with sudden exhaustion. My brow furrowed in worry. "That man. Why would he do this?"

Charles used a gloved hand to wipe at the side of his face, much to my dismay. He really acted like a commoner... Then, he said, "He's probably testing us. After seeing how many Sinus Fidei tried to take the test, he probably wanted to narrow down the numbers. That's what I think, anyway. From what was told to me, the Test of Waning is hard enough as it is, so I don't think anyone would be just ready for it after only five months."

I huffed, still annoyed by the way the examiner had done it. Then, I turned to Charles. "Well, you seem confident that you could take it on."

Unexpectedly, he chuckled nervously. "In truth, I still feel a bit queasy after he showed off his magic like that. Just between you and I, I could hardly keep my knees from shaking."

I laughed, thinking that he was surely telling a joke, but then realized that he had spoken the truth. I blinked at him, and started to really investigate his body. Although his face was immaculately plastered into a calm expression, I could sense the disturbance of the notes inside him.

"You weren't lying!" I shouted-whispered. Immediately, I approached him to try and keep him up, but he promptly held a hand up to stop me.

"Don't," he said. "I'd rather be in pain than lose against them."

I glared at him. "Is your pride really that important, dear prince?"

He sighed, although he looked troubled even just doing that. "I can't show weakness, especially now when they know who I am."

We stared off at each other for a long while before I finally gave up. "If you don't want help, then so be it!" I grumbled quietly, and stood there broodingly.

Then, the ageless man started speaking again, a smile still plastered on his face. "To all those who can still carry on with confidence, stay. For all those incapacitated and incapable, please head on out to the infirmary. There are more than enough beds to house you all. Raise your hands if you need help from the instructors. I will give you half an hour to decide and to recuperate. That is all."

And as though it was an entirely normal procedure, he teleported away yet again, leaving the hall into a state of chaos. Many of the students started to call out to one another, and a few asked around for help. It was especially so where the Sinus Fidei were gathered. It was much calmer where the higher years were at. I saw how they slowly gathered into groups and then rested themselves up. Many of them were quick to give up, though- raising their hands even though they had clearly remained standing despite the blast of magic...

'Why are they giving up?' I wondered. 'Is it really because they were hurt badly? Or... because they knew they wouldn't pass the test either way? Was this part of the test?'

Feeling that something was off, I grabbed onto my friend's sleeves. He looked down at me with surprise. "What is it?" he asked. "Don't tell me you're quitting."

"Of course not," I said with a shake of my head. "I just... I have a feeling that there's more to this than a simple choice."

He looked at me in confusion, and then started to look around him intently. Then, he mumbled, "The ones with inner rings... They're forming groups."

I nodded at him with excitement. "Yes! I think thirty minutes is too long for a simple decision. I think we're supposed to be forming teams."

"If so..." Charles began to stare at the people around us. "Then, was that show of power deliberate? To help us see who are stronger or weaker than us?"

I hummed in thought. "I'm not sure. But, no matter what, Joren and Albert should be on our team."

He quickly nodded. "Alright, I have no problem with that. Joren is the one with the red hair, right? I saw him still standing after the blast. The Montauk prince also wasn't too affected."

"Yes," I agreed with silent relief. "Then we should go meet them."

As I began to walk, though, he held up a hand to stop me. He smiled at me wearily. "Sorry. Go ahead? I still feel sort of bad right now. I really don't think I should move around."

I immediately felt bad. I didn't know why I wasn't as affected as the others, but I still felt perfectly fine. Sure, I felt a lot of pressure from the man, but it wasn't enough to impair me... But this means I had the responsibility to gather the team up.

"Alright," I said. "Stay where you are. I'll bring them here in no time."

When I was about to turn away, I decided to glare at him. "And sit down, will you? No one will find you weak if you just take a seat."

Slowly, he smiled. Even now, I could see his eyes growing back into its bright self, his strength already gradually returning. He murmured, "Fine. I'll sit down, if that's your order."

I huffed. "Oh, you better. It'd be treason if you don't."

He laughed, although he winced right after. He grinned at my glare, saying, "Go. I'll be here."

Feeling annoyed at the prince's never ending smile, I turned around and started to run. Even though we had more time than I would have thought, I still felt the urge to hurry. There was simply too little information about the Test of Waning, and we didn't even know if it really was a test for a single person or twenty. For all I know, we would be asked to fight one another.

But when there's a problem that couldn't be solved, one shouldn't worry too much about it. All I know is that I should be where my friends are.

Joren and Albert were just where I had seen them, right across the room. I made a beeline towards them, and even gathered notes to run faster, zigzagging through the heavy crowd. I arrived in no time, and quickly proceeded to examine their bodies. Weirdly, the distorted notes inside them wasn't as bad as Charles'.

"What a way to greet us, Therion," Joren mumbled. "You running straight t'wards us like an air ball, and goin' ahead and starin' at us without even a greeting."

I let out a laugh. "Sorry, yeah, that was rude. I just wanted to check if you guys were okay."

Then, they both looked at each other and then back at me.

"What do you mean, Eleftherion?" Albert asked.

I raised my eyebrow at them. "I just checked your body."

"... Are you a doctor?" the prince asked with incredulousness, although his eyes showed more surprise than doubt.

I chuckled. "No, stupid. I just sensed your inner notes. It got distorted after that man released that blast of magic."

Then, my shoulders were suddenly grabbed, and I was face-to-face with my flame-haired friend. He was looking at me with wide, emerald eyes. "You can do that?! Just by looking?!"

"... Can't you?" I asked, not knowing what exactly was the problem.

"No! I can't!" Joren shouted. "Geez! There's always more surprises 'bout ya, Therion!"

I laughed, still thinking that they were talking nonsense. If they couldn't sense the notes around them, then how could they have possibly done magic?

But, no matter, I had things to do. I quickly turned to face them both, prying off Joren's fingers away from my shoulders. "Joren, Albert, I think it's best if we gathered as a team. We know nothing about the test, so I think it would be advantageous to gather our numbers."

Albert glanced around us. "I did have some suspicions. Half an hour seems far too much a time to simply choose whether to give up or stay. In fact, I reckon many of the students still around are sticking by despite their dire condition because they believe they could recuperate in the given time. But I don't believe it would be that easy. I agree with your suggestion to form a team."

I nodded, then turned to our other companion. "Joren?"

He nodded easily. "Well, I certainly didun' think that far, but I agree wid' ya. 'Sides, it's more fun to take tests together!"

I smiled. "Okay, then! Let's head on back to the prince!"

They looked at me with confusion. "... Who?" Joren asked.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" I asked. "Prince Charles will be on our team."

Immediately, various expressions appeared and disappeared on their faces, and together, they finally said, ""What???""