Chương 14: The Graduation Exam (1)

"Never call it greed when your own family benefits. That is where the first lie begins." – Khalia Rumiosi, the Third Vazaag of Korsivir Two days had passed since his last class at the academy, and now the graduation exams had finally arrived. It was still very early in the morning, but Aloric would have to leave for the academy soon. He had spent the past two nights trying to cram as much as he could from the academy textbooks, yet somehow, nothing stayed in his head for long.

The date of the First Nidokov Campaign. The name of the general who had led Korsivir's western flank in the Second Great War.

The year Varrenia had signed the border treaty with Sartrene. The three mistakes made during the Battle of Harsken Ford. He had read them. He knew he had read them. So why did every single line feel like it was sliding out of his mind the moment he looked away? His head throbbed.

"Aargh!" Aloric threw the book onto the table and glared at it as if the history textbook had personally wronged him.

"What's even the point of reading all this?" It wasn't as if manaweavers defeated their enemies by reciting the exact year some major battle had happened between Korsivir and Nidokov. When he was little, Perilia had once told him the war was over. Aloric had asked what a war was, and she had gone quiet for so long that he decided it must be something worse than monsters. He had not asked again.

Now he was old enough to know that wars had campaigns, generals, treaties, formations, and countless battles with names he was supposed to remember. He was still not sure he understood them enough for any of those facts to stay in his head. Footsteps sounded from the kitchen, and Perilia walked toward him, wiping her hands on a cloth. She had been making breakfast and packing lunch for later, despite being busy with that case she had been working on for the past few weeks.

She had taken over the morning chores today so he could get an extra hour to study. Not that it had helped much. She looked at the book on the table, then at his face.

"Still no luck?"

"Why do I even need to remember these facts?" Aloric protested.

"I want to learn mana techniques, not waste my time memorizing which noble betrayed which city forty years ago." Perilia smirked and reached out to ruffle his hair. Aloric ducked away too late.

"It's still going to be useful, kiddo," she said, ignoring his annoyed look.

"Everyone has to learn these things for the exams."

"Yeah, well, I'm not a genius like you." He grabbed the book again, then immediately regretted looking at the open page.

"I can't remember everything after reading it just once." His sister laughed.

"I'm not a genius. I never was. I just studied harder than most people."

"You ranked first in Classroom One for all four years."

"And I worked hard for that too." Perilia leaned against the edge of the table.

"Anyway, if you want to learn mana techniques, you need to graduate first. And for that, you need to pass the written exams too." Aloric groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't I know that..." Her smile softened.

"I still wish I could have tutored you more." He looked up at her and forced himself to smile.

"Nah, it's not your fault. You've already done more than any other sister would have for her brother. It's just me who keeps messing things up..."

"No, you hardly—""It's true." He glanced away from her.

"I know you would have taught me more if you had the time, but you barely have enough time to sleep these days with your work schedule." Perilia didn't deny it. That somehow made him feel worse. After a moment, she sighed and tapped the book with one finger.

"Listen. You don't need to top the written exams. You just need to do well enough that the other parts can pull your score up." Aloric looked at her doubtfully.

"You're good enough at sparring," she continued.

"Your skel-throwing accuracy isn't bad either, and your stamina has always been better than most students your age. I'm more worried about the written test and the pure-mana examination, but if you keep your head steady and don't panic, you can still make up for it in the physical sections."

"I'm not panicking." She raised an eyebrow. He looked away.

"I'm not panicking that much..."

"That's better." She glanced at the wall clock, still stuck at the same time it had been stuck at for years, and frowned.

"I really do need to get that thing working again."

"You say that every month."

"Because every month I remember how annoying it is to live without a working clock." She shook her head.

"Now that I'm used to having one in my office at City Police headquarters, it feels strange not knowing the exact time at home." Aloric followed her gaze to the dead clock. They could afford food, clothing, academy supplies, and the things they actually needed. A mana core for a wall clock did not belong on that list. Perilia turned back toward the kitchen.

"Breakfast will be ready soon. You still have some time left. Try to revise whatever you can until then, and then you need to eat and leave. You can't afford to be late today."

"I'm not hungry..." he muttered, glaring down at the history textbook.

"You still need to eat, kiddo. Or you won't have the energy for the physical tests. You can't afford to do badly on those, remember?" Aloric exhaled loudly, then gave a reluctant nod.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a minute. Now leave me alone and let me study this damned book."

"Language," Perilia chided, though there was very little force behind it this time. When he looked up, the worry on her face was still there. Then she turned and walked back toward the kitchen. Aloric scowled at the book for another moment before sighing and picking it up again. He didn't have much hope of memorizing anything more. But he still had to try.

Around half an hour later, Aloric approached the gates of the red-brick building of the Mana Academy while trying to recall everything he had crammed into his head over the past two days. A carpet of reddish-yellow leaves had fallen from the trees lining both sides of the crowded street, crunching under his boots with every step. The autumn air bit at his cheeks, far sharper than the gentle breeze from a few weeks ago.

Everyone had been called to the academy by seven today, much earlier than the usual class time, and the city had not fully warmed under the morning sun yet. He was glad he had worn warmer clothes to protect himself from the wind. Still, the cold was easier to ignore than the thought of the written tests waiting inside. Once again, he tried not to think about it. That lasted for about three seconds. The moment he looked at the academy gates, his stomach twisted again. History. Tactics. Politics. Basic theory. Maths.

The written part would come first, and if he did badly enough there, it would not matter how well he did in the physical tests. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He looked around, hoping for some distraction, and felt a little better when he saw the same tension on the faces of most of the students approaching the academy. Some were muttering to themselves. Some looked pale.

A second-year student was staring at his open scroll with the blank expression of someone who had stopped understanding words entirely. So at least Aloric wasn't alone. If he could just survive the written exams, he was confident he could do well enough in the other tests to graduate. Whether a completely average student like him would be assigned to a squad with even a Tarim leader after graduation was a different matter altogether. But that was for later. For now, he needed to focus.

As he drew closer, the constant murmur of students grew louder. Talking, revising, laughing, complaining. A familiar chaotic hum made up of hundreds of young voices. Today was the exam day for all four years of the academy, so students from every year had gathered outside the gates. Some of the younger students had worn thick cloaks to protect themselves from the early morning weather. A few others stood around in lighter summer clothes as if the cold did not bother them at all.

Most of them had red hair, as expected. Hagnaar. The mighty Hagnaar clan was known for its fire mana affinity. Academy students weren't told their mana affinities before graduation, and most of them did not know enough to use that affinity anyway, but some clan traits were hard to miss. If a red-haired student stood comfortably in the morning chill while everyone else shivered, Aloric could guess the reason well enough.

The huge throng of students had already split into groups of various sizes while they waited for the gates to open. Most were peering carefully into a book, scroll, or handwritten notes. Others had gathered in small clusters around the students who were good at academics, listening to last-minute tips as if a single sentence might save them from disaster. It just might. A few stood aloof near the red-brick walls, looking like they didn't have a care in the world. Aloric snorted. He knew that act.

He had spent most of his life hating textbooks and scrolls. In every exam before this, he had only wanted the written tests to end so the physical tests could begin. And whenever his anxiety got too sharp, he had usually pretended he had no doubt he would pass. It had worked well enough to fool some people. Not himself. Even today, he had a couple of books in his backpack, but if he looked at them one more time, his head might actually split open.

So he had decided to trust whatever had managed to stick in his head by now and try his best in the written test. That was all he could do now. With the gates still closed, students from all four years of the Mana Academy were waiting outside. Those in the final year would be taking their graduation exams today, hoping to become registered manaweavers of Korsivir once the results were announced. The students from earlier years had their own exams to pass if they wanted to advance to the next year of study.

Aloric stood on his toes, trying to find any familiar students from Classroom One. After a moment of craning his neck, he spotted some of them in one corner of the crowd and started walking in that direction. He wished he were taller. At least then he would have been special in at least one thing. He was hardly the shortest in his class, but he was nowhere near the tallest either. He was right in the middle. Average. Just like he was in most things.

Even in the physical tests, which were his strongest area, he could not defeat the best fighters in his class, though he did not lose to those near the bottom either. Again, average. He shook his head. Today was not the day to make himself feel worse. Today he had to believe in himself. He could do this. As he pushed through the fringes of the crowd, he saw a notice stuck to the wrought-iron gates, which still had not opened. Already knowing what to expect from previous years, Aloric walked over anyway and read it.

The academy gates would open at seven today so the teachers could finish making all the arrangements for the exams. He glanced at the notice for a little longer than necessary. Somewhere inside the academy, there had to be a working clock. Probably in the head teacher's office. He had never seen one in the classrooms, and even the academy probably couldn't afford to waste mana cores on clocks in every room, but there had to be at least one still ticking.

Otherwise, how would the teachers know when classes were supposed to begin and end? How would they even know when the exams started today? He caught himself halfway through the thought and almost laughed. Great. Now he was thinking about clocks to avoid thinking about the written test. He turned away from the notice and looked toward his classmates. The usual groups and cliques had already formed.

Among the students he knew somewhat well, Nemirie Qanza was leaning lazily against the wall, looking far too confident for someone who was about to take the most important exam of their academy life. An open scroll rested in her hand. Aloric had a feeling that if he went close enough to read the title, he would find some advanced material that would not even be covered today. Nemirie had probably mastered everything in the exam syllabus months ago and grown bored of it.

Nearby, her self-proclaimed rival Arla Farritz sat on one of the steps, a book open on her lap but her attention divided between the book and her rival. Every now and then, she glanced at Nemirie with the expression of someone who was trying very hard not to look worried. This was Arla's last chance to prove she would not always remain second in academics. Aloric opened his mouth to ask how she was doing, when he saw the short redhead glare at Nemirie.

"I am a Farritz, dammit!" Arla suddenly declared, loud enough that Nemirie could probably hear her if she cared to listen.

"Today, I'm going to show her that I am not going to lose!"

"Uh..." Aloric wasn't sure what to say to that. A little farther away, Ralovit from the weapon-specialist Vayot clan was idly balancing a skel on the tip of one finger instead of studying. The multipurpose weapon looked more like a short sword than a knife, but Aloric still wondered why they even bothered giving it a different name. Then again, a skel was not really a knife either. It was thick, heavy, and made with a strong blade built to survive impact.

Some had smooth edges, while others were serrated near the base, but either way, it was clearly made to kill a man rather than prepare dinner. Ralovit flicked the skel once, caught it by the hilt, and made it vanish somewhere inside his long trench coat. The Rumiosi twins, Sikkar and Sulia, seemed to have no interest in studying at all. They were giggling together while pointing at someone else, likely planning their next prank.

One of Sulia's ash beetles crawled over the back of her hand before disappearing into her sleeve, while Karro watched it with intense interest and gave one hopeful little woof. The student they had been watching shifted farther away, apparently deciding that the twins, the beetle, and the dog were all equally unsafe. Aloric shook his head at the sight. They probably had private tutors at home to help them prepare for the exams. Perks of being from a rich clan.

Velron Rudox stood alone, glaring at everyone as expected, as if he were looking for a fight even today. Especially today. Aloric stayed well clear of him. He had never come close to defeating the tall Rudox, and he had no intention of getting into a fight right before the exams. Instead, he went to stand near the bulky Hovaru of the Yaboli clan, who was munching on some snacks, like usual.

Yibleen was sitting nearby, turning pages too quickly to be reading anything properly while looking ready to pull out her hair in frustration.

"Ready for the exam?" Aloric asked her.

"Aargh... don't even remind me." Yibleen groaned and closed the current textbook, only to open a new one immediately.

"I'm going to fail... I know I'm going to fail!" Aloric probably should have tried to say something encouraging, but considering the state of his own confidence, anything he said would have sounded fake.

"What about you?" he asked Hovaru. The rotund boy had just finished his previous packet of snacks and opened a pack of cookies this time. Hovaru shrugged, chewing on one of them.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Not that any of us are going to get better marks than Nemirie or Arla."

"Today, I'm scoring above Nemirie," Arla announced at once, somehow hearing him without even looking up from her book.

"Remember that."

"How did she..." Hovaru shook his head.

"Never mind her." He offered the pack of snacks to Aloric. Aloric still didn't feel hungry, but he took a single cookie to be polite.

"We don't need to score that high, do we? I'll be glad if I just pass the written test."

"I'm more worried about the pure-mana test," Hovaru said. Aloric winced.

"Don't remind me of that either."

"At least you seem to be doing well at sparring now. You defeated Ralovit."

"Just once," Aloric muttered.

"It would have felt better if I had defeated someone stronger, like Sikkar. Or you. Or Velron."" No one beats Velron."

"That's not as comforting as you think." Hovaru chuckled and took another cookie. Before Aloric could say anything else, the iron hinges of the academy gates creaked loudly. The crowd shifted at once. It must be seven already. Before anyone could start pushing forward, two teachers stepped into view atop the stone pillars flanking the academy gates. Both wore combat attire instead of the usual academy clothes, and the sight alone sent a hush through the gathered students.

A dull yellow rank-marker rune glowed on the inner left wrist of one teacher, while the other teacher's marker shone blue. Aloric swallowed. The colors were simple enough for even first-year students to recognize: blue for Nourim, yellow for Tarim, red for Siurim. Seeing those markers active, along with the combat attire, suddenly made the morning feel different. This was not another school day. This was official. This was serious. This was the day that would decide their future career paths.

"Move inside, all of you!" the Tarim teacher called from the gate pillar, his voice carrying easily over the silent crowd.

"No shoving or pushing!" Aloric looked at the faces around him and saw the same fear staring back from nearly everyone. Today's exams would decide everything. Whether they would be placed in a squad with a Siurim instructor. Whether they would be assigned to a Tarim instructor instead. Whether they would be pushed into the Nourim reserve force and left to fade into obscurity. Or worse, whether they would fail the graduation exams altogether. Damn it! He had never been this nervous in his life.

Aloric clenched his fist, trying to steel himself, then joined the slowly moving mass of academy students. The written tests were waiting for him inside, and the thought was already making his stomach twist. But he forced himself to keep walking. I will get through them. No matter what. He took a deep breath as he entered the academy grounds and glanced at the red building ahead. It was time to prove himself and make his sister proud.