Episode 4

Chapter 4: The Second Test

At the command of the Head Delegate, Daniel stood up straight, standing as tall as he could before the assembly before responding to introduce himself. His voice was loud, with pride in his heritage and roots. Many of the Delegates that could be seen by the sparse illumination of the white circle nodded in approval as he began to speak.

"Honored Delegates, my name is Daniel Richards, a 4th-year cadet of the Mage’s Academy, son of Elisha Richards and the Ascended Zachariah the Firebrand. Grandson of the Ascended Zekant, the current Headmaster of the Mage’s Academy. I come before you today seeking to become an Essence Weaver so that I may serve the Empire faithfully, just as my family before me has. Their legacy is mine to fulfill." With a crisp snap, Daniel stopped speaking and looked straight ahead, keeping his head and chin upturned and level with the ground.

"Well said and well met, son of Zachariah," responded the head of the Delegates in encouragement; a smile could be seen from beneath the man’s hood. His voice was comforting and encouraging, even as the remaining Delegates within the shadows whispered among themselves. Some with murmurs of approving admiration, others, barely a minority, muttered with hostile undertones. Daniel knew better than to bristle at the apparent antagonism.

"Take a moment, son of Zachariah," said the Head Delegate as he stared directly at the boy, the Head Delegate’s voice tinged with some element of concern. The man turned towards his peers throughout the room, a punishing glare on his voice towards those who broke decorum.

"Take a moment to collect yourself before proceeding through the door on your left. The second test you will face will be in the room of the Wind. Upon completion, the next testing room will open. You will continue on the testing circuit until finishing back in this room where you will be directly administered your final test by us. It is based solely on our judgment if you pass or fail a test. If we believe you are to take critical damage, you will be transported directly back here to this room. Likewise, if you quit, simply say so, and you will be transported directly back here and fail. I trust you will not fail.

"Now, my fellows," commanded the Head of the Delegates. "Prepare the Dungeon offering so that this boy may proceed." With the quick motion of an unseen blade, Daniel watched as the man in front of him split his hand open at the palm. A few drops of blood fell to the ground before being absorbed by the Dungeon. Though he couldn’t see many of the other Proctors, Daniel heard all of them following the example of the Head Proctor.

A deep contented growling sound reverberated throughout the chamber. Daniel couldn’t help but flinch. Is that the dungeon? The Head Delegate then announced, "You are now free to enter."

Arcane: I accept this offering. Rich, powerful. This will sustain me for a while yet. You may safely pass. I will not harm you.

Daniel nodded in appreciation, doing a curt salute before the Head Delegate with respect and gratitude. He turned to his left and then to his right, repeating the same salute, making sure that every Delegate was respectfully acknowledged. Decorum did not discriminate based on grudges. Regardless of who was his friend or enemy, within the Delegates, an easy way to make future trouble was through real or perceived slights. These concerns were just as easily avoided with a show of respect.

When Daniel had finished paying his respects, a stone door slid open to his left. The sound of the stone grinding against stone made him wince. A rare break of decorum, one which he hoped no one noticed and that those who did would forgive him for it. The door in front of him lit up in gold, an enchantment born of the school of the Earth.

Without looking back, Daniel did an abrupt 90-degree left turn and walked out of the room with carefully measured steps. Knowing as he did that every single step he took and every move he made was being examined. Daniel had to be careful in his precision, needing to ensure that none of the Delegates could find any blatant way to criticize his professionalism. This test might be judged remotely by the Proctors, but the consequences of how he performed would be long-reaching and would decide the life-course of his career with the Empire.

When Daniel stepped through the stone door, he found himself at the end of a long, though narrow hallway. The door shut behind him shortly after he stepped through it. The floor of the room was dusty. The source seemed to be from the recently chipped and pulverized rocks Daniel could see. The floor's surface had been marred from the previous testers who had gone before him. In places, he could see puddles of water and black soot from fire with large segments of roughly carved channels on the floor.

Even as he looked, Daniel was surprised as the room began to change before his eyes, evening out the floor and resetting itself. Within seconds any sign of damage was gone. The room returned to pristine condition. “This must be the dungeon’s doing.”

Inwardly, Daniel felt trepidation and worry. The root of his concern was based on his seeing that those who had come before him had all likely had to use their specialized elemental abilities. Daniel couldn’t help but wonder how he would respond to the current task. Just like with the Earth element, Daniel had no spells or abilities that were wind-based. So far, much to his chagrin and the sorrow of his grandfather, he had been unsuccessful in specializing in any of the elementary elements to supplement his powers.

After he had taken a moment to look around, the theme of the room appeared obvious and predictable enough to him. Daniel figured that with a long tunnel-shaped room such as this and in a room specialized with the school of the Wind, it would likely feature a wind or air-based problem to solve. Either the wind would blow, preventing his passage, or the air would be vented out of the room. So long as it was the former, Daniel believed he would ultimately be successful. So long as he fully embraced the mantra of “never quit”, a mantra that the Empire tried to instill in all of those who serve.

Daniel waited just a moment to see if he could find any distinct sort of trigger mechanism or trap to start the trial before venturing away from the doorway. Eventually, he gave up, considering the matter out of his hands before walking forward in a low crouch, trying to keep his profile low and centered, worried about losing his balance.

The response was quick in coming. Daniel knew he had guessed right about the nature of the room when he felt a warm breeze upon his face. The pressure against his face was increasing rapidly as his hair began to flare in the wind, gradually and exponentially growing in its force. Within mere seconds going from something pleasant to something that made Daniel second guess his ability to endure and succeed in this test. As the wind began to bow him over, Daniel fell on his hands and knees, trying to brace himself against the ground by keeping his center of gravity low. He failed.

With violent energy, the sheer power of the wind began to force him backward, sliding on his belly against the ground. Even as he dug into the dirt with his fingers, screaming in defiance as he tried to resist. If the gale heard, it didn’t care as he was lifted up onto his feet, and Daniel was blown backward, flying through the air with a scream muffled by the wind before crashing into the wall next to the doorway by the entrance with an unpleasant thud.

Daniel’s mind filled with red-hot anger as the stone wall slapped against the flat of his back, sending waves of pain throughout his body. Whatever thought he had of giving up a minute ago vanished. So long as he was breathing and conscious, he would never quit. His journey would not end here.

Daniel grimaced as his hands slapped on the ground, grinding his teeth as he pushed the pain down into himself and pulled himself up. He would not give anyone any extra reason to say he didn’t belong, to say he didn’t deserve to be an Essence Weaver. Pushing the negative thoughts to the back of his mind. Choking back a scream of expletives that he desperately wanted to voice but would not.

As the wind beat down on him, Daniel counted the number of seconds he was pinned against the wall. For thirty miserable and horrible seconds, he was stuck where he was at. The cold of the wind stripping warmth from his bones until, finally, the wind dissipated, allowing him to drop on the ground exhausted.

"Is it on a timer?" he muttered to himself, reasoning and wondering if the wind were trigger-based or timer-activated. There would be only one way for him to find out as he sprinted forward, seeing the marks on the ground where he had fallen on his hands and knees. Uncomfortably cringing as he saw the nail marks in the dust, telling the story of how he had struggled and been dragged by the wind despite his efforts and protest.

Daniel pushed forward, not hesitating, moving as fast as he could. The wind would kick back up soon, he was sure of that. It was an undeniable fact. But first, he wanted, needed to know how far he could get before the wind began to blow again. So, he ran forward toward the exit. By focusing on moving quickly, rather than creeping along, Daniel was about to get almost two-thirds of the way down the hallway before the wind kicked back up. "Yep, timer-based," he told himself.

However, just because it was expected didn’t mean he had to accept what was coming. Daniel was no fan of pain and no glutton for punishment. Rather than let the wind pick him up and toss him around, rather than ultimately slamming against the wall, he turned. Daniel turned and ran with the wind rather than against the strength of the wind.

It was a stretch of his abilities and taxed himself almost to the complete and absolute limit of his athletic skills, but it was enough to avoid damage. He was able to sprint fast enough to avoid being swept up by the wind, and when he reached the end of the hallway, he scaled the wall. By planting one foot on the wall and then the other, he used his wind-boosted speed to run up the wall and the force against him to anchor himself in place.

The plan worked to keep him from slamming dangerously into the wall, allowing him to avoid most of the worst effects of the wind. He was able to use his body to split and cut the wind, parting it and reducing some of the force against him. But the plan had not been without flaws. As soon as the wind dissipated, Daniel fell to the ground from a higher altitude, landing with a painful groan and a laugh.

Flipping himself over onto his belly, Daniel wasted no time picking himself up. He had a plan and didn’t want to waste a single moment before the wind started up again. He placed his hands on the ground and used his innate Essence Weaver abilities to shift through the floor for materials. Thinking as he shifted the stone beneath him that he would build for himself a series of spikes to impale into the ground. Something that he could use to anchor himself and give him the ability to ferry himself across the hall.

Though he found some trace minerals and metals, it was not enough to work with. The idea wouldn’t work. Daniel smashed his fists into the ground in frustration that all he could see was the useless dust and sand that scattered at the blow. A quick idea hit him as he realized his mistake. With no time to waste, he used his abilities to rapidly gather the sand, gravel, and dirt to himself. The Silver Shield he had given a name on his arm began to glow as a message was sent directly into his thoughts.

Materialization Successful – You have gained the base components of clay, sand, and dirt.

“Oh, that’s new. Is this the power of Luminaire? It must be,” he thought, hoping for an answer to come. Daniel knew what he needed to do. He had made a typical and common mistake, having tunnel vision when it came to a solution when the answer was obvious. More than just metal could be made into an anchor, and as the idea formed in his head, the Silver Shield glowed again as if showing him exactly what he needed to do. Answer in hand, Daniel manipulated and shaped the material, hardening it until it was like the small pieces of stone and then further shaping that into a heavy ball.

Basic Creation Successful – You have created a rounded stone weight with the option to anchor through quick alterations.

With a grunt, Daniel began to roll the ball across the floor. As soon as he felt even the slightest hint of a breeze, he would reshape the bottom of the ball into a flat cube and would grab hold of it, making sure to keep his body low to the ground. Though the anchor moved a bit, it was by inches rather than feet and meters.

With a smile on his face and pleased with the victory, Daniel finished the room almost a half-hour later, moving little by little between bouts of wind. As he left the testing room of the Wind and passed into the testing room of Fire, he couldn’t help but feel he was ready for anything.

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