The test went on as usual…
And as though time had moved forward, already…five students were able to take the test…yet not a single one has yet to pass.
Each one that came to touch the stone always resulted in the same manner. They froze in fear and they lost the will to move their body…
No one knew what that stone was revealing to the children, yet everyone was certain that this test alone held a value much more greater than any school could partake. A test to resolve one's chances from either winning or losing…there was no in-between.
After the fifth student fainted, the old grand wizard called on to the next student…
"Mirabel Pearl…come forward."
As this girl was called, everyone turned their eyes to her and saw that unlike everyone else…she held not a single expression of fear hinted at her face.
She was as emotionless as that of a Frost litch…
It made me curious…and hopeful that someone might be able to finally pass this test.
And just as how the rest of the noblemen fathers cheered for their respective children, the father of Mirabel Pearl also shouted in an ecstatic cheer.
"Mirabel! Go for it! Our family's lineage hangs in your hands!!" he shouted…
He, by his own…this middle-age man stood with a rather cheerful demeanor despite being a noblemen. He showed an expression of pride and confidence that no other nobleman on the side could ever rival.
He was acting not like a nobleman at all…instead, it felt like he resembled more of that of a commoner, the same as us…yet because of his rather lavish attire, he truly was a nobleman.
At the continuous shout of this man, Maribel Pearl finally finds herself standing before the stone…
And as she got close, it was there that I started to see her nervous expression.
'Hmm, trying to act all tough and about…but when faced with a challenge as big as this, you can't help yoursel.'
Before long…the girl decided to conquer her nervous hand and decided to touch the stone…
And once she did, something happened that was different from all the rest.
"?!"
All of a sudden, the girl was able to pull her hand away from the stone after only touching it for a second…and it was there, that something manifested from the stone.
A monster clouded with a mist that almost looked poisonous…with skin covered in ice and blood, and a fur as white as a cloud, a horn as sharp as a curved blade, yet a face as hideous as that of the most rotten orc. The monster than stood before the girl was a snow Yeti…one of the common monster one can find at the north region.
Once this monster was revealed, the grand wizard quickly took action and manifested a spell that encircled a barrier around the girl inside the the center of the stage along with the monster…while the rest of the remaining participants were pushed to the edge of the stage…
That barrier was clearly meant to be shown as a way to signify her next step of the test.
"W-what should I do?!" she yelled in fear towards the grand wizard.
From how the monster revealed itself to the girl, she in turn, was shaking in fear. It was as if her greatest horrors were manifested before her.
And to her plea for wanting an answer, the grand wizard simply looked at her, with no words said.
And just like so, the Snow Yeti shrieked in a loud cry towards the girl.
"N-no!" she yelled.
The monster came charging in at her at pace nominal pace. One could have possibly dodged this monster's rush, but for the poor girl, she was scared to move her small frail-looking legs.
At the moment the yeti crashed at her, I expected that it was over…yet at the last second, I could hear her struggling groan.
"U-ugh….H-help!" said a faint voice.
When I got a closer look, I could see that the girl was able to manifest her own barrier against the yeti in that small moment. She was lucky enough to be able to manifest a barrier even in fear…and to hold herself against the yeti, it was quite impressive.
With the horns clashing against her barrier, she struggled in place…
And seeing as how not a single helping hand was going to reach her, she realized that she was all on her own against the monster.
Yet even still, she screamed out help like a helpless little child. It was an unconscious scream…an instinct made like how an infant child would call out to its mother…
Yet nothing came to her rescue.
Struggling in place, she held her own as much as she could…yet when the yeti raised its body again to perform another slam down on her, it was clear then that her barrier would break.
She could not perform an attack…her hands were tied with the barrier…
So it was clear then that it was her end…
"!??"
But all of a sudden, something interrupted the yeti's attention.
By the side of the stage, far away from where the monster was standing, a large explosion was made.
*Boom!*
It's loud crackling call lured the beast away from Maribel as well as we did.
When we turned all of our heads…
I was surprised to find that in that explosion, I found my brother shaking in fear as he had his hands against the barrier.
"...Theo?"
At a closer look, he had injured his hands because of how close he was to the explosion. And looking at his injuries, it was very clear that he was the one who started the explosion.
"Get out of there now!!" he screamed.
In surprise, I stood up from my seat and looked back to the girl.
Given that chance, the girl ran away from the yeti out of fear.
"...What is he doing?" murmured my siblings as they too were surprised by his actions.
Yet to his intrusion with the test, surprisingly, the Grand Wizard did not intervene. Instead, he simply had a smirk on his face as he glanced at Theodore. After his glance, he turned his eyes back to the girl. And the test resumed as normal.
At that chance given by my brother, the girl was able to calm herself for a bit. I noticed that she took a deep breathe in and she started making her next move…
…In agony, Theodore payed the price with his hands. He could barely clinch his fist close with how injured they were from his own magic. Yet even in his pain, he looked to the girl and he showed an expression of relief.
'This is not real….this is not real...a monster isn't capable of just appearing out of nowhere…it must be magic…it has to be!' she thought as I could easily read her expressions.
Having gained a bit of confidence from denying herself the reality of her situation, she took action.
She started her attack.
She attacked mercilessly at that moment.
She manifested a spell that complimented her appearance.
As how magic worked, ice appeared out of thin air and was thrown at the monster. A piece of ice that was similar in size as that of a tree.
The use of this element against a yeti would have been a bad choice. Yeti's were quite accustomed to the freezing regions, yet for the girl to use it, it only means that her abilities lies with her use of such element. Like me, she had a large affinity to a single element.
This was probably one of her greater spells to use against monsters.
When the large ice struck the yeti, it countered it with its horns.
All easily so, the monster repelled her attack like it was nothing, but it did not stop there.
One after another, she kept manifesting ice and she threw it at the beast without a care in the world.
From the look on her eyes, she did not care to consider her limits of using this spell…instead, she bet it all on the fact that this one spell alone could vanquish the monster.
And through the risk of this spell, miraculously, her attacks were starting to take effect against the monster.
One after another, the ice struck the beast in all parts of his body…
I forgot to count how much she has thrown, yet at the sight of how many ice were embedded deep into the flesh of the yeti, I could say that she probably has a large supply of mana to accommodate the strength and quantity of her attacks.
Before long, the yeti lost all of its strength and fell to its knees.
And in one final push, she conjured an icicle five times bigger than her other attacks. At that one spell, she dropped it on the yeti's head and it splattered it across the stage.
Looking at the sight of its dead corpse, all of a sudden…the monsters starting turning into a blue light…and in but a moment, it flashes before our eyes and it disappeared.
"Congratulations, Mirabel Pearl…you have succeeded in the test. You have passed." said the grand wizard who floated to the center of the stage.
".…haa…haa..haa" the girl was heavily breathing from how exhausted she was, yet she stood her ground and looked to the grand wizard with a proud face.
For the first time…someone has passed the test for today's generation of students.
As the test ended, many of the participants were in deep thought to figure out what the test actually was. It was confusing to find that a monster was manifested from the stone after the girl was able to pull her arms away from the stone.
Some considered the fact that maybe the stone measures one's capability and produces a monster that could rival their talents, yet that wouldn't be the case since most of the students fainted before a monster could even appear.
Another thing to consider was the fact that it may be due to the fact that the girl was able to pull her arms away as fast as she could from the stone. Most of the participants were able to feel the stone for about a minute or so, yet it was too vague of a hint to consider.
In the end, the only one who could really give an answer was Mirabel Pearl herself…
She survived and saw what the stone did to her.
***
After Mirabel was sent to the infirmary to be taken care of, the grand Wizard went ahead and proceeded with the test.
"Now we move on to the next participant…Theodore Cicial, move forward." said the grand wizard as his voice echoed across the stage using magic.
Finally it was time for my brother to take the test…yet I worry.
Because of his actions, it lead to him being injured.
Theodore was always a good person…to save the people in front of him when he had the chance, to view the good in the world in his eyes, to have that innocence in his soul yet to be broken, he would have been a good priest.
But he chose the path of being a mage…so I worry.
As Theodore stepped into the center of the stage, everyone started to murmur with another.
It was clear what their gossip was all about.
Because of his sacrifice, he had his arms injured to a point that it would lessen his chances in winning the test.
As he was called, he stood up to the stone and nervously stared at it. As I looked at his eyes…at his expression, I could feel his doubt.
I sighed and stood up from the seat…and I went as close as I could to him.
From the distance, I began to speak in my normal voice, as if I was having a simple conversation to him face to face. My voice didn't have to be loud…it only had to be heard.
"Theodore…"
Once I called his name, he turned to me.
"..." he nervously looked and showed an expression as if he was about to cry.
"...Do you want to go home?" I asked him.
And in that simple question, I could see him jolt up a bit…as if he was struck with a realization.
"...!"
To go home…to not accomplish anything despite it all…
I could easily tell what was going on inside his head…
So he closed his eyes…and he took a deep breath in.
And he exhaled.
As he did, for a bit, I saw fire come out of his breath.
"...?" it must have been my imagination…but it felt so real…
I was taken aback by it.
***
As he gathered enough strength to finally proceed with the test, Theodore looked to the stone, and he sweated profusely.
Yet he pushed himself and he touched the stone.
Once he did, he found his self in a grassy field almost similar to that of his home…Fether Village.
Yet the field extended flatly across the ends of his sight…forever expanding.
As he found himself in that field, he turned his gaze to the sun and found a familiar object above the sky.
Wings…gray wings…
Horns…
Fire…teeth…claws…
A scaly tail…
Red eyes…
At the sight of that beast, he quickly ran.
An ashened dragon has landed on that field before him.
And he could do nothing else but run.
So he ran…and ran…and ran…
But no matter how much he ran, it felt like he could never distance himself from the beast.
It was as if he was nailed to the floor…
Breathing heavily, he turned his attention to the dragon…and he could do nothing more but stand in front of it…
The dragon did nothing…for but a second…and the next thing he knew, the dragon opened its jaw and fired its ashy breath towards Theodore…in instinct, he tried protecting himself with a wall of fire against the breathe of the dragon.
As the two collided, something happened.
Theodore was pulled back to the real world and he found himself standing at the center of the stage…
And whats more, the dragon was in front of him, eyeing him as if he was prey.
His fears came to life…