High Mage Grand gestures for the lower-ranked Testers to hand out tests to each awaiting apprentice. “When I feel like you should be done, I’ll say stop. If you haven’t finished by the time I say stop… leave.” He pulls out a long pipe from his belt. “Begin,” he commands before even half of the tests have even been passed out.

  Grand raises a flap on a pouch within his cape. He stuffs the end of his pipe with his preferred mix of… well, let’s go with ‘herbs.’ The far three quarters of this foot-long pipe is made of bone. The bit and stem are made of black porcelain. As he packs the pipe, he whispers an incantation. A tiny flame appears an inch from his pointer finger. He brings it close to the rim of the bowl of his bone pipe. He inhales, pulling the flame to lick the dry, fragrant contents of his pipe, then holds in his next deep breath as he watches the room full of concentrating teens scribble away.

  “Humph,” he says as he puffs out a pungent plume. He leans back against the wall behind him. Grand crosses his legs, leaning one of his expensive leather shoes against the other. He hooks his free thumb into his belt and relaxes his arm. The elderly magic user rolls his eyes and looks out the nearby windows, checking to see if anyone outside is trying to help one of the contestants cheat. With a big, long puff, he leans forward and squints, focusing to see if he can detect any ethis in use.

  LaTao yawns. All that build-up for THIS easy test? She sits back and crosses her arms. I mean… the answers are sort of silly, but it’s easy, so it shouldn’t fool anyone. I can’t imagine anyone needing to cheat. Suddenly, she watches someone’s test begin floating in the air.

  “No! Wait!” the boy says, reaching up for his test. Unfortunately for him, Grand is not one for discussions about punishment, let alone leniency. In a flash, the test disappears in a vibrant flame. With a drooping head, the boy trudges to the exit. Before walking through, he looks one last time at High Mage Grand… who is still looking forward and smoking his pipe. The teen gives up on pleading his case… he knows he was caught.

  At this point, LaTao can swear she hears people sweating. She leans back and re-crosses her arms. She yawns again, this time spreading her mouth as wide as she can. Her eyes close and tear up, so she rubs her tears away. After a few blinks, she realizes that this time, High Mage Grand is looking at her.

  He nods, then blows smoke from his pipe. “Stop.” Ignoring the gasps and murmurs, the High Mage says, “By show of hands, who here needs more time?”

  At least a quarter of the Apprentices raise a hand. LaTao scrunches her lips, trying not to laugh. Oh my goddess! He’s totally about to–

  Grand points to the door.

  I knew it! HA! Okay… this is messed up, but I think I actually like this guy. When Ethur walks by LaTao, she sees LaTao’s expression, but by then, LaTao has already faked a grimace. She frowns back at LaTao, feeling her fellow Rede Apprentice is on her side, also seeing this as unfair… but LaTao is completely okay with this method of weeding out the riff raff.

  Grand steps to a nearby trash can. He flips his pipe upside down over the receptacle, allowing the ashes to fall. As he taps the bottom of the pipe against his palm, he says, “The answers are A, B, C, D, A, B, C, D, A, B… etcetera. Please look over your own work. If your answers match that pattern or please stand.”

  LaTao stands up, fully expecting someone else to be standing with her. To her dismay, she stands alone.

  “If you only got one wrong, please stand.”

  Kiara and a distant young man with brown hair stand to their feet. LaTao can’t tell who he is, seeing only the back of his head. At least I’m not alone now.

  The High Mage sighs, obviously disappointed in the turnout. “Three?”

  Meeka stands along with a few others.

  Grand’s head droops into his empty palm. “Four?” The long cone of his hat sways side to side as he shakes his head. He whispers foul words, voicing his dissatisfaction to no ears… not that his specific choice of words is needed to get the point across.

  Tears well in Deska’s eyes the moment she sees that LaTao, Meeka, and Kami’ka are all standing up… and she is not. When Grand points to the door on the far end of the auditorium, she knows what it means. She watches as her friends walk away in a group less than half the original number. Grand looks into the chamber of his pipe to inspect it, then walks toward the line of students filing out of the room.

  “As for the rest of you,” the Tester says. As expected, he simply points to the same exit he was once standing beside. With that, everyone still seated now knows for sure that they’ve failed.

  ***

  LaTao does a quick count and tugs at Meeka’s sleeve. Meeka doesn’t question, tugs at Kami’ka’s sleeve, and quickly follows her bestie. The two quickly take their places to LaTao’s left and right; only then do they realize why LaTao insisted they rush. There are thirty tables in a large circle… but there are more than forty students.

  Within seconds of the trio picking their places, the last spots were taken. This, of course, leaves multiple teens scratching their heads. They look back at the High Mage– before they can speak, he raises his hand and points to the last opening. The cluster of kids push and shove as they fight for the last spot. The cutthroat display ends in seconds, leaving the victor catching his breath in front of what will no doubt be his enemies for life.

  The doughy-eyed leftovers look down for a moment. They know what they are going to see if they look back at their heartless Tester. Eventually, many of them raise their gaze, then walk as directed by the emotionless old man pointing his pipe.

  “Okay,” the grumpy High Mage begins. He clears his throat, then delivers his speech as if being forced at sword point. “Before each of you are tables. Each of you has a small, two-and-a-half-gallon cauldron, a stone bird, and a small apothecary box. Within the assortment of ingredients, you’ll find what you’ll need to free the small creature of the stone spell that was cast upon it.”

  He grabs a stool and slowly drags it across the floor. He continues his speech as he makes his way to the center of the room. “You have a large ladle for water, which you can get from the buckets in each of the room’s four corners. You have a mortar and pestle, spoons, stirring sticks, and other such utensils.”

  He sits on the stool and says nothing for a few seconds. The students look around, confused as to why he is–

  “Well? On you go. I haven’t all day.”

  Hearing the sparse sounds of annoyed and disgruntled students, LaTao can’t help but chuckle. This guy is too much! How can someone be bored and dramatic at the same time? I honestly can’t imagine how a person ends up like that. I wonder what it would take for me to… Nah… I could never.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  She’s on her third ingredient by the time she realizes that she could’ve gone a little slower to make sure her two friends could keep up. She glances to her right. Uh huh… okay… yeah. Meeka seems to be on the right path, she decides, seeing the small piles of powders identical to her own. One of them is different, but also correct, leading her to believe that Meeka is going in a different order. The fact that she doesn’t have to cheat brings a smile of pride to LaTao’s face.

  LaTao starts to look the other way to make sure that Kami’ka is also on track, but is startled by hearing Grand shout, “YOU!” She looks to the center of the room. His ire is aimed elsewhere, to the immediate relief of most of the students. His pipe is smoking once again, and pointing at a young lady LaTao doesn’t know. She pleads, trying to explain that she wasn’t really looking at her neighbor’s work… but as everyone else expects, the High Mage moves his arm a few degrees and points to the exit. His lazy gesture takes so little effort, yet causes so much pain.

  The desperate teen tries her hardest to beg and plead, but he interrupts her mid-sentence to say, “You have twenty minutes.” He puffs a few more times before adding, “That is more than enough time from start to finish. Take your stone birds to the open window before pouring the stone cure on them. If you do it at your desk and the bird… goes… you’re cleaning it up with whatever you are wearing. I will not be supplying you with towels.”

  He looks over at the student still begging for another chance.

  “You’re still here?” he says with zero emotion. “The door,” he says and points to the exit once again.

  LaTao slowly pours the recently ground powder from her mortar, then stirs her cauldron with the wooden spoon. She takes her time, hoping not to finish too early and leave Meeka behind. She lifts the spoon to her nose and inhales, picking up the familiar scent she expects. With a nod, she reaches into her apothecary case and pulls out a glass vial of clear fluid with the slightest hint of yellow. When she pops the top, she whispers, “Yup… that’s nitric acid, alright.” Keeping it at arm’s length, she removes the wooden spoon, then pours all of it into her concoction.

  She uses a stirrer made of long, twisted glass and keeps mixing long after it’s done. As she does so, she carefully looks around to see the progress of other students. I know this is risky… I’m just curious. Luckily, Meeka isn’t too far behind. As a matter of fact, she seems to be finished. LaTao picks up the stone bird at her station, then uses a glass ladle to scoop up her concoction.

  She turns to see a Tester standing at each side of the window. On their way to them, they are passed by Kiara. For a moment, she has to remind herself that it’s not a race. She smiles. It’s good that she’s first because now I don’t look so perfect. I didn’t even notice her here. I’m glad Meeka finished so fast, too. It looks good if I’m not the first to be finished all the time… even so… LaTao frowns. I wasn’t TRYING to come in third.

  As the besties wait for Kiara, Meeka turns her head just enough to give LaTao the side eye. “You think we did it right?”

  “Professor Grunimull covered this a few days ago. We even went over this stuff last time we studied.” LaTao looks at the bird of stone. “I’m ten million percent sure we got this right.”

  Meeka sighs. Not that she is particularly worried, but LaTao’s assurance makes a big difference. She watches as a bluebird flies away and nods. Kiara obviously knows her stuff. When it’s her turn, Meeka sets the bird on the windowsill, pours the concoction, and watches as cracks slowly begin to develop. She doesn’t have to worry long before the red robin’s feathers are exposed. She sighs and smiles as the bird takes hold of freedom. Meeka steps into the next room with confidence rising and chin held high.

  ***

  “Down to twenty,” High Mage Grand says. He then closes the door in the faces of the students behind him, regardless of whether or not they passed the test. “By now, I shouldn’t have to tell you that time is of the essence.”

  As he speaks, Testers are walking around, handing out baskets, giving one per student.

  “Each of you will be given a stick of chalk, a leather bracelet, a scroll with an incantation written in the ancient tongue, and more than enough room to draw a magic circle. The first ten of you to properly enchant the bracelet with the incantation will move to the next round.”

  LaTao takes her basket and steps away to her own corner of the room. On her way, she ignores all the background chatter and looks at the partially rolled scroll. The title reads ‘Fire Defense Enchantment.’ That’s easy. I cast that on my targets all the time, so I don’t burn through them so fast. She takes the sparkling chalk, squats, and spins, drawing a circle that one would need a tool to prove isn’t perfect. Within, she draws symbols and writes an incantation in the ancient tongue. She steps outside of the circle and reaches into the basket. The bracelet consists of woven leather strips and a two-inch metal rectangle with a fire symbol etched upon its face.

  She tosses the bracelet into the circle. The moment the metal piece taps the floor, a pulse of light rises from the circle. The chalk letters glow orange and yellow. The chalk rises from the floor and spins counterclockwise. The spinning speeds increase as the circle of letters gets tighter and brighter. Eventually, the crescendo into a flash of light, then beam down onto the bracelet now hovering inches from the floor. The bracelet floats higher with every pulse of light, rising from the circle below. As the pulses fade, LaTao reaches out and grabs the now enchanted item.

  It takes a while for the bracelet’s glow to fade. She inspects it and feels as if she can sense a decent amount of power within. Yeah… that’s pretty good! This chalk is awesome! I wonder where they get it. I need to see if Pops can stock these. It’s easier than… Suddenly, LaTao notices how quiet the room has been. How long has it been so quiet? She closes her eyes and sighs. They’re all looking at me, aren’t they? I’m gonna turn around and…

  LaTao slowly turns to find exactly what she expects… eyeballs all over the place. Some are judgmental. A few are annoyed. Most show a mix of shock and confusion. With every apprentice and Tester staring her down, she raises her right hand and waves by wiggling her fingers.

  For the first time all day, High Mage Grand walks with a sense of purpose. He weaves through the students and makes his way to LaTao, saying, “What on Divine’s Rock makes you think you can properly enchant without saying the incantation?”

  “I–” she begins, but is abruptly interrupted. Apparently, he wasn’t finished scolding her.

  “THIS is what happens when you go off and do your own thing while your elders are still talking! You didn’t hear a single thing that I said, did you?”

  “I–”

  “How are the enchantments to be tested?” he asks. He comes to a stop, standing just within arm’s reach. “Hmmmmm?”

  At this point, LaTao realizes that she must have missed further instruction. This is bunk. You said you were in a hurry! You said to give the bracelet the enchantment. Why do I need to listen to anything else? She looks around and can see Meeka mouthing something and pointing, but she can’t tell what she’s trying to say.

  Grand catches LaTao’s attention’s aim and turns to the others. “Silence!” He returns his glare to LaTao with a spiteful smirk. He reaches out and grabs LaTao’s wrist. His cold, bony hand squeezes her rather tightly. He pulls her through the mob of students. The Testers move aside to reveal what looks like a small, portable doorway. It looks like someone stood up a large, chrome, deep casket. Within, she can faintly detect whirling swirls of orange and yellow light. His old, spotted hand releases LaTao’s wrist before tucking itself away within his crossed arms. He stands there tapping his foot on the floor.

  LaTao looks up at his face. I can’t tell if he’s impatient… or just anxious to see me fail. She looks back at her audience. She can tell by Meeka’s big blue eyes that she desperately wants to help, but Grand is right there, so there’s nothing she can think to do.

  “Well?” he says. One of his veiny hands gestures vaguely at the faux doorway. The other hand strokes his cliché-length beard. “By all means. You were so eager moments ago. Don’t play ‘coy’ now. Put it on. Have a go.”

  LaTao shrugs and dons the bracelet. She looks at everyone, hoping for a hint. “Am I supposed to…?”

  “Go on.”

  With nothing to go on, LaTao takes a deep breath and accepts her fate. I got a feeling that no matter what I do, I’ll probably be wrong. Soon as I’m done, he’s gonna point at the exit. Better luck next time, I guess.

  LaTao casually walks through the doorway. The moment the first foot breaks the threshold, she hears a few weird bursts of blurted noises from the other apprentices. It’s too late, though. She has already decided to finish walking through.

  If LaTao fails, who will take first place? (2 answers max)