“The cathedral? That’s what you wanted to show me?” Karim asked.
“No.” Kufu replied, amused, and annoyed by the way Karim was side eyeing him. It reminded him of his mother. “But she is in here somewhere.”
“She?” questioned Karim.
“Yep. A commoner genius. The church brought her here ahead of time to take a private Academy enrollment test and we’re here to watch it.” Kufu replied.
Before Karim could begin interrogating him though, a middle aged tall but thin priest, dressed in reddish gold robes, sporting a head of entirely white hair and a calm, reassuring smile approached. He quickly bowed towards Kufu, showing his respect for the prince, and nodded towards Karim.
“My lord, this way to your seat.” The priest said.
“Thank you, bishop Jrim.” Replied Kufu.
The two then followed behind Jrim as he led the way. Karim, however, was struggling to follow why Kufu wanted to come here, so much so that he wasn’t able to take in the stunning architecture and unique ambience of the cathedral.
“Hey, explain.” Karim whispered, once again caught in Kufu’s pace.
“Next week is the Academy’s commoner’s trial and the venue for the trial in this region is this cathedral. Commoners from the surrounding areas will travel here to take the test in hope of getting into the Imperial Academy.” Said Kufu unbothered by the presence of Jrim. These were his stomping grounds thus there was no need for hushed conversation.
“The kids who go to schools built or sponsored by our church get to take the test early and those who are really talented, for commoners, get to have a private test. And this year, someone who was brought up in the church orphanage and went to our school just so happens to be an incredible genius.” Kufu explained, barely able to contain his smile. “Today, this genius takes her test and we’re going to watch it.”
“Okay, but why do you care?” Karim asked, internally re-evaluating Kufu.
“How could I not care? Think about it, incredible genius passes test with amazing results, impressing everyone. How many Noble Houses and Merchant associations do you think will come knocking to recruit her?” Kufu excitedly asked.
“I don’t know.” Karim honestly answered.
“Many. But since the church raised her, they have to go through us to get permission to recruit her. And that is where I come in, as long as I can negotiate a good deal, I can get up to five percent of the transaction.” Kufu giggled, his eyes practically glowing.
“I see…” said a speechless Kufu.
It was at this point that bishop Jrim lightly coughed, interrupting their back and forth.
“Please.” He said, inviting them to enter a viewing room that had a balcony a floor above the testing area.
“We use rooms like this to monitor how the priests lecture students in the art of healing when there’s no trial going on.” Jrim said, having noticed Karim’s curious look.
“Oh, thank you.” Karim replied.
Jrim simply smiled at his thanks, at this point he had already noticed the emblem of House Night on Karim and he could also feel a rather fearsome presence coming from the boy’s shadow. Anyone that could warrant House Night sending a guard of that capability to watch over them could only be a high ranking Noble, not to mention the fact that the prince appeared to have a genuine relationship with Karim.
Standing by the edge of the balcony, Kufu could hardly contain his excitement while Karim was contemplating why he ever allowed Kufu to talk him into coming here. Nevertheless, he was already here so he could only make the best of it plus there was no denying his curiosity.
Having had enough of talking to Kufu though Karim turned to the bishop and asked, “What’s the trial like?”
“Look over there.” Jrim instructed, pointing to a place within the huge hall below the balcony.
The hall looked like a regal theatre, large yet beautiful stained-glass windows let in wonderful colored rays of light as thick white jade pillars held up the ceiling that had a magnificent painting depicting priests helping the masses as gold light rained down from the heavens.
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At the front of the hall there stood a stage, upon which a contraption that looked somewhat like a target which archers use for target practice. There were differences however, as this contraption was not colored in any way, nor did it have a bull’s eye mark. It was entirely black and glossy, almost metallic like.
“That is a spirit tool used to measure the strength of one’s physical body.” Jrim said. “All one has to do is hit it with all their might and it’ll relay an accurate analysis of their prowess. The judges from the Academy then take that information and whilst considering one’s age and other factors decide whether or not they are worthy to move on to the next step.”
“What’s the next step?” Karim asked, intrigued by the device on the stage.
“The judges use a special device to determine how well and how fast one can digest energy.” Jrim said, smiling.
“Wow. There’s even something like that.” Karim exclaimed.
“It’s starting, it’s starting.” Kufu cried, hopping in place from excitement.
A group of six people entered the hall, headed to the stage. Three of them, two old men and one middle aged woman, wore the same uniform comprising of a long white coat, patterned grey shirt and pants. Etched on the backside of the coat was the image of a blue orb.
Leading these three to the stage was a priest who was dressed just like Jrim, another bishop of the church. And following behind all of them was an old priestess holding the hand of a young girl who was curiously scanning her surroundings.
The girl had a fair olive complexion, curly ebony-black hair that flowed down her shoulders, big lively amber eyes, puffy heart shaped lips and a thin waist. She was dressed in a simple knee length skirt and a silk peasant top, clothes that did not stand out in any way thus allowing for all the focus to be on her natural beauty.
“There she is.” Kufu announced, already picturing himself swimming in money.
Despite being the center of attention, the girl did not appear that nervous. She was wonderstruck by the experience though but not in a way that left her stiff and lacking in confidence.
“What’s her name?” asked Karim, staring at her.
“Maua.” Jrim answered, smiling.
The group below had taken their positions and were in the process of explaining the rules to Maua. She nodded from time to time in understanding and asked questions when she was lost.
Being far away and seeing as they were speaking normally without voice amplifying devices, neither Karim nor Kufu could hear a thing but thankfully, the talking did not go on for too long.
The bishop then pointed to the target, inviting Maua to hit it.
Taking a deep breath, she took up a stance, pulled back and let loose a punch. There was no sound made from the impact nor did she feel pain. In fact, it felt rather satisfying to hit as the sensation was much like punching a soft rubbery surface.
She could not be too absorbed in that feeling though as soon numbers appeared on the surface of the target. They quickly shot up flying through the tens, going into the hundreds before eventually stabilizing at 546.
The score left the judges, the bishop and even the priestess that run the orphanage Maua was brought up in, speechless. Even Kufu was taken aback for a moment before a wild, borderline scary grin formed on his face.
“What’s considered a good score?” Karim asked, confused.
“For commoners under the age of fifteen, 500 is quite good.” Jrim replied, pausing for a moment. “If I’m not wrong, the girl should still be twelve.” He added, astonished.
Maua was already at the threshold of a fifteen-year-old commoner genius at twelve, her potential spoke for itself.
“She’s almost at the level of a Noble of the same age despite having far less resources to train and grow. Given time, she could prove to be a great asset.” Jrim explained.
“I’m rich.” Kufu suddenly cried, unable to hold it in any longer.
“I don’t understand. If she is so talented, why don’t you just recruit her into your House?” Karim wondered.
“We don’t recruit anyone. All our core people come from within the family, having the light element. Besides, the other Houses and the Merchants will value her more, she’ll have a better chance of rising through the ranks.” Kufu explained. As a prince in training, it was a must for him to learn and understand things that others his age need not bother with. It was also because of this that his personality was unique.
The more Karim interacted with Kufu in a setting that wasn’t the isolated lake side mansion, where one could throw all semblance of care and responsibility out the window, the more Karim realized how complicated everything was as well as how little he actually knew.
And yet at the back of his mind, there was still that feeling of how inconsequential this all was.
“She’s pretty much in now.” Jrim suddenly said, smiling as he watched the young girl jump for joy as the judges told her of her performance.
“Isn’t there one more test?” Karim asked.
“At this point that’s just a formality for her. A twelve-year-old commoner who can grow to this point with the limited resources they have must be exceptional at digesting energy.” Jrim explained. “Her hard work has paid off, it’s nice to see. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the others taking the test next week. Most will leave here disappointed and heartbroken. A pity but such is reality.”
“What happens if they fail?” Karim couldn’t help but ask.
“Some wake up and find something else to be passionate about. Not everyone can be a spirit alchemist, engineer, tamer or warrior. As they say, someone must be the janitor. Of course, there are many other great dreams to be had, I’m just trying to make a point.” Jrim sighed.
“As for the others, they despair, question and hate. And unfortunately, they get taken advantage of by people who wish to cause chaos and disrupt society.” Jrim said.
His words sounded familiar to Karim, touching on something his grandfather had said during their one and only lesson.
“Which people?” He asked.
“Misguided thugs hiding behind a foolish cause to justify their crimes. But I suppose they prefer to call themselves rebels.” Jrim gravely answered.
“However, they’re nothing to worry about as this is not a new problem. People like them have always been around and they unfortunately always will be. Such is the nature of man.” Jrim chuckled.
As Karim was taking in Jrim’s words, Kufu suddenly slapped him on his back and excitedly spoke, “Karim, let’s go down and say hi.”