Sasha
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The sun shone bright that day, almost ten years since. We were prestigious. The Saraphilean house. My family.
“Gramps?” The little girl whispered. She stared at the funeral casket. Such a great man. Dead. His body, in front of her. The grandfather she was so fond of, lifeless in a coffin. A man who, against all odds, survived the spire’s challenges and came out strong.
Her mother leaned against the shoulder of the girl’s stoic father, crying her eyes out. The father looked on in silent dread. Dread that one of the strongest men he knew could die so easily, from no more than a common cold. Dread at the knowledge that the death of the pillar of his family would undoubtedly cause the downfall of his family. Caused the downfall of his family.
The Saraphils were a proud house. They had climbed to the top of the metaphoric ladder. They had held a seat on the council. A seat now lost in the death of their patriarch. Byron Saraphil. A man who climbed from a lowly orphan to the highest of the merits as a council member. A man who sired the Saraphilean lineage. The grandfather to a certain Sasha Saraphil. Dead.
The little girl’s gaze turned to her brothers. Both twins. Gavin and Fitzroy, near identical in appearance. Not in personality, though. Gavin sobbed his eyes out. Fitzroy, on the other hand, mocked his brother’s sniffling. The little girl knew, however, that he was just trying to hide the sadness tearing his insides in two. It was his way to cope. She couldn’t blame him.
She turned back to her father and mother. Sallere and Evalery Saraphil respectively. They were staring at something near the entrance of the building. She followed their gaze to a man in white robes walking down the aisle. Strange that he was wearing white when everyone else was wearing black, but members of the Council tended to be odd.
She watched silently as he walked up to her grandfather’s casket.
“Good job, Byron, old friend,” he whispered to her dead grandfather, “you survived that hell of a spire, gutless assassins, and those nasty politicians in the council just waitin’ for you to slip up and give them a reason to kick you in the arse, only to get beat by a damned cold.”
He wiped a tear from his eye, mouthed something like ‘gonna miss you, old friend’ and turned away. He approached the girl’s mother.
“Sorry I can’t do anything more to help your family. The loss of Byron is a great one, your family will fall. I can’t change that,” he turned to the little girl. The man squatted and smiled at her, “but if you, little Sasha, are anything like your Gramps, I know you will rise back from the ashes like a phoenix in all its glory.”
The strange man rose back up, smiled at her once more, and walked out of the cathedral. The little girl, Sasha, tilted her head in confusion.
Only one question sprung to little Sasha's mind.
“What is a phoenix?”
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That dream. Of course I would be dreaming of something like that at a time like this. After all, I am challenging the very same spire my grandfather challenged and survived such a long time ago. I guess I am following in his footsteps like that strange man mentioned.
Blinking, my eyes adjust to the bright lights of the newest testing room. By royal Ebestrine, my head hurts. After my senses settle, I scan the room, noting the sterile desk in the center of the room. My eyes find nothing else around it. No doorway, no windows, not even an air vent. Just stark white walls, and a desk in the center of the room. I slowly approach it, taking a seat in the chair and scanning the paper on top.
A test. A fucking test. By the great merits, why would the Spire’s system have me take a written test? I get testing is its thing, but this is just absurd.
I am startled out of my reverie by an all too familiar blue tinted panel appearing in front of me.
[Intelligence aptitude test initiating]
[Quest (scaling difficulty) - take the test: answer the questions on the test in front of you]
[Rewards for completion - increase in intelligence aptitude based on score]
I scan the test in front of me, and sigh. It’s school all over again. I grab the pencil, and start answering the first question.
1 - what is 2+2?
Easy, 4.
2 - what was the nation of Rinia known as before the Rinian Revolution?
That would have been the Ebestrinian Empire, if I remember correctly.
3 - what is 74 ÷ 2?
4 divided by 2 is 2, 70 divided by 2 is 35, 35 plus 2 is 37, so 37.
4 - what are the seven aptitudes?
Well, we already know of strength, agility, endurance, and intelligence from the tests before. If I remember right from school, the others would be will and perception. But that makes six. What is the seventh? Wisdom?
5 - what is the square root of 5476?
I don’t know, 134?
6 - how was the guillotine used in the Rinian Revolution?
Wasn’t it used to execute the royalty and nobility when the revolutionaries raided the palace? I think so.
7 - what is 7 squared?
49
8 - what type of government is Rinia?
It’s a meritocracy.
9 - correct this sentence: ‘The grande empire of Ebestrine fall to teh revolution.’
Oh, grammar, fun. ‘The grand empire of Ebestrine fell to the revolution.’
10 - who was the last ruler of the Ebestrinian Empire?
It was Loqtalios Ebestrine.
11 - what is a phoenix?
What is a phoenix? A strange thought springs to mind. A thought brought up by the dream. The memory I just relived. What is a phoenix? I can't help but write down two words. I am.
[Test sheet completed]
[Checking for mistakes]
[Grading completed]
[Question 1 correct]
Of course.
[Question 2 correct]
I thought so.
[Question 3 correct]
[Question 4 incorrect. 7th aptitude is luck, not wisdom]
Alright, one mistake is fine.
[Question 5 incorrect. Square root of 5476 is 74, not 134]
Yeah, I figured I’d get that one wrong.
[Question 6 correct]
Guillotines really are nasty devices, though.
[Question 7 correct]
[Question 8 correct]
[Question 9 correct]
[Question 10 incorrect. Alabaster Ebestrine was the last emperor of the Ebestrinian Empire, not Loqtalios Ebestrine]
On a fucking technicality! He may have been the last one to be executed, making him the last emperor on a fucking technicality. Stupid system.
[Question 11-]
[Question 11-]
[…]
[Error]
[Restarting]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[…]
[Question 11 not detected]
What?
[Calculating grade]
“Wait, you’re just going to skip past that? Seriously?”
[Grade calculated]
[7/10]
[Quest (scaling grade) - take the test completed]
[Rewards for completion - intelligence aptitude increased by 7]
“What happened to question 11?”