Glenn panted as he leaned on his knees, staring at the wide hole he just pierced into the steel pillar. An uncomfortable silence had settled in as every other candidate stopped to find out what was the source of the ear-piercing drilling noise. Even the examiner, Tom Delora, was bent over from his pillar, looking down at Glenn’s work. His steel pillar sunk into the ground and brought him to the ground.
The kid-sized yet terrifying Cleaner approached Glenn’s pillar and inspected the one-meter-wide hole. Tom’s arms were clasped behind his back, silently studying the damage created by Glenn’s spells. The walls of the hole were perfectly smooth as if the pillar had been forged with this intention in mind.
Tom ignored the various steel shavings that had been created by the drilling process and stepped over them. His robe dragged over the floor and sucked any shavings into it like some kind of magic vacuum cleaner.
Diamanes groaned in satisfaction, ‘See? You just need to use your brain for, like, what, a second or two?’ Even though he was saying that the entity’s curiosity couldn’t help but be aroused. He had been spending a lot of time watching Glenn’s memories, yet he couldn’t possibly have an understanding of every single thing existing in Earth’s modern civilization. Him being a “special” entity didn’t mean he was omniscient. Additionally, his previous world had been extremely similar to the one they were currently in, so things like drills appeared as interesting curiosities. Diamanes could understand the principle and the workings behind it, but he would have never come up with this idea by himself.
Glenn ignored him and instead enjoyed the shocked look on Sahro’s surprise, which was similarly drawn on all of the other candidates for the Fixer job. This was satisfying to watch.
Tom’s hood turned to Glenn, his face still hidden under it. An item slipped out of his robe and delicately landed on a small steel pillar that had risen from the ground, especially for the occasion. Glenn picked the item up, a small steel plate the size of his thumb engraved with runes. On the back was engraved “Magi Brotherhood”.
The same organization that had provided the identifications and the Convergence back at the Frozen Gate, in the Magic Identification Bureau.
‘Are they some kind of mage guild? That could be interesting…’ Glenn thought.
Tom Delora's chilling voice resounded as words escaped from his robe. "Come... See... Us... After the... Damned tests..."
He then rose back up on his steel pillar, watching over the remaining candidates who had yet to destroy their columns.
"Get back... at it... Maggots!!" he spat with evident disgust in his raspy voice.
Sahro, who easily cut his own pillar in two, approached Glenn, and they both sat in the stands, waiting for the test to be over. Sahro's eyes were filled with confusion and curiosity.
"Glenn, how did you manage to do that? What was that, actually?" exclaimed the Black Heir, curious about the spell's workings. Glenn shrugged casually and leaned back in his seat with a slight smirk. He adopted a confused expression and frowned at Sahro.
“Well, it's evident, no? I just created an Arcane Auger spell."
Sahro's brows furrowed as he rubbed his chin, “...the hell is an Auger?” he muttered confusedly.
Glenn’s eyes widened exaggeratedly and leaned forward in shock, “Wait, you don’t know what an Auger is?”
Sahro hurriedly scoffed and crossed his arms, an uneasy haughty smile on his face.
"Hah! Of course, I know what it is! Who do you take me for?"
Glenn grinned, as he breathed out in relief, "Ah, alright, I'm relieved. I almost thought of you as an uneducated person right there. Phew!"
Diamanes laughed inside Glenn’s mind, ‘You’re still blaming me for trashing you the other day, don’t you?’
Glenn crossed his hands behind his neck while grinning widely, ‘Nope, you’re completely mistaken. I’m just trying my best to make use of all that experience I have trash-talking people on the internet. It would be a waste not to use it.’
Diamanes scoffed and didn’t bother replying, instead going back to watch Glenn’s memories. In the meanwhile, Sahro looked to be deep in thought, still searching his mind for the definition of auger.
The candidates who could damage the steel pillars were separated into different kinds, with some chipping away at them with repeated attacks or spells, while others had a hard time even scratching them. Glenn noticed the robed person who had sat next to him earlier in the waiting room, the one who smelled like mint.
Having witnessed the whole thing, Glenn saw what happened, but he couldn't believe his eyes. When the dust settled down, he discovered that he hadn't dreamed it. The steel pillar was bent. Literally, bent, with the top of the pillar touching the ground, while its foundations didn't move one bit.
The person headed for the stands as well, with Tom Delora seemingly ignoring them. They sat a few meters from Glenn, making him feel like asking this person how they did that. After all, it looked cool!
Diamanes chimed in, 'You know, if you touch this pillar, you can 'take' this spell.'
Glenn's eyes widened, 'Wait, I can use that? For real?'
Diamanes virtually acquiesced, his grin hidden under the bandages covering Glenn's left hand. 'Yep, it's at your level. It's pretty powerful, but it works in similar ways to your Arcane Auger. It uses relatively low-level Mana for high-level results.'
Glenn smiled but quickly contained it. Wouldn't it be weird to go back on the field now that he was waiting there, just to check another contestant’s spell? Oh, maybe he could do that to avoid feeling ashamed alone. Turning toward his absolute best friend ever, Glenn smiled widely. Sahro shivered as a chill went down his spine, seeing this asshole's sudden friendliness.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Hey, wanna check that out with me?" he asked, pointing at the bent steel pillar.
Sahro was about to answer positively, as he was also intrigued by this new kind of magic, but all the steel pillars, untouched or destroyed, sank altogether to the ground, forming a gray shimmering liquid that was once again sucked by Tom Delora's robe.
His raspy voice echoed loudly in the Testing Hall while paper sheets started flowing out from his sleeves.
"The Power... Test... Is over... Maggots!!"
Glenn stared at the sheet landing gently on his knees, a little disappointed that he missed the opportunity to finally "take" a cool spell. He knew he still had the Alarm spells from the Thorn’s Church prison, but what was he supposed to use them on? Sahro's sheet arrived similarly gently on his knees, same for the robed person.
Every other person seemed to fight with their papers as they flew without any control in the air. The giant with the equally giant sword, who had been flung away at the beginning of the test, seemed to have passed, as he roared with laughter after struggling to catch his results.
'So that's what it feels like to be top of the class? I don't hate it,' remarked Glenn.
He gazed down at his paper, discovering his results. A few words were written on it, different from the previous test.
"Silver Might? Recommended to the Magi Brotherhood for a Savant position?" he read aloud, wondering what it all meant. He could understand why he received "The Silver Might", which meant he probably had the minimum required strength for a Silver-ranked Fixer, but a recommendation for the Savant position? What the hell was that?
Talking about Silver, he had heard one of the candidates talking about the ranks, saying that he hoped for at least a "Bronze" rank. If he understood correctly, the rank system was classified this way, from lowest to highest: Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, but they talked about that last one as if it was a legend, a goal impossible to achieve. Even Platinum Fixers were as rare as Blood Moons, apparently.
Since Silver was the highest rank that one could attain with the Workshop's test, it allowed Glenn to skip over the grunt-level contracts, immediately going for the ones that paid more. Why bother with the worthless stuff when there was good money to be made with the harder bounties?
The robed person quickly stood up after receiving their sheet, leaving for who-knows-where. Glenn still took note of them, as their spell had intrigued him. Low-level spells that could exert this kind of power were surely a rarity. Or at least the proof of excellent skill. It would do him no harm to remember them.
‘By the way, why didn’t Tom Delora give that guy a recommendation to the Magi Brotherhood?’ Glenn wondered. He was almost certain that he received one thanks to his Arcane Auger being a unique spell in the Cleaner’s eyes. But that hooded guy’s spell had been even more incredible and unique, much weirder and peculiar. It was strange that they didn’t receive one.
“Well, whatever…” Glenn shook his head and pocketed the documents. There surely was a perfectly understandable reason behind that, and he couldn’t be bothered to figure it out.
Glenn and Sahro once again compared their results, with the latter having simply received a "Silver Might" mark as well. Since he only used Aura, it seemed pretty logical for Tom not to be interested.
Mary, Glenn’s previous tester, came to them with a wide grin, “If you’re done with the tests, please vacate the Testing Hall. We will be contacting you directly for the following procedures.”
Glenn and Sahro nodded and complied without resisting. It was a little disappointing, as they had both hoped to get to work right after the tests were done, but it seemed like administrative procedures also plagued this world. The two of them decided to go back to the Auberge to rest. The day had been long, and he needed to think about this ‘Magi Brotherhood’ thing.
The Auberge was filled to the brim with countless customers, most of them being the candidates who just passed the tests. Some were drowning their sorrows, while others were drinking happily in celebration of their success, dancing and singing with hearty laughs. The owner of the Auberge, a small round man with blond hair and blue eyes, smiled happily while he served each of his customers at the bar. Ignoring the ones who failed, the atmosphere was pretty good and rubbed off onto the two young men.
“It seems like passing the Fixer’s test was something worth celebrating!” Glenn shouted above the noise, Sahro nodding slowly. The Black Heir glanced at a free table and quickly took a seat, inviting Glenn to do the same. The latter laughed and made himself comfortable.
“Looks like you’re already getting used to living like a “human”,” Glenn said mockingly. Sahro frowned and was about to reply, but two mugs of ale landed in front of them, served by a particularly attractive waitress. Glenn squinted at the beer and laughed in disbelief.
“I mean, that's just fate, right?” He chuckled as he clinked his mug with Sahro’s. The Black Heir sipped on the ale, carried by the mood, before suddenly slamming it down.
“Wait, no, what did you mean earlier?” He questioned with creased eyebrows. Glenn clicked his tongue and pointed at Sahro’s face, which wasn’t hidden under a balaclava or a hood. His darker skin was also revealed here and there, and he hadn’t been half as suspicious as the previous day when drinking the ale.
“You’re not hiding anymore, and starting to enjoy life a little. Isn’t that a sign that you’re getting accustomed to living with “humans”, like “humans”?” Glenn said casually. Sahro paused, only to frown even harder.
“Why are you insisting so much on “humans” every time? Do you have a problem with me?”
Glenn rolled his eyes and slammed his mug on the table, discovering in horror that it was already empty. He shook his head and focused back on the Black Heir.
“There’s a simple reason for that. I personally believe there is no difference between Black Heirs and humans, aside from the skin color and cultural differences.”
Sahro blinked, before exploding in laughter and downing his ale, “You really are a stubborn guy. You know what, I won’t even get angry!”
Two new mugs appeared before them, interrupting their discussions. The waitress flashed the both of them a charming smile before running off to work. Both Glenn and Sahro paused, only to resume their arguments. At some point, Glenn did order some food, and also paid for the night’s room for the both of them, swearing internally to force Sahro to pay back one day with interest. His initially considerable stash of money was dwindling quickly with him taking care of all the expenses, after all.
Tonight, they would rest, and tomorrow they would check out this 'Magi Brotherhood' while waiting for the Cleaner's Workshop's next test.
It seemed like a plan.
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On the Still Peak, a caped figure swiftly climbed the stone stairs, rapidly ascending to the top of the mountain. The magic that had made the whole place completely still was gone, and snow had started to cover the charred stone.
The icy and violent wind made the peak a place where living beings weren't welcome and where dangers awaited at any instant. Yet, the caped figure didn't seem perturbed, as he held his sword in his hand, striking the ground and breaking the scriptures with the Moon Rift described.
He ignored the tent and went directly to the room where the giant white crystal awaited. His face hardened when he discovered that it was lying in the pool, with the previously pristine water completely frozen. He tried to touch the crystal but received no feedback.
The figure breathed out a cloud of hot air, while his fist tightened. Finally, after a few minutes of standstill, he punched the crystal, obliterating it, and the shards of the crystal burst everywhere.
He walked in the middle of the shards, picking up a black mirror that had been sealed within it. A face was imprinted on it. Glenn's face. The mirror reflected the figure’s face slightly.
It was purple.