A Toddler’s Intelligence

“So, who was your exam administrator?” Chloe asked.

“I didn’t catch her name… But, she was an old woman wearing green robes,” Elric responded.

            “Was she wearing a gold pendant necklace,” Chloe pointed to her own, “or was it platinum?”

Elric tried to remember, “I don’t know. Does it make a difference?”

“Well, yes. The necklace signifies a rank. If I knew what metal hers was I’d be able to narrow down who was your teacher. The test administrators change every year and there are several who oversee the exam each time as well.”

             “I see.”

“But, despite the variances they all one way or another try to see your motivation and purpose for coming here. No matter which division you’re going into. So how did it go for you. Did she try to butter you up or what?” Chloe was genuinely worried for Elric, she hoped it hadn’t been too rough.

            “Nope. She was just very cruel.”

“Huh? What do you mean she was very cruel?”

            “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Wait, did she hurt you physically? Tell me now and I’ll make sure that hag is expelled. Test administrators are not allowed to harm the potentials.”

            “It wasn’t like that. I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

Chloe sighed, “Alright, if you say so.” “Oh and by the way I made sure to omit you were from Greenstead on your paperwork. Don’t want you getting that kind of negative attention and all,” she whispered.

            “Thanks,” Elric felt like an idiot, he had already someone know on accident. He had to be more careful.

            “Anyway, you should start heading to the opening ceremony.” Chloe patted his back and smiled sadly as Elric walked away. The entrance exam might not be physically painful, but the opening ceremony most definitely was.

********

            Sektus, king of the city-state August, heir of Primus, defender of the people, was falling asleep to the monotonous music, which were his advisors.  He shouldn’t be awake this early. Honestly, he’d rather be back in bed with his wives. But thanks to tragedy at Greenstead there was much repair that needed to be done in the border lands. Many of the nobility were worried, wondering if more monsters would enter through the Great Barrier and attack their own lands. As the king, Sektus had to reassure not just the nobility but the common folk as well. Today was also the new year for the royal academy and he was expected to give a speech to the new students, his son was also entering this year. Accompanied with a myriad of smaller tasks meant a lot of paperwork, which meant working with his advisors around the clock, ergo his current position. Sektus began to doze off on his golden throne, his had begun to bob, which his advisors took as a nod and indication to continue.

            “Your majesty, open your eyes. I’ve brought news,” a strong clear voice broke through the king’s drowsiness.

            The pair of eyes shot open, the white pupils quickly adjusting to the light, “Ah, my old friend. I was just resting my eyes.” The king smiled tiredly.

            “Yes, of course your majesty.” Ithor, royal court mage, and right hand of the king bowed. The diamond pendant hanging from the iron necklace denoted him as an arch mage. “I have sensitive news to speak to you with.” He eyed the advisors.

            Sektus understood, he waived away the advisors. They bowed and quickly left through the large ornate doors that served as the entrance to throne room.

“So Ithor, what have you brought at this early hour?” Sektus yawned.

            “It concerns Greenstead. We have reviewed the report of the two magi who were at the initial event. Also, my squad and I have just returned from the village ourselves.”

That caught Sektus’s attention, “And your conclusion of the attack?”

            “The good news is that it wasn’t an attack made by the kingdom of December as we feared. The bad news is that it indeed was a large magical beast that slipped through the Barrier and attacked the village. The claw marks spread throughout the village are proof enough of that. But,” Ithor hesitated. It was out of his character to hesitate, and Sektus caught it immediately.

“What is it? What happened?”

            “We found a few faint tracks of where the beast entered the borderlands. We weren’t able to identify the particular species due to the old age of the footprints, but we deduced it to be reptilian. At first, we thought it to possibly be a variant of the spine back raptors. But… that all changed when we found a particular patch of ground at the village. It was a small crater, the earth itself had been charred black. That crater wasn’t simply made by powerful flames, it was made with incredibly potent magic.”

“What are you getting at?” The king had a bad feeling about this.

            “Your majesty, the enormous claw marks and footprints were one thing, several magical beasts could fit in that criteria. But the only magical beast in the continent capable of such tremendous fire power and magical power, is” Ithor took a deep breath, “a dragon.”

Sektus felt cold sweat run down his back. A dragon was a terrible beast of legend, very rarely seen, spoken about only in horror stories, it belonged with the maestros and all the other terrifying monsters that lurked before the Uprising. The dragon was a magical beast born between the powers of the mortal realm and the high realms. Not even Ithor, the greatest mage in all of August, could single handedly take down a dragon, in fact, Sektus doubted the mage could even harm it.

            “Ithor, are you telling me that an actual dragon walked into my kingdom, destroyed one of my villages, and then just left?”

“It would match with the original report, concerning the bodies found at the village. Not all the corpses were mangled, hinting at the use of magic. Dragons are intelligent beasts they would have eaten the cattle before trying to eat “skinny humans”. Which would explain why the bodies are all accounted for, save the lone survivor. But, no, your majesty, that is not what I am saying. Dragons have wings, we never found footprints of the beast leaving the Barrier. What I am telling you is that the dragon could still be in our lands.”

            “Oh, sweet Composers.” Sektus was a pious man, but if there ever was a time to curse it was now. If a dragon was actually in his kingdom, then everyone could be in danger. And if the monster attacked city, or worse the core. No, he couldn’t think like that. He had to deal with this swiftly, before it ever came to that.

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“Do you have any idea where it could be, Ithor?”

            “The books in the royal library don’t offer much on the lore of dragons, but what I do know is that they tend to sleep for long periods of time after having their fill. I wouldn’t know where it would go though.”

“At least the beast most likely is asleep. I’ll begin sending out search parties all over the kingdom. Do you know when it’ll wake up?”

             “It could be years, or tomorrow.”

“Dammit, alright, we’ll deal with this. Ithor, gather the earth mages with the best location abilities, and put them on a sweep of the land, starting with the area around Greenstead. If the creature is found don’t engage, report to me first. Until then the identity of the beast stays between us.”

            “As you wish your majesty.” Ithor bowed.

The front doors opened, ushering in the 2nd prince. The boy was only beginning to show the features of a man. His shoulders were starting to broaden, his shirt showed the outline of a toned body underneath, the product of a life of sword practice. He had pitch black hair like his father, his eyes also bore the foreign white pupils, evidence of being of mixed descent. He had thick eyebrows and a long rigid nose with thin lips. His skin was pale with a thin shade of grey.

            “Good morning father, are you ready to go?” Marcus smiled happily, he had just turned fifteen and was eager to join the magical division of the royal academy, like his family before him.

            Sektus smiled at his son, “Hello Marcus. Yes, I’m ready just give me a moment. Ithor please, walk with us, we’ll continue our discussion at a later time.”

            “Of course, your majesty,” Ithor gave a slight nod.

Marcus turned to the arch mage, “Good morning Ithor.”

            “Morning, young prince. Are you ready for today’s exam?”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life!” Marcus, was truly in a bright mood. He had always wanted to be a mage.

            “I can already sense your magical potential beginning to awaken, I’m curious as to which of the six elements you will awaken to.” Ithor stated.

Marcus turned his head in thought, “I’d prefer not to have earth or water. Air would be cool, it’d be fun to fly. Death is out of the question of course. I definitely wouldn’t life either. So, I guess I’d want fire, like you.”

            Ithor smiled, “Good choice.”

Sektus glanced suspiciously at Ithor, “So you don’t want to be an earth mage like your father? I wonder who changed your mind?”

            “Now we should get going young prince, best not to take test when the other potentials are there.” Ithor didn’t glance at the king and instead escorted the young prince out. The king begrudgingly followed.

********

Milandra, the earth mage, sat musing about her previous potential. The boy Elric was interesting. It had been a long time since someone had actually reacted so violently during the exam. The boy even had the guts to insult all the mages and knights of the kingdom. Not even the nobility would dare. Well she supposed an idiot might, but Elric wasn’t stupid. Well, maybe a little, but he did figure out the purpose of her questions very quickly. Most didn’t even realize how they were being tested. But, that child did. What’s more he was talented, very. An untrained mage didn’t know how to control one’s own aura and as such it’d leek. But when Elric had gotten angry his aura flared far larger than most, what’s more it had actually coalesced around rather than spreading out into the air. He was naturally controlling his aura, in a limited extent, but nonetheless it was impressive. He’d probably be placed in the top three of his class. Well, that’s if he didn’t botch up his training by being an idiot, which was entirely possible.

A knock on the door broke her away from her thoughts. A young handsome man walked in. The idiot was actually smiling.

“Ah, your highness, welcome. Please take a seat.”

“Thank you, lady magus.” Marcus sat in the chair and looked around, “Pretty small room, must get boring.”           

            “Only when dealing with nitwits,” Milandra tilted her head slightly towards the prince.

“I’m not surprised,” he said without the least hint of understanding.

            The boy was an idiot. Milandra ignored the comment and began her usual speech. “Name.”

            “Marcus August, 2nd prince of the kingdom of August.”

“I said name, not your damn title.”

            “Aren’t they one in the same? You’ll be called by both anyway.”

Milandra once again ignored his comment, though in a way he had a point. “I am the test administrator for the admissions exam at the royal academy of August. You may call me, lady magus.”

“Already did,” he cut in.

Milandra pointedly looked at him and waited to see if he’d say something else. He didn’t. “You are expected to stay silent unless asked. Nod if you understand.”

“Noted.” Marcus nodded solemnly.

            Milandra’s eye twitched. Oh, how she hated royal brats. She cleared her throat, “There are two exams, an oral and a practical. We will begin with the oral, but first a few basic questions. How old are you?”

“Fifteen, like most who apply, obviously.”

            “Really, your strange eyes made it hard to tell. You seem like a beast a bit honestly.”

Marcus looked offended, he placed his hand on his chest. “I am the descendant of Primus himself. My eyes are a sign of my royal heritage.”

            “Whatever you say half breed.” Milandra muttered.

“I prefer hybrid, sounds cooler,” Marcus smiled.

            Milandra simply stared, this boy was an imbecile. Could he not tell that she was insulting him? Or was he so arrogant by his royal position that he couldn’t conceive that someone would actually purposely insult him?

“Where are you from?”

            The prince looked at her as if she were a child, “Really?”

“Just answer the damn question Marcus.”

            He sighed dramatically, “Alright, well. I was born and raised in the kingdom of August, in the city-state of the same namesake,” he looked at Milandra as if she might not understand, “August is the name of the city. It’s the one we’re in right now.”

“Congratulations on being able to tell me where you are, you at least have the intelligence of a toddler. Now do you have the intelligence of a teenager, what street are we in?”

            “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Name.”

“Jade street?”

“A toddler’s intelligence then.”

 Marcus frowned at that.

“So, young prince, why are you here?”

            “Because you made me sit in this chair.” Marcus shot back. She wanted to be specific, so could he.

Milandra gave the young man a pan face, her wrinkles accentuating the look, “See me laughing?

            “W-well, not really.”

“Why are you here? Is it so you can become a mage like most of the royal family. But, that wouldn’t make sense. Though it may be true that the August royalty tend to be mages they do not enroll in the mage division. They are treated as an exception, they take magic classes while being enrolled in the scholar division.”

            Marcus smiled widely, “What can I say, I like magic.”

Milandra laughed, “Yes, well, don’t we all. Ah,” Milandra pretended as if she had an epiphany, “Or maybe you are here because you’re the fourth child?”

Marcus’ smile cracked.

 Milandra continued happily, “Though you may be the 2nd prince you have two sisters between you and your eldest brother, the crown prince. Not even the third child of the king. I wonder what kind of position there is in the kingdom for someone like you if any. It’s as if you were born from a lesser wife.”

            “Are you done with your test?” Marcus asked calmly, though anger could be seen behind his white pupil eyes.

Milandra slowly leaned back, so not a complete imbecile after all.  “Just because it’s a test doesn’t make it less real. Why are you here Marcus August”?”

Marcus returned to his happy confident smile, “To achieve my potential.”

            Milandra decided to leave it there, she didn’t wish to push too hard, he was a prince after all, it wouldn’t do good to have the king on her bad side. She pulled out the elemental identification orb from her pocket. She placed it on the table, “Pick it up and don’t drop it.”

Marcus looked at the clear glass orb, tiny silver flakes danced within. He grabbed it and peered at the tiny intricate flakes. The pieces of metal slowly but surely began to move and eventually gathered at the center of the orb.

            Milandra cackled happily, “Oh young prince, it seems you won’t be achieving your potential here. You are not a mage.”

            Marcus dropped the ball.