“Listen closely youngins, the test you all will be taking today might be the most important test of your lives. Not only you though. These tests decide the future of our village as you all represent the future. If you feel any heaviness then know it is our ancestors looking upon us, as this test also represents if their legacies will live or die. However, no matter the end result of today, just know all of you will have a place within this village, your home.”

The adults who had all arrived by now clapped while the young adults who had just gone through a version of this speech just a few years prior had mostly pride on their faces. I admired the comradery shared by everybody present who joined in as well.

Before long the group of elders began calling groups of teens up to take the first part of the test. There were three hundred, give or take a few, teens in our group so we were split up almost evenly into groups of ten, except for us.

My group of nine contained four people, two males, and two females, whom I wasn’t too familiar with, but the other four people were actually my cousins who I have been growing up with for as long as I could remember.

There were the two twins Ash and Bell, who were considered the top beauties in the village. They were part of the group of girls who generated the shock of the self-images that ran through the village, and Kai, who was the oldest person of our age to take the test today. There is no way he could really fail the test given that it was more about comprehension not looks, but that didn’t mean that some in the village like my cousin here wouldn’t wait until they got older in order to achieve a better score. The only advantage I could see of doing so would be that one could use the relative age to utilize the respect the older member of the village gets from the younger members.

There was also Zoe, but unlike all the other girls in the village who wore loose-fitting leather shirts and dresses, she had on a leather outfit that could have easily been replaced by my own. Not to mention that she was at least my height, which is close to six feet this year. If anyone body stuck out in our group it would definitely be her. The last person in our group that I knew at least was my cousin Luca. He was one of the few lucky guys who were able to take part in the writing class when we were younger. That alone gives him a huge advantage over all the other guys present besides me.

Luca was the closest to me in terms of age since we were born a week apart so when I wasn’t by myself I was usually with him and my two late friends Eli and Nez. Even now when I look back at what happened I have trouble accepting that they would meet their end in that way. They weren't my original friends from Earth, but just like me back on earth, they were the only friends this version of me had.

*sigh*

Luca, who was beside me, overheard me and put his hand on my shoulder, and glanced at me for a second.

“You were thinking of our fallen friends just now, right?”

“Yeah.. I just didn’t expect them to die th- so young..”

Luca who still had his hand on my shoulder patted said shoulder and continued.

“I feel the same. My father told me that we should be proud of them as they died the same way many of our ancestors did. At first, I didn’t get what he meant by that but after hearing grandma’s speech, I think I understand.”

He then removed his hand then and focus on those taking the test.

I also understood what his father was trying to get across. Given that all the males and some females of the village are basically the soldiers of the said village when the time comes, most people will meet their ends outside the gates of the village. So it could be said that it was better for their families’ legacies, but I won’t be the one to put a stamp on that letter.

I smiled at Luca but didn’t say much else as that would probably bring more suspicion than praise right about given the testing had begun. I thought the way the test was set up would mean that at least half of us teens would be taking the test at the same time, but I was clearly wrong. I mean the majority of males preset had to practice using a sharp stick and the bare earth close to the wooden wall surrounding the village during the second half of our schooling. I guess I am subconsciously belittling this test as it is really too simple relative to its modern counterparts.

The way the first part of the test at least, which is the writing part, worked seemed to be that one group of teens out of the thirty groups present would be selected and would take the test in front of everyone present. I guess that’s why my grandma mentioned feeling “heaviness” or anxious.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The first group of teens that were called up were all boys and just as expected they were all shaking from their nervousness. This was lightened though by their family members who were in the huge crowd that had gathered around us teens. They yelled out in support of their respective teens adding to the whole atmosphere of the event, making it seem more like a sporting event from Earth.

They performed about as well as anyone who had to practice writing in the dirt, but surprisingly one of the individuals did pretty well relative to the others who mostly ruined their parchments. If I remember correctly his name is Dek. He like my older cousin Kai waited till he was eighteen to take the test. I supposed that is the best route to take if you want a bright future in the village.

I guess this version of myself wouldn’t have any trouble attaining a good rating on this part of the test, but I doubt he would be as calm as I was now given that he, like everybody else who took the writing classes, barely grasped the skill beyond their peers here.

This continued until the groups of male teens were done with their tests. There were two more standouts like that guy Dek but I couldn’t remember them for the life of me making this the second time my memory had “failed” me. However, I made a mental note of their face so I will be sure to get their names in the future. The guys overall did pretty much the same as the year before, except there were more “standouts” this year, three in total, besides we six boys who have yet to take the test.

I was sure that my group would be next as we were the only mixed group when it came to the sex of the individuals, but they skipped right over us and start calling on the groups of female teens in the area. I was the only one who was surprised though as my cousins as well as the four people in my group just shrugged and shook their heads. I saw my grandmother who was basically the head judge grin and giggle as she studied our reactions to what was ultimately her decision.

The females did marginally better than the males as they had much more experience with the parchments. They had the advantage of years of writing classes that almost all the males didn’t have access to. They were less nervous than the males about the test at least, but none of them were used to having the whole village's attention spare the two girls who along with my cousins Ash and Bell created the whole “self-image” fiasco a few years ago. Their test went much more smoothly than their counterparts, and all the girls received equal if not more praise than the boys from their respective parents.

The mood in the area was at its peak when the final group of girls finished their test and made their way into the groups of teens who were comparing their results. I knew it was my group's turn next and that caused the previous calm I had to slip for a second, allowing a drop of nervousness to hit my stomach. The butterflies are what we called them back on Earth but in this world, I’m not even sure they had a phrase for it.

As quickly as it came it also went and I smirked as I felt like I had been taken back to an actual school for a second.

My thoughts though, as per usual, were pushed aside when my group was called toward the center of the clearing

We were each handed a thin leather parchment that was about as thick as a full envelope and was about the size of poster board. The “pencil” was a five-inch-long lump of some kind of metal that was sharpened at the end and wrapped in a leather strip. I have seen both of these items in the memories of this world’s version of me but holding them was a different shock altogether.

I won’t have any trouble writing with these don’t get me wrong, but I feel much more sympathetic toward my fellow male peers, who were used to using sharp things to stab through leather for a living.

We were then split into three groups to go in front of the three elders waiting on us. Kai and the two other males whose names I have found out it “shadowing” my group, which are Ted and Ren, were sent to the male elder by the boulder on the right. While Luca and the other two females whose names I found out using the aforementioned “shadowing” method, Zita and Sil, were sent to the female elderby the boulder on the left. Ash, Bell, and myself were sent to our grandmother who was waiting there with a huge smile on her face. She looked us over and nodded a few times before telling us to prepare ourselves.

Ash and Bell, almost in unison lined up in front of the boulder in the middle of the other two boulders that had all been fashioned down to be relatively flat and placed their items on the said boulder. I do the same yet more like a businessman late for a meeting as I folded the parchment under my arms and stumbled toward the boulder. I overheard the phrases the other two elders said aloud for their groups respectively and chuckled at the “complexity” of it all.

“ The forest was limitless and flourishing, yet filled with danger” was the phrase said for Kai’s group, which furrowed their brows.

The phrase that was said for Luca’s group was “The village is home and the ancestors look upon it.”, although a blatant theft of my grandmother’s speech, still did the job of the three teens' task of transcribing it.

The phrase for my group was pretty simple as well but was also kinda familiar. She said, “Aim for the sky, as if you miss, the void will embrace you as the same.”

Ash and Bell furrowed their brows like so many teens before them and got to writing while I raised mine instead and did the one thing this version of myself probably has never done before. I looked someone in the eyes, that someone of course was my grandmother. Although she was looking at the work of my cousins, she noticed my actions and gave me the grin I remember so vividly from this version of myself, only this time I felt a strong feeling of love that was my own.

I looked down while laying my parchment down on the rock, looking back it was probably this moment when I decided that from here on out, no matter which “version” of myself my memories came from, I would use them for those around me in the present.

I chuckled to myself and put my “pencil” to the “paper” and began to write.