Having spent some time previous to the day of finding the location of the Academy’s examination, Lasutro made their way to the testing site with the most leisurely pace she could manage with the slight excitement and anxiety she felt. As she approached Traclins’ Library the streets grew more crowded, filled by other hopeful students. Eventually she entered the old library, briefly appreciating the nearly two centuries old architecture, both inside and out, before returning their focus to their goal within.
Alongside the many other prospective students, those at the doors had let in, Lasutro continued onwards past the entrance to the first intersection, which featured a variety of individuals adorning robes that indicated their association with the Academy working on stacks of parchment. Upon the group’s arrival, several of the robed figures stood up and stepped in front of the group each then gestured for the group to split and follow them down one of the hallways that followed the intersection. Following the voiceless instructions of the figures, Lasutro trailed behind one of the figures, glancing back for a moment to see the rest of the group she had entered with ,besides those who had chosen to follow the same figure as themselves, divided perfectly.
After a minute or so of following the robed figure, Lasutro and the other prospective students were led into a rearranged portion of the main library of the building, which had been filled by a series of desks and chairs. As they entered the robed figure spoke the first time, instructing them to find a seat and wait there. At which point the group scrambled as quickly and as politely they could for chairs, unintentionally signaling their desperation to enter the academy.
Just as the tension in the room began to relax, the robed individual began making their way through the rows of people, asking several inaudible questions, then writing down a few things into a notebook of sorts before moving on to the next person. When the robed figure arrived at Lasutro’s table she mentally prepared themselves before answering their questions truthfully, with the exception of their name, to which she answered with an incomplete truth, stating their name was Izora Norkra. An answer that caused no further probing by the individual, only the placement of a stack of parchment and what appeared to be a simple quill, before moving on to speak with the next examinee.
After a cursory glance down at the papers and the questions upon them, Lasutro set to work on the examination. Carefully reading through the questions then proceeding to write their answer on the papers provided, leaving their initial on each page in addition to leaving small notes to indicate the question it was answering as needed.
Gradually, as Lasutro answered more questions, she felt increasingly grateful for Mayr's suggestions for study and was able to confidently answer most questions. The few questions she had difficulty with seemed to be designed with the intent of throwing off examinees, their answers being less deceive then the rest of the exam, at least in terms of an end result.
The contents of the exam itself was made up of questions on specific material component uses, their application for a specific spell effect, mathematical calculations, the difference between specific components such as a focus and runes, in addition to questions that blended the aforementioned topics and some simple questions on mana. Mana of course being what Lasutro had previously called spell energy, which was partially true, yet not the whole truth as she had discovered in their studies over the past weeks.
Despite some of the more difficult questions Lasutro felt confident in their answers, but still opted to review them instead of handing the papers to the robed figure as many of their fellow examinees had chosen to do when they finished. When Lasutro had done what in their mind amounted to all they could review without their desire to get everything right, ruining their correct answers, she, as quietly as she could, collected their exam papers and walked over to robed individual who had been watching the group of examinees almost unsettlingly and handed them over. They took them in silence, briefly straightening the pages before placing them in a perfectly sized box marked by a series of runes and geometric patterns, then pointing Lasutro further into the library, toward a space between the shelves that formed a hallway-esque structure.
Following the wordless instruction of the robed proctor Lasutro wandered through the path that had been formed by the shelves, resisting the urge to inspect one of the many tomes as she went. After about a minute of walking reached the end of the improvised hall of shelves into what she suspected to be the central feature of the library itself, although clearly rearranged to better suit the Academy’s testing needs. There, among a series of benches, she spotted several of the examinees who had left before them, in addition to many others who she assumed to be from the other groups of examinees.
Soon after she joined them in their silence, a different robed proctor stepped out from behind the grand, clearly magical curtain that surrounded what Lasutro presumed to be the desk of the library’s head librarians and called out “Henry Poycirtt.” At which point, one of the examinees that Lasutro did not recognize stood up. The examinee in question was a young human man with short slicked back brown hair, dressed in somewhat luxurious robes and a face permanently marked by a serious expression. Immediately after he stood, the young man made his way over to the proctor with a surprisingly graceful haste in spite of his sailor-like figure. Then the pair retreated behind the curtain and disappeared from view.
Shortly after a different proctor emerged and called for another examinee, a pattern that repeated ten times, over the course of what Lasutro approximated to be three quarters of an hour before she saw the face of the first proctor who had emerged from behind the curtain once more. Following a partial repeat of the pattern, when, at least to Lasutro’s observations, most of the other examinees that had arrived before them had been called and made their way behind the curtain, the proctor that stepped out from behind the curtain called out to the room “Izora Norkra.” Despite their desire to react instantaneously to the name she couldn’t help but react a couple seconds slower then any other examinee would have. As a result, Lasutro found themselves more frustrated with their reaction time and less nervous then she had expected, but all the while maintaining their mostly neutral expression.
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Behind the curtain Lasutro quickly caught on to the lightly shimmering doors that hung in the air in the intersections between what Lasutro assumed to be research desks. Distracted by their curiosity of the doors, Lasutro bumped into the back of the proctor who she had been following, who shot back a quick glare before pointing to one of the doors just ahead of them and declaring “Behind that door you will take your practical examination.” their voice baring only the slightest hint of annoyance.
Happily following their instructions, Lasutro stepped toward the indicated door, examining it best they could as she approached, and slowly opening the door. Stepping beyond the door Lasutro found themselves in a dark room that she had trouble navigating despite their half elven vision. After a few seconds of stumbling around she spotted a light in the distance, and when she walked into it suddenly the room was bathed in a brief purple glow before transitioning into a familiar fire light.
Glancing around their surroundings Lasutro spotted a pair of tables and what appeared to be a scarecrow assembled from linen sacks in addition to two large branches. Just as she began their approach to the table that only held a simple fist sized rock, she was interrupted by a sound of someone clearing their throat slightly above them. Turning quickly to face the origin of the noise, Lasutro met the eyes of three older proctors who sat at a table overlooking them and their surroundings. Each one of them adorned in the same robes as the other proctors although clearly custom fitted, in addition to a few personalized alterations, noticeably more elegant then the others she had seen. And while Lasutro was not far away from the trio, at least to their perception, yet was nonetheless unable to make out any features of the individuals who were undeniably there to instruct and review their practical exam, she found their faces almost veiled in shadow.
As Lasutro contemplated the perceived oddity the figure who sat in the center of the trio of proctors cleared their throat once more “For the first portion of your practical examination, you must affect the stone in some manner that is obvious through the use of magic. "The figure gestured to the rock Lasutro had previously noted as they spoke, the boredom in their dry voice clear, “There are tools and components on the other table for your use, you have 5 minutes to complete this portion and other two portions of your examination, excluding any explanation from myself, you may begin.”
The moment the last words left the proctor's lips, Lasutro dashed over to the table she hadn’t had the proper chance to inspect, and despite a part of them screaming to complete the task immediately. She instead spent the better part of a minute looking over the deemed curiosities, even as the eyes of their evaluators’ burned into their back, picking some of the items up briefly before setting them back down. When Lasutro finally got a hold of their curiosity she turned their attention to the stone and quickly reflected upon what spell to use, before settling on an enhanced version of the third spell she had learned and only just recently became adept at. Just as the first half of their second minute passed Lasutro began going through the somatic motions of the spell. Looking towards the stone then grasping their hands together for a moment, then pulling them apart to their fingertips,before pushing their palms together and rotating their wrists in opposite arcs. All the while pulling on their mana, before finishing with the final gesture of touching their middle finger and thumb as she moves their other hand through the partial opening with a gradual twist, at which point Lasutro felt the familiar drain of magic as the purple spectral hand flickered into existence.
Shifting their focus from the gestures and initial mana input of the spell to the freshly conjured spectral hand now in front of them, Lasutro commanded it forward using their mind and arm in tandem. In an instant it arrived beside the stone, following which Lasutro mimed lifting the stone from the table. An action that was repeated by the spectral hand with little to no delay, after which Lasutro moved the hand, stone still within its grasp, to a space just off the table before letting their spell fizzle away to nothing.
When Lasutro returned their attention to the trio of judges expectant of their next task, she found them chatting amongst each other before abruptly stopping and returning to their previous state of silent observation. A moment after the silence of the proctors returned to the room the same proctor spoke once more, their voice now stripped of the boredom it previously held. “For the second portion of your examination you are to strike the training dummy with some sort of damaging magical effect, you may resume.”
Following the direction of the proctor’s gesture towards the dummy, Lasutro strode back over to the table carrying the assortment of magical components and tools. This time only letting themselves take a brief glance at the object before positioning themselves several meters from the stuffed linen sacks that formed the dummy. There, Lasutro took a deep breath as she pulled forth the mana for one of the most complicated spells she had managed to gleam from their trusty tome.
Carefully making their way through the somewhat delicate motions of the spell taking more than three times as long as the conjuration of the spectral hand, but nonetheless she pushed through as she had so many times previously on the beach. When she reached the end of their spellcasting, they felt the great drain on their mana as the simultaneously three thick bolts of crackling energy formed in the air around them. They hung there for a moment before shooting forward into the training dummy in quick succession at Lasutro direction, leaving a training dummy with a fist sized hole through what would be its chest.
Lasutro's attention remained fixed on the dummy as she admired their work for a brief moment before she turned to face the trio of proctors once more for the final portion of their exam, only to find a series of spears of ice flying towards them. As the realization of the danger dawned on them, she felt a familiar drain of mana, a feeling she now realized had been caused by their bracelet, and made their best attempt to dodge the projectiles, making their best effort to move towards one of the long wooden tables.
The moment she knocked one of the tables down and found cover behind it she heard the familiar voice of the middle proctor speak again. “Our apologies for the rudeness of the final portion of your examination. We hope you understand that you were not in any real danger and that in the event you were harmed we would ensure you received the best care available within this city. Your examination is complete should you be accepted,” they paused, “you will receive notice within the next three days, along with instructions for your arrival in capital in addition to items you will be required to purchase with your own coin as well as the sum you will be required to pay as tuition. That is all. You may leave through the door you entered,where the individual who led you in shall see you out.”