Chapter 15 : Future Trajectories

Tarnassus Tassakyan really didn't have time to administer a test right now. He begrudgingly had to take time off from getting briefed on the border disputes. Forces of the Drecht Empire had moved up across the Emzon river to threaten Olvania to the north. This blocked off Arumeni's only access to the trade routes of the Crescent Sea. Olvania had in response had made an encroachment movement further inland into Arumeni territory, but just to flank the Drechts. It was temporary they said – a notion belied by their newly erected fort.

Then there were the investigations of the mysterious missing cases – probably murders – right here in the capital. Two pottery shop owners had disappeared, and one had been level 24... not an easy target, especially not if a member of the dangerous Alpha Cult like Tarnassus had long suspected. The man had been under surveillance but someone had apparently snatched him, unseen.

Saint Alena would have to look into the matter instead, and Tarnassus didn't like dealing with the imposing woman.

He adjusted his uniform and brass tinted engraved cuirass before making proper strides into the snow covered central park area adjacent to the Grand Academy. He saw three applicants waiting at the testing grounds, a man and two women. It was difficult to accurately gauge the age of a high level individual due to the effects of leveling, but students generally had to be out of central school, which generally put their age at 16-20, and their level above 10 if they had talent and noble backing.

The exact level and list of abilities of a law abiding citizen could not be documented according to Arumeni law. Whatever information Tarnassus could derive using gauge and guesswork, he would have to keep between himself and the praepostor.

Tarnassus came to a halt a dozen paces from the four students who all drew straight and alert in his presence. Then he unfolded piece of parchment he had been pinching between calloused fingers, met each of the students' gazes as if counting, then read out loud with a voice used to barking orders.

"Buhlu Francoyan?"

"Here.", a rather average looking young man answered in lazy and nasal monotone tone which was almost a parody of nobility.

He was wearing a fine frilly red suit. The two medals pinned to the chest meant nothing to Tarnassus. Noble families sometimes had internal award systems. Hmmm. Level 11, probably, Tarnassus estimated.

"Wawak Mekrek...rek? Uh, Mekrekrak?", Tarnassus blundered – he really was terrible with names.

"Here!", a short haired but girlish woman beamed back, revealing sharp teeth like those of a sand-shark.

Level 7 or 8. A little low, but she looked fit under the light prismsnake scale mail and people of her kind were hardy. They had survived in this region before it was properly settled over a thousand years ago. Some still considered them savage natives and a target for justified bullying. If not identified by their teeth or flat nose, their grey-blue hair and eyes were often dead giveaways. The Grand Academy only discriminated against poor and untalented people though.

Now, the final applicant had a rather strange aura about her. Probably level 10, but she had a penetrating and relaxed gaze, the type which usually belonged only to people who felt completely unthreatened on account of their level – like high nobles, city lords, and Saint Alena.

She wore a white sleeveless dress which seemed to double as a light flexible armour. It looked simple but Tarnassus could tell that it was not. A hundred black braids curtained down her back and shoulders, framing a necklace with a single blue glass bead so ordinary it must be of sentimental value only. She wore a few rings which might be enchanted though.

"Lastly... Zhoey Garnet?"

"My name's not lastly.", was her deadpan riposte, drawing a muffled chuckle out of the shark-girl.

Then she seemed to retract and droned "Here.", like the others.

Tarnassus frowned but let it slide for some reason, eager to move onto the first physical test – which happened to be a favourite sport of his. The tests were selected at random for each test group, so it wasn't a good idea to over-focus on a particular one. The strength test could be spear throw, cube roll, boulder carry, rope-in, murder squats, or...

He indicated the first test area with where a snow capped 12kg copper ball rested in the palm of statue of an idealised man who appeared just on the verge of throwing it.

"Alright then applicants, I'm going to assume that you've all warmed up already, so line up for the slug toss! Let's see what you can do. Enchantment items are allowed – what we're measuring here is overall practical ability. May Droddak the Warrior give you his blessings."

Tarnassus watched the applicants line up. The noble-boy rushed up in front, pushing the shark-girl aside, apparently eager to shine first. He snatched up the copper ball with a single hand, hefted it then moved to a slanted stone on the ground, put a foot on it not bothering to wipe off the snow. Stretching some hundred metres ahead was an open field, the snow dimpled by potholes.

Noble-boy assumed a pretty decent shooting position, froze for a moment, then exploded into movement. The ball flew in an arc, well over the 35 meter qualification mark, even reaching the 40 metre one. With a thud it added another pothole to the field.

Tarnassus noticed the noble-boy giving the shark-girl an obnoxious if not outright vicious smile, and braid-girl catching the gesture, frowning. When the noble-boy strutted off to retrieve the ball, braid-girl handed two rings over to a baffled shark-girl and Tarnassus had to step up and interpose.

"You're not allowed to hand over enchanted items unless it's a permanent trade for the entire duration of the physical test. Then of course you can't use them and will handicap yourself."

"Oh, I'll be fine.", braid-girl replied with an inscrutable face.

"A-Are you sure?", shark-girl stuttered wide-eyed. "These seem really... valuable. I don't think I should-"

But braid-girl just pushed shark-girl up towards the shooting position, where she then stood awkwardly for a while before trying on the rings.

"Let it be so then.", Tarnassus said, raising an eyebrow at the unusual turn of events. Braid-girl sure seemed confident.

Soon the noble-boy returned with the ball, having stepped carefully around all of the potholes. When handing over the ball to shark-girl, he instead dropped it in the snow with an "Oops. Anyways, I got 42.".

Then he stood off to the side crossing his arms, as if waiting for something good. Shark-girl seemed to have shifted focus though, and just picked up the ball, carefully wiped the snow off the positioning stone, then assumed the shooting position, her form perhaps a bit crude.

The ball was sent flying, much, much too low, but with surprising force. It sped past the qualification mark and landed halfway between the 45 and 50 metre marks, carving a long trail in the snow all the way up to 60.

Shark-girl seemed a little surprised with the shot herself but quickly followed up with a second shot – a shit-eating grin full of teeth aimed right at noble-boy. The poor lad had briefly stood with his mouth agape before busying himself with nothing, pretending just a little too late to not have been seen any of it.

As shark-girl swaggered off outfield, Tarnassus was left pondering. Enchanted rings usually had a noticeable effect at her level, but how far had her shot gone if it had been proper form? The effect went beyond what two minor strength rings could do. If she had the Strength ability on top of that, that might just explain it. What are the chances of getting that right away at level 5 though?

He supposed it would become clear during the other tests later.

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Braid-girl stepped up catching an arm flex and a smile from the figure returning with the ball in the distance. Her wordless reply was a strange double thumbs up gesture.

She had already assumed position and soon started making little practice shots using pretend-balls, her form improving with each repetition. She finally settled on a form similar to that of noble-boy.

Upon returning, shark-girl courteously handed over the copper ball and stepped aside. Everyone, even noble-boy seemed interested in her performance.

Braid-girl took her time, undulating and eyeing the field up ahead more as if aiming somewhere, a bit like when throwing a rotten tattertot into a waste basket from a distance. Then she made the shot.

Tarnassus could tell right away that it was looking pretty good. The arc terminated somewhere just ahead of the noble-boy's mark, much to his chagrin.

She truly didn't need her two strength rings then. Most peculiar. Was she perhaps level 11 or 12? He jotted down his evaluations on a fresh note while the ball was being returned.

––o––

The stamina test had a similar result. Three laps around the central park equated to about 9 kilometres. The noble-boy had good form, but somehow braid-girl overtook him after half a lap and stayed twenty paces ahead from thereon despite his numerous sprint efforts. They both passed with a good margin. The clear winner was shark-girl who finished in 13 minutes and 48 seconds despite her terrible running style. It's not often applicants break 40 kilometres per hour. Anyone going above 30 kilometres per hour will usually qualify. Tarnassus began to suspect that something might be seriously off about his gauge reads today.

Presently they had gathered up near the training weapon racks which had been brought out by the praepostor herself. Didn't she have more important things to do? Perhaps she had been observing from her academy office and the unusual results drew her down here? Now she sat on one of the observation benches some distance off, doing paper work while glancing up every now and then. So she really did have more important things to do after all.

The obstacle course which normally tested agility and sufferance was out of commission during the winter – or rather, it was a real pain to set up for just three people so Tarnassus had to move straight to the combat test and increase the difficulty a bit.

Since the applicants had to do all tests using the same outfit, few chose to wear a heavy armour because of the stamina and agility tests. The sparring weapon was however left up to choice. There were variants of flails, spears, maces and swords – all technically clubs as they were training weapons. In case of injuries Tarnassus had received a some low grade healing potions capable of dealing with bruises and fractures.

"Alright applicants, gather up.", Tarnassus barked, " You've all done well so far, but let's see how you handle combat after exhaustion. Grab a weapon and shield."

The noble-boy once again took the initiative, seeming to quickly recover from his exhaustion, perhaps having conserved energy a bit during the last stretch of the run. Going first would be the most difficult, so he got points for that. He grabbed a rapier-like rod and a nimble buckler rather than a heavy shield.

Tarnassus picked up the standard shield and blunted sword and assumed a flawed defensive posture, drawing the noble-boy in to attack. He did not have to wait. The lad was good, but his pent up anger betrayed him at times.

Tarnassus was 15 levels above and had a lot of practical experience as a commander in the army, so he easily blocked, tested and probed his opponent. The lad really wasn't bad at all and had picked the right weapons for his situation. He also kept up after receiving a few whacks.

Braid-girl seemed engrossed in the fight but the praepostor looked disinterested, eyes fully on her paperwork. Shark-girl had just about finished panting from exhaustion and hadn't strategised well it seemed.

Tarnassus ended the fight after three minutes, giving the noble-boy a passing grade, handing him a potion. He had done well in all three tests, even if outshone.

The noble-boy collapsed at the side, looking pleased despite today's setbacks.

Braid-girl took a quick glance at shark-girl and stepped up next, grabbing a mace and kite shield but the handle and fitting seemed to confuse her, so she grabbed a second mace instead. Then she put it back and picked a small round shield which could be held like a buckler. Then she shrugged and moved into position, somewhat mimicking the noble-boy's posture.

Tarnassus took her first hit with his shield. The shield tilted under the blow and slammed into his thigh. It rather hurt. However, her next attacks were much softer and easier to deal with.

Sneaking a peak at the praepostor, he noticed that she had put her papers aside to observe. It appeared braid-girl had been the subject of her curiosity.

The spar merited her focus. Whenever Tarnassus landed a blow on braid-girl she seemed to twist and take it on her dress armour rather than on the exposed arms or legs. It was like hitting steel and he couldn't help but to wonder what kind of miracle armour that was. And no matter how he tried, he just couldn't land a hit on exposed skin.

After three minutes he ended the fight, issuing his second passing grade. Braid-girl turned down the potion and made way for shark girl, who had just about recovered.

Shark-girl immediately went for the rather unusual long flail with a spear butt. No shield. She spun it around in the air, taking out a few invisible sparring ghosts, seeming to master this particular weapon. Appearing satisfied she gave herself a wide an rather unhinged grin, making Tarnassus a bit worried. Now that he thought about it, didn't sharkies practice wielding spiky chain weapons as soon as they could walk?

He didn't have time to ponder further as the shark-girl lounged at him, making a sweeping motion with the flail end, nearly trapping his leg. He skipped over, regaining his balance just as the butt end of the flail shot out right at his core. He turned it aside with the sword then followed up with quick double step forward and a shield bash.

Shark-girl blocked the blow with her forehead. What kind of counter was that? Was it a cultural thing? Do they have thick skulls?

No, she just got dazed and stood frozen. Tarnassus moved to punish it with a casual sword whack, only to discover that the shark-girl had played a devious trick, ducking under the strike while letting the drooping spear butt of her weapon suddenly shoot up under his chin.

It might have gotten him if not for his experience sparring with cunning cadets. He jerked his head back in time and crouched back into wary defensive posture, shield up – completely missing the spear which had suddenly extended a foot, changed direction a snap, and came crashing down on his head. She got him good. What an unorthodox fighter.

Seeing him stunned, she spun her weapon to bring the flail forward in a devastating arc, but this was a mistake. Stunned huh? Two could play this game. She should have followed up with a quick jab - now she was left open. He stepped in close, blocking the arc of the pole weapon by putting a foot on the center, pushing it down in the dirt, then he stabbed out toward her chest.

She turned a little too late, catching it in the ribs. If not for the prismsnake scale mail letting it slide off, the strike might've cracked a rib.

Seemingly unbothered she stepped in as well, grabbing his still outstretched sword hand with surprising strength, pulling herself in for a head butt. He swung his shield back just in time, catching the blow with a thunk.

She fell back, rolling in the dirt, snaching the pole flail back up. The fight continued until the three minutes were up.

Hardy and tenacious. She took the potion though. Tarnassus would have to give shark-girl a pass. Earlier today he gave her half a chance of passing any of the tests.

Tests concluded Tarnassus dismissed the applicants and began organising his messy notes, which were somehow supposed to be turned into a report by the end of the day.

––o––

Wawak Mekrekrak stayed and talked with Zhoey Garnet about this and that for a little while afterwards, also trying to return the two rings. She had experienced firsthand just how powerful they were. While she didn't know much about enchanted items, she had been given the opportunity to try a chieftain's strength ring once, and the effect wasn't at all the same.

"Ah, keep the rings, mom can make more. Just don't sell them.", had been the baffling reply. Weren't enchanted items very rare, expensive – a thing for heroes, noblefolk and leaders?

Her family was better off than some, but it had still taken a lot of effort to save up the initial 30 silver needed to get her into the Grand Academy. Now it looked like she had succeeded, much thanks to this Zhoey... so she'd have to stick to her like glue. She had a feeling about it.

––o––

Zabelle returned to her office deep in thought. This Zhoey Garnet was perhaps a bit abnormal, but she certainly wasn't an undead witch monster. The rumours coming from Breccon had been... erratic.

Zabelle had often wished there was some sort of system for spreading news reliably to people across the land, but the best she could come up with was to have a dedicated class of vetted investigators, and a veritable army of copy-scribes.... not exactly realistic, nor profitable. So, Zabelle was left to speculate.

How had Zhoey really managed to become a city lord at level 10-ish? The influence of the Thamaworks woman – apparently Zhoey's mother – could be in play. Maybe a body double, like in the Jayne Brond novels? Or was it one of Maynor's machinations? Was she related to the Gorrun & Garnet trading company? Zabelle could see them trying to snatch up a city and putting someone in power which made competition... difficult.

As for the enchanted items... while some applicants were able to borrow one for the test it was quite rare to see someone with two. Seeing this young woman just hand over two rings to whatshername was stranger still – and what prompted Zabelle to exit the office for a closer look.

The rings were likely minor strength and stamina enchantments... quite the boon and fortune. Surely they could not have been a permanent gift? Zabelle had not seen those rings in the Thamaworks store... perhaps not everything was on public display? If true, Zabelle would love to gain access to this secret store.

What had Zhoey's motivation been anyways? Casual confidence? Apparently she had not needed the rings herself. It was nevertheless a bit of a blunder since it just allowed the lucky recipient to pull further ahead in the tests.

Zabelle would have to wait for Tarnassus' full report and get his thoughts on the whole matter. She had peeked at his scribbles but quickly gave up on deciphering.