Chapter 32 Comprehension Tes
Soon, around 1500 students had assembled in the wide lawn. The time was up, so the blue robed man appeared again in front of them.
"Welcome candidates! Another year, another batch of new recruits! I know that all of you have come with high hopes to enter the academy, but let me tell you know, it is a marvel if we take 20% of all applicants each year. This is not because we don't want to admit the rest, it is because it just isn't worthy to spend the kingdom's resources on those with talent that does not suffice. The fee we charge is very little compared to the actual amount of wealth required to train mages.
The comprehension test will begin soon. If you fail, do not worry, try next year! We will even give you some tips with which you might increase the probability of passing. Unless you turn 16, of course.
Now, a final warning. If you are above 15, leave now. Otherwise, you will be kicked out."
There was pin drop silence as the kids heard this bitter speech. Even Daneel hadn't expected that the instructor would be this direct.
No one moved. After a few seconds, the man said, "Very well. You made your choice.", before flicking his fingers.
The lawn under them shone with a hazy white light briefly. After the light faded, Daneel noticed that a kid nearby had a red light under him.
The man flicked his finger again, and about 50 kids flew into the air. A total of 3 more flicks sounded, each of which resulted in 3 different things taking place.
The first made a pile of what smelled like cow dung appear in thin air above the flying kids, drench them completely, and then vanish below them as if it had never been there. Even a few drips of dung that fell from the kids vanished into a void that seemed to have spawned under them.
The second made them fly toward the open gate, while flies started to gather around them.
The third made them fly out of the gate in an arc, as if they had been kicked by an invisible foot.
With a THUD, the gates closed immediately.
Clapping his hands as if to clean them, the man spoke again in that booming voice.
"Now that that's taken care of, lets begin the test."
With a last flick, an enormous stone statue appeared in front of the lawn in which the candidates were sitting.
The statue was in a 3D L shape, sort of like an open laptop from earth. The candidates were facing the open part of the 'laptop'.
A block of wood appeared in the air on the statue, before a spark caused it to ignite and turn into ash.
Beside it, a globe of water turned to ice before shattering into tiny particles.
These phenomena repeated again and again in front of their eyes, with new blocks of wood and water turning into ash and snow indefinitely without stop.
"Your task is to observe these two things commonly seen in nature and analyze them. After that, you must explain how they took place. Let me give you a clue, "because of a spark" and "because it became cold" aren't the correct answers. If you have the talent to become a mage and stand above all, you will see something.
No speaking, if even a word comes from your mouth you will be immediately disqualified. You have 2 hours. If you feel that you already know the answer, then feel free to walk up to the statue and touch it, thinking about your answer. Your result will be one of 9 grades. The first 7 are the colors of the rainbow-Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red with Violet being the lowest grade and Red being the highest.
Above that are the 2 legendary grades-Crimson and Gold. A candidate with such potential has not appeared in decades, and each one is a treasure of the kingdom, nurtured with the highest of resources into becoming a backbone of the Kingdom of Lanthanor.
The passing grade is Yellow. Although other academies might accept those with even Violet potential, the academy has very strict regulations.
Your test begins now."
A huge clock appeared at the size, ticking down to 0 from 2 hours.
Daneel was unperturbed, because he knew this was something that he would definitely excel at.
"System,...."
[Analysis complete. Reason identified. The reason for the wood...]
"WAIT! Its already done?", Daneel screamed in his mind, interrupting the system for the first time. Of course, it had interrupted him too.
[Affirmative. This is a very simple phenomena and even Phenomena Analysis Module-1 would have been able to analyze it in under a few minutes.]
"OK, don't tell me the answer. I want to try out the test myself.", said Daneel. He had noticed the change in his perception from the 2 months of decalcification and wanted to test out the result himself.
[Acknowledged], came the reply, to which he nodded.
Daneel was excited to find out his true potential. This wish primarily came from the desire to not depend on the system too heavily. If he did so, the minute the system was gone, he might become completely helpless. Instead, by also doing things himself without the system's help like he had done in the hell training, he would improve his mind and grow.
Folding his legs, Daneel sat down comfortably before focusing his full attention on the scenes in front of him.