That day, there were no classes for the Favored Ones. Instead, they were instructed to remain in their dorms and recover since many of them were injured or exhausted.
Sylvester didn’t go home and stayed behind to talk with the boys. They seemed too shaken by the deaths, as it was understandable since they did not have experiences of two lifetimes.
“Who else died?” Markus asked.
“Nobody knows, but I did not see Henry Rockwell, so I guess he’s one of them,” Gabriel responded dejectedly.
Felix sighed in his seat, adjusting himself uncomfortably. “We didn’t even know their names. What a waste of life.”
Sylvester was seated on the bed with his back resting on the wall. “But we all had some idea that this was going to happen. This test was not just a test of our powers but also our minds. Those with insufficient power should never have picked quests out of their league.
“After all, I saw so many impossible ones among them. Fighting a gang of thieves? Fighting a great lion infestation? These were above us. I nearly died during my mission as well. The job request at the guild turned out to be outdated. Instead of being a C or D, it was an S-ranked job. I was in bed, half dead, unconscious for six days. Even one of my examiners died along with an Archbishop and 2 Bishops.”
“Fuck!” Felix cursed in shock, wondering if even Sylvester, with his peak talent, could have died, then how the rest could survive?
Knowing that everyone was nervous, especially Marcus and Gabriel, Sylvester suggested something. After all, this was why he revealed to them that he had nearly died.
“You three, I have a suggestion that you must take seriously. I believe that with each year, the bar for the tests will keep going high. I don’t see many of us surviving until the very end. It would be best if you vowed that the moment you feel your chances of surviving a test are near to none because of the insane demands of the guild quests, you would drop out of the Favored One’s class. There is no point in dying when we all have enough talent to become high clergy members.
“Felix, you are the second son of Count Sandwall. I’m sure you can live an extraordinary life even if you drop out. But, Markus, your family is poor, and Monastery helped you reach here. Do you want your family to remain poor?
“And you, Gabriel, you sold yourself into slavery to feed your sister. Can you let her be orphaned? The world is not very kind to powerless girls, you know it.” He reminded each one of them that there are bigger goals to pursue.
“What about you?” Gabriel asked, already having a hunch what the answer would be.
Sylvester sighed and rested back. “You think they will allow me to quit? Someone who can one day be as strong as the Pope? I am the fruit they want to nurture until I am ready to be harvested.”
Felix nodded in agreement. “True, if even the once-in-a-century talent quits, it’d be a shame to the school and the church. You are damned to eternal hardship. Talk about a blessing being a curse.”
“We’re all cursed,” Markus started. “All other students in the school don’t have to fight for their lives. They merely come here to study. Some stay to join the church, while those who paid return. They don’t even study the same things that we do.
“Do you think the study of runes is so easy? It’s one subject that allows any wizard to use all elements. The truth is, others of our age in regular classes rarely have talent in multiple elements.
“Most of us Favored Ones are gifted with good brains. The curriculum we’re taught from day one is usually taught from the third year. This is one of the reasons why some weaker Deacons will stay weak and quit or die.”
“So the system is tilted against us—to turn us into strong warriors?” Gabriel muttered.
“Or dead warriors, hah.” Felix chuckled in a self-deprecating manner.
Sylvester got up. “As long as we’re careful, we can survive. We just need to know when to quit. We can even help ourselves by training harder and getting better. I am the only Adept Wizard among us. So first, let’s get you all to reach Adept rank at least. So get your sobbing asses off, and let’s go to the arena to train.”
“Who’s crying? I’m not crying.” Felix quickly jumped to his feet and picked up his sword.
Sylvester felt slightly envious, as the sword looked amazing with its golden hilt with some gems and a smooth blade. “How much did it cost?”
Felix shrugged. “Don’t know, my brother gifted it to me just a few days ago, as I had taken a guild quest near my family lands.”
‘I should also look for a weapon. I have paramount talent in Knightly arts, too, after all.’ He thought and proceeded out with the boys.
“Shiny! I take?”
“NO!”
“What?” Felix exclaimed in reaction.
Sylvester shook his head. “No, nothing. I thought I forgot something.”
‘I need to teach Chonky how to gauge the price of an item.’ Sylvester made a mental note for Miraj.
Soon they arrived at the empty arena and put their names on the register. There was no overseer except a maintenance worker who kept the records. The arena was divided into various parts, one belonging to the Knight’s training and one for the Wizards.
“Okay. Let’s fight but only with our magic. The more we use it, the higher our chances of ranking up.” He instructed them like a big brother.
Felix grunted. “Sword is what I am good at. What’s your Knight rank anyway?”
Sylvester grinned. “Not telling you, boy. But I assure you that I can beat you in a minute.”
“Let’s do this then!”
“Stop!” Marcus interrupted them. “We’re here for wizard training. Adept rank is the target, remember?”
Sylvester was already serious and took a wizard’s stance, which was nothing but one palm facing the enemy and another arm held near the stomach as if it was holding a book. This was to train wizards to be ready to use magical items in the future.
Soon, all four took formations, standing in a Mexican standoff. They all had mocking smiles on their faces, wondering who would win. But Sylvester added a few rules.
“Remember, we are not here to kill or hurt each other. To ensure we don’t mess up, we must shout our move’s name to give the other time to defend. Remember, do not use any powerful magic. This is merely a warmup.” He instructed.
Everyone nodded and silently looked at each other’s faces.
“Fireball!”
“Air Push!”
“Earthquake!”
“Motherfuc…!” Sylvester’s mouth only let out a curse as the three attacked him simultaneously. He quickly backstepped and created a hard shield with his light magic.
But the Earthquake attack got him as it was a simple real earthquake meant to make him fall. So as he lost his balance, the three seemed to prepare for their next attack.
Sylvester scoffed, turned the light shield into three hard, light cubes, and sent them zooming towards the three.
Bam! Bam! ．
Gabriel and Felix coughed out saliva as soon as the cubes connected and fell down, rolling in slight pain. However, Marcus was a master acrobat and made a front flip to save himself and close the gap.
Sylvester was quick to jump in and gather himself. “Not today, boy.”
Woosh!—A flash of blinding light went out of Sylvester’s hand, stopping Marcus in his tracks.
“Ah! My eyes!”
Slap!
Before Marcus could reorient himself, Sylvester appeared close and slapped his face, not too hard, but enough to send him to the floor. “You get the Romel treatment.”
In no time, all three were on the ground. Sylvester looked over them in triumph; his chin held up. He recognized that the three were decent wizards but lacked the mental discipline to not get shocked by sudden moves.
“Three versus one, yet you lost.” He mocked and sat down while creating some water bubbles with runes, allowing the three to drink.
Felix got up first as he was accustomed to beating. “Not going to lie, you are damn good, brother. But, I have a question.”
“Fire it up.” Sylvester relaxed, and the other two got up.
“Are we supposed to be celibate already or after graduation?” Felix inquired, looking at all his friends.
Sylvester frowned. “Why are you asking that? We’re just nine or ten years old.”
Felix scoffed. “Oh, don’t give me that nonsense. We’ve all seen the rotten side of the world, which includes the adult side. We’re the favored ones, favored with knowledge too. I know you three think about it too.”
“Do you like some girl or what?” Sylvester asked, feeling awkward at talking about adult things with younglings. So he tried to treat it as sex education.
“No, but I’m just curious. But, you know, I want to at least experience what I am asked to give up. I can deny becoming a clergyman, after all.”
Sylvester shook his head. “No, we’re not allowed to hold any salacious thoughts. If you want to do it, do it once you’ve finished school and have joined the army.”
Felix relaxed back, appearing sad. “That’s too bad… but I’m envious of Marcus.”
Marcus was alerted. “What? What did I do? I’m dirt poor.”
With a cheeky grin, Felix replied, “Well, since you’re the most flexible boy I’ve ever seen, I bet you can… you know, eat your own… um… help yourself.”
“…”
Sylvester was at a lack of words, disgusted at why such young kids were talking about adult topics.
But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The line between an adult and adolescent was extremely thin here. This was a medieval world; people grow mentally much faster due to societal circumstances and even start making babies in their teens.
Gabriel was scared, looking left and right. “I hope nobody is listening to us.”
“No! I don’t! What kind of preposterous suggestion is that?” Marcus barked.
“Well, my friend, it’s not a matter of ‘can you?’. It’s about ‘wanting to’. I mean, it’s totally within the bounds of rules. You ain’t impure if you’re doing yourself.”
Marcus angrily talked back. “Felix, why do you seem more interested in it than me? It’s as if you’re—envious?”
Felix’s face fell hard. “Ugh… I just imagined it. Ugh… gross.”
“Pfft!”
“Haha…”
It prompted all three to laugh heartily, while Sylvester remained disgusted.
But it helped the three, finally feeling refreshed from the gloominess of the morning. This was all they could do because reality was going to come and bite them no matter what.
“Let’s head back. I don’t want to hear what else comes out of Felix’s mouth. We should probably pray a bit too.” Sylvester got up before they said something too unholy and got them hung on a pike.
“I want to sleep early tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll get the results of the test. Let’s hope we all get great marks.” Gabriel muttered.
…
The next day, the four found themselves in their classroom, now with a smaller crowd. It was a saddening sight, but they were less worried about it as they had something more grave ahead.
The head coordinator of their class was announcing the results, and everyone felt a little restless as passing marks were 25 out of 30. It was so high because this was expected from God’s Favored.
“Charles White, 20 points, failed. Please move out of the class and head to the common second-year classroom.”
“George Morgan, 25 points, pass!”
“Markus Lionis, 26 points, pass!”
“Romel Riveria, 29 points, pass!”
“Albus Pingu, 9 points, failed!”
“Felix Sandwall, 27 points, pass!”
“Gabriel Maxwell, 26 points, pass!”
“Louis Hermington, 28 points, pass!”
“Sylvester Maximilian…” Suddenly, Archpriest Edmund stopped and looked at Sylvester with a conflicted expression. “24 points, failed!”
“…”
“What?!” Sylvester stood up in shock.
More precisely—anger!
___________________
[A/N: End to that Bishop Norman’s menace has come. To know more, keep stoning and pray I get a contract soon.]
WE CAN DO IT, APE ARMY!
**601 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**
APE TOGETHER STRONG!