Royal Castle, Nightingale.
Lith teleported back to his bedroom. He looked at his badge once again and it showed the number zero at the top written in red and 1000 written below it indicating that it was the number of the examinee currently taking the exam. He was also amused by the fact that his badge could teleport him all the way to another continent by crossing such a vast sea in just a few seconds.
He read online on some forums that the badge has a teleportation spell. If one was in the Neutral Continent, they would be teleported directly to the academy but if one was not in the Neutral Continent, they would be teleported to their nearest teleportation circle and from there they would arrive at the Neutral Continent.
After arriving they needed to show their badge to the person in charge of teleporting people and he would set the coordinates to the academy’s official teleportation circle located in Lenz City. From Lenz city, after verifying the validity of the badge, the candidate would then be sent directly to the academy. All in all, Lith knew he had to teleport many times to reach the Testing grounds but who knew he would directly be sent there and then sent back.
The academy had many centers in all the major countries of all the continents. The children could register themselves there without having the need to go to Neutral Continent and this would ensure that even a peasant would have an opportunity to get education in the best place in the world. The academy sought for talented and genius individuals from all across the world. It didn’t matter if they were poor, rich, angels, demons, humans or of any race, status or religion. All that mattered to the academy was talent.
The only bad point about the academy was that it had a little corruption. Some authorities would take heavy sums from people and give them an early registration number. That was basically it. It actually didn’t matter if one took the examination early on or at later stages as everyone who has been registered would be given a fair chance but people still thought, the earlier, the better and so the authorities only took advantage of the foolishness of people and thus, those found being corrupt weren’t really punished too heavily.
Lith didn’t know that his badge was personally made by the Principal and naturally had a ‘Continental Jump’ inscribed on it by the Principal. This was what made him teleport directly to the academy and back to his bedroom. In any case, he let go of the matter and was happy that he didn’t need to perform a series of teleportation to go the testing facility.
He had only just arrived and was going to sit on the bed when he found himself being sucked into some vortex. He felt it just for a second and then he was back to normal again. Although, he looked around and found that it wasn’t his mother’s well lit bedroom but outside. The sky was dark, everything around was dark and the only light came from the Silver-crimson moon.
He then saw two silver haired, purple eyes beauties looking at him with a smile. He too smiled at them and went to them and sat on the ground alongside them.
“How was it, dear?” Lucy asked Lith. Even though she knew how he did, she still asked him.
“Why ask something that you already know, big sis.” Lith said with a smile and stretched a bit and slept on his mother’s thigh.
“I just wanted to hear it from you though.” Lucy said pouting.
Lith chuckled and said while getting his hair caressed by his mother
“It was okay. I was bored to death in those 100 days in the other dimension. It felt so long and tiring.”
“Ah yes, you really did spend a 100 days there. That’s such a long time. You were never really away from us for so long. How did it feel being away from your big sis and mom?” Lucy asked with a smile.
Lith didn’t answer her straight away. He looked at his mom and she too looked at him. He smiled at her and then hugged her and hid his face in her embrace. He then said while staying in that position
“It felt boring like I said. Every night while sleeping I felt empty. I felt a certain part of me missing. Every night I wanted to sleep but I wouldn’t able to as I had lucid dreams about being together with you and mom. It was very brutual on my mental health and I felt I might go crazy at some point by being so lonely. But then, I knew you two were watching me and looking at my performance and that it wasn’t too long of a time in the outside world.
With such thoughts, I preserved and kept telling myself, it is okay. I can endure this. It was all thanks to your training, big sis, that I had such a strong willpower to preserve. I might have really gone crazy in those 100 days had it not been for the training. Anyway, not everything was bad.
I have been with you and mom for all my life since I was born and in those 100 days that I was alone, I have had many thoughts. These thoughts wouldn’t have taken place had I not been away from you. I’ve come to many conclusions, made many decisions for myself and also decided to test out and try many things in the upcoming future.
All in all, it wasn’t the best experience but it wasn’t too bad either. So to sum up my whole 100 days in one word, it would be nothing but boring.”
Lilith and Lucy listened to whatever Lith was saying calmly. Lilith was caressing his hair while he laid in her lap, hugging her. They were going to through many emotions as they listened to him. They felt pain, pride, happy and had mixed emotions when they were listening to him. Though his explaination was short and like a little summary of the whole 100 days, it still felt like a rollercoaster ride to them.
Lilith and Lucy looked at him with mixed emotions, not knowing what to say or how to answer to him.
After a while, Lilith made Lith turn over and look at her while he laid in her lap. Her amethyst eyes met with his and she said with a loving smile to him
“It has been hard on you. You do not need to push so far, baby. You can always let go of these things and come back to mama. Mama wants nothing but you to be happy.”
Lith smiled and then shook his head. He said to his mom
“Mama, I really wish to be in your embrace forever but you know, it’ll ruin it’s meaning for me. I feel happy, protected, loved and warm when I am in your embrace but if I don’t really experience hardship in life, these emotions wouldn’t occur much and I wouldn’t really feel them either.
If I don’t understand pain, I wouldn’t understand joy. If I don’t experience sadness, happiness would have no meaning for me. It’ll all be worthless. I would simply become a person detached from the world and an emotionless machine which is running on for who knows what. I need to experience all sorts of emotions or without them, everything that I have with me right now, wouldn’t have any meaning in it.
Being born with a silver spoon, it is both a blessing and a curse.”
Lilith and Lucy both had a surprised expression. They weren’t shocked, just surprised. They knew that a day would come when Lith would mature and go out and explore the world. Nobody in their right minds would stay cooped at just one place. They just didn’t think that the day would come so early. They thought that Lith would probably have such thoughts after he graduated from the academy but who knew that only staying away from them for 100 days, he would mature so much.
They both have gone through such ordeals and knew full well how much importance such experiences held in one’s life. Lucy looked at Lith and said with a smile
“I am happy to hear such thoughts from you but dear you are too young. You shouldn’t get so philosophical at such a small age. It is bad for your health. It is still very early for you to think about so many stuff. Graduate from the academy first and let’s have this talk again, okay?”
“Your big sis is right, baby. First experience your academy life, we’ll talk about this later, okay?” Lilith agreed with her daughter’s words and said her own thoughts to Lith.
“Alright, big sis and mom. Anyway, it has been a 100 days and you know..”
Lith looked at Lucy and said with a smirk. Lucy got a little red but didn’t show any exaggerated reaction. She could handle her little brother’s shameless to a little extent as he was not as hardcore as their mom. She looked back at him and said
“Let us enjoy this peaceful time together here on the rooftop. We can talk about other things later.”
Lith nodded his head. His naughty thoughts gone. He too wanted to enjoy this peaceful time as he too was exhausted due to those 100 days with such a monotonous routine.
He got up and pulled his big sister closer towards his mother and laid his head on his mother’s lap and his legs on his big sister’s. Lilith caressed his hair and Lucy gently massaged his legs. It was a simple gesture of their familial love to him which Lith wanted very much. They chatted and talked while being that position and started having a peaceful and happy time together.
…..
Abalax World Academy, Espat.
“Place your hands on the ball and try to feel the Elements in the surrounding.”
A lady said in a gentle tone to a black haired, blue eyed boy. The boy nodded and did as he was told. Soon, the crystal started glowing red, blue, brown, green, black and silver. The lady was surprised by such a scene. She thought to herself
‘what a surprise, two candidates and both have the same elemental affinities.’ She was a professional and she didn’t show any exaggerated reaction and maintained her calm face. She said to the boy
“Congratulations. You have passed. Go to the door on your left.”
The boy nodded and went to the door and left the room. The lady subconsciously compared him and the silver haires boy who had taken the test before. She didn’t know the silver haired boy’s name or origins but by his behaviour itself, she could tell that he was far better than this black haired boy who had the same affinity as him.
…..
“Put one drop of your blood in the liquid.” A slim and tall man with a stubble on his chin and a moustache said in a gentle tone.
The black haired boy nodded and did as he was told. Soon, the water became a golden colour. The man had a surprised expression like the lady before but he didn’t show it on his face. He thought to himself
‘It seems the academy this year is going to have good talents.’
He then looked at the boy and said with the same gentle tone
“Congratulations. You have passed the test. Proceed towards your left door.”
The boy nodded and left.
The man looked at him with a surprised look again. He had many thoughts and he too like the lady before compared him to the silver haired boy from before.
It couldn’t be helped. This happened every year. The first candidate was a person who created a benchmark and was a source of comparison to the other examinees. The examiners although had a testing criteria available, the overall quality of the whole batch of children that have registered themselves each year was considered by comparing them with the year’s first examinee.
Each year the first examinee would always be a certain special someone or from a very influential family. This naturally meant they had a very good potential and so they have unknowingly become a benchmark that the examiners used each year to compare with other examinees.
…..
The boy walked through the corridor and he looked at the long corridor. He felt something was wrong and from the folktales of his previous life that he had heard, if something felt wrong, them something was surely wrong. He knew this and so he observed the surrounding carefully. Soon, he found a weird tile and made a mental note of it.
He observed each and everything and every nook and cranny to not miss out anything. After confirming that he knew pretty much everything about the corridor and nothing else was wrong, he moved to the next testing facility.
He entered the next test room and found himself in front of a lady in a kimono sitting on a mat in front of a small table inside a traditional Japanese looking room. The lady gestured him to sit and he did so. He sat cross legged opposite to her. The lady asked in a gentle tone
“How many odd things did you find while entering this room, starting all the way from the black metallic door.”
The boy panicked a little. He thought
‘Oi, what the fuck? I was supposed to be so observant? Fuck!’
He very soon composed himself and looked at the lady dead in the eye. His blue pupils started rotating as he looked into the eyes of the lady. Soon, he smiled and answered
“26.”
The lady was shocked by his spot on answer. The answer he gave was correct and there were only 26 odd things all throughout. The silver haired boy previously had given almost a correct answer to her and she had considered him a genius but now the black haired boy in front of her seemed even better than that.
She also noticed the change of his pupils while he looked at her. She made a mental note of it and she remembered that there were individuals in this world with certain unique abilities. The boy in front of her must be having the same, she thought and calmed down. Soon she said to him in a neutral tone
“How many tiles were there in the corridor before you entered this room?”
“1203.”
“What seemed out of place?”
“The 327th tile at the bottom starting from the last test room’s exit was tilted at a 15° to the left as compared to the other tiles.”
The lady was very surprised. She didn’t know if he was really a genius or it was because of his ability but in any case, he was a rare talent to find.
The boy in front of her gave all correct answers and they were even better than the silver haired boy from before, she thought. Though, the silver haired boy seemed much better to her in overall terms as she could tell that he was giving all those answers due to his superior observational skills and not due to some special ability like the black haired boy in front of her. In any case, it was none of her business to judge the boy sitting in front of her’s character or pry into his secrets. She was an examiner, she only needed answers to her questions. She said to him gently
“Congratulations. You have passed. You may enter to the door on your left.”
The boy nodded and left. The lady looked at him again and she subconsciously thought of the silver haired boy to be a little better as he was polite enough to thank her and also seemed very cheery and easy to get along with unlike the black haired one in front of her who looked very serious, unlike his young age. She shook her head and waited for the next examinee to come.
…..
“…now pick three cards and tell me what they mean.”
The black haired boy picked up the cards and then looked at the old man’s eyes. His pupils rotated once again and he said with a smile
“The carnal fire is hard to extinguish, the river of blood is flowing uncontrollably, reaching the heavens and stopping it is the only option left.”
The old man was shocked. What the boy said was he was thinking a second ago! Did that mean the boy could look in the future? The old man made a mental note. He then said with a neutral tone
“Go to the door on your left.”