Path to Transcendence

All was going smoothly and everything was within Julius’s expectations. It wasn’t until toward the end that the woman asked Julius a question that definitely wasn’t a part of their script. “I’m assuming you know that most of the student population is made up of those with excellent or perfect affinities correct?”

Julius nodded his head in confirmation.

“So why would a slightly above average commoner with a mere pair of high affinities try to get into one the most prestigious institutions on the continent?” She asked unkindly.

So that’s how it is huh? Julius thought to himself. Will his affinities be more of a factor than he had originally thought?

“Sonia, that is highly inappropriate.” The kindly gentleman scolded her, defending Julius. He mentally placed the man above the woman in his list regarding likable people.

“It is a perfectly fine question, Harold,” the woman refuted.

“Mr. Silas, please tell Sonia that it is not appropriate for a professor of Goldencrest to talk to a child this way, affinities notwithstanding,” Harold complained to the man in the middle.

The man in the middle stared at Julius, trying to see his reaction. Julius felt a probe of aura extend from the man and tried to invade Julius’s aura, trying to get a read of how Julius was feeling at the moment. It was much less elegant than Declan’s and was quite a breach of common courtesy. Probing with aura wasn’t rude or anything, but using it in the way the man just did was.

Now Julius was getting annoyed. The woman insults him and then the man tries to invade his privacy, while he is already attached to a truth stone. But he hid it underneath the smile he still had on his face, and simultaneously slapped away the tendril of aura before it could get close.

The man sat up straighter in his chair as he felt Julius rebuff his probe. “Sonia,” he called out to the woman.

“Yes sir?” The woman asks, suddenly much more polite.

“Harold is correct, that is not how a professor should speak to anyone, much less a student. It is a bad reflection on the academy and not what we represent,” the man reprimanded the woman who in turn pressed her lips together as she took the rebuke.

However, the man wasn’t done speaking. “On the other hand, while the question could have been asked more politely, I do think it is a good question to ask. Would you care to respond young Julius?”

Julius didn’t know what to make of the man named Silas. He had tried to do something rude but also admonished his staff member for acting out of place.

Julius just decided to keep it blunt since the woman hadn’t tried to sugarcoat anything. He stared right at the rude woman and said right to her face, “I don’t have an excellent affinity, you’re right. But I am confident in my skills, I see myself doing very well on the practical exam. I may not have the “talent” but I have worked very hard to get where I am today. It would be stupid to assume I am not worthy of attending here just because of the mere rank of my affinities, especially for a school that is lauded for its ability to produce the best in the empire.”

The orb pulsed blue, confirming that everything he said was true, even the part where he inferred that she was stupid. The woman didn’t like that and was about to say something in response. However, Silas cut her off with a wave of his hand before she could speak.

“Confident huh?” He asked Julius.

Julius turned to stare at him with deathly serious eyes, “Very.”

The man looked below at the pulsing blue orb below him. “Okay, Mr. Snow I think that is all the questions we have for you today. You are free to head to the next portion of the exam. It is down the hall, follow the arrows and they will lead you to the training arena where a teacher will be there to proctor your test.”

Julius stood up and bowed to the panel of examiners, before leaving. He could feel each one of their gazes digging into his back, each for different reasons. He knew he could have maintained his cool and not antagonized them, but he also didn’t want to go to a school where they punished him for sticking up for himself.

He also didn’t know how much influence they would have in whether or not he would be accepted. Everyone except the old man had been rude. The Sonia woman didn’t like that someone with a lowly high affinity was applying to Goldencrest and Silas had tried to invade Julius’s privacy. It was only because he had been practicing with Declan so intensely that he had even felt it.

Julius wondered how much that happened to Tier 1’s. According to Declan and Orus, aura skills for Tier 1’s were rare, so Julius couldn’t even imagine how many higher tiers were able to feel out someone’s aura without getting caught.

Luckily, Julius was able to catch Silas in the direct act of doing it, but he didn’t know if that made Silas mad or not. Julius shook his head, he needed to put it out of his head for now. It would only serve to distract him and he would have his practical exam coming up. He still didn’t know what exactly was going to be tested or how it was going to go, but he relaxed and concentrated on it instead of the interview.

---

Silas POV

Interesting. The only other Tier 1 in this year’s batch with an aura skill was that Chris Patterson kid, but unlike this Julius kid, he flaunted it to everyone who could hear. Mentioning it several times during his interview.

Silas wasn’t mad that Julius had thrown off his aura probe, on the contrary, he respected that. It was rude of Silas to even attempt it and had done it mostly out of habit. He treated most Tier 1’s like the children they were, which often led to him taking too many liberties with their privacy. He needed the reminder that even Tier 1’s deserved some respect for privacy.

He also was going to have to remind himself to have a conversation with Sonia later, once the exam was finished. Talking to a prospective student like that was not okay, she should have known better.

Silas was sure that Harold would make sure to bring it up whenever he could too, it was just another headache he didn’t need during this busy time of the year. Entrance exam time was always the busiest, everyone was running around making sure everything was taken care of. There were always more and more examinees each year, they were always stretched too thin. He wished the headmaster would allow them to start the application process in advance, like how some other schools have started doing. They had an early enrollment but that was for specific nobles only. Unfortunately, the old man was stuck in his traditions, making the staff cram the entire process within a couple of days.

Even though it was a stressful time, Silas always liked this time of year. There were so many untapped talents, just waiting to be unlocked and he had a feeling that Julius might be one of them.

An aura skill at his age meant one of two things, either he was really lucky and had rich parents, or he had already experienced enough combat or trauma for the Words of the World to grant him an aura skill. Chris Patterson was the first kind of person who got an aura skill, but Silas believed that Julius might be the second kind. Especially after he was so confident about the practical exam. It was the most rigorous part of the exam process and most dreaded it but Julius was completely self-assured of his success.

Some, like Sonia, might believe it to be the arrogant bluster of a cocky kid, but Silas knew better. He had seen those eyes before. They were the eyes of someone who had absolute faith in their abilities.

Silas grabbed the enchanted piece of paper that had all the examinee's information collected within its runic inscriptions and more carefully inspected Julius’s information

Name: Julius Snow

Tier: 1

Affinities: Fire (High) and Kinetic (High)

Focus: Combat

Sponsor(s): Declan Griffin

Practical Exam Proctor:

 Emmanuel Sorth

Only high affinities in both fire and surprisingly, kinetic. But, Silas knew better than to determine someone’s worth just based on their affinities. In his long years, he had seen those with perfect affinities fail miserably to become anyone worthy of respect and those with trivial medium affinities go on to become some of the most inspiring warriors he had ever had the honor of fighting with. He quickly found out that when you are knees deep in shit and blood, monsters won’t bother asking how high your affinity was, the only thing that mattered was your ability to fight. And talent didn’t get you the grit needed to survive, but hard work did.

Then he noticed the name underneath the sponsor section, Declan Griffin. It was a name he was familiar with. Silas was becoming more intrigued by the second. For Declan to sponsor the kid, there must be a good reason.

Silas stared at the door where Julius just left out of and then turned his attention back to his desk. He didn’t know if it was the right thing or not. But he decided to trust his gut and make a small adjustment to the document.

Name: Julius Snow

Tier: 1

Affinities: Fire (High) and Kinetic (High)

Focus: Combat

Sponsor(s): Declan Griffin

Practical Exam Proctor: Emmanuel Sorth Gabriel Keller

Silas sat back in his chair, ignoring Harold and Sonia going at it beside him. Alright, let’s see what happens now.

---

Julius followed the last of the arrows to a large auditorium that was split up into dozens of smaller areas. There were already students going through their practical exams by the looks of it. There were large barriers of glowing white mana that separated each area from one another. Julius noticed each kid and proctor who was walking into an area was wearing silver bracelets that Julius assumed were the combat simulation bands he had heard about.

When Julius saw the students sparring against other examiners he was relieved. For a moment he was worried that the test revolved around something silly that he would not do very well with. That would’ve sucked and Julius might have cried himself to sleep if that happened.

Julius approached the table with staff members checking other examinees in. A man sitting down asked Julius for his name, Julius told him and then the man examined a piece of paper for a while, making an odd face before saying to Julius, “You will be taking your practical exam in section 13 in ten minutes, please wait over there until you are called.”

After the man instructed Julius, he moved on to another examinee to tell them similar instructions. He tried to observe some of the fights as he waited, unfortunately, it was hard to see the exact details from outside the barriers they set up. Julius could see that two people were fighting, but it was like looking through foggy glass. He couldn’t see their features or much of their fight other than seeing two blurs attacking one another.

Julius thought it was for the best. He would rather there be some privacy than none at all. He did wonder why they didn’t just completely remove the ability to see through the barrier. But who knows? Maybe there was a good reason for that. Julius didn’t want to assume he knew better when he just got here.

Julius waited under a sign that said “Section 13” and waited for his turn. He took a moment to relax himself and get in the zone. He may have been confident, but that didn’t mean he could get cocky, he would keep to his self-imposed limits however that didn’t mean he wouldn’t give it his all.

The ten minutes seemed to be over within a blink and Julius saw a tall bald bulky man walk toward him, wearing the same white uniform the other proctors were wearing, but with a golden badge placed over the left part of his chest. He was practically a troll in his own right. The man saw Julius notice him and gave him a warm smile before introducing himself, “Hi, Julius right? My name is Gabriel Keller and I will be your proctor for today. We will be having a sparring match, but don’t worry we will be fighting under combat simulation protocols and no one will get permanently injured. The device does not take away pain though, it will be slightly lowered, but you will still feel the pain of getting hit. Understood?” The man’s voice boomed like a cannon.

“Yes, sir,” Julius replied to the man. For some reason, he didn’t think this man was like the other proctors. He could tell that the man was hiding his aura, unlike many of the other proctors. You only did that if you had something to hide or were really good at aura control. Both typically indicated a strong person.