The hall was enormous—an auditorium for nearly a thousand students. Yet here, only thirty of my best students were gathered. They were level nine, and today they would finally be able to access level ten with the knowledge only obtained at the pinnacle of our preparation. The Whitecap did not agree that we do it this way, but we needed mages capable of understanding what was happening from the beginning, without wasting time having to teach them the importance of what they were about to see. They would know, or they would be degraded.
"Good evening. All of you present knew an exam was coming. Its purpose is to determine who will repeat the course. It is divided into two parts, but I must warn you that exemplary punishments will be given to those who do not think through their answers. This exam is unique. The knowledge of the unstoppable Redcaps will be transmitted to you if you pass. If you fail, you may repeat level nine, but we will not know when you can compete again. However, if you fail, you will be degraded."
No one asked anything—they knew me; they were all ears. So I began the projection. The gem that did it was linked to the devices in the Stormhammer tower, with the exception that this time, they did not show the somewhat old-fashioned hall of the Whitecap leader. They showed the forest. I expanded the image until they could see my ally.
"Understand—in your hands, you have viewers of various conflict zones. You can follow what I show you or whatever you like. But understand that I will not tell the whole truth here, but avoiding what happens in my projection will be a great mistake.
Five years ago, we received a crisis of enormous proportions. From then on, we not only helped the population reestablish themselves in this new world—where there are no evident depths and much to climb—but we were also preparing for the crisis—one coming from across the seas. If you were lucky, you would have fought before that Whitecap and would be the material for your exam. Since that is not the case, you will have to fight without knowing whether you passed or not.
The enemy in question is—or rather, is part of—many facets of invasions from various continents that were never within our reach until the death of the Great Black. But they come for our resources and lives. These enemies consume magic for a higher entity, as they call it. They use a tattoo similar to that used by the elves who returned to this continent. It is much more advanced than theirs, so we do not suspect attacks or societies from them. This seal, if one does not believe in the deity in question or does not venerate it, is stripped of all magical potential and vital force, dying for the cause. The rest—children or the credulous—can live, but they are blind faithful to that god. For now, we have no means of returning them to their former lives.
There are tens of thousands, so we suspect an entire country is coming against us. Now, the Whitecap leader insists that those coming to invade his territories are susceptible to negotiation..."
I turned to where the laugh came from. Thriron, I feared it was you. Why don't you understand that your bravado is useless? You just called the Whitecap leader a weakling—for that alone, you just relegated yourself to the stupid Blackcaps. This is not and never was a game. Letting ego blind us is something no one should allow.
"Knowing they will not negotiate, we will not resort to this. Even so, I order you to watch the enchantments this mage uses. He is—consider it my hypothesis—a person with mental problems. He is not able to see things as clusters but as one sensation at a time."
Pergan asked the right question? Who would have thought? Everyone assumes that Whitecaps cannot do anything offensive, but he asked what benefits his unique way of processing magic gave. And here I thought we were lost in this generation of death- and blood-thirsty... Without reason.
"True. The unique composition of his line of thought guarantees him a few things that you thinkers overwhelmed by everything and nothing could not consider. But anyway, his show is about to begin. In fact, he has been invoking for five minutes. I hope you were paying attention! From now on, you are on your own. One comment—lack of it, or any stupid joke, and you will pay dearly."
I could see them attacking him. As the youngest of the three leaders, it still caused some envy to see his blocks—simple, clean, nothing like those explosions or invocations of enormous magic consumption. I hoped those taking the exam understood why his shield was like that. Now he attacked—beautiful. An enchantment he called "Last Option"—simply overwhelming. Even knowing the symbols and characteristics of that magic, none of my people would understand it. There was the test—seeing when they could accept their weakness, the enemy's reach, above all understanding what I told my secretary years ago: the Whitecaps are people to fear. They have refined things as if it were their mission. We, or rather those who understand what the Whitecap just did, will know magics that we will use against those stupid invaders from the continent of volcanoes.
A few minutes passed. I repeated the actions in the mirror as many times as I could. Finally, hands went up. I hope it was good! I needed people with brains. We had to deliver a long-range attack and one specialized in what was right before their noses. Finally, a hand rose in the shadows—this would be interesting.