The hall was larger than he expected. A floor of polished marble, a high glass dome allowing natural sunlight to stream in. In the center of the hall was a raised wooden platform, and on it a strange doll the size of a small child – made of a shiny black material.
Beside the platform stood five people. They wore long dark blue robes, and on their chests was the academy's teacher badge: a golden eagle on a crimson background.
Among them, he saw his sister Mira
Her light brown hair was styled in a simple braid. She was looking at a paper in her hand. She had not yet raised her eyes.
She looked tired. There were shadows under her eyes.
Ryan smiled slightly, but he controlled himself and He stepped toward the platform.
The rest of the examining teachers were of varying ages.
an old man with a thick grey beard, sharp blue eyes, standing in the center
a woman in her forties, black hair with white streaks, wearing round crystal spectacles, her face unsmiling.
a thin man in his thirties, his fingers stained with ink.
A middle-aged man, whose features didn't seem friendly to Ryan.
The old man – who seemed to be in charge – stepped forward. He looked Ryan up and down.
"What is your name"
"Ryan..."
Then he looked at Mira
"Ryan Darvin"
Upon hearing his name, the teachers exchanged glances, then looked at Mira.
And in that moment...
Mira's head rose slowly.
She looked toward where the applicants stood. Toward the figure who had just called out his name.
Her green eyes met a pale face, icy blue eyes, a high collar, a sword at his hip.
Then she smiled.
A small, quiet, genuine smile.
She was so Happy
The teachers noticed her smile, so they deduced the matter on their own.
The old teacher looked to Ryan another time
"It seems you have a relationship with our teacher."
He sighed.
"Even if you're in a relationship with her, don't expect different treatment.
He looked at Ryan, then at the paper in his hand.
"So,The exam has two parts. First: a written test. Second: spark measurement."
He pointed to a small desk.
"Go and sat there "
Ryan sat. The paper was before him.
The questions were clearly printed: the history of the continent Arthalia, the kingdoms, the elements, the spark, energy circulation...
There were questions he had discussed with Anna or read about, and also questions he didn't know the answer to.
Ryan began to write slowly. He was not sure of everything, but he wrote what he knew.
After half an hour, an assistant collected the papers. The teacher looked at the answers.
"Passable. Not excellent, but passable."
The teacher then gave the papers to the other teachers so they could also look at the answers.
And that was acceptable to them as well.
Then the old teacher spoke
"Now is the time for the spark measurement"
The teachers.looked in a certain direction, then one of them pointed at Ryan.
"See that black doll? Go and touch it. The acceptance rate is 50. If you reach that number, you can stop or continue if you want to know how much spark you have."
Ryan walked toward the black doll. He stood before it. He raised his right hand to touch it.
He paused for a moment. He looked at Mira.
Mira was looking at him. Her green eyes were fixed on him, and she was still smiling. A small, quiet, encouraging smile.
He placed his hand on the black doll.
Numbers appeared on the doll and began to rise.
10... 20... 30... 40... 50...
Ryan felt his spark diminish as the numbers increased, and when the puppet reached number 57, he removed his hand.
'I think that's enough for me to be accepted.'
the teacher asked.
"Is that all you've got? I thought we were going to see a new Darvin superstar."
Then the teacher spoke:
"This was disappointing; none of your sisters scored below 500 on their test."
Ryan was surprised.
'500?'
But Ryan didn't respond rudely to them and simply said,
"That's all I have, unfortunately."
The old teacher didn't said anithing about that , He said only as he wrote on the paper
"Okay, wait outside and one of the teacher will come to take you to the dormitory and give you a pass. If you have bags somewhere, go and get them afterwards."
Ryan nodded. He turned to go outside
But he stopped at the door. He looked back for a moment.
Mira was looking at him. She gave him another small smile, then returned to her paper.
And Ryan went out
**************
Ryan walked out into the long corrido
But he was thinking, because he always believed that the academy was a special place and therefore its entrance exam would be special too, but he was shocked by the simplicity of the exam.
Ryan whispered,
"It wasn't anything special."
After that He heard footsteps behind him.
"Ryan."
But he recognized the person who called him immediately from the voice without turning around , it was his sister.