Ingenium Academy: Chapter Two, Test of Will
 

For the new first year students, the day passed in relative peace. The mess hall served breakfast, lunch, dinner and as many snacks as they liked through the day, as they wandered about the campus, napped in their rooms, or read at the library--as their fancy took them. The harsh rays of morning light had quickly turned into an ambient glow of warmth that permeated all things, truly a wonderful day.

Eventually, however, the bell rang for the last class of the day, and the older students--first years from previous months, second years, third years, etc--all filed back out into the campus, laughing, joking, rough-housing, and playing around. Some filed off to class, while a few others split off from their friends and headed toward the blacksmith, the stables, or other various jobs.

Amongst those who split off were a few second year students and up designated as student helpers. Their job was simply to make sure that first year students were able to find everything and were taken care of. To those who had already learned about them, these particular students were easy to find thanks to a small silver signet patch they wore above their class stripes.

The student helpers quickly spread about the campus finding any lost or potentially late first years, and helping them make it to the will test.
---
A certain boy, named Ellithorn, whom had slept in a bit too late this morning, picked a few balls of fuzz off his vest before leaving his room with a spring in his step. His gait was quick and joyful as he moved down into the courtyard and began to head forward. He had found the magic building--where the tests were to be held earlier--so he assumed he'd have no trouble arriving there to take his test for Magical Theory I.

Unfortunately, when he had found the building, the courtyards were almost completely empty, and the living throng of human-flesh, most of which was larger than him, moving through the area now quickly confused and turned the small boy around multiple times. In short order he found himself completely lost and wandering haplessly.

Luckily, it did not take long for one of the student guides to find him. "Hey Kid!" the older student's voice rang out, calling Ellithorn's attention to him, "You look lost... Need to get to the will test?"

Ellithorn's entire upper body went limp with relief as he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the boy responded quickly regaining enough composure to clasp his hands together and bow a few times.

"...Calm down... let's just get to the magic building..."
---
From the outside the magic building looked as white and pristine as any of the other buildings about campus, but as the student guide lead Ellithorn through the doors the scene quickly changed. The walls were mostly made of black obsidian with strange patterns etched along them, that pulsated with an earthly deep purple glow--illuminating the halls with a ghastly light.

Ellithorn moved closer to the tour guide as he heard the crackling of electricity followed by a scream coming from one of the doors they passed, and explosions coming from another. He was beginning to rethink taking these magic courses, but before he could say anything the student guide opened a door and gestured for Ellithorn to enter.

"We're here," he said with a relaxed smile, as though the sounds from the halls didn't disturb him at all.

The smile slightly re-assuring Ellithorn, he walked into the door, to find another hall, this one with seats on either side of it with various first year students sitting and chatting amongst themselves exciteably.

After a short distance, however, the hallway opened into a large circular room, with more of the glyphs, like on the walls, carved onto the floor. In the center of the floor there was a pentagram drawn within a circle. At each point of the pentagram a different glyph was placed, and smaller glyphs were scrawled all along the outside of the circle, glowing brightly.

A few moments later a beautiful woman wearing a tight red dress, which clung to her body like a latex and was cut down in the front below her navel, only kept covering her breasts thanks to a small gold ring that connected the fabric across them.

She stepped to the top point of the pentagram, followed by several other people wearing robes marked with the same glowing sigils.

The woman pointed toward Ellithorn and gestured him forward, the boy responding to her unspoken command before he even realized what he was doing. Before he knew it he had stepped beyond the hallway and a shield of light blinked into existence behind him, seeming to spring from a few of the glyphs on the wall.

He stopped and looked back over his shoulder in shock but was quickly pulled out of his reverie by a feminine voice, that flowed like soft velvet, "Come... stand in ze center of ze circle, young one... your will shall be tested first."

Ellithorn turned back and nodded, walking forward to the center of the pentagram, and waiting for what was to come.

"Are you ready?" the woman asked, and Ellithorn responded with a nod.

"Very well..." she said.

The woman pointed to the ceiling and every glyph and rune in the room came alive in resplendent light nearly blinding Ellithorn, before their light drained away, all condensing into the five glyphs around the pentagram. Soon small beams of light shot up from each glyph, hitting Ellithorn's torso from all sides, and, for a moment things seemed to be going fine as the energy was directed back out of him to the ceiling, channelled by his instinctual will.

However, soon the beam of light that rocketed from his shoulders to the ceiling--to dissipate harmlessly, began to waver and break part, pure energy arcing across the room. The glyphs about the area lit up once more, as did the glyphs on the robes of the students, this time erecting a barrier across all the walls, protecting them from the violent surges of electricity which ravaged the room for a moment before turning back down onto Ellithorn creating a magical feedback loop. Soon the energy from the glyphs began to go haywire as well, and an inhuman scream of pain escaped from the young boy's lips.

The screams seemed to last forever, but in truth lasted only seconds before the energy dropped off and Ellithorn fell to the ground, the flesh over his torso stripped of skin and cauterized by the energy. His uniform was burnt beyond recognition and hung loosely from his his shoulder as he sat on his knees for a second before falling forward and passing out, with ragged breath.

"Bring him to ze medical ward," the woman before the point of the pentagram said with no emotion to her voice, "and be sure zhey tell him to change his schedule vhen he awakes, yes?"

One of the robed men nodded, pulling back his hood to reveal the face of an older student, before walking to the center of the pentagram and picking Ellithorn up, placing the boy on his shoulder before walking back out through the hall so that the other students waiting could see what happened to the failures.

Hopefully some of the weaker willed students would be scared into leaving.

Allen was sitting in the hall watching the demonstration. However seeing the display only intrugied him. Something about the raw power of it all energized him. The thought that raced through his head were often, 'imagine having that power behind my punches.' He stepped forth, wanting to be tested imediately. "If i am injured so be it, pain is an illusion for the weak."

Stepping up he took his will test. The test began and the energy was channeled through his body. However unlike the last student his energy remained focused and smooth. The test finished, he himself was shocked. At the very least he expected to be lightly toasted. "Hmm well that wasn't so bad. Guess this means I passed." The woman nodded confirming his guess. Without his realising a smirk came across his face as he sat back down.

Curel shivered as he watched the small boy fail, remembering that magic was not something that simply obeyed your commands. Without the strength of will there was no telling what a spell would do-and the pain that the boy had felt today was nothing compared to what could have occured.

Clenching his fists, he took a deep breath and stepped forward. If he was going to fail, then at least he would be one of the first-it wouldn't do any good to stand around doing nothing.

Soon, he himself was standing in the center of the circle and, with a shaky nod, the will test began. It wasn't perfect like Allen's had been, but it was certainly better that the total failure of Ellithorn. Though, for a moment, it wavered, it soon smoothed out, and before he knew it he had passed the test.

After a couple of unsteady steps, he then walked over and joined Allen as another student that had passed, and sighed.

Finaly it was Johanns turn, Many of the student's had passed, But many more had failed, the smell of charred flesh permiated the corridor, A testament to the pain those who failed felt.

Failture was not an option for Johann, This was the sole reason he had come to the Academy and nothing.... Nothing would stop him from helping his people.
Entering the ampitheater Johann's face was grimiced with determination, The runes on the walls already were glowing.
Steping into the test area the power immediately arced from him, but no sooner had he's hope grew then they popped.
Energy raw and powerful filled the room, Lightning crackled accross walls striking the runes apon them. Suddenly more and more power flew from Johann and strikes smashed into the cobblestoned floor chipping various places.
Through all the pain that wracked his body Johann made no noise not even a whisper, Even when flesh started to peel from his body, The determination Johann had wouldent let him give in.
Then the power stopped, The scarred and burning form of Johann collapsed.
"Ze test iz over" pronounced the woman "thiz one has will yez but it iz not of ze magics".
One of the robed students moved over to lift Johann onto his shoulder, Johanns mutilated arm pushed him away.
"N..no" came the weakend gasp.
Slowly and painfuly Johann reached his feet, He had failed his people by failing the test... He would not dishonor them by being carried out like some ragdoll.
Johann shuffled his way from the hall falling a few times, stoping to gasp in breath and pain a few more, Slowly he made his way to the medical ward.
He would get healed there but not entierly he had already made his mind to leave some scarring as a testament to his falture.

Piotr had watched in horror as one of the first friends he had made at the school was charred into mutilation by the very test he himself had wanted to take. Piotr couldn't find the courage in his heart to step into the pentagram before him, so he merely watched as student after student marched into the test, all of them facing the same fate Johann had, failure.

Piotr was about to walk away, from the test, from the school, from his pledge for vengeance when he heard it. It was one of the faintest sounds he had ever heard, it was nearly silent, but he could hear himself making the exact same shallow breath he had made before running for his life. Right as one of the older students began dragging the last failure out of the pentagram Piotr charged into it one thought echoed throughout his mind, "Never again, never again will I run."

The lights began their gentle flow as they had down for every test, Piotr felt confident if not a little weary of them and for a time he was even able to predict their paths. He smiled in wonderment just before a light shifted from the path he had predicted and it was with that small shift of light that all of Piotr's confidence was lost. The lights exploded and cascaded at random, all of them seeming to be driven towards him, with every painful arc of energy striking him, scorching him, burning him, branding him, Piotr lost his focus entirely. He wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else and as he entered shock his mind tried to fill that need as best it could.

Piotr's mind filled itself with pleasantries from his past, he saw himself tilling his fathers land, admiring his uncle as he forged a horse shoe, helping his mother draw water from the well, raising a fence with his father, his family sitting by the fire... his family running, screaming, fighting, burning, dying. Piotr suddenly opened his eyes, he saw the present this time and a light was headed right towards his face, the other lights weren't far behind. "They all died and I'm going to die too." The light blinked forward, drawn to Piotr as if by.... well, magic.

"Then I'll die." Time had slowed so much, Piotr wondered passingly if this is what it was like for everyone as he felt the heat of the light upon his forehead. "But not like this!" The light splintered suddenly into a brilliant hue of azure, the new lights spiraled around Piotr catching the others and sending them back where they had come from. The glyphs dimmed and it was finally calm, Piotr looked around dumbfounded, the world slowly began to speed up, students began to move and act as normal, Piotr looked to the woman in red.

She merely stared at him dispassionately.

"Did I pass?" Piotr asked as one would ask a doctor if they had cancer or not. If people of that day and age knew of cancer and asked doctors about it.

"Yes, you did. Your vest didn't zough." She pointed to his chest.

Piotr looked down to see a small flame burning through his vest, he couldn't even feel it. Piotr slammed a single mangled hand over the the flame snuffing it out. "Thats good." Piotr said half-heartedly as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

The woman in red merely turned to one of the robed figures as Piotr collapsed to the floor, "Take him to ze medical ward as vell."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

No. thought Steve, as he rolled over in bed.

BANG BANG BANG!

"Go away."

"I swear, young'en, you is the most sleepenist child I ever did lay my eyes on. You do realize that yer late for that magic test thing, don'cha?"

"...Magic test? I didn't take any magic courses..."

There was a long pause on the other side of the door, then a quick suffleing of feet down the corridor. Jerk. Steve got out of bed anyway. He wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, so he decided to go watch the will test he's been hearing about all day. Uniformed, Steve ran to the magic building, which he scouted out hours prior.

-----------------------------

Steve got there just in time to see Allen, the guy he meet before, walk off the stage. He scouted around for Emma, but, not seeing her, shruged and sat in the nearest empty seat.

A boy with strange orange hair was next. Let's see what this test is about... When the woamn in red pointed up, beams of energy shot toward the boy, and Steve nearly fell out of his seat. That's the test? I'm no magic user, but that doesn't look very safe... Steve gasped as the beams coming out of the boy wavered, not wanting to see what would happen if those beams broke, but he sighed when all turned out good. Orange hair had passed.

A blonde, very tall guy was next, and Steve thought he'd pass for sure. After the disaster of his test was over, Steve crawled up from under his chair and watched as the mangled boy limped away. OH MY GOD! Are these people trying to kill someone?

Once things setteled down, another person got onto the stage, adn he did quite a show, but promptly fainted afterwards. Hm. Well, I can see them point of having these tests now. Ah well, let's see what happens next...

The whole time she had been watching to see who passed and failed. Seeing if there as some pattern or some trait you needed.

One failed, one passed, 3 failed, one left scared, one passed, 4 more failed so on and so forth. It was like random picking, but with a recoil to boot. The charred students were carried out one by one. It was like a high school magical torture chamber.

"You." the red clad teacher's hand pointed towards Carolina.

With her eyes centered on the teacher, Carolina nervously shuffled up to her place, hands shaking from the tension of pass or burn.

"Ready?"

Her hand waved out to signify her unwillingness. Her head was turned to the glyph stricken ground and then to the corresponding ceiling.

"Hold on a second." She wanted a bit more time to dive into her thoughts, still not certain on what she should do.

Alright, do I really want to go through this? I mean, what if I don't meet their standards? I'll get sent out, burned from head to toe. But, they wouldn't do it if it were deadly, so, I may as well...

Her hand waved to acknowledge her approval to start and again did the lights show vibrantly. Connected to several glyphs and Carolina herself. The test wasn't perfectly smooth, but by the time it ended, all she had was a bit of singed hair and clothing.

"You pass."

She gave one more great sigh and walked off the stage, still shaky, but content about what happened.

Johann lay a wreck of a human being, three healers gathered around him, their healing magics seemed to be having trouble healing his body. As the nurses started to heal Johanns torso he stopped them.
"No! this is my mark, Do not heal it" Johann still weak and in agony slapped away the hands that still tried to heal him untill they gave up.

As the healers continued with the rest of his body he saw Piotr carried in, Not in the worst of shape but still burned all over.
"Guess he failed too" was all Johann could think of before the pain in his body, once again reached almost unbearable heights.

Infisil's years of running from the authorites gave him a slight tingling sensation after he had found his way to the test, a bit of a warning. He decided to swallow his premonitions and proceed as he wanted to.

He stepped into the pentagram, the rays shot at him suddenly and he was nearly singed as he deflected them, the brilliant beams shooting up to the ceiling and coming back down for a second volley. He deflected these too, but then noticed the energy writhing against his magical barrier. He fell down onto his back, but not before recieving a sizable burn across his arms. He cringed and got back up the moment the magical rays had dissapated. the lower arms of his uniform were completely absent, and he shot an icy glare at the woman sitting in the chair, who was eying him with an unfeeling glare to his pain.

"It iz not my fault zat you have failed. Perhaps you have not ze potential."

"Then what do you call it when I was deflecting those, you stuck up-" Infisil began yelling, staying his tongue as his honed danger sense began to go off.

"Take him to ze medical wizards, if he iz, in fact, not too stupid to go by himself."

As he started to walk away, Infisil turned to the enigmatic woman. "Fine. Tell me, what should I work on?" He said, grimmacing with pain.

"I cannot say. You must find zis out for yourself." She said simply, dismissing the author's son with a wave of her hand. "Next." She said as he walked of silently.

Azi scowled when she watched the students before her either pass or horribly fail. Then it was her turn.

With a sigh, Azi consciously smoothed out her uniform, stood up in one fluid motion, and stepped into the protected room. The woman greeted her with a nod, and motioned for her to step into the circle of glyphs. Shooting a smouldering glance at no one in particular, Azi slinked into the middle, tugging a little apprehensively at her head scarf.

"Could ve maybe remove ze scarf, younk lady?"

"Aya would'e prever nut te, mess," came the respectful if muffled, heavily accented voice. The woman hesitated, reforming the words with the appropriate accents, before nodding silently and gesturing.

At first, as the magical energy coursed through Azi, the young adult felt a slight tingling, pleasant feeling. She felt her skin warm up a bit, but there was no trouble.

Half-way through, though, the seamless beam spluttered and crackled, and Azi felt a relatively brief, searing pain as magic broke away and attempted to leave via her skin pores. Visha!*

Wavering, but not breaking down, Azi emitted a low growl of pain through gritted teeth as the wild magic coursed through her, willing the magic to stay in place, willing things to stay unbroken. Azi wrestled control with the magic as it tried to gain its own way and deal more harm to her, finally managing to get it under ontrol again.

As the magic faded away and the glyphs returned to their mundane selves, Azi shook her head in dazed astonishment. She looked down at her clothes, which survived the brunt of the test, but were steaming.

The woman to one side pursed her lips, tilting her head slightly.
"You passed. Vell done," turning to one of the cowled students, she said, "Ze medical vard."

It was then that Azi realised she was in a bit of pain, but limped unassisted towards the ward where she could recover, suffering a rather nasty burn to her left had. She was also bleeding very slightly in several places, where small cuts could be seen crisscrossing parts of her body and evidently increased in numbers on her right leg.

[OOC: *Visha: Tribal for "Damn!","Shit!" and other such expletives]