Chapter 33: Written Testing (2)

Chapter 33: Written Testing (2)

Xerxes broke the seal, unfurled the scroll, and looked at the first question.

Which region of the starsea has only four Major Artery Gateways?

Endless ShoalGreat ReefThe DepthsFar Regions

The question wasnt too bad as far as Xerxes was concerned. It wasnt exactly what he and Gandash had reviewed the night before, but he remembered the basics, plus a few tidbits of knowledge from other sources.

Major Artery Gateways were the most important and least numerous Gateways, connecting important starisles like Sin-Amuhhu. One thing he remembered from his studies on Mannemid was that the Endless Shoalwhich wasnt part of the empireand the Far Regions both had three Major Artery Gateways. That left the Depthswhich was the central part of the empireand the Great Reef, where Sin-Amuhhu was located. He remembered Gandash mentioning that the Depths had more Major Artery Gateways than anywhere else.

Boom, Xerxes thought. The answer is obviously B, the Great Reef.

He made a note on the wax tablet and moved on to the next question.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

The next few questions were all of a similar level of difficulty. Though he didnt know the answers immediately, he could eliminate some of the possibilities and eventually isolate the correct response. But then he reached the following question:

The Nergal is:

An inheritable title given to an important AnunnakiThe surname of a powerful AnunnakiA rank held by many AnunnakiThe nickname of a dangerous Anunnaki

Xerxes stifled a groan. How the hell am I supposed to know this?

He was fairly certain that C was incorrect, as there was only one Nergal. But whether it was a title, a surname, or a nickname he had no idea. Had the Nergal been discussed in one of the lectures in the past few days? He couldnt remember.

A, B, or D? he thought. After racking his brain for about five minutes, he finally resorted to some basic test-taking tactics. Obviously, A cant be right. They never put the correct answer first. And since its not C, then they wouldnt have D be the right one. Its too obvious. B it is!

The test questions seemed to get harder and harder.

Or perhaps it was just the fact that time was running out.

Continuing through the test, he felt less and less confident in his answers. Some questions he didnt understand at all.

Buhhu spells use Abhorrent blood as their primary component. The blood of summoned Abhorrent disappears when the spell ends. Therefore, where does the blood used for spell components come from?

Xerxes stared at the test scroll as he realized hed never even thought of that issue, much less heard the topic discussed. He wished hed paid more attention to the lectures and less time obsessing about a girl.

He pondered the Abhorrent blood conundrum for five minutes before deciding to leave the answer blank. Better to admit he didnt know than look foolish by putting a ridiculous answer that might be laughed at.

Successive questions made his heart sink.

When it came time to hand in the wax pad, his heart had sunk somewhere beyond his stomach. Hed left three questions blank altogether, and there were many others he knew in his gut that hed answered incorrectly. If he failed the test altogether, would they kick him out of the school? Send him back to Mannemid?

What was worse, it felt like his thoughts were moving slower by the minute.

The final portion of the test is an essay, the teacher announced. Youll have one hour to complete it. Instead of a wax pad, youll have paper and ink. Dont waste the ink. If you run out, you dont get any extra. When youre finished, leave the paper on your desk to dry, then get lunch and take the rest of the afternoon off. Good luck.

Are you kidding me? Xerxes thought. An essay?

Back in the Mage Academy on Mannemid, hed only written an essay once.

The prompt made his head spin.

You are part of a military force on an unknown planet, in a distant starisle, which has been overrun by Abhorrent. Your only hope of survival is traveling to a nearby Gateway, but the path leads through a small mountainous valley that is occupied by Abhorrent. You do not know which type of Abhorrent, but you do know there are about a dozen of them. Most are at the spawn level, but there are at least two juveniles. Your commanding officer assigns you the task of clearing the way. You may pick three Seers and thirty troops. In addition to yourself, the available mage types are: Nasaru, Asgagu, Balatu, and Hasasu. The available troop types, broken into units of ten, are: heavy infantry, light infantry, light cavalry.

Please explain which mages and troops you will use, and describe your initial plan of attack, as well as any alternate or backup strategies.

After re-reading the prompt, Xerxes closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then started writing.