John told me that a would take the test with the book first because it was less draining of my energy and I needed to save all the energy I could because he test with the orb required complete concentration and found that the test takers performed better with the orb as the second test.

John said the book test, also known as the Liber Test, was a test testing your mental capacity and your ability to understand and use magic in real life situations and not just in controlled situations. On each page in the book there is a series of questions and you have to make sure you are touching the book or it won’t work. The book reads your mind so-to-say-, in reality it looks at your brain waves and puts them in ways the book can understand then puts the words out on the paper. The process takes a few seconds per question and you are not only judged by your answers but also the speed you answer the questions.

John said that to complete the test you only need to fill out 2 pages of questions averaging 3 questions per page. The average amount of time necessary to complete all of the questions is around 10 minutes. The requirement to get into Drudania Academy is to complete all the questions with reasonable answers in 5 minutes.

John brought out a small desk and chair in addition to the orb and book. I quickly sat down and John opened the placed in front of me and told me to open it on a count of three. John had taken out a round object that was similar to a clock but had an arm protruding from the face of it. It had symbols all around the edge and was gold in color.

“1, 2, 3!” John said as he pressed the protruding hand down before it starting traveling in a circular motion, pointing to each of the symbols. I began slightly after seeing the strange contraption and soon realized why there was only 3 questions on each page. The questions were all very wordy and required you to think hard and fast about the answer because if you wasted anytime at all that could mean that you failed the test.

The I did not find the questions difficult to understand, but knowing what the test was looking for, it was hard to find an easily applicable answer. The answer that raced through my mind were merely theoretical and had an impossibly low chance of succeeding if attempted. I managed to find answers that were good enough that they could probably be attempted and have a moderate success rate. But the next question was, similar to the written exam, different from the previous questions because it was opinionated and you had to justify your answer.

The question was: In a fight where the one you loved and the side you supported were against each other, which side would you fight for?

The question passed through my mind several times before I could begin to think about the answer. I thought about the case in which I would love somebody and found it impossible to do so. Even if I did know the feeling I would be almost positive that I would chose the side I supported over my loved one. Gradually I began to justify my answer by understanding that if I supported something it must follow my beliefs. Because I have a strong belief system, I will support anything with all I can, but to find something worth my beliefs and effort is hard to do because of my dislike of many things.

I began to make myself believe that even if the one I loved were on the other side, I would still kill them. Not to say my beliefs couldn’t be changed. If someone or something were to provide me with enough evidence, then I would change what I believed based on that evidence. To me knowledge is one of the strongest things in the universe, not some petty emotion such as love.

I soon enough finished my answer and let go of the book.

“3 minutes and 49 seconds. Not to bad. Now time to judge the answers.” John said before putting his strange contraption on a nearby shelf. He then picked up the small, leatherbound book and looked at my answers. He had a blank expression from the beginning but as he looked down the paper to what I assumed to be the last question, he bursted out laughing. “I am not surprised by your answer at all, Lucifer. Although very few people are that blunt about such a question.”

Was it really that blunt? I found my answer to truly reflect my thoughts, not that I could hide them from the book, and I have a firm belief in say it as you feel it. Despite my seemingly lack of emotion, I occasionally feel annoyed or aggravated when people act as if they care about others or do other annoying things. I can never get too annoyed though. It’s like there is a cap on how much I can be annoyed, which is a very small amount.

“Okay, I’ll give you a few minutes to rest your body a little. Many students have been known to pass out after the next test.” John replied, reverting back to his usual happy self.

“Why do I only have to take two tests?” John did tell me that I only needed to take these tests, but never really elaborated on why.

“Thee two tests are really the only thing we care about. The other tests just help rid the examination hall of those who are too weak or aren’t a good match for drudania Academy. Plus I wanted to check your scores on these tests to determine where I’m going to place you class wise. In reality, I could’ve just passed you, but I want to see if you pass these tests and if so, what your scores are.” John replied earnestly. I still had a feeling that something else was at work here, but I doubt he would let me get any farther into it.

After a few minutes, John finally spoke, “Are you ready for the next test?”

“I am.”

“Okay. I will explain how it work. You will hold this ofb in your hands and put your magic energy into it. I small blue glow will come from the center indicating that it is filled with energy. You have to continue to put your magic in the orb for as long as you can without making the orb explode from too much energy or making the light disappear by giving it too little energy. Over time, the orb needs more and more energy to support the light.” John said, giving me the small, bluish orb. It fit perfectly into the palm of my hand and had a good amount of weight to it.

John walked over to his contraption and said, “You should probably sit down.” I then sat down. “Okay, we will begin one the count of three. 1, 2, 3!”

Took a deep breathe and tried to direct the flow of magic in my body. It felt strange because I only had the opportunity to do it once or twice before I came here. I could feel the energy coursing through my veins direct itself towards the small orb. I tried to slow it down a little when I saw the orb glow brightly with a light that nearly reached the outer layer of the orb. I wasn't positive that if it touched the edges it would explode, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. Gradually the light became smaller and maintained its size in the center of the orb.

I could feel the sweat dripping down my face has a held on to the stone. It was like every ounce of my energy was slowly being drained away, but I persisted and continued to control the flow of magic to the stone.

Over time it became increasingly difficult and could feel a headache coming about, most likely due to dehydration. The sweat still pouring down my face, began to come into my eyes and tears welled up from the stinging sensation they left behind. The light inside the stone began to waver slightly, forcing me to concentrate all my energy on this small, blue orb.

Every second became increasingly longer and I could feel my muscles ache and my eyes want to close from the exhaustion washing over me. I knew that even though my muscles were not being used that much, I was drawing from them to continue to fuel the magic energy going into the orb. My muscles were telling me that they need to rest, to recover. The light became smaller and smaller until it was but a candle’s flicker.

My eyes were burning, my muscles aching, and every part of me, metal or physically, was utterly exhausted. I could fel the wave of darkness slowly approach me until I had fallen into its grasp and fell into a deep slumber. The last thing I saw was the tiny flicker of light on my hand disappear.

“3 hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds. Well, I’m happy to say you passed your test, Lucifer.” John said with a smile before picking up a small device that looked similar to a button. “Josephine, prepare a room down in the hospital ward. Make sure the beds comfortable, after all, little ones need their sleep.”