Ascension of the elder

Chapter 49: Exam time

"Why don't you try me old man."

This stranger had already irritated Kyle, he didn't know his capabilities and had already dismissed him for being too young. Draken looked at Kyle for a moment before continuing.

"That is your choice what level of examination do you wish to take apprentice, adept, journeyman, master or grandmaster."

Draken continued in his bored voice while looking at Kyle with his heavily lidded eyes. Kyle didn't know what the exams would entail as his mother had never spoken to him about this so he turned his questions to Draken.

"What is needed to pass each of the exams?"

"To pass as an apprentice you must correctly answer 100 written questions. If you are taking a higher level exam you must still pass the previous but the apprentice exam will only have 20 questions but they are much harder. As an adept you are required to complete 5 different cast arrays. The casts are provided for you, you only have to complete the array within. Journeymen must create a formation, we will provide the array papers and a requirement but you must decide on the best formation to get the result. A master is required to produce an array via projection while a grandmaster must produce 10 projected arrays simultaneously and sustain them for 30 minutes. Each level of exam costs 50 gold coins. Any questions?"

Draken had completed his explanation with the same apathetic look on his face and was now waiting for Kyle to respond. Kyle thought for a moment but then decided why should I go low key I'll aim for as high as I can go.

"I'll take the master level exam thank you."

Hearing Kyle Draken quirked an eyebrow before continuing.

"Very well, we require payment before proceeding. If you can deposit 200 gold coins we can begin."

Miranda took a silverish looking card from her bag and passed it to Draken. This was a payment card which uses an array to store information of how much gold the holder has stored with the imperial overseer. It operates much like a debit card does in our world the only difference being there are no computers so the only copy of the information is in the card itself so if you lose it or it gets stolen you would be boned.

Draken took the payment using a double sided stone with a formation above. Once the transfer was complete he led the way to the examination room. Miranda sat outside while she read a newsletter which was provided at the reception for array masters. Kyle entered the examination room followed by Draken.

"I'll be the adjudicator for your exam, if you have any questions ask them now before we begin."

"I have no questions we can start right away."

Hearing Kyle Draken turned to a cupboard behind him and selected a 20 page exam book with a red tag at the corner. This was the hard level booklet Kyle needed to complete in order to progress.

Opening the first page Kyle saw a few questions. There were ones requiring him to check the array posited on the page and find the fault, others gave hypothetical situations and asked what arrays would be best suited. There were also a few theoretical questions with regards to formations and cast array provisions. Kyle rocketed through these questions as for him these were stupidly low level due to him having seen the much more complex arrays within the mana stone and creating the multi glyph arrays. Draken watched as Kyle answered one question after another with barely a pause while he nodded his head when he read the answers.

Kyle finished the exam shortly and went to hand the sheet over to Draken who placed it in an envelope and sealed it with a red wax symbol.

"Very well we shall move onto the next exam. Do you have any preference for the cast arrays you will use?"

"No whatever is fine."

Hearing Kyle Draken reached into the cupboard once again and pulled out 5 bronze preformed arrays and laid them on the table Kyle was using.

"Complete these casts within an hour, you can begin."

Draken stepped away so as not to disturb Kyle while he was working. Kyle began by looking at the first array and began tracing the array with his energy and with 3 minutes the array was complete and ready to use. Kyle continued with this pace and completed all 5 in less than 20 minutes. This feat earned him another nod from Draken who could see all the arrays were well formed and wouldn't have any problems meaning Kyle had excellent control over his energy, probably more than someone his age should.

"Well done we can move onto the next stage, to pass the journeyman exam you will need to plan a formation for a specific requirement. Do you have any particular areas you would like to focus on?"

Draken asked this as there were many ways to use formations and not everyone excelled in all areas so some people specialised in things like domestic use or hunting. Kyle didn't have any preference yet so he responded as such.

"No I have no speciality so give me whatever you choose."

Hearing Kyle's response Draken thought for a moment before he seemed to decide on a particular scenario.

"You will produce an array for a casino which will check those passing by for weapons. The indicator for this will be a red crystal which must glow when a weapon is detected."

Kyle thought about how he could produce this array before he came up with an idea. The central glyph of the array was an 'inspection' glyph similar to what his mansion used to tell him people were at the door. The control for this glyph wouldn't scan the person but would instead scan their mind looking for intent to carry a weapon into the casino. If there was a sign placed next to the checker stating its use and the rules of no weapons allowed this thought would be front and centre in their minds allowing the formation to pick up on it. The rest of the formation was simple with a 'shield' array to contain the person in question and a 'light' array which would trigger when the 'inspection' received a positive.

Once Kyle was finished he passed his plan to Draken who inspected it. Kyle had also noted about the signage requirement so the formation would work optimally. Draken seeing this simple solution was impressed. He didn't tell Kyle beforehand but this formation was a commission from the Tor family but none of the array masters could come up with a solution. Seeing what Kyle did Draken realised they had over complicated the issue while a simple solution gave them what was required.

"Good this formation was actually a commission, we will test it and if it functions correctly you will be paid. Regardless due to your understanding of formations you may pass to the next exam. All you need to do is project an array which I can inspect. Any array will do so begin when you're ready."

Kyle didn't think about it and created the first array which came to mind, this was his mother's 'shock' array. The projection was completed in a few second and Draken began inspecting it.

"Hum the array is stable and complete but I don't recognise it, can you deploy it so I can check its function."

Kyle knew this array wasn't in general use as his mother found it and tinkered with it to get it in its current state so Kyle deployed it in a sphere form so it wouldn't cause any issues within the room. Draken came close to the sphere and before Kyle could warn him he poked it with his finger. There was a loud crack and a flash, when Kyle had blinked away the flash form his eyes he saw Draken still stood in front of his with his finger still pointing. His hair however had taken a turn and he now appeared to be sporting an impressive afro.

*snort*

Kyle could barely contain his laughter when suddenly the door was opened and Maria rushed in.

"What happened I saw a flash and HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA what happened to you Draken did you see yourself in the mirror HAHAHAHHAHAHA."

Kyle couldn't contain it and began giggling while his mother was holding her stomach with tears in her eyes. Draken's facial expression didn't change as he pulled his hair back and tied it with some string he pulled from his pocket.

"What array was that?"

"That is a 'shock' array my mother created. I'm planning on merging it with a deployable 'barrier' creating a safer area for hunters."

Draken on hearing what Kyle was planning felt this would be a good use for this array and assumed Kyle had found a means of creating a formation as he didn't know about the multi glyph arrays.

"Very well with this you have passed the master examination and I welcome you as an array master. If you will come with me I'll get your credentials drawn up."

As they were about to leave Miranda spoke up.

"Draken can I take the master level exam?"

"I don't have a problem with it but you'll need to pay once we get back."

Maria nodded and began producing her array. This wasn't the first time she tried to pass the exam using different arrays. This time she chose a simple 'light' array as she could create this the fastest. As she was almost complete the array began to shake slightly. Kyle was standing there and was willing her to be able to complete the array as this was something she desperately wished for.

Millimetre by millimetre the array was becoming more complete but it was shaking more and more but finally the array was complete and activated. Maria sighed and relaxed against the table while Kyle came over and congratulated her.

"Well done mum you did it."

Maria smiled at hearing Kyle's words and caressed the top of his head before Draken spoke.

"Oh this is your son Maria, pleased to meet you."

As he said this Draken's expression didn't change in the slightest and Kyle felt this was just the way he looked. The three of them headed towards the reception to get Kyle's qualification and to upgrade Maria's. As they entered the reception Kyle was almost blinded by bling. A young man of around 15-16 years old was stood at the entrance wearing robes similar to what the upper levels in his family wore but these were coloured in red, orange, pink and gold while he was wearing many gold necklaces and bracelets. It was an assault on the senses and while Kyle was still in shock an arrogant voice sounded out.

"I'm from the Miles family and I'm looking to take on some array masters who will work for me?"

The young man spoke with a smirk and was obviously looking down on everyone present while Kyle could only lament to himself.

"Clich just so clich."