The Beginning After The End (New Heights Book 2) (7 page)

“NEXT!
 DIANE WHITEHALL!”  The man bellows as the bald man dispiritingly
walks back up into the rows of seats, picking up his polearm along the way.

“Yes!
 Coming!”  A woman on the other side of the stadium hurries down from
the seats, almost stumbling along the way.

She
was a freckled girl that looked to be well into her teens.  She had her
curly brown hair tied back and was wearing the standard conjurer’s robe.
 She fumbled with her wand, almost dropping it while trying to get it out
from her robe pocket.

I hear
snickers and giggles around the stadium from the scarce audience.

“Pfft!
 This should be good!”  I look to my left at the sound of the voice,
to see a boy laughing and pointing at the girl down at the stage.

He
didn’t look much older than me, which surprised me.  His attire was that
of a noble’s.  He had medium length blond hair that covered his forehead
and ears with dull green eyes.  I had to admit he was a good-looking boy,
and by his cocky demeanor, I’m sure he knew that too.  By his side was a
white wooden staff that was taller than him.  Embedded at the very top of
the staff was a large ruby colored gem.

I just
turn my head back towards the stage.

The
scarred examiner was sitting down at the stage while a woman wearing the
typical oversized hat used by many Conjurers in the shape of a pointed sun hat,
replaced him.  It didn’t surprise me that there were separate instructors
for each type of mage.

The
pale instructor with small, thin eyes wearing a yellow conjurer’s robe that
matched her hat coughed to get the audience to quiet down.

“Ahem!
 Diane Whitehall, age 18, a Conjurer at the light orange stage with a
single specialization in water.  Let us begin.”  She threw the notepad
towards the scarred examiner and held up her grey staff.

Once a
Conjurer reached the orange stage, almost everyone chose to focus solely on the
element they were best at instead of wasting time trying to be adept at all 4
elements.  Single specialization, in her case, meant that she only focused
on water spells.  Dual specialization and up, there would be a strict test
to see if you really are adept at both elements.

Instantly,
the freckled examinee murmurs a spell and a bubble of water surrounds her.

The basics of battling as a Conjurer is setting up a defensive spell.
 
They do this since most don’t have the ability to reinforce their body
with mana.

She
had the fundamentals down at least.

The
examiner, however, doesn’t cast a defensive spell but instead chooses to go on
the offensive.

“Sandstorm!”
 The pale examiner shouts as a gale of sand forms around the freckled girl
and her water bubble.

The
sand mixes in with the water and a bit after it’s turned into mud.

“Release!”
 The now mud bubble bursts as the examinee cancels her spell.
 Jumping back she mutters another spell while a pressured ball of water
was forming on the tip of her wand.

“Aqua
cannon!”  She yells as the ball of water shoots out in a blazing speed
towards the examiner.

The
examiner catches me by surprise as she quickly dodges the water ball instead of
blocking it with a spell.  Thinking back, this was the first time watching
a fight between two Conjurers.  This fight would be a good way to see how
Conjurers fight compared to Augmenters.

“BURST!”
 The freckled teen screams while she swings her wand down.

*BOOM*

The
noble boy that oddly reminds me of Feyfey from the elf Kingdom leans forward,
intensely watching the fight.  I could tell that he was a little surprised
by the clumsy girl’s skills.

I
turned to Jasmine.  “She’s not bad.” She mumbles to me.

The
stadium is covered in a small dust cloud that covered the instructor from view.

The
dust soon clears up to reveal that no one was there.

Suddenly,
the examiner pops up from the ground behind Diane and her staff lightly thumps
the top of the examinee’s head.

“EEK!”
Diane jumps forward in surprise.

“I
must say… your control is quite decent Miss Whitehall.  You were a little
overconfident in your last spell, not preparing any defensive measures, but
overall, the efficiency in mana control and cast speed was good.  C
class!”

Diane
gives a sigh of relief.  Being a C class Adventurer at her age is a feat
she can be proud of.

“Next!
 Elijah Knight!” The Conjurer examiner announces

“Here…”
A couple rows away to my right, a boy that looked even younger than the blonde
noble, stood up.  He looked like a very serious lad, with short trim
jet-black hair that came down to cover half of his forehead.  He wore a very
serious expression underneath his framed glasses that made him look more mature
than his actual age.  He wore a simple beige long sleeve and black pants
and didn’t have any sort of weapons on him.  I half expected him to be an
Augmenter but by the fact that the examiner didn’t switch out meant otherwise.

Suddenly
a clerk runs up to the examiner and whispers something inaudible to her ear.

The
pale-faced examiner’s thin eyes widen before she quickly regains her composure

“Elijah
Knight, age 10… Ahem.  I was just notified of your special status.
 As of now, you are a B class Adventurer.”

B
class at his age and he didn’t even need to get tested?

I
could see looks of disbelief on everyone’s face.  Even the Augmenter
examiner’s face was in surprise.

The
serious boy just bows and sits back down.

“Next!
 Lucas Wykes!” She continues.

“Hmph!
 Guess it’s finally my turn!”  He jumps up from his seated position
and leisurely walks down to the stage.

The
examiner looks down at her notes but except this time, her voice sounds
evidently surprised.  “Lucas Wykes, 11 years old.  Conjurer at the….
d-dark yellow stage!  Single Specialization in fire.”

What?
He’s already at the dark yellow stage?
 
How is that even possible?

“At
your service!” Lucas takes an exaggerated bow.

“Yes,
let us begin.”  The examiner stutters.

With a
serious face, Lucas instantly jumps back while muttering a spell. “Arise, Flame
Guardian!”

A
pillar of fire shoots up in front of him, diminishing to reveal a 2-meter tall humanoid
made of flames.

I can
faintly hear the scarred Augmenter examiner whistle in awe.

The
flame guardian dashes towards the examiner while I hear Lucas cast another
spell.

So he
does have some skill to back up his ego.

The
Conjurer examiner raises an eyebrow in surprise while muttering a spell.

“Earth’s
Tomb!”

*Boom*

A
solid cube instantly traps the fire guardian in his tracks.

Good
plan.  The flame guardian will naturally disappear once it uses up the
limited amount of oxygen inside the tomb.

Lucas
is smiling though, as he bellows, “It’s too late!  Ember Wisps!”

The
ruby stone embedded on his staff glows a dazzling orange as a spark shoots up
in the air.  The spark explodes like a firework, separating into dozens of
small floating tendrils of fire.  The tendrils stay afloat all around the
stage, surrounding the both of them.

“The
boy is good.”  I hear Jasmine give a rare nod of approval.

The
examiner’s face turns serious now.

I was
a little confused as to what those floating embers were for but my question was
soon answered.

“Expulsion!”
 He raised his staff above his head while he was still dashing backwards.

Suddenly,
the dozens of fire tendrils glowed then shot out beams of fire at the examiner.

“Stone
Shard Field!” The examiner points her staff down at the ground.  The area
around her glows a bright yellow before multiple pieces of earth shoot up from
the ground.  The rocks move in formation to block the lasers of flame.
 Only, it doesn’t just block the lasers but redirects it towards Lucas.

“Release!”
 Lucas screams as he pales.  The wisps in the air disappear but the
flames that were already shot are still heading towards his direction.

Pointing
his huge staff at the multiple trails of flames heading his way, he shouts,
“Fire Twister!”

A
cyclone of fire just big enough to surround him appears from the ground.
 The trails of flame spin around the small fire tornado, fusing into it.