Age of rust - The first step

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They follow their new prefect as she shows them around. A tingling sensation overcomes Asir when they enter the first building. "This here is your common room." Nedya explains. Three massive leather armchairs covered by ice blue silken cloths stand around a small tea table in front of a flickering fire. Most of the marble walls are lined with bookshelves and reading tables. The granite floor seems old but well maintained with only a few cracks and little dust gathering around the furniture. The roof is held up by one big intricately chiselled marble pillar which is surrounded by a comfortable looking sofa and four more tea tables. "Normally this room is quite lively," Nedya begins,"but since everybody has classes now we have the privilege to experience it the way it is meant to be: quiet." She smirks and continues through the left door into a long hallway. Oaken doors to the left and right, with two names edged into the walls next to them by some force. Seemingly both easily exchangeable and irreversible. Nedya keeps going. Another doorway leads to another hallway. There is that tingling feeling again. Ruben thought he had imagined it. Or was it just his excitement? This hallway looks no different from the last, except there are no names on the doors. "These are going to be your living quarters. After your entrance exams you will be appointed your room along with your room mates." Ruben, looking around, becomes quite uneasy, not knowing anybody in this group and coming from a lower class family than anybody. His parents aren't exactly poor, not by any means, but a Speakers' education is extremely expensive. So expensive actually, that, even with his families' higher societal standing, they can only afford it if he passes every semester, first try. That means four grueling years of education, both theoretically and practically, including deep studies and three exams every year. With a passing rate of just over 50% for each of them, that is going to be tough. Nedya continues. "No you can not switch rooms with other students once you have been given your room." She watches as all hands that had just sped skywards now slowly and disappointedly lower back down. The tour continues back to the common rooms and out of the building. They walk through the library building, the study, past some more living quarters and finally towards the main building, housing class rooms, a massive dining hall and, at last, the great auditorium. Here, everybody gathers to take the entrance exam. At first Ruben is quite confident in his ability to take this test, he had studied for it for that past six months after all. But as he makes his way through all the basic questions his confidence slowly fades. He has never seen some of these runes and can only guess based on context what they mean. And suddenly mathematics is involved? What are these numbers doing here? Grammar in his speakers' entrance exam? There are basic questions about standard subjects like history, statistics and basic algebra mixed in between the language and the effects, uses and correct drawing of runes. Ruben looks around the room and calms down instantly. Sweat is dripping off almost everybody's foreheads. Confused faces scribbling, shaking their heads. One boy even seems to be crying. "Relax." Ruben thinks to himself and he takes a deep breath. "Skip the ones you can't figure out for now and get back to them once you're through all of the papers." As the bell rings and time is up he puts some finishing touches on question number 76 where he didn't get the line above the semicircle quite in the right angle. The papers are collected and everybody floods out of the room to wait for their results. Ruben didn't get all of the questions and skipped quite a few history and mathematics questions entirely, so he isn't all sure if he may pass but he finds peace in the thought that if he doesn't, he at least tried his best and it didn't waste as much money as it would if he failed after a few semesters. The others seem a lot more nervous. Ruben overhears a few conversations where some claim, in quite a serious fashion, that they would be disowned by their parents if they didn't make it. Some discuss their respective answers on specific questions which Ruben and some other kids don't recall. But everybody comes to the conclusion that there had to be different sets of questions. There is a fresh water fountain in the center of the main yard. The water is cool and refreshing with a nice crisp taste. Rubens concerns fade as he lays down in the grass and falls asleep in the commotion of his soon to be peers. The bell rings again and everybody returns to their seats. Ruben's excitement rapidly increases again as he waits for his name to be called. The first name echoes through the auditorium "Analena Erding, 120 Points. The lowest passing grade." A girl with blonde hair rises, obviously embarrassed but also happy to be called out. She makes her way to the front the teachers and Nedya say a few words to her and she nods frantically and is given a piece of parchment. She has tears in her eyes as she returns to her seat. She sits down and another booming announcement shakes the room up. "Elesiel Whitefoot, 132 Points." An elven boy drags towards the front. Again some words, a few gestures and he's on his way back. "Yestir Androw'elvor, 176 Points." "Eric Verdent, 204 Points" "Marcus Erding, 206 Points" The points rise and Ruben's name is not called. One after the other is accepted into the school. It feels like an eternity and Ruben begins to shiver in anxiety. His hands don't answer to him anymore and are becoming more and more sweaty. "Second highest passing grade." Ruben sighs, accepting his fate. "Alyssia Silvermane, 537 Points." Another elven girl stands up very confidently. Almost hopping and skipping she goes to the front, accepts her parchment, bathes in the reinforcing words of the teachers and strides back. "And last but certainly not least. With a count that has not been that high since our own Nedya right here took the exam almost four years ago." Ruben can't wait to see the face of the arrogant little elven child who "won" this exam. All of the last several calls have been elves in fact. Nedya herself is one even. "634 out of 700 possible points, being only nine points behind her." The admiration for that girl is sickening. "Ruben Beniart." What? Ruben is petrified. Him? How? His name is called again. As if pulled up by an invisible hand he stumbles up onto his feet. All eyes are now focused on him as he, almost entranced, walks to the front. Smiling faces greet him in front of everybody. "Well done." The oldest teacher nods in approval. "But don't rest upon this achievement just yet. Remember you have twelve of these in front of you on your rocky path towards purpose. Keep studying and working as hard, or even harder and you may even become a maester at some point." Nedya hands him his parchment and shakes his hand. Smiling as she does so. "Finally some competition in this ruin." They all laugh and Ruben almost floats back to his seat, his certificate grasped firmly in his hand. He did it. His dream of becoming a speaker is now actually within his reach.

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