Mother came to wake me up early. We ate breakfast as a family, got dressed, then made our way out of the house.It was late summer, and the sun was already strong this early in the morning. We walked down the winding path to town, shielding the sun from our eyes.
Walking up to the towering double doors at the school entrance, I felt apprehensive. There was a queue lining up at a small booth in the middle of the entrance.
I couldn"t see past the long line of parents and children, but I heard a constant stream of chattering. It sounded like a ma.s.s of people lay just past this booth.
We waited our turn, inching forward. Reaching the booth, a woman with a ponytail and thick rimmed gla.s.ses sat inside. She was looking down, scribbling notes.
She extended her free hand without looking up.
"ID and registration fee."
Father took out a black card from his sleeve and placed it in her palm. He looked down at me,
"Oscar, your license."
I reached into the storage ring and grabbed the license, handing it over to her. She took a look at the cards in her hand and did a double take.
"Oh, oh!" her head shot up and she pushed up her gla.s.ses, "I"m so sorry, I"ve been so rude um… welcome to our humble…" her nervous chatter set me a little on edge.
"Don"t worry," father interrupted, "we"re not one of them,"
"Oh… um…" she looked confused, her eyes darting between the cards and father.
"We"ll pay the registration fee," father a.s.serted.
"Yes um… thank you very much sir."
Father sighed, and the lady placed the cards in two slotted blocks. Light ran in circuits down the blocks, then blinked. The light that came from father"s card was close to a fluorescent yellow.
The woman bowed her head, "thank you for your patronage."
We walked past the booth, and father shook his head.
"That"s exactly why I hate all this…" he said in a low growl.
Mother stroked his back and chimed in,
"It"s okay honey. That"s just how the system works."
Father grumbled along until we reached the end of the entrance hall.
Before us lay a huge uneven square, encircled by many buildings of different shapes and sizes. The hefty flagstones underfoot were warped and incredibly smooth.
It was difficult to tell just how many people were in the square. It could have been anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand.
We were standing in a throng of families wishing their children good luck. Out of interest, I channelled qi into my eyes, but I felt father pinch my cheek.
He kneeled down in front of me and stared at me solemnly.
"Oscar, you can"t do that. If people know that you can cultivate already, you"ll be treated… differently."
He grabbed my face in his huge hands.
"Promise me. You won"t let any of your cla.s.smates find out about this."
"What about the teachers?" I asked.
Father nodded.
"Your teachers need to know. When they test you, give them the pardon and license. But don"t let any of your cla.s.smates find out, alright?"
"Mm," I nodded in agreement.
"Good."
Father ruffled my hair and stood back up.
"Go on then. Do me proud."
I smiled at him, then felt mother tackle me in a sweeping hug.
"Good luck baby. Promise me you won"t push yourself too hard?"
"I promise."
I broke away from her hug and looked around. Kids were filing towards the front of the crowd. I followed one of them, weaving my way through groups of parents.
Finally, I broke through the crowd. Soldiers enforced a line, keeping parents from crossing it.
"Eight plus entrants on this side!" a man in green robes called out. He was standing on a large stone to the left of a staircase.
"Thirteen plus entrants on this side!" a man on the opposite side of the staircase called out.
Two groups of kids were divided by a wide cobble path which led to the staircase.
At the top of the staircase was an arched entrance way, leading up to the left. A proud bust stood at the top, and I could see names scratched into the surrounding stones from here.
I took a good look at the group of kids my age. I was almost a head taller than them, so could see them quite clearly. I immediately spotted a familiar mop of shining blonde hair.
I ran up, pushing through the crowd.
"Davide!" I yelled.
The mop of hair spun around, flopping as it turned.
"Big bro!"
Davide came up to me and we greeted with a solid handshake.
"Dad said you were coming! I"m…"
He was interrupted by the man at the front of our group.
"You there! Get to your side!"
I paid him no attention.
"I"m so happy you"re here!" I told Davide, a smile beaming spreading across my face.
"You there! The tall one! Come here!"
The tall one… was that me? I turned around to face him.
"Yes, you! Get over here!"
A murmur spread through the crowd, and it parted as I walked up to him. When I reached the raised stone, he looked down on me with disdain.
"Disobeying orders already? I don"t care if you want to say goodbye to your little friend, you need to get into your group."
"But Sir, this is my group!" I complained.
The man snorted in disbelief. "Show me your ID."
I was hesitant to pa.s.s it up to him. The whole crowd was watching, and father told me that my ID was different. If they all saw it…
Luckily for me, he stepped down from the stone, to stare daggers at me from closer up.
"Well?"
I hid my hands as best as I could and brought the license out of the storage ring. He s.n.a.t.c.hed it from my hands, and read through the details, then handed it back to me.
He bent over and spoke to me in a threatening voice,
"Listen here, brat. I don"t care who your daddy is. When you"re in my school," he paused for dramatic effect, "You follow my commands. You speak when you"re spoken to. Got it?"
I nodded, and in my best teacher"s pet voice, I chanted, "yes Sir!"
"Hm. Go back to your group."
He stepped back up on the stone, and started shouting again,
"Eight plus entrants on this side!"
I walked back to Davide, and he greeted me with a worried expression.
"What was that?"
"Don"t worry about it!" I laughed.
Truthfully, this situation was highly amusing. I had dealt with teachers like that my whole life, stuck in their own little world of self-importance. They were the easiest to handle.
In addition, the lady at the booth had worried me. I had thought that I might be feared by the teachers for being "n.o.bility", but this man"s reaction put me at ease.
Plus, I didn"t mind a bit of attention. I had done enough blending into the crowd in my past life. I wanted to stand out this time round.
I caught up a bit with Davide while we waited outside. After about fifteen minutes, the man on our side cleared his throat.
"Attention!" the chatter of the crowd died down, "I am mister Wu. You will call me Sir. Eight plus entrants will be examined first. Follow me in an orderly fashion!"
Following in an orderly fashion was a bit much to ask from a rabble of nervously excited eight-year olds. We pushed up the stairs and around the corner, entering a ma.s.sive hall.
Huge wooden pillars supported a ceiling covered with intricately painted wood panelling. Old wooden floorboards creaked under our weight as we flooded in.
At the front of the hall was a raised platform with two large pillars in each corner. The largest crystal I had ever seen, in this life or the last, sat proudly in a stone ring at the top.
It was slightly clouded, and hairline fractures spread across its surface.
Wu walked up to it, and the woman from the booth burst through a side door. She hurried up to him, handed over some sheets of paper, then ran off.
Wu turned to face us, standing next to the crystal, then spoke in a booming voice.
"You will be called up in groups of ten! Form an orderly queue to my right," he pointed to a flight of steps at his right, "and wait to be called up individually!"
From another side door, a slight old man with a large cane stepped through. Wu snapped to attention, clacking his heels and saluting.
"Sir!" he cried out.
The old man gave a dismissive wave and kept walking. Each tap of his cane echoed through the hall. With slow, purposeful steps, he walked up to the crystal.
He turned to face the crowd.
"Welcome!"
That single word cracked like thunder, electrifying every student. All the slouching eight-year olds bolted upright and turned to face him, me included. It was instinctual, I felt compelled by him.
"I am chairman Liu," each word sent an electric chill up my spine, "there are many applicants this year, so we have set the bar high. The entry condition is a qi force of 80."
Groans spread through the crowd. Beside me, I heard a kid mutter to himself,
"No… Why…"
Similar sentiments spread between the kids.
"Emperor"s scholars must have a qi force of 150, and a 90% affinity." He tapped his cane on the floor, sending out a deafening crack, "Let the testing begin!"