Amara looked up to inspect this new stranger, who returned her gaze with a look that’s reminiscent of a startled rabbit. The man hastily shifted his gaze to Ms. Vexpley, and spoke in a timid, high pitched voice: “Who is this?”
“Amara, an Academy applicant with something you’ll be interested in.”
Ms. Vexpley turned towards Amara, and explained: “This is Dr. Montrose, one of the leading researchers into weaponry development this nation has to offer, and I believe that the, uh, stink bomb you produced would be of great inspiration to him.”
Dr. Montrose reached up to scratch his nose, but Amara still saw his uncovered ears turn crimson.
“Of course, it is entirely up to you if you’d like to let the Academy know of your own methods, as we do value effort and creativity.” Ms. Vexpley continued. “If you do choose to let us know about the designs, the Academy—in fact, just myself has enough authority—to offer you monetary compensation, as well as the removal of one of the penalties I gave earlier. Does that sound like an equal offer?”
Amara’s eyes widened as she mulled over the opportunity. For the benefits, she’d obviously caught the attention of some highly positioned individuals while other applicants haven’t, and the method to make her beetle stink bombs isn''t particularly difficult or important to her. She’d be easily gaining favor and goodwill which would put her at an advantage, but the downside…
“I can show and explain how I make them, but it’s related to my Talents, so I can’t guarantee that others can make it like I do…” Amara decided to be honest.
Ms. Vexpley frowned at her once again. “Would your Talent be related to scents?”
“No!” Amara quickly denied. “So, it started when I was seein’ some dung beetles one afternoon, and I saw how their little balls get bigger n’ bigger until it looked like they were rollin’ themselves by the end, so I decided to see if I can modify them into dung balls with beetle legs that can move by themselves. I began by making a few more too see if they can just carry the dung—”
“Hold on! One, one second, please.” Dr. Montrose interjected suddenly. “You made a few more of…?”
“Beetles?” Amara responded.
“Is that your Talent?” Ms. Vexpley’s brows furrowed deeper.
“No no no, my Talent is the concept of Life.”
Before either could ask more questions, Amara extended her hand out, while simultaneously tapping into her energy pool. Just a hint of green flashed across her palm, then a black insect occupied what used to be empty space.
Dr. Montroses’s jaw dropped. The young, freshly existing beetle waved a limb at him.
Amara exhaled a small sigh of relief. Over the years, she had come to the realization that showing people what she’s capable of doing is much easier than describing, and often turned frustration into various degrees of surprise. However, she knows that this very moment isn’t the time for shock or confusion, so she proceeded to use a version of explanation that she had perfected in the past: “My Talent allows me to create organic matter or whole organisms that aren’t bigger than me in size. Plants are easier for me to control because they don’t have sentience, but for animals like beetles, I can still create them, but they’d have a mind of their own and I can’t order them around like grass or a grape vine.”
Complete silence followed after Amara finished speaking. The two adults stared at each other, unblinking, while Amara grew increasingly nervous with each second of inactivity.
‘Am I screwin’ this up?’ Eventually she had to turn to the presences in her mind for confirmation.
I sense their vital signs, they’re likely in shock. Life said.
‘Is that a bad thing?’
I can sense if they’re healthily alive or not, but I unfortunately cannot read the minds of mortal creatures. Life replied somewhat exasperatedly this time.
Well if things don’t go well, there’s always another school to go to. Destruction made an attempt at comfort. Just don’t forget the money.
‘What money?’
You-
Dr. Montrose saved Amara from whatever Destruction was going to tell her by speaking up in time: “Pardon me for the rudeness, but…but can I take a closer look?”
“Sure!” Amara was eager to have the topic changed. She gently transferred the beetle into Dr. Montrose’s hand, then told him: “You can have it, if you’d like.”
“Really?!”
“Of course. It’s probably not goin’ to live as long as a regular beetle, but a few months shouldn’t be a problem.”
Dr. Montrose held the beetle between his hands like he was cupping a soap bubble. Without taking his eyes off of the insect, he spoke to Ms Vexpley: “This is going to be worth oh, oh so much!”
“You didn’t even ask for the rest of her invention story yet.” Ms. Vexpley said in an annoyed tone, but her words were promptly ignored.
Amara coughed a few times to mask up her urge to smile. “Well, in the end, I just decided to get really good at makin’ insect legs that could attach to anything that smelled bad. The end product is just a dung bomb that could run on its own while I run the other way, and not be caught setting them off.”
“Did you hear what she…never mind.” Ms. Vexpley grumbled. “He’s not going to understand a word from anyone in this state. Anyways, I thank you for your information; What would you like to name the price for it?”
Ask for a mansion and lifetime supply of carrots. Destruction chimed inside Amara’s head.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
No! Have you never learned how to time your comments properly? Life chided him.
Then ask for instant admission, I suppose.
Have you also not learned how to avoid possible academic dishonesty?
Is that recyclable?
Amara’s head ached as the two deities proceeded to quarrel. On the surface though, she tried her best to look hesitant, and thus caused Ms. Vexpley to change her stance: “Would you like me to make an offer instead?”
“Please.” Amara pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Our average prices for live specimens lie around 2,500 gold pieces each, and a minor technology discovery averages between 500 to 1,000 gold pieces. Would you take an offer of 3,000 gold?”
Amara stumbled from being startled by the price. She knew that the gold did not mean the metal, but rather a unit of currency, equal to ten silver pieces or one hundred bronze pieces — which are terms that also meant currency and not the corresponding metals. To the best of her knowledge, 3,000 gold pieces is enough to keep her family fed and sheltered comfortably for around a month; her usual pocket money consisted purely of silvers and bronzes, so to hear that a simple trick of hers fetching so much gold was beyond her imagination.
“Yes! Wouldn’t that be too much, though?”
Ms. Vexpley seemed to be fond of frowning expressions. “That would be a fair price by Academy standards, and the funds would be given to you by cash, considering you’re still too young to have an individual financial account. Which penalty would you like to remove from the examination process? Written exam time deductions? Or the interview limitation?”
I recommend removing the written exam deduction, since we all know how fast you can be at that. Life spared just enough time to give Amara a suggestion, before going right back into bickering with Destruction.
Amara decided to follow Life’s words, and was then directed by Ms. Vexpley to leave the lab room they were standing in all this time. Before the door was shut behind her, Amara tried to say a quick goodbye, but Dr. Montrose’s figure had disappeared behind the labyrinth of equipment.
Due to the ongoing godly quarrel, Amara remained wordless as she followed Ms. Vexpley on the way back, as she focused most of her attention on nursing her headache. Therefore, it was only when they were stopping at the entrance to a crowded assembly hall did Amara notice they were trudging down a different path all along.
“Excuse me, where are we?”
“The hall for written examinations, of course.” Ms. Vexpley looked back at her with yet another frown. “Unless you’ve decided to not apply after all.”
“No, that''s not what I meant! Sorry.” Amara was flustered. “Shouldn’t I be back in the lineup, though?”
“It would have been your turn to this hall anyway.” Ms. Vexpley gestured behind Amara. The latter spun around, and sure enough, about a dozen children around her own age had appeared with a leading teacher figure at the front.
Ms Vexpley swiftly walked towards the teacher and pulled them aside for a quick hushed conversation. Afterwards, the new teacher led the other children to Amara, and told her: “Ms. Vexpley is going back to the entrance to help with other teachers now, so can you please follow me? Everyone else here is also going to take the exams with you.”
Amara nodded and fell behind the new teacher when she entered the hall. The space had room for approximately hundreds of students and dozens of unoccupied desks, though nobody was speaking. Amara and the others were each led into a seat far away from each other, and was directed to look at their test instructions carefully in a hushed tone before the new teacher rushed back out of the hall.
There were still plenty of teachers in gray suits around the hall, so nobody was daring enough to cheat. Amara simply tried to wait for a pen and paper when the whole desk in front of her lit up like a gigantic screen, and slowly displayed words at an easily readable pace:
Welcome To The Academy For Military Training and Preparation For Combat Related Situations (AFMTPFCRS)!
This is the Written Examination portion of the Entrance Exam, where there are MULTIPLE sections for questions that you’ll see.
For the General Questions section, you’ll be expected to answer each question as truthfully and honestly as possible. Do not worry about marks or time limits on this section; your answers will be provided to the interviewers as a reference.
For the Basic Knowledge section, you’ll be expected to answer each question to the best of your knowledge. There will be a total of 200 marks, and you will be expected to complete this section in 150 minutes. This section will directly present as your Written Examinations final grade and be reflected as a percentage score.
Good luck!
Amara’s head gradually stopped hurting as the tenants in her head stopped infighting to focus on the exam requirements with her. However, after she finished reading, their verbose natures resurfaced extremely rapidly.
I suggest— Life began.
Do the Basic Knowledge first!
No, clearly the General Questions first, as that will impact the interviews.
‘And this is why I’m awful at writing exams.’ Amara complained internally as her headache returned. She tapped on the desk-screen a few times, revealing that the General Questions section appeared first.
As I was saying—
Do the General Questions first! That’s what I said!
Shameless.
Amara clicked on the question one.
Why did you apply to The Academy For Military Training and Preparation For Combat Related Situations (AFMTPFCRS)?
Trying her best to ignore the chatter that ensued, she answered “Because my family wanted me to, and because I think my Talents would help.”
What do you expect to learn?
“Basic knowledge, better uses for my Talent, and a purpose in life.”
What is your desired career path?
Amara paused for quite a bit on this question. Oddly enough, even the deities quieted down at the back of her mind, almost as if they’re waiting for her to respond.
Eventually, Amara wrote down something simple: “I don’t know.”
The deities remained silent, which would’ve unnerved Amara otherwise, but for now she was just glad there weren’t any distractions to fend off.
A few more similar questions later, Amara clicked the screen to reveal the next section.
Well, if it’s BASIC Knowledge, it shouldn’t be as hard to answer right? Destruction finally piped up.
As if you could answer anything. Life said.
Hah! I’m going to answer whatever question that comes next! Amara, don’t listen to me until you do your own problem solving!
‘Alright.’ Amara sighed as she anticipated another headache, then tapped on the screen to reveal the next question.
Let f(x)= x3 ? 6x2 + 9x + 2.
<ol>
<li>a) Find f′(x) (the first derivative).
b) Determine the critical points by solving f′(x) = 0.
c) Use the second derivative test to classify each critical point as a local maximum, local minimum, or point of inflection.</li>
</ol>
Amara stepped out of the assembly hall without much of a headache. In fact, her head had been eerily silent for over an hour, without so much as a breathing noise from the tenants inside her mind.
‘Is everything okay?’ she thought to the deities as her body numbly followed the flow of other people towards a large building that looked like a gymnasium from afar.
Oh, I am perfectly fine. Life answered smugly. If you’re asking about a certain other individual, he is not.
Blatant lies. I am also perfectly fine. Destruction appeared with a calm speaking tone.
‘So did you solve the problem? I left it completely blank.’ Amara asked.
Do not invoke the wrath of a Deity, mortal.
Life’s chuckling sounds felt like it was reverberating inside Amara’s skull.
‘On a different note,’ Amara winced from the sensation. ‘I think the next part is physical combat related.’
Excellent. Let the might of Deities be known across the land once more, chosen one. You have been trusted to champion—
We better stay forgotten and unknown if her fighting skills are as good as your mathematics. Life interrupted.
Amara preemptively started to massage her temples, and her foresight did not disappoint. She kept her head down low as she half-walked, half-squeezed into a different interior space with plenty of seating, though instead of desks and chairs, this location had benches encircling a grand empty area in the middle of the room.