The Iron Trial [Magisterium]

Chapter Three... This Is Why I Go To Private School

I opened the book and sighed. At least it was multiple choice. I glanced to the first question and raised a brow:

1. A dragon and a wyvern set out at 2 p.m. from the same cavern, headed in the same direction. The average speed of the dragon is 30 mph slower than twice the speed of the wyvern. In two hours, the dragon is twenty miles ahead of the wyvern. Find the flight speed of the dragon, factoring in that the wyvern is bent on revenge.

Revenge? Over what? I shrugged and then flipped the page. The next question was just as strange.

2. Lucretia is preparing to plant a crop of deadly nightshade this autumn. She will plant 4 patches of common nightshade with 15 plants in each patch. She estimates that 20 percent of the field will be planted with a test crop of woody nightshade. How many nightshade plants were planted. If Lucretia is an earth mage who has crossed three of the gates, how many people can she poison with the deadly nightshade before she is caught and beheaded?

Alright... Beheading aside at least I understand the math portion of this one. I suppose I could write down how I get the answer for that. The rest will have to be guess work. I thought as I shook my pen and set it against the paper. Blue ink splotched the page and I frowned. A defective pen? Or just an ink burst.

Chill out pen, no one needs that much ink to come out at once.

I was almost finished my test, mainly through some serious guess work when someone gasped. I turned to watch as ink splattered all over the place. The source of the trouble? That dark haired boy with a limp. The guy was covered in ink. I had to pity him a bit. Everyone was staring at him. Even the teacher looked amazed that he could cause so much damage with something so simple as a pen. I myself was impressed and I was a master at damaging things.

"Callum Hunt," Master Milagros said in a shocked voice. "Please - please leave the room and clean yourself up, then wait in the hallway until the group rejoins you." That small dark haired girl stood up nervously and I tilted my head at her. She was his sister I supposed.

"M-master. um he- um..." Whispers and giggles filled what once was the silence of the room as the girl tried to figure out what to say. "I also have ink on me..." She finally said, her cheeks heated.

"You may go Cas-"

"Cal! Wait!" I tsked as I heard someone giggle again while Callum banged out through the door, his sister rushing to join him.

"Callum Hunt..." I said softly. "Your sister is a mess... But the real question is. How on earth did you manage to do that?" I glanced to the mess where he used to sit and tilted my head. "Unless." I glanced to my pen before I dropped it like it had the plague. "The writing wasn't the test, the pen was. I'm such an idiot..." I held my left palm against my forehead until Master Milagros called the test over. I ended up handing in my test with a single question left unfinished. I knew it wouldn't change my score much, the damage had already been done. The first test... Was a failure.

* *. *

I stood with the other aspirants as we waited for Callum to finish in the bathroom. His sister Cas something looked like she was on full out panic mode without him there. When he came out I noticed his white shirt had dark blue handprints on it and his hair still had dried ink in it. I frowned as people muttered. His sister touched his arm and her gentle face took on a serious expression as she talked to him.

"Nice look with the shirt," the jerkwad suddenly said. He looked rich, like that Tamara girl. But something about the tailored casual-fancy design of his clothing spoke rich but hinted at something else. Perhaps his family was losing wealth? "For your sake, I hope the next test doesn't involve explosions. Oh, or, wait - I hope it does."