City of inheritance

Exam. Theoretical part

 

Liiran displeasedly looked first at the pompously solemn Din, shifted his gaze to Marika, who was focused on her inner world, and then to the suspiciously cheerful Tiyan. There was no one else to look at. And this despite the fact that he personally found everyone the day before and asked not to be late. And don't forget to give out passes. And the words of the great and wise that the city needs magicians with a chain on their belts, he repeated, although he did not want to. True, in the performance of Liiran, these words did not sound very convincing, but he is not the head of the council, he can be forgiven. Subordinates should have understood this. It seems to be.

- Where does he wear them? asked the leader of the group into space.

“Dorana was arguing with her brother,” Marika said distantly. Loud, half the street heard. Calm down and come, there is still time.

“Yeah,” Liiran said, vividly imagining the appearance of a feisty girl in the midst of the theoretical part of the exam.

It would be better if there was a hurricane. Or a dust storm arrived from the mainland. After all, Liiran will not have to answer for natural phenomena, but for one red-haired fool - easily.

- Okay, and the rest, what important things were delayed?

“Watermen…” Dean said like a curse.

— What, watermen?! Kalar asked menacingly from the doorway.

“One waterman came,” Liiran did not let Din speak. Only fights were not enough for him now for complete happiness. - Where is the second one?

“He buys some weeds,” Kalar smiled broadly. Like, I understood the hint, I will behave well.

Why does he need weeds? Liiran was genuinely surprised.

“Maybe he decided to take up medicine, witchcraft there ...” Kalar said thoughtfully.

"All right," Liiran sighed. “But why just half an hour before the exam?” I have to read this idiotic lecture to you and distribute protective equipment!

“Probably, he is not interested in the lecture,” Marika said judiciously.

Liiran was also not interested in her, but he could not afford to give a damn about the orders of the kindest and wisest. And Khiyat - easily. And nothing will happen to him for this, because everyone knows that he is an idiot, whom it is useless to punish. You'll just be wasting your time.

That's the power of reputation.

Cattle.

"It stinks," Ladai said, picking up the cup that came out of the park.

“Add honey,” Khiyat said irritably.

Do you think it will stop smelling?

- How should I know? Dela adds it to everything. It contains some useful substances.

Ladai sighed.

“Are you sure that this should be drunk and not rubbed somewhere?”

- Sure. I looked in the manual. It strengthens the body and restores the channels of communication with fire. Slowly, but somehow. If you don't like something, pack your things and go to surrender to the nearest hospital. She's literally two steps away...

Ladai chuckled.

"You're still lucky," Khiyat said irritably. - I could totally lose my mind. You can not force a person to look into himself if he does not want to. He's resisting, tearing everything in a row. It would be better if you looked into it, crushing its resistance and breaking the channels.

“Yes, I understand,” Ladai sighed.

Khiyat is right, the idea was really not the best. The channels, sooner or later, will be restored without any suspicious herbs. But what the former director, choking, told about the ghost in court is much worse. They tried to look for and call this ghost, of course, he did not appear. And now rumors were circulating around the city about a double, about a master of illusions, about stage makeup, and even about a petty demon or nature spirit. The fact that Ladai somehow miraculously survived was also said, fortunately, without much certainty.

Whether someone understood what kind of fire the director was frightened with, Khiyat could not figure it out. Surely someone understood, but he kept his guesses to himself. And the main version remained a point impact on the mind. And this is either the presence of an appropriate amulet, or, again, a master of illusions.

Fortunately, the time has come for the next exam, and everyone was not up to the ghost, which is either there or not.

“You drink,” said Khiyat. - Drink four times a day. I bought you a whole broom. And I'm going to take the exam. I have no idea what I'll be doing there...

“Go on,” Ladai waved his hand graciously.

Sitting all day in the house was boring and lonely for him. But don't ask Hiyat to stay. And the books are boring. It was necessary to come up with something. Somehow diversify your life, do something useful. Ladai never liked to mess around, but here he had to.

It was impossible to do anything useful sitting in the house. Where to look for something useful outside, Ladai had a vague idea, and he was no longer going to shine his face. And something had to be done about it. Disguise it somehow.

Khiyat and Dorana arrived at the same time. The guy was, as always, absent-minded and, judging by the expression on his face, he had a vague idea of ​​where and why he had come. The girl glowed with pleasure, and it was alarming. Maybe she figured out how to cheat on the exam, and it's not the worst thing she could think of.

It was too late to lecture these two, and Liiran didn't want to repeat himself at all. Therefore, he silently handed out beacons, amulets with light protection, and pointed to his subordinates at the door. What happens next is not his problem. They will fail, they will fail, the main thing is not to end up at the end of the list, otherwise the kindest and wisest one may require an explanation from the group commander. You need to find the culprit.

Where to go to the theoretical part of the exam, it became clear immediately. Crowds of dull people of different ages slowly and solemnly walked in one direction. Liiran's subordinates joined the stream. Dean carried himself proudly and self-confidently, he had experience and he sincerely believed that nothing could surprise him anymore, he was ready for anything and this time he would return victorious. Marika looked around with curiosity. Tiyan chewed something and did not show much interest. The rest were not up to the exam at all. Dorana looked at the back of Hiyat's head. He, in turn, carefully thought about something and barely fit into the turns. Kalar was interested in following the movement of the fair-haired girl, who put on tight and short pants. He did not seem to notice anything but the priests of this girl at all and followed exclusively after her.

The teachers appeared in the middle of the corridor as if from nowhere, causing the examinees to stop. The teachers looked at the crowd with displeasure. They ordered everyone who came for the first time to go through the door on the left, the rest to go further and look for the door on the right. Kalar waved at Dean, wishing him to get lost, and walked closer to the blonde in tight pants. The fact that she was a whole head taller than the guy did not seem to bother him in the slightest. And if there was any interest in the exam, it managed to completely evaporate.

Behind the door was an ordinary auditorium for lectures. Rows of long tables, near them wooden chairs with narrow and high backs. Podium with a table for the lecturer, a white demonstration board. A healthy plant with fleshy leaves and a bright yellow flower at the top stands in the corner. The windows were hung with light curtains, for some reason multicolored.

"Sit down," the stocky short man smiled invitingly. Completely unfamiliar. Probably coming from a foreign city in order to conduct an exam. For some reason, it was believed that the results would be more accurate if the applicants for the silver chain did not know the examiners.

Although, one of his own could also disguise himself.

The examinees dispersed to their seats. Dorana and Marika quite amicably pushed Hiyat closer to the center of the audience and sat down on both sides, as if they were afraid that he would try to escape. Kalar managed to get closer to his blonde and now admiring the back of her head from a distance. The girl turned from time to time and looked at him with displeasure. Tiyan, without ceasing to chew, perched on the edge of the third row, closer to the door, and sat there, pale and unhappy.

“So,” said the examiner, when everyone was seated. - Now you will have sheets with tasks that you will solve. You can't change. These tasks are tied to places. There are no similar tasks. You can consult, interfere with your neighbors in every possible way and run to the toilet every five minutes. Just be aware that time is limited. And after each exit from the audience, your task will change.

- And after the received advice? someone asked.

“If you can use it, use it,” the examiner smiled. - If someone has enough time to solve both his task and the neighbor's, both solutions will be counted for him. Trackers are built into the ceiling, so who decided what, we will know as soon as we send a request. If neither one nor the other succeeds, he will fail and will not be admitted to the practical part. All clear?

The examinees dejectedly reported that it was understandable.

My name is Martek. If you have any questions for me, please ask. So, let's get started.

On the tables, as if out of thin air, sheets with tasks and stacks of clean paper for solving were woven. The writing instruments materialized with a light pop. Several girls squeaked in unison.

- How much time do we have? a male voice asked hysterically from the back rows.

“Oh, yes,” the examiner smiled broadly. - Three hours, three o'clock. Three whole hours. But if someone copes earlier, he can safely go home. The practical part will not start until tomorrow morning.

Khiyat looked at his leaflet for a long time. Twisted it back and forth. Looked at the world. Then he put it on the table and pressed it with his elbow.

“Excuse me,” he said, looking absently at the examiner. “Is it necessary to summon the fiery spirit?” I have a bad relationship with fire, I can hardly keep it. Even a lizard ran away from me, such a black one.

The examiner blinked.

- You don't have to call anyone! He growled, slamming his hand on the table. - Write the number of the question and the answer: "Fiery spirit." This is the theoretical part of the exam. And start with the first question.

“But I don’t remember the answer to it,” Khiyat admitted calmly. “There was some bald man with a hare collar and a hysterical maid from the kingdoms. The river is also called that near Sadogar.

“Write what you remember,” the examiner advised and sat down. Apparently, communication with Khiyat was already enough for him.

The guy shrugged his shoulders and began to write, ignoring the chuckles.

Dorana looked at his paper, trying to understand where he found the spirit there. Then she spat on this matter and took up her own questions. She answered the first three easily and naturally. The girl loved history. But then some puzzles went on, in the solution of which the prepared cheat sheets are unlikely to help. The brother was right. I just wasted my time and didn't get enough sleep.

I wanted to find out where Khiyat found the spirit with renewed vigor. Surely among these puzzles.

“Hiyat,” called Dorana. Where did you see the spirit?

- A? The boy blinked absently. - It's just upside down. I look, the pieces are similar, only they are placed incorrectly.

— Aha! Dorana rejoiced. Indeed, who said that all the characters-pieces should be located correctly in relation to each other?

There were six puzzles. Dorana took six blank sheets and carefully wrote out a separate task for each. After quite a bit of time, she managed to collect four familiar drawings. Two more refused to gather, and the girl decided to give up the unsuccessful struggle with them. Who said that it is necessary to solve all the tasks?

The puzzles were followed by potions and first aid methods, which she knew almost to a professional level. Then some completely stupid problem in economics, which, it seems, was solved incorrectly, because the profit went into the red, but Dorana, after thinking, left it as it is. She never liked economics. Two questions a la "The lawyers would like to know ..." the girl ignored. She didn't want to know, not before, not now. Seeing something suspiciously similar to an unfinished game in The Field, Dorana added the missing plates, mentally thanked her grandfather for science and decided that she had done everything she could. The girl answered some strange questions about her favorite colors, geometric shapes and seasons without hesitation. The list of standard weaves, among which it was necessary to find the extra ones, seems to have guessed correctly. What to do with a drawing of dots and dashes, she did not understand at all. And finally, as an apotheosis of idiocy, among the questions was a diagram depicting a little man who was attacked by four with swords and three with gatherers' staffs. Under this picture was a sacred question - what should a little man do? Dorana wrote with a clear conscience: commit suicide. What else could be done there?

- All! - the girl told everyone who wanted to listen to her.

She stretched and looked around the audience. Marika was gone. And she's not the only one. Quite a few places were empty. Khiyat concentratedly poked something with a pencil on his sheet, as if he was trying to pierce a fidgeting insect. Tiyan was still chewing and writing. Kalar leaned to the left, propped his head on his palm, and admired the blonde's profile. I wonder if he even tried to solve something?

Dorana shrugged. She glanced at Hiyat's sheet. I was surprised to find that he was poking at a strange combination of dashes and dots with a pencil, and, deciding not to ask what he was trying to achieve with this, she stood up.

The examiner patted the small pile at his left hand with his palm. Dorana knowingly placed her piece of paper on top.

“Sign,” Martek smiled good-naturedly.

The girl, feeling that she was blushing, signed and rushed out of the audience until no one began to giggle.

Marika was found in the corridor under the wall. She stood there contemplating.

“Oh,” she said, seeing Dorana. “I thought Khiyat would come out.

— Hiyat? Dorana asked.

Why is she waiting for him here?

- Well, yes. He made a list of anti-burn and fire-retardant ointments. Turned out long. And I just need to look for reluctance in reference books.

"Yeah," Dorana said. Well, at least she didn’t need Khiyat himself. - He's poking at dots and dashes. Everything else I wrote.

“He wrote the rest a long time ago, even before I did. This scheme was given to him. He was going to fight with someone, or what? Otherwise, I do not understand his interest.

— Fight? Dorana asked.

- Well, yes. My brother taught such schemes. City siege, naval battle, something else. The power of the first blow is given there, and it must be distributed so as to inflict the greatest damage on the enemy. It won’t work on the second attempt, no one has so many magicians who can beat without a break ...

“I still don’t understand,” Dorana admitted. - But in the "Field" Khiyat plays great, maybe he will understand your schemes.

"They're not mine," Marika said with an indignant snort. — Okay, I'll catch him tomorrow night, after the exam.

- What do you say? - Darine Atana put a dozen sheets of exam answers one by one in front of the assistant and took a step back.

“A funny decision,” he approved, picking up the first sheet. “Link Raiv,” he somehow made out the signature. - But I think his dad taught and it's just a drawing that is not applicable in a real situation. He lost the game in the "Field". Look at the shapes you've entered. Horror.

- OK. The kindest and wisest nodded. - Look further.

“This, this and this is nonsense. It's just that the guys realized that something needed to be crossed out and crossed out. It's... Laugh, laugh, dear fish, I wouldn't have thought of it. Advise Mina to take a closer look at this girl, out-of-the-box thinking, that’s the most for the compilers, ”the assistant waved another sheet in the air. On it, the battle diagram was turned into a round aquarium. — Further… Uh-uh… Khiyat Daka? I wonder if he's serious or guessing?

- What did you guess?

— Look, what a gap. If you need to break out of the environment and distract the enemy for a while ... Yes, it can work. But ... But I will not undertake to teach him and will not advise anyone. Have you seen his answers?

- I saw it. Understands what he should not, and, apparently, ignores what he is not interested in. The brainbreakers, by the way, said that he was practically unmanageable, he would do only what he saw fit.

- Here. An unsuitable personality for a battle mage, especially one who has to command people. It's a pity. There is talent.

- And what to do with it?

- Never mind. He will figure it out himself, choose something for himself and become a master. Leave the guy alone. You can't put everyone under your wing anyway.

The kindest and wisest sighed. A practically defenseless city, in which a new guardian will not appear in any way, battle magicians are very much needed. But if the best of the teachers of these same magicians refuses to teach someone, there is no point in insisting. He knows what he is doing and why. And if he said that it does not fit, then it is so.

Khiyat was sitting on the roof, holding on to a metal pin with one hand, on which a blue flag with three vertical white stripes fluttered. The other hand was extended forward, palm up, and on it lay a golden egg, warm and, it felt, alive. Somehow he knew that soon someone would hatch from this egg, the main thing is to hold it, exposing it to the sun's rays, and shake it less.

“This is how they are born,” whispered behind him. — Out of stubbornness, borrowed strength and desire.

- Who? Khiyat asked without turning his head.

— Dragons that inhabit the human soul.

The inhabitant of the egg knocked loudly, apparently hinting that it was time for him to leave.

- And what? Khiyat asked.

For some reason, he didn't want to drop the egg and run away, even though it didn't seem like a bad idea.

"Don't be afraid," said the voice. “It won't be your first dragon. You got the first one when you invoked your element. A good dragon was then born. Water. Similar to the ocean. Your second dragon came into this world when you stubbornly saved that boy and risked touching his fire. But this dragon is small and is unlikely to ever grow up. The fire next to you is not very comfortable. But he helps you to reach someone else's fire. Your third dragon appeared when you saved the boy, risked arguing with death. You know, now it will be much easier for you, but do not abuse it, this little dragon still needs to grow, and such dragons grow slowly.

- Yes? Khiyat asked.

“Yes,” said a voice behind him, somehow very warmly. “Your friend also has dragons in his soul, I think you can guess why.

And this dragon? Khiyat asked.

The inhabitant of the egg again knocked and cracks went along the shell.

“This is the city,” they said from behind.

And the shell fell off. The yellow dragon in the palm of his hand started up, raised the comb, grumbled something in displeasure and grabbed Hiyat's finger.

The guy yelled, shook his hand and woke up.

Sat down, relaxed.

“Well, nonsense,” he whispered into the darkness.

Strange, but the finger hurt. Khiyat, out of childish habit, put it in his mouth, pulled it out and tried to examine it. Naturally, nothing happened. I had to get up, turn on the lamp, and then look at four tiny punctures for a long time. Like someone was poking with a needle. It was in those places where the fangs of a newborn dragon grabbed in a dream.

— What kind of nonsense? - the guy asked the night outside the window.

He never received an answer.

In fact, he had never even heard of dragons living in people's souls. Or heard? It seems that in childhood Taladat told a fairy tale about such dragons. A fairy tale about how some magician found the true power in himself. True, Taladat did not explain what kind of power it was, but already too many questions had accumulated for the guardian.

I wonder where he is now wandering? He always managed to disappear exactly when he was needed, and to appear after the problem, one way or another, was solved. It was like he was waiting on purpose.

And in the morning you need to go to the continuation of the exam. Some stupidity.

How is it possible, with the help of questions and passing the labyrinth, to decide how worthy a person is to be considered an adult, independent and responsible? Hiyat absolutely did not understand. And they refused to answer this question ten years ago, Including Taladat.

Until the morning, it seems, it is still far away and, probably, it was necessary to sleep, but Khiyat decided that he would read better. I didn’t want to see the continuation of the dream about the newborn dragon at all.

Also, Hiyat had a feeling. Premonition. Like a vibration in the air. Something was approaching, something not very good, or rather very bad. It crept, quietly and cautiously, but the ground still trembled from its steps. Khiyat even tried to listen, but as soon as he concentrated, the feeling disappeared.

Maybe it's because of sleep? Now dragon steps seem to be everywhere. As if there is some kind of stupid dragon willing to exchange the Rocky Islands heated by volcanoes for something less warm and cozy. Well, for dragons. Unless relatives will expel. Only the exiled dragons are just legends. Even the fact that dragons are intelligent, no one has been able to prove. Dragons do not notice people. Or they ignore. They are not interested in people. At all. Even as food. Meat, as it turned out, these reptiles do not eat. What they eat, it was not possible to find out. And the calls of any insects wandering between their rocks, they proudly ignore.

Fools trying to kill a dragon have not been born for a long time. Even collectors won't do it. Useless because. The allegedly valuable skin of a dead dragon dissolves in the air faster than a copper coin in fire-water. Fangs, meat and everything else do not lag behind the skin.

I wonder how dragons from the Rocky Islands are born?

Khiyat sighed and smiled at the night. Who knows, maybe the dragon that hatched in his dream is now found on the Rocky Islands. Maybe that's how they are born.