Hello! I apologize for the late update. I just hadn't had the time to write this book at all! I won't give up on this though so please continue supporting! Thank you very much!

Very soon, it was three days later. The testing began mid-morning. Many of the disciple-hopefuls looked very worn out as they strode into the open grounds of the Temple to take the last part of the test. Their faces ranged from all sides of the spectrum—from optimistic to the opposite, doubtful to arrogant.

I had made sure I was well-rested last night. Compared to some knuckleheads, I enjoyed a good sleep despite the pressure. Talk about talent—this was the only thing I could do with my eyes closed. Literally. Even if I could handle a sleepless night or two, nothing would ever stop me from getting at least six hours of sleep.

Erenol was the opposite of me. She hadn't slept a wink being the nervous wreck she usually was. Maun looked weary but was oddly enthusiastic.

In terms of talent and capability, I would not doubt Maun. It was Erenol that I was somewhat worried about. I had faith, nonetheless, that she would come through. This girl was just like that somehow. She whined over every little thing like an annoying biatch, unfortunately. I really wondered when she would get over that.

As I stood there zoning out, the first phase of the final selection process finally begun. A monk stuttered forward with slips of paper in his hand, clearing his throat in front of the crowd. "We will examine you in batches. Due to the limited personnel, we will take some time. Each batch is expected to take one and a half hours at least to be tested. As it is, we will first call the first batch and put up the names of other people who will undergo their tests today and the succeeding days. Each batch has about five people. With over two hundred of you final examinees, it's expected we have forty batches. We can only process six batches per day.

"That being said, please check your names on the papers we will be putting up on this side." He pointed to the wall over to the right. "If you don't see your names there, that most likely means you did not pass the previous tests too. Please don't hassle us with reconsideration. Our decisions are final."

"Alright. The first batch is...Oilen, Kertis, Loúrta, Érant...uh...Pelíran. Please come forward. No one is allowed to spectate until we move to the elimination process."

The first batch of examined moved out from the crowd. They moved forward to heed the call of the monk at the front. There was a bit of commotion once all the candidates were pooled together. The monk seemed displeased. Sometime later, he announced once more, "Any place-swapping is forbidden," he said. "We will know. Once you commit this offense, you and your associate will be banned from taking future tests. And please try not to lose your stones. That automatically means your forfeit your spot."

After everything was straightened out, finally, they were pulled away from the waiting crowd and guided to the back, beyond a few walls and finally out of sight. Some were nervous, others were just neutral. Upon confirming their names and checking their stones, they all made plans and left for the day they were to be tested.

Except for me.

I kept starting at the papers they pasted onto the walls, disbelieving.

"What's wrong?" Maun signed.

"My name...isn't on the list," I said. I then looked at my stone, brows furrowing as I thought of what went wrong that I didn't pass. I simply couldn't believe I didn't. Wasn't I given the booklet with the Movement of the Seven Dragons and told to come back three days later for this? Didn't that automatically guarantee my position, at least? How come I ended up not being included?

"How can that be?" Eren inquired.

I left the announcement wall and walked towards the monk standing at the front. He was cleaning up after everything, sweeping the grounds with a broomstick to gather all fallen leaves into one place.

"Sir, excuse me," I began. "Can I ask for help?"

The monk stared at me tiredly, leaning on the broomstick. "You want to be reconsidered?"

"It's alright," I said. "I wouldn't want to bother you with such things. I would, however, appreciate to see the outcome of my results in order to learn from my mistakes. Is there any possibility that I can get a copy of my test results or if there was any comments from the evaluators? This is my first time applying and I would like to know where I can improve and see where I went wrong. There's still next year for me to try. I'd like to be prepared by then."

Maun and Eren were watching with their usual dumbfounded faces. They must be amazed with how good I was in b*llsh*tt*ng my way through the problem. I was basically just questioning the whole thing. I wasn't directly asking to be reconsidered anyway, so that should help these monks swallow the bitter pill with my load of crap. I was just good like that.

Hearing my reason, the tension on the monk's face lightened. He even seemed a little delighted. "If that is your reason, then of course. I think it can be done. Can you give me your stone to check?" the monk inquired. He straightened his back and steadied the broom with one hand. He then held out the other to me with a small smile, the orange sleeves flagging as he revealed his calloused fingers.

I gave my stone to him as I lowered my head in thanks. "Here you go, sir."

He accepted it from my hands. "Come with me," he said, lifting the broom from the ground and carrying it with him as he led me away.

It turns out these people were quite reasonable to talk with. They weren't very difficult to request assistance from if one acted humble. I looked over my shoulder to find Erenol and Maun tailing after us. I held out a hand to stop them, saying, "I'll be back soon so stay here. I'll let you know what I come know," I gave them both a smile. "Go back to the mistresses and do something else. I'll be alright by myself."

They stopped following at that while I continued to walk away with the monk I asked assistance from. To be quite honest, it was very hard for me to know and distinguish who was who among these guys. They all had shaved heads and orange robes. Their appearances were very uniform save for the different faces.

I could not help but feel nervous about the possibilities of why things happened as they did. Nonetheless, I had an inkling this had something to do with that last test with that old monk with the lute. I think that, as much as I hated to say it since it sounded arrogant (even in my head), I somehow shocked him into forgetting about giving me a score. After all, I might have gone a little overboard with my performance.

Well, what was I supposed to do? I had no basis and I was already holding back as it were. Amber gave me the ability to understand virtually every language—and I suspected his doing that might have also affected my comprehension of the mystical cosmic language...the language of the universe. Though I was struggling, I had a better grasp of it than the monks in the temple. That was, of course, provided that that old monk with the lute—I think his name was Sen—was already the best among his people.

I didn't want to be too presumptuous, nonetheless. I was probably already being presumptuous, but whatever. It was better to be a surprised pessimist than a disappointed optimist. I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I had the tendency to be like that at times.

As I got lost in all these thoughts, we finally came to a room housing an artifact. It was tall, golden, riddled with jewels in sacred extravagance. There were complicated inscriptions on the surface and several towering networks that it almost seemed like a sculpture of a sort. This one, however, was moving. It buzzed with energies taken from the many elements of nature, changing colors depending on the Domain that was powering it at a time. Aquamarine for the water and the seas, a lighter blue for the wind and the sky...all the sort.

The monk put down the broom, leaving it to lean against the wall.

"This is the artifact we use to read the stones," he told me. He placed the stone beneath the artifact, into a little compartment where it fit, and was greeted a layer of colors. "Mm...okay. Well, that's weird. What is your name?" he asked.

"Evyionne," I told him.

"Indeed. Evyionne, yes? This is how you spell your name? It's a name that rings of tradition from the West."

"Yes," I agreed, nodding.

Please go straight to the point. I appreciate the small talk, but please give me my test results.

"It matches the one here. Your energy signature matches it as well...Wait a moment and please don't touch anything," he said.

He went over to towering shelves and opened a drawer after checking the label. He leafed through files of paper stacked inside and pulled out a piece with a messy ink handwriting. He checked the contents and nodded several times—scratches his head after double-checking too.

He went over to me and showed me the paper.

"It seems you didn't get a score from your evaluator on the test before this. It's not even zero. Just a blank. That is weird...Unless you forfeited, you should've been given a score at least." He looked at me quizzically. "Otherwise, you...have a very impressive test score in the previous evaluation. You have high affinity and favorability with Vagun, only seen in one of our most established monks in the Temple. Has something happened during your evaluation?"

Vagun, huh? I almost forgot about that thing I had talked over with the Abbot. As a coverup ability, it probably would be good. They wouldn't demand I show too much of it, mainly because it could be inconsistent. I could, just like I did just now, b*llcrap my way through it all. I should be able to survive if I came up with stuff once in a while.

"Well?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Does anything come to mind?"

"I'm sorry. For that evaluation..." I sighed. "I tried my best but Master Sen ended up...blabbering away. I waited thirty minutes for him but he was still talking so I had to leave in case I was holding him up. A monk told me I could just follow it up to him later, but it seems to have been forgotten."

"I see. This is indeed a problem. If that's the case, then there must've been some kind of mix-up. This really rarely happens. I suppose the person checking the scores did not think much of what had happened." He scratched his bald head as he continued looking at the piece of paper in his hand. "Let me bring this up to the other monks and seek out Master Sen for this matter. It's going to be a while, though. Would you be willing to wait until this afternoon so that it is sorted out?"

I lowered my head gratefully, nodding at the monk. "I wouldn't know how to thank you, sir. Thank you so much for bothering with my case. I'd appreciate it if you look into it. If I performed poorly, I'd love to hear some feedback as well. I don't believe I can't improve."

"Alright then. Back this way." He pointed to the door. "Or you can personally come with me," he said. "Master Sen is terrible with names, mainly because he doesn't ask for them."

"So I need to show myself?" I asked softly.

"It should be no problem," the monk told me.

"Thank you. Can I have your name, sir?"

"It's Ten," he replied.

I followed after him quietly before raising my voice to ask, "Do all monk names have to be in the single syllable? I mean...Sen, Ten, Myrrh..."

"We live our lives only with the utmost necessities. We strip ourselves to the simplest of names because a long one...what would you do with four names?"

"Is that not quite required with the rest of the world?" I inquired.

"Indeed, we aren't asked to give up our birth names completely. We still have identities we use to deal with the outside world," Ten replied. "Though, when we practice our ways, we adapt into simpler means to make it easier."

"Doesn't that, ironically enough, make things more complicated? If you just stay with the name you're given, that means less hassle with dealing with one more just for practicing what you believe in?" I pointed out. "Won't switching between the two be problematic?"

Ten looked down to me speechlessly. "Tha—well, okay. Our birth names are often heavy with the past—a past that most of us aren't exactly proud of. Some of ours can choose to retain it or take new ones completely out of their own will. Taking on a new name simply means a form of rebirth and a change of heart," he explained.

"That explains it." I nodded.

"Master Sen belongs in the upper council of the Temple. They should be spectating the proceedings of the test now. I reckon we'll find them in the watchtower."

I nodded in response to his words but said nothing.

I then trailed after Ten, making sure I stuck close but not too close. He brought me to the same direction where they brought those other people for the last part of the exam. We came into an open courtyard upon following the path and were greeted with the first batch of the monk-hopefuls lined up to form a block.

I stuck close to Ten as we rounded the testing ground and climbed a tower of a sort that overlooked the whole courtyard.

"And start!" the monk standing in front yelled.

They began exhibiting the stances of the Movement of the Seven Dragons. They were struggling with maintaining that bubble of energy though. One boy in particular failed halfway and his energy bubble cracked.

The moment it broke, he was ejected from the group and sent packing.

"You have failed," said the overseeing monk. "Please see yourself out. The rest of you, continue!"

The rest of the examinees continued. Nonetheless, some of them fell midway. The group thinned this way.

We reached the top of the tower. It wasn't so high so as to not hear what was going on from below. It offered a better vantage point though. The vocalizations of the examinees from down below reverberated crisply too.

"Masters," Ten bowed deeply. "I bring a matter to you about the examination."

"What is it?" the Abbot inquired.

The Master Sen, the Old Monk from before, looked over. "It's her!" he exclaimed upon seeing me. "It's that rascal I was talking about!"

"Hmm?" I caught Old Monk Myrrh—my Mistress Veronika's teacher...if I wasn't mistaken—look over as well. Our eyes met. To show my respect, I lowered mine and bowed.

It's been a while since I saw this guy. His bones must still be creaky.

"Master Sen, please watch your crude words. Do not set an example to the youths," the Abbot said.

"How else am I going to word it?" Master Sen told him.

Ten cleared his throat. "Masters, Abbot," he began. "It seems this girl was not given a score in the test conducted by Master Sen. It was left blank instead of the usual zero, so I thought to check with you if this was right. I apologize for bothering."

"What? Really?" Master Sen dumbly scratched his bald head.

"Indeed, Master." Ten brought over the stone I was given for the exam and handed it over to the said monk.

"Ha..." Sen looked at the stone.

"Look at your irresponsibility," cued Old Monk Myrrh as he sipped his cup of tea.

"No...that's not...eh. Did I not really?"

"We should really consider resigning. We're all turning old," the Abbot said, laughing.

"Well, then..." Master Sen tapped on the rock. A brief flash of light engraved itself inside before he threw it over to me. I caught it with a hand and lowered my hand thanking him once more.

"Thank you, Master."

"Why don't you perform now?" Master Sen suggested.

I lifted my head, a little startled at the suddenness. "Sir?"

"You're already here. Join the others and finish your test today."

I looked at the group and swallowed. "Haven't they already begun?"

"You can go with the next batch," Master Sen replied. "What about it?"

"Hehe..." Old Monk Myrrh laughed into his cup of tea.

I looked at them hesitantly before nodding. "Alright. Thank you for reconsidering my position. I'll try not to disappoint you."

"Well now she's incredibly polite," Old Monk Myrrh commented from the side. "Indeed two-faced like her mistress."

My brow twitched as I bit back the wave of annoyance urging me forward. Ha! Two-faced? I'll show you!