Chapter 85   - Keeping a Low Profile

“Seems like you’re lost.”

Of course, he just appears as if it was a coincidence.

Captain Zerith stood towering over him, amused.

“Seems like your organization is lacking,” Kai said.

"Touche.” The man didn’t lose his grin. “Do you need help to get to the next examination?”

Kai wasn’t sure what to make of the man. “What game are you playing?” He boldly asked, certain the man would play dumb.

“Should have I told them everything there is to know about you?”

The equally direct answer took him aback. Kai had thought the captain would deny it, instead, he went straight to the point. “No, it’s fine. I just—”

I just don’t understand what you get out of this.

That was a bit too blunt even for this conversation.

“—don’t understand why you did it.” That was better, a tad less accusatory. Zerith seemed like a nice guy but looks could be deceiving.

The man leaned closer. “Are you a smart kid, Kai?”

“Yes?”

What is he getting at?

“I think so too.” He ruffled his hair. Kai forced a neutral expression.

Why do adults keep touching my head? Keep your damned hands to yourself!

Zerith assumed a marginally more serious demeanor. “As you know, the governor is interested in your master. Don’t ask me why, you probably know more than me. You’re just a nameless pawn who makes for a convenient bridge between them. If I were you, I’d try to avoid attracting attention.”

“How does this make sense?” Kai frowned. “They should already know about me. It was the governor who gave me the letter.”

Zerith chuckled. “You think very highly of yourself. Your master is only one of many people the big boss pays attention to. She doesn’t personally know or care about you. The people you meet will sooner attribute your skills and achievements to luck rather than think any deeper. But if they were to discover you had received even a smidge of the governor’s attention, they might take a second look, and think there is more to you than meets the eye.”

Kai nodded, thoughtful. It seemed the captain wasn’t a big fan of the governor and was doing him a favor out of either spite or kindness—little did it matter. He had to count on bureaucratic miscommunication to stay out of the spotlight.

“You said it again.”

“What?”

“You said she. Isn’t the governor a man?”

“Did I? You must have heard wrong.” The flash of a bitter smile on his face. “Come on, let's get going. You have more tests to do.”

Kai wasn’t going to get gaslighted a second time, but he had no power to make Zerith admit anything he didn’t want to.

He has such a strange sense of humor.

Thankfully he hid part of his skills at the knowledge test. And according to Zerith, people were going to downplay his results in any case, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

The government buildings around the main square were interconnected, but only so big. Kai would have liked more time to think things through when they walked out into a paved inner courtyard.

Kai squinted his eyes from the sudden light change. The place was deserted. From the withered flowers in the vases around, the courtyard didn’t see much care or use. Most of the windows looking in were barred or broken and not a shadow crossed the ones he could see through.

“I can’t tell why, but I don't think this is where the other kids got tested.”

“Glad your head is not just there for decoration. Signing up for all three tests caused some organizational issues, so I kindly offered to personally test you.” Zerith gave him a cheeky smile. “Who could be more qualified than the captain of the garrison?”

“If you don’t want me to attract attention, getting overseen by the captain himself doesn’t sound like a great plan.”

“Don’t worry. I’m famous for being eccentric and making whimsical decisions. The paper-pusher will think this was an excuse to laze around and let them deal with the selection.”

“I can see how they would think that.”

A shiver ran down his spine, for an instant Awareness went awry. There were no changes in Zerith's laid-back attitude.

“Why are you so tense?” A smirk was plastered on the man’s face. “Impatient to start? Choose your weapon.” He gestured to a rack in the shadow of the building. Only two weapons on it.

“How do you know I use a sword?”

“I have my ways. I know I’m so handsome it may come as a shock, but my head isn’t just for decoration either.”

Sure. Three silver that it’s a skill.

Looking at the rack, it wasn’t much of a choice. One sword was bigger, made for an adult, while the other fit him almost perfectly.

“Good choice!” Zerith took the other blade and walked to the center of the courtyard. “Come on, attack me.”

Kai was glad to notice both weapons had a dull edge, but it didn’t reassure him entirely. The large smile on the man’s face was worrying.

I’m starting to think this was all a huge mistake.

Reading his stance, Kai struck his left leg chaining a few probing attacks to get a feel of his opponent. Zerith parried them with a bored expression. Thank the spirits, he showed no intention of responding.

Falling into the lull of battle, Kai put more strength behind his blows, still careful not to leave himself open to a counter. The sharp clash of metal resounded with increased frequency.

Zerith yawned. “Is that the best you can do?”

“Didn’t you tell me not to attract attention?”

“Yes, that’s why we are in a deserted courtyard. No matter what you do, I’ll fill the report with a slightly above average result and the usual observations.”

“What if someone sees us?”

“These buildings are deserted, all the personnel are busy with the selection. Even if someone comes this way, I’ll notice them first.”

Fine, if you're really praying for me to hit you.

Not holding back anymore, Kai went on the offensive. After practicing countless times with Elijah, it was interesting to face a different opponent. The captain had a much more conservative style, executing minimal movements to parry his attacks. Kai tried his best, but Zerith’s sword moved like it could see the future. There was no opening to be found. As the captain began to make strikes of his own, Kai was forced on the defensive.

“You are too predictable. Stop staring intently at where you intend to attack. Kids your age might not have time to notice and react, but you can’t count on always facing opponents at your level.”

Following his advice, Kai tried to hide his intentions. It wasn’t easy when he was already being pushed to his limits. The clang of the two swords grew more frenetic.

The sparring turned into a coaching lesson. He had no idea if Zerith's Swordsmanship was higher than Elijah's. He was so far beneath them both. While the butler only pointed out his mistakes with a jab to his ribs, and let him figure things out by himself, the captain explained exactly what he did wrong and how to fix it. Given his role, Zerith might have taught hundreds of recruits.

“Is that all you are capable of?”

Kai put some distance between them, heaving for air. He was dripping in sweat, the sword in his hands started to feel heavy. He had not held back, only refraining from using Empower to complement his attacks. Zerith might be trustworthy, but he didn’t know him well enough to reveal all his cards.

“Swordsmanship is not my main specialty. Was that not good enough?”

Zerith gave him a meh expression, lowering his sword. Kai couldn’t help sighing in relief that the spar was over. His skill had even leveled.

“Good enough for your age. Outstanding compared to other islanders. But I guess you didn’t get an apprenticeship for your ability with a blade. I’d be curious to see your mana skills, but it’s better if you keep those under wraps.

“I’ll put level 50 for your weapon skill. Good, but not enough for people to take a second look.”

“There’s something I don’t understand.” Kai voiced a growing doubt. “If the aim of these tests is to determine our skill levels, I’m sure there are ways to read the status of kids who haven’t unlocked their second seal.”

Kai didn’t say it out loud, but the captain was likely to have such skill.

“There aren’t that many people in Sylspring who can read seven-year-olds with accuracy. The backlash of scanning one or two would be fine, but a hundred is not a small number. But if you’re interested, I could take a look at you.” Zerith gave him a dangerous look before he burst into laugher.

“Come on, don't look at me like that. You should know it’s extremely rude to probe another’s status unless absolutely necessary. This program would turn into a publicity nightmare if we started doing that.

“Practical tests also have more advantages. Simple numbers tell you very little, and skill levels aren’t always a perfect reflection of how good you are. It gets even more complicated if you consider synergy between skills.”

If he decided to use Empower or elemental magic, his offensive capabilities would increase exponentially. But he could also imagine someone with the same skills might have no idea how to apply them all in a fight. Virya taught him that long ago.

“Ready for your last test?”

Kai noticed his sorry state, his clothes covered in sweat. He didn’t care about the examiners’ opinions, but he didn’t feel like spending the rest of the day like this.

Motes of blue mana gathered at his fingertips out of habit. Imprinting his intention upon them, tiny droplets pooled at his feet, sliding off his clothes and body till he was dry. Sweat was mostly water after all. It wasn’t as good as a bath, but it was much better than before.

“What?”

Zerith was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Now, that was more impressive than you think. I guess we found out what your master saw in you. Your Water Magic skill must have more than a few levels.”

“Yeah,” Kai said, not trusting himself to add anything more. It was a neat trick he came up with to dry off after a swim. With his own body as the target, it was extremely easy. Elijah didn’t blink twice when he showed him.

“Ehm… just to make sure, how much do I show at the mana skills test?”

Zerith scratched his beard, “Level 30 Mana Sense and half that in Mana Manipulation.”

“That low?”

The captain gave him a long judging look. “You don’t frequent many people your age, do you?”

His ears heat up, “What does that have anything to do with it?”

“If you went out more, you’d know it.” The jerk even winked at him.

“That girl from Higharbor made it snow all over the square.”

“Well, that girl had been tutored in the magic arts since she could talk. If you want to avoid attracting attention, she is the worst person to take as an example. Now, let’s go find that pompous mage. You can leave the sword on the rack.”

Questions crowded the tip of his tongue, coming out in an incoherent mess.

“Who is she?” He finally decided to ask the most basic question.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, they are mostly true.”

“You must know more than that.”

“I do.” Zerith stopped. “But, as I won’t go around telling people about you, I won’t tell you about her. You can ask her directly if you want to know more.”

“And how would I do that? It’s not like I can summon her with the snap of my fingers, and she would probably not answer me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. She looked very impressed when we were sparring earlier. Not to mention the face she made when you used elemental magic.”

Kai stopped dead still in the hallway. “You told me no one was going to see us.”

Zerith patted him on the back. “There was no harm in letting her see. She doesn’t have enough knowledge about weapon skills anyway. I thought I’d do you a favor and let you make an impression on the girl. How could I imagine you’d cook up some magic on the spot? Don’t worry, I’m sure she won't tell.”

“You. Are. Sure.” His voice went up an octave.

“Come on, Kai. What’s done is done. There is no point getting angry now. If you ask her nicely and smile, she might promise to not tell a soul.”

As he was seriously considering his chances to strangle Zerith, a group of voices grew closer from down a corridor. A group of enforcers came into view and Kai tried to calm himself down, pushing the burden on Acting. They immediately went quiet and gave a formal salute to the captain, who waved them along.

“You good, Kai? The pompous mage gets prickly if you make him wait. I would usually suggest we take a panoramic detour, but he’ll be the one testing you. Better if you wait until you're done before irritating him.

Spirits help me! I’m going to slap that cheeky grin off his face. May it be the last thing I do.

They walked in silence, his mind buzzed with scenarios. Zerith told him it could be dangerous to attract unwanted attention and then he fucked him over.

Calm down. She only saw a parlor trick. She’s what nine or ten? I’ll just need to convince her to keep quiet about this or that she saw wrong.

He had not been looking forward to meeting that snobbish girl again. Now he began to hope she would turn up soon. Flynn mentioned how her father sold himself to the governor. If she took an interest in him, it wouldn’t be a stretch for his name to reach unwanted ears.

“We’re here!” The captain cheerfully announced, loudly knocking on a door. “I’ll see you later.”

Before Kai could react, Zerith was waving from the end of the hallway. A faint giggle echoed after him.

“Come in!” A voice called from inside, a clear note of anger in the tone.

Conscious any delay would only worsen the situation, Kai steeled his resolve and entered.

An old man with a bright yellow hat and a long beard glared at him. He was sitting behind a desk, while at the other end of the room was a group of nine kids. They huddled together looking at him with schadenfreude. Kai recognized pigtails girl among them.

“So, our very special boy found the time to come. Please take your time, it wasn’t like we were all waiting for you. And where is that fool Zerith? Does he think I’m getting senile that I wouldn’t notice him lurking around.”

I’m so gonna strangle that idiot.