Blood of the Ancients

Chapter Two: The Ferrum Test

James studied his exam rotation closely as he exited the bleachers. His first exam was to test for if he was a descendant of the Ferrum family. James learned about the families in elementary school, and the Ferrums looked amazing. They were a family of alchemists that could alter chemical compounds with the energy of the soul.

James entered the central hub of the ferrum branch of the school, where the teacher looked focused writing lesson plans for the 3rd year students. The hub was a large circular area branching into several hallways, but the halls were blocked due to a temporary setup for the placement test.

The bell rang, and the teacher sprung up faster than you could recite the entire bee movie script. He knocked over a jar of metallic dust, but remained calm. He took a piece of metal out of his pocket, and held it as he conjured a yellowish, ghostly aura that surrounded it. He knelt down on the floor, and drifted the metal along as it magnetized the metal fragments and cleaned up the mess. He held the metal over the jar, which was still intact, and he made the aura appear again. The metal dust dropped neatly into the jar, like a crane dropping cars in a scrapyard. A collective "Wow" emerged from the class.

"Sorry about that", the teacher apologized. "I'm Mr. K, the Ferrum/alchemy teacher here, and today . . . I'm gonna teach you how to do THIS". Mr. K knelt down, as that same yellow haze covered his own arm. "SWISH" went his arm, out of the yellow glow, but now it was . . . a sword? His arm was a sword! Proud of himself, he arrogantly pointed his sword-arm straight ahead. As soon as he pointed his arm, a voice that sounded like it needed a decongestant shouted from the back of the class, "Heil Hitler!", and the class roared in laughter. Mr. K slowly lowered his arm in shame, and face-palmed. "Alright, alright!", Mr. K shouted to clear up the noise. "lemme get my seating chart for a second here . . . there. You, Charlie . . . Kerosene?" The class chuckled. "Yes, my last name is literally Kerosene. You got a problem with that?", Charlie answered. "Yeah . . . nice job mentioning Hitler and flammable liquids in front of a Jew. That's the first time anyone's gotten a demerit on the placement test.", Mr. K retaliated. "Lucky for you, you get to stay because today might be the most important day of your life".

"So, back to normal schedule.", Mr. K says as he passes test tubes around the classroom. "Now, this test will be short", announced Mr. K. "These test tubes have two separated substances. One on the top, and one on the bottom. What they are is not important.", He spoke while pacing around the classroom. He then turned on a projector. The picture it projected depicted two molecules. Mr. K started speaking again, "I want you to close your eyes, point your hands at the tube, and imagine the molecules combining. I'll give you 5 minutes . . . and, go!" The kids immediately started trying at it. They looked so focuused and silent, you'd think they were robots. The first minute passed, and no one had any luck. Then suddenly, a screech that sounded like it was ripped straight from a Roblox video came from the back of the room. Charlie nearly jumped out of his chair. "I did it, I did it, I did it!", said a young girls voice. Mr. K came to examine her test tube. The two liquids had formed a green goop in the center of the tube. "alright . . . 5 millimeters . . . ok!", Mr. K mumbled while typing in the results. Well, at least the students knew it was possible now. James, however, had no luck.

The classroom slowly filled with more and more noise. "How'd you do that?!", "Whoa!", "I did it!". "Time", announced Mr. K. About 1/6 of the students had managed to complete the task, as expected. "Now keep in mind that it's OK to not succeed here. You have no control over your birth parents, and sometimes you powers are completely random!", Mr. K attempted to comfort the students. "The bell should ring soon, so I wish you luck.", Mr K said as he walked back to his desk.

James overheard a passing conversation between two students who were whispering. "I wonder what the Nox are all about", said one. "From what i've seen, they're pretty rare", replied the other.

"Diiiiiing" the bell sounded, as a mixture of ecxited and cripplingly nervous kids sprinted out of the classrom.