Interlude XXV

  (Larry Yo-Boy’s BiPrism News)

  “Good morning everyone, today is another fantastic day that I get to spend with you. With the people I love, and I get to talk about the things that I love the most, gaming,” Larry began exuberantly. He was clean shaven, wearing a well pressed shirt, no longer sporting the odd T-Shirts with pixies on them. Instead, he wore a shirt sporting a pixie princess, one that now sported purple eyes and a mischievous smile.

  There is still a bit of a paunch that Larry had gained from his month-long downward spiral, but right now he clearly seems to be put together and in a much better frame of mind.

  Also of note is that there is once again a camera operator who is zooming in and seeming to help display video clips and streams in the background. Signs that Larry was no longer alone in his operation.

  “What do we have today? Well, as usual we have everything BiPrism ready to go. Of course, there is the Pixie tryouts, we have videos of people trying and failing miserably to do her introductory tests.”

  As Larry spoke and gesticulated with both hands, the screen behind him changed to show the Pixie yelling at mages and Qi users both, making them do odd exercises while blatantly showing signs of either creating spells, or transferring energy between their own hands. Making a very beautiful, if somewhat eerie montage of effort.

  “Yes, the testers were able to take the test as many times as possible. So long as they made their way through the training field at least twice they were taken seriously as candidates. But to begin I will let the Pixie herself tell you what she had planned.”

  With that, the video shifted once again to a picture of Dr. Spiritlight floating above the masses of students.

  “I want you divided into your chosen field of interest from the start. Mana users to my left, your right here.” With that Dr. Spiritlight gestured to a wide-open area, causing a bright transparent blue light shine over the area.

  “Qi users, or those wishing to take the Martial path of learning over here to my right, your left.” With that a second bright box of transparent green light appeared cutting off another wide area of the courtyard. Though there was still one swath down the center between both boxes that was big enough for four people to walk shoulder to shoulder through.

  “For those wishing to waste our times and try out for both Qi and Mana at the start, proceed to the center.”

  At this declaration, a third transparent purple rectangle was created to fill the center column allowing people to try out for both types of learning.

  Fast forward.

  The scene quickly sped forward as everyone shuffled to their intended trial destination areas. Dr. Spiritlight expanded and contracted other zones as more people seemed to be interested in trying out for the purple zone than originally expected.

  As the people moved to the purple zone, Dr. Spiritlight could be seen shaking her head in admonishment but otherwise keeping quiet. Her only words during this time were spent directing those next groups that were waiting to join to get into place so they could go faster. This was demonstrated as everyone began moving like herds of ants moving over and through each other. A process that was made somewhat easier by the fact that the mortals could momentarily pass through ghosts that made themselves incorporeal for this process.

  Finally, once everyone was in place, the fast forwarding stopped and showed the Doctor once again giving complex instructions that she demonstrated.

  Helping to Clarify, Larry gave the modified descriptions, using cued up video segments to highlight his comments.

  “The mages were to first create a spell, but not cast it, just form the idea of the spell within their mind and have it visualized within one of their hands. At which time they were to jump into the air and pass the spell to their open hand. Extra points were awarded if the user could change the frequency of the spell once it got to their other hand, or they changed the spell’s purpose and therefore its overall structure. Then they were to jump up in the air and toss the spell back to their original hand, changing what variables they could, the repeat until they either passed out, or the Doctor told them they failed.”

  From there, it was clear that a few mages had already began practicing the guidance given, while Dr. Spiritlight went on to explain the process to the Qi users.

  “Qi users were to jump into the air, using only one leg or appendage to rise into the air, where they manifested Qi at the end of their three appendages that did not touch the ground. Then when they landed, they had to land on an opposite foot and manifest Qi at the ends of the three appendages that were now not touching the ground. Failure to land on an opposite appendage, or failure to remove Qi from one of the limbs or manifest Qi at the end of the newly elevated appendage within three seconds would result in an end for that round.”

  This is where Larry smiled.

  “As for those that wanted to train for both Mana and Qi, they had to do both. Jump into the air on one foot, land with the other, alternate Qi to raised appendages. All while manifesting and transferring a magic spell from hand to hand.”

  That’s when the image changed to show Dr. Spiritlight performing this very act that she described. Except she did so doing a cartwheel. As she spun around slowly, she used her feet to manifest and hold the spell before transferring it, kicking it like a hacky sack, all while brightly manifesting her Qi for everyone to see.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Once she got to an upright position, she did make sure to give people one last chance to reconsider.

  “Anyone want to reconsider the idea of being accepted for both Qi and Mana studies?”

  With that, the line in the purple zone began to shrink as people went to either Mana or Qi studies. Some apparently understanding the tasks and their own coordination just left, not wanting to waste time.

  In fact, this was the time when a few hundred students chose to leave. Not just from the early group that was now being tested, but from the mass that had gathered entirely.

  Seeing that some left on their own accord, Dr. Spiritlight smiled a faint knowing smile.

  “Okay, let us begin. Once you drop, you leave and someone behind your line takes your place. Any questions?”

  “Grogahagaahhh!”

  Once again people who couldn’t hear themselves tried to speak, but their voices all sounded incoherent over the masses of other voices that also tried to cry out.

  “None, good, now begin!”

  From there, a series of exercises were conducted. Some mages pirouetted and made a big show of throwing the spell up into the air, before catching it. Others tried to pass as many times as possible in one jump. Some threw the spell, and found themselves dropping before they could catch the spell, causing the spell to fly off randomly.

  Burst.

  The moment the spell left the control of the caster, Dr. Spiritlight was there to detonate the spell before it could cause damage. Then the errant student was dismissed.

  For the Qi users the operations were far more intricate. Many highly gifted physical classes found themselves falling at the simple task of jumping from foot to foot, while trying to manifest energy at their extremities.

  Thump, thump, thop.

  When students fell down or otherwise failed the exercises they were dismissed quickly. Many looked like they wanted to argue, but were told they could try again by going to the end of the line.

  Fast forwarding some more.

  The faster the images flew past, the more impressive some of the failures became. Student’s spells fizzled and popped out of existence, while highly trained assassins failed to keep their balance before tumbling forward and ultimately out of the training grounds.

  “Enough!” Dr. Spiritlight called out, causing everyone to stop.

  “You are all dismissed. Those of you that I am now marking, do not dare get back into this trial grounds before you remove the colored spots from the marking from your hands.” Dr. Spiritlight called out.

  And like that the entire grouping of students, new and old alike, were kicked out. Some of the new students also received the marking on their right hands.

  “So these,” Larry began, while zooming into one hand and displaying an image that looked like a symbol made out of different sheets of painted glass. “These are amazing, those colored patches are meant to represent different schools of magic. Basically, by manifesting a spell in the hand that held the marking, they will be allowed to earn the next stage of training. But you must follow in order of the color that is highlighted the most. So red for fire, blue for water, etcetera, and you must do it all in the order shown on the marking. Do it five times in a row, and the colors fade, and you can go back to earn a spot.”

  “Qi users had to do the opposite. The marking here is a way to practice, but different than the mages. See this one randomly appear on an appendage and will not leave, until the user manifests Qi on the other three appendages at the same time. At which point the marking changes appendages, and the user has to try again. Do it five times per appendage and you can go back and practice.”

  “No one earned a marking from the Qi and Mana users section. At least not at first. Not until Adorndale, as you guessed he had to do both, the mage and Qi test at the same time in unison, without missing a beat.”

  With brutal efficiency Dr. Spiritlight cycled through each group of students, weeding out the weak. While also letting several students quit voluntarily.

  Then once everyone had a shot through the gauntlet, Dr. Spiritlight continued.

  “As you can see, we are training to time, not to standard. If it was to standard I would get every one of you that has already gone through once and decided to stick around until now a chance. Unfortunately, time is a currency that is impossible to retain for future use. Everyone who has a marking that is broken step forward now.”

  At this point, Dr. Spiritlight proceeded to tell a modified version of what Larry had already discussed.

  “Those that have stayed this far, despite not earning a marking, that is fine. You can still get all the markings; you just have to try a little harder to catch up. As you might or might not have guessed, there will be three markings, anyone who earns and then unlocks all three markings will be given a spot here. Those that don’t, will be based on your performance and my opinion of how hard you will work to learn while in my class. Any questions?” The Pixie began.

  “Gratagahanatahta.”

  Once again, everyone that was near Dr. Spiritlight couldn’t hear themselves and ended up talking over and around everyone else.

  “None, good, now that we are on the second round we will increase the intensity. Nothing new. Same exact exercises as before for each group, but this time I will increase the gravity. Again, any falling, missing your spell or loss in balance will result in you having to leave and try again.” Dr. Spiritlight began.

  Once again, the images forwarded. For the next two groupings no one that received a marking at first managed to pass the trial of their markings, making those that didn’t get markings at first have a chance to try to catch up.

  Anyone with a still complete marking on their hand found that they were unable to enter the large and transparent training area that everyone started in. Causing those that still hadn’t managed to earn their first marking to try harder and be recognized. But their bodies were slightly warped as both groups seemed to struggle slightly at the increased gravity.

  “From what we can tell the gravity was increased by a tenth for the Mana users, and two tenths for the Qi users. With an increase of three tenths for those that still wanted to try to learn Mana and Qi. This rate of increase continued each round.” Larry explained as the video did time lapse passes showing how more and more perspective students left, whittling down those that remained to half.

  Finally, the first mages and Qi users who completed the task, then so long as they stayed until the end they received a second marking, which reignited the first marking, meaning the users had to figure out how to stop both.

  The hard part was that often the colors were different for mages, meaning two spells of two different resonance frequencies had to be created and then passed to each other. The spells would then be caught, before the next spell resonance colors would appear, which they would have to alter both spells within ten seconds to the new resonance to continue.

  “Look, I know college is supposed to be fun, and magic colleges are supposed to be amazing, but if this is the new entry standard to get in, then these mages are going to be monsters by the time they get out,” Larry stated.

  More fast forwarding.

  Now a few Mages and Qi users got into the groove and began truly excelling at the tasks being given.

  Seeing the success of those that received the second marking and were starting on the third marking caused a few who had not gained a marking at all to leave. Meanwhile, those that stayed all showed grit and determination.

  “So yeah, the tests are still ongoing. If you keep following our blog, you will see live updates. As always, we will keep you posted on our number one rankers to get accepted, and those that fell off or quit.” Larry concluded.

  “Now as noted at the top of the hour, there are a few more minor things to note. The Blighted Munchkins, those super users who used all their free points on one time or thrice time kill daggers have now made landfall and are apparently going on killing sprees. For anyone asking, they seem to be akin to vampires that are allergic to condensed magic. A few tried to enter World’s End but slowly felt their bodies burn away, like vampires. Meanwhile those that managed to arrive at the mainland have seen an unprecedented rise in power and capabilities.” Larry noted.

  This time the images showed people wearing worn leather hides that covered their faces and bodies. The only sign that someone was alive underneath were the glowing red eyes that hid under the hoods at all times of the day or night.

  “And the last thing of interest, the last of the old-world Gods, Regicina, the Dark Elven goddess of destruction and pain is being attacked by members of the Omni-Jacks Guild, the recently advanced third ranked most powerful guild in the server. With this death, there should be a new world and guild achievement. No doubt done as an attempt to try to catch up to the recent advancements of the Midnight Hunters Guild.”

  With that, the scene once again changed to show a group of explorers in mobile but highly mechanical steam powered mechanical tanks rolling and climbing down dark and foreboding catacombs, filled with deep fissures of lava and magma.

  “As always, I am Larry Yo-Boy wishing you a great day. And hoping that you all take a moment to stop and appreciate all the good things in life around you.”

  With that, the lights slowly dimmed, revealing only a silhouette of Larry, and his pearly white teeth. Even as the lights began to dim, Larry could be seen mouthing the words, thank you.