The three of them began weaving strings and tossing them at Quint. The pressure of the magic assaulted him as if the inquisitors threw soft little pillows at him. Ultimately, the second black-uniformed man threw a string at Quint, making him freeze.
“That one got through?” the officer asked.
Quint couldn’t respond. The officer created the counterspell, and Quint could feel a tingle as the freeze thread dissipated.
“Remember, you are exposed no matter how good you think your shield is. But I would rate your string as very good, and that is the hardest string to master on your list.”
“In your opinion,” the officer in green said.
“The relative strength of all strings is based on experience and opinion,” the second officer said.
The green uniformed officer nodded.
At that point they went through every string and wanted as actual a demonstration as was possible in a room inside a building. The woman had guessed that the ordeal lasted over two hours but not three.
“Definitely a Level 3. Have you been working on any other psychic spells?” the officer in the center asked.
Quint didn’t want to tell him about any, but he said he was still practicing three.
“Take your time with those,” the officer in green said. “I’d rather you get some years on you before learning more strings.”
“Yes, sir,” Quint said, although he thought the comment wasn’t an order.
“Now, it’s time to see how much you’ve learned about the military.”
Quint spent another hour answering questions about what he had learned in his nine months at Fort Draco.
“I would rate his military as competent,” the man in the center said before looking at Quint. “Few recruits are given that rating with only one year of training.”
Quint’s history rating wasn’t as good, but military history was also competent, and geography was adequate, which the officers considered better than average for recruits.
“I think we’ve seen enough, Recruit Tirolo. You can return to your room. You will receive your assignment tomorrow after lunch. Enjoy Bocarre.” The officer tossed a purse on the table. “At the corps’ expense.”
He gave Quint a tight smile, and the three officers filed out. After barely reaching the refectory after missing breakfast, Quint went to his room and removed his uniform jacket to nap. The interview was grueling, and the schooling questions were more challenging than demonstrating strings.
Quint exited from the front door of the annex. At the gate he was stopped by a guard.
“Tirolo?”
“I am Quinto Tirolo,” Quint said.
“Good. Your escort is waiting on the other side of the gate. You can pass to meet her.”
A female? Quint thought. He expected the woman who had helped him manage the interviews, but the female was a young woman, maybe not even that: someone his age.
“I have a guide?” Quint said.
The pretty girl flashed her thick eyelashes. She had large brown eyes and smooth tan skin. Her dark hair had thin ribbons mingling with her long ponytail was tied with a ribbon and a bow at the bottom. Racellian maidens wore long hair unless they were working. Most girls worked in his village, so the ribbons and the ponytail looked fetching to Quint.
“You do if you are Recruit Quinto Tirolo.”
Quint smiled. “I suppose I do. Do you have a name that can be disclosed?”
She smiled. “I am Talia Occo. I’m nearly eighteen if you were wondering. If I was told correctly, you haven’t been sixteen for very long.”
“I haven’t,” Quint said. An older woman would escort him, he joked to himself. “Do you have a plan of what we will see?”
“There is a market a few blocks away. I can show you some prominent buildings on the way. The High Council Palace is in a different part of the city along with most Racellian administration buildings. One hundred years ago, the Wizard Corps was frowned upon about the time the Wizard Corps building was getting too small. I understand the headquarters was built a good distance away by mutual agreement.”
She began walking, and Quint obediently followed.
“And what is your connection to the wizard corps?”
Talia smiled. “I’m a soldier in the corps. I am sometimes called upon to escort Recruits around the city. I was a young inductee, like you. I earn some extra money doing this. You do know you’ll be buying me dinner?”
“I do now,” Quint said. At least he wouldn’t be eating alone in a few hours.
“Were you pressed into service?” Quint asked.
She giggled. “Oh, no! I volunteered. My father works at the headquarters. I work for a division that has its own building in Bocarre.”
“What is interesting about Bocarre?” Quint asked. “I’ve never been in a city before. Where I live, I can move between four villages and a town, and that is it.”
“Most of Racellia is like that. We call it the one-day rule. Everyone lives in a district.”
“My father needed a warrant to sell his wheels to other towns.”
