1 Exam

"Oh nooo, the cockcrow ..." Richard thought, closing his eyes immediately. "God of the Mountains, please tell me that I'm wrong".

He did not answer the God of the Mountains but his wife Doris "It's time to get up old man".

The two are a man and a woman in his thirties but with the appearance of forty. Both high enough share the height alone as a common trait. He is robust and broad-shouldered. Tanned skin and black hair. Tight eyes of the color of the wood. She is slim and well proportioned. With light brown hair, big and blue eyes. In youth they were certainly considered attractive, but certainly could not be called beautiful. Now the hellish work and misery have left hollow faces and deep dark circles.

Resigned to his wife's words, Richard gets out of bed without opening his eyes and moves using only his memory to the window near the table to get dressed. During the week he is proud to have the ability to get dressed, have breakfast and get to the mine without even turning on the brain.

Today, however, it is not the usual day.

Every two years, on the tenth day of the month, the Lord of the city sends his Examiner to check all his possessions as prescribed by the previous King.

Today is the day when the honorary Examiner will present himself next to the well of this place forgotten by the Gods, "Mountain Ass". A settlement born in the last fifteen years around the iron mine located on the slopes of this nameless mountain. A handful of houses, a well, two shops and a blacksmith. Nothing more. So much so that the Lord has never considered the settlement not even worthy of being called a village.

The purpose of the Examiner is to verify the unique ability of every child who has already completed ten years. Richard's examination was about twenty years ago and the only skill that was found engraved in his soul was "Constitution". The ability gives it some resistance to diseases and fatigue. A fairly common skill among slum people. His wife Doris, on the other hand, is famous in Mountain Ass for her "Common Herbs" ability. A skill that cannot replace a doctor but can help for small everyday problems like fever, irritation, cuts and burns.

Thanks to these two skills, the couple has managed in these years of hard work to carve a modest life in this settlement and to give birth to their only son Simon.

Richard's brain started immediately this morning trying to think about what his child's abilities are. Some friends of mine have already sensed the strength of their children from the jobs they are brought to.

A good unique skills with a good utility factor will give the opportunity for these children to have an easy life and a good job.

Those who will be found with a useful power to the Lord will be taken to the city to work for him and their standard of living will have a surge.

The unlucky ones with unnecessary and unknown abilities will continue their miserable life here with us.

Every time Richard looks at his son, he remains perplexed. The other children that run around the mine love to play outdoors, to war or just to run. Simon instead prefers to stay at home, not to get dirty, listen to the speeches of adults and hit them with thousands of questions, peek at any sheet of paper with some written letters or simply sit and talk alone while invents stories absurd and very complicated.

The other children are all robust and strong, able to go out in the woods alone to pick mushrooms or wood. His son is thin and weak despite Richard splitting his back to feed him to the best of his ability.

These are days that think about what skill Simon could help to survive in this world. Days of constant thoughts and suppositions. Finally today he remained with only one hope. The ability of the child must be something that amazes the Lord and makes him end up in the city to work for some noble or merchant. Physical work is not for him.

After this endless series of thoughts during breakfast, Richard decides to resign himself to fate and go to vent his frustration in the mine.

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The same evening, after a dinner of potato soup and stale bread, Doris collects the crockery from the table and begins to wash them.

Dinner was the quietest moment of the day. The tension on Richard's face did not allow anyone to open his mouth. Now the other two are sitting at the table. Doris's husband stares out the window while Simon seems to be counting with his fingers as he mumbles in a very low voice who knows what story.

Simon took his father's black hair but his blue eyes. The thin and pointed face is a balanced crossing of their two faces, but the dry and slim body is only his. Initially, Doris wanted to spend a lot of money to have her son visit a city doctor, but even the latter did not find anything related to an illness.

Finished tidying the house the woman approached the two men home, and without uttering any word opens the door to make it clear his intent to start the exam. The other two, impatient, jump to an incredible speed and in a moment they pass it in the direction of the well.

A small crowd can already be seen fifty meters from their house. Even those who have no children in the exam have gone out to enjoy a little 'entertainment.

The Examiner with a solemn voice, once verified the presence of all the children chosen for the exam, announces the beginning of the event. After sending the children back from their parents to avoid having to deal with them, they start recalling one at a time.

The first is a stocky, bull-necked child attached to the leg of a man who is clearly his adult copy. The Examiner puts a hand on the boy's forehead, closes his eyes and invokes mysterious words. By removing the hand, for the crowd it is now possible to see a luminous word on the forehead of the examining. Few of the crowd can read but fortunately the official announces it solemnly to everyone. "The ability is Digger and this child will be a great miner!"

After him followed four other children: the second was recognized as the "farmer" skills, the third "Sewing", the fourth "common kitchen" and the fifth, the most ever lucky "Examiner".

The parents of the fifth could not hold back the joy and rushing to embrace the child began to immediately ask the official the future of the child. The latter taken note of the name reassures them by confirming that the child will be instructed by Lord's officials to work as an official Examiner.

Now only two children miss the call. Simon, the next in line and Desmond his only friend.

Stein Desmond's father, worried about his son's increasing agitation, approaches Doris and Richard and asks permission to pass Simon in the row so he can take his son away and reassure him.

Doris aware that, after the almost drowning incident, Desmond was no longer the lucid and quiet child of the first time becoming detached and easily agitated, consenting without thinking twice smiling at the child.

The child is encouraged by a smile of Simon and a simple phrase "Do not worry".

The amazed Examiner announces "Warrior" by giving birth to a bunch of murmurs.

Unlike the previous situation for the father does not run from the official full of joy but approaches bowing and apologizing for the situation. Desmond cannot work for the Lord given his mental situation but must always be followed by someone because of his inability to be self-sufficient.

Doris fought on how to behave, she merely slapped Stein's shoulder as he passed, and from the corner of her eye she noticed the constant growth of her husband Richard's anxiety. Simon instead congratulates Desmond as if nothing had happened.

Doris pushes her son to the well while the father begins an endless series of spells to all the gods.

The result this time seems slower than other times and is "Emperor!".

The Examiner rereads the word several times before repeating it aloud.

The crowd bursts into a loud laugh as more people start heading home, commenting on the absurd sentence.

Some skills are common and their function is known, others, much more rare, are analyzed by the sages to understand their function and benefits.

Digger very simply helps to dig with more efficiency and speed but Emperor what is it for?

Never before had a son of miner been seen with such a pompous ability. Not even the sons of the Lord or of the King himself have similar abilities. So it seems more like a joke than anything else.

Richard dejected begins to retreat to his home trying not to look anyone in the eye. Doris even, in desperation, hugs her son with a few tears in his eyes.

This ability is not only useless but makes it the laughing stock of everyone.