Shattered Sanity

(The Imperial Academy)

After Vice Principal Chadwick’s speech was over, the students were divided into four groups and taken towards four separate testing chambers, where they entered the appraisal rooms one after another to get themselves officially graded.

With nearly four hundred students forming this year’s intake, the Academy had prepared four identical Imperial Appraisal Arrays to process them quickly, although unlike the House Draft scheduled for later that afternoon, every student’s initial examination was to be conducted privately.

The academy officially graded all students on three parameters:--

Ascension Rank.

Soul Vessel Quality.

And Aether Affinity.

Each category carried a maximum possible score of four, with the scores of all individual categories eventually being combined to provide every incoming student with an overall appraisal score ranging between zero and four.

However, the grading was not done exactly how one expected it to be.

For Ascension Rank, any student currently standing at Ember Rank received the maximum score of four, while those who had already advanced into Spark Rank or beyond actually received progressively lower scores.

To outsiders, such a system could appear completely backwards.

After all, why would the Imperial Academy deliberately award a weaker Ascendant a superior score?

However, the reasoning behind the system was relatively straightforward.

The Academy did not care how quickly someone advanced.

It cared about how far they could eventually go.

Mistakes made during the earliest Ascension Ranks could permanently weaken someone’s foundation, and the Imperial Academy preferred its students to undergo their important breakthroughs only after experienced professors had personally determined that their bodies and Soul Vessels were properly prepared.

Because of that, an Ember Rank student arriving with an untouched foundation was considered considerably more desirable than some overambitious twelve-year-old whose family had stuffed him with expensive medicines until he prematurely stumbled into Spark Rank.

Which was precisely why, almost every noble admitted into the Academy arrived at Ember Rank, and the handful who did not were usually exceptions for the wrong reasons.

The second category measured Soul Vessel Quality, and unlike Ascension Rank, there were four possible grades one could get here.

Poor.

Acceptable.

Good.

Excellent.

A Poor Soul Vessel received one point, while an Excellent Soul Vessel received the maximum score of four.

The classification depended primarily upon how much Aether someone’s Soul Vessel could safely contain at Ember Rank before they began to experience serious duress, which was something that was primarily determined by the quality of their original Ember Rank breakthrough.

The longer an Ascendant had endured the breakthrough process before allowing their Soul Vessel to stabilize, the more completely it developed.

Those who surrendered to the pressure too early often emerged with smaller and less efficient Soul Vessels, while those capable of enduring considerably longer could establish foundations capable of storing far greater quantities of Aether throughout their future Ascension.

And then there was the final category, which measured one’s Aether Affinity.

Its scoring system worked somewhat differently, as affinity measured both the number of elements naturally accepted by someone’s Soul Vessel and the strength with which that individual resonated with each element.

The same four recognized classifications were used.

Poor.

Acceptable.

Good.

Excellent.

However, every elemental affinity contributed towards the category’s score, up to the maximum of four, which was the official cap.

So, if one possessed only a single elemental affinity of poor grade, they would receive only one point, however, if they possessed a dual-affinity, where both affinities were poor grade, then they would receive a score of two.

This made the system somewhat convoluted since one having an excellent elemental affinity received a score of four, while someone having two acceptable grade affinities also received the same score, since both his affinities scored 2 points each.

Also, one having two elemental affinities both at Excellent grade, still got a maximum score of 4, despite actually scoring a total of 8 points, since 4 was where the grading was capped.

However, whether one was more valuable than the other, entirely depended on how the recruiters read their profile.

It was an intentionally vague system designed to measure potential versatility and affinity strength without declaring either inherently superior.

And among the exceptionally talented children accepted into the Imperial Academy, an overall appraisal average of all three categories was usually expected to be around three or higher, while those having their score in the 2’s were labelled trash.

Yet there was one additional measurement that officially did not exist.

Physical Condition.

The Imperial Academy never displayed it upon the public appraisal board, nor was it included within the three-category average shown beside a student’s name.

Nevertheless, after every appraisal, a separate confidential report containing the student’s physical assessment was transmitted directly towards the recruitment teams belonging to the four houses, with the report allegedly scoring a candidate on criterias such as–

Muscular development.

Bone density.

Cardiovascular strength.

And Aether Tolerance.

Which was precisely why, despite the official appraisal supposedly being graded out of four, generations of students had jokingly insisted that the real Imperial Appraisal was graded out of five.

”All right, we’ve recorded your results.”

One of the examiners said, as the noble boy standing upon the Array removed his palm from the central appraisal crystal.

”Your official score will appear upon the main board shortly. Proceed towards the Drafting Grounds and wait there until the House Draft begins.”

The examiner instructed, as the boy nodded before stepping down from the platform and disappearing through the opposite door.

”Next!”

The examiner called, as moments later, Stacy entered.

She looked around the chamber curiously before approaching the enormous circular Array occupying most of its floor, as dozens of silver inscriptions surrounded a translucent crystal positioned directly within the centre.

”Student, is your name Stacy?”

The examiner asked, as ”YES!”, Stacy replied firmly.

”Alright, step into the centre and place your palm against the crystal.”

The examiner instructed, as Stacy complied.

”Channel Aether naturally. Don’t force anything.”

He said, as Stacy closed her eyes and channeled the Aether within her slowly.

CRACKLE!

Frost immediately spread beneath her boots.

Thin white crystals raced through the silver inscriptions surrounding the platform, while the temperature inside the chamber dropped noticeably enough that one assistant instinctively rubbed his hands together.

The central crystal gradually turned blue, while several seconds later, the inscriptions slowly stabilized.

The examiner looked down.

Student Name :- Stacy

Ascension Rank :- Ember

Ascension Rank Score :- 4/4

Soul Vessel Quality :- Good

Soul Vessel Score :- 3/4

Aether Affinity :- Excellent Frost

Aether Affinity Score :- 4/4

Overall Appraisal :- 3.67/4

The examiner’s eyebrows rose slightly.

”Excellent Frost.”

He muttered under his breath, as he took another good look at the student who he now knew had the potential to make it big going forward.

”You’re finished. Off to the drafting grounds you go—”

He said eventually, as he gestured for Stacy to get moving, while he called for the next student to walk in.