The Priesthood

Four days really wasn’t a lot of time to prepare anything extravagant for a thing like lifting a chair while using the most creative way possible, especially when that lifting had to be done with magic. And most of the people participating wouldn’t have the slightest clue on how to really use magic or how to code without causing some sort of catastrophe.

In hindsight, the assignment wasn’t a good idea at all. But then again, is there a better way of teaching than letting your pupils truly test their limits? Yes, doing the same but in a safe environment where no one can get hurt. Though that is beside the point, he was fine, and that was all that mattered. At least to Kanrel.

Each night when Kanrel returned to his room during those four days, he could easily see and smell that there had been almost a hundred novice priests testing their limits. Thankfully, no one had died yet, and the damage done by vomit was quickly repaired out of the pockets of those involved.

He felt so thankful for the fact that he had used the laboratory during those days, but then again, he had missed liters of vomit and a stink that would not leave a man even after a hundred showers.

Now that they were all waiting for their highly motivated professor to arrive, Kanrel could see the lack of sleep on the faces of many. He could see that some felt disgusted, even now. Oh, how he couldn’t wait to see the things these people would conjure, for each creation would tell a story; each success a story of suffering, of failing continually until you managed to move a chair for a mere centimeter.

Some might’ve stopped trying when they managed to do that, but some would push through even further, forming codes more suitable for themselves; those were the ones that he was most excited to see.

And so was the woman who again shut the lecture hall door violently, causing a loud bang that, with its echo, touched each of them.

"Wonderful, you all look chirpy as ever. We are all chirpy because someone had to clean, and I quote, ‘the mess that they had caused’."

"How wonderful it is to think that you might get to spend four days with your own research, but instead you are forced to burn vomit and recuperate dim-witted students. And not to mention the random graffiti I had to clean here and there; something about faked passages in the Book of the Heralds."

"So not only am I dealing with dim-witted students but also a moron or a group of morons. Marvelous."

"Alas, I am here again, with you, my dear priestlings. But enough babble; starting from the back, you may come to me and show all of us your little codes and don’t worry, I have plenty of critique to give."

Oidus placed a chair in the front, and she herself sat on the floor in anticipation. Then the first brave individual came down to showcase their creativity and progress.

During the next many quite normal and unimaginative showcases of lifting a chair, Oidus spent it giving simple words of criticism and encouragement, like "boring", "useless", "pathetic", "waste of my time", "waste of air", and so forth.

Most would just do the same thing that Kanrel had done on his first try, though there obviously were some differences in the formatting of the codes; Kanrel could distinguish the talented from the untalented quite easily: there were those that, in their code, managed to do multiple things at the same time, making the process of lifting a chair much quicker, and then there were those that were awfully slow and were actually just "wasting time" or "wasting air".

Then there were the special few who thought it would be funny to use their hands to lift the chair. Oidus would just laugh emotionlessly at their poor attempt at a joke in a room filled with people who wouldn’t be able to find things funny.

They of course had to then showcase some magic, or Oidus would "rip their heads off, even if that meant that she could no longer indulge herself in her research and would have to spend the rest of her life being slowly eaten to death by maggots the size of a fruit fly."

At last, it was Kanrel’s turn; he then showcased his magnetic way of lifting a chair and even explained the code outloud, the things he did, and how he came to those conclusions. The chair was lifted and suspended in the air.

And with a simple word of criticism: "Magnetic." He was dismissed and allowed to sit back down.

And her criticism made a lot of sense; if the room they were in was filled with metallic objects, his showcase could’ve easily become a deadly dodgeball game with rapidly moving metallic objects. Of course, that would only happen if the magnetic pool was way too powerful in its pull.

Yviev, on the other hand, had a totally different idea: What if the chair could bounce?

So she had created a code that would change the properties of the chair into something more suitable for bouncing, like rubber; then she hit the floor with a lot of force with another part of the code, which then prompted the chair to shoot up toward the ceiling in an accelerated manner; soon enough, they all could observe how the chair was rather quickly bouncing back and forth from the floor to the ceiling.

This lasted for a while until she made it stop.

"Loud."

Yviev then returned to her seat with a well-practiced smile that told the world that she was satisfied with her magic.

Then came a few more basic liftings of the chair; the second-to-last even vomited a little, causing Oidus to blurt out things that really shouldn’t be said about anyone's mother. She then burned the vomit away and shouted another profanity at her dear pupil.

The last novice got up from his seat, an impressive-looking individual; he didn’t really look like his age would suggest, and many would say that his talents were wasted in their line of work. Kanrel remembered him for obvious reasons; who could so easily forget someone as handsome as him?

His name, though, was a mystery, at least to Kanrel.

But soon he would be able to rectify this, as he had since the beginning of the showcase begun taking notes of the other novices, mostly about the code that they showcased in front of them all, but also their names, as they would announce themselves first.

"Yirn." He announced himself with a simple name, and there was no last name given. That was one of the things Kanrel remembered about him—he was another Nameless, but someone far less frowned upon for some very visual and physical reasons.

He was built like a soldier, designed to take battle on the frontlines of war; no one would want to fuck around and find out how far he could wedge his fist into someone's skull.

For some reason, Kanrel had a feeling about him; he wasn’t sure what that feeling was, but it was there, somewhere within.

Yirn began as all eyes were on him; nothing happened for a while, but soon they all noticed how multiple chairs started to walk toward the chair he was supposed to lift; the chairs would group around it, and then they would lift it above themselves. They had formed a pyramid of chairs, and then, just to make a point, Yirn made the pyramid of chairs float and slowly rotate.

The novice waited for Oidus to dish out her carefully selected words of criticism. And after a while, she delivered, "Creative."

Yirn casually smiled; for some reason, it looked far more genuine than any other smile from a priest. As if he had smiled like that all his life. He then returned to his seat, but only after giving Kanrel a quick look.

There really was a feeling about him that Kanrel could not put into words; maybe there was innate talent in this young man, and he could just tell. He would need to talk to him later and find out the code that he had used; he would be a great addition to people he considered friends, or at least mutually each other benefiting individuals.

Oidus got up from the floor and said, "Now that took far longer than I had thought... And I still have to give a lecture. No wonder the life of a priest is so sad and so depressing.

"Today we will delve into how to improve the way we code. Some of you, I won’t name any names, not because I don’t want to humiliate those who are dumber than the average donkey, but because I can’t for the life of me remember most of your names."

"So, let us start from the beginning again."

And so their lecture went by; Oidus gave detailed explanations on things that were actually quite useful to Kanrel, as she would often demonstrate and then elaborate on the things she was teaching. Oidus was an awfully talented priest, and how quickly she was able to first produce a piece of code and then find its faults, just to improve them in mere moments, was impressive.

She would use the codes that the students had used to lift the chair, and then she would explain how they could be improved, all this following the initial logic that the creator of the code had had. In a way, it was like she was giving them answers to future homework, but she explained them in such a way that it would be impossible for the novices to not grasp them and improve considerably—unless there was someone who was actually dumber than the average donkey.

She then gave them some reading recommendations, which were more like a list of books they would have to read or be out of loop for the next lecture; she also commanded everyone to practice coding and weaving magic every day, staying away from things that would "cause a minor disaster, like an explosion, for example".

They were then dismissed while she was already walking out of the door.

Kanrel instantly collected his things and left the lecture hall behind. He had a lot on his mind, and there were many things that he would have to review in his notes. The day had been highly educational, even if their professor seemed unmotivated and didn’t want to be there.

"Kanrel!" A deep voice shouted after him. He stopped and turned around to see who had called for him. Soon his eyes met a handsome man who was gracefully approaching him; Yirn even moved like a soldier. No, he moved like a master swordsman.

Soon the much taller man stopped before him and asked, "I am really sorry to bother you, but could we go and have a talk somewhere?" The way he spoke was so natural; it wasn’t the words he chose, but the way he said them outloud.

Kanrel cleared his throat and said, "Of course, follow me." Without daring to keep his eyes on the man for a moment longer, he returned to his course and expected him to follow.

This feeling inside of him was so strong that it made him wonder if someone was trying to hex him, but he soon accepted the discomforting feeling, and after walking for a while in the middle of the campus, in the middle of students who were enjoying the sun and the company of each other, did he finally understand what that feeling was.

He was jealous. The man at whom he dared not lay his eyes was everything that he had hoped to be. Even as someone who was nameless, he was respected, and he went unbothered by eyes that would do harm to him. And he so naturally held himself; even as a priest, his smile was inviting and his speech captivating.

Only when they arrived at the laboratory and the hall that Kanrel had booked for him and Yviev did he finally look to see if the man had, in fact, followed him. And to his surprise, he had. He was already casually exploring the things in the hall, but he did not touch or attempt to read the notes that Yviev had scattered around.

"What is that you wanted to talk about?" Kanrel asked, observing the man. Yirn’s dark eyes soon found Kanrel and their eyes met; he smiled so naturally that it made Kanrel wonder if the man had practiced every night in front of the mirror to smile like that.

Before, he would’ve found that smile so beautiful, and now he felt regretful that he hadn’t paid any attention before; he might’ve now had the memory of that smile, and he would truly be able to know if it really was so beautiful.

"I would like to join you and Yviev in your study group; the way you two code makes me wonder about all the things that we could achieve together. I think we might have a very beneficial relationship in the future." He said, his voice soft, almost shy.

"I’ve actually always wanted to talk with you, you know... Another nameless like me, but to be honest, you’re a bit intimidating to approach; at least you were before, and honestly, you probably still are, but for some reason, I find it much easier to approach you now."

"And I really don’t mean to offend; I know you technically have a name, as your mother is the Herald of the Gods; I just meant that you were born nameless, like me." Yirn suddenly started babbling, and Kanrel found that maybe the man before him wasn’t as perfect as he was in his head.

This didn’t make the discomfort go away, as he realized that many would most likely find the man’s awkward nature to be very cute.

He almost couldn’t help but sigh, but he managed to control himself and instead extended his hand to the man. He then said, "I am looking forward to working with you." He then tried to smile as naturally as he could.

Yirn looked at him strangely for a moment and then took the offered hand. "Likewise. Also, not to offend or anything, but your smile does need a bit of practice."

Yirn’s hand was warm in his, and the warmth lingered for a while after their hands separated.

"How bad is it?" Kanrel asked and conjured another fake smile.

Yirn grimaced. "You look really scary, like you’re ready to rip my arm off or something.

"I see, I guess I have to buy a mirror."