The little classroom that had been set up for the Decaylings was somewhat restless today. Everyone was somewhat waiting for the class to start, because they were about to start a test. It wasn’t a hard test, it was more of a general knowledge quiz going over all the things the Decaylings had learned, but there was still some unease. It didn’t help that whoever was supposed to be watching over the Decaylings seemed to be a little late.
Eventually though, someone entered the classroom. And, immediately, some people had questions.
“Heya, Psiksi!” Kayel grinned from his desk in the first row of desks. “Where’s Elkay and Saahro?”
Psiksi immediately tutted. “Elkay is busy donating blood and testing some of his random Synaisthyn thingies, and Saahro went to the nearest mall to grab some bits and pieces. I didn’t have anything to do today, so I offered to watch over you all. It’s just a short test, so none of you need to worry too much.”
“Why is mister Elkay giving blood today?” Talok asked. “Is his blood special?”
“Yeah. Turns out Elkay’s blood is the second most effective removal of Corruption after Arkay’s blood.”
“So why haven’t the little robot guys taken samples of our blood?” Nyssi piped up. “The four of us were literally filling buckets with our blood so we could fight the Corruption that hit Palaestra, and it was definitely working.”
Psiksi glanced at Nyssi. “Really?”
“Yep!” Nyssi continued. “It was a pain in the butt constantly having to cut gashes in my tail because I kept on healing up, but between me, Tenuk, Retvik and Kayel, any time we came across anything Corruption-related, we always destroyed it all with ease.”
“Well, not ease, but yeah, what Nyssi said…” Tenuk muttered under his breath.
“Huh. Weird. Maybe, when we’re all dumb here, you should tell that to Leh and Koh, so they can check you all out…” Psiksi trailed off, then remembered what he was doing. “Alright, first off, let me set up the headache inducer, so none of you telepaths can cheat…”
“Doesn’t that magnet thingy bother you too?” Phovoula tutted. “You have telepathy.”
“Oh, it totally does, but my telepathy is super weak compared to Nyssi, Kuta and Talok.” Psiksi picked up the brown envelope that was on the teacher’s desk, then started handing out exam papers, pens and pencils. “Either way, this test is a somewhat simple one, I remember doing it about a year-string ago. It’s not a hard test, but there are a lot of questions and you ought to read them carefully…” Psiksi paused. “What’s up, Kayel?”
“Uh, I have two questions. Firstly, kinda obvious, how this test affect our, uh, Decay Lord thingies? Secondly, how old are you?”
Psiksi paused, not sure how to answer that second question. “Well, um, firstly, this test is kinda a practice test for the last big test you’ll do, before you do your Decay Lord trial. Secondly… uh… how old are you, Kayel?”
Kayel shrugged. “According to Retvik’s little watch, it’s nearly April back in our universe, and I’d technically be 33 years old in a couple of days.”
Psiksi stared at Kayel. “Dude, you’re… older than me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I think Eksi and I are turning 30 this year-string.”
Kayel’s confusion switched to a silly but also slightly menacing smile. “Oh, thirty, you say?”
“Um, yes.”
“What date?”
“Uh… May? I think? I don’t know, there’s a lot of strange time nonsense in here.”
“You all have differences in experienced time, which is somewhat subjective,” Thassalin explained. “You lived different lives and followed different Forward Flows. However, there is a more permanent time flow that runs underneath all levels of experienced time and is somewhat more accurate.”
Psiksi turned to Thassalin. “So, mister Time Drake Decayling, can you explain what this permanent time thingy is?”
“No.”
“And why not?”
“None of you would be able to comprehend it, and the time required to explain would take at least a few months minimum.”
“Would Elksia be able to explain it?” Kuta asked. “I am unsure but I believe her time powers work differently.”
Again, Thassalin shook his head. “The few-months-minimum would be if Elksia sat down with you all and tried to explain the bare basics.”
“You Time Drakes are weird…” Psiksi muttered. “Anyway, it’s time to do this test. This test will let you know where you stand, knowledge-wise, so don’t feel too let down if you can’t answer something. I’m guessing this is the same test I did early last year-string, and the younger Thantir did a similar test about 6 4-evs ago, so it’s more to work out where your weak spots are.”
“How long do we have to do this test?” Ret asked, raising his hand. “I am not very good at tests.”
“You’ll have two hours. I recommend reading everything first, then doing the questions you can answer straight away. But, like, don’t worry about being good at tests. All you need is a passing grade, and the Decay Lord Trial you will all do is what matters most.”
“I, uh, have another question.”
Psiksi shrugged. “Sure, little Retvik, what is it?”
Ret frowned briefly, not liking being called “little”, then just decided to ask. “Can you teach me how to make a cool light sword at some point?”
Psiksi grinned. “I don’t think our powers work the same way, but sure, I’ll try and teach you. Anyone else got any questions?”
Everyone glanced at each other. No one said anything, but Talok raised her hand.
“Alright, girly, what’s up?”
Talok picked up the pen and the pencil. “Mister new Psiksi, can I have smaller writing things, please? Is a little too long for my hands.”
“Oh, sure!” Psiksi headed back to the desk at the front, then rummaged around in the draw. Eventually, he did find a smaller pencil. “Will this do?”
“Yes yes!” Talok bared her tusks and purred slightly. “Much better! Thank you mister new Psiksi.”
Psiksi glanced at Kayel, silently asking why Talok was calling him that. Kayel just shrugged and silently said he’d explain later.
“Alright… Anything else? We good?”
“We’re good.”
“Cool…” Psiksi headed back to the main desk and set a timer for two hours. “You may all turn over your papers now. Good luck.”