11.
and teachers know of it. The Lord God feels it is too dangerous a thing to put in the hands of the common people."
"Strange!" North sighed with a shake of his head. But that was all. The two returned to their studies again foregetting the thought. But North was thinking, "Morn is almost exactly my age, yet he is so much wiser! It is no wonder he is the favorite of The Lord God!"
As the months passed North studied hard. When the next quarterly test came, he was ready. All the boys stood by the readout, writing down their scores, and not much was said until North's scores came on the screen. Every eye widened. "Wow!" gasped one boy, and another whistled. "Will you look at that? Twenty per cent increase in language, thirty per cent in math! He's now the second highest in the class!"
All eyes turned to Morn, and then to North, and nothing else was said.
Though North lacked in mental skills, he lacked nothing in the physical. He was one of the best runners and flyers, and he had a good skill at climbing. There were only two boys in the whole school that could come anywhere near him: Morn, and The One Like The Lord God, who got his name because he had almost the same markings on his fur as the current Lord God. One thing that North excelled in, was combat with sword and shield. From the first time his instructors put the units in his hand he showed exceptional skill. Only Morn came close to matching his ability! He could vanquish his opponents so quickly that soon he was only matched with Morn, and The One Like The Lord God because they were the only ones who could give him any practice. Sometimes even his instructors would fence with him to give him a chance against more skilled opponents. Finally, before the boys knew it, it was the next Visitation Day, and North proudly escorted his mother through The Tombs, while Morn took one of his sisters, for his mother, being a Hashon, was not allowed in The Holy Place. This time North's father did not remove one of his gold bars at the end of the day. That would have to come after The Tests and The Games.
The day after The Visitation Day, The Tests were given, and the boys gathered in the hall, anxiously awaiting their scores. No one failed, and Morn, as always, won the highest grades. The One Like The Lord God was second. North was third in the top ten of his class, third in the school! Those were good scores.
The following day The Games began and in every school throughout the city the races were ran both on the ground and in the air. The contests were held with sword and shield until the best three were determined from each school. The next day the great crowds gathered at the city stadium and again the contestants faced each other until the best three were picked from the city. Day followed day until the best in the states were found, and, the best in the nation until finally the boys flew into the capital from all over the world; a group from each nation, three from each age group from ten to twenty.