Skymender quickly spoke again. "The capital."
The lady nodded. "Do you have an ID from the Sword Region?"
"Not on me." Skymender said.
She nodded and wrote one more thing before sitting her pencil down. "All that you need to do now is take the test to decide what level of citizen you are. Go ahead and wait for your name to be called."
Skymender left the front desk and sat on one of the chairs to the side.
He remembered what the guard had told him. "The smarter you are, the more valued you are in the Scholar region."
This place was definitely interesting, and if he wasn't mistaken, it seemed that he had stumbled upon the capital of the Scholar region. He had gathered a bit of information from the people he had spoken to, and put it all together.
He was in the Scholar region, most likely the capital, one of the five regions of the Mainland.
The five consisted of the Scholar region, the Sword region, the Spear region, the Bow region, and another unknown region.
As he continued to think, he heard his name called out.
Skymender stood up, and saw a man in scholar robes walking towards him.
"You must be Skymender. I can already tell that you are a scholar. Please, come with me." He said.
Skymender nodded and began to follow him. He was led down a hallway, up some stairs, and into a room.
In that room were a few people writing on large packets of paper.
The scholar spoke quietly. "Here. Take these and do your best. No speaking."
He handed Skymender a packet and a quill. There was already ink at the desk.
Skymender opened the packet and began to fill out the questions. He had an easy time with most of the questions. Despite it being a different continent, the laws of physics didn't change and there weren't going to be many new plants or materials.
The only issue he had was with the history section. Naturally, he did not know the answer to a single question. They were not multiple choice questions, but written responses, and he simply left them blank.
Most of the people who had been taking the test when he entered were still taking the test when he got up and handed it in.
The man looked surprised.
"Done already?" He whispered.
"Alright, it shouldn't be too long. You can go and wait in the lobby or leave and come back in around an hour."
Skymender thanked him and left.
He left the government building, walking around the city. Like in every city, things here cost money, and he did not have any. He could only look around.
As he walked around, a man began to grade his test. At first, he was completely calm, having done this for decades, but as he moved through it, his calm face slowly began to change.
From the initial calm to slight surprise. From slight surprise to a fair amount of surprise. From a fair amount of surprise to shock. And from shock to alarm.
The grader only knew that some of the answers in the later part of the test were correct because he had an answer key. Otherwise, he wouldn't have a clue.
The only downside was a lack of historical knowledge, but this was irrelevant when looking at his score on every other portion.
He instantly alerted others, ordering them to find Skymender immediately.
He even notified some of his higher ups, the very people who ran the Scholar region itself.
Skymender walked along, wondering if he should begin walking back to the building, when an out of breath individual spotted him.
"You-you're Skymender, right?" He asked.
"Please come with me to the government building. Somebody important wants to see you."
Skymender agreed and began to walk along. Though the person was in a rush, he did not dare hurry him.
Skymender made it back to the government building and was led to a high level floor. There, he met with the very man who had graded his test. The man dismissed the other person and spoke with Skymender alone.
He put down the test in front of him.
"Do you know why I've requested your presence?" He asked.
Skymender nodded. "Because I did well."
"Well would be an understatement. To put it simply, very few people throughout history have done better than you, and that was only because of the lost points in the history section. If you had displayed even an entrance level of knowledge on history, you would have been number one in history."
"So what do you need to tell me?" Skymender asked.
"Firstly, you are being given a Scholar region ID as a first class member. Second, I have a job for you." The man said.
"What job?" Skymender asked.
"The Ruler's son, as I'm sure you've heard, is a genius of unimaginable proportions. Despite only turning 18 this year, he has already surpassed most of the people who had tutored him. It is hard to find someone capable of doing so, but if you are willing, I can recommend you. The pay is great, and all you have to do is teach. In addition, you will get access to the greatest library in the Scholar region."
The proposition was tempting. Skymender was in need of information and money, and this job seemed to have both. He didn't have to think for too long.
The man was clearly happy. "Thank you. You won't regret this. I'll send someone to contact you when everything is ready."
Skymender nodded and left the government building.
He still didn't have any money, so he wandered around town on his horse for a while.
As a first class citizen, he was able to travel past the guards, much to their surprise.
The second level of the city was much better looking than the first.
As night was falling, there weren't many people, but Skymender still began to wander around and explore the place.