When Krivax realized he had been reborn into a fictional world as a giant spider person, he expected much more monster-fighting adventures and fewer academic tests. It seems that even in a fantasy world, he wasn’t able to escape test anxiety; though to be fair, Krivax had very little to be anxious about. He was as prepared as he could possibly be for his coming-of-age examinations.

Ceaseless efforts to attune himself to arcane magic had borne fruit and the many late nights he spent studying made him certain he would be sent to the Circle of Viziers. He had completed his basic education in nerubian language, writing, laws, and web weaving now it was time for him to prove his mastery to the academic administrators. He already completed his combat and web weaving examinations, now he only had to finish the written portion and then demonstrate his magic.

Krivax finished scribbling on the silk-woven parchment as he completed the portion of the exam dedicated to Azjol-Nerub’s history and moved on to the portion dedicated to its government.

Azjol-Nerub was nominally an empire that was ruled absolutely by High King Anub’arak, but in practice, political power was fairly decentralized. Considering the empire covered half of Northrend, it was not surprising that regional cities far from the capital held a lot of say in their own affairs. Especially when it took a significant amount of time to travel from one part of the empire to another; portals could only support a limited amount of traffic due to leyline restrictions, after all. This meant that if the capital wished to rule over far-off territories, they would need to delegate power to local governments.

One would think that the nerubian lack of family units would prevent the creation of an aristocratic class, allowing the Spiderlords to hold absolute power over their cities, but this was not the case. The Warriors, Viziers, and the various groups of Weavers all held significant power in nerubian society and frequently acted to protect their own interests.

Of course, the capital had created a legal framework that would allow for them to quickly centralize power during times of war, but Azjol-Nerub had seemingly been in a state of peace for millennia. Nerubians as a people seemed to have little interest in fighting the other races of Northrend. In fact, they seemed to have barely any interest in the surface world at all!

It was deeply vexing to Krivax to discover how absurdly insular the nerubians were. It would make his job much harder.

Krivax reined in his wandering thoughts and refocused on the exam; the test was simple, but he still needed to give it the attention it deserved. He carefully finished the exam, making certain to put great care into writing legibly.

Soon enough, Krivax finished the written portion of the exam and gave his completed parchment to the administrator. Nerubians valued efficiency, and the city wished to assign their newest generation to their positions as quickly as possible, so the administrator immediately started grading the exam the moment he received it.

Kriltes had told him that the Custodians were constantly reporting the progress of the clusters they were responsible for and that most of the administrative work for their designations had already been completed. The examinations were simply a method of verifying the Custodian’s observations, and if no inconsistencies were noticed, then he may be assigned to the Circle of Viziers by the end of the day.

This seemed a bit fast to Krivax, but frankly, he was glad for the expediency.

Even if nerubians matured much faster than humans, three years was a long time for someone who used to be an adult to be saddled with a babysitter. Krivax was looking forward to ditching his Custodian and regaining some semblance of autonomy.

Krivax left the administrator to his work and started making his way to the magic exam. He ignored the administrators he saw who were hastily skittering by and carrying piles of parchments. Today was a busy day for them, and the testing center was a… hive of activity.

Krivax held himself back from snicking at the pun as he entered the testing room. He doubted the proctors would appreciate his levity on such an important day.

“Hatchling Krivax, correct?” asked the administrator responsible for overseeing the test. The room was typical for nerubian architecture, the only distinctive feature being an arcane glyph situated in the center of the room. “Are you prepared to demonstrate your magic?”

Krivax did not enjoy being called a hatchling, but he recognized that it was unavoidable until he was assigned to his position.

“Yes, Administrator. I am prepared to demonstrate the results of my learning.”

The proctor chittered approvingly before speaking. “Good. The arcane glyph will record your demonstration. I will then weave the recording into a web and deliver it to those responsible for your designation. If you are as skillful as your Custodian claims, then I expect your designation to be a simple one.”

Krivax was surprised to hear the proctor’s words. Over the past three years, he had not heard much praise from Kriltes, so to hear his Custodian had spoken well of him to the administrators was unexpected. Perhaps Kriltes had not wanted him to grow arrogant?

Krivax put the matter out of his mind. He had more important things to worry about at the moment.

“Thank you, Administrator. I am glad to know Custodian Kriltes thinks so highly of me. I shall endeavor not to disappoint him.”

“As you should,” said the administrator with noticeable approval. Krivax had found most nerubians reacted well to formality and politeness. “Step into the glyph and demonstrate a basic Illumination spellweaving.”

Spellweaving an Illumination spell into a thread of silk was the exercise young nerubians were taught in order to attune themselves to arcane magic. If he couldn’t do something so simple by now, then there was absolutely no chance he could be assigned to the Circle of Viziers.

With a quickness that spoke of extensive practice, Krivax spun a thread of silk and swiftly infused it with a spell of Illumination, causing the thread of silk to glow brightly. Finished with his spellweaving, Krivax presented his work to the administrator.

After a few moments of inspecting the spell, the administrator nodded his approval.

“Well done. Your next task is to steadily channel arcane magic into your hands and alter the arcane energies between fire and ice.”

“Understood.”

Krivax put away the spell-woven silk to his abdomen and began channeling arcane magic, pushing it into his hand. After he succeeded in attuning himself to arcane magic, the process of calling upon it was as simple as breathing. Learning how to alter that magic between fire and ice had proven much more difficult, however. Thankfully, after a significant amount of practice, he had gotten a hang of it.

Krivax focused on thoughts of heat, energy, movement, and passion as he willed his arcane magic to become fire. Sure enough, a comfortable flame that did nothing to harm him materialized in Krivax’s hands.

“Good. Now ice,” the proctor said after a moment of examination.

Krivax started altering the fire back to arcane without responding to the praise. His proficiency was not yet good enough that he could alter arcane magic without concentration. Once the fire had returned to the familiar violet glow of arcane magic, Krivax started the process of altering it to ice.

He found that ice came to him much easier than fire as he focused on thoughts of cold, lethargy, stillness, and deliberation. A blue glow grew in his palm, and Krivax could feel the temperature of the room noticeably chill.

“Well done. It is rare that a hatchling can alter arcane magic between fire and ice so quickly. Your ice magic is particularly skillful. I am glad to see Custodian Kriltes did not exaggerate your abilities. I suspect deciding where to place you will be an easy decision.”

Krivax bowed to the nerubian and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you. It is through the guidance of my elders that I have achieved such learning.”

That was not true. He had learned most of his magic through his own efforts. Kriltes had merely given him the right exercises and pointed him in the right direction, but nerubians are a communal people who appreciated open displays of loyalty to the greater nerubian society.

I worked my ass off to learn how to do this. If I wasn’t capable of this much after putting in so much work, then I’d be hopeless.

Krivax did not know exactly how he compared to his peers in magic, but he suspected his talent was either average or slightly above average. The only magic he had encountered so far that came somewhat easily was ice magic. Thankfully, a work ethic brought upon by a constant feeling of impending doom was enough to compensate for talent somewhat. Krivax doubted he would become the next Jaina or Khadgar, but he was still proud of what he had managed to accomplish.

After answering a few questions on magical theory and receiving more compliments, Krivax thanked the proctor and left to meet Kriltes at his cluster's predetermined meeting point. The Custodian was already there waiting, but everyone else besides Masruk had yet to finish their assessments.

“Greetings, Peer Krivax. Congratulations on completing your assessment; I know you are eager to finally join the Circle of Viziers,” said Masruk as Krivax approached the meeting point.

“Thank you, Masruk, but I have not yet been assigned to the Viziers,” Krivax responded fondly. He had not grown close with any of his other cluster mates aside from Masruk. Spending all of his time learning and practicing his magic was not a good way to make friends.

However, while Masruk was a bit stiff and overly formal, he was the only one who had gone out of his way to socialize with Krivax. He found Masruk to be kind and a good friend, so the two of them got along relatively well. It helped that Masruk had decided to become a Warrior and offered to spar with Krivax on occasion.

In a world as violent as Azeroth, it was important for Krivax to learn how to fight with magic, so he agreed without hesitation. While the prospective Warrior defeated Krivax more often than not, at least he was now capable of casting a well-aimed frostbolt while being charged by a giant spider person.

“Your designation to the Circle is nearly guaranteed. I know how hard you have worked for this, Peer Krivax. There is no need for modesty.”

Krivax merely nodded his agreement. What he said was true, after all.

“You have worked hard as well. You will make a good Warrior, Masruk. You are managing to wield your Intuitive Magic more and more skillfully with every passing day. My carapace is still aching from our last spar.”

It was a good thing that nerubians were so hard, especially because they lacked access to widespread healing magic. They had some knowledge of nature magic, but that was mainly limited to accelerating the growth of their farming and forming bonds with jormungar or with nonsapient arachnids.

“Thank you. Would you like to join me in eating while the rest of our cluster finishes their assessments?”

Krivax perked up and agreed eagerly. It had taken him a while to get used to nerubian food, but he’d grown to enjoy it.

After requesting and receiving permission from Kriltes to go get some food, the two of them left the administrative center and traveled to the merchant section of the city. Kilah’kuk did not have a very large merchant class given that many things were provided by the government, but things like food, recreational items, and luxury goods were sold in the merchant section.

Krivax went straight to his favorite vendor, a farmer who created an edible silk thread that he covered in a delicious variety of insects. He offered the vendor a few pieces of copper and received a long string of silk covered in insects.

At first, he had been curious why nerubians traded with copper, but apparently, there was something special about the metal's magical properties that made it very suitable to be used as a currency. The same was true for silver and gold, which were also used as currency by Azjol-Nerub, as well as cobalt in some cases.

Krivax thanked the man and made his way to a cavern covered with giant bioluminescent mushrooms. In his opinion, it was one of the best places in the city and was his favorite place to enjoy a meal.

Krivax enjoyed his meal and made small talk with Masruk while trying to push away his anxious thoughts. He knew that there was no reason for him not to be assigned to the Circle of Viziers, but he couldn’t help but worry that some kind of freak accident would sentence him to a life of farming bugs.

If that were to happen, he didn’t have a backup plan other than running away and hoping for the best. There was simply too much information necessary for his future plans that could only be accessed by members of the Circle.

He didn’t have much time to stew in his anxiety, however, because he was soon interrupted by his Custodian.

“Hatchling Krivax. Your designation has been determined.”

If Krivax still had eyebrows, his Custodian’s words would have caused him to raise them as high as he could. Given his unfortunate lack of human facial features, Krivax settled for clicking his mandibles in confusion.

Already? I knew it could happen pretty quickly, but this seems unusually fast. Has the rest of my cluster even finished yet?

“Vizier Hadix is here to escort you to the Circle of Viziers,” said Kriltes. In the three years Krivax had known him, the Custodian had always been dutiful and stoic, but now he could hear a note of pride in the older nerubian’s tone.

Krivax turned his attention to the entrance of the cavern and noticed a Vizier wearing teal robes and the traditional Vizier headdress, waiting patiently for Krivax to approach him.

Turning to the man who had been responsible for caring for him for the past three years, Krivax bowed deeply in an expression of gratitude. They were not particularly close due to Kriltes going out of his way to avoid forming a parental relationship with his cluster, but he was still due respect.

Unlike Masruk, who he would be keeping in contact with, it was unlikely he would have any reason to meet with Kriltes after he left with the Vizier.

The Custodian nodded at him stoically and after taking a moment to arrange a later meeting with Masruk for them to talk about their designations, Krivax made his way to the waiting Vizier.

The Vizier had a purplish carapace that was not commonly seen in Kilah’kuk, whose residents generally had brownish carapaces. When he spoke, it was obvious from his accent that he had been born in the empire's capital.

“Hmph. Hatchling Krivax, correct? You are the talented young one who requested to be assigned to the surface world research division of the Circle of Viziers?”

“Yes, Vizier Hadix.”

“I see,” Hadix said impassively. He looked over Krivax for several moments before continuing. “If you are as smart as the results of your examination suggest, you are likely wondering why your designation was concluded so swiftly.”

Well… yeah. Kinda want to know why I’m being singled out. I think I’ve done pretty well for myself, but it's not like I’m some kind of magical genius.

“It is as you say, Vizier. I am quite curious.”

“Hmph. Come with me then, Initiate Krivax. I will explain to you the circumstances of your designation and your future role in the Circle.”

Without waiting for a response, Hadix turned and started making his way out of the cavern, obviously expecting to be followed. After making a final glance at his former Custodian and waving farewell to his friend, Krivax followed the Vizier to the next stage of his second life.