Mr. Isaac stood in front of the class, a piece of chalk in his hand.
"I'll start with you, Sera."
He looked down at his paper.
"Your stimulation is null."
The class was quiet.
Mr. Isaac turned the page.
"Next... Tony."
Tony straightened slightly.
"Your stimulation is anger."
A grin appeared on Tony's face.
"Figures."
A few students chuckled.
Mr. Isaac ignored him and looked down at the paper again.
He turned and kept calling names.
Joy, rage, sorrow, and even lust.
Eventually,
"Duke."
Duke raised his head.
"Fear."
He simply nodded.
Merlin glanced at him.
Fear...
Mr. Isaac moved to the next page.
"Merlin."
Merlin stopped spinning his pen.
He looked up.
Mr. Isaac stared at the paper for a few seconds.
"Your stimulation is futility."
Merlin lowered his gaze.
Futility...
He wasn't entirely sure what that meant in terms of an ability.
Mr. Isaac placed the papers on his desk.
"These are only the initial assessments."
He picked up the chalk again.
"Knowing your stimulation is one thing."
He turned toward the board.
"Being able to use it is another."
He wrote a single word beneath the others.
Training.
"Today, you'll learn how to stimulate your abilities on command."
Mr. Isaac turned back toward the class.
"Of course, some of you will find it easier than others."
His eyes briefly passed over the students.
"And some of you may discover that your stimulation isn't as straightforward as you think."
Mr. Isaac placed the chalk down.
"You'll be tested individually."
A few students exchanged glances.
"The training rooms are equipped to monitor your stimulation and ability. I'll be able to observe everything from outside."
He pointed toward the door.
"One at a time."
The first student stood.
Merlin watched as they left the classroom.
A few minutes later, the door opened again.
The student walked back in.
Then another was called.
And another.
One by one, they disappeared into the training room.
Some returned looking excited.
Others looked disappointed.
Merlin remained in his seat, quietly watching.
After about a couple dozen people, it was finally Merlin's turn.
They put sensors around his body and took him into a room. On the other side, they stood, staring at him through the bulletproof glass.
"Your stimulation is futility," a man in a coat said.
"Look behind you. There's a desk."
Merlin turned around.
He saw the table with two seats on each side. There was a board game on the table. It looked like chess, but it wasn't.
I thought this was supposed to help me stimulate something? Merlin asked himself.
"Take a seat."
Merlin sat down and stared back at the men on the other side of the glass.
"I'm sure you've noticed the board game on the table, the man said,Mr. Isaac will be your opponent, he added."
Mr. Isaac walked in and sat on the seat opposite Merlin.
He placed his hands on the table.
"It's a reconstruction of a board game originally played by Vikings long ago. It's called Hnefatafl (pronounced nef-ah-taf-el)."
Merlin looked down at the board.
It was an eleven-by-eleven square board. Most of the spaces were empty, but a cluster of pieces occupied the center.
There was a single piece in the middle, surrounded by several smaller pieces.
Around them were even more pieces on all four edges.
Mr. Isaac pointed toward the single piece in the center.
"That is your king."
Merlin looked at the pieces surrounding it.
"Those are your defenders. Their job is to help your king escape."
He then pointed toward the pieces around the edges.
"And those are my pieces."
Merlin counted them briefly.
There were far more of them.
Apart from his king, he only had thirteen pieces, while Mr. Isaac had twenty-four.
"Your objective is to move your king to one of the four corners of the board."
Mr. Isaac pointed to each corner.
"My objective is to stop you."
He picked up one of his pieces.
"All pieces move horizontally or vertically. They can move any number of spaces, as long as nothing is blocking them."
He placed the piece back down.
"To capture a piece, you surround it between two of your own."
Merlin nodded slowly.
"The king is different," Mr. Isaac continued.
Mr. Isaac pointed toward the piece in the center again.
"To capture him, I have to surround him completely."
Merlin looked at the board.
"So I just have to reach one of the corners."
"Yes."
"And I have to stop you," Mr. Isaac added.
Mr. Isaac leaned back in his chair.
"Simple enough."
Merlin stared at the board for a few seconds.
There were considerably more pieces on Mr. Isaac's side.
Mr. Isaac reached for one of his pieces.
"You have to win to end this stimulation test."
"Now let's begin. I go first."
He moved his piece.
Merlin looked at the board. Mr. Isaac had considerably more pieces, Merlin thought, but there was no way he'd let him surround his king from all four sides.
The first game didn't last long.
Merlin got too confident and went on the offensive while leading his king to the edge, but after taking out three of Mr. Isaac's pieces, his king got surrounded.
He tried playing defensively next, but Mr. Isaac just picked off his pieces one by one until only his king remained.
Merlin tried a different strategy, trying to lead his king straight to an edge, but Mr. Isaac picked off his protection and surrounded him.
The game started to feel unfair because Mr. Isaac had far more pieces than him.
They kept playing, and Mr. Isaac kept winning. Eventually, Merlin asked to switch roles but still ended up losing with more pieces.
Eventually, Merlin got exhausted.
He leaned back in his chair and stared at the board.
The pieces had started to blur together.
Another game.
Another loss.
He had tried everything he could think of.
Attacking.
Defending.
Moving quickly.
Taking his time.
Nothing worked.
Mr. Isaac hadn't even looked tired.
"Sir Isaac!" One of the men outside called out to him.
Merlin couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he could see from their faces that something was wrong.
After they were done talking, Mr. Isaac walked into the room.
"You can go back to class now."
Merlin felt a little bit disappointed. According to Mr. Isaac, he was supposed to train his stimulation for his special ability, but there was nothing special about playing Viking chess, Merlin thought to himself.
Futility...
The game I just played felt somewhat futile, Merlin thought.
So that was probably the test.
But it didn't work.
Probably for the same reason I got a C-class ranking. My report wasn't the truth.
Merlin sighed.
But if my stimulation isn't futility, then what could it be?
He stood from his seat and walked toward the door.
He glanced back at the board.
He knew he was going to lose, but he still wanted to finish the game.