"Simon Hawke - Wizard 5 - The Samurai Wizard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

highest marks. And admission to the high school had been
dependent on securing a place in the right preparatory school and
so on, all the way back to childhood. And only those university
graduates who had achieved the highest honors could seek
admission to the postgraduate School of Thaumaturgy, which
required surviving Shiken-jigoku, the period known as тАЬExam Hell.
тАЭ Students often quite literally did not survive Shiken-jigoku, as the
intense pressure and the opprobrium of failure drove many of them
to suicide. Those who passed experienced a joy that was
transcendent, but short-lived. Life as a warlock demanded a total
immersion of the student in the thaumaturgic arts, a complete
self-sacrifice that left no time for any sort of social life. Nor was
graduation a release from the rigorous obligations of the Way. Even
then, successful completion of the courses in the School of
Thaumaturgy did not guarantee that one would ever pass beyond
the rank of warlock.
Following graduation, those students who had passed the
rigorous battery of tests had to embark upon a minimum of three
years as a warlock apprentice. Three years was the minimum, but
it could last as long as six or eight or even ten. And it was first
necessary to find a wizard master who would agree to take them
on. The competition for apprentice slots was fierce. Becoming a
licensed adept was far more difficult in Japan than in the western
nations, where one could simply take the various level
examinations at oneтАЩs own pace. In Japan, nothing was instanto,
least of all certification as a magic-user. Finding a wizard master
and convincing him that you were worthy to be taken on as his
apprentice was a difficult task. Without a masterтАЩs sponsorship, the
certification exams could not be taken. And the mandatory years of
apprenticeship could easily be wasted if the master felt the student
was not worthy to stand for certification. In such a case, it was a
foregone conclusion that the apprentice would commit seppuku.
Being found unworthy after having gone so far was a disgrace
impossible to bear, reflecting as it did not only on the apprentice,
but on his family, as well. The ritual suicide of seppuku, carried out
with proper form and dignity, was the only way to save the family
from disgrace.
Upon completion of the first levels, a warlock became certified as
a lower-grade adept in some specialized branch of the thaumaturgic
arts. Depending on performance, one could become licensed, for
example, as a transportational adept, of which there were various
levels. Some demanded relatively simple spells, such as levitation
and impulsion in order to operate a cab or truck or limo, others
required the more intense forms of concentration necessary to the
task of operating bullet trains. After six years as a lower-grade
adept, one could apply to take the more advanced certification
levels that would allow the lower-grade adept to advance to the
rank of wizard. There were many types of wizardry, involving such
occupations as engineer adept, which entailed mastery of the spells
that maintained power plants and factory assembly lines, or wizard