Xandrian Stone Book 1: Beginning of a Legend by Christian Alex Breitenstein Page A

balls and 43 mixed vegetable cubelets for example.
    Second number:
    This number gives a hint, as when the ration was made the vegetables or fruit that were locally available were used. It's always a bit of a surprise.
    The first digit describes the kind of supplement: 1 is root vegetable (potatoes, carrots, asparagus and the likes), 2 is above ground grown vegetables (cabbage, tomatoes, pumpkin and the likes), 3 is fruit and 4 is mixed.
    The second digit describes the size of the supplement: 1 is raw, natural, 2 is raw, cut into small pieces, 3 is cooked, natural, 4 is cooked, cut into large pieces, 5 is cooked, cut into small pieces and 6 is cooked, mashed.
    So, if the number 2 is 22 it might be a cabbage salad or if it is 16 mashed potatoes. 31 might be an apple.
    Third number:
    This number only has one digit: 0 is nothing, 1 is brown sauce, 2 is white sauce, 3 is tomato sauce and 4 is salad sauce.
    According to the first digit in the first number the SNNR were commonly known as 1-type sinner through 5-type sinner. According to studies conducted over the centuries, 1-type SNNR were the most favorite, just about on par with 2-types. 3-, 4-and 5-types were all about the same in third through fifth position, shuffling around all the time.
    Desserts are just as standardized: The Standard Naval Dessert SND are organized into a numerical code as well, though there is just one number:
    The first digit describes the consistency of the dessert: 1 is baked, solid, 2 is cream, 3 is jelly and 4 is raw, natural.
    The second digit describes the main ingredient: 1 is chocolate, 2 is vanilla and 3 is sweetened fruit.
    So, if the number is 41, it would be a piece of chocolate, 13 a fruit cake or 22 vanilla cream. Don’t get excited about the fruit cake - cakes come in all sizes, and when they come as an SND that size is usually rather small. Still tasty, though.
    SNNR with an SND were referred to as "sweet sinners" and were usually served as the Friday meal. Not for any availability issues, but simply to keep the sweet sinners something special. As you can imagine, that has always been a favorite topic of rather lively discussions.
    Ah, digressed again.
    The magical affinity test (the acronym MAT never really took hold) found that I was either multicolored yellow and green or white. Yellow is the color of sensor magic, green that of healing magic. Yellow was (and is) rare, while green was (and is) only uncommon. White, as I almost forgot to mention, is the combination of all colors and was so rare that it guaranteed a job with the SFSN. While it is more common nowadays it’s still good to be white. White wizards, or Omni-Wizards, are not only by nature fully flexible in what magic they do, but for some reason that nobody really understood (and to this day that has not changed) they are also stronger than specialized wizards. I personally suspect that it has to do with all the things on the fringe of the colors, Omni-Wizards also include all the things that are not quite of any specific color while specialists almost always do not.
    The most common color was the purple of weapons. Good weapons wizards were just as sought after as good wizards of any other color, but generally if you did not get at least a pip in the wizardry test on Classification Day you were put on a waiting list. And that list was rather long. The longest someone on that list had to wait was 63 years. So, that particular Weapons-Wizard entered the academy at the tender age of 81 years and made it to the rank of commander before retiring at the age of 106, after his 25 years of service.
    Anyway.
    I was waiting in line with lots and lots of other youths hoping to be hired by the SFSN, though my hopes were higher. If I was a sensor (which seemed likely) or even an omni, I was set. Healing was an added bonus there. Multicolored wizards were quite uncommon, but it happened every now and then.
    "Watch it!" "Sorry." One of my fellow applicants had walked right into the one in