Chapter 5: Student's Test

“Professor Reeve…”

One knock followed by another on the door. The door creaked open, but no one was there. Still -- no one moved in, as if waiting on a cue.

It was impossible to peer inside the room from the outside. Darkness engulfed every inch, and every corner of the room. Yin knew this wasn’t a natural darkness born from the absence of the sun. It seemed strange… like a dark fog preventing unwanted eyes from seeing something important.

Professor Mayor knocked one last time on the wall. “Professor Reeve,” Professor Mayor said, “I have escorted a few students who violated the school’s policy.”

“Come…” a gravelly voice called out to them. “Enter.”

Professor Mayor looked at the three students, and, likewise, the three students were waiting for Mayor to enter first.

“Well, go on. He’s waiting for you guys, not me.” Mayor retreated a few steps back while gesturing his hand.

Yin couldn’t accurately pinpoint it, but he felt fear in Mayor’s voice. Fear -- but not like a mouse fearing a cat. It was more like a fear of uncertainty. Uneasiness creep onto the back of the three students standing in front of the room labeled ‘Norm Reeve.'

Norm Reeve… he’s a professor here. There’s no way a professor would hurt a student… right? Yin glanced at the two students beside him. They were as reluctant to enter as him. He mustered whatever courage he had, gulped audibly, and stepped inside.

The two students looked at each other. They didn’t hear any scream of terror, so they assumed that it would be fine to follow suite. Upon placing their entire body in the engulfing darkness, they soon regretted their decision.

The omnipresent darkness blinded them. Yin and the two students who entered couldn’t even see their own hands if they put it in front of their face. They involuntarily took small steps, not knowing why or what they’re trying to avoid.

It was just then that Yin noticed the strangest thing… there was no sound. The sounds of his steps couldn’t be heard at all. Yin frantically shouted and clapped his hands together, but no sounds were produced. The sensation could be felt when he clapped his hands, but there was an absence of sound.

With the absence of sound, Yin couldn’t tell whether or not he was breathing properly. The air was heavy; an invisible hand seems to be strangling him. He tried his best to forcefully sync his breathing to the rhythm of seconds. Repeating “one second” and “two seconds” in his mind, he inhaled on the first second, exhaled on the second, and repeated the process over and over.

Hyperventilation soon took hold of his lungs. His chest became tight and uncontrollable. He didn’t know what was happening or why; the only thing in his mind is to calm his body that is progressively getting worse.

Yin pulled out his wand and held it in front of his mouth. The tip of the wand glowed faintly and the darkness around his mouth dispersed. Yin still couldn’t see, but he could hear the harsh coughs emitted from his mouth.

“Come forward.” A voice within in the darkness called out to him. It was the same voice from before.

The darkness splits, leaving a path towards a brown chair.

After stabilizing his breath, Yin wiped the sweat beads from his forehead and followed the path in front of him. His wand was firmly held, ready to act in case anything happens again. He hadn’t seen the two students that were with him, ever since he entered Professor Reeve’s room. They must be going through a similar situation, Yin thought.

He sat down on the chair, and looked at… nothing. There was nothing to look at. The same black scenery still enshrouded his vision.

The darkness retracted, revealing two more wooden chairs with two students sitting unconsciously upon them. With a snap of a finger the two students woke up, confused and dazed. They had no recollection of what occurred after stepping inside the room.

“This is basic dark magic. Although it’s basic, it’s also deadly depending on the user’s intention. Pointing your wands at each other while unprepared for the consequences is utterly foolish. Imagine what would happen if you killed each other. Do you understand what that means?” Reeve said, his voice emitted from within the darkness.

“Yin Yore, Nat Patu, Bell Neal… what do you have to say for yourselves?” Reeve asked.

Nat, who was sitting in the middle, fidgeted upon hearing the voice calling his name. The only thing he remembered was the thought of death gradually approaching before losing his consciousness. Bell, who sat farthest from Yin, was dumbfounded as to where he was and how he got here. The last thing he remembered was being at the ring hosted by a girl wearing Highborn’s uniform.

“I… I wouldn’t dare to kill another student here. We were wronged, so we wanted to scare them a bit before leaving. Isn’t that right, Bell?” Nat’s voice was soft and quiet.

“Yeah… that’s right. We were scammed, so we planned to scare them a bit to get even at them. All students know the consequence of killing one another. We weren’t so foolish to pass that line.” Bell said.

“You wanted to scare us? You could’ve killed us. They’re using wands. Wands are a trainee’s weapon. Do you expect me to believe that you have full control of your magic? All I was doing was self-defense.” Yin calmly said.

After listening to Reeve’s lecture, Yin concluded that the initial act was meant to scare the students from using magic against each other. By showing how strong basic magic can be, Yin thought that Professor Reeve had accomplish his goals and won’t harm them further. At the very least he can now focus his attention on getting out of here without too harsh of a punishment.

“What do you mean wands are for trainees?” Bell shot a fierce glance at Yin.

“Wands are catalysts that allows the users to successfully cast spells. They’re mainly used to prevent backfires from occurring. But being able to cast a spell does not mean that you can control it. You can only say that you have control of your magic when you’ve mastered it.” Yin replied.

“Well, what about you? You had your wand pointed at my friend as well!” Bell barked.

“I wasn’t really pointing at anyone in particular. My wand was pointed at your direction, because I was preparing to dispel whatever magic you throw at us. I never intended to fight you guys.” Yin said.

“Dispel magic? A first-year student? You have to try harder if you want to be funny.” Bell was at his wit’s end. He wanted to give this infuriating being a satisfying punch. Nat looked at Bell and shook his head. Bell suppressed his anger and tried to calm himself.

“Stop. Whatever your intentions were, the fact remains that you three had your weapons pointed at each other. Since this is your first day attending the school, I will be light with the punishment. You’ll be assigned to the security branch and follow their orders until the end of this term. Report to the security department tomorrow after classes are done. They’ll be waiting for you.” Reeve said.

In the end, Bell, Yin, and Nat received a punishment. Nat and Bell were the first ones to exit the room. Yin was the last one to leave before the door creaked closed.

“I’ll remember this.” Bell said as he and Nat walked away.

Yin sighed and walked over to a nearby window. Fireworks whistled high into the air before exploding into a beautiful light show. He looked down at the sea of students enjoying the late night activities. They were smiling with their friends, and making great memories. Soon after, one group after another began to depart and head back to their dorms. He stared at them, yearning for a day when he could have memorable experiences as well.

The bustling road transition to a deserted road littered with trash. Plastic cups, leftover foods, and paper plates became apparent with the disappearance of the students. The stalls became station-less; the students who were working have now retired to their dorms.

It gradually became silent and peaceful. Yin didn’t mind nights like these. The beautiful night sky twinkled with many stars far beyond his reach. He remembered the amount of praise people gave towards students of Highborn Academy. That they should felt privileged and honored to be able to attend a school as great as this. That only nobles or wealthy families can afford to attend this school.

But he didn’t feel like that at all. It was a weird feeling, something that he couldn’t describe at all. He hoped that he’ll eventually find his place among the students here. Only time will tell what he was feeling at the moment.

Yin looked at the ground once more. I feel bad for the people who has to clean this mess up, Yin thought as he walked away from the window, and returned to his room.

The next morning…

The groggy kid woke up to the sound of his alarm ringing. He stuffed his head under his pillow and covered it with the white sheet on his bed. Undaunted by the boy’s action, the sound of the alarm made its way into the ears of the boy. He laid there on the bed, waiting for the alarm to turn itself off. Times like these, his uncle would be the first one to invade his room and shut off the alarm. Five minutes passed and the alarm was as loud as ever. Unable to resist the urge anymore, Yin lift the pillow that was on top of him, and threw it at the alarm. The alarm on top of the dresser felled to the ground, and ceased to ring.

Yin looked at the bed opposite of his. It was vacant. There were no signs of usage; the bed and sheets were fixed and tidy. Everything on the opposite side of the room seems to be untouched.

The thought didn’t linger in his mind. He had to get to his morning class. The alarm was set to ring thirty minutes before the start of his first class. After going through his morning routines, Yin rushed out of the dorm’s door and headed to class.

The roads were crowded and loud. Many students were walking to class in their uniforms. Others were strolling towards the train station with their suitcase. Shops and stalls were set up along the road to attract customers. Rather than running to class, he briskly walked in a single-file line to class.

Familiar faces appeared as he examined the class he stepped into. Nat, Bell, and the person who fought Vega occupied the seats in the corner of the room. They were eyeing Nora, Vale, and Vega who sat in front of the room. Vega spotted Yin entering the classroom and patted the vacant seat next to him.

Yin sat down and said, “I can’t believe we’re in the same class.”

“Same here!” Vega said.

“Hey, what happen yesterday? You know, after that teacher showed up and all.” Melody chimed in.

“Nothing really.” Yin replied.

“Really?” Melody eyed him suspiciously.

“Sorry for getting you caught up in that. I didn’t expect you to take out your wand when I instructed you guys not to.” Vale’s choice of words made it difficult for Yin to believe that she was apologizing.

“Instructed?” Yin asked.

“Uh… oops. I knew I was forgetting something last night. Sorry.” Melody weakly smiled.

“Now, now, all that is yesterday. Let’s stop apologizing to each and move on.” Vega declared.

A figure, one that Yin was familiar of, walked into the classroom and stood in front of the seated students.

“Good morning first-year students, and welcome to your first day of Introductory to Mana. I would like to remind you all that prohibited magic usage will result in consequences that may lead to expulsion. If you’re not clear as to what falls under ‘prohibited magic usage,’ then I’d advise to not use magic unless an authorize personnel is on site. Better yet, refer to the school handbook and refresh your memory.” Professor Mayor said.

He continued, “Now then, let’s move on to the main subject and the reason all of us are here for. If any of you have any questions at any time, then please feel free to ask them.”

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“I always love to start off the semester with this question: What is mana?” Professor Mayor asked. His eyes wander around the room, waiting for someone to answer his question.

“Mana lets us use magic!” A student shouted.

“We can do cool stuff with it!” Another student shouted.

“We can defeat enemies with it!” One more student shouted.

“Yes, that may all be true. Mana, at the very core, is very much like air. It’s all around us at all times, and we breathe it. It travels through our bodies, through the meridian channels, and into the meridian core. We store mana inside our meridian core to do ‘cool stuff’ with it.” Professor Mayor said.

“What’s fascinating about Mana is that it can either be entirely harmless to every being or harmful to everything. This is why control over it is so important.” Professor Mayor extended his hand and a fiery flame lit up from the center of his palm. The flame’s intensity increase and decrease at his whim. “Of course, magic is limited to the user. What you can learn and apply with it all depends on you.”

The flame disappeared from his palm and Professor Mayor retracted his hand. He took out his wand and the stack of red grimoires on his desk levitated into the air. The grimoires flew in the air and made its way towards each student's desk.

“I would like you all to flip to the first page and cast the spell. These are basic elemental grimoires provided by the school, so you may take it with you if you wish to practice in any of the designated facilities.” Professor Mayor said.

Yin extended his hand and faced his palm to the ceiling. After reciting the words, Yin felt a tingly sensation coursing from his chest to his hand. He controlled the flame to be small and steady, so that it wouldn’t consume too much mana.

“Wow!” Nat shouted. Bell was producing a large flame, even bigger than Professor’s Mayor. The students noticed Bell's flame and readied themselves to cast the spell.

The students began reciting the words associated with the spell and held out their hand. Small flames or sparks appeared on their palms. Nevertheless, all of the students were able to use it to some degree.

“Good. You wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t do something this simple. Always focus on control rather than the power of it. You wouldn’t want to harm others or yourselves.” Professor Mayor said.

Professor Mayor continued his lecture for the next hour, discussing various topics such as the Law of Mana, society’s rules regarding Mana, and how it applies to technology. Most, if not all, of modern day inventions and technologies rely on Mana in one way or another. For the future engineers, he made sure to emphasized that it is important to learn about Mana and how it incorporates into appliances.

The school bell rang, marking the end of the class.

“You are all dismissed. I hope to see you all next week. And please take an hour or so to review the study materials.” Professor Mayor said as he watched the students leave one after the other.

Nora watched the three preparing to leave, and asked, “Should we find a place to rest?”

Vale and Vega agreed, but Yin rejected.

“Sorry, I can’t. I have to be somewhere.” Yin replied.

“Mm… ok. Well, how about lunch? We’ll save you a spot.” Melody said, her voice became soft.

Yin shook his head and said, “Go ahead and eat. Don’t wait for me.”

Vega laughed. “Let him be. It’s not like this is the last time we’ll be seeing him, right?”

Yin nodded and left the room. He made his way to the security department, located in a castle with red banners. Looking around him, the road was clean and filled with students and their books. Many second year students were walking to their second class. Generally, first-year students had no need to visit the Fighter, Caster, or Ranger’s castle, because these courses wouldn’t be open to them until their second year.

Behind him was Bell and Nat, the students whom Yin met the other day. Yin could felt a strong gaze stabbing his back, as if trying to kill him slowly. This gaze was similar to when he was in his classroom, but he didn’t pay any mind to it back then.

The three of them stopped in front of a student who held up a sign with their names written on it. The student looked at the three of them and asked, “Yin, Nat, and Bell?” They nodded their heads and follow the student leading them inwards to the castle.

The four of them turned a right into a room after entering the entrance of the castle. The room resembled a modern day office. Desks, chairs, cabinets, laid around the room. The typical achievements and awards of a renowned person hanged around the room and sat on top of the cabinets.

“I’ve brought them here, sir.” The student spoke.

The man’s hand quickly zoom pass by the stack of paperwork on his desk. His hand stopped and his face turned upwards to look at the newly arrived students in his office. His gold-plated armor and red cape made it seem as if he just got off the battlefield. They were worn, dulled, and, at this point, seem to be more useful for fashion than practical armor.

“Name?” The man behind the stack of paperwork asked.

The man’s stern voiced propelled Nat to straighten his posture and blurted out his name. Yin and Bell also stated their name when their eyes met the man.

“I see. Call me ‘Kaiser.’ Yin, Nat, and Bell, do you know why the three of you are here?” Kaiser asked.

“Well… we’ve went against the school’s policy and are now being punished.” Nat said.

Kaiser nodded and said, “I’ve looked through your files and this is a convenient time. Usually I would sentence the likes of you to local service. This includes various tasks like cleaning up the streets, assisting the gardener, and other monotonous activities. However, our hands have been short due to the recent draft. You have two options to choose: local service or join the academy’s security team.”

“Recent draft?” Yin inquired.

“Drake can fill you on the details later. So, what will the three of you choose?” Kaiser asked.

They were unhesitant and unanimous with their decision. The three of them shouted to join the security squad rather than care to local service for the semester.

“Good. Drake, we don’t have much time on our hands. Give them a test and come back with a report. If they don’t meet your standards, then don’t hesitate to sentence them to local service.” Kaiser announced.

“Yes, sir.” Drake strutted out of the room.

“By his standards? This is so dumb.” Bell followed Drake while stomping his foot.

Nat and Yin didn’t lag behind and immediately followed Drake as well.

As they were walking, Nat couldn’t help but asked, “So what’s this about a recent draft?”

Drake steadied his pace and said, “Yesterday, the headmaster announced a draft to the second and third-year students. It was completely optional, but a lot of students were attracted to real battle experience. Unfortunately, many students in our department, Fighters, immediately signed up and left this morning. Needless to say, our security team was compromised and that’s why we’re skipping many steps to give you guys a chance to join us.”

“Drafting from students? It’s true that this academy is among the top ranks, but isn’t that being too drastic? Maybe the war on the front lines aren’t going in our favor?” Nat audibly pondered.

“Don’t look down on us. Me and Nat are not joining you guys because we want to. We were given a choice between two rotten apples. It’s obvious we would choose the tastier one.” Bell muttered.

“I’ll be expecting you to back up your own words.” Drake said.

The four of them crossed the academy’s gate and headed towards the grassy field, a hundred meters away from the entrance of the academy.

“So? What do you want us to do?” Bell impatiently asked.

“It’s simple. The three of you will battle me and I’ll decide whether or not you are fit to be in my team.” Drake declared.

“Three versus one? Aren’t we supposed to not fight each other, you know, school policy and all.” Nat said.

“Don’t worry about that. It is within my power to authorize just competitions as I see fit. Use whatever means you need to defeat me. I’ll consider anything fair play.” Drake said.

“Fine. You two stand back. After I’m finish with him, I’ll be going after you.” Bell directed his irritated voice towards Yin.

“Don’t be rash. Trying to be cool won’t give you more points.” Drake smirked.

“Get off your high horse!” Bell shouted and charged at Drake.

Bell pulled out his wand from his pocket and aimed it at Drake. Red particles gathered at the tip of the wand before firing a flaming ball. The fireball flew through the air in a straight line before arriving in front of Drake. Drake quickly stepped to the side and pointed his wand behind him. The grass caught on fire before being put out with a strong gust of wind from Drake’s magic.

“Fire magic and voiceless incantation? You’ve passed the incantation and invocation stages, but your control is awful. What would you do if the entire field caught on fire? Are you planning on burning your friend over there?” Drake lectured, he fell back a few steps to gain distance.

Yin was also pleasantly surprised. He’d never thought this loudmouth would actually have some talent within him. In magic, voiceless incantation and invocation requires a person to have high affinity towards an element. In Bell’s case, Yin knew that Bell must’ve a high affinity towards the fire element.

“Shut up!” Bell ran towards Drake while wildly firing fireballs.

Drake extended his arm and the air around his hand became a turbulent wind, taking on the form of a sword.

“[Wind Blade]” Drake invoked a wind spell. Bluish crescent winds scattered from the sword, sliced through the fireball, and attacked Bell. His uniform was cut on the shoulders, waist, and legs. Blood oozed out wherever the crescent winds passed.

“Bell!” Nat shouted.

“Stand back!” Bell furiously shouted. His knees felt weak, but he didn’t want to give in. More than anything, he didn’t want to lose to the opponent in front of him.

“Are you done? If the three of you attack at once, we can get this done quickly. I don’t have all day.” Drake gestured for the spectators to join the fight.

“I’m getting real sick of your attitude!” Bell roared and charged once more. He couldn’t run as fast as before due to the injuries, but nevertheless, he charged with the determination to defeat his opponent.

Drake lowered his sword, cut the grass below him, and collected it into his sword. The grass rapidly circulates from the base of the sword to the tip. He rose the sword high in to the air and quickly slashed downwards. The grasses in the sword flew towards Bell, turning into sharp projectiles. Bell was force back and onto the ground with many grass blades lodged inside of his body.

Bell held back his voice as the pain circulates throughout his entire body. He couldn’t exactly see it, but he knew that his body was riddled with cuts. Fatigue, soreness, and heavy breathing – he was at his limit.

Nat quickly ran over, kneeled down, and began incanting a spell. Nat’s palm hovered over Bell’s body and light began emitting from his hand. One by one, the cuts began to healed and the wounds closed. The grasses fell off and the pricked hole was never there.

“Light magic: [Heal]? Not bad. It’s uncommon to see people venture towards light magic without having a high affinity. So you’ll be fighting me next?” Drake commented.

Nat weakly smiled and shook his head. “Sorry, but this is all I’m good for. I’m not very good at fighting to begin with.”

Drake nodded. “I see. I’d prefer if you would be able to defend yourself at the very least, but it seems my expectations were too high.” He turned his attention towards Yin and said, “It’s your turn. Come at me whenever you’re ready.”