- Michael -

Walking behind Julia, I stopped abruptly when I came to a realization.

I have no idea where I’m going.

I got caught up in the mood and just started walking, but I have absolutely no idea where I’m supposed to be.

“Julia! Wait up!”

“What?” She said while walking.

“Do you know what our next class is?”

Julia turned around and looked at me wide eyed. “You didn’t know?”

“No?” I looked at her, confused. “What, is it something important?”

She sighed and shook her head. “We’re going to the Testing Halls to take our baseline assessment. It was in the handbook emailed to us by Edward.”

She looked up and saw my shocked expression. “And I’m willing to bet you didn’t study one bit.”

“C-Come on! I know a thing or two about Magic, I’ll be fine… right?”

Julia stared at me with a blank face, before turning back around. “I hope so. Goodluck.”

And with that, I was left alone pacing the halls. “This sucks. How am I gonna find my next class?”

I sorted the options in my head, thinking of methods I could use to navigate myself. Suddenly, I remembered. “The email!” The hand book might tell me where I need to go.

I flicked my wrist and opened my data card. A translucent blue screen projected out of the small rectangular device on my arm and hovered just above my forearm. I interacted with it until I reached the email, and just as I had conjectured, my schedule was printed on the second page of the handbook.

“Let’s see… go to Testing Hall C to take the test.” I started down the hall searching for my classroom. The freshman floor by itself had upto a hundred rooms, separated into two sections for the combat and engineering courses. The building as a whole spanned four floors for each respective grade. I reached the Testing Hall and turned the door knob, stepping into the room. The space was submerged in darkness, as the row of circular beams casted from the ceiling lit up the area where the instructor was standing. It reminded me of a movie theater, except instead of a movie, they were watching a teacher rant for hours. The seats were filled with unfamiliar faces and the person at the head of the room stopped what she was doing to address my entering.

“Hey. You a student in this class?”

The woman’s rough manner of speech threw me off, but I responded accordingly.“Yes. I got lost on the way here so...”

“Take a seat.” The dispassionate woman raised a hand toward the audience before lazily dropping it back to her side.

I climbed up the aisle till I reached a seat near the corner of the dark room. The strange professor ruffled her messy brown hair before she began talking again. “So like I said before, we will be administering a Written Test, an Essence Potency Test, and a Practical Application Test. For the practical portion of the exam, you will be given the option to take the combat or engineering version.”

She began tapping the screen on the lectern and a notification sounded out of everyone's datacards. “Take out your projectors and open this file. You’ll be given an hour to complete the test.” I opened the file on my projector and a worksheet appeared.

What do we have here… a hundred questions! In an hour? I ran my fingers through my hair and stared at the screen.

Question 1: Who invented the method of controlling Essence?

Easy. I circled the correct answer.

Question 22: Who discovered the existence of Essence and when was this discovery made.?

I don’t know! This happened like a hundred years ago!

I selected whichever answer looked right and continued on.

Question 100: Why do you want to become a Magician?

I hesitated before answering. I wasn’t really interested in Magic itself. I would much rather laze through school and grow up earning just enough to enjoy my life. But I remembered the events that occurred 2 years ago. The atrocities I witnessed and the words that monster spoke before it took everything away from me.

We’ll be waiting… on the other side.

Collecting my thoughts, I decided on my answer.

I submitted the test and released a sigh of relief. Looking around, It seemed as if most of the students had already completed their test, with the exception of a few stragglers. Most of the people looked satisfied with their results, while others stared worriedly at their screens. After a few short minutes, the proctor returned and announced the end of the Written Test.

After arriving in the next Testing Hall, everyone gathered in front of the instructor who was holding a staff in his hand. He had long grey hair that stood up unnaturally, as if he was struck by lightning. His face was wrinkled from old age, but his eyes had a passionate gleam that was only seen in youth. He donned a white lab coat that had several stains and rips on its surface. The room resembled a small gymnasium considering how empty it was.

He held his staff forward, pointing the end toward the students. “This test is fairly simple. You place your hand on the Artifact embedded into this staff and pour your Essence into it. The Relic Arm will then output a signal that reveals the results of your examination.”

The students were relieved that this test was much less arduous than the previous one. Some relaxed on the wooden floor and chatted, while others decided to stand ready, anxious to test their potency levels.

“Essence Potency, better known as the Soul Magnitude, is represented by numerical values. The average person’s Magnitude measures 300, while a veteran Magician’s can range from 1500 to 2500. The average for Freshman students usually lands between 400 and 500.”

The instructor began calling for volunteers, and plenty of students offered to get tested. A line or people began to form, as well as a coalition of spectators. The first student, a timid boy with mossy green hair covering his face, stood at the front of the line.

“What is your name?”

“Ethan Argus”

“Alright Ethan, touch your hand to the artifact and slowly pour your Essence in.” He placed his hand on the end of the staff and shut his eyes in concentration.

The cubic Artifact in the staff began to glow white and the staff’s surface began to pulsate intermittently. The teacher stood silently while analyzing the wavelength.

As the tester and student opened their eyes, the Artifact’s light dimmed and the staff returned to its dormant state.

“Your Soul Magnitude level is 574.”

The crowd gasped in astonishment. Not only did he pass the 450 benchmark, he even surpassed the freshman average.

The rest of the students were tested, and like the tester had stated beforehand, most of the readings landed between 400 and 500.

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“Has anyone not been tested yet?”

I raised my hand and walked over.

“Place your hand on the Artifact and pour your Essence in steadily. Do not try to force it, simply allow the Essence to flow out of your body freely at its natural pace.”

I followed his instructions and released my Essence into the cubic stone. Just like with the other students, the cube glowed brightly. No one in the room paid it any mind and most were preparing to leave the class. As the waves traveled down the staff like before, something unexpected happened. The staff began to shake violently without warning and the tester struggled to keep hold of it. He dropped the staff, breaking the flow of Essence, as beads of sweat flowed down his paled face.

I watched the scene in bafflement and attempted to process what had just occurred. “A-Are you alright?” I reached out to catch him if he fell.

“You… What are you?” The teacher stared at me as if I was some mysterious creature, something to be studied, and something to be feared.

My lips were left ajar as I struggled to find the words. “I…”

The sudden turn of events began to attract the attention of the surrounding students. Seeing this, the tester regained his composure and retrieved his staff. “Your Soul Magnitude level is 452.”

The extremely standard level reading dismissed the stray gazes of the onlookers. The bell indicating the end of the second test rang out and the students began filing out.

I looked at the teacher and opened my mouth to speak when he interrupted me.

“I couldn’t read it. While I was able to analyze the Essence in your body, I couldn’t access the interior of your soul.” He gripped his staff and stared me deep in the eye. “Something is safeguarding your soul, and whatever is in there…”

His sentence trailed off and he suddenly went and returned to his desk. Hesitantly, I grabbed my bags and started for the exit. As I stepped out the door, I turned back and matched the instructor’s inquiring gaze, before stepping out into the hall.

What’s his deal? I drifted blindly down the hallway going over his strange ramblings. Safeguarding my soul? He must be crazy. Briskly walking towards my next testing room, I bumped countless shoulders along the way. Something was nagging me about what he said, but I didn’t have the peace of mind to think about it.

I shook off my apprehension and approached the combat Testing Hall. As I stepped in, I couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer vastness of the place. This one, unlike the previous room, seemed to be an actual gymnasium. It was located on the side of the school building alongside multiple others. While the curved walls formed a relatively large amphitheater esc space, what caught my attention was the domed ceiling, which was raised even higher than the first two floors of the main building.

“Welcome to the colosseum!”

An enthusiastic voice echoed throughout the dome. Everyone turned to see who it was.

I on the other hand, already knew who it was. I could never forget the obnoxious voice of the person who sent me here.

“Yes! It is I, your one and only Principal! I have opted to handle this portion of the exam so here I am!”

The students present stood in awe, and some dropped their weapons in shock. From the conversations I heard in my previous classes, the principal is rather popular amongst the freshman. As the founder of the Charester Group, he is known by anyone hoping to make it in the business world or Magic industry.

His golden hair fluttered as he wore his signature shiny white attire. This time, he wore a white vest instead of a suit, with a black dress shirt underneath. Topping it off with a red tie, he fit the savvy businessman aesthetic perfectly.

“This test is simple. If any one of the students here can land an attack on me, you all pass.”

The students went silent for a moment before one of them spoke out. “We just have to land an attack on you?”

“That is correct.”

“What happens if we can’t?” a girl asked.

Edward stroked his beardless chin. “I guess you would all fail.”

The examinees were dumbfounded by this sudden revelation. As everyone took worried glances at each other, the group of people gripped their weapon ready to fight.

The boy from before spoke again. “Are you going to be fighting back?”

“Of course not. I could never attack a student.” Edward chuckled while maintaining his composed demeanor.

Everyone having braced themselves, a few students charged at the man. The majority of the examinees stood in the back and scripted ranged attacks. As the close quarters combatants swung their weapons at him, Edward almost seemed to disappear from sight. He quickly burst into action, parrying the slew of attacks and throwing his assailants off balance. He looked like he was dancing, like he had practiced those exact movements in order to perform them in front of a crowd.

The melee fighters were sprawled out on the wooden floor around Edward, have been incapacitated by his use of grapples and precise counters.

He waved his hand. “Mary, come clean this up.” The agent who came to pick Julia and I up this morning, appeared from behind him. She picked up the five students that engaged Edward and took them out of the way.

By now, the long range fighters had finished their Algorithms. A shower of projectiles ranging from rocks to sharp gales of wind, were launched at Edward’s location. The students watched attentively to witness how he would counter their attacks, when he simply walked to the left. The attacks struck the wooden floor, smashing and splintering the boards.

Edward sighed “Where are you guys aiming those things? I could have stood still and they wouldn’t have hit me.”

The students were discouraged by his harsh remonstrations and the previously defeated vanguards drudged over to our location. The feeling of hopelessness infected the minds of the examinees and many were losing the will to fight.

I guess this is it. I stepped up to one of the approaching students and reached out my hand. “Can I borrow your sword for a bit?”

The boy studied me for a second before scoffing. “What? You think you can hit him?”

I smiled somberly. “Can’t hurt to try.”

The boy clicked his tongue and tossed his weapon towards me. “Looking forward to your failure.”

I grappled the handle of the blade and inspected it. It was a Roman Gladius, an aged but versatile armament. The wide double-edged blade was good for both slashing and thrusting, and allowed for swift, powerful attacks.

I swung the blade against the air to grasp its weight and balance. Feeling the contractions in my muscles, an idea suddenly came to me.

“Hey guys,” I looked at the group that fought hand-to-hand with Edward. “When you fought with Edward, why didn’t you augment all your movements with vector magic?”

The battered students looked at each other, before bursting out laughing. “You don’t even know that? If you use vector magic that way, it’ll have the opposite effect of slowing you down. Scripting and fighting at the same time is inefficient and honestly not feasible.”

The boys started laughing again when I turned back around. “Is that so?”

I closed my eyes and started releasing Essence out of my body. I began scripting vector magic on every inch of my body, programming an external muscular system.

Previously, I might have just stood at a distance launching projectiles at my enemy. But from watching these guys fight, I realized that instead of creating momentary boosts of power, one could program a constant, full body system, that would effectively increase both their power, speed, and precision.

I activated the Algorithm and a dull blue stream of Essence flowed along my skin. I could feel the air shifting around me, making way for my movements. Stretching my leg forward, I stamped down with all of my force. The floor splintered under the pressure and I could feel the sensation of omnipotence flow into my mind and body.

Edward grinned, amused by this development. “That’s an interesting Algorithm you got there. Let’s see how far you can go with it.”

In the past, I hadn’t once beaten Edward in a bout. Even when I used magic to quicken my blows and launch projectiles mid fight, I was never able to get more than an amused smirk from him.

But now would be different. With this magic, I was sure I could land a solid blow on him. I dipped my torso towards the floor, pointing the tip of my blade towards Edward. Allowing the overflowing sense of power to surge into my body, I flexed my muscles and pushed off with the full force of my legs. My body exploded forward and I whipped through the air faster than my mind could react. Trying to break my momentum, I tumbled along the ground and my back rammed violently against the opposite wall. A numbing tremor blasted through my limbs and my head throbbed painfully as I tried to regain control of my movements.

Looking up, I found Edward standing in the same position as before, having side-stepped my attack. “How unkind.” He turned around to reveal a light cut on his cheek. “Look what you’ve done to my beautiful face.”

I froze in disbelief, staring hard at the cut on his face to confirm that it was really there.

“I hit you…” Triumph slowly rose in my chest and I hollered like a madman. “I hit you! Haha! How’s that Edward? Not so suave now!”

The man suppressed a chuckle and smiled, raising both his hands in defeat. At this, the students cheered ardently. I strided over to one of the gleeful students and handed him the sword.

“Here.”

The boy held my gaze before taking the sword, scratching his head awkwardly. “Sorry about what I said earlier. I was angry with myself and ended up taking it out on you.”

His apology surprised me, but it was clear he was trying to right his wrong. I took his words to heart and put my hand forward. “It’s fine. What do you say we spar some time to make it up?”

He smiled at me with gratitude, and firmly took my hand. “Of course. The name’s Jake.”

I smiled back and returned his grip. “Michael.”

We exchanged contacts and parted ways, agreeing to meet up sometime in the future. The exam was concluded and I left the gymnasium, walking down the long glass corridor leading to the main building.

“Now let’s see what we have next.” I opened my schedule once again and my face fell. “I totally forgot about this…”

The last event of the day was the club recruitment ceremony, and for me, that meant going to Edward’s office. After all the things that happened, I have to go to the principal’s office?

I exhaled and mustered some motivation. “Let’s see what he has in store for me.”