Chapter 5 - Talent

We had met up at the entrance to the palace, Mildred was holding onto some bead sized purple glowing stones.

"Hello everyone, thank you for being punctual. I have a messenger stone for each of you, please keep this on you and if there is any emergency, crush it and you will be in contact with Ela, who will arrive promptly to help you."

Mildred handed them out to us. As the messenger stone fell on my palm my mind could not help but think of my last death. Why didn't they give it earlier? Ah well, what happened has happened and there is no point in dwelling upon it. Ned stretched his arms.

"Alright, are you guys excited or nervous to start learning some magic?"

A smirk flashed on my face.

"Both, I mean what else could I be?"

Alyx chuckled.

"Well, I am more excited than nervous."

Erin was holding onto Alyx's arm but was swinging it around.

"Mmm… definitely more nervous than excited."

Mildred told us to follow her and we took a walk across the cobblestone path. Ned was making exaggerated motions as he was explaining to us all the different ways he was going to cast all kinds of magic. Contrary to expectation, Erin started to join in with him, cutely making sound effects and waving her arm that was not holding onto Alyx.

I definitely didn't join in embarrassing myself... I swear.

Alyx was just laughing and Mildred was smiling.

The walk was not long, only a few minutes. Compared to the palace it was more modest but still large. The school had lots of vegetation and there was a yard that was nearly as large as the school itself that had various equipment like training dummies but was mostly empty space. Mildred took us into the school and led us to a classroom.

"Alright this will be your classroom from now on, please remember this place."

My eyes peered inside. There seemed to be a teacher already there, it was a middle-aged man in a suit that had an arm that hung limply to his side. There were two students already there dressed quite nicely. Mildred then bade farewell, and we said our goodbyes as well. We walked into the classroom, there were large desks that were far apart from each other, it seemed the total capacity of the classroom was ten students. Ned was quick to approach a guy that was sitting at one of the desks, he looked to be more or less the same age.

"Hey, how is it going? My name is Ned. What is yours?"

The guy turned around, looking surprised, but reached out for a handshake.

"Oh, hello Ned, my name is... Dan."

Ned smiled amicably and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you."

Dan turned back after that and we decided not to bother him. There was also a girl at another end of the class which Ned decided to go to. The girl looked very sleepy and was barely able to keep her head up from falling onto the desk. Ned called out to her a few times but it looks like she didn't even hear so Ned went to take a seat.

"Ah, why are the desks so far apart?"

Ned proceeded to pick up desks to make four of them much closer to each other, within arm's reach of each other. The teacher raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. We each took a seat, as we did, one student came through the door. He was panting but quickly regathered himself as he stepped in the room, his clothes looked neat but not as fancy as everyone else's. My hand raised and my eyes turned to the teacher.

"Excuse me, teacher, when does class start?"

The teacher cleared his throat and spoke in a deep neutral tone.

"Soon, the last three should be here anytime now- Ah, look at that"

As he said that, two girls and a guy walked in, but were a bit far from each other. Two of them looked at us strangely for a moment seeing our desks but looked away quickly. The teacher then tapped the chalkboard.

"Alright since everyone is here we should start."

He bowed, which was weird to me.

"My name is Harlow, you can simply call me by my name. I will teach you the basics of magic. Now we should begin..."

What? Are we not going to introduce ourselves?

"Magic can come in the form of many different elements and takes on a physical form..."

He proceeded to describe the various historical figures that had discovered uses and revolutionized magic, which did not garner my interest.

"...Now for you, you must decide on what kind of mage you wish to be. There are two mainstream ways that 99 of 100 people use, the Collector Mage and the Constitution Mage. When we draw mana towards us we have to find a way to use it, the Collector Mage is one that improves their affinity towards mana, allowing them to retain the mana around them for use. The Constitution Mage is one that improves their body, allowing them to forcefully contain mana in their body for use. It is widely known that the Collector Mage is the best way to go, however, some people do not have any affinity in magic, thus must become Constitution mage. The reason for this is because Collector Mages can continually collect mana so long as their mind is not too strained from manipulating mana. On the other hand, while constitution mages can store mana for fast spellcasting, the body can only support a certain amount of spellcasting. You should try your best to become a Collector Mage if you have the talent, which we will check now."

Harlow pulled out some orb-looking thing supported by a wooden base.

"Otis, please come to the test first."

The guy that was a latecomer stood up and walked towards the front. He seemed a bit arrogant but more nervous than anything, considering his arms were shaking.

Was this a pretty big deal?

Otis let out a small sigh and then put his hand in the orb… wait how did he do that? The air in the room twisted and the table started to wobble. After a few seconds it calmed down and in the orb, there were three glowing balls of various colors the size of a tennis ball. Harlow nodded approvingly.

"Good talent, good talent, you will do great in fire, earth, and water magic. You can become a splendid Collector Mage."

Otis smiled and looked a bit more arrogant but was still reserved.

"Haha, of course, I would have an affinity for magic."

Harlow later called 4 other members, Dan who Ned talked to, Flora the sleepy girl who Harlow had to shake awake, Reyna who was one of the latecomers, and Mika who was also a latecomer. They all had a similar talent to Otis and they were becoming more loud and proud as they went back to their seats. Later the guy who came in winded, Kaiden went up to take his test. Upon putting his hand into the orb my body suddenly felt humid and wet. Harlow raised his eyebrow. Within the orb, there was a basketball sized blue orb that shone brightly.

"Rare talent in water... Use it well."

The other people who had taken a test suddenly became silent. Kaiden laughed.

"Of course, of course."

Ned was then called up and he walked over briskly.

"Come on... give me something good."

Ned slowly reached out to the orb, once a finger went in it felt like all the air came out of my body and pain as if my muscles were being squeezed like a sponge.

Then everything was fine, my lungs anxiously gasped for air. Harlow was holding Ned's arm which was no longer inside the orb. Ned was puzzled.

"What? I haven't been tested yet. How am I supposed to know my talents?"

Harlow shook his head, he had broken out in a cold sweat.

"No need, no need, no matter what magic you use you will not have a problem..."

Ned looked at Harlow strangely. Harlow continued.

"You are able to gather mana abnormally fast, so affinity or not you can forcefully use them as if you were a Constitution Mage."

The other students who tested looked really shocked. Ned laughed and went back to his seat.

"Alright, that is pretty cool."

Alyx was called up, she seemed pretty composed, when she went to touch the orb my sensations disappeared.

Everything became empty...

Harlow was holding Alyx's arm and he was catching his breath. There were fine cracks where Alyx had touched the orb. Harlow seemed to have a hard time speaking, and was thinking about something.

"Your magic... is very special, it can greatly reduce or even nullify other magic, I will have a book for you so you can cast spells that use this mana."

Alyx walked back and seemed to be wondering about what Harlow said. The other students seemed to be afraid. Harlow sighed.

"I apologize but I must get a new Mana Enhancer."

Harlow rushed out carrying the orb and after a few minutes walked in with a new one. My turn was next, cold sweat appeared on my forehead. Harlow seemed to be on edge, ready to grab at my arm and there were many eyes on me.

My hand reached out to the orb and upon touching it, it felt like my hand submerged in water. Although the orb looked stationary there was a whirling that felt similar to a massage. Harlow looked at me confused.

"How- how did you get into this academy if..."

Harlow shook his head with disappointment seeing the lack of a reaction from the orb.

"You... must become a Constitution Mage to use magic."

Someone snickered but as for who, it was a mystery. Ned was looking at Otis rather threateningly and Otis was trying to pretend he didn't exist. Reyna scoffed, but she was looking at Otis. After my dejected self plopped down on the seat, Ned had patted my shoulder and whispered to me.

"It's fine if you can't use magic, we are literally in a time of peace where this magic stuff is useless anyway."

My head gave a weak nod and a smile appeared on my face. Erin was the next person that was called up. After Alyx whispered something to Erin, she went up nervously. When she put her hand in the orb nothing happened, Harlow was quick to sigh.

"You must be-"

In the middle of his sentence, his eyes suddenly bulged. Everything felt... very warm... There was no violent reaction from the orb but there were many little orbs of all colors that were bouncing around as if they were alive, suddenly moving to and fro. They seemed to be very intimate with Erin, rubbing against her. Harlow took a while to collect himself and Erin was standing there awkwardly.

"... Although your talent in a particular magic is not high... the elements will help you cast your spells and make them... much stronger."

Erin looked surprised then skipped to her desk.

I must say, from how Harlow put it, I was really jealous of Erin.... and everyone else too.