Practical exams Part 2

“Did he use some mythical magic to amplify his voice?”, I uttered to myself.

After hearing that announcement, my heart raced faster and faster as I felt nervous and excited for the upcoming events. My eyes kept wandering around, I am trying to see if there were any familiar faces in the stadium. There isn’t a single familiar face here that I could recognize, which is not surprising since I took up private home classes for as long as I can remember and that is also the reason why I don’t have any friends and the only people I’ve really hang out with was my relatives. Despite this, I still kept looking at the different faces of the people all around me. I am subconsciously hoping that I could see that girl I encountered on my way here since I know that she’s most likely applying to be in this Academy as well.

“Hey excuse me, is this seat taken?”

“Huh?”, I was too focused on scouting for that girl, that I didn’t realize that a guy was standing in front of the seat to my right.

“Uhhh is this seat occupied?”

“Ohh sorry, I didn’t hear you the first time. No, it is unoccupied”, I said in an apologetic tone.

After I said that, he nods and smiles at me before occupying the said seat. I smile back at him and I then continue looking around at the stadium.

“Man, this sure is a big crowd.”, the guy who said to get my attention.

“Uhhmm… Yeah it sure is”, I replied.

“Are you searching for your friends among those seated people?”

“No, I don’t have friends”,

He then giggled a little bit. I guess he either thinks I’m joking or maybe he’s laughing at how miserable I am, having no friends. About a minute passed and silence then filled the air between us again.

“What affiliation are you going with?”, he asked out of nowhere to break the silence

“You are an incoming first year student like me, right?”, he continued.

“I’m not sure yet”

“Heh? Everyone is supposed to have their mind made up on the affiliation they’ll choose by now. The type of magic you’ll execute today will be of that affiliation that you have chosen”

“Really?! I didn’t know that’s how these practicals will be. What about you? Have you made up your mind on what affiliation you will pursue?”, I asked in a worried and panicked tone.

“Yes, of course! I’m going with the Astral affiliation since it is what my father took up in his stay here. Now he’s a strong and famous law enforcer that helps in maintaining this city’s security. My dad is exactly the kind of man that I want to become when I grow up!”

I thought about how my father also took up the Astral affiliation. Maybe I should follow his footsteps too. My parents are probably expecting me to do so as I my father became successful after he made the decision to take this path and it seemed be very useful for the family business.

“You should try Astral affiliation too and then we will probably be classmates”, he said in a very friendly and excited manner.

“I’ll think about it”

“By the way, I’m Rin Koume. You can call me Rin”

“I’m Shinzo, Shinzo Kazushi. Feel free to call me using my given name too.”

“Kazushi? That sounds familiar hmmm…”

“Attention everyone! All practical examinees please proceed down to the stadium grounds and form lines, boys group yourselves together and girls will do the same. Thank you.”, said the guy in the stage.

People started getting up from their seats and started proceeding down to the stadium grounds. Rin and I also got up and made our way to the stadium grounds. After reaching the stadium grounds, we lined up and waited along with the rest of the male examinees.

“Before we start, I would like to announce the presence of a special guest that will join us to spectate on the following events today. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Matsuo Ryo!”

The crowd suddenly got filled with cheers and clapping.

“Heh? Isn’t he an apprentice of a Master Sorcerer?”

“Yeah, an apprentice of the Master of Mythical magic”

“An apprentice of a Master, I bet he’s really skilled and powerful”

The crowd of spectators in the stadium kept chatting about this guest.

I heard about these Master Sorcerers and their apprentices from my father. These Masters are the best at their respective affiliations and are said to have been around since magic was first used by people. They tend spend most (if not, all) of their time often in the temples they each have. Their apprentices are a few chosen elites and they also tend to avoid the reporters and also stay with the temple of their master.

The practical exams began. One by one the people in front of the lines got called to the stage where a guy gives them a piece of paper to quickly sign before handing over a grey bracelet to put on. After that, they’d then to execute a magic spell or incantation and then to get their skills evaluated by the board of jury.

One guy used Astral magic to projects a giant mace. He then hit the ground with that mace he made, this caused dust particles to spread as I felt a small shockwave from the impact. The spectators cheered as they were very impressed with such display of magic power. The jury started writing down on their sheets and so the next person was called to present.

“Aozora Kido!”

Commotion could be seen in the lines where the girls were. They started to clear a path for the person who has been called who was apparently in the back of the line. As soon as she came out of the crowd, I immediately recognize her familiar face. It was the girl that bumped into me earlier!

She went towards they guy at the stage, filled up the paper that she was given, and then picked up a bracelet. I then look over to Rin who was behind me. I am curious about what those bracelets are and I wonder if Rin knows anything about them.

“Hey Rin, do you know what those bracelets are for?”

Rin, who was watching the girl who was about to execute her magic, shifted his attention towards me.

“Those aren’t just bracelets; they are Power Adapters. It assists the wearer to cast specific magic spells effectively and efficiently. It also regulates the power output to keep the wearer from harming his or her self.”

“You see how they all the bracelets are color grey at first? And then after the person has finished writing on that piece of paper, the bracelets gain a red, blue, or orange color? That’s the adapter adjusting to the preferences of the person who will wear it. Red is for Astral, blue for Elemental, and Mythical is colored orange.”

“Casting any magic without the assistance of those adapters is impossible. If you do manage to cast a spell, you probably would not know how to properly control your magic output and this is dangerous especially for us young magicians.”

“Also, those adapters that they are providing us today are not what we will use as students in the Academy if we do pass this exam. Thus, you must give return those adapters back to the staffs after. But I’ve heard that the ones that they will be giving us as students will be ours to keep.” Rin explained.

After that, I look over to see what the color of the girl’s adapter is. It was colored blue, so I guess that means that she chose the Elemental affiliation. I continued watching her to see how she’ll use Elemental magic.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She then extended her right arm forward and aimed at the sky. She opened her eyes and said, “Infernal Lord’s Torch Flames”. After those words left her mouth, the air above the right arm she extended instantly set ablaze with bluish flames that spread high up having a radius about as big as a medium sized house. Few seconds later the flames disappeared as she clenched her right hand to make a fist before bowing the jury.

The next examinee was called to the front. And so on…

“Shinzo Kazushi!”

I got startled as I hear my name being called. Rin lightly shoved me in the back and wished me good luck. I make my way to the stage and a guy gave me a paper to sign similar to what was given to the others before me. I look at what was written in it.

“Affiliation: _______”

“Name&Signature: ________”

I still don’t know for sure what I will go with but I need to fill this up quickly or else I might get in trouble. I look at bracelet that Chiba gave me for my birthday. I breath slowly and finally calmed myself. I fill up the paper and the guy collected it and then he gave me the adapter that I will use. It shifted color from being grey, it became blue. I then put in on with an excited smile on my face.

I proceed to go in front of the jury. They look over to their sheets and then look over at me expectantly.

“Alright, first I’ll focus my magic energy towards my right arm and cast that Water spell that I’ve read about once before, Jetstream.”, I say to myself as I take a step back with my left foot, clench my right fist, and then I focused on my right arm.

“Water, think of water… define it, feel it…flowing cold liquid… cold, cold, cold”

Suddenly I heard a cracking sound. I look over to my adapter and I can see spark coming from it and cracks starting to spread on the device. I panicked and tried to shake the bracelet off my arm. The sparks coming out became larger and I fell down to my back after seeing them and being startled.

“Whoa look at that!”, people from the crowd shouted.

I look over to where my right hand was, and see that the ground was freezing! Ice was starting to spread across the stadium ground and within seconds, the whole ground was covered in ice. The other examinees panicked as their feet have also been covered in cold ice, some even called out for help as they found they are stuck to the ground and unable to move.

“Ohh great and powerful Sun God, let your gentle warm rays scatter… “

I look over in to the direction of the voice. It was Mr. Matsuo Ryo!

“Sunstrike!”

The skies above us suddenly grew brighter. The whole place felt warmer I see a strong light coming down from the sky and it is clearly aimed at my location! I quickly get up and run to avoid that beam of light that is above me.

The beam of light hit the spot on the ground where I was before I ran to safety. The ice covering the ground on that spot immediately melted and evaporated while the rest of the ice scattered elsewhere in the stadium also began to melt slowly. Mr. Matsuo then look towards me with a threatening look in his eyes.