Chapter 2 - Entrance Exam Part 2

As the day wore on it was soon time for the next stage of the exam. Quite possibly the most scary part of the exam but the most effective for drawing out one's magic.

The Principal looked to Mr Kai and he nodded.

She pressed a large red button on the control panel. Mr Botan’s eyes were fixed very closely on the screen. In a manner of minutes the small tinkling bell sounded from Kai Kenta. Mr Kai perked up as they brought the boy’s perspective up.

A group of girls looked scared in a corner, they were predominantly from the Taue family. They were all huddled together looking terrified of a certain section of the forest. Kenta looked closely at it.

A low growl came from it and the girls all ran away.

“I will be the hero that you need,” Kenta stated a little too proudly.

Mr Botan bit his lip to suppress a laugh.

But out from the foliage came a beast, the size of a large dog but not the appearance, this creature had a huge jaw capable of snapping a person in half, and its skin was patched with fur and coloured a sickly purple.

The 12 families had lived in peace for many centuries after the Deer Goddess had given her blessing to them, they had risen up and become some of the most powerful among humans. Then came the monsters, creatures only interested in locating the descendants of the magical families. These monsters were why the M-class needed to exist, the students chosen with enough magical potential where to become the heads of their families but also to protect their families from the monsters.

And Kai Kenta was face to face with one of them.

He took a step back, but the soft bell kept going off. The monster growled at him and matched his pace by stepping forward. Kenta balled his fists and suddenly a sheet of hardened bone grew over his knuckles. This aggravated the monster further and it lunged forward to bite him. He threw a punch at it with his newly armoured hand and sent it flying.

He then let out a fearful yelp and ran back in the opposite direction of the monster.

Despite his fear Kai Kenta had shown a decent amount of potential and each of the assessors were scribbling down notes.

Another bell went off.

This one for Ichibangase Kanna. She was with a group of Taue girls and one Tokei girl, Mr Botan noted that the Tokei girl was the only of her family in this year. In fact he couldn’t recall a Tokei being at the school for at least 5 years.

Kanna stood by the stream that ran at the bottom of the valley, “I’ll get this I just know I will.”

She had her hands in the water and was moving them around and lifting them up. So far it had no results.

Taue Hanae cheered, “I believe!”

Hanue’s twin sister beside her, Chie scolded, “don’t be so loud you’ll draw attention to us.”

Hanae’s smile was unrelenting, “Magic needs encouragement.”

Chie just shook her head and looked into the gloomy forest.

Kanna sighed, “you know what maybe we do need some attention drawn to us, this is hopeless.”

She stood up and looked away from the stream.

Mr Botan looked at the Tokei girl. Her focus seemed to be shifted away from the girls. What was she looking at? Suddenly her bell went off.

“It’s coming,” Tokei Yume whispered.

The Taue girls looked alarmed but Ichibangase Kanna stood determined.

Another monster appeared, this one was far larger than the one Kenta had faced. This one was bigger than a horse, its body was shaped differently but the similarity these monsters all shared was that sickly purple colour.

Yume was the closest to it, the Taue girls grabbed her and dragged her behind Kanna. Kanna stared down the beast but its focus was on Yume. It started to sprint at them. Kanna let out a fierce battle cry and a huge wave, seemingly too large to have come out of the small creek, overtook the monster and dragged it within its waters. The Monster screamed and cried as it tried to fight its way out of the water but Kanna did not let it get control. It flailed its legs around desperately trying to stay above the surface but Kanna was determined and slowly it sank beneath.

Kanna’s bell was going off like crazy during the entirety of this but as soon as the water calmed once again the girl collapsed. Exhausted from her use of magic. The Taue girls caught her.

The assessors aggressively took notes.

“That was an impressive use of magic,” The Principal commented out loud.

Mr Kai nodded, “there are some experienced users that would struggle to conjure that much water.”

The Principal looked back up at her view of the very groggy girl, “I believe that is an automatic pass for Ichibangase Kanna.”

“What about the Tokei girl?” Mr Botan asked.

“I’m not all that experienced with the Tokei family to be honest,” Mr Kai admitted.

The Principal scrawled down a few notes in Tokei Yume’s page then said to her fellow assessors, “I believe that what she demonstrated to us was a vision of the future, it is always difficult for us to assess the Tokei family line but she has shown magical ability and unless we have exceptional magic users I don’t think it would be wise to pass up a Tokei who is able to use magic.”

As the day wore on there were more and more glimpses of magic though they found most of the students ran from the monsters rather than turning and fighting them like Ichibangase Kanna. As night approached, the assessors were served dinner along with an extra strong coffee. They observed many of the Taue students accessing their powers to feed themselves and other students. The Taue family’s magic was associated with the harvest and also were the largest family of the 12. This was why the exam was held overnight, to use the students’ hunger to bring forth their magic. The power of each Taue student had to be carefully assessed as the Taue family could easily fill a classroom despite the simple and gentle nature of their magic.

In Mr Botan’s notes of all the Taue students the stand out by far was Sayaka, she was able to conjure a whole apple tree out of nothing. The students around her had cheered. She seemed to be a student assured of a position of M-class along with Kanna.

While Mr Kai and Mr Botan were very busy taking notes on the Taue students the Principal turned her attention to her niece. She was alone and curled up in a ball. Likely cold and trying to sleep. The Principal scolded her in her mind, this was not a time for sleep.

Luckily none of the students had been seriously injured by the monsters yet there were many Botan representatives ready to rush out if there were.

Of all the monsters only one had been defeated, she was honestly surprised that a student with no magical training had pulled it off. Usually they recycled the beast but they would have to catch a new one for next year, what a pain. Finding small enough ones was no easy task.

Suddenly Mika awoke.

Higasa Shiori and Hinode Yuuna burst forth through the bushes panting. Mika stood up suddenly looking around at the looming trees in the darkness.

“You weren’t supposed to come find me,” Mika hissed at the girls.

“It’s after us,” Shiori managed to get out between breaths.

“Where?” Mika looked at where they had come from expectantly.

A dog sized monster leapt forward and onto Yunna. She screamed a blood curdling scream and the tinkling bell went off. These got the two male teacher’s attention.

Yuuna accessed the Hinode magic as her skin started to glow, illuminating the scene for the two other girls. Big jaws snapped at Yunna as she wrestled with the monster.

Shiori looked to Mika, and both of their bells went off. The Principal smiled proudly, her interest peaking.

Mika quickly picked up a discarded stick from the ground. She shut her eyes tightly and gripped the stick even tighter. Suddenly the stick turned to pure metal, and she smiled widely. Mika threw the stick toward Shiori who grabbed it smoothly from the air.

The Monster tried to bite at Yuuna’s throat but Shiori flicked her wrist and a peachy coloured shield that hung in mid air blocked the monster’s jaws. It dissipated after a second but it had thrown the monster off for long enough to give Shiori a clear shot at it. Using the metal stick like a baseball bat she put all of her force into it driving it into the ribcage of the beast. It got knocked into a tree and fell to its roots limp but not dead. Unconscious.

Yet the Principal’s face broke out into a huge smile. Her niece had lived up to expectations. Even Mr Kai and Mr Botan were extremely impressed by this display of teamwork.

As the night wore on the assessors tried to finalise their notes in their tired minds. More and more coffee was served to them though they were allowed to take a few nap breaks.

Toward 5am as the sun was beginning to rise the bell went off for Kai Haru. Mr Kai was particularly excited, he sat up straight and paid close attention.

Haru and her gang of boys had tracked down a monster, it snapped and growled at them. Its drool flew everywhere. Behind her were Higasa Hiroki, Taue Fujio and Ichibangase Takashi. Hiroki was a big guy and he towered over the others yet Haru faced up against the monster and its snapping jaws of razor sharp teeth. She dodge backward a step but orange armour formed over her hands and arms and she threw a punch at the beast and it yelped in pain. It’s head twisted around and it tried to bite at Haru. Hiroki shouted, “No!”

His bell went off as a peachy shield protected Haru. But this beast was wounded and cornered. It wasn’t deterred and tried again at a different angle. Takashi this time stepped forward, he yanked Haru backward and threw his hand out a blast of water filled the beast’s mouth and forced it backward.

Haru shook out of Takashi’s grip, and launched herself at the monster, beating its half drowned body unconscious.

The assessors aggressively took notes and before they knew it, the end of the first phase of the students’ exam was over.

The bell rang out over Deer’s Valley.