Pop Quiz

When the rest of the class was finished making sure they had their weapons sorted Instructor Lamia returned to the front of the class.

Endra found herself curious about her classmates, though every time she started thinking about a theory on how one of them fought she found herself thinking back to her hands digging through a trash bin, looking for the answer of where what students placed. She could barely look at her teacher. She had done such a silly thing! Had it not been for Miieie’s well-timed excuse for them, what could she even say?

The anxiety in her stomach made it hard to not look away when her eyes met her instructor’s.

What would she say if she found out? What would she do? Would she get a demerit? A scolding in front of the whole class? A hand-written letter to her father? She almost shuddered at the thought as Lamia started marking off items on the clipboard she had in her hands.

“Alright, students!” The instructor grinned, “Listen up!”

“Each of these weapons has been equipped with a standard caster to its type.”

Endra’s eyes moved to the weapon she was holding in her left hand, a left-handed spear with an ivory handle with trim of cerulean and gold.

As a rule, weapons were not traditionally allowed to be equipped with casters unless they were verified by the state. This meant that combat academies like Minerva’s were the easiest way to have one attributed to your weapon, should you have one before attending a school to become a guardian. It was one of the ways they kept casters out of the hands of mercenaries and pirates.

That’s when she saw it. A switch on the shaft with a device that connected it to the blade.

“But, you guys have not been given any anima to train with. So, to best suit your style and personality I’ve written a little test!”

THUNK!

The sound of a stack of papers hitting the table in front of their teacher snapped Endra’s eyes back to the front of the room. What? A test? For anima? On the first day? Was she serious?

“Instructor, why can’t we just select one instead?”

Endra stopped, eyes widened. Did she just ask that? Unprompted?

The older woman laughed, “Because.”

A flurry of confusion and embarrassment encircled her brain as she swallowed her nerves. While her statement was sudden, her teacher’s blunt retort didn’t seem to help her understand anything. Why were the test scores unimportant for her to just throw a different exam at them that was just as arbitrary? She wanted to contest her teacher’s response but instead all she did was nod in acceptance.

“Now, all of you, grab a test. Hurry it up.”

It didn’t take long for her and the other students to move forward, grabbing a test from the pile and finding a seat in the armory.

As Endra sat her weapon down to look at the test in particular, that's when she noticed something strange about it.

Instructor Lamia’s test wasn’t like any kind she had ever seen. It didn’t go over the history of anima, casters, or anything out of a conventional exam. It had strange questions entirely in multiple choice format. What was her favorite color? What island’s culture resonated with them the most? What was the animal that represented the values they held? It was dumb, nonsensical garbage! It read more like a personality test than any sort of academic inquiry! And this was supposed to be the decider for what anima they were given?

How stupid!

Her eyes moved back up to meet her instructor’s across the room.

This woman was insane. Clearly unfit to be instructing them in anything. What did the headmaster do? Pick up the worst possible graduate from their past alumni for pity? To insult the intelligence of their students?

She sighed.

She wished she was in Class 1-2.