"Your wand has a ruby gem? Then you must be compatible with fire element the most!"

"Where are you from? I'm from Zuerst. The Elizabethian Kingdom, to be exact."

"Eh? Ianua I? I'm not aiming for cla.s.ses. I just want to get the magician license,"

Faustina was overwhelmed.

All around her were scattered students-to-be chattering to each other. Some were admiring the fixtures, some making friends, and some with their own set of friends. She glanced towards the groups with females admiring each other's wands, the males discussing the spells they urge to learn, and some sharing the desire to get into the top.

And then as Faustina finished looking around, she noticed she was in the middle of the crowd, alone. An odd feeling washed over Faustina. The anomalous sensation of her heart clenching and speeding up anxiously. Her palms sweat as she felt something novel to her. She couldn't describe the feeling. Fear was a strong word, and she couldn't really a.s.sociate it with what she was experiencing now.

"Scary, right?"

Faustina turned the one who spoke.

Appearing so suddenly—like a mushroom shooting out of nowhere—a boy spoke to Faustina; and the first thing she noticed was his earrings. They were an odd design resembling a magical circle, which complemented his dark-grey hair and dim, night-colored eyes.

He smiled at her and said, "you shouldn't be scared. Just believe you'll do good, and you'll do good."

Faustina unknowingly glanced back to the boy's dark-grey hair.

"Oh, this?" The boy grinned. "I'm not a Heilen."

Faustina blinked several times and then bowed instinctively. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare . . ." she apologized.

"No, no, no. Don't worry about it." The boy says. "I receive the stares a lot. It looks black, right?"

Faustina nodded, remaining fascinated at the boy's almost-black hair.

"My name's Leviticus, by the way." the boy says, flas.h.i.+ng a mouthful grin and extends an arm.

"F-Faustina," she answers, accepting the handshake.

"You shouldn't be nervous. It'll make it difficult for you to conjure a spell." Leviticus said. A pause—"wait!"—Leviticus' eyes lit up, "this is your medium? I've never seen anything like this before!"

Faustina's eyes widened. "U-uhm—"

Leviticus' statement managed to harness a good amount of attention from the crowd. The students started to pin their gazes to Faustina—or more specifically, her staff.

"A broken gem? Is that possible?"

"What gem is that? Sapphire? Tourmaline?"

"It has some inscriptions. That's weird,"

Faustina felt uneasy, detecting the whispers drifting around her like mumbling background noises that sent her fidgeting; now anxious in the midst of the crowd. She lowered her gaze and clutched the hem of her skirt. She wanted to avoid attention at all costs, but here she is now—her staff alone harnessed this much attention.

Leviticus, noticing this, immediately drew away from his focus from Faustina's staff.

"Uh, sorry," he says. "Well, it's unheard of, but I believe I had a cousin or two who had that kind of staff, hha!" Leviticus—purposefully—said in a loud voice.

"Oh, so it's not that rare?"

"Maybe she's one of those who will be incompatible to most elements?"

"Ooh, a clairvoyant, huh?"

Faustina lifted her gaze, and then met that of Leviticus. He was smiling at her apologetically. At least that's how Faustina perceived it.

"Sorry," he says. "That must have been weird."

"No," Faustina answers. "It's okay—"

"STUDENTS."

A voice rang against the whole vicinity, reverberating at every corner the menacing nature of the owner's voice. The chatters died down with a single word, and all but time seemed to stop at that certain moment. Amidst the whole crowd—standing on the mezzanine—was a lady wearing a witch hat, robed in a body-hugging dress and high stilettos. Her lipstick had a heavy red tint, complementing her wavy, red hair.

"Or more precisely," she said. "Students-to-be."

The woman protruded her staff, which had a stunning-looking aquamarine gem atop it, and then propelling her arm forward, she pointed its gem to thin air. In a matter of seconds, a magic circle appeared in front of the students and generated an illusory screen.

"Before all of you," says the woman. "Is Anastacia Griswold Unsterblich, the schoolmistress. PAY YOUR RESPECTS."

The students then started to bow on their knees, Faustina following alongside them.

"Hush, Yoan. Rise, my students." Says Anastacia, her command immediately being followed. "I am who people called Anna Unsterblich, the current schoolmaster of the academy. I am pleased to meet all of you."

"Today marks the end of the exam. Only a few will be selected." Said Anna, "but who will those 'few' be, who shall pa.s.s Magierstadt's trials? It could be you." She says, looking at each and every student.

"Or you," she exclaimed, looking at Faustina with her distinct amethyst eyes.

"Your race, your rank, and whomever you are does not equate to anything here in Magierstadt." Said Anna, her soft voice turning stoic. "In here, you are all equals."

"Believe in yourself." She said and showed a smile. "And unleash your potential."

The illusion magic disappeared after the woman named Yoan retracted her staff.

"Now I ask all of you. What magic did I use to conjure a projection of the schoolmistress?"

"Light magic?" says a number of students.

"Illusion spells?"

"Projection enchantments? Devices?"

"WRONG," Yoan exclaimed, looking down at the students with her sharp gaze. "That is water magic, combine with heat," says Yoan. "That is a combination of two elements to create steam and a mirror image."

"At this rate, ALL OF YOU WILL FAIL." She said. "Especially when the exams have just changed completely."

Faustina blinks. The exams . . . completely changed?

"Changed?"

"What does she mean?"

"How come we never heard of this?"

"SILENCE!" Yoan thunders. "You will all take the new exam of Magierstadt—and prove your worth. An exam that will determine if you will be able to take on the challenges the academy has to offer!"

Faustina's eyes widened as she heard the next few words of the woman—

"The new exam of Magierstadt," the woman says. "Is a test of strength and potential!"

"You, students-to-be," Yoan marveled, "shall eliminate all the monsters within Magierstadt's artificial dungeon!"

**

"So it begins," says a cloaked man with a paper-white hair holding his two-headed snake staff as he peers to an orb which perceived the academy—particularly, a girl with the staff of a broken cyan gem.

"How are you going to pa.s.s this obstacle, 'my fair maiden'?" said the man; his sharp teeth peering as he curved his lips into a sinister smile.