The Witch's Revenge

Chapter 3

Once everyone is properly equipped, he continues. "The basic classes include Levitation, Duelling, History of Magic and Spells, and Spiritualism. Anything else you might take an interest in will count as an extra curricular class. Only these four are mandatory."

It makes sense, I guess. We're all here mandatory, so they don't have to force us to take classes. Probably want to avoid overwhelming the first generation of students, too.

"There will be a test at the end of each month to see how much you have improved. Depending on your performance, you can be sorted into one of four ranks, from A to D. A-ranked witches are the most advanced, while D-ranked witches are only capable of the basics"

The blonde twin girl raises her hand, drawing everyone's attention.

"Yes, Ms. Nordin?" Lockwood doesn't seem to mind her interruption as much as he minded it when it was the parents doing it. Must want to keep us pleased for as long as possible.

"What will our ranks be before the test sorts us?" the girl asks, crossing her arms.

"You will be sorted immediately. A basic test will be held right now."

Oh, boy. A test on our first day. That's not something you wanna see.

"A-ranked students will be allowed to take on as many extracurricular classes as they want. B-ranked students will be allowed three C-ranked students will be allowed one, while D-ranked students won't have any; They will be expected to improve their basics first."

The same people who handed out the maps and the compasses now gather behind him, joining their hands. I feel it before it happens a slight change in the air, like when the temperature suddenly changes ance clouds cover the sun. It's hard to explain the feeling accurately.

A moment later, a ball of light appears out of thin air, right before Lockwood. A few students gasp upon seeing it, mesmerized by the glow. Magic. It really can do almost anything can't it? Well, if it couldn't, I wouldn't have joined.

The glow fades from the orb, revealing a crystal ball behind it. Lockwood reaches out and grabs it, pushing it closer to the ground. As he lets go, it remains in the air right where he pushed it.

Then it starts moving all over the place, like an annoying fly. Its moves are sudden and fast as it flies all over the room -first toward the front-row students, then behind Lockwood, then above us all. Finally, it returns to its place.

"That was magic control, explains the vice-dean. "This is one of the things you will be tested on. The other is magic power." He glances at the orb, which then shatters into pieces. "To test your control, we will tell you what to have it do.

To test your magic power, we will see how much damage you do to the ball upon channeling that power. Be warned; The two are not strictly separate. If you cannot control your magic enough to make it reach the crystal ball, you'll end up doing less damage to it than someone who might have less magic power, but better control,"

The orb flies a bit sideways, toward the small staircase leading up to the elevated ground.

"Please come out when your name is called. Roger Aatali."

A dark-skinned, bald boy walks up to the ball, looking perfectly composed. His outfit is not one I've seen before, but it looks tribal Lots of yellow and orange, with wide sleeves. He sort of resembles a monk, honestly,

"Mr. Aatali, please reach out and touch the orb. Once you let go, make it fly over to me, then back into place."

Roger does as instructed, the orb obeying him without faltering.

"Make it fly in a circle"

Once again, the crystal ball obeys, the people behind Lockwood looking impressed.

"He's good," Maya whispers, and I have to agree. Are we already seeing an A-rank student? Where am I gonna end up? I'd really like to start from at least B, but anything but D is acceptable, I guess:

"Now apply pressure to it."

Everyone quiets down as Roger narrows his eyes, staring at the orb. After a few moments of silence, a diagonal crack appears in it, as though someone just hit it with a sword.

"Perfect control, and quite a lot of power," Lockwood says, grading him already. "A-rank"

The students burst into applause, quickly followed by the faculty behind Lockwood. It lasts all of half a minute, before the next name is called.

"Lydia Avaria." Unlike Roger, she struggles with control, and then ends up doing even less damage to it. "C-rank" Appropriately, she gets no applause, and looks like she's about to pass out from nervousness.

She messed up a lot, but still got C. I got this. I should be able to nail it.

Most students fall under either C or B as they get their turn, with Ds being the third most common. As are the rarest, with only three so far.

"Maya Morales."

The girl beside me takes a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"You'll nail it." Unless you don't, and end up embarrassing yourself in front of everyone.

She walks through the parting crowd, and I realize something, You can tell what rank a student is based on their facial expressions. The three As Roger Aatali, Eliza Bland and Victoria Evers all have other students flocking to them. yet respecting their personal bubble. The b-ranks all look very proud of themselves, while the C-ranks just seem relieved, I guess. Anything's better than D, after all.

The Ds look like their puppies just died, trying to look as invisible as possible. Well, except the boy with spiky blue hair, who looks like he really couldn't care less. Actually, I'm not sure he's capable of emoting. His expression never changes. Is it the piercings he's got in? Are they stretching his skin too far? No way those are comfortable.

Maya lets the control of the arb slip from her, even dropping it to the ground. The faculty frown at her, each one writing down something in their respective notepads.

But when it comes to power, she's easily the best so far, A single look shatters the crystal ball into pieces. Even Lockwood's expression changes into slight surprise.

"Polarizing," the man says. "You have the power of an A-rank, yet the control of a D-rank. You will start off at C, and your first extracurricular class will be Archery. We'll fix that control right up, and hopefully you will be an A-rank by the time the month is up."

Wow. Sounds like she's the fourth best so far, despite not even reaching B. The others areri't sure how to react, either -but Maya doesn't seem to care.

She runs beck toward me with a bright smile on her face. "D'you hear that?! I killed it!"

I look around nervously, Sheesh, she's loud, I really don't need all this attention.

"What's buggin ya?"

"Ms. Morales, Lockwood says, increasing his volume. "Do you mind?"

"S-Sorry"

"Sorry, sir"

Wow, the poor thing. She looks like she's about to get a heart attack. I find myself taking a step away from her, having no desire to be anywhere close to the target of that intimidating glare.

Finally, he looks away, and Maya nearly falls to her knees, letting out a breath. Did she know she was holding it?

Probably not. They never seem to know.

"Diana Nordin."

The blonde twin steps forward, and performs better than anyone else so far. She controls the orb perfectly, then nearly shatters it. How does it keep repairing itself, though? Someone's got to be using magic for it, but I can't seem to sense it. It's not Lockwood, that's for sure. He's got a very intimidating aura about him-like steel. Can't picture him. using magic without it being immediately sensed.

Diana becomes the fifth A, her brother Erik only reaching up to B. All others thus far were satisfied when they got that

rank, but not Erik; He's scowling harder than even most of the D-ranks.

He's someone to watch out for, then. Clearly, he's determined to get to the top. Fine by me. I don't mind competition.

After a whole lot of testing, we end up with ten A-ranks, a couple hundred Bs and Cs, and nearly fifty Ds. Once they are all done, it is my turn. I had a feeling I'd be the last to go. Zen is not exactly high up in the alphabet. Last names with Z are rare enough as it is, so it's no surprise that a prestigious place like this doesn't have any others.

"Hotaru Zen."

Maya looks more nervous than I do, muttering a "good luck." I'm just ready to get this over with. I like to think of

myself as a patient person, but we've been here the whole damn day now. The sun is about to set any minute, and we haven't even been fed yet. I could use a shower, too.

As I climb up the stairs, I notice the whole faculty is tired, too. Everyone but Lockwood himself is rubbing their eyes, yawning, or just looking dead inside, Great. They'll be in a good mood for this.

Without waiting for the signal, I touch the crystal ball. I realize how others controlled it immediately, Unlike every other item I've ever touched, this thing resonates with my magic perfectly. It flies over my head, then around my body, then toward Lockwood, making circles around his legs.