âWhat are the seven colours of mana? In order from least mana-dense to most mana-dense.â Kira read the question in her head.
âWhite. Yellow. Green. Blue. Purple. Red. Black.â She wrote.
Kira, alongside her 27 other classmates, were all seated in the Magic Foundationâs classroom with their heads down. Silence stifled the classroom with a heavy weight, opposite of its normally lighthearted and fun atmosphere. The only noise around was the scritching of pencils on paper as everyone scrambled to finish their midterm test in the three hours they had.
This entire week was midterm week. Every single day for the next five days, at 9am on the dot, a midterm would start. Luckily they didnât have a midterm for Innate Studies, giving them one less thing to stress over. They only had a summative for that class that they had already completed the week prior. But for every other class, they not only had a three hour written section to complete, they also had a more practical aspect they needed to complete.
Phys-edâs midterm was tomorrow. It was the one Kira was least nervous about doing, simply because half of it was exercise related: something she didnât have to study for or memorize. The other half was health related though, which she did have to study for. It was a little awkward when they were studying body parts as a group, but at least it wasnât hard compared to the other classes.
Wednesday was Mage Training, which was probably going to be the hardest midterm in Kiraâs opinion. Thursday was English in Everyday Skills, with a group presentation as the practical aspect. On Friday was their elective midterms: Wand Foundations for Kira. Her teacher had told their class they didnât have a practical aspect in Wands since they hadnât started wand crafting at all, but that meant he was going to make the actual test much harder.
But before Kira could worry about those future days this week, she had to get through today first.
âShow me a yellow mana blast.â Ms. Lemon said to Kira with a clipboard in hand. The written section had been completed, and after having a lunch break, all the students were in the backfields near the Common Center, lined up and ready for their spells to be tested.
Pushing mana out of her core, through her body, and into her wand, Kira smiled with confidence. She had no stress when she actually had to use magic. Writing down the theory and history behind magic, that was a little stressful. But casting spells: that was easy.
Kira condensed enough mana to change its hue from white to yellow in the blink of an eye, something she neednât struggle with due to her large mana surplus. She pointed her wand and released a yellow ball of mana soaring through the air. It zipped forward due to the speed she had put on it, and smashed into an enchanted training dummy they had set up.
Bang!
The training dummy wobbled a bit after being hit, then stopped.
After a few more shots, Ms. Lemon asked her to stop.
âPerfect!â Ms. Lemon cheered. âIâm glad your control is coming along. Itâs much better compared to the start of the year, but itâs still a little behind. I will give you a friendly warning, as someone who has taught other children of Thorn, when we get to shaping our spells, that's when control is going to be vitally important. So keep practising as much as you can, okay?â
Kira nodded.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
âGood, you're doing amazing so far!â Ms. Lemon patted her on the back. âNow let me see you cast a dispel.â
Easy peasy.
***
Kira rubbed her sweaty hands together. They hadnât known what Mage Trainingâs midterm practical would be until just this morning. When she heard the news, she couldnât stop jittering, but she didnât know if it was anxiety or excitement. They had to fight against their teacher, Mrs. Warren, in a one-on-one duel.
She had surmised their midterm was either going to be a fight against another student, or a fight against the teacher. And she was right.
Kira obviously wasn't going to win this fight, none of the first years would. There was not a chance a rookie wizard would win a fight against a master wizard with experience in real life-or-death fights. But she would try her best!
Walking out onto the sandy grounds of the coliseum in the Great Hall, with its stands filled with the other first years, Kira gripped her wand tightly and prepared herself for what was to come. A metal shield as wide as a watermelon was strapped to her left arm, just big enough to be able to block any mana blasts she didnât choose to dispel.
âYou ready?â Mrs. Warren asked. She wore tight black clothes that really exuanted her finely toned muscles, something you really only saw with wizards whoâve trained in combat. Most everyday wizards relied on magic, not muscles.
Nodding, Kira pointed her wand up and at the ready, like sheâs been taught.
âGood. You have two minutes to show me your best offense, then Iâll test your defense afterwards. Only basic magic, no innate magic.â Mrs. Warren explained. âYour time starts⦠now.â
Kira immediately broke out into a swift run, circling around her teacher. Her eyes were locked onto Mrs. Warrenâs wand, but the woman was standing still with her arms crossed over her chest.
Kira was told beforehand to attack with the intent to kill. There was an enchantment around the coliseum that would stop anyone inside from dying, so they didnât actually have to worry about killing. But when with that enchantment in place, she wasnât able to really picture herself trying to kill her teacher, that just wasnât her.
Two yellow mana blasts shot out from Kira wand, but they were easily dodged by Mrs. Warren. She didnât even move her feet to do so.
âWas that all little miss Thorn?â Mrs. Warren teased, âIâve seen papokaâs more dangerous than those attacks!â
âSheâs just trying to rile me up, make me angry.â Kira knew that was her teacher's plan, but even then, it still slightly worked.
She skidded to a stop and then bolted straight for her teacher.
âThere we go!â Her teacher cheered.
Five more mana blasts were sent Mrs. Warrenâs way, two of which she used her own little shield to slap away instead of dodging like she did the others. But a surprise sixth ball slammed into the ground a few feet away from her, sending a cloud of sand into the air and obscured her vision.
With a body overflowing with mana thanks to her condition as a child of Thorn, Kira used the reinforcement spell on her body without holding back like normal. She let as much mana as she could, add into the spell, filling up her body with a feeling of weightlessness. Then she pushed with her legs.
âAh!â Kira had no control over her body, it simply shot through the air like a cannonball. Luckily, her aim wasnât to bad, and her shoulder clipped into Mrs. Warrenâs midsection.
Kira ragdolled across the coliseum until she slammed into the wall with a loud thud. Standing up with a cough as dirt and sand had covered her body, Kira looked back and saw long skid marks across the ground where she had pushed her teacher.
âNot bad, Kira.â Mrs Warren said, âA little reckless, very wasteful in manaâ though I guess that matters less for youâ and you had no control. But you still managed to move me, so not bad indeed.â
âIâll give you a pass already on the offensive side, your mana blasts were all strong, and your reinforcements spell will be a nightmare for others to deal with once youâve learned some more control. Next term, Iâll be a lot more critical and harsh, but for now, good job.â She continued. âNow then, letâs test your defence.â
With a smile, Mrs. Warren raised her leg, took a step, then was almost in front of Kiraâs face before she had time to react. She jumped out of the way, using the reinforcement spell still on her to put some distance between the two.
This was gonna be rough.
***
âBlahâ¦â Kira groaned.
âBlahhhâ¦â The Trinity sisters copied her.
The four of them lay in their beds, freshly showered and changed, with exhaustion radiating out of them. They had all been thoroughly smacked around by their Mage Training teacher. Kira experienced mana exhaustion for the first time in a while, which was a surprise considering her reserves had been exponentially growing throughout the term.
That woman was strong⦠and a little devilish. She went for their weaknesses, pointing them out and then exploiting them without hesitation. No one was spared, they all had to experience the nightmare that was Mrs. Warren.
Tomorrow was their English test, nothing too crazy, which was nice since she was sure to be dead for most of the day tomorrow. For now, sleep was the only thing she wanted.
Closing her eyes, images of Mrs. Warren rushing at with kicks and punches echoed in her mind. She had run the reinforcement spell at almost full power the entire two minutes she had to defend herself, which was the reason she used all her mana up. The teacher explained to her that just because she had a titanic supply of mana, didnât mean she should use it all willy-nilly.
She needed control. That was always what she had been hearing from her teachers in her magic-related classes. She knew it was going to be a struggle, but it was still frustrating to hear it over and over. It wasnât like they didnât try and help her with control, they did, it just wasnât that easy for her, especially the more she advanced in magic.
âBlahâ¦â Kira groaned, not from being tired this time, but from her overthinking. No more thinking, it was sleep time.