2 The Magi

Actually, I'm not a Magi. I look like one, I talk like one, and I pull off magics like one. But strictly speaking, I'm not a Magi in a sense that everyone else in my academy is. I cannot use any magic to actually, physically and kinetically affect things.

Well, actually, I can use a bit of magic.

Scrape that - actually I've succeeded in using 'real' magic just once in my life, which was earlier today.

As I lay in my bed I find myself unable to sleep due to both excitement and fear. I'm like super excited I managed to summon a monster. Not just any monster, but a Human! This was stuff of legends. Once upon a time the whole planet was populated by tens of billions of these walking catastrophes, who did nothing but kill each other, indulge in all the worldly desires, denounced the gods and reproduced like maniacs - how could they even reach that absurd number of population? But I guess all good - or bad in this case - things had to come to an end. The legend has it that ultimately, their greed destroyed the very nature they inhabited, and their never ending hatred destroyed their own kind. But still, as scary as it sounds this was some super exciting stuff.

On the other hand, I was scared. I was scared that this uber monster demon is going to find out what I really am, a phony, as much as I hate to admit.

Yes, I'm just an illusionist, especially adapt at creating illusions of fire.

My family heritage is that of a… circus troupe. We were not even famous for it, thank God for that actually as I would have never been accepted to my beloved Magi academy if they knew I was a pleb. At one point in the unremarkable history of my family, someone gave a birth to a love child of a Magi. Through that a Magi blood was introduced into our clan, which allowed the lucky ones among us to at least conjure up an illusion of magic - like me.

This illusion trick was of course useful for the circus shows we ran. It wasn't amazing, but it was good enough to help us sustain ourselves and put food on our table. But as a child growing up, I wanted more.

My parents saw this ambition in me and decided to go along with it, giving me full support (thank you very much ma & pa). Utilising every dirty trick of forgery and deceit we know of, we have fabricated an intricate back story that presented me as the last surviving successor of a Magi clan that has secluded itself from the world for centuries and lived humble devoted life serving the gods. As rare as it was, this was not unthinkable considering the existence of sheltered monasteries and hermit monks around the world.

It has been six months since I successfully enrolled into the Magi academy and so far I managed to trick my way through all the classes and deceive other students using my illusion 'magic', and other students saw me as a descendant of a family specialising in fire magic.

Everything was proceeding jolly well until the teacher announced that there will be a school wide competition with the highest reward possible for the ultimate winner, but on the other hand the students that fall into the bottom half of the ranks will be expelled from the academy. This, again, was both exciting and despairingly scary. It was rumoured that the ultimate winner will be bestowed with a Blue Diamond gem infused with magical blessing of the Emperor Himself, which will ensure that she will be on course to join the Association of the Royal Magis upon graduation. This is going to be my break. I can only do illusions, but if I won this competition I would obtain real magic power - how exciting is that!

However, to my horror, it was announced that this competition is not in any way some kind of exhibition of skills - which I could have been pretty good at with my illusions, but it will be based on magical combat between the students in a tournament. The thought of such combat was already daunting prospect for a fake like me, but what was worse was that every student was to summon a monster to fight on their behalf. We were to actually kill each other's monsters, and illusions can't kill. This was the ultimate huddle I could not jump over. Against other students we will not see the fight to death, so it could have been possible to pull off all the illusions I can to corner them into admitting the defeat - an illusion of a final strike so to say. But if real life had to be snuffed there was nothing an illusion could do.

Understanding my concerns, and wishing to support their daughter in her grand scheme to fake her way into the Association of Royal Magis, which will bring guaranteed security and prosperity to our humble family, my father took out what he described as a heirloom that has been passed down the generations.

It was a ring that looked rather unremarkable, made out of what seems to be average or below average grade of silver. It was completely plain with no gems or engravings. Of course I was disappointed, but my father said this could maybe, possibly, hopefully, come-on-god-please-give-us-a-miracle kind of a way work as a relic that I can use to summon a monster - just for the simple fact that it is the oldest thing we've had in our family possession.

So I have used this relic and carefully recited summoning magic I have learned from my classes. I knew I had no magic power of my own, but I was very good at imitating these procedures step by step to the finest detail - and it worked! And oh boy, I had a living, breathing, a real monster in front of me - and oh yes, it was a boy.

Then came the fear, that this monster will expose me for who I am so all I could do was to put up an act that I was a great Magi. I showered him with my fire illusion magic and he countered. Maybe he knew what I threw at him were nothing but illusions but still decided to play along, or maybe he was too long ago from the past that my illusion magic was something that his kind has not experienced before. Or it could be that, just as it has been the case for as long as I remember - despite being nothing but tricksters our family's illusion 'magic' was so good that it had never been exposed before, not even in the Magi academy. Maybe we've actually managed to deceive a demon? That made me chuckle.

Nevertheless, I had the trump card in my hand now. As long as I can put up a show good enough to keep this Human under my command I could achieve far more than just getting out of the bottom half - who knows, maybe I can even challenge for the top.

Fear the wrath of a pleb, you snobs.