Her Bewildered Thoughts

Anasthasia took a glimpse from his face from time to time. When she tried to meet him halfway, she averted his gaze to the side. She noticed how he looked so flustered.

'He's staring daggers at me. Goodness, if looks could kill…' She inwardly sighed from the thought of it.

"Alright, I'm done." Anasthasia praised as she straightened her back, raising the sheets of paper held by her hands.

"Thirty minutes passed already! What do you mean?!" Baffled, he grabbed it in one swift move. He leaned closer, eyes scrutinized from left to right, flipping through each page. "No way!"

"What's wrong?"

"All-all of them are correct." He stuttered, and his hands unable to restrain the sudden tremors.

"That's good to hear." She let out a quick breath, clutching her chest from his judgment.

"Even this last question too! How—This answer of yours sounds way more feasible and better than mine—a thousand folds! It can't be!"

"Better than yours?" Anasthasia's ears perked up from his words that echoed aloud.

"This last question took part in the recent special examination of the institution, but no one could give a concrete answer…" He looked at her pristine eyes with his tone that drew soft, "In retrospect, after reading your proposal. Things made sense, which meant you got it right."

Anasthasia peered on the marble floor and clasped her hand.

'Was it much of a big deal? That question was also a hurdle back then, and I could only contemplate in silence. I can't confidently share my proposed theory without any concrete evidence for the Prismatic Empire's advancement. I never thought it'd appear here as well, although they're several steps ahead of us.'

"You think too highly of me. I just wrote what I think deemed best with issues at hand."

"I'm impressed! You have passed for the first part. Allow me to accommodate you for the second part, the application exam."

Anasthasia leaned a little closer, giving all her attention to him, but this didn't go well with him as he shuddered from his seat, and then stammered right off the bat.

"The—the application requires the examinee to select a weapon of choice and magic type used within the training grounds' premises.

"Weapon of choice? Shouldn't that be staff for magicians?"

Brenov jerked his head back, glaring at her. "That's already part in history. The so-called magicians, or the full-fledged magicians, from the past, had evolved and branched out on different fields of specializations."

"You mean…"

"Yes, although I assume you wanted to be a magician after coming from the left-wing, where the Magician's Headquarters established, I thought that I could show you some interesting sides of the Royal Institution."

Anasthasia widened her eyes, and the revelation struck her deep as she was unable to digest the words—at this point, she couldn't discern if this seemed like good or bad news.

"Moving on, the term 'magician' is considered less prominent and often linked to a general theme."

'No way.' She could feel her hands curled into a tight fist, resisting the urge to slam the table, but he never noticed not one big as he indulged from his brief introduction.

"There are two major types of magic users: Augmenters and Conjurers."

'What the heck? Why is it only two, have they merged the—"

"Both groups have their subunits. But we won't delve deeper into that! Our main focus would be the weapons used as it depends on the styles and preferences."

"I'm so confused." Anasthasia felt so mortified. Which she covered her face with her palms, breathing heavy air. She rubbed her forehead as an attempt to ease the throbbing pain.

"I'm not sure how'd you think about this, but since you mentioned staff, we shall go with that. Now, for the next part would be the magic you want to use."

'He's not giving me a moment to reflect everything.' She stopped her hands from rubbing and peeked at him as he pondered further, 'I don't know what to do at this point.'

"You still there?" Brenov tilted his head, and his fringes dangled to the side, eyes blinking as he waited for her response.

"I am here. I can use the magic of wind, ice, water, and fire."

Brenov placed the paper over the table. He rolled and kneaded his shoulders from the sudden ache. "Alright, we'll get to work on that. Now, all we need is to wait for Elise to come back."

"Elise?"

"Yes, the lady that ushered you earlier."

Anasthasia nodded and tapped her fingers, looking around the room. Her eyes, filled with marvel, darted on the pile of documents. The more she stared at it, the more the surge of nostalgia came to play.

'I miss the time where I got stuck with this kind of thing as well. Those were the days.'

"I think it's taking her time. I wonder what happened." He propped his fingers under his well-defined jawline, rubbing them. Though his gesture shifted and his expression, especially his red eyes sparkled, beamed at her.

'I wonder what he will say this time.'

"I'm surprised you're friends with Lucy, Miss Ana."

Which in turn, she coughed hard as she felt the hard lumps on her throat. Her eyebrows creased from the sudden shift of the conversation. 'Breath it in, breath it in.'

"If anything, it should be me who's surprised that you're friends with Lucy, Brenov."

His lips twitched from her nonchalance. "Did you just call me again without honorifics?"

"Do you want me to?" Anasthasia gazed back at him. Like a chill wind that hissed through the desolate ravines, her voice sent shivers to his soul.

"Well..." His voice trailed off as he scratched his nape and shifted his head to the side. "I'd appreciate it if you would call me Brenov."

"I'll do that." Her eyes flickered, which caused her to query, "What was your first encounter with her?"

"Oh, that is…" He stopped for a while, smiling, and then chuckled a little before he continued to utter, "It was at the party held by a prominent aristocrat. I was an apprentice at that time, and I went there as one of my master's entourage, who wanted to establish his foothold among the circle."

'Foothold—and a pretty nice move to involve an apprentice for exposure, adding to his reputation and building deeper connections.' Anasthasia's eyes glinted.

"I saw Lucy by the corner of the room, just enjoying it with her big brothers that accompanied her throughout the social event."

"That's quite a nice impression."

Brenov nodded as he mused throughout the conversation, "She was different from other nobles. She never discriminates against anyone, regardless of their title, wealth, and all. I was glad I mustered all my courage to talk to her. She was pretty cool about anything, though she preferred them."

Anasthasia caught the drastic change of his expression as it appeared his eyes were full of sadness. She knew she had to ask from him.

"I'm curious. What happened?"

"What happened—Ahh! You mean…" Brenov halted as he ruffled his hair in annoyance. He took a deep breath before he quipped, "Things took a turn when she had a magical awakening; I was only an apprentice at that time. But even so, I witnessed all of it."

"You witnessed what—?"

"Mr. Mariston, the preparations are complete—" Elise creaked the door, but stumped from her words, standing with cold feet. She tried to read the atmosphere, which made her hesitate, "I'm sorry for the sudden interruption."

Soon as Brenov saw Elise, he waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry about it. Miss Ana, shall we?"

"Whenever you are." Anasthasia and Brenov stood from their seats, and the three of them left the room.

There, the three of them walked their way out and onto the next hallway. Anasthasia noticed how the corridor seemed wide, causing no traffic congestions.

'It's surprisingly quiet here, and I wonder why there's a need for a wider space. There's room for everybody at this point.'

Anasthasia wallowed in her careful thoughts that she never noticed how the time flew so fast that she followed their strolls, eventually reaching the metal door. Once opened, the bright sun dazzled her with such luminosity that she had to don her hood back. The breeze that carried the smell of steel bars and tile slabs lingered the air.

She advanced onward, and at all she saw was the stone floor that spread so wide. By the time her eyes hovered around, she had witnessed how different students, in their respective uniforms, sat comfortably on the bleachers.

'What the—so many people here, and there are still more of them coming!'

"Elise!" Brenov turned, looking at her and bellowing through his voice, "What's the meaning of this?"

"Mr. Mariston, I thought it would be special—"

"Nonsense!" He waved his arm in retaliation as he blurted out, although it wasn't loud to disrupt the spectators.

'This is, without a doubt, a hot mess!'