What could be different?

Looking around her, Maiyu witnessed the students all take their seats.

She pulled out her chair and sat at the high-rise platform, her elbows on the polished mahogany table with her fingers interlocked as she watched two students step out with a spell book.

Opening her file, she flipped through the first page which had Dai and three of his minions as the first group.

'A bunch of nuisance! I'm sure he paid his way into getting first place.' She thought with spite.

Out of anger after what she had witnessed, she ripped out the paper and set it ablaze, watching with satisfaction as the ashes dropped to the floor.

The second page had the names of the two students that were to start with the event.

Her eyes glanced at the names, grades, and field of concentration.

Grades were a way in which the magical order that guided anyone possessing mana worked, this had made them able to track their progress and cultivate whatever mana they could acquire while they grew in power and status.

To get a grade, they would have to train both their mental and physical bodies along with the usage of their abilities ever so often.

To get at least a grade higher would be determined by the progress and determination of each person.

For the majority, it would take a few weeks or a month for the serious-minded ones and three months or more for the late bloomers to achieve half a grade.

To cultivate more of their mana and progress faster to gain more opportunities to have a better chance at earning higher in the future with their grade once they graduate, parents would send their children to an academy as soon as they begin showing signs of magical affinity after the tender age of 5 years.

Erīto academy was known as the best academy to train students faster and produce one of the best sorcerer(ess) in all of Meiji.

The student with the best presentation often had a boost of 5 grades added to their total grade.

A breakthrough could only be achieved once they reached the 30th mark.

As Maiyu counted the number of students after flipping through the page with great speed, she could only get a total of 13 out of over 400 students under her jurisdiction.

As she returned to the second page, she had a smirk at the grade she noticed on the female's report.

Bang!

Maiyu had a jump scare at the loud sound made by the two students. Her hand to her chest as she tried to regulate her breathing after that unprecedented action.

'Suzi Nao.' She noted in her thoughts as she watched the girl bounce with ecstasy.

A girl with long blonde hair cascading down to her waist and bangs framing her face reaching down to her chin. Warm brown eyes shone with a hint of mischief.

Having a grade of 21 at such a young age of 18 years was a feat so very little could achieve.

Suzi gave a high five to her partner. "Ready for some spark, Tria?!"

'Tria Yurisa.' Maiyu completed as she ran a bit of a background check on the girl and partner for the presentation.

Unlike Suzi, Tria had a rather timid outlook as she hid her hair under a green hoodie and had a cat-styled porcelain mask with slits for eye holes which gave little to no way of pinpointing what she looked like underneath.

Maiyu could remember when Tria's parents had explained a condition that had made her cover up however she could while amid her peers.

'Why cover yourself up if you could interact so well with others?' She clicked her tongue as she watched the two prep up for their presentation.

Getting to her feet, she slapped her hands on the table. "Having a bit of a bang before the introduction, isn't that a little too fast pace?"

Suzi held a smirk, her head held high, she was confident in her ability on wowing her mates, the professors, and the headmistress.

"When we start with a bang, you would all be sure to be caught in a timeless loop of being awestruck!" She squealed with delight and turned back to her partner.

Maiyu let out a subtle chuckle at the response, she admired the courage displayed and chose to let it slide.

Her attention was drawn over to her right side, she stared at the empty chair meant to be for Tenji.

Looking across the hallway, she saw him leaning on the very pillar he had held for support earlier on with his arms folded and eyes narrowed as he stared directly at her.

Immediately evading his gaze, she looked down at her fingers, fiddling with them as she tried to calm her racing heart.

She couldn't help but wonder if he had gotten over that phase and had banished himself to the rear end of the hall so he wouldn't draw much attention to himself.

When she witnessed him flash a smile and blink while signaling her that he was okay, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Our presentation would be based on the spell of transformation and duplication," Suzi spoke on behalf of her teammate.

The murmur coming from the other students spread like wildfire after they had heard the fields of concentration.

Maiyu inserted the field of concentration into the note section and mumbled, "interesting concept."

Suzi walked up to Tria and held out her hand, "care for a spin?"

Tria nodded her head to the offer, the spin and transformation were something out of the context in the magic world. They aimed to bring a spark to something so conventional.

Suzi took one glance at Maiyu and gave a wicked smile. Her brown eyes glowed as she copied the information about her headmistress's outward appearance.

'Perfect!' She thought with a smirk before chanting incoherent words from the other's standpoint.

Tiny blue spell formations branched down from her wrists to her fingers until her blue fingernails glowed.

As she offered her hand out to Tria again, the hall was awfully quiet as they all waited for the result of such a weird stunt they wanted to pull off.

They had been used to the same method of transformation by some sorcerers, they could only wonder what could be different in their presentation.

Maiyu would repeatedly steal a glance at Tenji, and her mood only brightened with his interruption.

"Mind if I cut in for a moment?" Tenji called out in a loud voice as he shoved his hands into his pocket while walking toward the high-rise platform in long strides.

*****

A/N

I would really appreciate your comments and support of this novel with your power stones. Your active comments would motivate me to write more chapters.

¶ What do you think Suzi wants to carry out?

¶ Any guesses on what could have made Tenji want to interfere?