Divulgence

Eirin expected to be taught something regarding this new world she got into, but instead, they were taught basic mathematics that she's been learning even back in her former school.

  'I thought we'd be doing magic and stuff,' Eirin rested her chin on her palm as she continued writing what Mr. Arthur Blade wrote on the whiteboard in front. Sitting at the farthest back made Eirin feel thankful for having a 20/20 vision. 

Mr. Blade then closed his book and said, "That's all for our daily mathematics." He flashed his gorgeous smile. "Now, shall we learn of our new student's class?" Everyone in the class stood up causing Eirin to look around. "Come now, Eirin. We'll be getting to the stone room." 

Despite the confusion, Eirin followed her classmates, and they all walked into the long and massive hallway. 

  "Hey." 

Eirin turned around to see her classmate smiling at her. 'Shoot! What's her name again?' she thought while panicking. 

  "I'm Kara Fontana," the girl with the shiny brown locks said as she grabbed Eirin's arm without warning. "Do you know? Oh, how silly of me, of course you don't know." Kara giggled, making the others who were following her laugh too. 

Eirin's forehead creased as she only forced a smile. "The stone room is also called Pierre, which means stone," Kara explained out of nowhere with a huge grin on her face. "Fun fact, there's also someone stunning with the same name. He's so good-looking that everyone's obsessed with him." 

Coleen, who was walking in front of them could not hold her laughter as she turned around after what she heard. "What is this? Is the Queen afraid of losing her throne?" she snickered with her hand covering her mouth. It was a surprise to Eirin. That was the first time she saw her roommate smiling. However, Coleen's laughter caused Kara's grip on Eirin's arm to tighten. 

  "Shut up, weirdo. Do I look like I'm talking to you?" Kara's tone changed from cheerful to annoyed while glaring at Coleen. She did not notice that she was already hurting Eirin's arm. 

  'Why am I in between these two?' Eirin grimaced. 

Coleen's eyes turned deadly as the atmosphere dropped to freezing. "Does seeing a prettier girl scare you? What? Are you afraid that Shade will come to like her? That's why you're trying to make her interested in Pierre?" She laughed. "How pathetic." 

Kara pushed Eirin off and charged at Coleen, but before they could get into a violent fight, Link stood in between them. "What are you two doing this early in the morning?" He sighed as he looked in Shade's direction who was just walking behind all of them. "Come on, we still need to go to the stone room," Link said as he held Coleen's hand and pulled her away. 

Eirin, dumbfounded after being pushed, did not know what to do or even what to say. 'Why was I the one being pushed away?' she thought as she continued walking, leaving the pissed-off Kara behind while she was comforted by her friends. The teenage girl walked behind Link and Coleen, still thinking that she didn't want to get in the middle of the trouble. 

They all arrived at the farthest end of the hallway, surrounded by trees, and in front of a humongous rock-like door. 'This must be the stone room,' Eirin thought. Mr. Blade opened the door by slightly pushing it with his glowing hand and Eirin's eyes quickly explored as they entered. 

Heavenly high ceilings that look like they could reach outer space, sturdy walls made from white stone surround the place, and there were bleachers beside the wall. The room was round-shaped, but it was so wide that it could take minutes for them to reach the center. As they walked towards the center, there was what appeared to be a bird bath. Eirin also noticed that there were small openings through the ceiling, just enough for small birds to get inside. 

  "Eirin, come here in front of the water spring," Mr. Blade signaled his hand for Eirin to come to the middle. "We will soon begin the divulgence of Eirin Luxfield. The divulgence is a rite we do to figure out a student's class," he said, but before Eirin could reach the water spring, the huge door into the stone room opened again. 

More students got inside, but one of them bore a familiar face. "Cali?" Eirin unconsciously muttered, and she soon felt eyes on her. She glanced behind and saw her roommate, Coleen McGuffin, staring at her as if she just said something outrageous. 

  "Madam, I didn't know you'd be using the stone room today." Mr. Blade walked towards the teacher leading those students. "The school director told me to use the room for Miss Luxfield's divulgence," he added. 

The tall female teacher with thick round glasses and white hair tied into a bun smiled. Her piercing gaze landed on Eirin who stood beside the water spring. "I would like my class to see her divulgence too, if that is not too much to ask for," she said, making Mr. Blade look back to Eirin with an uneasy expression. "Would that be fine with you, Miss Luxfield?" The female teacher's expression changed the moment she mentioned Eirin's last name. 

Mr. Blade moved back to the water spring before things got heated up from the tension the female teacher was giving. "Alright, students take your seats," he said, telling the other students to quietly watch as they did the divulgence rite. "Come here, Eirin. You need to dip your hand into the water spring." 

Eirin moved closer to the bird bath which they also call the water spring. Everyone's gaze was on her, and it made her nervous. The teenage girl looked into Mr. Blade's eyes. 

  "Do not fret, my dear. You only need to put your hand in it for a minute," Mr. Blade reassured, making Eirin take a deep breath before placing her hand into the water. "Now, you need to concentrate and put your mana into the water." 

  "How do I... put my mana into the water?" she lowered her voice. 

Mr. Blade smiled and placed his hand on top of Eirin's head. "You only need to put force on your hand. Pretend that you're holding onto something and try to pull it out," he said. "When I tell you to remove your hand, you must remove it quickly, is that clear?" 

Eirin gulped as she nodded. 'Just like grabbing something heavy,' she thought to herself while taking deep breaths. She poured all her strength into the water. 

  "Now!" 

Eirin quickly pulled her hand out due to surprise after hearing her teacher raise his voice. It was exactly at that moment, the water on the water spring formed into a round transparent liquid and floated into the thin air. 

  "If the color changed from transparent to red, it means that you have an elemental flair, if it turns to white, then you are a wizard. If it changes to pink, it means that your flair is psychic type. And if it becomes blue, it means you have a physical flair," Mr. Blade explained. 

Eirin gulped. "What if it doesn't change into any of those colors? What if it stays transparent?" 

Mr. Blade smiled and said, "Then it means we must take another divulgence rite. For now, we must at least learn if you are a flair user or a wizard." He patted Eirin's back. "But worry not. It's already floating in the air, so it means that you're not an inops." 

The floating water started taking shape, from round to spiky deformed shape. Eirin did not understand what was happening and thought that it was normal for that to turn that way, but when she looked at Mr. Blade beside her, she did not see an ounce of emotion in his bright eyes. 

  'What is going on? Is this still normal?' 

That's when the color of the water started changing rapidly. First, it turned into a turquoise color, then quickly shifted into bright red while the shape continued changing it was followed by golden yellow. 

  "What is going on?" 

Eirin heard the other students murmuring and realized that it was not normal for that water to take any other shapes except for circles. 

  "Why does it keep changing?" 

More students were starting to get curious as they tried to move forward to the water spring. 

The chaotic spiky water floating in the air stopped moving after it changed into a sea green color and reverted to a round shape as it was before. Its color then started changing into black from the middle, as if tainting the whole water, making Eirin's forehead crease. 

  "Sir?" She called for her teacher in confusion, but Mr. Blade only stared at the ball of black water. His expression soon changed. 

  "Everyone! Move away from the water spring!" Mr. Blade screamed, but before he could reach Eirin, the ball of black water exploded. 

Eirin stood there, frozen and confused. 'I'm going to die,' she thought moments before the water exploded.