The Selection

After putting my stuff in the class, I wandered around the school to find the library. It was a big room on the second floor, so it didn't take long to find it.

"Hello Ray, what do you need today?" The lady at the reception desk greeted me as I walked inside.

"Morning," I read her badge, "Miss Isabella. I need a school rulebook and the basics of magic today."

"Again? Here is the rule book" she handed me a booklet, "basics of magic is on the front shelf, third row. Make sure to put it back after reading."

"I will. Thanks."

I picked up a few thin books and spent the next few hours reading them. As usually shown in fantasy stories, there were basic elements and their symbols with uses. Fire, water, air, earth, and lightning. These have sub-elements, some even share sub-elements.

Plasma is a sub-element of fire and lightning, so basically condensed energy. Vapor being a sub-element of air and water was kind of obvious. Metal is a sub-element of earth. In short, it was like how games I played worked, like high voltage electric guns that become plasma blasters on upgrade.

Mana is also divided into two main categories, internal and external. Internal mana is white in color, usually found in living beings. Black mana is found in non-living things, like minerals. Elements can be created from black mana, and white mana is used to manipulate elements outside the body. So if a person wants to heal themselves, or someone else for the matter, they should use their own white mana to do that. {Interesting}

The amount of mana in a body depends on genetics. As our genes adapt to mana, people whose both parents are familiar with usage have more mana than those who don't. By frequent use of mana, a person can increase their mana capacity, just like with stamina. Converting mana or the output can only be achieved by training.

After the rules of magic, I read through the booklet of school rules.

[Usage of any kind of magic is prohibited in corridors unless it is an emergency.]

[No wandering in halls when free. Grounds are free to use at any time of school hours, go there.]

[No visiting cafeteria between classes. visit only during breaks.]

[Students who are not in any rooms or grounds when free should sit in their homeroom.]

[Wear complete uniform inside the building, unless instructed otherwise.]

This was it, all the rules of the school building. There were few location-specific rules, but they were similar. Trying to memorize everything I could, I got up and placed the books on the shelves, and returned the booklet.

"Thank you, mam. How much time is left till the lunch break?" I asked Isabella.

"About fifty minutes." she looked at her watch, "You should get to class and take a nap," she suggested.

I got to the homeroom, where I saw Rose sleeping. She had her head on the assignment file, which she had finished. {She looks tired.} My file was beside hers, Robert probably had returned them as he was too lazy to grade them. I quietly sat beside her and put all my stuff back. {I should try a few things out.}

Ray had written in his diary that it was possible to create circles without drawing, Robert also did that. I put my palm on the table and tried to remember the air circle Tom used in the lab. I imagined it on the table surface. After three-four attempts, a circle appeared. It glowed red, like the tube Robert made in class. And it blew air immediately as I made it.

I experimented with timer-based circles until I got that right. Then came other elements, which worked similarly to the air-circle. Ray's body had enough mana for me to try out every basic application.

The bell rang and Rose woke up, "what time is it?" she mumbled. "When did you get here Ray?"

"Forty minutes ago." I pocketed the small metal rod I had just created.

"Why didn't you wake me up.?" Rose asked as she packed her stuff.

"You were up all night working on the assignment, weren't you? So I decided to let you sleep" I replied, "and you looked cute sleeping."

"You flirt a little too much." Tom was at the class door. "Are you hungry or not?"

"Yeah." I spent an entire hour consuming mana, of course I was hungry. "What about you Rose?"

"You bet." She was done packing her bag. "Let's go." and so we headed to the cafeteria. The place was on the ground floor and was crowded, with most tables already in use. We got into the line to place our order.

The lightest item was a double meat sandwich, and the heaviest was a full-course meal. Like any sane person, I ordered an entire chicken. After we got our seats, food arrived.

"So what do we have after the break?" I asked others.

"I think we had fighting style division today?" Tom said, a little confused.

"Yeah, we will be divided based on the style of fighting we choose to learn." Rose explained. "What will you guys choose? I will go with something that uses kicking."

"I want to be sneaky, so something easier to use and carry would be nice?" Tom said.

{Fighting style?} It was a good opportunity. Ray had a fit body, but I had no idea about any kind of combat. Using magic with a proper fighting style will be helpful. I felt something in my pocket, it was the solid metal rod I had made earlier. It gave a great idea.

"What about you Ray?"

"What? Oh, I want to use something like a staff."

"Seriously? You know that you can't carry staff with you at all times right?"

"I agree with him, how will you fight when you have no weapon?"

"Excuse me." someone called from behind, saving me from questions. "Can I sit with you? All other tables are full." It was the girl from my class, Sarah.

"Of course. Sit here." Rose made space for her to put the tray of food down.

"Thank you." Sarah was polite, a little too much at times.

"Hey Sarah, what will you choose for the fighting style division?" Rose broke the ice.

"I am not very good at fist fights, so I want to prevent that. Something that lets me do that will be good." Sarah answered.

"So something that lets you be sneaky?" I nodded towards Tom, who turned his face away. Sarah was a little confused but also nodded in agreement.

"Oh." Rose caught on, "good for you, Tom and you get to be together." bull's eye.

"You too Tom?" I saw Sarah's face slowly get red. I had to stuff food in my mouth to prevent laughing.

For the rest of the break, we quietly ate, waiting for the bell. When the break was over, we headed to the changing rooms again. As it was technically PE, we had to get changed. I opened the closet to find a track uniform on one side and the traveling uniform on the other side, neatly cleaned and folded.

The track uniform was in contrast to the indoor uniform, but looked great nonetheless. The shoes were comfortable and allowed great jumps without hurting my feet. I changed and went out to the grounds. Many people were already here, everyone had the same uniform, no complaints here.

After about fifteen minutes, a teacher appeared. "Okay, get your forms and get to the assigned place." he distributed sheets to every student. We were grouped according to how we chose to fight. Hand-to-hand, weapon-based, magic-based, mixed style, and each group was given supervising staff members.

"Alright kids, what are your weapons of choice?" asked our supervisor, she was also in a PE dress.

"Sword." "Dagger." "Guns." "Bow." "Spear." Everyone started shouting, so I said "staff" among them. The entire ground has something similar going on.

I looked at my group, and the lady was confirming all our entries. {She heard all the students?}

"Who shouted 'staff'?" she asked.

"It was me."

"Okay, Mr. Lightfoot, now go and stand with that group over there. She pointed to three boys standing together, "who shouted 'axe'?" and moved on.

I walked over to the group she pointed at, they were from the same year as we are all third years, but our homeroom was different. It seems like none of us knew each other, as we all stood there awkwardly quiet.

"Now, each of you was divided into teams of two to five. You will be handed your weapons in a few minutes." the supervisor announced.

We all got our weapons; mine was made of wood, but was both heavy and solid, almost like a metal rod. "Has everyone got their weapons?" the supervisor shouted, and we nodded in response. "Good. Now, try not to die."

I suddenly started falling. {Not again Damnit. I was enjoying this dream.}