Next Test

"All of you passed your fighting style assignment test. Those who did not make it, they are being treated. I hope you rested properly, as your second test is starting now." Robert put down the megaphone.

Tom was now sitting beside Sarah, quietly. When he woke up and saw Sarah as her resting pillow, he gave out a shriek that woke up the rest of the class. He was still beet red and silent, after getting embarrassed.

"This will not be a dangerous test, so rest easy. All of you could possibly do it, but let me tell you something first. There is a time limit for passing, don't go over it. People present in this classroom are only ones that came back from the forest on their own. Now-" he tapped on the board, and a new kind of circle appeared, "this is a Spatial Magic. This one is a basic form of a complex side of mana use. We have to draw this kind in pairs, one mirroring the other, to make it work." {Dude, calm down. We all just woke up.}

This circle was like a frame of a circular shape. There were two concentric circles, with some shapes in between two circles, and the central area was empty.

"You have one hour to use this magic once. No need to master it, just perform it once, like this." Robert drew two circles on the board, just as he explained. Then he threw something in one, which came out of the other. It was bread, which went straight for Sarah. "Make sure to eat and don't be dehydrated, this consumes a lot of mana." he said and left the classroom.

After Robert left, some people went back to sleep, others started to work on the test. I had enough time, but the problem was that we had no pens, so I had to cast the circles instead of drawing them.

"Ray, can you help me with that?" Rose asked me.

"Which part?"

"I can't draw circles without pens. You know how to cast circles, can you teach me?"

{That's all?}

"You know how circles look, right?"

"Of course I do." she answered, with a cute little pout.

"Place your finger on a surface, and try to imagine any, let's say, wind circle around that finger."

"That's all?" She looked confused. I nodded. "Okay then."

She took about 15 minutes to cast the circle once, but after that, it was smooth sailing. She mastered all elements in less than ten minutes after casting her first circle. While she did that, I practiced my own casting.

Size of the inner circle decides the amount of material coming out of the circle, and the number of outer circles determines the speed of output. So making five extra circles will increase speed by factorial of 5, so 120 times, but it was tiring. If I go over 3 layers, the amount of mana consumed gets so fast that I can't keep up.

After spending more than half of our time, we started on our test. I made one circle on top of the table, and one right beside it, and lost almost all of my mana. But no action was happening, so I touched the circle, and my finger sank in. After going in further, it came out of the other circle. It felt weird looking at my own finger like that.

I closed the circle and laid my head down. I had to rest my eyes for a bit, and then felt a sudden jerk. Rose was shaking me mercilessly, "Ray, I did it. Look"

I opened my eyes to find two spatial circles in front of her. She seemed too happy to do something like this, then fell asleep right after. She must have exhausted her mana, like others in the room, who were sleeping. Tom and Sarah were focused on their work, so I tried to keep quiet and stay awake for now.

After there was less than ten minutes left, Robert called upon who completed. We were given food and got a bed to rest on the upper floors. I ate and slept without changing, we all did. It took me less than a minute to fall asleep.

***

After I got some rest and recovered my mana, I went out on the grounds. Now, I had time to practice summoning my staff. As if I could do that easily. I still didn't know how to form a staff from metal.

while casting a single circle with multiple layers, I just launched a small rod like a bullet. I tried making the circles in the opposite direction of the main circle. It was a success, a solid rod of metal was formed, but that was it. One meter was my limit; the rod couldn't be made longer, at least by this method. {this is more like a baton than a staff.} I went back to the restrooms and found others eating.

"Where were you?" Tom asked and somehow managed to keep all the food in his mouth.

"At the grounds, practicing."

"What practice? Did you hurt your leg?" Rose moved to make space.

"Well, this fell on my foot." I put the rod on the table, "It hurts but I'll be fine."

"Where did you find this? It's solid." Tom picked up the rod immediately, "It's heavy. Where did you find this?"

"I made it."

"I see. Wait what?"

I had to explain what I was trying and the problem I was facing.

"Maybe try to use two symbols, one at both ends. It can work.'' Sarah recommended, she got a little casual and comfortable around us as time passed.

"Use flipped symbols, like we did with spatial circles." Rose added to her idea.

We went along with both of their ideas. Neither worked, sadly. I dropped several rods on the floor in the process.

"Students, lights out. Go to sleep." a teacher shouted from the door.

"Sorry." we all said unanimously.

"Let's leave it for now." I said and put the rods away, "let's go to sleep."

"Goodnight."

"Yeah, goodnight." I fell asleep almost immediately.

***

A bright light on my face woke me up. It was so bright I couldn't open my eyes.

"You are back. Good." a voice echoed. It was the most soothing thing I had ever heard. I blinked a few times, and finally caught a glimpse of something.

It was a silhouette, someone was sitting on a chair emitting a light so bright that I couldn't see properly. I moved my face away and saw a slight glimpse of the room I was in.

"Done looking around?" the voice asked.

"I would have if it wasn't so bright. Can you tone it down a little?"

"Oh, sure." The light dimmed, but I still wasn't able to make out the source yet. "Sorry about that. So, which life do you like?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what? What happened, where am I?"

"You, child, are dead," he replied.

"WHAT? When did that happen?"

"Quite a while ago. Let me explain again."

"Again?"

"Be patient. Can you walk?" the light moved, it was now that I saw his shape. It wasn't a person, just an orb, like a lightbulb, floating on its own. I followed it from a distance.

"You died in a manner often considered 'accidental' by humans. You were on a train, it got off track and you died." The orb started explaining, "When you arrived here, you made a mess, crying and all. So I decided to give you one more chance."

{When the hell did that happen? Crying? Me?}

"I showed you examples," he continued, "of your possible lives. So which one do you pick?"

"What do you mean? I don't even remember getting here. What happened to me when I died?" I was lost.

"Do I have to do this again?" he sighed, "Let's get over it."

With a sudden gust of wind, I was now on a train with my phone in hand, sitting beside the windows. I checked the time, it was evening, and the sunset was beautiful. It was a long journey, and I was tired. The next thing I know, I was stuck in my seat, my legs crushed. I was hanging upside down, debris all around me. The pain I had was slowly disappearing; I looked around to find help. Then I saw the setting sun, I felt weak, too tired. {Let me just rest for now.} My eyes finally shut down.

(SNAP!)

"So, out of it?" orb circled me.

"Yeah, somewhat. That hurt like hell," I remembered the pain I felt. "What do I have to do now?"

"Well, you remember the lives you saw, right? Choose one of those. You will be reborn in one of those lives."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, do you have any questions?"

"Can I keep my memories?"

"No." Orb looked confused, which was funny considering he had no face. "It is not good for the growth of the child brain. You will have to grow on your own. Are you ready?"

"Wait. Wait. I have more questions."

"Go ahead." he looked annoyed now.

"Can I get my memories back once I am old enough?"

"Yes, but that is not for you to decide. Are you done?"

"Okay." I made up my mind, "I am ready."

"Good. Have a safe trip and live a long life." Orb moved away from me. "Let's never see each other again."

Then I fell into what seemed like a dark room with no bottom. As I fell, I stopped feeling my body, the gravity got weaker, and I couldn't see my body. {Maybe I don't have one anymore?}