"See them," the voice of the old bearded man spoke.
Beings that looked human—or at least appeared so—but their movements were as if manipulated by strings.
In a second, their hands aligned, and a spell of fire and ice clashed.
The ice stake pierced through the hearts of all the dolls with ease.
My eyes widened; it had annihilated them all.
Red curtains covered our view of the dolls.
"The blood feels real."
The smell of blood flooded the place.
Suddenly, a fear began to invade my mind.
The curtains opened.
Fearing what might happen, I tried to close my eyes.
A king, praised by all, while people kneeled at his feet more and more.
His cold ice staff, which he held in his hand, filled the place with overwhelming coldness.
The world returned to normal.
I saw the old man standing on the podium with no expression at all.
"What just happened?"
I tried to move, but it was impossible.
"Magic can govern the world. That is the duty of magicians, of the strong.
Some of you will become truly strong, while those who don't will kneel before you, weak ones.
If you don't want to be governed, become strong."
He closed his mouth and walked slowly and confidently out of the place, walking until I could no longer see him.
I felt my body free again.
I slowly moved my joints.
"What was that?"
I heard Lucia ask beside me.
"I don't know," I whispered fearfully.
"Camila, could you move?"
I spoke softly and cautiously.
Silence.
— It seems this has really affected her a lot —
Just when I was about to get up and ask if she was okay—
"No, but I was very close," she said calmly, her face serious.
— No way, she's not scared —
I looked at her face, searching for any weakness.
A voice interrupted my thoughts.
Lucia:
"That was very strange."
"I couldn't move even a bit, and that blood was real."
Camila stood up.
"Not only the blood, the people were real too."
My eyes widened in surprise.
"No! That can't be; didn't you see how they died?"
Lucia immediately interrupted, taking Camila's hand.
I noticed her hurried attitude, suspecting something strange.
"And in the first place, you shouldn't even be able to know that.
It could have been a magic trick. How are you so sure?"
My eyes narrowed as I looked at Camila's mortally serious expression.
She remained silent without saying a single word.
"Students!"
A muffled shout echoed through the entire place.
"Please, head to your classes.
If you have questions, read your registration slips."
The place started filling with murmurs, but no one dared to ask the professor.
"Let's go," Lucia said, taking Camila's arm, who seemed to have returned to normal.
"Mateo, see you in class!" she said with a wide smile.
— What's wrong with her? —
I said, watching in surprise as her body moved away.
I took out the slip from my pocket, which glowed with a golden color.
Golden inscriptions appeared as all the previous information was erased, leaving only my personal information:
[Mateo: 18 years old, combat class, combat experience: 0, intelligence: standard, spells cast: 0, magical affinity: low, magical capacity: low, academic capacity: medium-high]
I looked disappointed as the paper filled with my embarrassing magical skills.
— What can you do? —
I walked away from the place toward the classroom.
At the moment I touched the card, information about the classes filled my mind.
A map of the Solaris academy appeared in my mind.
It was huge, as I had expected.
There were several facilities like combat, practice, training, and a library.
For some reason, I didn't know where the library was, only that there was one.
Carelessly, I entered through the classroom door.
The person standing on the podium, in a different uniform than the students', was calmly reading a book.
I glanced at him discreetly before sitting in a seat in the front row.
His book closed as if by magic.
"Alright, I'll introduce myself.
I am Raul, disciple of the Steel Witch, and your new magical combat teacher.
That said..."
Gasps of amazement came from the students upon hearing the important name.
He snapped his fingers and the door closed.
"Let's begin the class," he said in a calm voice, before rays condensed on his finger, pointing directly at me.
"You, show me that you are qualified," he said coldly.
Instinctively, I reacted to the ray directed at me, moving to one side.
"Watch out!"
A wall formed, protecting me from the impact.
"Are you okay?"
The ray had left a small dent in the navy-blue wall, which I looked at terrified.
"Hey, think before attacking a student unjustifiably!"
A student stood indignantly from his seat.
"He could have been hurt, or in the worst case, killed.
Magic cannot be used so indiscriminately!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
The laughter of Professor Raul extended for long seconds.
"As always, the newcomers don't understand this academy."
Several students stood up, prepared to extend their wands in self-defense.
"What does he mean?"
A delicate girl asked in a doubtful tone.
"Didn't you understand? The White Mage isn't for the weak."
"What is he talking about? We are all human."
Her face was cold.
"Yes, but you're not kings."
My body rose against my will before being strongly pushed out of the classroom.
I looked into Raul's eyes, which saw me directly and seemed to be looking at an insect.
The door closed in my face, leaving me outside.
"Ugh,"
I moaned in pain, holding my left side which had borne my fall.
I began walking carelessly through the academy, looking for the places the map indicated.
All the teachers were in class, and seeing how they treat the students here, I better not ask them for help, I thought with a grimace of displeasure.
—I'll go to the library; maybe I'll find someone there who can help me or at least I can study.
Anyway, I shouldn't waste time if I ever want to become a good magician, at least capable of being near Camila without shame.—
I arrived at a place where there was no one.
"Let me guess, they kicked you out, right?"
I heard a voice behind me.
"Ah!" I stepped back a few steps, turning toward the voice.
"When did you arrive!? You were behind me this whole time?"
The corners of her lips lifted.
"Of course, I live here."
"Ah?!"
—Ah, I get it now, he got kicked out too. So this will be my future.—
My expression turned bitter.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but you're wrong," she said hastily, waving her arms in front of her chest several times in denial.
"You came for the library, right? Well, here I am."
"Hahaha, they kicked you out too, didn't they? Just say it, the same thing happened to me."
"I see," she said understandingly, looking me up and down.
"It must have been Professor Raul, right?"
I nodded.
"How do you know?" I asked, intrigued.
—Has he done this before?—
"It's because of your magical aptitude and mana.
See, I'm an analyzer, but I can't measure your combat skill without knowing your magical combat expertise level.
Based on your mana and aptitude, I can predict that even if you had lots of experience, you would never become a good fighter—although there are exceptions."
She said this, moving her hands excitedly.
"You're an analyzer?"
My eyes slightly widened at the declaration.
"Yes, and I'm the librarian.
I will provide you with the information you need based on your level, just like they did at the opening ceremony."
Every time I asked a question, two or three more appeared.
I looked at her surprised.
"Wait, that was the opening ceremony?!
Wait... you mean you will send the information directly to my mind?"
She nodded with satisfaction.
"Exactly. I see you finally understand me," she said with a silly smile.
Before I could say anything, she continued.
"Wait, I know what you're thinking.
So why do I have to study so much for the entrance exam, you ask?
Well, not everyone can receive this resource.
So, we try to give it to the most capable people.
That's why we filter them through an entrance exam, and even if the content appears in your head, you will still have to study to understand it—not just with your head, but with your body, which is harder than you think."
Her smile did not fade even after the long speech.
I closed my mouth and thought for a while about everything she told me.
To be honest, it made sense with what I had seen of the written exam, which had more reasoning and comprehension questions about the topic than memorization.
"Well, and what's your name?"
I looked at her with curiosity.
"I'm Sebastian."
I took his outstretched hand, giving it a firm shake.
I saw him slowly disappear.
"Hey, wait! Sebastian?!"
—What the heck?—
Knowledge began invading my mind.
I fell onto my right knee while holding my head.
Several books started to appear in order in my mind; the information was overwhelming, and my head began to hurt.
"Body magic? Isn't this for physical magicians?"
I sighed.
—I see my talent is still as bad as ever.—
The other books I had absorbed were practical knowledge about basic magics and how to perform them, magical control, and affinity.
One seemed really interesting—magical combat.
I stood up, with a fixed goal in my mind.
"Let's see how this works," I said as I entered a small room.
The space started to expand until it became a small forest.
A cat began approaching me.
"Oh, dear."
—The cat spoke! This school is incredible.—
"Excuse me, are you the assigned guardian of this room?"
The cat sat on the floor in front of me.
"I am the teacher of this place. You can call me Shadow,"
she pointed to herself with her paw as she said this.
Despite being a cat, she had a special aura that made me not underestimate her.
"Would you teach me to use this room?"
She extended her paw toward me.
I looked at her strangely before taking her paw with my hand, and the place changed into a large forest.
At the same time, a voice sounded:
"We will begin with the most basic practices."
I turned my head, surprised.
"Shadow."
"You will face increasingly difficult challenges as your abilities improve.
My job is to sharpen your combat instincts.
Let's begin."
Before I could ask anything else, I heard small branches breaking, getting closer and closer to me.
"Is someone there?"
I got alert, slightly enhancing my body with magic.
Before I realized it, a water bomb smashed against my face.
The shot made me turn in the air; I barely felt pain in my neck.
—If I hadn't jumped backward at the last moment, that shot would have blown my head off.—
I tried to direct my eyes toward the figure approaching me.
—Please stop!—
I closed my eyes tightly.
"Are you okay?"
I found Shadow in the same position as before.
"What the hell was that?.."
My voice, muffled by my own, echoed in the empty battlefield.