Chapter 3: Elenora's Academy of Magicka!

Cardia Train Station.

"Wait someone please hold the door open!!!". A pink-haired girl carrying a wooden Katana on her waist shouted as she came running towards the train

Just before the doors could close I quickly forced the door back open in time letting the pink-haired girl through, after she had made it in. I let go of the doors and they quickly slammed close and the train took off straight away, into a tunnel.

The girl had fallen on the ground on the way in, I turned around and helped her up and as soon as I got a glance of her face, my heart skipped a beat. I could feel my body temperature rising, am I in love? Is this what you call love at first sight? Big Sis Lilly told me I'd feel something like this if I ever fell in love.

"Uh...thank you sir but you can...umm...let go of my hand now," the pink-haired girl said with a slight blush on her cheeks

"Oh...ah right sorry" I nervously laughed as I quickly let go of her hands

"Thank you again for holding the door for me...my name is Hanako Sakura" Hanako introduced herself with a smile

"Well my name is Ken Granfold and your welcome" I replied

"Granfold?....why does that sound familiar?...hmm maybe it's nothing, anyways bye," Hanako said before going to take a seat

And with that the beautiful girl known as Hanako Sakura left, well she just went to take a seat and so did I, but I didn't want to seem like a creep invading her privacy so I took the seat in front of her. A few hours had passed and I'm still thinking about her. I'm trying to figure out how to approach her without seeming like a total creep, I'm normally not like this. I'm normally straight forward, well at least that's what I'm told but right now I'm being a total wuss.

"Excuse me, ma'am, may I see your ticket please," the ticket inspector asked Hanako

"Yes just give me a second" Hanako replied as she searched her pockets and purse for her tickets but couldn't find it

"Well?...don't tell me you don't have it," the inspector said looking sharply at Hanako

"No no I should have a ticket...unless I dropped it while running here" Hanako replied as she started to get worried

"Now is my chance," I thought to myself as I stood up "oh I found this ticket on the floor it must be yours Hanako," I said as I held out my ticket before giving it to Hanako

"Saved by the bell...now young man where is your ticket," the inspector asked me

"Give me a sec....here it is" I pull the extra ticket out of my sock and hand it to the ticket inspector who hesitated to take the ticket seeing as it came out of my socks, but once he did he left us alone

"That wasn't my ticket," Hanako said looking up at me

"Well I had two and it seemed like you needed one" I replied as I took a seat, in the same cubicle seats as Hanako, facing her

"Well...thank you Ken, your a nice person" Hanako replied with a grateful smile

"you're welcome...so where are you heading to anyways?" I asked with confidence trying not to make the situation awkward

"I'm heading towards Elenora's Academy of Magicka"

Hearing her answer, put a smile on my face, "sweet I'm also heading there and taking the entrance exam...and you're an Oni right?" I replied

"Y-yes I am" Hanako replied

Oni's are a humanoid race who are descendants of a lesser god known as Onijin, the Oni's are known to be an excellent swordsman and are normally born with an energy source known as Ki but in rare cases, some are born with a different energy source like how Hanako is born with magic. Oni's are the creators of the traditional sword known as a Katana which is a curved, single-edged blade with a range of different guards and a long grip to accommodate two hands.

Oni's skin colours can range from red, pink, grey, white, and human colours. Oni's also have either one or two horns growing out of their heads. They also can read the power level of weapons and increase the power level of their own weapons as well as others. Hanako has a faint pink skin tone with short white horns growing out of her forehead and long creamy pink hair. Her eyes are that of a Scarlet pink.

Hanako twiddled her fingers together, looking down at her lap, she seemed agitated and shy. I need to quickly think of something to say, leaving now will only make things more awkward. After a brief silence, I finally said something, "So are you also taking the entrance exams?"

Upon hearing me suddenly speak, Hanako tensed up a little. She looked up at me but struggled to keep eye contact "N-no...I'm already a student at the academy"

"But you still had to take the exam, at some point right?"

"No...I graduated from Elenora's School of Magicka, w-which gave me...a direct pass to the academy"

"Is that so? I wonder what the Exam is going to be like"

I

"I hear that...the entrance exams for the academy are h-hard...not many people pass it. Only a small percentage ever makes it" Hanako said looking down at her lap

"Well I know I'll definitely pass," I said carelessly

"H-how can you be so sure?..." Hanako asked

"Well that's easy, I have full faith in my magic. I've gone through intense training to get to where I am, as long as I don't lose faith in myself, I believe I have no limits to what I can achieve" I replied looking out the window, gazing at all the colourful bright lights in the tunnel

Hearing this, Hanako finally looked up at me, her eyes glittered with inspiration. "Faith in my magic and myself?…" Hanako mumbled to herself with a slight smile, filled with envy, before looking back down at her lap

"My uncle told me that the Academy is a very high stake academy, and normally people that go there have some sort of big goal they want to achieve. If you don't mind me asking, what are you trying to achieve?" I asked Hanako, as I returned my gaze to her

"Ehh..uh...uhmm, w-well...I want to become a brave person. As you can probably already tell...im a very shy person, even as we speak...I'm finding it hard to keep e-eye contact with you" Hanako said as she gripped her lap "I want to be strong, so I can stand up for myself, I want to be strong so... I can believe in myself, and believe in my magic" Hanako replied, as she mumbled the part about her believing in herself and her magic "if I become brave...then I can become stronger and if I, b-become stronger, I can….protect those around me and those that need it"

"I think that's a great goal" I replied. I was truly interested in her goal. "I know we have just met, but I truly believe in you" as I said this, Hanako's tense body relaxed. "You truly have great will power, you know your weakness and instead of complaining you're trying your best to overcome it, I think that makes you brave already"

Hanko's soft pink cheeks immediately turned deep red, after I had given my little speech, she was flustered and didn't know how to react. "Ehhh...ummm...mmmmh...gaaa" she couldn't put together words, only whimpering noises escaped her lips. I think I broke her?....

Hanako finally collected herself and once again, gained the ability to speak "umm...so what do you wish to achieve?"

"That's a good question," I replied. I hadn't really thought about what I want to achieve, I've never thought of some grand goal for myself. "Well, if I had to say, id probably say I want to explore this world and experience as much as I possibly can, I grew up isolated from the world, so seeing everything it has to offer, would really be a great life goal and maybe help in whichever way I can, to make this world a better place, for everyone to enjoy"

"I-i...think that's an...amazing g-goal"

"Thanks. But first I need to make lots and lots of friends. My elder sister told me that if I truly want to enjoy life, then I need to make friends who will stick with me through thick and thin, never abanding me. Making friends and meeting people, is actually one of the main reasons I'm attending this Academy''

I stood up out of my seat, standing in front of Hanako, with my right hand held out for a handshake. "What do ya say? Become my first ever friend and help me reach my goal. As your friend ill help, you achieve your goal as sell, no matter how long it might take" I said with a smile

Hanako looked at my hand, then slowly looked up at me, still a little confused, but upon seeing my cheerful smile, a soft smile played upon her lips. Hanako shook her head as if she was rejecting my friendship. Instead, she stood up, and grabbed two braided strings, from within her uniform.

"The Shinrinyoku have a culture...for binding two equals as everlasting...c-companions in arms, that not even...death can tear apart, this was normally used when Shinrinyoku was a….war zone country, but as time went on and peace arrived, it becomes a binding of friendship between two people as loyal friends, through a….p-promise" Hanako explained as she handed me one of the braided strings

Hearing Hanako explain the meaning behind the ritual put a smile on my face "Wow! That's an amazing tradition"

"Oh, ahhh...thank you! In doing this...it creates a situation, where we are….bind...to-together...through thick and thin, making our friendship and promise...unbreakable"

"looks like I'm experiencing more of the world already. So how does the ritual work?"

"Well normally both Oni's tie the string in a knot around one of their horns, then they untie each other's strings and tie it around their wrist, then they finish it off by shaking hands, using the hands that have the string around it" Hanako explained. "But since you don't have a horn and your boy, you tie it on your left wrist, and since I'm a girl, I'll tie it to my right horn"

"Oh I see," I said before tying the string to my left wrist. As I did this, Hanako tied hers to her right horn

"Alright now I'll untie it from your left hand and tie it on your right hand," Hanako said as she slowly untied the strong from my left wrist and tied it to my right wrist. "Now you untie it from my right horn and tie it to my left wrist".

I slowly moved my hands up to Hansko's right horn and gently tugged on the string of the knot, untying it, before tying it onto her left wrist.

"N-now...we shake hands"

Hanako held out her left hand, I looked at her with a smile before grabbing her hand with my right and shaking it. As we shook hands, we looked at each other with a smile, I could tell it was the beginning of a great bond. Looks like two people who have respect for each other and truly admire each other can get oddly well with each other, even if they just met.

The train finally exited the tunnel, I looked away from Hanako taking a peek at the view.

The train was now in the sky, just below the clouds, beneath us was a clear blue ocean which glistened in the sunlight. Birds and other sky creatures occupied the sky, in the short distance, I could see the beautiful city of Belthon, the city was huge and had buildings of all sorts and sizes planted everywhere, I hadn't even stepped foot in the city yet, and I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed, I was already curious about everything, I wanted to try everything.

I looked back at Hanako, who also gazed out the window admiring the view. I don't know what was more overwhelming at the time, the view of the ocean and city, or the girl standing before me, known as Hanako Sakura, I couldn't help but smile at the mere sight of her.

"Ummm….you...can let go of my...h-hand now," Hanako said looking at me awkwardly

"Oh sorry, I got distracted" I replied with an awkward chuckle, before letting go of her hand

"This...is the first time...I've ever...tried this with a b-boy" Said Hanako with a faint blush

"Oh, well I feel privileged and honoured. Your the very first friend I have apart from my family, I'm glad you were my first friend, I sense something great in you, so from this day on, I'm putting all my faith in you Hanako Sakura" I replied, directly looking at her

Hanako immediately covered her face, looking down as her face turned from light pink to a deep red "y-y-your too...s-s-straight forward...mmm...ehhhh...uhhh" Hanako stuttered with a flustered expression, as she once again forgot how to put words together

"We will now be approaching Belthon Station!" The train announced as it started to slow down.

After it stopped its doors opened and we got out, stepping onto a giant platform that was floating in the air, along with lots of other passengers that were onboard the train. Once everyone was in the giant platform, the train took off and the platform slowly descended downwards, until it reached the ground. Where everyone walked off of it, and continued on with their day.

Belthon was much more grand then Cardia Port, there was so much more going on, It was so busy, how do people function in such crowds.

Hanako and I made our way out of the train station and travelled together towards the Academy. During our travel, Hanako and I got to know each other a little more.

After almost an hour of walking, we finally reached the gates of Elenora's Academy of Magicka, which was a towering gate that St of at least 10 foot tall.

"Well since your taking the entrance...exams...this is where we, go our separate ways…th-thank you...for accompanying me...we will...definetly see each other again" Hanako said as she gave a little head bowl "oh and umm...once you pass the exams, you will be given a...Student Portal I don't have time to explain but I'm sure you will figure it out, you can use to contact me"

"Yeh, it was great! And yeh, I'll figure it out, some way or another" I smiled as I waved goodbye

And with that, Hanako left

I could tell that this was a very expensive school, there were lots of other kids in the yard with me and by the looks of it, most of these kids that were attending this school must be filthy rich, since most of them all had butlers and security guards with them. I wander around and start to see a few kids crying their eyes out like someone just died.

It seemed like they took the exam and failed, is it really that serious? As I walked around checking out the yard I accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh I'm sorry man" I apologized

"That's okay...I'm guessing you're here for the entrance exam?...my name is Josh Retin '' Josh replied as he turned around and faced me.

Josh was around my age but he was way more formal than me he wore a suit and had two butlers with him

"Yeh I am actually...hey can you tell me when the exams start?" I asked

"The exam has already started this is just the waiting yard, about every half an hour multiple examiners will come and select 100 people for them to start the exam, those that pass the exam will move on, those that don't will be automatically kicked out, there were about 1000 people that came to take the exam and now there is 600 and for the 400 that took the exam only 30 has actually made it so far" Josh explained

"Only 30?...that's pretty intense," I replied. Wow, only 30 out of 400 made it? Either the exam is tough or these people are just...really weak

"Yes it is, but I'm sure we will pass....say what type of magic school did you come from, you must of went to a really wealthy and proper school to be able to make it here," Josh asked

"Oh no no, I never went to any sort of magic school. I'm not even from this country or continent. I was born on a small island...." Before I could finish my sentence, Josh grabbed me by my collar and insulted me by saying "ohhh so you're just a lowly commoner no worse, your poor that makes you trash what makes you think you have a chance? Look around you, almost everyone here is rich kids that came from a proper magic school, I wonder how did you afford to take the entrance exam? Did you steal money from a wealthy family huh? You trash".

He was right up in my face looking down on me just because I didn't go to some expensive magic school. People like him get on my nerves so I forcefully removed his hands from my collar before punching him square in the face making him fall on the ground. His body guard tried to get in my way, but one serious look from me and he flinched, frozen in fear

"Scum like you really piss me off, I should beat you up right now, but that'll just be a waste of my time seeing as you're not worth it!" I shouted before walking off.

I took a seat near a water fountain looking up at the sky waiting for when the examiners will come for me. Sometimes passing by me just looking at the sky with a blank mind, then out of nowhere a man appeared out of thin air in front of me I couldn't even sense him coming.

"Are you Ken Granfold?" The man asked

"Yes I am and who are you?" I replied with a question

"My name is Ian and I'm an examiner that's all you need to know. Now it's time for you to take the exam so come with me" Ian replied

Next Time: Entrance Exam