- Julia -

“Here’s a letter from Mr. Edward”

We’ve just reached the school with our driver, whose name we learned is Mary. Not like Michael would take the time to remember it.

Michael scowled at the paper. “This bastard…”

Michael was given a letter from Edward. I’m not sure what it’s about but I did see Michael take a card out of it. Probably just something he forgot to give him.

“Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”

It’s been a few weeks since we started at this school. After getting called to Edward’s office, the events that transpired were worrisome to say the least.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Emi!” The girl said brightly.

“Hi, I’m Michael...”

After Michael and I went to Edward’s office, we met up with Emi at the door. She's a second year I met in class and we’ve already been acquainted.

Her tangerine hair practically bounced on her head as she probed Michael.“Are you Julia’s friend? Boyfriend?”

“No no, we’re just friends,” He replied immediately.

“Hmm.. Well, if you say so.” She turned away and knocked on the large double doors leading into Edward’s office.

Michael glanced at me. “What’s up with her?”

“I don’t know, we just met today!”

Our silent conversation was interrupted when a deep voice called out from inside the room.

“Come in.”

Emi slowly opened the doors. The room was mostly empty with large bookshelves on either side of the room and a floor to ceiling window making up the back wall. Several paintings decorated the dim room and the carpeted floor creaked eerily as we entered. Sitting at the desk in front of us with his hands steepled was the acting principal, Edward.

He looked at us with an intense glare. “Welcome to my domain.” He emitted an intimidating aura that weighed down on the room. But what offset me the most was the uncharacteristic Hello Kitty bandaid on his cheek. He slowly panned his eyes over us and finally locked on to Emi. “You!”

“Yes!” She jumped in surprise and straightened up.

“Why do you think I called you here?”

Her eyes wandered around nervously before she answered in a quiet voice. “Because I was sticking gum in people’s pockets?”

“That was you?” Edward yelled, face palming. He wrote something down on a small notepad at his left.

“My premonitions told me to! … and I thought I’d be funny.”

I cringed, “That’s disgusting.”

“No shit.” Michael frowned, staring accusingly at Emi. Oh, he must have been a victim of her famed gum pocketing spree.

Edward picked up a packet of documents from the pile of clearly untouched work on his desk. He flipped through the papers quickly before stopping. “Do you guys know what the requirements to make a club is?”

I responded, “Yes. If I remember correctly you must have an advisor, purpose, and at least five members.”

“That’s correct”

“But why are you bringing that up now?”

“Well..” Edward paused dramatically.

“That’s because I’m having you guys join the- what was it called?”

You’re asking that now?

“Ultimate... Advanced… Oh, I got it.”

He regained his composure and resumed his gang boss impression. “You guys will be joining the Student Council.”

Michael slumped. “Student Council? That sounds like a lot of work so I’d rather not.”

Edward looked at him seriously. “Michael, remember that technique you used on the Practical Exam? That is an advanced technique that not only requires strong intuition to grasp, but extensive practice and experience.”

I looked at Michael, “What’s he talking about?”

“When I took the baseline, I made up an Algorithm to boost my speed without blocking my movements. But I couldn’t handle the power and spent almost all of my Essence instantly.”

Edward cleared his throat. “If you want to master that technique, you’ll need an opportunity to practice and use it in the field. With the Council, you’ll be able to refine your magic more often and interact with many different kinds of people.”

“But isn’t that just a-“

“You’ll also be able to skip class often.” Edward added.

That seemed to strike his interest, as he immediately started pondering the proposal. While this was going on, Emi started getting impatient.

“None of that even matters! I wanna know who the other members are gonna be!”

Edward smiled, “That’s my first job for you.”

He flipped through the next few pages of his packet. Where he stopped, there looked to be pictures of eight people, but it was too far to make out.

“The student council will consist of two representatives from each grade, adding up to eight members” he waved his hand at the paper. “I’ve already chosen the other five members of the Council, three of which are already confirmed,” he explained. “That being said, I’ll have you guys convince the last two to join.”

“What! Why didn’t you just invite them yourself?” Michael blurted.

Edward frowned and his annoyance showed on his face.

“Let’s just get going Michael.”

I then dragged Michael out of the room and here we are a few weeks later.

In class we’ve been talking about the different types of magic, and yesterday we were introduced to one of the cardinal magics, Alteration Magic. As Magic that allows one to change matter itself, it holds infinite possibilities as a tool and as a weapon.

After reaching the classroom, I located my seat and got settled in.

My friend Emi sat down next to me and began taking out her notebook. “Morning Julie! Did you sleep well last night?”

“Ah, good morning Emi. I couldn’t stop thinking about my notes considering the lesson we had yesterday.”

Emi leaned back in her seat and opened her datacard. “Was it really that interesting? Dr. Hephaestus just talked about rearranging atoms and what not.”

That’s obviously not all there is to it!

I sighed. “It’s not just rearranging atoms, we’re shifting the subatomic particles themselves using a different form of-”

“I know! I know! Geez Julie you can be such a geek sometimes.”

Is she trying to aggravate me?

I glared at her but she just continued to stare at memes on her datacard.

“Why’re you calling me Julie anyways? I'll have you know I’m very proud of my given name.”

Emi took out her earbuds and put them in her pocket. “But isn’t Julie just so much cuter? I think you should act a bit cuter too.”

“No thank you, I have better things to worry about than acting cute.”

“While we’re on the topic, that boy from Hall B you always walk home with, I think his name was Maxwell? What’s your relationship with him!”

Emi looked up from her phone for once with an excited expression, her eyes practically sparkling. “He’s just a friend. Because of some personal reasons, we’re living together.”

“What kind of-”

Before she could finish, Dr. Hephaestus walked in, “Everyone, settle down! Today we will be heading to the Practical Application Hall to practice using Alteration Magic. After changing, please leave your bags here and follow me.”

This is what I’ve been waiting for. I couldn’t test it at home because of the magic usage laws but I should be able to accomplish it in this class period. I’m sure it already exists, but I need to try it.

He led us into a large rectangular courtyard with stone brick walls on all sides. There were pillars coming up from the pathed ground in each of the four corners. Spread out around the raised ground in the center were small head-sized rocks.

Dr. Hephaestus walked towards the center of the yard until he reached the stone plateau and turned to face the students.

“You’ll be practicing Alteration Magic using these rocks. Remember to be very careful when shifting the protons as you may cause a small explosion. I’d like to avoid carrying a well done student to the nurse.” A few kids laughed at his joke. “Form groups of two and start practicing.”

Our classmates began to pair up with their friends and I of course, paired up with Emi.

Emi smiled, “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

I don’t know whether I should be happy or offended.

We looked for and chose a rock we thought looked good. We sat on both sides of the rock.

“Before we start, allow me to explain for those who weren’t here last class.” Dr. Hephaestus picked up one of the rocks. “Alteration Magic is a type 2 technique, that is to say, it is precision-based. In previous lessons, intuition and sheer will-power may have been sufficient, but type 2 Magic requires intense focus and understanding.”

The rock in his hand began to glow. When it returned to its seemingly original form, it had a light silver sheen encompassing its surface.

“The point of this exercise is to gain experience using Alteration Magic. Don’t rely on your power. Instead use your understanding of your environment to reach the intended result.”

I see. So we won’t be graded on how grand the change is, but the sophistication of the alteration.

I peaked at the other groups to see how they were faring with the assignment. One group of boys was arguing about what to do. Another was attempting to imitate the teachers example, only to fail with a resounding poof.

I turned back to my nonchalant partner. She was tapping her datacard and suddenly spoke without looking up. “So what now? There’s something you wanted to try right?”

My eyes widened in surprise. She seems ditzy but she's actually pretty smart when it comes to these things huh?

“Was it that obvious?”

Emi looked up, put her hand on my shoulder, and dramatically shook her head.“Julie, I don’t even need to try when reading you, you're like an open book!”

Her arrogance is kind of irritating. But whatever, I do have something to test.

“Alright then, let's get started. Emi, you might wanna move.”

Emi had an excited look on her face. “Ooo! Are you gonna do something amazing?”

I decided to ignore her and get started. Okay, you start by identifying the atomic values with Basic Magic...

I poured my Essence into the rock, carving it through every microscopic crevice I found. Then you meticulously shift them with Alteration Magic…

I carefully raised my hands and started restructuring. This would be a delicate process and may lead to much worse than a light burn. The rock began to glow and change color.

Emi smiled, “Woah! It's working!” Everybody in the class looked over to see what was going on.

Now to add the final touch. Apply Vector Magic to rearrange the atoms and restore the proper matter density…

As rock began to shift, the air around it began to collapse. It formed into the shape of a rifle stock with two limbs attached to the risers on the end. The weapon I was so familiar with took shape and the process was complete.

A kid in another group looked at the creation with a bewildered expression, “Is that... a crossbow?”

I looked up to see the whole class staring at me. That Emi with her big mouth. Dr. Hephaestis walked over with a grim face.

“While doing this on school grounds bypasses Section 2 of the Magic Usage Laws, making a crossbow without prior notice is still a violation of school policies.”

Everybody averted their eyes and Emi was suddenly really interested in the next group’s rock.

“But that aside” Dr. Hephaestis picked up the crossbow. “This is impressive. A perfect application or the three Cardinal Magic forms. This is Complex Creation, a Second Year Magic.

Emi finally returned from hiding and joined the conversation. “Second Year Magic?! Isn’t that like… what’s that again?”

Dr. Hephaestus stood up and returned his attention to the class. “It seems that most of you have completed the assignment. In the coming weeks we will continue practicing the basics. From there you guys will be selecting your divisions for the second term.”

After returning from the courtyard, we changed back to uniform and settled back in the lecture hall. After a brief speech, we were released for Lunch.

Emi and I made our way towards the mess hall. Upon reaching it, we stepped through the three meter high double doors and took in the atmosphere of the room. Calling it a room wouldn’t do it justice. The space was expansive and could easily fit hundreds of students. The ceiling reached far above our heads and the hanging chandeliers shined brilliantly. With the edition of the grandiose windows on the left wall and the vibrant curtains and paintings decorating the walls, one could easily mistake this room for a royal dining hall.

We walked past tables of seated students and the constant clamor of conversation. After ordering our lunch, we made our way towards the far edge of the room, where a platinum haired boy sat fidgeting impatiently.

We settled at the rectangular table across from him. He looked up at us clearly annoyed. “Took you long enough.”

Feigning confusion, I responded back to him, “My, I thought you enjoyed sitting alone at lunch?”

“Buzz off. Did you guys get anything on the other member?”

After we left Edward’s office, we contacted the first potential member of the Student Council. His name is Eric Kaiser, a third year who while dignified, had a rather understanding and reasonable personality.

Emi raised her hand after hearing Michael’s question. “Yep! I talked to my classmates and they told me all about him!”

Michael scratched his head. “We’re lucky that Eric dude was easy to convince. Now we just gotta get the other guy.”

“Did you forget? He said he’d consider joining us if we can convince the other candidate. If we fail, we’ll be losing both of them.”

I glanced at Emi, before activating my projector. “Here’s the information we have on the target. His name is Aidin Wilford. He’s a transferred second year like Emi, but was accepted through a professor recommendation. Based on the intel Emi gathered, he has a rather foul personality and avoids interaction with other students.”

Michael smirked “Sounds like someone I know.”

“Yeah, at least I don’t flash creepy smiles at girls while looking them up and down.”

Michael's face contorted with disbelief as he stood up, slamming the table with his hands. “That never even happened! That stupid girl sure knows how to run her mouth…”

I raised a brow curiously. “So something did happen?”

Michael sighed incredulously, “Of course not!”

I started feeling bad for him as he deflated in his seat. “Hey, if it makes you feel better, you have an S class beauty as your childhood friend.”

Michael looked up excitedly, “What! Where?”

After a ‘small disagreement,’ they continued their discussion in earnest. “As I was saying, the target has a rather bad reputation among the students. He has extreme confidence in his individual power, and has even injured classmates whom he disapproved of. ”

Michael spoke, still rubbing his head. “So an overconfident asshole?”

“Pretty much. Regardless of this, his skill and power can be assured from his family history.”

Michael leaned over and studied the screen. “What’s his next class? Let's head there next block and see for ourselves.”

I was taken aback by his statement. “That’s too risky. We may end up getting on his-“

“And what? Do you think setting an appointment with a prick is gonna help? For all we know, he won’t even show up. We’ll head over there now.”

Michael stood up and grabbed his bag. “I want to see this bastard with my own eyes.”