The Evaluation

We both changed and somehow made it in time.

"Good morning," Rose greeted us, "you two look terrible. Did you get in a fight again?"

"Nah," I said. "we had a race, and teachers caught us. so we were late."

"yeah." Tom continued, "but as it wasn't against school rules so here we are." we both sat down.

"What's the first class today?" I asked.

"languages." Rose replied, "Ms. Isabella is gonna teach us."

"That librarian?" Tom questioned.

"Yes," someone said from the front. it was Isabella, she was looking at Tom. "This librarian has been studying and translating runes longer than you were in this world. Now, take out your notebooks."

"Sorry, mam," Tom whispered.

"I don't need any apologies. You kids have never seen me teach and don't know the subject. you should have your books, open them up." Isabella said. "Do you know what spells are?", and the class began.

"Usage of magic is based on mana. you can either use your own mana directly, which makes temporary protection from other magic attacks. Another way is to use circles, which have fixed elements that mana will transform into. The third way is to use spells." she explained, " but the thing is, spells are even more limited. they depend on the type of mana you have. The mana of your body is also divided into elements in addition to the light-dark gradient. you can use the mana to heal yourself as some have been doing subconsciously."

we took notes and discussed the topic.

"let me tell you a fun fact,'' Isabella said as the topic got covered. "Just like how you convert mana into elements, you can reverse that process, to increase your mana. but that is not easy, many people lost their lives trying to do so" {well, the last part wasn't very fun.}

Isabella was kind of like Robert but a little different. While Robert was 'I only teach basics, you have to try and learn the dangers yourself' type of teacher, Isabella gave us clear warnings and taught thoroughly. We learned many things in her class, which was continuing for the next week.

***

As the last bell before lunch break rang, we got an announcement. "today's second half will be used for mana affinity conformation. gather in the auditorium in your gym uniform after the lunch break." It was Isabella's voice, so she will be the one in charge today.

It was our third day of attending Isabella's class. She is a great teacher but has a habit of giving lectures instead of talking. Sometimes, it gets boring.

"That long lecture hurt my head." Tom sighed. We all had changed into our gym uniform before getting lunch.

"I thought today was interesting," I replied. "I mean, being able to use spells to mess with other mana seems a little overpowered."

"I like spells more than circles." Rose said, "I like how they aren't affected by outer conditions, unlike circles. also having a unique spell seems like a hidden card we can use in difficult situations."

"and they are not affected by mana output, which means even you can use them properly." I added. Rose glared at me, it felt that it hurt my soul. So I decided to eat quietly for my own good.

As I was eating, I saw a girl beside our table. She was in my class, but she was eating alone. she always stayed quiet in class, I didn't even know her name. I got up to talk to her, but the bell rang and we had to leave.

Our entire class had gathered in the auditorium, all waiting for Isabella to say something. She was there with a few bundles of paper and a weird device. It was a box with a spherical glass ball on top of it.

"form a line as I call your name, and put your hand on this box. it will collect your mana, if it's too low, you might feel tired." She addressed Everyone in the hall. "I will start from the bottom of the alphabetical list."

Students got examined, got a sheet from one of the bundles, and were separated from the rest of the class. We didn't know how this worked, as I couldn't see the device itself. Tom got his result, did a little jump, and joined the others. After him, the same blonde girl I saw in the cafeteria was examined. she fainted immediately after removing her hand from the box.

"Tom." Isabella called him, "take Sarah to the infirmary and tell the doc that it was low mana. He'll handle the rest." She continued examining us, which surprised Everyone a little. it was rose's turn, she got her results, and was happy about it. as she joined the others, she turned and winked at me. {Am I seeing things?}

When I touched the box, the glass turned grey. It was a darker shade of grey, but not completely black. I got a sheet like everyone else, which had almost all the answers we needed regarding our mana affinity.

[if the color of the glass changes rather than forming the element, you don't have a precise mana affinity.]

[depending on the range of color, the type of spells that can be used are given below.]

[Black- Dark mana. freely use any type of circle and use basic enhancement spells.]

[Grey- Mixed mana. ability to use any type of circle, the range, and type of spells that can be used are limited to the shade of grey the glass turned to.]

[White- Light mana. able to use Every type of spell and basic level circles.]

I scanned through the sheet as I walked to the group. I wasn't very happy with the results, but it was good to know that I wasn't bound to a single element. but it kinda sucks, only being able to use basic spells, but I can't change it.

"How was your test?" Rose came up to me, "what's your affinity?"

"Nothing specific. The glass turned grey. It says I can use every type of circle." I showed her the sheet, "how about you?"

"White. Completely." She said excitedly, "I can use every kind of spell."

"White? Is that why your output is so low?" mana turns dark when brought out of the body, it is harder to turn completely light mana into dark mana completely.

"I think so too," she said in a low voice. Usually, she would have glared at me, but having a proper answer for her low output kept her calm. "Can you help me Ray?"

"For what?"

"You are the only person I know who has grey mana. You know how I can switch between two right?"

"And you want me to teach you?"

"Yes. Can you?"

"Even if I agree, you'll need a place to practice freely. Do you have such a place?"

"Can't we practice in school?"

"We will need to get permission and shit. it will take a lot of time to get a place, and I doubt it will be open enough."

"Do you know a place like that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." I had the training place up in the mountains, we can use it. "But I have to ask my dad about it."

"class, you are free to go. don't cause any problems and stay within school grounds." Isabella told us to leave.

"Let's go to the infirmary first." Rose suggested, "I want to check up on Sarah." We went to the room Sarah was kept in.

Tom was there before us. "Hey guys, how was your result?" he asked us.

"As expected," Rose said proudly.

"A little disappointing." I answered, "but I can make it work."

"What happened Ray?" dad, just entering the room, asked.

"nothing special. I don't have a specific mana affinity. it is grey all the way."

"You take after your mom. she also has light grey mana."

"mine's dark grey."

"Is it?" Dad sat on a bench beside Sarah's bed, "she should be fine after a few minutes." he told others, who looked confused after our conversation.

"Dad, these are my friends." I introduced them, "he's Tom, and she's Rose. And the one on the bed is Sarah, she's a friend of Rose."

"So you are the one who fought the group of girls the other day?" he turned to rose. "Can you teach my son to control his power a little? He will kill someone if he goes on a rampage like that again."

"About that sir." Rose looked over at me.

"Yeah. about that dad." I took the hint, "rose has all-white mana."

"all white?" Dad interrupted, "you must have problems with your output because of that."

"That's what I was saying." I took over again, "she wants to train for that. So can you let her use the training grounds? The one in the mountains."

"That one?" Dad sounded as if he had several of those, "you can use it. I gave over the key to you already, so you have to be with her for the place to function properly."

"When did you give me the key?"

"The key is you, yourself." he stressed in the latter part, "remember how it activated when I got there before you? I used your body as a new key for the place. Sometimes, I can't understand how you get such good marks in reasoning."

He got up and left. As we turned around to talk, he came back, "when that girl wakes up," he said "tell her not to skip meals." and left.

"So your dad is head of the medical department?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. should have I told you?"

"Nah." Tom answered for her, "it doesn't make any difference. Did you two eat?"

"Actually not." Rose said. "Let's wait for Sarah to wake up. She also needs to eat."

"Why didn't you leave her here and get something to eat for yourself?" I asked Tom.

"I didn't want to leave her alone. we should wait, Mr. Norman said it will take only a few minutes."

"Alright."