Chapter Six

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“Hey, are you the girl everyone’s been talking about?”

Sooyoung froze on her spot when her path was blocked by an unfamiliar blond student wearing the uniform Sooyoung recognized as for Third Year students. Darting her eyes around to see if anyone were paying attention to her, the brunette finally shrugged and said; “Yeah, I guess I am.”

I should get used to the extra attention I’m receiving, she thought and smiled slightly. Sooyoung realized the student in front of her was studying her, as if trying to identify her out.

“Do you really have no ability?” She questioned, raising a brow.

“I don’t know.” Sooyoung replied honestly, mentally sighing.

“Hmm,” The student cocked her head to the side. “I really don’t understand grandmother sometimes. What was she thinking?”

Sooyoung blinked her eyes several times, not quite understanding what the older student was saying. “Sorry?”

“Oh, nevermind.” The student shrugged and smiled. “Good luck though, you totally need it.” She patted Sooyoung’s shoulder once before walking away and past Seohyun and Yoona who were rushing to their friend’s side.

“Yeah,” Sooyoung agreed to herself as she watched the back of the student she never learned her name from. “I definitely need it.”

“Soo, who’s that?” Yoona asked, pausing to take a breath. “Was she mean to you? Just tell me and I’ll—“

Sooyoung chuckled upon hearing that. “No, no she isn’t. I don’t know who she is. Thanks though, Yoong.”

Yoona sighed in relief. “You’re welcome, it’s no big deal.”

--

After the little encounter Sooyoung had with the unknown female student, all First Year students entered the classroom they had set foot in during their Star Ranking assortment. Mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness washed over the girls as they gathered at the center of the room, whispering on assumptions of what they would be learning that day. Sooyoung cringed at her last memory of being in this particular room, wanting very much to just forget about what had happened.

Whilst waiting for the teacher in charged to arrive, the students continued their conversations loudly. They were particularly excited, for this was the first of their official special lessons in their sixteen years of living, the reason why they were sent into Aeradias the first place. Their enthusiastic chattering died down eventually when the doors were pushed open and in walked the solemn looking Park Kahi. Some students sighed inwardly, their hope of getting Kangta as their teacher for the first lesson crushed into smithereens.

“My name is Park Kahi, and I will be your teacher for today’s lesson.” Kahi greeted, now facing the fifty students in the spacious classroom. Sooyoung couldn’t help but noticed how the teacher in front had her hair tied into a neat and precise bun that not even a strand of hair was out of place. And somehow, that just makes her twice as scarier.

“You’ll be seeing Kangta-nim in the next lesson, and from then we’ll both be taking over your S.A classes alternately. During my lessons, I expect complete attention and absolutely no talking or whispering. Follow these simple rules and you’re guaranteed a second term in Aeradias. Disobey these rules, and I will have extra eyes on you, and when that happens, you won’t be liking it one bit.”

The students stared with wide eyes back at her as they stood still, holding their breaths. None of them dared to move even an inch from their spot.

“S.A, which abbreviates from the term Special Ability, is deemed to be one of the many wondrous things in the world that cannot be explained rhetorically. It is, in simpler words, a gift for those chosen ones scattered around the world.”

 Kahi paused to scan the room for a few seconds before continuing. “All of you here are descendants from magical bloodlines, and it is vital that you are all trained to be wise users of your respective abilities in the near future. As magical individuals, all of you carry an extra weight which none of the mortal beings do. This ‘weight’ could become one of the greatest things you’ll ever have in your life if treated properly with extreme care. Should you not follow and learn your courses properly, it’ll be likewise. It’ll turn out to be a burden you’d wished you were never born with.”

“This is the sole reason why you are all standing here in this very classroom today. From now onwards, you’ll be taught on how to control your abilities, manipulate them, and channelling them in a way that it is safe for you, and for everyone else around you.” Kahi gave a sly smile and everyone gulped. “But before we go into the fun part, we should first know how everything began.”

Yoona frowned. “Oh no, I think I know where this is leading to.” She muttered under her breath.

“Today’s lesson would be Introductory to the History of S.A.” The teacher smirked, knowing everyone would abhor what she was about to say next. “Grab one book each from that shelf there and flip to page four.”

 “It’s time for History 101.”               

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“As all of you know, our school name is taken from our founder named Aeradias. To respect her efforts and appreciate what she had done, a statue of her has been carved approximately fifty years ago, and is located at the third floor of the West Wing, if some of you haven’t discovered that yet.”

The warm sunlight that drifted through the windows made lunch grew heavy in Sooyoung’s stomach. Albeit the loud and clear voice coming from Kahi, Sooyoung’s eyelids felt like they weighed about a ton, since for obvious reasons, she hadn’t been having enough sleep lately. She fought to stay awake by pinching herself several times. It was only when she heard muffled squealing that she managed to fully snap herself awake, curious as to why everyone seemed ultra excited that even the stern teacher in front was bearing a smile.

“Girls will forever be girls,” Kahi shook her head, “Yes, you are indeed right, Yoona-sshi, that there is another school similarly as Aeradias that is just for boys.”

The students in the classroom immediately broke into grins, clearly excited to learn more information. All of a sudden, history has become five times more interesting with the mere mention of boys.

“Journaling along with Aeradias were two males named Versailles and Eleutherius. It is not a surprise for any of you to know that there are all together, three magic schools here in Korea, all of which are named after their founders. While Eleutherius is a school just for boys, Versailles is a co-education school with a system slightly different from us and Eleutherius’.”

Sooyoung sat up straighter in her seat, her tiredness fading away.

“Aeradias and Eleutherius both admit students when they’re of age sixteen, excluding rare cases where the students are required to enter at a young age. First Years in Versailles however are not of the age sixteen, but rather, the age eleven. It is written in history that Versailles upholds this system because he wanted the magical children to grow up in full understanding that they are special, and to use their abilities to a maximum extend.”

“While Versailles thought this was the right thing to do, Aeradias and Eleutherius thought likewise. They did not agree to his suggestion, saying that if the children are being exposed to such trainings and life from young, they would grow too accustomed and attached to their abilities, thus forgetting their actual non-magical life and talents.”

Kahi paused to take a breath before continuing; “However, Versailles remar