Illusions Pt 2: Welcome to My Reality
The Girl From Mahoutokoro [Not an update sorry! ]
AN: lol what is this story even about again
Here's part 2 of Sooyeon's first year at Mahoutokoro. One more chapter (it will be a lot shorter than this one) and then we're back to the present and Hogwarts and OT9 so bear with me here.
Sooyeon walked quietly through the aisles of the library searching for an empty cubby or table to study at. With the written portion of the Ranking Trials now underway, everyone was busy stuffing their faces in their textbooks and absorbing as much information as they could. Unfortunately for Sooyeon, this meant that her usual spot in the library was almost always occupied by some stressed upperclassman with too much caffeine in their system.
“Sooyeon!” Someone called out to her in a whisper. Sooyeon turned towards the direction of the voice wondering who on earth it could be. She saw Reina sitting by herself at a table gesturing for Sooyeon to join her with a light wave of her hand. Despite the busy and demanding schedule, Reina looked as put together as always unlike some of the other students who forgoed hygiene over studying and sported ink smudges on their faces and hands. Sooyeon found herself mentally checking her own appearance to make sure she looked okay as she walked over to her Onee-sama.
“Do you need a spot to study? I have a whole table to myself if you want to join,” Reina offered kindly, putting down her ink brush. True to her words, Reina had a long wooden table all to herself. It seemed that everyone seemed to keep away from the star student. Sooyeon wondered with a sudden pang if Reina ever got lonely but brushed the thought away quickly. Sooyeon glanced briefly at what Reina was working on previously and marveled at the sight of beautiful calligraphy that greeted her.
“Thank you, Onee-sama.” Sooyeon sat down gratefully, pulling her bag up to the table and taking out the books she needed.
Reina moved her books and papers away, giving Sooyeon some space. “No worries. Things get busy this time of the year and during Finals. It’s always smart to reserve your spot early on,” Reina advised her. She regarded the younger girl in front of her, tilting her head slightly to the side. “How are you, Sooyeon-ah?”
Sooyeon opened her textbook. Reina noticed it wasn’t one of the mandatory textbooks for a first year.
“I’m good,” Sooyeon replied softly, careful not to disturb the people studying around them. “I just have two more written exams left - Potions and Illusions.”
“What a coincidence,” Reina beamed lightly, a small and rare but kind smile covering her face. “I also have Potions and Illusions left. I can help you study if you’d like.”
Sooyeon surveyed the disarrayed books strewn all over the table. They ranged from Ancient Runes to Magic Theory and Advanced Charms. Nowhere did she spot a Potions book nor an Illusions book. Her Onee-sama was lying. Reina clearly had her hands full with other subjects yet here she was offering to teach Sooyeon.
Sooyeon met Reina’s eyes a little unsteadily. The girl’s kind stare was unwavering and if Reina noticed that Sooyeon knew she was lying, she didn’t show it.
“If it’s no trouble then,” Sooyeon ducked her head shyly. Ever since she and Reina dueled, Sooyeon was curious of what more Reina was capable of. The girl’s prowess for illusions baffled Sooyeon a little. Sooyeon had never met another person that was so skilled for their age. For some reason, she felt a connection with Reina. Sooyeon had a feeling that they were similar in some sort of way, though she didn’t exactly know how. She was determined to learn everything she could from her Onee-sama.
Reina raised her hand and waved it lazily in the air. A book came floating towards them from a shelf before gently plopping down in front of them.
“This is one of my favorite books on the subject of Illusions,” Reina stated, showing Sooyeon the book. Sooyeon peered at its cover.
‘Intro to Illusions: Making and Breaking Reality’ by Sakai Hana
Sooyeon noted the last name of the author and peered up curiously at Reina. Was Sakai Hana from the same family that Reina was from?
“Ah, yes. Sakai Hana was my great great grandmother. The Sakai family specializes in illusions and our secrets have passed down from generation to generation,” Reina answered Sooyeon’s unspoken question. Sooyeon made a mental note to look into the history of pureblood families, including her own. She knew very little about her mother’s and father’s bloodlines.
“Well then I am under your care,” Sooyeon bowed respectfully. The two girls got to work immediately starting from chapter one. Sooyeon didn’t mind. It was always good to revisit the basics from time to time. By going through each chapter in extreme detail, Sooyeon found out that Reina really lived up to her name as a Sakai. The girl was extremely thorough in her explanations.
After they finished up chapter seventeen, Reina suddenly stopped. Sooyeon looked up in surprise. She glanced briefly at the clock behind them and was surprised to find that three hours had already passed by.
“Thank you so much for teaching me,” Sooyeon bowed thinking their study session was done for today. She’d already taken too much of her Onee-sama’s time. Reina still had her own exams to study for.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Reina stated her eyes twinkling under the candlelight. A flash of concealed anticipation flashed through her face. “We’re not done yet.”
Sooyeon raised an eyebrow in question. They already covered way more material than what she was being tested on. What else more was there?
Reina smirked knowingly - just a brief curling of her lips since Sooyeon found out that Reina rarely ever smiled widely except for during that one duel they had - before standing up. “What’s the use of reading all that theory and not putting it to use?” she asked before jerking her head slightly, telling Sooyeon to get up. “Come on. Before it gets too dark.”
Without even tidying up her things or grabbing her bag, Reina took off, her feet strutting away with purpose as her purple robe flowed behind her. Sooyeon hurried after her, but paused suddenly glancing back apprehensively at the mess they just left and all of her stuff just lying there unprotected.
“No one’s going to touch our stuff while we’re gone. Don’t worry,” Reina called out without even having to turn around. It was as if she could sense Sooyeon’s hesitation.
Reassured, Sooyeon hurried after her. Several students glanced at them curiously as they passed. Sooyeon followed Reina until they reached the Northern Courtyard. Normally, the courtyard was bustling with activity. Students loved to hang out there in their free time or practice their spellwork. However when Sooyeon and Reina arrived, no one was there.
Reina whirled around suddenly to face Sooyeon, who halted in her steps in surprise. A mischievous glint in Reina’s eyes was all Sooyeon got as a warning before everything around her suddenly warped and next thing she knew she was into an illusion.
She looked around at her surroundings in surprise. The details of the illusion were insane. Everything looked so real. She reached a hand out, almost daring herself to touch the tree in front of her that she knew wasn’t real.
“Onee-sama, you really are amazing,” Sooyeon murmured. She watched in awe as a fairy flew by her head. “You can even create illusions of living things,” she breathed out. It was something she still struggled with.
“Who says that’s an illusion?” Reina questioned with a slight tilt of her head.
Sooyeon blinked in surprise. “Is it not?” She reached her hand out. The fairy flew towards her and caressed her hand. Sooyeon stilled in surprise, staring at the creature on her hand incredulously.
“Humans have five basic senses,” Reina started walking around while explaining. “Sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell.” She stopped at a tree and laid her hand on it. Sooyeon frowned in confusion. You couldn’t touch illusions. Before she could voice out her question, Reina’s hand fell through the tree as if it were an image of light.
“There are three tiers of illusions: illusions of the mind, altering reality, and a complete alter reality. As you go up the tiers, the less control of the senses you will have. For example, what you did during our duel. I made that illusion and that illusion only existed in my mind. I’d trapped you in my creation. In those types of illusions I am able to manipulate sound, touch, taste, sight, and smell. However, these illusions are the easiest to detect and escape.”
“As I mentioned, the higher up the tier of illusions you go, the more difficult it is to manipulate the senses, but they are also exponentially more difficult to detect and escape. Illusions of these tiers have really only total control over one sense,” Reina continued explaining. “Sight. Some master illusionists can create sound and smell to a certain extent by tricking the mind, but no one has been able to replicate taste let alone touch.” She turned to Sooyeon. “However, there are other ways to trick the mind.” She smirked. “By mixing in elements of reality and bringing them into your illusions, your illusions will feel a lot more real. Master illusionists can take things from reality and bring them into their illusions and vice versa.”
She paused. “The next tier of illusions is altering pieces of reality, wherein most of your surroundings is real and there may be certain things that are fake,” she lectured. “The next level of course, is creating a whole new world by you mix in elements of the real, just like now,” she pointed out. “Most of the things around you are fake. An illusion. However, I can choose to have certain things to be real, to be from the real world. For example, that tree, is real. The tree next to it, fake. That fairy, real. The rock next to your foot? Fake. The air that you’re breathing in? Real.”
Sooyeon looked to every object Reina pointed out and tried her best to figure out how to tell if something was real or fake. It was nearly impossible. Suddenly, everything around her changed again. Instead of the fake courtyard, they were now standing in the middle of a street in Tokyo.
“And the last tier: a completely new ‘reality’. Now, tell me,” Reina grinned challengingly. “What’s real?”
Sooyeon gulped as her eyes started roaming around for anything that looked like it could be real. She wandered about aimlessly in Reina’s illusion.
Reina stayed in her spot and watched Sooyeon walkabout around her. After two minutes had passed and Sooyeon had yet to say a word, Reina opened . “Remember what I told you earlier,” she stated quietly and softly. “Illusions of this tier are based mostly on sight. If you can’t trust your eyes, what should you do?”
Sooyeon realized what her Onee-sama was trying to teach her and suddenly stopped. There’s no way to tell the real from the fake, at least visually. In order to distinguish them, she had to rely on her other senses. Sooyeon closed her eyes. She tried to become hyper aware of everything going on around her. She focused in on every little sound and on all the tiny air currents on her skin.
Reina smiled sensing that Sooyeon was finally getting it. ‘This, this is what textbooks can’t teach you. Learn and grow Sooyeon-ah. I hope one day, you will surpass me. I will wait patiently until that day comes. Until then, face me with everything you’ve got.’
“Ugh!” Nana grunted as she hit the ground violently. She was definitely going to be feeling this tomorrow morning. She tried to get back on her feet, only to hiss as a sharp pain shot up her leg. Forget tomorrow, she was already feeling it right now.
She raised her head up until she met the worried eyes of her friend from across the dueling platform. Sooyeon was slowly starting to lower her wand arm the longer it took for her to stand up.
“You’re still holding out on me. I can tell,” Nana growled suddenly through the pain as she forced herself onto her feet. “I saw your duel with Onee-sama. You’ve been going easy on me,” she stated a bit angrily, trying to pin Sooyeon down with her glare.
Sooyeon’s face widened in surprise, a look a guilt flashing across briefly before it softened to a look a reluctance. They’d been dueling for the past thirty minutes and Sooyeon thought Nana was being a lot more quiet than usual. Now that she knew that she was the reason for Nana’s behaviour she couldn’t help but feel bad.
Nana hated that even more. She hated being looked down upon. She hated being taken lightly. She’d never thought that out of everyone, Sooyeon would be the one to look down at her.
“Duel me with all you got,” Nana challenged, pulling herself to her full height. “Don’t look down at me, Jung Sooyeon,” she added when Sooyeon refused to move and continued staring at her uneasily.
In her anger, she screamed in frustration and shot a column of flames at Sooyeon who widened her eyes at the surprise attack and jumped out of way just in time, barely able to comprehend what just happened. Nana just tried to attack her...for real. Nana wanted to hurt her.
At this point several other people in the dueling club were eyeing them, alerted by Nana’s outburst. Nana could feel the eyes of their Onee-sama not so far away studying them steadily.
Sooyeon was about to open to agree to duel her seriously albeit a bit reluctantly when Kaga Sensei suddenly interrupted.
“Actually, I think we should stop here for today,” he stated, jumping up to their platform, eyeing each of them seperately as if warning them to obey. “The practical exam is in two days for you first years, so it’s best you guys get enough rest and not go all out today,” he reasoned logically, hoping to appeal to Nana’s rational side.
Nana did her best not to roll her eyes and huffed, jumping off the platform. She gave Kaga Sensei a terse bow before excusing herself. Sooyeon watched her leave worriedly. She was about to go after her but startled when she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder.
“Give her time,” Reina stated quietly from behind Sooyeon, her eyes staring at the door Nana just stormed through. “This is only going to become more common for you,” she stated lowly. Sooyeon had no idea what she was referring to but something told her that Reina was speaking from experience.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Reina told her softly before squeezing Sooyeon’s shoulder softly. “In the meantime, you should also get some rest. Kaga Sensei is right. You want to be as prepared as possible for the task in two days.”
Sooyeon nodded and bid her Onee-sama farewell before turning to Kaga Sensei and doing the same. When she reached her bedroom, she noticed that her roommate, Lizzy was already in bed currently reading a book. Lizzy looked up as she entered, gave Sooyeon a once over before returning to her book, not saying a peep. Sooyeon quietly grabbed her shower stuff before heading to the bathrooms.
It was always like that. They never talked, deferring to polite roommates who happened to share a bedroom and nothing more. Sooyeon realized that most of the school regarded her in a similar fashion, always staying an arm’s width away and looking at with what she thought was pity or scorn for being an outsider but she was starting to reconsider that.
As she fell asleep, the words of her Onee-sama replayed in her head.
“This is only going to become more common for you.”
The words ‘Prepare yourself’ never left Reina’s lips, but Sooyeon still heard them loud and clear.
“I heard what happened at Dueling club today,” Chiho stated as she slid in next to Reina. It was late at night and most people were already asleep, save for a few upperclassmen who were still busy reviewing their notes in the library. There was no curfew at Mahoutokoro as the school understood that students needed the time to study.
“And what would that be?” Reina asked offhandedly, completely focused at the book in front of her. If Chiho hadn’t been friends with Reina for so long, she would’ve thought the girl was being cold and a bit rude.
“That Jinah exploded at Sooyeon,” said Chiho. She gave Reina a pointed look and even though the raven haired girl wasn’t looking at her, she knew the girl would sense it. “I also heard you didn’t do anything.”
Reina nonchalantly flipped the page in her book. “And what should I have done?” she asked in a tone that sounded like she was blowing Chiho off.
“I don’t know,” Chiho huffed. She wasn’t good at this either. She hated conflicts and avoided them as much as possible.
“Sooyeon is going to have to learn how to deal with this on her own,” Reina started saying. “More and more people are going to start targeting her, jealous of what she’s capable of and what she will be capable of. It’s up to her whether or not she wants to own up to these talents and face the consequences or hold back and be forced to never reach her full potential.”
Chiho hummed glumly, her head resting on her arms. “Like you.”
Reina made no comment to acknowledge Chiho’s statement. In the years that Chiho knew Reina, she rarely saw the girl interact with any of her other peers besides out of necessity. Her classmates singled her out as the genius witch of their grade before they even graduated the Wakai program. Reina was untouchable and unapproachable. It didn’t help that once people started to isolate her, Reina started distancing herself as well. It was like the girl was on a pedestal, high above everyone else and not allowed to fail.
“You’ve been pushing Sooyeon to test her limits,” Chiho stated, staring at Reina out of the corner of her eyes.
“It would be a shame to waste what she has,” Reina stated, shrugging. “She has a gift. I’m just helping her bring it out.”
“You want her to be like you,” Chiho repeated with emphasis.
Reine shook her head. “No,” she turned to face Chiho, sighing softly as if tired. “I don’t want her to be like me,” she spoke firmly.
Chiho scoffed. “Well you’re doing a good job so far. Her best friend isn’t talking to her and she doesn’t have any other friends. She’s going to end up isolated and alone like you.” She stopped suddenly, realizing she’d said too much. She glanced warily at Reina in apprehension.
Reina was sitting there as if Chiho’s words didn’t affect her. “It is what it is,” she merely stated, eyes not leaving the text in front of her. “I’m not bothered by it.” And she really wasn't. She preferred the companionship of her books over the meaningless squabble of most of her peers her age.
“Sooyeon can grow into whoever she wants to be,” Reina stated confidently. “However, I will not standby and see talents like hers not go nurtured correctly.” She turned to look at Chiho, shooting her a rare smile. Chiho nearly thought she was imagining things as it was pretty late and she was getting pretty sleepy. “Besides, I’m not lonely. I have you, don’t I?”
Chiho merely grumbled to herself under her breath and buried her head back into her arms, opting for a quick nap before continuing with her studies. She could never win an argument with Reina.
“Hi Umma!~” The two Jung sisters greeted their parents through the two way communication mirror. They were sitting on Sooyeon’s bed, mirror calling their mother in the afternoon the day before the practical exam like they promised.
“Aigoo~” Soobin cooed at the sight of her adorable daughters from the mirror. “How were your first two months of school my darlings?”
“Good,” Soojung stated in her signature stoic nature. “Classes are relatively easy so far,” she said like it was no big deal.
“Really? That’s good. How are you liking Illusions?” Soobin asked knowing it was Soojung’s first year taking Illusions.
“It’s okay,” Soojung shrugged. “Unnie has helped me alot so it’s not that bad. Though the Sensei is a little strict.”
“That’s good,” Soobin nodded. “Reo is very good at what he does though, so be sure to pay attention in class, okay?”
Soojung nodded obediently. “Okay~”
Soobin smiled in satisfaction before turning her attention to the older daughter. “And you, Sooyeon how are you?”
“I’m fine,” Sooyeon stated with a small smile, shrugging a little.
“The Ranking Trials are happening aren’t they?” Soobin asked and Sooyeon could see her mom perk up in slight excitement. “How are you doing on your written tests?”
“Unnie’s doing amazing!” Soojung exclaimed proudly before Sooyeon could even open . “Unnie got perfect scores on all her exams! She’s in first place as off now!” Soojung bounced lightly on the bed as she reported the good news to her mom.
“Wow,” Soobin beamed, mirroring Soojung’s proud smile. “Congratulations! Perfect scores? That’s incredibly difficult to do!” Soobin praised her oldest daughter. “When I took the tests as a first year, I barely managed to get over a ninety percent on some of them!”
Sooyeon grinned abashedly, her cheeks blushing a pretty pink in response to her mother’s over enthusiastic response. “They weren’t that hard.”
“Oh now you’re just bragging Unnie!” Soojung exclaimed with a wide smile, pushing her sister playfully. Anyone could see her overflowing pride in her older sister. Soobin grinned warmly at the touching sight. She always knew her daughters were close and she was always grateful for it. They would have each other’s back no matter what.
“So are you prepared for the practical exam?” Soobin questioned curiously. She couldn't help it. This was the first time both her daughters had been away and she was starting to feel a little lonely without her daughters at home.
Sooyeon nodded. “I’ve been preparing for it.” She’d had a couple more one on one sessions with Reina. Meanwhile, she hadn’t seen Nana since their little falling out yesterday.
“That’s good,” Soobin took a small sigh of relief. She knew just how rigorous and even dangerous the Ranking Trials could get. Not only did you have to watch out for whatever the Sensei’s had planned for you but also your peers. Competition was serious at Mahoutokoro and some people would do anything to win.
“Be careful Sooyeon-ah,” Soobin reminded her daughter, her worry clear as day in her voice and expression.
“I will,” Sooyeon stated to appease her worrywart of a mother. “Don’t worry. You’ve prepared me well.”
Soobin nodded lightly, the tension leaving her shoulders as she sank back into her seat. “That’s right Sooyeon-ah.” She smiled. “Good luck on Saturday. We’ll be watching and cheering you on! Alright, well I have to go. I have a customer, it seems,” she stated frowning as she turned to look behind her. Sooyeon and Soobin could hear the ringing of the bell from that side.
“Okay then. Talk to you later, Umma. Bye~” The two sisters bid their mom farewell and ended the call. Sooyeon immediately fell backwards onto her bed, lying there in exhaustion.
“Ah, I’m tired,” she exhaled, closing her eyes.
Soojung followed suit, plopping down next to her sister. She felt Sooyeon immediately circle her arms around her body and sighed in content. She loved being held by Sooyeon. It always felt so safe in her Unnie’s arms.
“Please be careful, Unnie,” Soojung echoed their mother’s sentiments softly. She’d also been very worried for her older sister. Sooyeon had been looking more tired lately, no doubt as a result of the Ranking trials. She hoped that Sooyeon would be safe during the practical exam.
Every year, they would change the exam so the students never knew what was coming, however, one thing was always certain. The trials were going to be tough. Last year, Soojung watched as one first year set one of their classmates on fire and left them there screaming in pain. It was cruel. But it was not against the rules.
Soojung knew that her sister was probably already a target amongst the other first years. She was one of the few outsiders so they probably thought she would be a pushover. Soojung of course knew better. Her Unnie was the best out there. Sooyeon could easily take them all. However, she still worried over the possibility that something might go wrong.
Soojung felt the arms tighten their hold around her as Sooyeon tugged her in closer.
“Aigoo, Soojungie,” Sooyeon, placing her cheek on top of her sister’s head. “Unnie will be fine. No need to worry, hm?” She ran a soothing hand through Soojung’s hair. “Who do you think your Unnie is? I’ll be fine,” she murmured quietly before placing a soft kiss on her little sister’s forehead.
“Now close your eyes and go to sleep. Unnie is tired,” Sooyeon stated before closing her eyes. Tomorrow was the day of the practical exam.
Soojung glanced up worriedly, but upon seeing her sister’s peaceful expression decided to believe in her sister. Sooyeon would be fine. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and reveled in the warmth that was her sister.
It was a early morning. The sun was barely out, casting just enough light to see the vast forestry of the island of Iwo Jima. The air was cool and Sooyeon was glad she had on a sweater underneath her robes. She had no idea why she was awake at such an ungodly time.
Tried as she might, she was unable to fall asleep all night, even with Soojung’s comforting presence by her side. After suffering and trying to keep still for nearly five hours straight, she gave up. Carefully slipping out of Soojung’s hold, she practically jumped out of bed, energized by her anger and frustration. She needed to clear her head.
She marched through the halls like a girl with a purpose though she had absolutely no idea where she wanted to go. She just let her feet take her wherever they wanted to go.
Apparently they’d decided that they wanted to go to the top of the main tower in the Jade Pagoda. That meant she had to go up nearly fifty flight of stairs.
Definitely not wanting to walk that many stairs no matter how much excess energy she felt she had to burn she pulled out her wand and summoned her broom. She’d fly up to the top instead. Broom in hand, she did a reckless thing. (She blamed Nana and her terrible influence on her as well as her lack of sleep.) She jumped out of the window. She flew up to the top, watching as all of Mahoutokoro came into view below her, and settled herself down atop the jade rooftop.
The entire island of Iwo Jima laid spread out before her. This was the highest point in all of Iwo Jima and it provided one of the most magnificent views. Sooyeon saw the Cherry Blossom Forest with its eternally pink petals to the south behind her. She could make out the thick green forestry of bamboos to the east. The Bamboo Forest went all the way from the side of the mountain of Iwo Jima where Mahoutokoro was situated down to the island, covering up nearly a fourth of the island.
The island of Iwo Jima was bare. Besides Mahoutokoro which was situated atop the volcanic mountain, there wasn’t anything else out there, not after the struggle with the commoners (those without magic) in the 20th century. The land beyond was forbidden even for the students of Mahoutokoro. They were not allowed to leave school premises. In other words, they were not allowed to descend the mountain and explore the rest of the island.
The Sensei’s warned them that after the war, humans avoided the place for a while, resulting in many dark creatures overtaking the place. Apparently it was always dangerous though, even before the whole battle of Iwo Jima. The Sensei’s told them that the rest of Iwo Jima was forbidden ever since Mahoutokoro’s creation.
Sooyeon peered out into the Forbidden Land, as people liked to call it. The fog was thick that morning, so she couldn’t actually see much. From where she sat, it seemed uninhabited, normal. She didn’t feel that it was different from any other forest.
As she sat there taking in the beauty of the island, she felt a sense of peace settle within her...as well as a sense of pulling. There was a small spark of curiosity of what laid beyond mountain but she quickly pushed it down. She wasn’t trying to break any school rules, at least not yet (maybe in her fifth or six year here). Unlike Nana, she actually liked following rules.
Sooyeon watched the sun come up and the sky turn from a mirage of reds, oranges, and yellows, to a bright blue. She stood up. Looks like she didn’t get any sleep, but at least she felt a sort of calmness. With one last look at the Forbidden Land, she jumped down from the roof.
It was time for the finale of the Ranking Trials - the practical exam.
“Jae!!!! Hurry up! Our Sooyeonnie is going to be on television soon! Where’s my tea?!” Soobin screamed from her seat on the sofa. She had the TV remote in hand and was frantically flipping through channels to find the right one. She stopped as soon as the logo of Mahoutokoro flashed onto the screen. This certainly brought back memories of her time back at school.
Jae came scrambling to the living room from the kitchen holding a tray of tea cups and a teapot. “Coming coming!” He sat down hastily next to Soobin. “Has it started yet?” he asked, a little disheveled. He didn’t want to miss even a second.
“Just about to,” Soobin answered. She picked up a tea cup and sipped from it. “I’m so excited. It’s Sooyeon’s first Trials! I’m sure she’ll be amazing. I bet that she’ll get the Meijin title no problem.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Jae commented more realistically. “Even if she aced all her tests, you never know how the practical is going to go.”
Soobin glared at her husband who cowered slightly and promptly retracted his statement.
“I-I mean Sooyeon will do great!”
“The first years should be arriving soon,” Chiho informed Reina. They sat in one of the seats in the auditorium. The first years were to report to here first before they were transported to the necessary locations for their exam. Most of the rest of the school sat as an audience, eager to see the first years’ performance. All of the Sensei’s, including the headmistress was already here.
In the air were several transmitting crystals which were constantly sending live feed back to the viewers in their homes.
“I heard Ryusaki Sensei was in charge of the first year’s exam,” Chiho continued talking, her body thrumming with nervous energy. She was honestly more worried for Nana and Sooyeon than she ever was for her own practicals.
“Really?” Reina raised a corner of her lip in amusement. Ryusaki was almost never the proctor for the first years. Since Illusions was a higher level magic, he mostly concerned himself with the upperclassmen. If Ueno Sensei made him in charge of the first year’s that meant that this year’s exam was going to be more difficult than past years.
“I can’t wait to see what he has in store then,” she mused to herself. Fortunately for Sooyeon, Reina had been constantly drilling Sooyeon’s basics with Illusions these past few days. She was almost confident that Sooyeon would be able to take anything Ryusaki threw at the first years. Nana on the other hand, while talented for sure, had more difficulty grasping the abstract concepts of Illusions.
She couldn’t wait to see Sooyeon apply what she taught her on the field.
Sooyeon quickly made her way to the main hall where the other first years were already lined up. She was very, very late. She’d accidentally fallen asleep on the roof, waking up only when the morning bells sounded to alert the first years that their practical exam was starting soon.
She spotted Nana leading the line. The girl met her gaze before suddenly looking away. They still hadn’t talked since that day in the Dueling club. However, Sooyeon did catch Nana looking her way again as she walked to her spot in line (the very end) and maybe it was just her, but she swore she could’ve seen a hint of relief on Nana’s face as she slid in just in time for the doors to open.
Asano Sensei beckoned for them to enter. Inside the room, the Sensei’s were all lined up and ready. Several older students sat in the back of the room. Sooyeon secretly scanned the crowd for her Onee-sama and though she didn’t spot her, she knew Reina was sitting in this room watching her. Reina had promised them both that she would be watching.
One by one, the first years took their spots and kneeled.
“The practical exam will begin very shortly,” Headmistress Ueno announced once everyone was settled. “The format of this year’s exam is very simple. You will be very soon transported throughout the lands of Iwo Jima and be forced to find your way back to the Jade Tower,” she announced.
A murmur went through the first years. The lands of iwo Jima? Did that mean they were being transported into the Forbidden Land? There had to be a mistake. Wasn’t it off limits? The students glanced at each other questioningly, waiting for the Sensei’s to tell them otherwise, but the teachers remained firm.
“Brooms and any other forms of magical transportation through air will be forbidden. Disapparition is therefore also not allowed,” she noted though there shouldn’t be any first years capable of disapparating. “There are no other rules besides that, however do note that everything you do may be broadcasted on national television. Beware when you venture through the lands. The Sensei’s have set traps throughout the island. You may also run into whatever wild creatures are out there. Medical personnel will be on standby in case anything happens,” she explained. “Your goal is to get from wherever you were teleported to the Jade Pagoda and ring the gong at the top of the tower. When the gong sounds, the race is over for you. Any questions?”
She scanned the room. No one had anything to ask, though several looked paler than normal. She nodded. “Good. Reo-san, if you’d please.”
Ryusaki nodded and stepped forward. “Close your eyes. We will now begin the mass teleportation.” The other Sensei’s all stepped forward.
Sooyeon took one last glance at Nana in the front who still refused to meet her eye and closed her eyes. She wished Nana good luck silently as she suddenly felt something pulling at her navel. Next thing she knew, she felt like she was being yanked and hurled.
She felt that she was in a different environment before she even opened her eyes. It felt wet, almost humid. When she opened her eyes, she was kneeling in the middle of a forest.
She rose to her feet slowly.
It had finally begun.
Nana opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of - she whirled around, taking in her surroundings - an abandoned airfield? This must’ve been where the American nomaj’s built their military base.
She looked up, squinting past the fog to find the mountain and was surprised at just how far she got transported. What were the teachers thinking, sending them this deep into the Forbidden Land? This was almost unheard of. Still, she had to do it. She had to prove to everyone that she was no pushover and that she was talented too.
Brushing away all other thoughts, she pushed forward, ignoring the little transmission crystal that followed her in the air.
Sooyeon could make out the mountain in the distance. That was where Mahoutokoro was located and that was where she needed to go. It looked like it was a good many miles away - a three hour walk probably. If she squinted she could kind of make out the tip of the Jade Tower, where she ironically sat only half an hour an ago overlooking the lands she was currently in.
The fog was starting to dissipate, though it was still very much present.
Sooyeon started to carefully move forward, high on alert. Everything was almost too quiet. She couldn’t hear any of the other first years nearby. They must’ve separated everyone. The only sounds were the sounds of her walking through the leaves and branches on the ground.
Wand out, Sooyeon started to quicken her pace. There was something unsettling about this forest and the shorter she stayed in it, the better.
“This has taken interesting turn,” Chiho muttered under breath, staring at the wide screen in front of them. Several students around them were also talking amongst themselves, no doubt surprised at the revelation of where this exam was going to be taking place. “And it just started too.”
The screen was broken up into several screens to show multiple students at once. One screen showed a map of Iwo Jima with blinking yellow dots to indicate where the students were on the island. The first thing Chiho noticed was that not everyone was placed equidistant from the main goal. Some were placed further out in the island while others were closer. She also noticed that Sooyeon was the furthest from the mountain.
Chiho furrowed her eyebrows as she asked, “How did Ryusaki Sensei get permission from Ueno Sensei to send the kids into the Forbidden Land?”
Even though Chiho was known throughout the school as a rule breaker, even she never dared to venture into the Forbidden Land. Who knew what was out there? Reina once told her that she could sense dark magic in there and even warned Chiho to stay away.
Reina’s subtle frown was all Chiho got as an answer which was troubling. Because that meant Reina didn’t know either.
She quickly glanced at Uneo Sensei who was sitting in the back, watching the screen with a stoic expression. She didn’t seem as troubled as everyone else in the room. Was the Forbidden Land not as dangerous as the Sensei’s made it out to be? Was it just to scare kids to keep them from disappearing off school grounds?
Suddenly, a chuckle sounded to her left. Chiho turned to face Reina with surprise.
“Why are you laughing?” she wondered apprehensively. This was never a good sign.
“Oh nothing.” Reina’s smile clearly veiled secrets but Chiho knew better than to pry. “Let’s just say Sooyeon will be fine. This test was practically made for her. Nana on the other hand, might struggle,” Reina commented, looking completely relaxed unlike previously.
Chiho returned her focus to the screens unsurely. Though Reina sounded completely sure of herself, she still had no idea what was going on and it looked like Reina wasn’t going to be telling her more.
“Nana seems like she’s fairing well,” Chiho stated, though the exam had just started and everyone was technically doing fine as nothing had happened yet. She was just nervous and needed something to talk about to dissipate her nerves.
Nanal was steadily moving closer towards the mountain. There didn’t seem to any signs of troubles or unwanted creatures. Sooyeon wasn’t doing too badly either, except she was just too far from Mahoutokoro. It was almost unfair.
Suddenly there was a collective gasp. Chiho’s eyes focused in on the screen in question. All she could see was smoke. The first trap had been released. When it cleared, Amari Sensei stood there, looking completely apologetic as she immobilized a student. Chiho winced as the students fell to the ground immediately, hitting his head rather harshly. The same thing had happened to her back in her first practical exam.
Chiho let out a nervous laughter. “That’s really unlucky. The Sensei’s are really going all out with this, aren’t they?” she stated as Amari Sensei suddenly disappeared, no doubt waiting for her next target.
“Screen three,” Reina suddenly stated and several heads turned to said screen. On the map of all the students, two blinking dots were getting closer and closer together. A duel was about to happen.
“Oh no,” Chiho muttered apprehensively. “This is going to get ugly.”
Ryusaki Sensei was watching the exam in a backroom with all the other Sensei’s on standby. He tensed slightly as the two students ran into each other and started to duel against one another. First years were known to be particularly bloody and ruthless despite their young age. It was because of their young age and unawareness that things tended to get out of hand. All they cared about was winning.
“Yusuke, Shiori, be prepared just in case we need to stop them,” Ryusaki told Kaga and Asano respectfully. They both nodded and watched the duel happening between the first years carefully in case they were needed.
The duel seemed to drag on. Both sides were equally matched - equally determined and equally talented.
“Reo,” Asano Shiori suddenly called out to him. “It looks like Lizzy-san and Kento-san are also about to run into each other.”
She was right. Lizzy ended up firing a stunning spell at Kento from the trees before Kento even realized she was there. Kento fell to the ground paralyzed as Lizzy walked up to his limp figure and took his wand before slipping away leaving the poor boy defenseless.
Ryusaki pursed his lips at the girl’s actions. “Someone keep an eye on Kento,” he sighed. “Without his wand it’s going to be difficult getting through the island.”
They went back to monitoring the first duel when suddenly three other students popped out of the forest, joining the two, making it a five-way duel in the end.
“So much for all the intricate traps we set,” Kaga sighed making an exaggerated duck face. “The first years are going to take care of each other at this rate.”
“Status report?” Ryusaki called out with a long sigh.
“Twelve students are engaged in duels against other students. Two students are facing off against the cat demons we set loose. Three traps have been set off so far. The rest of the students have just been walking with no incidents,” Furuya Sensei reported back dutifully. “Nana is currently closer than everyone else.”
“What about Jung?” Ryusaki found himself asking before he could help himself. His eyes searched for any sign of the girl on the screens in front of him.
Furuya frowned before reporting the answer. “She’s doing fine. She’s not leading but she’s not too far behind either. Her coordinates are 24.2335° N, 141.4623° E.” He paused before eyeing Ryusaki suspiciously. “We are supposed to remain impartial to all students. Should I be worried that you were inquiring for her status specifically?”
Ryusaki shook his head, his eyes steely as if annoyed his morals were even questioned. “Honestly, I don’t have any other intentions. I don’t care what the results are. They don’t concern me anyways. If anyone’s biased, it’s the headmistress,” he stated stubbornly.
Furuya didn’t seem to believe him completely but he also didn’t push any further which Ryusaki was grateful for.
‘You’re telling me not to be biased, but this entire exam was made for specifically for Sooyeon under the headmistress’s orders,’ Ryusaki thought to himself ironically. And so far, Sooyeon wasn’t meeting his expectations.
“Wait,” Furuya Sensei suddenly spoke up, a serious frown adorning his face.
“What’s wrong?” Amari Sensei asked, sensing a hint of urgency in his voice.
“It’s Sooyeon-san,” he muttered, eying the map with intensity before looking up at Ryusaki with a worried expression. Ryusaki prepared himself for the worst. There was not much that could unhinge Furuya.
“Her yellow dot just disappeared.”
Ryusaki stared uncomprehendingly at Furuya. “What?” he muttered almost reflexively.
“Her location tracker…” Furuya trailed. “We’ve lost her location.”
Asano stared at Ryusaki. “How is that possible?”
Ryusaki was at a loss for words. He had no idea what was happening.
“Find her!”
“Where is she?” Chiho breathed out to herself quietly, exclaiming in awe.
The auditorium was tense as everyone was suddenly watching one screen in particular. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breaths.
“It’s beautiful,” Chiho couldn’t help but comment. She had no idea where Sooyeon was but the sight was enthralling. Reina however didn’t share the same sentiment.
“It’s dangerous,” she mumbled quietly. She couldn’t help the sinking feeling that settled in her gut. “Sooyeon get out of there,” she prayed urgently.
Sooyeon was trekking forward peacefully, going at a pace she was comfortable with since she never ran, when the fog suddenly got denser as if coming in waves almost thick enough to be choking her. Panicking, she ran forward blindly and stumbled across an opening with several moss covered stone statues. It looked like an ancient shrine of sorts.
Fighting the bad feeling growing in her stomach (because really, this was a lot of fog), she carefully made her way up the weed covered stairs. There was something about this place that seemed to draw her in. She cautiously approached the middle of the opening, where there was a shrine of sorts. At least that’s what she thought it was. She couldn’t really tell. It honestly just looked like a pile of old stones.
She caught a tiny movement from the corner of her eye and turned around. She didn’t know what it was but managed to spot what looked like a small white creature running into the forest and disappearing into the fog.
‘What was that?’
The fog started to swirl around her, almost as if alive and Sooyeon was starting to get creeped out. Her mind was screaming at her to leave as soon as possible, but her gut told her to follow the creature she just saw.
When she took a step forward, the fog suddenly disappeared. There was a distinct sound of a branch snapping and Sooyeon whirled around, finding herself face to face with a wand pointed at her nose.
Her eyes slowly trailed up the wand to its owner.
The girl smirked at Sooyeon. “Long time no talk Sooyeon-ah.”
“Nana,” Sooyeon breathed out in surprise with wide eyes.
“Her tracker is back online,” Furuya suddenly announced and the tension in the room seeped out like a deflating balloon. A missing student was the last thing they needed, especially broadcasted on national television.
“Where is she?” Ryusaki asked, hurrying over to look at the map. He eyed the blinking dot that was supposed to be Sooyeon’s location. His eyes widened with incredulousness.
“How on earth did she travel nearly two miles east in the span of less than a minute?” he nearly shouted.
Meanwhile, the auditorium was in an uproar. The two best friends slash rivals had finally met. They were anticipating a duel between them especially since those two were the only two first years in the Dueling club. It didn’t help that rumors of their little fall out had spread throughout the school. They couldn’t wait to see what this pair would bring to the table.
Only Chiho and Reina were silent. Chiho clenched her jaw. “You saw that too right?” she asked Reina under her breath.
“Sooyeon’s dot,” Reina tensed, her voice and body tight. “It disappeared just now.”
“And then reappeared right next to Nana’s,” Chiho finished for her, trying to conceal the urgency in her tone. “No one else noticed because there’s honestly way too many things going on right now, but there was no way Sooyeon could have traveled that far that fast. Also where was she right before she ran into Nana? I couldn’t see anything because of the fog, but I swear I saw her step into a clearing of some sort.”
Reina shook her head. “I don’t know,” she frowned. “There are many secrets in the Forbidden Land I’m sure.” She glanced quickly at the headmistress. Unfortunately, Ueno seemed calm despite everything as if nothing was amiss. Her face gave nothing away.
Reina clenched and unclenched her fist as her eyes returned back to the screen where her two Imouto-chans were about to duel it out. There were no words to describe what she was feeling.
“Omo!” Soobin clutched Jaesun’s hands tightly in her own for support. “Sooyeon-ah be careful!” she cried out, her heart clenching with worry for her oldest daughter. “Jae, that girl is going to hurt my baby!”
“Calm down honey,” Jae winced as his wife continued to use his hands as stress ball. “Sooyeon will be fine,” he tried to reassure her though deep inside he was also worried for his baby girl.
“Sooyeon! Burn that girl to a crisp! Cut her like butter! Crumple her like seaweed!” Soobin screamed at the television.
“What are you waiting for?” Sooyeon asked slowly as she waited for Nana to blast her but nothing happened yet. Her face was still being held at point blank by Nana’s wand. The two girls just stood there, one in confusion, and the other in frustration.
At this point, Sooyeon could’ve easily disarmed Nana, froze her in a block of ice, and went on her merry way, but she wasn’t that cruel. Especially since she was still feeling a little guilty about Nana’s outburst two days ago.
Sooyeon felt Nana tense and just when she thought she was about to be paralyzed, blasted into the forest, or worse paralyzed and then set on fire, Nana heaved out a large sigh and lowered her arm.
“Ugh, I can’t stay mad at you,” Nana grumbled. She side-eyes Sooyeon and for a second Sooyeon thought she was going to change her mind about the whole sparing her thing when Nana broke out into a small grin.
Sooyeon returned the smile a little unsurely. She probably looked as dumb as she felt.
“Come on,” Nana gestured her head towards the mountain. “We’ll get there faster if we work together.” She started walking, not even bothering to look to see if Sooyeon was following. Sooyeon stared at the back of her friend in confusion before hurrying after her.
“W-what?” she stammered as she caught up. “Why didn’t you just stun me or disarm me?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Nana turned to her with a poor attempt at an evil smirk. “What? Do you want me to? I can still do that if you want me to.”
Sooyeon quickly shook her head, eyes wide.
“Good, then if that’s settled, let’s go you slowpoke,” Nana teased. Sooyeon couldn’t help but pout. First Nana ignored her for two whole days and now she was teasing her in the middle of their practical? She hoped that the crystals weren’t enchanted to also record sound, otherwise the entire nation would witness her being teased.
As they walked on in silence, Nana finally turned to her. “I’m sorry.”
Knowing exactly what Nana was referring to and seeing that her friend was already beating herself over it, Sooyeon decided to just let the topic go. “It’s fine,” she mumbled back.
“No,” Nana persisted. “It’s not. I didn’t mean to burst out at you.” She turned to face Sooyeon, a serious expression on her face before suddenly averting her eyes to the forest floor. “It’s just, I saw you duel Onee-sama and I realized that…” Her voice caught in . She didn’t know how to word her thoughts.
‘That you’re so unbelievably ahead of me in almost every aspect. That you’ve been holding back on me all this time. That you made me believe we were equals. That you blinded me. That I was jealous. That I hated you briefly because Onee-sama seemed much more interested in you.That I felt threatened by your talent.That I’ve been the one holding you back because you felt the need to go easy on me. That you could be spending your time dueling other stronger people but you waste your time with me instead.’
None of that left .
Seeing her friend struggle with her words, Sooyeon sighed and put a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“It’s really okay, Nana,” Sooyeon comforted the girl, speaking in a low, soft voice. “Honestly, no big deal. I get it.”
Nana huffed, not really sure if the blonde did get it considering she never got to speak her thoughts out loud - she couldn’t - but she appreciated the sentiment.
“Alright.” Nana smile’s was small with regret, guilt but also relief that her best friend forgave her. “Now come on. Let’s go. We have a race to win, don’t we? And an exam to ace. Bet I can still keep my Meijin title,” Nana joked as she took off, dashing.
Sooyeon rolled her eyes in good humor before following after her friend without running because once again, she never ran.
“Awwww.” There was a collective sigh of disappointment as the two girls didn’t duke it out in the middle of the forest. They were expecting a grand fight but instead witnessed a touching friendship, which was nice and all, but not quite as exciting.
Chiho was awwing for an entirely different reason. “Aww. They made up,” she beamed, elbowing Reina in the arm happily. “Our Imouto-chans are so adorable and so mature.”
“Ours?” Reina raised a teasing eyebrow at Chiho.
Chiho scoffed at the sight of the smug look on Reina’s face. “Please. I’m their Onee-sama just as much as you. I was the one who tested them in their courage test.” She crossed her arms proudly as if daring Reina to say otherwise.
Reina meanwhile merely rolled her eyes exasperatedly, though she was donning a fond smile. “Yes, yes. Our Imouto-chans are amazing.”
Chiho beamed at her friend. “See not so hard is it?”
Suddenly she felt Reina’s mood shift and the room’s atmosphere suddenly pick up in excitement, so she quickly turned her eyes back to the screens. She quickly found Sooyeon’s and Reina’s figure, as well as a third figure facing opposite them. The camera zoomed in on the figure and Chiho sighed.
“Man those kids just can’t seem to catch a break.”
Sooyeon and Nana both halted as they sensed someone or something just ahead of them, hidden within the trees. Nana quickly brought her wand up in defense and Sooyeon copied her. They waited for the presence to show themselves.
A large half-human half-bird like creature stepped out of the shadows. Its wings were large and black like a crow’s. It’s skin was red and angry and the thing that stood out the most was the extremely long nose that sat in the middle of its face.
“What..is that?” Nana gulped.
“That is a Tengu I believe,” Sooyeon peered cautiously at the creature as she shifted her weight lower, equally ready to attack or defend. “They’re fierce demons and protectors of the mountain.”
“Great,” Nana scoffed before smirking. “I’ll distract it and you hit if from behind?”
Sooyeon smirked at her friend before quickly jumping into action. Nana immediately followed suit. The two girls worked seamlessly together like a well oiled machine. They were familiar with each other’s behaviours and patterns, having not only been friends but also partners and rivals that learned and grew with each other.
Nana hit the demon with a stunning spell on the head and Sooyeon quickly disposed of the demon with a deadly accurate blasting fire spell to the face. The Tengu, seeing no other choice but escape, quickly withdrew back into the shadows.
“Pfft, that was too easy,” Nana laughed as they hurried on ahead. “They’re going to have to try harder than that to stop the both of us.”
Sooyeon couldn’t help but silently agree as she hurried after Nana. They made a great, unstoppable pair.
“Yes!” Chiho cheered as Sooyeon and Nana cleared the Tengu easily. “They’re almost at the top! At this rate, our two Imouto-chan’s will be the first at the pagoda!”
“Kaga, Asano.”
“Yes?” The two teachers turned to look at Ryusaki who called to them.
“At this rate, we’re going to have a tie,” Ryusaki stated, staring at the two blinking yellow dots in front of him. “That won’t do.”
“You want to send us to stop them?” Asano asked.
“Yes. I don’t care how you do it, but make sure only one of them ends up at the top,” Ryusaki replied.
Ishihara Sensei, the head healer at Mahoutokoro sighed. “Try not to hurt them too much. At this rate, the medical bay is going to be over capacity. I forget how zealous First Years are every year.”
“Wait,” Kaga stated standing up from where he was sitting. “There’s no need to send both me and Asano. I got this.”
Asano stared at the rarely serious man. “You sure? They’re both your students are they not? You sure you won’t be biased in who you let through?”
Kaga waved his hand. “Don’t worry. I could care less about who wins the stupid title.”
“Kaga’s just bitter because he never got to be Meijin, isn’t that right, Mr. Second Ranked?” the usually stern Furuya Sensei teased.
“Shut up Asahi!” Kaga retorted, red in the face.
“Enough,” Ryusaki’s quiet but stern voice cut through. “The more we spend time acting like children, the closer these two are getting to the pagoda. Kaga, go by yourself if you must. But do not underestimate them. If I deem your actions unsatisfactory. I will pull you back myself.”
“Geez, fine. See ya guys later.” Kaga mock saluted before disappearing.
“We’re so close! There’s the pagoda!” Nana cheered. They were only about five hundred feet away from the top of the mountain. Victory was so close.
Suddenly, the feeling in the air changed and Nana immediately halted in her steps as she felt an overwhelming presence appear just ahead. Sooyeon sensed the same thing and stopped right behind her, pulling out her wand.
“Looks like we made it to the final boss, huh?” Nana smirked as she eyed her surroundings. The first thing Nana spotted was a flash of gold and then out of the shadows stepped a man. His gold robes clashed completely against the rest of forest, almost too bright to look at.
“Kaga Sensei,” Nana greeted, though she also shifted her weight lower into an even more defensive position. She felt Sooyeon do the same next to her. They both knew what this man was capable of and his presence wasn’t very comforting.
“Jinah-san! Sooyeon-san!” Kaga greeted them with his usual bright smile. “You two don’t look very happy to see me,” he joked.
“Forgive me Sensei, but I doubt you’re just going to let you pass so no, your presence isn’t the most soothing at the moment,” Nana joked, quirking an eyebrow in banter. Sooyeon just stayed silent, watching Kaga with careful eyes like a predator watching a prey not yet sure if it was going to strike or not.
“You wound me,” Kaga bantered back, clutching his chest playfully like he was shot. The two of them had yet to waver in their wariness of him.
“On the contrary, I am going to let you pass,” Kaga grinned almost mischievously, putting his hands behind his back for emphasis, trying to show that he wasn’t trying to pull anything.
Nana frowned, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down that easily. “What do you mean?” she questioned.
“You heard me,” Kaga stated with an air of easy lightness as if they weren’t in the middle of a serious exam. “You and Sooyeon are free to pass.”
Nana narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what kind of trick he was playing. Kaga Sensei wasn’t known as one of the more serious teachers in Mahoutokoro, so forgive her if she was a bit more cautious than usual. The man was known to throw pranks, even against students at times.
Nana glanced to her side at Sooyeon who looked as lost as she was. Meeting her eyes, Sooyeon nodded subtly, dipping her chin down once, before they both returned their gaze to Kaga Sensei.
“Sensei, if you really intend to let us pass, then forgive us for this. One can never be too safe, right?” Nana shrugged before she suddenly pointed her wand at the seemingly defenseless Sensei. “ぼうっとさせる!” The stunning spell flew by Kaga’s head who dodged at the last second.
“Wow! You girls play dirty!” Kaga stated as he whipped out his wand, firing a quick disarming spell their way which they dodged. “I was going to let you pass by without any incident and the first thing you do to thank me was to stun me!”
“Like we’d be stupid enough to believe you Sensei!” Nana joked back, countering with a water spell.
“Nana!” Sooyeon hissed as they both jumped out of the way to dodge the binding vines that Kaga threw at them. “He’s our Sensei!” Sooyeon reminded her friend. “You can’t just call him stupid!”
Nana’s only response was to stick her tongue out and mock the older man.
“Nana!” Sooyeon gasped at her friend’s audacity before pulling her to safety, both of them barely avoiding a stun spell.
“Oooh, I’ll get you for that, Jinah-san!” Kaga bellowed with laughter.
“Nana! Defense maneuver number two!” Sooyeon quickly whispered to her friend before darting to hide behind some trees, distancing herself away from both Nana and Kaga. Catching on her friend’s drift, the two managed to maneuver themselves so they had Kaga trapped in the middle.
“Now!” Nana yelled, letting out a slew of spells. Sooyeon recited her own list of magical spells. Their attacks exploded, meeting in the middle where Kaga was standing. When the dust cleared, Kaga was nowhere to be found.
“Where’d he go?” Nana exclaimed.
“Up!” Sooyeon managed to say before the ground below them exploded, bombarded with heavy blasting spells.
“Is Sensei trying to kill us?” Nana cried as she dodged dangerous spells and falling debris alike. Not seeing an upturned root, she tripped and landed on her .
“Nana!” Sooyeon cried seeing a blasting spell going straight for her friend. “守ります!” She managed to cast the shield charm just in time as the blasting spell made impact. However, the impact of the two spells caused an explosion that happened right in front of Nana. The girl lay battered on the ground, unmoving.
“Nana!” Sooyeon screamed in terror at seeing her friend so lifeless. She whirled around to the Kaga who looked only a little guilty standing amidst the rubble caused by his destructive spell.
“Sensei or not, you will pay for that!” She declared, putting all the magical energy she could gather in her tiny body. A bright light exploded from the tip of her wand.
Kaga stared at the lit up wand in a moment of frozen astonishment.
“フェニックスの叫び!” Sooyeon brought her wand down in a fast arc. The result was instantaneous. Golden light exploded everywhere. Kaga barely had time to put a protective charm over his body when the light made impact with him. Next thing he knew he was flying off the side of the mountain. Then, everything went black.
The auditorium was silent. No one knew how to react.
“S-sooyeon j-just,” Chiho stuttered unable to complete a full sentence. When the dust from the spell had cleared, an entire section of the mountain had been cleared.
Suddenly, everyone erupted into cheers. It’d been a couple of years since they last witnessed such destructive power from a student in the middle of Trials. Though it happened, it was still very rare for a student to best a Sensei in the middle of Trials, and even more rare for it to be a first year.
Chiho stared at all the screens in the room. They were all broadcasting Sooyeon. Though she felt proud, she also couldn’t help this sinking feeling of dread in her gut. This was bad. All of Japan had seen what just happened. There was no doubt by tomorrow that all headlines would be about this tiny little blonde girl with the insane fire power and magical talent. Everyone would be wanting a piece of this talented girl.
Chiho was only scared that this would make Sooyeon too much of a target in the eye of the media. Her eyes drifted to Reina, wondering what the girl was thinking. If there was anyone that could understand Sooyeon predicament, it would be Reina, but the girl had only gone silent after Sooyeon’s impressive display of magic.
Reina’s eyes were focused on the same little girl that the entire nation was currently watching. ‘Sooyeon-chan, just when I thought I had you all figured out, you go and prove me wrong. Show me, is there no end to the limits of your potential?’
“Sooyeon seems to be doing well,” Soobin stated nonchalantly as she sipped on her tea.
“She just blasted a teacher and half of the mountain into oblivion!” Jae exclaimed.
“Oh shush,” Soobin threw her husband a look. “Quit exaggerating. Kaga is fine. He’s a fully fledged duelist. He’s taken harder hits in his life.”
“Was that spell one of yours?” Jae asked his wife warily.
“Maybe,” Soobin huffed, trying to not let her pride show, though it was very much obvious. “Did you see the way my baby executed that spell? Flawless! I had no idea she’d mastered the spell to such a degree.”
“May the spirits help anyone who stands in the way of Soobin or Sooyeon,” Jae sighed.
Back in the examination overview room, Ryusaki fought the urge to facepalm.
“That’s Kaga for you,” Asano stated, eyeing the state of the mountain.
“Second ranked,” Furuya allowed a small joke to slip through his lips.
“Ishihara, please go make sure he’s okay,” Ryusaki sighed.
Ishihara smiled pleasantly as she folded her hands in her lap. “Already taken care of. One of my helpers is already on his way to retrieve him.”
“There’s no need. I’m fine,” a tired voice sounded in the back of the room.
“Nicely handled,” Asano eyed the beaten figure of Kaga.
“I thought I told you not to underestimate them, Kaga,” Ryusaki stated coldly.
Kaga raised his arms in surrender. “Please, I can’t be the only one that didn’t see that spell coming. Don’t tell me you all knew that this tiny little eleven year old, completely unassuming girl had all this magical power inside of her.”
No one said anything.
“How’s her friend. Jinah?” Amari Sensei broke the silence.
“I already sent someone to retrieve her as well,” Ishihara answered. “She’s fine.”
“Good,” Ryusaki stared at the lone yellow dot at the top of the mountain, right under the jade pagoda. “Looks like we’re coming towards the end of the race.”
Sooyeon sprinted to the top of the pagoda. She had to end the practical. The longer this went on, the more people like Nana suffered. She had to put a stop to this. She had to finish this to make sure Nana was okay. Seeing the gong come into view, Sooyeon pushed her legs even harder only to hesitate and slow down as she noticed Ryusaki standing guard right next to the gong.
The man’s posture was relaxed and indifferent. He stared at her with a mix of curiousness and boredom. He didn’t seem to have any intent of stopping her. She stopped in front of her teacher. Something didn’t make sense. She was so close to the end goal. Was he not going to try to stop her? Was he just here to welcome her to the pagoda?
“Well, it looks like you’re the first to make it. Why aren’t you hurrying up and ringing the gong?” Ryusaki questioned, his voice taking on its usual detached uninterested tone. There was no hint of congratulations in his tone. He made no move to draw his wand, keeping his hands in his robes and that only made her more suspicious. Sooyeon eyed the stoic teacher. His face gave nothing away. Suddenly, everything started to make sense.
“Because that’s not going to end the exam, is it?” Sooyeon answered back as she refused to move her feet closer to the pagoda.
“And what makes you say that?” Ryusaki asked.
Sooyeon stared at the man before her, suddenly filled with a sense of fear and awe.
“Because,” Sooyeon swallowed, not knowing when she figured it out but she just knew this was the answer. “This is all an illusion.”
Ryusaki raised a single eyebrow but otherwise didn’t react to the her statement.
“You made this all up. We didn’t get teleported to the Forbidden Land. We got into your illusion. If I rang that gong, it wouldn’t sound, would it? Because it’s fake. Even though I made it all the way here, if the gong doesn’t make any sound, then I can’t pass the exam. The only way to pass the exam is to get out of this illusion and the ring the real gong, isn’t it?” Sooyeon deduced.
There was a moment of silence as the two stared each other down.
To his own surprise, Ryusaki felt himself smiling the slightest bit at the accurate assessment of the situation. No matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, the girl had exceeded his expectations.
“I’m impressed. When Headmistress Ueno came to me with her plans for this year’s First Year Trials, I thought she was crazy. This was way too difficult for the First Years to handle. Even the Fifth Years would have trouble with an exam like this. Never would I have imagined that a First Year would actually be able to figure everything out.” Ryusaki laughed.
“However, unfortunately, just because you figured everything out doesn’t mean you pass. There’s no way you can escape an illusion of this calibre. The only way would be to defeat me.”
Sooyeon raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Who said I had to escape?”
Ryusaki frowned. “What do you mean?”
Sooyeon didn’t answer. Instead, she walked up to the gong and picked up the mallet.
“That gong isn’t going to sound,” Ryusaki stated with pursed lips.
Sooyeon sent her Sensei a small smile. “I lied when I stated there was only one way to pass this exam.” Then, she swung the mallet.
GONG!!!
Ryusaki stared at Sooyeon in surprise as the sound of the gong reverberated through the air, echoing off the mountains.
“How?” he asked, at a loss for words.
“Easy,” Sooyeon stated with a small smile on her lips as she remembered all of those late night lessons with her Onee-sama. “You’re not the only one who can manipulate illusions.”
Ryusaki stared at the tiny eleven year old girl before him before chuckling to himself. His chuckling quickly grew into full on laughter.
“I underestimated you,” he stated once he calmed back down. His eyes twinkled with amusement as he took in this amazing witch in front of him. Jaesun and Soobin really raised their daughter well. She probably surpassed both of them in raw talent.
“Well then. It looks like it’s the end of the Trials. I declare you, Sooyeon Jung, the First Meijin!” Ryusaki waved his sleeves and Sooyeon felt the world slipping and warping once again.
She closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was still kneeling on the floor in the Great Hall. Loud applause sounded as the first years returned back to reality.
“Jung Sooyeon! Jung Sooyeon! Jung Sooyeon!” They chanted her name.
Slowly, Sooyeon rose from her knees. She shot a quick glance towards the front where Nana sat. The girl shot her friend a tired but reassuring smile. Looking around, she noticed several first years were no longer in their spot, probably healing in the medical bay. Taking a deep breath, Sooyeon walked to the front where Headmistress Ueno stood waiting for her. With slow and steady steps, she made her way to the front and turned to face the rest of the school. She knew without a doubt that every single crystal was probably trained on her face.
“May I present you,” Headmistress’s Ueno’s strong voice sounded from behind her and Sooyeon felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “Mahoutokoro’s First Meijin, Jung Sooyeon!”
“I have absolutely no idea what the freaking miso soup just happened but Sooyeon’s First Meijin!” Chiho exclaimed jumping from her seat as the rest of the students erupted into loud cheers. Suddenly, the screens changed and a ranking was displayed.
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Jung Sooyeon
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Im Jinah
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Park Lizzy
“And Nana’s second! That’s great!” Chiho suddenly turned to Reina who was looking completely unsurprised by the whole plot twist that happened at the end. “You knew the whole thing was an illusion!” she accused. “That’s why you said Sooyeon would be fine at the beginning.”
Reina merely smiled. “Of course. You didn’t think the Headmistress would really send First Years into the Forbidden Land, did you?” Besides, of course she would recognize the illusion right away. While Ryusaki was a great illusionist, there was no way he was capable of pulling off such an elaborate high scale illusion all by himself so of course he had help. And who better to ask than the best illusionists currently in the field. Reina would’ve been blind not to have recognized her own parents’ work.
“I’m still confused what happened. How come the bell sounded when Sooyeon rang it? Wasn’t it supposed to not sound?” Chiho asked. “Did she manage to escape Ryusaki Sensei’s illusion without him noticing?”
Reina chuckled. “No, she couldn’t escape that illusion by herself if she tried. It was protected by seven different layers. Mahoutokoro made sure that no one would be able to escape the illusion once inside.”
“Then how?” Chiho frowned.
Reina’s mind flew back to the lessons she’d been giving Sooyeon. “Illusions are about tricking the mind and the five senses.”
“What?”
“She created her own illusion, that kid,” Reina stated proudly. Sooyeon’s illusion skills had improved greatly in the week they started their one on one lessons. “As soon as Sooyeon saw Ryusaki Sensei by the gong, she figured out that everything had been an illusion and created her own illusion and placed Ryusaki within it. Ryusaki wasn’t expecting anyone to figure out the illusion so he was distracted enough to be in.”
“So when she rang the bell, it was her version of the bell,” Chiho deduced, slowly wrapping her mind around the whole thing.
Reina nodded. “In fact the real bell hadn’t made a sound. But in Ryusaki’s mind, it did. And that’s all that mattered.”
“Wow,” Chiho laughed to herself a bit shakily. “What a practical! I would’ve failed if I were them.”
“Yeah, you would’ve,” Reina teased.
“Hey!”
“You were right,” Ryusaki stated at the end of the week after all the Trials were done. It’d been a hectic week and but the new Meijins had finally been decided and what better way to celebrate than with a feast.
Ueno sipped on her tea and looked to her right at him. “What do you mean, Reo-san?”
Ryusaki kept his gaze on the partying students in front. “I was blind. That girl truly is an amazing witch.”
Ueno merely hummed. “You have been blind,” she confirmed. A pause. “You’re the illusions master. Surely you’ve opened your eyes and noticed by now.”
Ryusaki dipped his chin down slightly, his eyes observing the new First. “How long has it been? How long have you known?” he asked lowly.
“I noticed it a few days ago,” Ueno confessed, feigning interest in her tea leaves. “But I fear it hasn’t been pink for a long time now.”
“When you came to me asking me to design the trials…” Ryusaki trailed off.
“Her robes had been red,” came Ueno’s answer.
Ryusaki stared at the First Meijin. Seemingly pink robes flickered under his gaze before they settled into the light shiny color of unmistakable silver.
“There’s something else I have to talk with you about, Headmistress,” Ryusaki stated, finally pulling his eyes away from the illusioned robe.
“What is it?” Ueno asked as she picked at her mochi.
“During the Trials for the first year,” Ryusaki started a little hesitant, ”There was a uh, moment where our illusion seemed to malfunction.”
Ueno raised an single elegant eyebrow, but didn’t remove her eyes from her dessert plate.
“And what do you mean by that, Reo-san?” she questioned.
Ryusaki stared into his own teacup, trying to find the best way to word it. “We’d lost Sooyeon inside the illusion for a couple minutes.”
Ueno stilled next to him and Ryusaki looked up wondering what the headmistress’s reaction was.
“So I wasn’t mistaken then.”
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