Unfamiliar || One Piece x Reader

Chapter 1

It's that time of year again; summer vacation rolls to an end, and you have to apply for school. This year, particularly mage school. You hope to attend to One Piece: Academy for Advanced Mages, though only a total of 100 students pass each year, and are chosen out of five different testing days with nearly thousands of entrees during each day. It's the top magic school, alongside WGMA. You wait in the auditorium with other new students for the main exam instructions. Written exams you already took and passed, so all you have was the actual testing to see how much everyone is capable of.

That's the part that worries you.

You look around, eyes wandering from place to place. Everyone else seems to have such extravagant familiars. The beings that stand proudly (though they stay in their smaller form for now, so they look more cute than intimidating) by their masters range from mythical creatures to extinct ones to just ordinary yet extremely strong animals with some extra buff. Those are categorized as either Celestial or Advanced Familiars, and seeing everyone with them made you feel suddenly self conscious. Your own familiar feels the same.

"It's okay, Amyr," you say gently, petting the bird's head with your finger. He flew in circles around your head, chirping quietly. "Don't worry about it," you speak, understanding what he means via bonds between familiar and master.

Your bluejay is smaller than the average, but intelligent and swift, granting you enhanced qualities of both. He lands on your shoulder and chirps another small message, rustling it's blue and white feathers.

"I don't know, they said they'd be starting at 9:00, but it's already half past and no one's on stage."

Minutes tick by, and a couple of people filed into the seats next to you, talking amongst each other. One has a noticeable long nose and black, fluffy looking hair and a floppy hat. Another wears a straw hat, and laughs and talks loudly. Two are bickering- one has blonde hair covering an eye and the other has short, soft looking green hair and an eye scarred shut. A much younger looking tan boy has a pink top hat with a white X on it, and the last is a girl with long, orange hair and seems to be the common sense of the group.

At last, a man you recognize as the principal walks onto the stage, a wide grin apparent on his face. His large, feathery pink coat outshines the rest of his features, leaving you to stare at the clothing for the most part. "Good morning, everyone," he starts, laughing a little. "Welcome to the physical exams! I'm Doflamingo Donquixote, the 'principal' of the academy. There will be 3 tests, all fairly simple. The first, a maze. Everyone starts in different places. You'll have as much time as you need, but only the first 50 who make it will continue on. Announcements will be made in intervals when people arrive, and when all 50 have made it. After that, everyone in the maze will find their way out on their own. If you don't, well, that'll be rather unfortunate," he chuckles sinisterly.

You feel shivers crawl up and down your spine, while your familiar burrows himself in your hair, also disturbed by the test.

"The second, you'll split yourselves up into 10 groups of 5, and you'll have your own territory and base in a battlefield arena. The goal is to enter another group's territory and destroy their base. If your base is destroyed, you're out. The remaining contenders still able to compete will move on into the final round.

"The final round is a 1v1 round. If the remaining able applicants comes to an odd number, the remaining will fight one of our staff. Of course, just because you win or lose in this round doesn't mean you will or won't be accepted." His smirk grows. "Good luck, use any methods you need, and don't die. Paperwork's a bitch."

Before anyone has any chance to react, the seats drops down, sending everyone down into slide like tubes, leaving you barely keeping in a scream. Your familiar left behind, he darts down and flies next to you. Finally, the seat comes to a sudden halt, shocking your body. With shaky legs, you stand up and wobble forwards.