Calamity Forest Entrance
Team 4 were currently standing outside one of the multiple entrances to the forest. Cyrus seemed to be doing something on his phone, so Vallin took this chance to speak with his teammates. "Let's not waste any time. The first thing we need to do is to know each other. We can't exactly work as a team for the rest of our lives without knowing any information about each other."
Nobody seemed to speak up. Vallin quickly sighed, making it his job. "Alright, fine. Guess I'm going first. My name is Vallin Ortia, my attribute is Cancel Magic. I can restrict any Magic from being used. If you want to know more, I'm nineteen, and my Noroi is a Lizardman."
"Lizardman?" Juniper responded. Everyone seemed confused about Vallin's Noroi, it was a very unique creature for someone to possess.
"Yeah. I don't need to explain anything else because it will be shown in this first exam." Vallin said, making it seem like he has just orchestrated the whole exam.
After his speech, Janus was the one who went next. "I'm Janus. I don't come from any clan if you couldn't tell. I have control over Lightning Magic. It has many aspects to it which you'll see in this exam." Her last part mocks Vallin's introduction, but her expression remains still. "I'm twenty years of age, with my Noroi being this cute thing."
A small creature appeared on her shoulder. It has a reddish-orange peak, with dark blue skin and a large white patch on its neck and stomach. "He's a Gryphon, but I named him Winston," Janus added. "Don't ask why, the name sounds nice."
The Gryphon disappeared right after she said that. She looked around the group and saw the reaction on Zale's face. "THAT'S SO COOL! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"
Janus was slightly taken aback by his response. " Uh. Well, it takes practice. What you saw was a physical manifestation, not a spiritual manifestation."
Zale turned to look at Vallin. "Is she talking about the same Zen thing?" He seemed genuinely baffled which made everyone wonder how he doesn't know anything about the thing keeping them alive.
Vallin nodded his head. "A spiritual manifestation of a Noroi comes out with the appearance of the user's unique Zen colour. A physical manifestation is when the Noroi comes out with its original design."
Zale looked really interested, his eyes had even seemed to glimmer, along with having a huge cheerful smile on his face. "I have no idea what manafesteton is, but it sounds cool!"
"Manifestation?" The others thought to themselves.
Juniper spoke up, making everyone's attention go on her. "Heya! I'm Juniper Taye! Gravity Magic over here! Let's win this!" She raised her arm into the sky with a smile on her face. "Oh." She lowered her arm back down. "I'm seventeen. My Noroi will also be shown in this first exam."
Everyone just stood still, unsure if they should laugh or leave her in her overjoyed state. Vallin made an odd expression after Juniper had finished speaking, nobody else picked up on it though.
The group all looked at the last person who had stayed quiet the entire time they were speaking. The mysterious man was about to speak before suddenly, Janus appeared behind him with her hand coated in electricity, slightly leaning her hand against the man's neck.
It took everyone by surprise, they had no idea how fast Janus was - only noticing her when she appeared behind the mysterious man.
"What the hell was that for?" Janus said, seemingly annoyed by something the man had just done.
"I have a hard time controlling my Zen. That's all." The way the man spoke made it seem like he didn't want to talk with anyone. He didn't even seem uncomfortable about Janus's reaction - almost like he didn't care.
"That's fine." Her electricity vanished as she took a few steps back from the man. "It's still dangerous though. Letting out your Spiritual Pressure in an exam like this, you'll just end up alerting the rest of our classmates."
The man didn't give any reply to Janus's words instead just focusing his attention on the rest of Team 4. "I'm Morpheus Emkii. My attribute is Copy Magic. I can copy anyone's Magic, no matter how strong it is."
He didn't give much information about his Magic. To everyone else, it seemed like the man didn't want to speak about much, but to Vallin, this man was something entirely different.
Zale took a moment to take in everyone's appearance, knowing that he might forget who he is partnered with during the exam.
Juniper Taye. The most noticeable thing is her long orange hair which she has tied into a ponytail, it matches well with her straight bang fringe. Her eyes also appear golden in a way, it was almost distracting to look at. Her clothing just consisted of the typical female school clothes, a short-sleeved white dress shirt and a dark tan pocketed skirt that reaches halfway down her thighs. In addition, Juniper wore shoes that are half black and white with brown soles. She also decided to wear a crimson cape that goes around her neck and roughly stops at her elbows. You can still see the white shirt slightly on her neck, but that's about it.
Vallin Ortia. His black hair is slightly ominous in an unavoidable way - it was so black that you couldn't see it if he was in the dark. His dazzling silver eyes made it look like he could crush walls with just a stare. His clothing consisted of the basic men's school clothes. A white dress shirt coupled with dark blue bottoms. In addition, he wears a black shirt underneath his shirt which seems odd, but Vallin looks like he could pull off any outfit.
Janus. She has very short brown hair that is trimmed at the sides with most of her hair in the middle - her eyes also matched with her hair as her eyes were grey. She was the only one who didn't wear the school uniform. Instead, she was wearing a ripped brown cape, similar to Juniper's cape which also goes around her neck. She wears brown arm pads on both of her arms and messy white arm sleeves with brown gloves that have a unique design on them. She also has a chest plate covering her chest down to her stomach. She wears brown fur tied around her waist with white bottoms and brown shoes.
Morpheus Emkii. He was also wearing an ordinary Mahou school outfit. He wore long sleeves - even though he had rolled them up anyway - the top few buttons of the shirt undone. The man even wears a belt around his waist which somehow works with his whole appearance. From what you can see, it was obvious that he was well-built - not on the level of Vallin, but decent enough that you can see it through the shirt at certain intervals.
After Zale had finished taking in everyone's appearance. Cyrus put away his phone and walked a few steps so he was nearer to the group. "Well now that introductions have been finished, I'll explain further the rules."
Everyone closely paid attention to what Cyrus was going to say next. "As you know. Your team have the Hell Scroll, meaning you have to get the Heaven Scroll from Team 2. You'll have to survive a week in the Calamity Forest and escape on the last day. If you fail to find one of the multiple exits in the area then you'll be trapped in that forest forever."
Zale panicked at his last sentence. He didn't want to be trapped in a place called Calamity Forest for the rest of his life.
"Now then. You'll have to decide amongst yourselves who will take this scroll and hide in the forest." He takes out the scroll from his pocket. It surprised Zale at how small it was, roughly around the size of his hand.
The group was about to start speaking, but Cyrus quickly shushed them. "Some extra information. You might run into another person while trying to hide the scroll, if this happens, you are not allowed to damage or interfere with whatever they are doing. You can take note of where they are going, but that's about it. Another thing. Let's say that the time trying to hide the scroll was near its end and you, along with someone else decide to place your scroll near each other. When the time runs out, you are free to fight it out and see if the scroll is yours. You can't damage other people's scrolls and if you find a scroll that isn't yours, you must place it back where it originally was."
Zale blacked out after hearing so many rules. Juniper was the only one who was anxious for Zale in this exam.
"You mind if I go and hide the scroll?" Janus perked up, earning everyone's attention.
Juniper closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. "Are you sure? I understand that you are the fastest among all of us, but that doesn't instantly signify that you are the one who must hide the scroll."
Janus only nodded. Her confidence was overflowing as Vallin could see the slight smirk on her face. It also somehow woke Zale up from his unconscious state.
"So everyone is happy with Janus being the protector?" Cyrus added, wanting to make sure that this is their final decision.
The group all nodded apart from Zale who had his hand on his head. "What's happening?"
Juniper extended her arm out to Zale, wanting to help him up. "Need some assistance?" Her smile seemed to light up Zale's face as he took her hand.
Cyrus checked his silver watch. "It's time. Go kick their asses, team 4!" The gate to the forest began to open. It wasn't even open fully before Janus had decided to activate her Magic.
Lightning began to spread around her body with tiny sparks coming off and annoying the group. They didn't get to say anything before she took off at an incredible speed, leaving gusts of wind behind her.
Everyone put their arms up to try and hold themselves against the sudden wind pressure. It shortly came to an end though.
Magic Council Tower
A skinny man with messy white hair and red eyes, stood outside this fancy metallic door, his foot tapping against the solid white flooring. "How long do they take!" The man said, clearly impatient and ticked off.
The door began to open as two women in suits greeted the man. He didn't bother to even look at them. The scenery was so posh - having the same colour as the inside of a bank, yet the decorations and furniture were high-tier.
The man made his way up the stairs, walking until he reached the sixty-four level. He opened the metallic door and made his way inside. He walked through the multiple hallways until he reached another door with the words 'Ranked Meeting Room' on it.
He tried to open it, but it failed as it was locked. A man on the other side spoke. "Wait a moment, please!"
The man didn't wait and just kicked the door open, proceeding to walk in with his hands in his pockets. "I don't like waiting, Crowley." He sat down on one of the chairs, staring directly at Crowley.
Crowley quietly laughed and folded his arms. "You don't like much of anything, do you?"
The room was quite plain - it still had the regular colours, but it was only a long stretched-out table with four chairs on the left, four chairs on the right, and one larger chair at the front - every chair looking like some fancy grey throne.
Crowley was sitting on the larger throne while the white-haired man sat down on the first throne on the left. "Where are the rest?" The white-haired man asked.
Crowley smiled. "They'll be here soon." His smile faded. "But currently, I need you to do something after this gathering."
The man scoffed. "Yeah?"
Crowley got up from his throne and made his way into another room. It wasn't long before he came back with a brown folder, labelled 'CEO Classified'. He carefully looked through it, making sure that the man couldn't see anything inside it. The man stopped searching and pulled out a photo of Juniper Taye.
"Kiryu," Crowley said with a sadistic smile growing on his face. "I want this girl dead."