Dark Magus Returns

The written portion of the assessment was merely for placement, a bureaucratic hurdle. Their true test, the one that mattered, had already been completed. So, the students were ushered into the dorms, told to simply rest and await their fate.

Thankfully, the dorm rooms were surprisingly spacious, more than capable of accommodating their entire group. Luka had initially offered to separate them by gender, a standard courtesy, but Raze had simply shrugged it off, declaring it unnecessary. It wasn’t a huge deal for mages; many could conjure a privacy veil with a flick of their wrist for dressing or other personal matters. Still, it was an option the academy provided, a nod to old customs.

Since they were all transfers and already seemed to know each other, the academy had made an exception, allowing them to bunk together while their results were being tallied. And those results? They were definitely the hottest topic of discussion in the principal’s office.

Inside, three teachers were currently gathered. There was Professor Luka, the man who had conducted their assessment, and easily one of the most powerful mages in the entire academy. Then there was Panla, the lightning specialist, her gaze sharp and intelligent. Finally, Redrick, a middle-aged man with his hair neatly tied back in a ponytail, completed the trio.

They sat on one side of a plush couch, facing Wilton Junior, the principal. He was a man in his sixties now, his face etched with years of responsibility.

Wilton had inherited the academy from his father, a veritable family business. For generations, their academy had stood proudly, practically neck-and-neck with the renowned Central Academy. But things had shifted. They’d slipped a bit during his father’s era, and by the time Wilton Junior took the reins, the Central Mage Academy had soared, becoming its own prestigious entity, almost untouchable.

Luka handed over the assessment papers from the recent transfer students, and Wilton just shook his head, a weary sigh escaping his lips.

“So, out of all these, which one is the original?” Wilton asked, his voice a low rumble.

“I believe it’s the one named Raze,” Luka replied, his expression unreadable.

“Raze… quite an ominous name, though it was popular once,” Wilton mused, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. “But since the arrival of the Dark Magus, many would never dare to use that name again.”

“I did hear some started using it again,” Redrick chimed in, leaning forward slightly. “Honestly, there are just as many people named Jack as there are Raze. It’d be hard to damn them all for a name.”

“This Raze, was he the lightning mage?” Panla interjected, a spark of excitement in her eyes. As a lightning core teacher herself, she was already imagining the thrill of teaching someone so promising. “I presume you’re asking about him because he did particularly well on the test?”

“Do you not know why the principal asked which was the original?” Redrick countered, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. “It’s because it’s obvious. They cheated on the test.”

The principal nodded, spreading the test sheets out across his desk.

“This particular assessment was harder than the one given to students at the entrance exam,” Wilton explained, his gaze sweeping over the papers. “I really didn’t want to accept any students, but I feared since they were recommended by Allen, they might actually be quite skilled. If they did get in, at least I could have an excuse to put them in the bottom of the class and be done with them. Allen and the military have supplied us with quite the supplies and demonstrations over the years, so I thought it was best to at least do him this favor. But the results were perfect. The way the questions were answered, they were better answered than some of the professors and teachers at this school. And it wasn’t just one; it was several of them!”

“Is it highly likely they cheated, or have we just had a batch of special students come all in at once?” Redrick wondered aloud, a hint of genuine curiosity in his tone.

“I’m certain they cheated,” the principal stated firmly.

Luka nodded, a subtle knowing curve to his lips. He knew exactly why.

“First, all of the answers are almost identical, only changed ever so slightly,” Wilton continued, pointing to various sections on the papers. “However, that’s not the reason I’m certain. It’s because of how varied the answers are. They are varied in such a way that a person clearly knows what they are doing. They have so much knowledge that they can still answer the question in a different way. To top it off, the handwriting on both of these two papers is the same. Almost as if he tried to vary it from his own, but changed it from the others. Then there’s this one. Some of the questions appear to have been attempted by her. I’m quite surprised by some of the answers that had been given. All of the students are aware that the feathered end of their tool can erase. What they aren’t aware of is that we can still see what has been erased. If we compare the two answers, they are night and day.”

Though the principal didn’t explicitly say it, based on the way the answers were given, they seemed to be broken down, as if someone was fluent in the language of magic. He could understand the context, but magical questions were notoriously difficult. He imagined the person had to be incredibly smart to grasp a few words and still guess so much of the question correctly.

“Then there’s this test,” the principal held up another paper, his voice tinged with amusement. “To be honest, it’s the one with the worst results. This student, in particular, has identical answers to the student named Raze.”

“I see, and that’s how you were also able to pinpoint that Raze was the original?” Panla asked, her interest piqued. “But how would you be able to tell the difference between who copied off whom?”

“Because their answers are off by one placement,” the principal replied, a faint smile touching his lips. “Every answer is correct if they had just shifted them one up. The person had even written the answer to the final question in the very last place.”

Redrick couldn’t help but chuckle as soon as he heard that. “The kid couldn’t even cheat right! Now that is impressive.”

“You’re right about one thing; they all are really impressive,” Luka interrupted, his eyes gleaming. “Although we have a pretty good idea they cheated, if we were truthful, all of this is circumstantial. And that’s because they were able to cheat, however they did it, in various ways, while I was in the room with them at the same time. They had managed to get near enough perfect scores, apart from one, while I was still there.”

Magic, in a way, was about how well one could utilize their spells without their opponent knowing. It was the whole basis of battling and besting the other. In this sense, these students had already bested the academy and the school, a realization that caused everyone in the room to smile.

“Can I ask, what happened when you rose those walls? Things seemed to get quiet for a while,” Panla asked, her curiosity evident.

Luka began to smirk. “If I told you everything, there would be no fun. In the end, they are all in the academy now, so you will be able to see for yourselves how they perform and the heights that they will reach.”

Panla clicked her tongue, a playful gesture, but she could feel the excitement clicking in her chest. She had one more question. “So, based on the written results, which class are you going to put them in, or are you going to split them up?”

“You can’t put them in A class,” Redrick immediately objected, shaking his head. “If you do, there will be an uproar among students. They’ll be targeted, as will the transfers. They’ll bundle together to just make sure they won’t progress.”

Luka laughed once again, a rich, full sound. “Even if they teamed up together, I doubt the students could best them.”

Redrick wondered whether Luka was giving them too much credit, perhaps just because of his own “loss,” or if they truly were that special. It just didn’t make any sense. If they were, what were they doing at Wilton Academy instead of the prestigious Central Academy?

“I have come to a decision,” the principal announced, turning around to gaze out of the large glass pane window. “The students here are in a strange place. When they come here, they feel like they have entered their second choice. Everyone wishes to go to the Central Academy, and in a way, those that are not good enough feel like they have been shunted here. I believe that our students have been complacent with that. The fact that these talented individuals have all come at once is a good thing. It’s the fire that is needed among all of these students. Every single one of them will be placed in A class.”

*****

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