Silence. It was perfectly silent, besides the sounds echoing from beyond this room.

  Confidence, nervousness, fear, all such affects emanated from the denizens about. The foreigner herself was flat affect, of course. They all patiently waited until, finally, stepping in from a different point of entry was a proctor—a different proctor—and two assistants.

  The entering proctor stepped onto a slightly elevated platform at the very front of this room, his assistants sitting themselves down upon two observing chairs at the side.

  “Ahem” The proctor cleared his throat; “Let us get this underway with haste” he announced, his sight focusing on all those standing behind their dividers; “All of you, stand next to your desk so that I may see you.”

  All of the five denizens did thus, standing beyond and next to their desks; the foreigner did the same, of course.

  “Good. Now then,” the proctor, standing tall, thus so began, “the purpose of this assessment is to evaluate your capabilities for responding to a basic test spellcard of your predominate schools of affinity and executing a fundamentally basic spell thereof; this is a practical test of your affinity. In addition to this, we are assessing your general responsiveness and accuracy in executing a test spellcard of a random school for which you have weak to no affinity.”

  The proctor stepped off his platform as he started to pace back and forth, side to side, with his hands behind his back.

  “The instructions for this are as thus: When I prompt the start, you all are to return to the confines of your desks’ blinders. We will be going row by row, one by one; when explicitly instructed to begin, you are to unwrap the sealing of the spellcard of your affinity whilst keeping the card downfaced always. You are to then carefully lift the card onto your hand’s palm, again keeping it downfaced, before stepping out to where you presently stand; in front of our supervision, you are to then slowly raise the card up to your eyes until you see the indicator mark.”

  Hm… Interesting, so these ‘blinders’ were not meant to conceal the denizen’s spellcards while they did the test, but rather to conceal the denizens’ sight so that they did not peep at each other during their respective turns… Which was, granted, literally the same exact thing, although there was a slight difference...

  “Then you are to flip the card and maintain fixed eye contact. You may feel peculiar, uncomfortable, or a sense of lacking control, however you must ignore these and maintain your stare until the spell’s response is induced. After the spell’s completion, you are to then repeat this exact procedure with your non-affinity spellcard. Furthermore, only those who have been called may step out from their blinders; you are not to attempt to eye the spellcard of another nor peek your head out during their turn. Failure to follow these instructions properly will result in an immediate failure regardless of performance.”

  His voice was certainly commanding and authoritative; it kept the foreigner’s attention, indeed. Although, a few of the denizens around were now…visibly more anxious and intimated.

  “If the spellcard of your affinity does not activate within the maximum allowed seconds, you will be failed—for men this is ten seconds, for women this is five seconds.”

  Because of course… Because of course… No doubt, this alongside that extra fee for females was yet another means with which this Collegium attempted to control the in-flowing demographics and ratio between females and males… Simultaneously placing additional constraints for the former while easing constraints for the latter.

  “If you fizzle the spell of your affinity, you will be failed. If you are responsive to the spellcard of your affinity, but not responsive to the spellcard of your non-affinity, you will be failed. Beyond responsiveness, there is no failure with regard to the spellcard to your non-affinity as long it is casted; perfect execution, however, will provide additional considerations during the application and selection process. Those who fail may simply leave; those who pass may turn in their document to one of my two aids, and they will handle the rest from there.” the proctor finally finished. “Any questions?”

  None of the denizens raised their hands or muttered a sound… The foreigner herself, of course, had a few…inquiries, though none of them were exactly relevant.

  “Good. Now, without deliberation, we shall start: first row, left to right; one at a time.” He eyes lanced their glaring sight straight to that first denizen of that first row.

  The chosen denizen flinched from visible nervousness as the others, the foreigner included, returned to their desks and stayed behind their obscuring dividers, keeping their eyes and heads as within the blinders as possible… Besides, save, for one…

  Calming, this denizen promptly followed the procedures. She unwrapped the concealed spellcard, carefully stripping it of its strange covering, revealing the card in full. Its backside was rather coarse, yet glittery and elaborate in coloring, being a sparkly array of reds and oranges; that flame symbol of the school of fire magic was engraved in kind. She carefully and cautiously lifted the card onto her palm before stepping out and standing next to her desk.

  The denizen could feel…something about the card, and more specifically she could feel the piercing glare of that supervising proctor and his others. Sweating, static, and nervous… She nevertheless raised her palm up slowly until she could see that special mark; she stared at it…before, with a gulp, she flipped it, the card’s face revealed for her eyes to see. Her posture tightened as if…something else deep within her locked onto it, entrapping focus…

  Suddenly, her eyes ignited into that fire-colored radiance as the sigil of the arcane revealed itself. Immediately, the card’s face and that which was embroiled upon it began to radiate in kind; it and its special wrapping, still on the desk, dissolved into wisp-dusty radiance. Ever-faint and hard-to-see strands of fiery exoticism flowed out from her so-called ‘manafield’, invisibly separating yet remaining connected, as it formed two contained patches of air, one near her and one near the proctor.

  Properties shifted as the sparkly almost dust-like eminence began to glimmer slightly brighter and more visibly. Energy states changed as the air around these patches felt…considerably hotter; even the denizens around could feel the heat radiating.

  The spell lasted only a few seconds before reaching its encoded termination sequence; that wisp-dusty glimmer began to wither, retreating back into obscurity as her eyes returned to normalcy, the deigniting sigil leaving behind that faint signa-burn. The heat generated from the spell diffused around the room, the air normalizing, temperatures stabilizing.

  “Huh…” the first denizen just mumbled, processing all of that… Truly, what a strange…experience that was for her; to have such ignited eyes; to have just stood there while the spell’s commands were enacted without her having done anything…anything whatsoever directly, as if…something else was the one making the choir to which she was merely the conductor. It was all rather different than the normalcy that had returned, truth be told.

  “Hm.” the proctor judged, although his eyes were not necessarily at this denizen as much as…that peculiar one who was at the first desk of the third row and whose mask-obscured eyes were so clearly…stealthily peeking. “You pass. Now, next card.” Yet he did nothing to reprimand the foreigner whose observational curiosity had gotten the better of her.

  The denizen…smiled a little; “Alrightly…” Quickly, she returned to her desk and repeated this process. Carefully unwrapping, she placed this second card onto her palm, before she returned to that spot, staring it down. This card’s backside was a glittery and potent array of deathly blacks and hollow whitish-greys that shined, a strange skull sort of symbol embroiled.

  With heavy breaths, she flipped the card around…and retained a lockful eye. A couple seconds passed… Before, finally, her eyes once again ignited as the card glowed before dissolving away into deathly blackish white-grey radiance… However, beyond that, no magical effect could be seen… Dread filled the denizen’s breaths…

  But then… She noticed… “My arm…” She stared at her left-arm, feeling it with her right… “I can’t feel it… My arm, I can’t feel it…” Indeed, immobile and immovable, it was as if her entire arm had just…died… Paralyzed completely. Ever-faint dusty radiance of that same deathly color wisped as if flaking off the very nerves of her own arm. Breaths amplifying, “I-I-I I can’t move my arm… I can’t! What, what is going on??” she began to panic.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Relax…” the proctor immediately spoke; “It will pass…” He held onto his own arm…which too had been paralyzed.

  A few more seconds passed before, at last, her eyes deignited and returned to normalcy; however, her affected arm remained clumsy and sluggish to move, feeling as if needles were piercing each waking nerve. This spell’s effects required time to completely diminish, it seemed.

  “Fizzled.” the proctor thus stated; “That spell fizzled or ‘fumbled’. It was only supposed to numb the thumb, not paralyze an entire arm—an example of an over-execution of a spell. Fizzling need not appertain to under-execution exclusively, as is commonly believed; it is a broad failure in the precision of intended execution, both beyond or below.” he…somewhat lectured; “This is to be expected, however, for schools of non-affinity. Thus, you pass. Hand your document.”

  The denizen nodded slightly, excitement and relief…evident in both her smile and posture. She quickly took her document and went to one of his two waiting assistants who sat at their own respective desks, handing it in to be written upon before ultimately departing away.

  The proctor’s eyes immediately glared at the next denizen… “Alright. Second. Begin.”

  This second denizen was emboldened by the first. He sprang into action promptly, unwrapping his spellcard, the backside of which was ornated in an array of luminant yellows and whites, engraved with the radiating sun-like symbol of the school of light magic. He stepped out from his desk with the card laying on palm; with the proctor’s watching sight, he lifted it up…until seeing that indicating marker.

  Flipping the card, he stared it down… His eyes took several seconds before finally igniting into a luminant-yellow radiance. Suddenly, a tiny speck of a ‘light-ball’ formed above his head, hovering around and about, pulsating with brightening light as if a ball of…something—fuzzy and wispy—, before poofing away, his eyes returning to normalcy.

  “Pass. Next card.” the proctor quickly ordained.

  Pfft… The foreigner kept count; ~7.4 seconds, she had estimated… If that denizen were of the so-called ‘opposite’ humiform, he would have failed… This fact made her feel…something…strange; a feeling most bizarre, indeed. She could not quite understand it, let alone comprehend.

  Nevertheless, emboldened even further, the second denizen hopped right back to his desk and rapidly unwrapped his next card as if a boy receiving a present, plopping it onto his palm before hopping right back to his prior spot. This card’s backside was styled in an array of blacks and nebulous dark-purples, embroiled with that absorbing vortex symbol of the school of dark magic.

  Excited and eager, he hastily lifted the card up—it itself being at a rather…eccentric and open angle—and flipped the card before he could confirm whether he had actually seen the indicator mark. Nevertheless, he stared it down… Yet… Seconds passed, and nothing happened…

  Before, suddenly, the card dissolved into that blackish-purple dusty radiance… However, he felt no different… For it was not his eyes that ignited.

  Indeed, the foreigner herself was not the only one whose curiosity had seemingly gotten the better of them.

  Another denizen who was behind the other and diagonally positioned, standing at the desk in front of the foreigner’s own, was also peeking—perhaps too attentively so. This denizen managed to happen an awkwardly angled glimpse, one rather slim, of the most…important and defining details of the other’s card. Despite her own eyes having not truly…discerned those defining features, something else imbued within her being had, and hers seemed to have been far more sensitive than his—at least with that specific school of magic.

  And thus, this peeking denizen’s eyes ignited; the strands of dissolved radiant black and pulsating dark-purple streamed straight to her instead… “Huh??” Having neither control nor consent on her own execution of this spell, a tiny fuzzy speck of darkness popped into existence above, hovering around and about, throbbing as it absorbed, or maybe…entrapped, light…before poofing away in a small glistening pop.

  “…I am sorry, but what??” She remained so very bamboozled.

  The second denizen to whom that card belonged stared behind and at the peeking other’s desk; his eyes widened…with immediate realizations.

  The proctor himself also stared, unaffected and indifferent. He intook specks of air as he readied himself to speak, yet…

  “Yeah… I failed…” the second denizen skipped ahead… “Instruction…adherence failure, no need to tell me… I got too ahead of myself…”

  “Indeed.” The proctor was blunt. “Spellcards are no gimmicks to be played with, they are the fundamental basis of our lands’ magic; even incantations, invocations, and other verbiages have their origins in the dictations of spellcards. There are reasons for the precautions we must take.” he thus lectured, despite this being a test; “An affinity is like a magnetic attraction—if you know what that is. A sensitivity and ease of execution and response, as has been clearly demonstrated here… Even a basic glimpse is enough to cause an enaction for the sensitive, most especially with these specially-made examination cards.”

  Hm… The foreigner had already been wondering… Response sensitivities or not, a basic ‘do not enact unless held in hand’ command or a distance requirement could have easily prevented that accident… Yet…were his words implying, thus, that these cards were intentionally made without such encoded protection measures?

  “Most true and properly weaved spellcards will, of course, have mechanisms within their weaving to prevent incidents like this from happening. However, nonetheless, one must adhere to the precautions for good practice and most doubly follow the specified instructions of this assessment; to temper oneself for academic etiquette and discipline.” The proctor lanced his sight to the peeking denizen… “And you evidently did not.”

  The guilty denizen stepped out from her desk, her deignited eyes casting down and…away; “I failed too, didn’t I?” Sorrow and shame, thus was her breaths.

  “Yes.” The proctor did not hold back. “Your affinity is evidently pronounced to have responded to that card from your distance and peculiar angle. However, it was explicitly instructed to not peek. Therefore, on those grounds, you have failed regardless.” His stern eyes turned to the other; “Both of you may leave.”

  The two failed denizens, thus, grabbed their documents and made their respective way to leave, their paths intersecting.

  “I saved up so much for this…” she began to quietly tear up to herself.

  Yet… “Oh, hey, hey… Don’t… Don’t cry now, it was my fault…” he, noticing, attempted to comfort.

  “But I was the one peeking… All I had to do was…” She merely sighed… “…I’m so stupid…”

  “Look at the hot side, you’ve got the blood… You cast that spell perfectly and without even trying…” he attempted to cheer up.

  “You really think?”

  The two left but their mutual conservating continued.

  Ah… Accidents and circumstantial blunders,

  Sometimes the starting basis for human social relations, intimate or otherwise

  Always fascinating to observe in a natural setting.

  Not that you care, of course…

  Hm. The foreigner observed… Rather odd. The proctor had reprimanded that denizen for peeking, but…she herself had been doing so this entire time; he must have noticed by now, surely…

  Regardless, three denizens gone; three more to go… Only one remained before the foreigner’s own turn.

  “Alright. Next. Your turn.” The proctor’s voice rushed along as he lanced his glare to the next, who immediately flinched from his piercing voice alone.

  Promptly, this third denizen sprung into jolting action, unwrapping her card, revealing the backside of a peculiar card…colored in a gradient spectrum of sparkly colors; chaotic and…wild. Carefully placing it onto her palm, she stepped out from her desk and…carefully, slowly, and timidly raised it… Indicating mark seen, she thus flipped it and eyed it down…

  Seconds passed, nothing happened… More seconds passed, the card’s face becoming increasingly more uncomfortable to stare at… Until, finally, the spellcard dissolved into wisp-dusty radiance, her eyes igniting into…not a single color nor even shifting between colors, but rather a wild gradient of many colors…simultaneously all at once.

  Huh… Something like that was possible? The foreigner, of course, was peeking.

  Nevertheless, roots of dusty exoticism, largely invisible, extended out from the source, weaving and targeting… Nothing was seeming to happen, before…

  Zap.

  “OUCH! HUH?!” so blurted in ouching pain, the denizen girl of the desk directly to the foreigner’s right and part of her row. She had just been zapped in the neck, it felt…

  “Ah, yes… That one…” the proctor just said; “All persons in here had an equal chance of receiving the sting; it is random but happened to be you.” The proctor, of course, always received the zap regardless. Nevertheless, his eyes then…looked a certain way at the denizen who had cast; “Seven seconds, I am afraid to say…”

  The casting denizen’s eyes dimmed in both ignited radiance and…life as she averted her gaze down and away… “Oh… So that means…”

  “However,” yet the proctor continued, “given the extreme rarity of one having any predominate affinity for wild magic, may they be man or woman, and in consideration to the perfect execution of that spell… I will opt pass you with exemption.” he thus stated, to the…slight bewilderment of his two assistants.

  The denizen’s dimmed eyes widened with reignited life again, looking at the proctor with rather the smile; “…s-seriously?” Her breaths filled with such relief.

  “Yes. And, in fact, there is no need for further assessment, either. Turn in your document.” the proctor…then stated as if rushing this along, his assistants now even more bewildered; extraordinary or rare affinities or not, this was a total breakage from convention.

  “Al-alrightly! Th-th-thank you! Thank you so much!” At a loss, the passing denizen promptly hopped forth to turn in her document to the bewildered assistants who nevertheless complied.

  The zapped denizen, on the other hand, peeked silently with a slight annoyed pucker in her cheek, continuing to rub at her still sore neck with whimpering breaths.

  “Now, then… With that done, there is now…” The proctor’s sight then fixated on she whose turn was finally now; “…the next one.” His voice oozed with sudden focused interest, as if having been patiently anticipating this very moment. “At your leisure, alien. You may begin. I am watching.” The sharpness of his eyes’ gaze pierced through those hiding blinders.

  The foreigner terminated her…cogitations and ponderances regarding what she had somewhat observed; there were many inferences and deductions she could come to regarding these spellcards and the way this place’s magic system seemed to operate…and what it seemed to focus on—aesthetics of execution being the most glaring.

  Regardless, she took a deep, yet ever faint, breath… Refocusing her mind, she stared down at those two sealed and wrapped spellcards resting upon her desk, beckoning to that certain something else deeply imbued within her nerves and spine.

  And so began her turn in this dance of cards and spells.