Chapter 201: Chapter 153 – Intro to Magic

After a quick greeting and breakfast Aarav went over to his first class, their whole year group had been divided up into classes of 50 children and with almost two thousand students there were more than 40 classes all told.

Because of that Aarav didn't know anyone in his class. This was compounded by his anti-social behaviour in this dorm during the first week. Now he didn't know any of his neighbours other than saying hello and goodnight. He had been too busy getting acquainted with the facilities to make more than a token effort.

He now sat at the back of a packed classroom in the magic training part of the school and he couldn't be more excited. The room was laid out like a university lecture hall, tiered seats sat in rows welded to the floor by some sort of magic Aarav couldn't see. Radiating out from the central desk and chalk board in ever growing arcs.

Currently those arcs were pretty full and getting even more so as time went. At this rate Aarav thought they would be bursting at the seams before long. Still no teacher but also no one he recognised.

He had been quite lucky so far, not having encountered the nobles again after the cafeteria incident. It seemed the nobles were kept in separate classes when it came to the first week and they didn't mix with the 'common folk'. That was fine by Aarav. He didn't need another encounter. He didn't need another embarrassing display in front of the entire school.

As he looked up from his musings one of the people entering caught his eye. A fairy. At the sight of him their face brightened and they came to sit next to him.

"Hi! We have seen each other in the dorm halls but never got the chance!" Her voice was chipper and high-pitched. "If you don't mind my saying, you're not a conventional looking fairy!" Her smile never left her face, it was perhaps the most genuine smile Aarav had seen since coming here and for some reason he felt this inexplicable feeling of trust towards this fairy.

It was such an odd feeling. Never had Aarav felt anything like it. He wondered why this hadn't occurred in the dorms, after all there were plenty of other fairies there. But then he realised he had never been this close to any of the fairies in the dorm.

He had also never felt anything like this from any one else thus far. It was an entirely novel experience. It also seemed like everyone else had the same impression of the fairy. For some reason everyone wanted to talk and meet her. But they ignored or sneered at Aarav.

"Why don't you have fairy rapport?" The girl asked, seeming confused. "That is odd."

"Huh? What's fairy rapport?" Aarav asked before he could get a rein on his tongue.

The girl's eyes narrowed in mirth, then widened before she whispered, "You really don't know? But how-?"

Just then she was interrupted by a loud voice in the doorway, "Haha, I am a magical prodigy you know!" A boisterous voice called out as a black haired boy with his hair in his face sauntered in and plopped down exactly in the middle of the classroom. Arrogance radiated off him like rays from the sun.

"I guess we know who the class clown is." The girl next to him said. "Let's see if his bite is as pronounced as his bark."

Aarav smiled at the metaphor, that one was universal. "Yeah. Umm, what is your name?"

"Oh, sorry, I am Lucile!" The girl blushed, "Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Aarav, really nice to meet you too." Aarav smiled warmly, not showing teeth and hoping it was as disarming to her as her smile was to him. "So you were saying, about fairy rapport?"

"Oh, right. Yes, that is-" once again she was interested by someone walking into the room. 'What now? This information is crucial to my disguise right now!' If this was some fairy only thing that others didn't know it could blow his whole situation.

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"Good morning! No time to waste, if anyone has decided to come late they will have to catch up." Aarav looked around, around a hundred students were in the room. A few stragglers were likely on their way but most were already here. 'I guess they are doing two classes at a time.'

The tall woman swept into the room as she spoke. She stepped so softly Aarav couldn't hear her moving on the tiles. She looked emaciated and Aarav suspected malnourishment. 'Although maybe that's just my thinking.' She wore thick glasses that sat halfway down her nose, which made her eyes look like they were bugging out, and she seemed flustered and out of breath like she had been running to get here and wasn't used to the exertion.

"Right!" She continued as she reached the desk in the middle of the room and looked up at all the students gathered in the room. "Let's get started. Everyone comfortable? Today we will be testing your magical affinities! Does everyone understand what that means?"

The students all stared down at her in silence, unsure if it was rhetorical. "Well? I'm not talking to myself am I? Hands up if anyone knows the answer!" Her voice increased in volume to make sure everyone heard and more importantly responded.

A few hands went up hesitantly and the arrogant idiot from before started speaking without waiting. "It's when you see how amazing our magic is! Like my fire magic! I'm very good at it you know!" The teacher's eyebrows went up at the blatant disregard for propriety but then she nodded.

"I would like for you to raise your hand next time, before you speak, what is your name child?" She said in a calm measured tone and the arrogant boy flushed.

"Finnigan, Finnigan Coreg, miss!" He stood before speaking and for some reason saluted her before sitting down again still blushing like he had been turned down by a prospective date. "Uhh, sorry!" Just from the three minutes he had seen the kid Aarav was surprised but the teacher was bemused.

"Adrienne will be happy to hear her son has manners." She muttered under her breath, loudly enough that some of the closer students snickered and Finnigan looked mortified. Then loudly she said, "I will let it go this time, just don't do it again."

"Yes, miss!" Finnigan said with alacrity, standing saluting crisply again before sitting.

"Hmmm, good! So, Finnigan is correct we will be testing your Mana in both quantity and quality. We know that you are still young and will not have much now, but it is best to know where your strengths lie before we go any further that way we can pair you with the best groups and tutors for your ability."

Some of the students looked around nervously, Aarav included. Some murmuring started between various students. As a Copycat Slime all his affinities had dropped to zero, at least as a Water Slime or Earth Slime he had access to a single element. Right now he didn't even have that.

"To be clear! There is no wrong answer to this test. If you have more or less affinity or one element over another or none at all, it does not matter!" She had to raise her voice to be heard. "We will teach you regardless and in any case every person is different!" The voices in the crowd continued to rise.

"SILENCE!" She finally roared and the class instantly quieted. "That's better!" She smiled sweetly belaying her earlier tone. "Now, the first student will step forward and stand on this gauge." A type of weighing scale appeared out of nowhere and she stepped to the side of it. 'Seriously, where did that come from? The wonders of magic I guess.'

"So what is your affinity? Water or Earth?" Lucile asked. I know it is usually one or the other but some are lucky enough to get both!" She let out a short giggle that ended in a snort.

"Umm. Hehe, I really don't have any affinity at the moment." Lucile's face moves from surprise to sadness and then confusion.

Aarav's nerves were showing and was working hard to stamp them down before he gave to much away. 'Don't look at me with those pitying eyes.'

"Sorry to hear it. I had heard rumours of some fairies not getting magic at birth but I never thought there was any truth to it. After all a fairy without magic...." She tapered off and Aarav finished the sentence in his head, 'is pretty useless, not large enough for melee fighting to be practical, not strong enough to pull back on a bow.'  That was without taking into account that the strength stat for fairies was not as effective as for other larger creatures. Magic was their only feasible way to power.

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