"Seriously?! I can use magic?"
"Well, technically. By channeling mana from nature to the bracelet through your body, you should be able to cast spells. You need much more practice thought. Fortunately, you have a Deputy Headmaster of Nafriton University to help you~~"
"… I think I'd rather jump into a saltwater tank full of box jellyfish and electric eels."
"There's no way around it. Magic is just too essential in this world. The pain should go away after practice though. Just come to my office after each of your classes for some tutoring. Also, I'll come pick you up next Shade Day. That's in two days, by the way. We can do a crash course so you don't completely fail your practical exams. A few of my more elitist colleagues are purposefully blocking your medical exemption. They might cause more trouble, so we need to get you as ready as possible. I didn't want to stress you out beforehand. Now we have a much better fighting chance."
Ramona checked her watch and frowned.
"It's taken us almost an hour. I need to cancel the noise barrier spell and you need to get back to the residence hall. Can you stand right now?"
Aayla nodded.
"I'll see you off to the edge of the main campus just to make sure."
Long after Aayla parted ways with Ramona at the edge of campus, Aayla suddenly remembered.
"Ah! I forgot to hand over the reports!"
**********
Shade Day, 8th of Kilm, 2021 M.E. One day until exams.
After several painful lessons the couple of days, Aayla was excited to be heading back into the chaotic weekend excitement at Nafriton Residence Hall. The week was six days long on Tellus, so Shade Day was the only day that the students had to relax. With the first round of exams starting the next day, Ramona gave Aayla a half day off to relax.
The pain had faded significantly since her first magic lesson a couple of days ago. With a goofy grin on her face, Aayla summoned a small orb of light on her left hand. Aayla could finally use magic. It still didn't seem real to her.
Even with Ramona's borderline torture training, Aayla was still having trouble gathering mana from nature. Without the bracelet, there would be no place to store it either. Obviously, Aayla still has many, many problems to work on, but she can cast spells. Even if she could only cast spells with her left hand at the moment.
Aayla happily walked back to the residence hall. The sunlight seemed to be extra bright today. She nearly stumbled off the road twice as she played with the ball of light in her hand. As Aayla approached the gate, she could see students relaxing, chatting and studying on the front lawn. A few waved as Aayla passed them on her way into the mansion.
Work never ends as a resident advisor. As soon as she walked in, she heard panicked shouts coming from the rear courtyard. A few students carried another into the infirmary. Apparently, some hotheaded students got into a duel.
Surveying the damage, Aayla kicked the residents out of the rear courtyard. Several pieces of furniture were broken and the center portion the back hedge was fried to a crisp. Papers and books were scattered everywhere. Aayla groaned. Is it too much to ask for students to only duel on campus?
"Dormi, could you handle the clean up? Also, confine who ever was involved into their rooms for now. I need to question them before I report back to Ramona about this incident."
While Dormi took care of the mess, Aayla went to check the back hedge that closed off the rear courtyard. The damage was extremely bad, but fortunately it didn't spread. Someone had clearly used a basic level fireball spell. The leaves and branches on a large swath of the hedge were completely charred. They fell apart at the slightest touch.
Aayla broke off the leg of a damaged chair and hacked at the blackened parts of the hedge. They easily turned to dust under her blows until she suddenly heard a clang sound. The remaining branches were pushed away to reveal a solid metal door. Aayla frowned and scrunched her eyebrows. Was there supposed to be a door here?
The rusty door was made of a dull metal. It reminded Aayla of the metal that made up the main gate to the residence hall grounds. The sides of the door just melded into the hedge like they were fused together. Aayla carefully brushed away the ash. There were inscriptions that looked absolutely foreign decorating the door, and that was it. For such a posh residence hall the door was rather simple.
As Aayla ran her hands over the door, she felt a keyhole. Her sleeve was sacrificed to clean it up. Aayla carefully studied the lock. There were so many strange things about it. There was no rust on the lock, unlike the rest of the door. Only an oddly shaped key would fit inside. Headmaster Marin, Ramona and the rest of the faculty never mentioned anything about this.
Wait a minute! Some keys were still unused. Aayla hastily ran back to the office and dug out the remaining keys that Headmaster Marin gave her weeks ago. The second one that she tried fit into the lock. She jumped back after the door was unlocked. Nothing happened. Aayla carefully pressed on the door and it swung inwards. She cautiously stepped inside.
Inside was an overgrown hedge maze. The hedge was now so tall that even two of Aayla couldn't touch the top. The stone pathways were dirty and crumbling apart. Vines and weeds encroached onto the walkways. She waited for several minutes inside the door, but nothing happened.
"Are you in here with me, Dormi?"
She heard the rustling of trees and the stomping of furniture outside the maze. Dormi could hear her through the open doorway, but apparently didn't have any access to the maze. That's a big problem if something happens inside.
After thinking for several minutes, Aayla decided to take a quick look around. From what she's seen of the dorm, there shouldn't be anything too dangerous. If anything, all magical objects should be out of power by now. She grabbed a piece of charred wood from outside the maze to use instead of chalk. The lines were nice and dark. With these marking her way back, Aayla shouldn't get lost.
"Dormi, I'm going to take a quick look inside the maze! If I'm not back in an hour or so, just get Nurse Rouse if she's here or have one of the students run to campus."
The furniture outside nervously thumped on the tile outside.
"I'll be fine. You don't think that who ever built this would booby trap a residence hall right? I'm sure that something like that would be remembered over the years."
Aayla carefully marked the ground as she walked further inward. The maze was strangely silent the further that she went in. No birds sang, and no breezes drifted through the maze. The sun seemed to be stuck in the sky right above her even though the time was way passed noon. Unmoving clouds hung lazily overhead.
The trek towards the depths of the maze continued. After several more minutes, Aayla encountered more weirdness. Fragments of cloth, broken bone and primitive tools littered the ground in some places. Aayla studied them as she continued forward. Strangely enough, they didn't seem that old. How could some one have gotten inside if the maze was locked for so long? Where did the materials for these tools come from? She hasn't seen them inside the maze at all.
Strange noises echoed throughout the maze. Aayla kept going for a few more minutes then decided to turn back. While rounding a corner, she nearly ran right into a bunch of hideous, short humanoids with green skin. Each and every one was horribly deformed. Legs of different lengths, patches of fur on green skin, multiple limbs and more. They each held primitive weapons in their hands.
When they spotted Aayla, they angrily growled and slowly advanced towards her. The green humanoids seemed almost hungry and greed flashed through their eyes. Aayla froze in shock until she felt something warm dripping down her arm. She looked and saw fresh blood staining her sleeve. One of the creatures had stayed back. It cruelly smiled then raised its bow again.
With the first blood drawn, the others swarmed towards Aayla like angry piranhas. She barely dodged the other attacks with scrapes and cuts before she managed to get away. Aayla ran away as fast as she could through the maze. Many times, she almost got stuck in a dead end. Every time she barely managed to avoid getting trapped by the green monsters. Those freaks couldn't run very fast, but they were persistent and knew their way around the maze.
Even worse, they were now blocking the way back and Aayla was hopelessly lost.