They finally got off the cruise ship. The first thing they saw? A beautiful city. It looked like any other city at first glance. That was what Shu thought about it.
"We're here, brother!" We finally did it!" Kaede exclaimed.
Shu would have responded immediately, but he was thinking about something. He expressed his thoughts out loud after a few seconds of silence between the 2 of them:
"This is it? This is the Magic Side?"
"W-what do you mean?"
Shu put his right arm on his face, as if he was disappointed, which he was. "I was expecting to see more than just a city. I thought there was going to be more Mana here, like when we crossed the barrier. Why did I have my hopes up…?" he told his thoughts to Kaede. "I was expecting to see people using magic or something."
Suddenly, they both heard a voice coming from behind them: "That's because there isn't much magic seen in this area."
"Huh?" they both said while they turned around at the same time.
There was a man wearing a black suit and black gloves. Kaede was looking at him with a suspecting face. "Um…do you need something?" Shu asked the man who walked up to them out of nowhere.
"Yes, I do. I'm here to take you to do the Mana Test for the Academies", the man responded.
"H-how do you know we want to go do the Mana Test?" Kaede asked the mysterious man.
"Oh, just to be sure, allow me to ask: you ARE Shu and Kaede Makahoushi, right?" the man responded with a question that left both the siblings in shock.
"Y-yes. Indeed, we are", Shu acknowledged.
"Excellent. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Adam Leblanc, and I've been sent by the Headmasters of the Magic Academies to come and pick you up.
"Oh! That's convenient." Kaede answered.
"A little TOO convenient, if you ask me." Shu said after her. "Is there any way you can prove that you're not lying?"
Once Shu finished talking, Adam took out a. ID card from his pocket. It looked like any basic ID card, except that it ahd the same symbol that their invitation letter's red seal had. That was enough to confirm that he wasn't lying…unless he had forged it or something. But for some reason, Kaede and Shu thought that there's no way he would've gone THAT far to scam 2 teenagers in an area they hadn't been in before.
"Well, that proves it."
"Indeed, it does, brother. So, where do we go now, Mr. Leblanc?"
"Well, we need to go to my car to take you to the Mana Test. Since you have the entire day to take the test, we can take our time. But let's do it now to get it out of our way."
Both the siblings responded with a positive nod. They both started walking to the car, and whilst they were doing so, Adan asked them another question.
"Before we go take the Test itself, I need to ask: which school did your letter assign you to take the Test?"
"Um…it was…" Shu tried to remember but couldn't for some reason. "Ugh what was it…?" He could take out the letter to read it, but he honestly wasn't in the mood to.
"It was Luminous Bluebell Magic Academy. That's it." Kaede helped Shu by reminding him.
"Yes. That was it…I think…" Shu still had his thoughts, but he couldn't not believe his sister.
"Alright then. That's the closest Academy from here actually, so it's perfect."
They both finally reached Adam's car, which was a black sedan. He opened the trunk, and they put their suitcases inside the car's trunk. They sat down on the back seats as Adam turned on the car and proceeded to drive off the port.
"So, since you're both new to the Magic Side, I'll give you a bit information about it just so you can become more familiar with it," said Adam while he was driving through the city. They both nodded at his response.
"For starters, unlike in the Normal Side, magic's completely legal on this continent."
"Continent? You mean that- "
"Yes. Unlike in the Normal Side, which is multiple continents, the Magic Side is comprised of 1 amazingly huge continent named Alteria. We are currently in the city of Longar, and we're on our way to Bluebell Academy." Adam acknowledged.
"Bluebell Academy? Why are we driving there?"
"Because that's the Academy where your letter assigned you to get the Mana Test, isn't it?" he replied to Shu's comment.
"Oh yeah, it is!" Kaede replied for Shu, who was going to say the same thing. Her reply made him say Thanks, Kaede as a thank you, thought he didn't say it out loud.
"I have a question," Shu said, which made Adan reply with "Go ahead." "Why isn't there anyone using their magic right now? I thought we we're going to see people using at least the most basic of magic."
"Oh, you will see that in other areas of. The thing is that Longar is a very relaxed area when it comes to that. People don't put their magic for display unless it's necessary."
"Ahhh ok."
After a few seconds, the siblings went back to doing their own thing. Since they were finally at the Magic Side, Shu took out the box that their grandfather had given him.
"That's the…" Kaede started.
"Yes. The knife that apparently lets me use Crimson Magic." He said while looking at the knife.
They both heard a gasp sound coming from the front of the car. There was only one person who could've done that.
"Um, are you ok, Mr. Leblanc?" Kaede asked out of curiosity.
"Uh yeah! I'm fine! Just breathing." He responded.
"Oookay then. If you say so." She said and finished.
Did I just hear that correctly…Maybe I should…no. That would cause suspicion. I'll just stay quiet for now. Yeah. Good idea, Adam. Adam thought to himself and calmed down after a few seconds.
"Oh, it looks like we're here!"
Shu and Kaede were talking while looking down at their devices. They looked out of Kaede's window, which was the left side, and saw an amazing sight. They were driving near the walls of a set of amazing looking blue buildings. They were both in awe; never before had they seen anything like it. Not even their original school, Sakura Moon High School, could compare to what they were looking at.
"Here we are. Welcome to Bluebell Academy!" Adam said with a happy tone. They were driving in front of the road that led to the school. Adam then drove to a certain area of the road that led into a parking area, and they parked there. Shu and Kaede got out of the car, and Adam did so too a few seconds later.
"So, what now, Mr. Leblanc?" said Kaede with a curious tone.
"Ok, so you're going to want to enter, and you can just follow the students. They're all going to do the same thing since there aren't any classes today."
"Alright then," Shu said. "Are you coming with us then?"
"Oh no, I'm staying here."
"Huh? Why?" Kaede replied.
"There are 2 reasons. One: I'll stay here to keep watch of the car and your stuff. And two: because if they see me walking with you two, people might get the wrong idea about something, one way or another."
"What do you mean "the wrong idea?""
"Look, just trust me. Also, I think that you should go now to not waste any time, even though we have more than enough."
"Well…alright then. In that case, let's go, Kaede."
"Alright then." She replied.
"I'll still be here, so I'll see you later." Adam said.
And with that, they both walked to the entrance of Bluebell Academy. There were many people of varying ages (if they had to guess, their ages ranged from 11 to 18), and they soon joined that group of people. And so, they finally entered the school's gates. It looked…amazing.
There was a pretty long pathway that led the buildings. The pathway had many different trees, and it sort of felt like a small forest. Once they entered the school itself, there was a small circular fountain and 3 pathways, each connected to one of the 3 buildings. They kept walking forward and entered the building that was right in front of them.
They entered and saw an amazingly big area for a school. They were 2 very large hallways, which reached from their left to the right of the school.
"Woah! This is amazing!" Kaede said when she saw the amazing interior.
"This is so different from any school I've ever seen," Shu said after her.
Adam had told them to follow everyone, so that's what they did. They followed a group of students who were going up to the school's second floor, and they reached a very long line of students who were waiting to enter a specific classroom.
"So, can I assume that this is the line for the Mana Test?" Kaede thought out loud.
"I suppose so, but I'm not sure." Shu responded.
"Yes, this is the line for it," a voice in front of them said.
The person whose voice belonged to turned around to face the siblings. It was a thin girl with long blonde hair and about the same height as Shu, but a bit shorter.
"So you're both also here to take the Test? Well, makes sense, Why else would you be here then?" the girl told them.
"Yeah. We both got invited to enroll into 1 of the Academies. It all happened so fast, it was unreal," said Shu.
"Wait…invited? What do you mean?" the girl asked once he realized what he said.
"We got a letter sent to our house inviting us to take the Mana Test." said Kaede.
"Wait really? I heard the Academies used to do that, but I didn't think they still did!"
"Yeah here." Shu took the letter out of a pocket inside his hoodie. He had placed it there in case he forgot about it, which he probably would have done. Kaede could have reminded him, but he didn't want to risk anything.
He showed the blonde girl the letter they'd received. It had the broken Academies' seal and the letter still inside it.
"Damn that's so cool. I wish I'd gotten invited. I had to enroll the normal way. My parents had to pay for this entire thing."
"Ah well. At least you get to enroll anyway."
"Hey, brother. We're almost up."
Time had gone by so fast, and they got so into talking that now, there only 4 people in front of them, not counting the blonde girl.
"Oh wait. Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Shu."
"My name is Kaede."
"Nice to meet you, Kaede, Shu. I'm Avery. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Avery shook hands with Shu, and then with Kaede."
"So, why did you accept to enroll here?" Avery asked the siblings.
"Well, we both just wanted to see what it was like to go to a magic school. And here we are," Kaede responded to her question.
"Ah that's cool."
"And what about you, Avery?" Shu asked.
"I just wanted to get better at using my magic, really. That's the main reason."
"What is your type of magic?" Kaede asked.
"Oh…well…I don't know if I want to say it…" she replied.
"Aw why not?" Shu said.
"It's kind of…embarrassing." Avery finished.
"Oh, in that case, it's okay then." Kaede told her.
"Thanks," she smiled at them. "Usually, people keep pestering me about it."
"Wait…if you're going to a magic school, you realize you're going to have to reveal it at some point, right?"
"Oh, please don't remind me. I-I'll be prepared for when the time comes."
"Um excuse me…" a boy touched Avery in her right shoulder.
"Mm? Yes?" she replied.
"It's your turn for the Test." The boy said. This was proceeded by Avery saying "Oh right! Thank you!", and the boy walked away.
"Well…it's been nice talking to the both of you."
"Yeah same," the siblings replied at the same time.
"Oh, actually…" Avery took out a pen and a small piece of paper, wrote something on it, and gave it to Shu. "If either of you are bored enough, feel free to message me. I'm never busy."
"O-oh…okt then…thanks?" Shu questioned what'd just happened in his head.
"Well, see ya later!" she said and entered the room.
"What just…" Shu was still in shock. Not because a girl had given him her number, but more so that she did so when they'd just met.
"Wow, brother. Who knew you were such a ladies' man?" Kaede teased him about it.
"Haha very funny, Kaede."
A few minutes later, they both saw Avery leave the room. Instead of talking to them, she walked beside them and winked at the both of them while waving at the same time.
What a character, Shu thought.
They both proceeded to enter the Test room. Inside it was a big machine to the left of a chair with a woman sitting on it. The woman had dark purple hair alongside black eyes and glasses and was wearing a while lab coat.
"Only one person at a time please," the doctor said.
"Oh, we're siblings. Is that okay or…" Kaede responded to her order.
"Oh sorry, In that case, yes, it's fine."
Kaede thought it was weird that she asked that because there were 2 empty chairs in the room. But she didn't think much of it and simply sat down.
"Ok, so before we begin, I got to ask you a simple question."
"Yes, of course. Go ahead."
"How did you enroll into the Academies?" she started asking.
"Oh, we got an invitation to enroll." Kaede responded.
"An invitation? Would you let me see it?"
"Yeah sure. Here." Shu showed the doctor the invitation letter, still basically intact.
"Oh wow. Those are very rare to get nowadays."
"Yeah, we've heard."
"Alright, so this is how it's going to work. You will stand in the middle of the machine, and the machine will scan your entire body and it will give you your Mana Rank."
The machine was a relatively big one. It looked like one of those metal scanning tubes you would see at an airport, but it was orange and way thicker due to the way it was built.
"So, who's going first?" the doctor asked.
"I'll do it," Kaede asked. The doctor told her to stand up and go over to the machine. She did so, and once Kaede stood at the center, the doctor pressed some buttons on the machine laid out like a keypad, and the machine started working. On the bottom of the machine, there was a big ring that started spinning, casting a bright white light while doing so. The ring slowly started rising, and while it was doing so, the ring turned purple.
Woah… that's cool, Shu thought.
"Right now, the ring's scanning her Mana thoroughly. That's the way it determines its rank."
"I see…"
After a few seconds, the ring was done. The doctor told her that she could sit back down.
"Alright. Now for your results…" she pressed some more buttons and in a black screen near the machine, a red number "1" appeared.
"No way…"
"What? Is it something bad?" Kaede asked. She was worried due to the way the doctor said that out loud.
"Amazing…Your rank is 1. That's the highest."
"Does that mean that-"
"Congratulations! You have been placed in the highest of the 7 Academies: Crimson Rose Magic Academy!"
"No way!" Kaede went and hugged her brother. "Brother! I got into Rose Academy!"
"I'm so proud, Kaede! But wait. Now it's my turn…" Shu said.
"Now it's your turn. Go to the machine."
"Yes okay."
He went into the machine, and the doctor turned it on again. The exact same thing happened. Once it was done, Shu sat back down.
And to his surprise…the screen showed a red number "1". He couldn't believe it. He was accepted to the same institute as her sister just now.
"No way. Congratulations! You have also been accepted to Crimson Rose Magic Academy!"
"Yay!" Kaede hugged her brother again. "We're in the same school, brother!"
"I can't believe it. I thought we were going to be separated. That's very good."
The doctor grabbed a clipboard from a table that was next to her and took a paper out of it. That paper was already used. Before they left, she needed to ask them some questions.
"Ok, so before you both leave. I got to ask you 2 more questions."
"Oh ok. Sure, go ahead."
"Alright first of all, this is going to sound a bit strange, but I need you to pick. 1 or 2?"
"Huh? You want us to pick a number?"
"Yes. This is something we do just to test something. It doesn't change anything about your enrollment."
"Oh, in that case. Hmm. Which should we pick, Kaede?" Shu had to ask because he didn't know which to pick.
"Let's go with…2! I feel that it'll be good in the long road." Kaede decided.
"So, you both want to pick 2? You know you can both choose a different number." The doctor said, but the siblings were decided. They were going with 2.
"And for the final question: What are your names? I need them to register you into the Academy database.
"Oh, yeah sure. We are Shu and Kaede Makahoushi."
The doctor froze for a second while she was writing.
5 seconds passed, and she hadn't moved a single inch.
Is something wrong? Kaede thought.
She brought herself back to her own senses.
"Oh! Sorry about that. My mind went blank for a second."
She finished writing their names down.
"Is that all you need to register us?" Shu asked because he thought it was a very simple process.
"Yes, it is. There are other things we need, but we take care of that behind the scenes," the doctor responded after 5 seconds of writing.
"Alright then. That concludes the Mana Test." The doctor started. "The actual test will start tomorrow at 9 am. That test will be as your chosen school: Crimson Rose Magic Academy."
Kaede noticed that she way she was speaking changed a little. It made the doctor sound like she was surprised or maybe even scared about something? But for the moment, she didn't think much of it and just went with what she said.
"Alright then! Thanks a lot," she said the moment she and Shu stood up from where they will be sitting.
"Don't worry about it. It IS my job, after all. Have a good day." The doctor finished, and the siblings responded by saying "you too!"
Once the siblings had left, the doctor put her left hand over her right eye and sighed.
"Why are they both here…why did you bring them here, Shuzaku…?"
They both finally walked out of the school and went back to the black sedan that brought them there in the first place. Adam was still there, but he was sleeping in the driver's seat. They both entered the car's back seats, which woke Adam up.
"Huh?!" he jumped and saw the both of them sitting in the back. "Hey, don't scare me like that!"
"Well, maybe don't leave the car unlocked, Mr. Leblanc." Kaede said back.
"Oh…you're right. Sorry about that. So, are you both done with the Mana Test?"
"Yes, we are."
"Excellent! What was your Mana Rank?"
"We both got 1!" the younger sister said.
"Wait! 1?! That's amazing! So that means that-"
Indeed, it does. We have been accepted to Rose Academy." Shu added.
"Well, then. That means it's time to drive to Rose Academy."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Yes, of course. Do keep in mind that Rose Academy is 3 hours away from here."
"It'll be fine. Let's go already!"
As soon as Kaede said that they drove off. It was time to finally see their chosen school for the first time. It had only been a few days since they'd gotten the invitation, but it felt like it had been a month since then. While driving off, Shu asked if maybe they could've used some sort of spell to ger there faster, but Adam said no due to a certain set of stupid rules in the city of Longar. But they could wait; they had been on way longer car rides before with their grandfather. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were getting closer to officially enrolling. They were so excited, they couldn't wait.