A magical aptitude test!?Crusch was caught in a daze, magic…just how long had it been since she wished for it?
The whole night her thoughts had been centered around what kinds of magic this world had to offer, however, she honestly couldn't choose a preference for what she was aspiring to acquire since after all; magic was magic.
Her imagination went spiralling, by the time the eventful day had fallen upon her Crusch was both nervous, anxious and excited. There were instances in some of the stories she'd read where a character or person lacked any kinds of magical talent to speak of, it'd be the worst if that happened to her and although she'd slightly calmed her nerves by reminding herself that she was a part of a noble family who were likely mage's themselves that had been dashed whenever she remembered that her body was both a hermit and seemingly held an innate resilience against taking a magical aptitude test for reasons unknown to her.
'it's alright, I have confidence'
There were levels of aptitude that dictated a mage's talent or in this case as Crusch had now learned as she entered an oblique room, dimly lit by the flickering candle light that illuminated a stone dungeon like room residing under the Castle's floor as a kind of basement that they could enter through an aged yet wonderfully crafted wooden door on the floors of one of the rooms in the castle that Crusch had now long forgotten for some reason but this world didn't refer to those who dealt with magic as Mage's, Magus's or anything else but the conventional, Wizards and Witches.
One's talent was calculated through Numerical value, ranging from levels I-V. A Magical aptitude result of V was the lowest, the general populous usually scored amongst this range and it meant that a person either lacked or just barely had enough mana flowing through them to use it; it was recommended that one give up any hopes of becoming a wizard or a witch if they scored amongst here. A score of III was held by common Wizards and Witches alike, a moderate score enough for one to step within the world's of magic. II was where genius's lied, an absurd amount of mana had to be flowing through ones body to even achieve such but even more impressive would be the physique to keep one's body alive and contain the mana within.
A Wizard or Witch of this caliber were taught and nurtured by masters of the Wizarding world, taken to academy's and so on. Finally was a score of I…no one knew what it entailed as throughout the entire history of the world she was now in, only either mythical beasts of old and Legendary heroes were speculated of having ever graced upon it.
This was the general gist she was given while in the dark room, the person in front of her had narrated this for about five minutes with their back towards her and one finger pointed to the air while their other hand swung, flicked and swivelled a wand in its grasp where Crusch was able to once again witness the kind of magic these people used; Wand's and most likely staff's as well. The person or more aptly the wizard themselves however was not a man dressed in long gaebs and robe's, old and hooded or with a pointed hat but someone of stunningly tall stature, young physique, long trench coat, dark hair and broad shoulders and when the man turned towards Crusch having finished whatever he was doing and she was able to perfectly witness his eyes even under the dim lighting of the room.
They were bright red and vertically slit like a viper's yet that colouration and inhumanity in his eyes lasted for only a second before they flickered and dimmed, revealing eyes of deep emerald and normal human pupils. This intrigued Crusch very much!! She'd never seen magic like that and further began to desire the magic even further.
"Ah, the young Lady Ludmilla" the man spoke, his voice was soft, elegant and youthful.
He seemed to gaze at her with something akin to familiarity close to family as he chuckled, "Not more than a decade ago and I was assigned to test the aptitude of our grown Lady Veronica, she held just as much excitement as you right now"
'Huh!?'
Lady Veronica was twenty four this year and looked no younger than this man who stood in front of her, no, they looked practically the same age and yet he'd administered Veronica's aptitude test at least a decade ago? She was caught of guard for a second but then it dissipated and she felt her heart palpate even faster.
'So magic also exponentially expands one's own life span!!'
This was great, Immortality sounded really enticing and she rather liked the notion that at least she'd never grow old and wrinkly or one day never be able to enjoy the activities and shenanigans of the youth.
"I see, I'm glad I'm in safe hands" she bowed her head a bit which incited a look of shock and laughter from the man.
"Young Lady Ludmilla, I may be a senior Wizard but my status pales in comparison to yours not to mention your parents" he said between a laugh and more chuckling.
Crusch could imagine how many other misunderstandings and etiquette issues she'll be having in the future just cause this body had refused to go outside of its room, she thought because the man was a Wizard who probably held great power that even nobility wouldn't be much of a difference in status between the two that there was a need for reverence but she seemed to have misunderstood and embarrassed herself.
"I apologize"
"There's no need, more importantly is your aptitude test" He spoke, gesturing by taking a step to the side which revealed to Crusch what was some kind of magic circle. Intrigued and interested at the magic since the man had been using a wand earlier, the question simply slipped past her lips.
"Do all spells require a magic circle like this?" She asked.
"Hm?" The man's eyes widened a bit as if having not expected such a question from her before slowly gazing at her with amusement, "Of course not, they're only used when a wizard or witch is trying to perform either a spell that far out classes their own abilities or are attempting to cast a spell not of their affinity"
He explained, "I'm using it of the latter reason, the spell used to assess a mage's magical aptitude is of the spirit class and is derived from the third circle"
'So, they have different classes and use the popular 'circles' to distinguish power?'
She was even more intrigued but she quickly swallowed her curiosity as although the man in front of her seemed willing to explain for hours, she had a purpose here and gaining a magical lesson wasn't one of them; that would come later.
She eventually nodded and politely asked if she was to step into the circle for which the man nodded.
"Don't mind the creeping feeling and don't try and fight it either"
'Creeping feeling?'
Crusch ruminated over those words but stepped in without fear anyway as the magic circle seemed to have a small reaction from her actions, it glowed with a very dim hue of purplish red as she placed her whole body inside and walked forward to stand at the center which at this point was met with a dazzling burst of colours.
'This…'
Crusch's eyes went wide, as soon as the circle had sensed her presence and that she'd made it to the center did something spectacularly odd, frightening and dazzling occur; there were tendrils!! Long, slithering and writhing tendrils of light rose from the engraves and symbols on the ground. They were a color of purplish galactic red, almost transparent in nature but not that started to reach after her, coagulating in mass as they slowly became a single entity. Crusch was dumbstruck, this went far beyond what she'd been expecting and she could somewhat feel a part of her heart begin to tremble, the coagulation of what she could now no longer call tendrils but worms of sort, long and slithery and although slightly transparent in nature somehow had that slippery and slimy gleam to them, this was horrifying!! taking a glance at her parents and the man at the edge of the circle and she was shocked to note how they simply stood there and watched in anticipation, their eyes practically glued in reverence.
The coagulation of worms soon became some kind of more giant and disgustingly tall worm-like creature that stood above her by a head, it stared at her and she stared at it with mortifying fear as slits started to form across its pointed, flower tip head that began to open and spread itself wide.
'This…!'
Crusch nearly took a step back till her eyes met gazes with it, its head now open wide like a bloomed flower was holding something inside.
"It's beautiful…"
She said out loud, all the while another part of the creature, a piece of its wormy body slipped off of it and drew near her but Crusch couldn't care as she was enamored by what was inside.
'Beauty, this is true Beauty'
The worms graced upon her chest then as if her body were mere water and the worms were a solid hand placing itself beneath the surface, they simply sank into her chest to which Crusch could now feel that creeping feeling the man had been speaking of, the worms now rummaging for her heart, grasping it then rummaging into that as well while another slinked for her mind and all the while she didn't care.
Inside the creature's mouth was something so otherworldly beautiful, so enamoring, her mind floundered and her thoughts halted all so it could enjoy this moment. Her hand then started to rise from her side, every desire in her body screaming at her to reach for it, to grasp at it.
That beauty
That beauty that words couldn't describe, the likes of which her heart palpated and her mind grew blank over, the likes of which she couldn't bare to look away from, it clouded thoughts, it clouded senseless emotions, pain, suffering, the squirming in her heart and mind. She kept reaching for it and drew nearer and nearer, the desire and anticipation almost palpable as she watched.
'Let me grasp you'
'Just once'
'Just once'
'Just once'
'Just once'
'Just once'
There was joy, there was excitement there, her hand was nearly there, her heart fluttering as she was only moments from grabbing it and then—!
"NUMERICAL VALUE…III!!"