Minutes passed in peaceful silence as Miriam and I waited, a silence that was only broken when the sound of hundreds of people marching towards the square filled the air, a sound I had heard many times now.
It was a nostalgic sound, one that brought me back to my own days as an apprentice; the days of preparation to make myself worthy of the honor, the years spent studying and perfecting what I could, followed by the minutes of stress as I answered a myriad of questions from dozens of incredible Witches in hopes of securing the perfect mentor for myself.
All of that time I had spent had been well worth it in the end, and I was beginning to look forwards to the time I would need to spend guiding the next generation like I had once before; even though I had been in the midst of excavating a rather intriguing ruin, I could put that on pause for now, especially since it's permit was still in my possession.
As the hundreds of apprentices filtered into the square, Miriam sat up and began to point out the specific apprentices to me, giving me a preview of my potential students as I made observations of them from afar.
How someone held themselves and how they conducted themselves in this time was rather telling, and I instantly went ahead and struck out the top four right away - Yor, Ungan, Kilaat and Renavei - simply because the arrogance oozing off of them already was insufferable.
I didn't live in a grandiose house staffed by dozens of maids, nor did I sleep and dress in the highest quality everything; it just wasn't my style, and I wasn't about to change that to earn myself some clout amongst my peers by mentoring a talented apprentice.
The polymorpher - Morivich - seemed unbothered by the crowd at first glance, but I caught the nervousness in her movements when I studied her specifically for a few seconds, and because of that focus I saw her chatting quietly with her peers and attempting to help them calm down too.
That made her a bit more desirable, unlike the blue, green and white haired girl that Miriam had said was hyper active, since she was bouncing around and bothering everyone without a care, bumping and pushing people as she made her way towards the front.
Hyper active or simply inconsiderate, I didn't know, but I knew she wasn't off to a great start since she even went so far as to push past a Witch who was standing around the perimeter to ensure everyone was where they were meant to be, which was just... bold of her.
Marking her out for now, I found the mouse like girl clutching a book to her chest while her large glasses glittered beneath the sunlight, her stature making it hard to find her since she was easily a head and a half shorter than everyone else.
Finally there was the blue haired girl who Miriam called my 'cop out pick', and she was quietly off to the side studying everyone present, be it her fellow apprentices or the Witches themselves, her green eyes filled with something that I couldn't quite describe just yet.
She seemed rather studious and reserved, and while some of her peers didn't want to be that close to her thanks to her family name, some still came by to chat just to soothe their own nerves, which she helped settle with something amusing that caused them to laugh.
"She's supposed to be weird? Doesn't seem like it so far..."
Miriam laughed as she replied "Because most things are known to you upon first glance? Talk about magic~!", making me roll my eyes as I ignored her sarcasm for now.
"Attention! Let us keep this short and sweet, hm? You are gathered here today to continue paving your path in this world, to learn and hone your craft even further beneath the experienced hands of a Witch.
The next few years will be pivotal in kickstarting your career and life as a new Witch, so make sure to impress and convince the Witches coming to seek you out! After all, we have all members of our Coven available today, so those of you hoping to be mentored by legendary Witches, today is your day! So let the hunt for an apprentice - the hunt for a mentor - begin!"
Morrigan smiled at all of the hopefuls, her gaze sweeping over the crowd as she got everyone excited before she looked up towards me, the older woman smirking before continuing to look around and take in the adoration of the youth.
I just ignored her again and stood up, some of the more observant apprentices in the crowd following Morrigan's gaze to figure out what she was looking at just to end up wide eyed as I stepped off of the rooftop patio and transformed back into the grey feathered owl that I had taken the shape of to get here.
Unfurling my wings and gliding over the students, I looked around and found the pink haired girl first, diving down and landing right in front of the polymorpher to begin questioning her first, though as soon as I appeared the girl she leapt backwards with a shout and looked at me with fear.
For a moment we just stared at one another before I clasped my hands behind my back, curious to see if she would recover from the shock quickly or if she was locked up; as I studied her, I also caught whiff of her magic, the smell of the wilds lingering on her skin like a perfume.
However, much to my disappointment she only backed away another step, unable to overcome her fear as her two cat ears twitched while her eyes widened, showing all the signs that I didn't want from her.
Letting out a sigh I reverted back to my owl form and leapt back into the air, joining a few of the other Witches as they circled above searching for someone who would fit them best; when I landed before the mousy girl clutching her book, I was joined by two others, and we exchanged glances before silently looking back at the girl, leaving it to her to initiate everything.
Archaic and somewhat questionable on how well this sort of seeking method worked on people, but it was something that we had experienced as apprentices and something we carried into our profession as a sort of test; how well could you withstand the social pressure of coming face to face with someone you looked up to, and what did you do when that happened?