The girl stared at the three of us with wonder in her eyes, though she clutched her book tighter to give herself some comfort, something I noticed but didn't care too much about; learning to control yourself however you could was needed, and being able to maintain an equilibrium was extremely important.
Not sparing my peers a glance, I just waited and watched the girl closely, her short, petite stature only being complimented by her fluffy hour and thick glasses, making her rather adorable all things considered.
Her eyes were rather calculating after the initial wonderment wore off, and I continued to stare at her as I waited for her to do something, though she seemed to be waiting for us as well, resulting in a few seconds of long, drawn out silence.
"Ahem..."
Coughing, the Witch beside me must have gestured towards the apprentice since it made the mousy girl widen her eyes before she said "Oh right! Um..! My name is Mary Inila, and I was in the top 5 of all of my classes! I have many recommendations from various teachers and I even acted as an assistant to Professor Ungridge for her breakthroughs in alchemy!"
She continued to list off her accomplishments, offering reason after reason as to why she was such a catch, though I just wasn't really clicking with her as much as I thought I would; she was looking between the three of us with a certain gleam that wasn't giving me the confidence I wanted to have in an apprentice...
Or I was just being picky, that could be it too; she was listing these things she had done and clearly setting expectations for what she wanted, which wasn't a bad thing but I wasn't going to be the one to provide those things since... well, I wasn't a Master Alchemist just yet since I was more focused on my magic and exploring ruins.
So I wanted someone who could go out and explore with me instead of someone I needed to sit down while I went and explored instead, which meant I just turned away after listening for a minute or so, leaving the other two to determine if this Mary Inila was worth the time and commitment.
I didn't miss the disappointed and slightly angry look in her eyes as I transformed back into a bird to fly towards the last on my list, hoping that this 'weird' apprentice would be one I could tolerate and find it in me to teach because I wanted to teach.
That just further made me sure I didn't want Mary as my apprentice, but still... I was required to find someone, so I went and found the Benoix girl, who was standing on her own near the edge now, looking around and wringing out her hands anxiously.
Some Witches looked towards her and whispered to one another, some of them with pity and others with malice, and that was something that irked me with the Nobility; it wasn't her fault that her grandparents had done something 'horrible', nor was it her problem to deal with, and yet she was the one who had to deal with it because of people older than her.
Landing before her, I took in the blue haired, green eyed girl and felt something as I took in her posture and demeanor, the elegance with which she stood pairing rather interestingly with how she stared at me in shock.
She tried to maintain her elegant stance only to shatter it when she muttered "Holy shit!", only to blush before taking a step back and stuttering "I-I..! Apologies! Excuse my language!", drawing a small smile from me as I shook my head.
"No need to apologize, Lady Benoix."
"Please! No need for the titles! It's... Just Miss is fine... or just my name, that works too..."
She seemed rather scared of that, the mention of her family name making her flinch while she squeezed her hands again, though eventually she took a deep breath and said "Let's restart then, yeah? My name is Wynn Benoix, and I graduated from the Academy with slightly above average grades in support magic, archaeology and alchemy. My goal as an apprentice is... as vain as it sounds, I want to make as much money as I can so that I can rid my parents and grandparents of debt."
Even though she said that, Wynn looked away from me as she said that, and the conviction that should have been in her voice at such a proclamation was gone, something that intrigued me considering I knew what her Family's debt was.
"My magic is merely average, however I pride myself in having received a Purple Grade in terms of adaptability with my mana, alongside a Blue Grade for my power. I also received a Blue Grade in terms of capacity too, all of which places me just at the average level... but if I were to receive proper tutoring tailored for me..."
She trailed off, and now there was some conviction to her voice as she looked at me hopefully, her green eyes sparkling as she continued to squeeze her hands together nervously, though the longer I took in those emeralds the more I found her fascinating.
"Hmm... tell me, what was the capital of the Old Country?"
"Mero Spartia."
"What are the fundamentals of magic?"
"Control, and anything else falls beneath that umbrella; control of amount, control of said amount, control of the power... all of it is control. Mindset also matters, but one could argue that is also beneath the umbrella of control."
I nodded, asking a few more questions as quickly as I could, spreading the variety out and covering a broad range of topics as I tested her knowledge; the more I asked, the quicker her answers came out, and the more confident I was in this decision as I took in her answers, her confidence, and even her excitement as she aced my 'test' of her basic knowledge.
"Would you like to be my apprentice then, Wynn Benoix?"
She acted like that question came out of nowhere, staggering backwards a step and staring at me in shock before she asked "For real?! For real for real?!", her tone going up an octave as she clutched her shapely chest.
"As opposed to be fake?"
I didn't understand the need to repeat 'for real' that many times, and while I could understand the 'question' in it being 'are you being serious?' having it repeated that many times was... odd, and I wondered if this was what Miriam meant.