• Roi Onnet was perfectly ordinary. Well, he was as ordinary as could be expected of someone with supernatural abilities. But within the context of the magical world he was horribly average. At the moment he could feel every ounce of that mediocrity weighing heavily down on him because he was desperately scribbling an answer on to a sheet of paper as though his life hung in the balance, which it did. He was taking what was easily the most important test of his life and all he wanted to do was vomit all over it. He gagged as he passed over a few questions that he didn’t know the answer to. He simply didn’t do well under pressure.
    After some time, which he spent trying to ignore the ache in the pit of his stomach he finally reached the last question. He felt relieved and horrified at the same time. He was almost done but he didn’t have a single clue as to what to put for the last question. It read: “What quality most embodies a leader?” Roi stared at it, feeling the minutes tick away inside his head, every “tick” rang cruel and sarcastic and every “tock” brought a new wave of panic as he tried desperately to scrounge up some kind of answer.
    Eventually the exam ended and he wrote something down in his booklet. The group that he’d been with turned their tests in and slowly abandoned the room that they had developed a strong hatred for. They looked drained and defeated as they limped out the door, each of them chancing one last look at the uniform stacks of paper that would soon decide their fates.
    Roi walked out of the exam room and leaned back on a wall with a deep sigh. He’d known that it was going to be hard. He wasn’t a fool but at the moment he sure as hell felt like one. He didn’t think that it should have been that exhausting to choose “A”, “B”, “C” or “D” over and over again for hours on end. But it had been and now he just wanted to find a nice, flat, hard surface and slam his head into repeatedly until he passed out. It was the only thing that he could think of to do to keep his mind off the exam.
    The exam was the MPE, the Magical Placement Evaluation. It was a lot like the mortal’s standardized tests, which they took to get into advanced schools, only this was harder and in certain places slightly deadly. The exam had two main parts. The first was the practical, all of which was hands on including a fight tournament to test combat and field abilities. And those who survived that went on to take the written exam. After completing both parts they were let go for approximately one month, during which they were supposed to relax and enjoy themselves while their tests were processed.
    After the analysis was completed they were called back to get their results at which time they would find out where they would be assigned for their foreseeable futures. So it was the most important test that they would ever take. It would literally decide their futures as even if they got moved to a different assignment the standings they achieved in the exam would be their classification for the rest of their lives. Their whole lives rested on how they did on these exams, which were designed to break through all of their careful studying and practicing in order to push them beyond anything they had done before and see right their true selves.
    “Hey,” said a miserable voice. Roi looked up and saw his best friend, Vin Defacile, standing slightly slumped next to him.
    “Hey,” mumbled Roi in response.
    “Man, you look how I feel.” Roi looked at Vin through half-closed eyes trying to shut out the lights in an attempt to sooth his migraine. He wasn’t doing much better by the look of him. Vin was naturally handsome and at times he was fully aware of this fact and tended to be rather annoying whenever it came to it. He had golden brown wavy locks of hair that stopped almost exactly at his shoulders. He had soft brown eyes, flawless tan skin and perfectly aligned and proportional facial features.
    Roi wasn’t so bad looking himself but out of the two of them Vin was better looking and he also had confidence, which Roi sorely lacked. Roi had neatly cut amber hair, a slightly unique color which he had a tendency to try to cover up. Roi was rarely without a hat, usually a ratty old baseball cap, which easily covered all of his hair because it made him stand out and thus he hated it.
    Roi hated having any kind of attention put on him and his eyes didn’t help matters either. Everyone described his bright blue eyes as sharp and intense although he really had no idea as to why as he was neither a sharp nor intense person. His teeth weren’t pristine like Vin’s and in his opinion his ears were simply one size too big as was his nose. He didn’t have the sun-kissed flesh that Vin had either. But Vin always told him that he only noticed all of this because he went looking for them. And maybe Vin was right; his lack of confidence did cause him to seek out anything to hurt his already low self-esteem.
    “Thanks,” said Roi for lack of anything better to say and there was a long pause.
    “How do you think you did?” He groaned at the sound of yet another dreaded question, this one also stung more than the ones he’d just answered.
    “Don’t ask.”
    “That bad, huh?”
    “I, uh-, I.” He couldn’t think of a word to describe how he felt he had done so he let out a sort of grunt that he hoped would suffice.
    “Yeah, me too. What’d you put for hat question about the goblins?”
    “Which one?”
    “The one that had something to do with potions.”
    “Wasn’t it to strengthen a vanquishing spell for an upper level demon?”
    “Damn it! That’s right! I knew that last week.”
    “What’d you put for the last one?”
    “The one on leadership?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Yeah, what was with the question? I hadn’t a clue as to what they wanted. I kind of just rambled on about honor or something, nothing very good.”
    “Honor? That’s pretty good.”
    “What’d you put?”
    “Bravery.” Roi let out a sigh at the thought of his own poorly-worded response.
    “That’s pretty good too.”
    “Thanks,” said Roi unsurely and there was another long, awkward pause, something that neither of them were accustomed to when they were alone, “So what do you want to do?”
    “Let’s just go home, being here makes me uncomfortable.” Roi nodded, he didn’t like being there either yet he didn’t think that he could leave just yet. Leaving would mean it was done, that it was final. To leave the exam hall would mean that their fates were sealed and that they didn’t even know what those fates were. But after a long look around the building he took a deep breath and left with Vin.
    He’d thought that waiting to take the exam had been hard. And in a sense he was correct; it was hard to study relentlessly, cramming all sorts of minute facts into his brain. He’d also thought taking the exam had been difficult and again in a way he was right; it was stressful to sit in a room packed with silent teenagers who were all panicking like he was and to feel that all of that studying clearly hadn’t paid off as much as he had hoped for. But what Roi had failed to realize was just how painstakingly harsh it was going to be to wait for the results.
    For the next month Roi remained in seclusion. He rarely left his room and when he did, he didn’t talk to anyone, not even Vin, especially not Vin. He didn’t think he could handle that. Vin had been Roi’s best friend for as long as they could both remember, just about since birth. They’d always depended on each other all throughout their lives. But the chances of them somehow being assigned to the same team or even in the same remote area were so small that calling them non existent would be an overestimation. He was facing the reality that in less than one month he was going to be truly alone for the first time in his life, surrounded by strangers instead of family and friends and he didn’t think that he was even the slightest bit ready for that.
    With each passing day he got progressively more nervous about his placement. He had nightmares about his assignment where they became increasingly more pathetic and humiliating. When he was conscious he envisioned that he was accidentally placed on an elite team far beyond his abilities and he was killed or sometimes he managed to get the world destroyed. Those were worse and the more he thought about it the more he felt like no matter where he was going to be assigned he was going to get people hurt or killed. It was a feeling that he simply couldn’t shake. At first he passed it off as nothing more that nerves about the results but it lasted days after he got his assignment at after that he simply refused to let himself think about it.
    Nevertheless in one month he returned to the examination hall looking about as anxious as he had when he’d last been there only slightly thinner and pale-faced. He of course went with Vin. It didn’t seem right to go without him and he didn’t think that he could do it on his own. They traveled in silence and remained so as they stood and waited anxiously to get their results.
    To distract himself Roi did what he always did and looked up at the sky. He had imagined his assignment day many times throughout his life and never once did he imagine that it would be so…sunny. The weather was bright, just warm enough that he didn’t have to wear a jacket but it wouldn’t kill him if he did. There were a few clouds in various shapes and the sky was a perfect azure blue. On any other day he might lie down and try to make up something amusing for them to be. But he was far too tense for that. He wished silently that the weather could’ve been at least a little bit more dramatic but his wishes were far from answered. After their trek to the hall, trudging through the painful silence they’d created they found their way to the room where they were going to find out where they would be placed.
    The room was shockingly different from before. While taking the exam it had been full of desks occupied by manic teenagers with the weight of the future on their shoulders. Now it was essential empty except for a small stage and a few scattered tables along the walls with untouched food set out on them. The room was full of small groups of teenagers, talking rarely and when they did it was in short, awkward bursts of whispers. They stood around consumed in thoughts of their futures, trying to avoid looking at the stage in the front of the room. Its purpose was all too apparent to the nervous occupants.
    The air was solid, full of tension, anguish and anxiety. As awful as Roi was feeling it appeared as though everyone else was equally as nauseous. The room was packed with pale faces painted on normally tan skin as they all strived to act as though the situation wasn’t eating away at them. However it was obvious that it was but there was an unspoken rule that was embedded instantly into the minds of anyone who entered the room not to mention aloud their reason for being there out of fear that something horrible might happen even though they all knew that if someone did bring it up there would be a minute or so of horrible, stomach turning tension which would then fade back into the denial that they all were clinging so tightly to with all of their might. The two stood in silence next to each other avoiding making eye contact at all costs.
    “Hi!” peeped a small voice from behind them enthusiastically. Roi and Vin both jumped abruptly at the sound of it and Roi’s heart was sent racing right into his throat. They turned around slowly and saw a girl. She was just standing there, right in front of them, eyes wide and expectant as she looked at them and Roi got the feeling that she was looking at him in particular. Roi simply stared back at her, not entirely sure of what to do. Everything about her just screamed “odd”. She was fairly short but not overly so in comparison to his own, average height. She couldn’t be more than a few inches shorter than him but there was something about the way that she held herself gave him the distinct impression that she was accustomed to having to look up at people with those unsettlingly large eyes.
    She had silky, severely blonde straight hair that ran all the way down to her waist. It was held back by a soft blue ribbon. She was pale, but not in the same sickly manner as everyone else in the room. She was more like a porcelain doll, so delicate and with a soft, snowy complexion of a girl who was found often bathed in moonlight instead of sunlight. Her eyes seemed to draw the most attention, it might have been because they matched her ribbon and dress and therefore were a bright blue color reminiscent of pools of crystal clean water or the fact that they appeared to be larger than actually were creating the illusion that they took up a large area on that delicate face of hers.
    The girl was wearing a soft, sky blue dress that matched the ribbon in her hair and her strangely enchanting blue eyes. It had thick straps for sleeves that revealed her tiny shoulders and she wasn’t wearing a jacket despite the fact that it had been a little chilly outside. The dress stopped just above her knobby knees with a slightly frilled hem. From there his eyes were drawn to her shoes. On her feet was a pair of hideously brown and mud-caked army boots that clashed horrendously with everything else about her and yet somehow they seemed to be a perfect fit for her
    Roi and Vin gawked at her, silent and open mouthed, for a moment, trying to take her in but failed as they had trouble processing her in their minds. She was an anomaly in the cold, tense room; a tiny little bumble of warmth and energy that no one else could relate to on that day. They had extreme difficulty dealing with her bright, wide smile that was complete with adorable little dimples and pearly white teeth. The smile seemed to reach every part of her body, creating an overwhelming sense of happiness that they didn’t know how to understand. There was a warmness about her that didn’t fit in with the chill that seemed to surround them.
    “Um, w-what?” asked Roi, feeling slightly retarded with his answer because it was the only thing that he could get out of his mouth.
    “Are you as excited as I am?” asked the girl. It like she was shouting even though she really wasn’t. It was because she wasn’t whispering and she was jumping slightly in place. She was shockingly full of energy.
    “E-excuse me?” He blinked at her a few times trying to figure out if she was some kind of illusion and would disappear if he closed his eyes. He was wrong. And even if he wasn’t, excitement wasn’t exactly what he would say that he was feeling.
    “I can’t wait to see where I’m going to be assigned.”
    “Yeah,” said Vin slowly as they continued to stare at her, utterly mystified. Without saying anything else she spun around with surprising grace on one foot and then took off skipping towards one of the buffet tables.
    “I - uh - what the hell just happened?” asked Roi.
    “I don’t know but I pity anyone who gets stuck on a team with that giant ball of crazy.” They stopped talking again but this time it wasn’t out of fear or tension. Somehow the strange girl had made all of their anxiety slip away. However after a while they realized that the longer she was gone the more it seemed to creep back over to them.
    “I think I’m going to throw up.” He looked at the door and considered running away but Vin put a hand on his shoulder.
    “Dude, it’s going to be fine, just relax and remember to breathe.” Vin might have said something else to comfort him but he was cut off but a sudden and oppressive silence that fell upon the room when a woman took the stage. If anyone had been able to do anything they stopped when they saw her. In eerie unity every occupant of the room turned and stared at her, with mind boggling intensity yet the woman did not waver or falter as Roi would have had he been there where she stood calmly. The details of her features, her appearance and voice would fade quite quickly from their minds. But that blue folder in her hands would most likely haunt them for eternity.
    Roi heard Vin swallow and attempted to do the same but he failed miserably due to a complete and utter lack of saliva. He then realized that along with not swallowing he was also not breathing. It took all of what remained of his functioning brain cells to start going again. He felt faint and was unable to focus on anything. The woman said something but the words were completely lost on him, drowned out by the pounding of his own blood in his ears.
    She stood in front of them in silence for a few minutes before she opened the folder at which point everyone in the room collectively took a deep breath and held it as tightly as possible as it pinched inside of them, trying to escape in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the tension. The woman looked down at whatever was in the ominous folder for a while her eyes scanning it slowly, taking in every detail and making the air around them become so solid that it collapsed around them. They noticed this only because of the oppressive sense of it against their sweat-coated flesh as none of them had the mental audacity to try to breathe.
    After while she closed the folder causing the room to collectively lean towards her not knowing what to expect. With a wave of her hand she sent the folder flying into the air, carrying their attention with it. It opened and with a flutter sheets of paper came soaring out of it. They stuck themselves on a wall to Roi’s right and settled there; receiving more attention and mystified stares than any other pieces of paper had ever received before them.
    And then the woman walked off the stage without saying anything and without offering any sort of explanation to them. Roi and several others stared at here she’d been standing as they slowly realized exactly what those papers were. Those were their assignments. He was a little shocked to say the least. After everything that they’d been through throughout the exams he’d been expecting some kind of ceremony or at least a little congratulations from the proctors, who’d taken the exam as an opportunity to torture complete strangers.
    But as he thought about it, while they all stood around watching the papers as though they might suddenly explode, this way made more sense. It was simpler and by far easier for him and the collective to handle. It was significantly more practical than some kind of graduation. And the more that he thought about it the more he realized that he preferred it. Sure some kind of praise might have made him feel better but he would get that when he went home later that day to gather up his belongings and leave.
    After the shock faded and people regained control of their faculties there was a frenzied stampede as the group rushed to get to the results as fast as possible, going as far to start fighting each other over it. Roi and Vin were nearly trampled as Roi refused to do anything but stare blindly at the crowd. He was utterly incapable of moving towards the results. Vin looked at him but said nothing. They stood in silence under the ruse of waiting for the crowd to thin out. Roi had never felt like this before; he was just too nervous to go over and look.
    Everything inside of him wanted, or rather needed to know, but he just couldn’t muster a single forward movement. He tried but his legs seemed to be more nervous than he was judging by the way they were shaking. However he eventually let Vin lead him silently over to the wall with almost no resistance. Even then it was Vin’s forceful pull that got him to move, not his own will and when they reached the wall he suffered a small panic attack.
    “I don’t want to know,” said Roi his voice cracking in a way that would have been amusing if the situation had been a little bit different. He turned away from the wall with a jerk and let Vin do the looking for him.
    “Oh, God,” said Vin, clearly shocked.
    “Oh God!” moaned Roi in a panic as his heart shot into his throat and threatened to strangle him as his stomach attempted to spill out of him.
    “Man, look!”
    “I can’t.” He shut his eyes tightly against the world.
    “No, Roi, look!”
    “Vin -.”
    “We’re on the same team.” With eyes wide open Roi turned around with a speed that he hadn’t possessed a moment ago and Vin pointed to one of the sheets posted on the wall; without a second thought Roi looked. He found Vin’s name first and slowly let his eyes fall down the short list until they found his own name. He placed his hand on the paper as if to prove to himself that it actually existed. In disbelief he read the unfamiliar names of his new teammates a couple more times before he exclaimed.
    “No way!” A wave of unending relief swept over him and he was finally able to breath properly again for the first time in over a month. The chances had been astronomically minute, beyond impossible. Yet the paper clearly dictated the truth. Somehow, some way they’d been assigned to the same team. As he thought about it all of the stress that had consumed and paralyzed him a moment before faded away. It was completely gone and had been replaced by joy.
    “This is great,” said Vin and Roi turned back to him. They slammed their fists together smiling brightly. The overwhelming sense of happiness that they generated was the best possible result of the MPE, far beyond anything that either of them had expected.
    “Where are we stationed? What level?” asked Roi, suddenly curious about the team that he had been dreading hearing about for a month. Vin looked back at the list.
    “We’re going to be located in Gatra south of Seron in the village Xli.”
    “Wow? Really?” Seron was the old capital of their world, Mayun. During ancient times when their world was united under one ruler and magic was allowed to roam free on their world without so much bureaucracy trying to control anyone with powers. That was during the time of Old King Tenos, who with his legendary sword Aniturex was able to destroy the darkness that had previously held power. However, after his death Aniturex disappeared and chaos resumed as Mayun broke up into many countries. Vin and Roi lived in Sadonia, located on the other side of the World Sea far from the country of Gatra, in the city of Dain, the capital of Sadonia and one of the largest cities on Mayun.
    “Hey, it’s an orange level team!”
    “Orange!? That’s pretty high.” The orange level was one of the upper levels in the hierarchy of teams. The system was grouped with the lower teams at the bottom, which were purple, pink, blue, green, and the upper level teams, which were yellow, orange and red and the special teams of white and black. Not the highest but it was much more than he’d expected. They greeted this news with a high five.
    “This is going to be great,” said Vin. That was when Roi noticed that their conversation had received the attention of two girls who were standing near them.
    “That’s so cool,” said one of the girls, “Two friends on the same team together. That never happens.”
    “Yeah,” said Vin with a nod and a smile as the girl looked at their post. As soon as she did so she burst out laughing, it was a horrid laugh full of malcontent.
    “What?” asked Roi, not entirely sure that he wanted to know.
    “Too bad there’s a catch,” said the girl with an evil smirk plastered on her face.
    “Catch?” She pointed to the list and her friend looked; subsequently she also let out her own malicious chuckle. Roi leaned and looked at the list again but he didn’t see anything that looked like a catch to him.
    “Lumi Fou is on your team,” she explained.
    “Lumi Fou?”
    “Looney Lumi.” She pointed and with a sinking feeling he turned. He felt a rush of his old anguish when he identified who they were talking about. It was the strange blonde girl who’d come up to them earlier. She was now, ever so contently, dangling from a light fixture on the wall watching those around her scramble towards the postings while she remained behind, apparently uninterested in where she would be living.
    As Roi watched her she looked up and smiled at him. It was as unsettling as before. But then she looked away from him at someone else. Roi followed her gaze and saw a angry guy with black hair walking away with his hands in his pockets before Roi looked back at her to see that she’d begun swinging her legs about enthusiastically while still gripping the light fixture she was dangling from.
    “Oh no,” said Vin.