Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

-KRISELLA-

On this fine, sunny day, I am now humming happily to myself as I walk down this street going to the magic institution of Gilead Academy, the school I am enrolled in.

A smile is currently plastered on my face as I looked at the people I meet here, even though I didn't know them at all.

Today is the day that I have received my first ever salary from being the prince's impostor, that is why I am feeling really happy inside.

It's been weeks already since I last have money in my hands, and that last time would be when some kid snatched my purse away from me.

Anyway, even though I already received it, I still prefer to walk down these streets going to my school since it is just a walking distance from the castle plus I don't really want to waste any coins riding my way there.

But then, remembering that I still can't go out with my friends after classes to enjoy my first salary really sucks on my part.

Alex reminded me, once again, of the days I have missed their training sessions and I can't afford to miss another one right now. Whenever I recall his demonic face as he said those words only sends cold shivers down my spine.

Heaving out a sigh, I tried to shrug these negative thoughts away and continued to walk my way towards the school.

"What's the matter, Kris?"

I automatically lifted my head up upon hearing that very familiar husky voice of my childhood friend Dexter Woods right behind me.

With a smile plastered on my face, I turned around to face him and greeted him, "Good morning." which made him greet me back in return.

"So, what's bothering you earlier?" he asked once again when I thought he already dropped the matter.

"N-nothing," I said, trying my best to sound as casual as possible.

When I now realized that I already arrived at the front gates of the academy, Dexter must have noticed my astonished look since I heard him chuckled because of that.

"You're still the same Krisella I came to know since we were kids..." he says, now smiling at the thought of it. "... who looks really gullible and not being aware of her surroundings."

I did not respond to that and just nodded in agreement. Well, I couldn't agree more with what he just said. My best friend sure is really observant of my actions, I must say.

After that brief conversation we had, we then continued walking until we arrived at our respective classrooms.

---

"Mana, as what I have previously discussed with you, is a root substance consisting of various fields of magical energy that exist alongside the other fundamental forces of physics such as gravity and electromagnetism. In other words, mana can be found in our surroundings."

Mr. Pumpkin is starting to discuss with us once again the key elements in magic, starting from the very basic which is what we call mana or the source of our magic. Everyone fell silent as we intently listened to his continuation.

"There are two types of persons in our world, one is what we call as mortals or the ones who are not capable of sensing and using the mana around them, and two, there's the wizards- in which we all belong. These are people who have the ability to sense, use, and manipulate mana in a form of a spell."

"On top of that, wizards are classified according to rankings base on their magic skills and their mana containers they have in each one of them. The more mana they can accommodate, the larger is their mana container and the more complicated spells they can use. The more complicated spells a wizard can master, the more are the chances that his or her level would go up."

Upon hearing my teacher's words, that made me think of my current abilities as a wizard.

With the past training I had with that heartless, cold jerk, I am pretty sure that I still belong on the rank E wizards… or a group of wizards known to have zero knowledge with spells.

"Ranks of wizards are classified from E, which are the ones who don't have any experience or are lacking with skills in executing spells, to class S, or who can use complicated, high-level spells with such ease. But on top of that is the appointed master wizard of each town, village, and cities, who have surpassed all the abilities that any class S wizards have, in particular… not needing to chant any spells to activate the power of it."

Our adviser paused for a moment when someone raised his hand in the middle of his discussion. Upon calling his name, I've come to know that student was none other than our boastful, air-headed class president.

"Since you are discussing that to us right now, I assume that our magic skills test is already nearby?" he said with a smirk plastered on his face.

Upon hearing that, all ears are now focused on our adviser to wait for his response, including me.

"Yes, Mr. Wilford. I was about to say that, thank you very much for interrupting me." The teacher confirmed with a little bit of sarcasm in it.

That Wilford guy then took his seat once again.

"Your ranks are determined by what we call magic skills test, which is always held in the last week of every month. Meaning, your first magic skills test will be held three weeks from today." Mr. Pumpkin quickly added.

If possible, all blood drained on my face as I heard what Mr. Pumpkin just said.

I was so far from improving, yet our monthly magic skills test is already upcoming. Waah~ what to do?!

As Mr. Pumpkin explains the mechanics of the test, I suddenly felt that someone was looking in my direction and so I decided to take a peek.

That's when I saw our class president secretly glancing at me but then hastily peeled his gaze away when he noticed me looking back at him.

O...kay? What is his problem?