NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41: Facing The Panel
{Happy New Year everyone! Author here! Starting tomorrow, updates will be released at 10 pm (GMT +8). Thanks for reading and have a great day to you all!}
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I did not miss the chance to see that annoying smirk on the heartless, cold jerk's face as he called my last name, as if he did not know me at all.
Gulp!
"At the moment, I want you to execute the Aguamenti spell," he demanded in his authoritative voice.
That spell! The one that is used to create water particles! He knows I am having such a hard time doing that spell, and yet here he is… purposely making my life as hard as it already had for the past few days.
"S-sure."
I shut my eyes close, and tried to remember all the things that I have learned in our training session so far.
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-FLASHBACK-
"When you execute any spells given to you by the panel, all you need to do is to clear your mind and set aside all your worries for a while. Then, when you succeed in doing that, the next step you need to do is to channel the element needed for that spell combining the mana that you could muster all around you."
Alex discussed all of this with a straight and intimidating face that gives me the chills sometimes, but at the same time, I am trying to take note of all the things he is discussing with me.
"Every wizard has this so-called mana container located in our lower abdomen wherein it helps us store the mana that we are gathering in order for us to execute the spells. The higher is your ranking, the larger is your mana container that you can use to store mana, and the more complicated spells you can execute. Do I make myself clear?"
His keen eyes bore into mine like daggers coming towards my direction, but since I already got used to his intimidating presence especially when he acts as my mentor, I did not flinch anymore.
"Yes. Crystal clear!"
-FLASHBACK ENDS-
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When I opened my eyes once again, I was surprised as to how confident I am right now in doing that complicated basic water spell.
"Aguamenti!"
A hint of white light emerged from my palms the moment I cast the said spell as I stretched it forward in front of me. With enough amount of mana and concentration that I could muster, I was able to successfully create large water particles from it that formed into a large sphere.
I can't help but notice the students and the panel gaped at what they are witnessing just now. The normal way to execute Aguamenti, to be honest, is you can only create a tiny sphere of water particles since it is only a basic spell to use.
But the one I am doing right now is different from what they know, and I feel so great right now.
I was delighted to see the grin on Alex's face as he focused his gaze on me. He may not be able to tell it to me directly, but I know he is somehow proud to know that his student has succeeded in his assigned task.
"Great job, Ms. Lancaster," he said, raising his voice so that I could hear it well. I beamed at him.
After that successful move, I was also able to succeed on the second level spell that one of the panels had me execute next to Aguamenti. Yet the third spell…
"Ms. Lancaster…" One of the panels, the one who introduced herself earlier as Ms. Althea Muggles during the introduction of our panels, called out.
The way I see her, she is this sweet and gentle lady who has chestnut waist-length straight hair, round blue eyes, and pinkish lips that always smile. She also emits this friendly aura within her, and she is also young-looking-- like the same age as me yet she also holds this very important role in society as one of the heads in the Ministry of Magic-- an organization built by the master wizards to act as representatives for other wizards in the royal council.
I wonder how they like to appoint young ones in the council…
"I like your name by the way," Ms. Muggles complimented as she plastered a friendly smile on her face.
"T-thank you," I awkwardly responded, not sure what to feel, honestly.
"So, here we go…" she paused for a moment, as if thinking what spell would she make me do next. I bet something challenging since this would be my last spell for today.
"Ah! I want you to execute the terrain spell in which you need to turn the ground into its liquid state and vice versa. Think you could do that for us?" she finally gave the spell I need to execute.
But… what the heck?!
If there's any spell that I hate to do besides the Aguamenti, that would be the level 3 spell that she mentioned just now. I know what specific spell to use, but I still can't help but feel anxious about it.
An invisible lump starts to form in my throat that I need to swallow whenever I am feeling this tensed in front of the audience.
"I will try my best." I nervously smiled back at the panel.
Just like what I did with the previous spells, I tried my best to focus on what I am doing right now and set aside my worries in the meantime. As I tried to execute the spell that was mentioned by Ms. Muggles, a green light soon appeared in my palms.
"Ex lapis in aqua!"
As soon as I was able to chant the spell, it is as if my world fell apart because it did not work for the first time. The ground in front of me remained as it is, then I started to hear some people chuckling to their seats and making fun of how ridiculous I must look at the moment.
But then, as I had a glimpse of my mentor's eyes, everything faded around me… like he is all that I could see right now. His piercing eyes that says "I can do it." gave me a new encouragement that drove me to try again without failing this time.
I repeated the same spell, twice. And boy, you didn't know how relieved I must have felt the moment I saw the ground turned into a liquid with one blast of my spell and returned it to its original state.
"Well done, Ms. Lancaster."
With that being said, I immediately returned backstage and someone hastily replaced me on stage to undergo the same thing. My friends Ariella and Maggie were the first ones to greet me as soon as I was able to return backstage and instantly hugged me. I hugged them back.
"That was incredible Krisella!" Ariella complimented.
"Yes! You have done a splendid job. Now, I am sure we will all be able to pass Mr. Pumpkin's subject!" Maggie beamed.
I smiled at them. Even though I made some mistakes at the third spell, I am still hoping that I would somehow pass this major subject… my ticket to reaching my childhood dream of becoming the master wizard of our home village.
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That night, I was in the prince's chamber, letting my thoughts succumb to me for a bit. It has been hours since I got here and training sessions were postponed to let me rest for the day. That is so thoughtful of the archbishop, to be honest.
So, all afternoon I spent my leisure time with my friends Ariella and Maggie back in Central Town as our way of celebrating our success in doing all the spells that the panel made us do on stage.
I was all smiles and tried to join their laughter, but at the back of my mind, I was really wondering and being anxious if I will be able to make it next semester.
Sighing, I tried to close my eyes and waited for sleep to fall upon me, but it just can't and I hated it. Several more minutes of twists and turns on this king-sized bed had passed before I decided to get up, put on the prince's sleeping apparel, and went outside of his chamber.
It occurred to me to visit the castle towers through the secret door that General Rosa had shown to me the other day. I decided to get some fresh air up there to help me feel the momentum of sleep to visit me any time soon.
I was humming to myself a tune I made myself and was near to that secret door when something caught my attention. A shadow from afar is now moving towards this direction where I am currently in without me having any idea who that person is.
Instinctively, I hastily hide behind this large wooden cabinet where all the expensive saucers and cups are being stored inside. Since I have a petite figure, my whole body was concealed well behind its large frame.
Then, I decided to take a quick glance to know who this person is. And as I looked, my eyes instantly went round.
"Alex?" I muttered under my breath in a hushed voice.
What the heck is Alex up to at this time?