“Thaniel!”

  Thaniel moved further into the room, eyes sweeping the crowd until they nded on Eleanor and Geraldine. To Pandy’s surprise, their new friend Suzanne sat with them, along with a defiant-looking Matilda. Matilda’s nose was in the air, her hair in rge curls that hung over the shoulders of her uniform jacket. Her eyes skimmed over the crowd, acknowledging no one. While some students’ parents stood or even sat near them, no adults shared the table with the four girls.

  The boy advanced cautiously, watching the two older girls even as he sat in the empty chair between Geraldine and Suzanne. He pced Pandy on the floor by his feet, where she met the patient gaze of Lord Winston and Miss Cupcakes’ disgruntled gre.

  Both animals huddled as far from Suzanne as they could get without leaving their positions by their mistress’ feet. This pced them in what was clearly uncomfortable proximity. Pandy, on the other hand, was ecstatic that she would so easily get more Corruption Points, and settled down so she was all but touching the young Dark mage.

  +1 Corruption Point for entering Dark Aura I

  Oh yes, this was definitely a good thing.

  It was difficult to hear what the children said over the cmor of voices, but it sounded like Matilda offered a reluctant apology. From beneath the table, Pandy could see just how many times Suzanne nudged her friend to keep her talking, but eventually proper introductions were finally made, and concessions granted that Tilly could py with the three pets, with supervision.

  It was at about this time that someone tapped a gss, and the room fell into silence. Even the adults stopped speaking, and in Pandy’s experience, parents usually believed that the rules that applied to their children did not, in fact, apply to them. She couldn’t see, but she heard the Chancellor begin to speak.

  “I am pleased to welcome each and every one of you to Falconet. Whether you are a parent, a returning student, or a new student, we’re happy you’re here. I am Chancellor Bckwood, and I’m honored to stand before you today as we begin another exciting year at this remarkable institution.”

  There was a polite smattering of appuse, and then he continued. “As always, we are here to support our students in every way possible. I have no doubt that you will rise to meet every challenge and embrace every success that comes your way. Now, please enjoy this excellent meal, surrounded by past, present, and future friends.”

  With that, servants began to bring out massive trays of food perched precariously on carts that were clearly not designed with this kind of burden in mind. One cart went directly to their table, and a servant handed each of the pets a bowl containing food tailored to their needs. There was no processed kibble in this world, and these meals rivaled pictures Pandy had seen from Michelin-star restaurants. Even her hay and veggies were beautifully pted.

  Conversation remained at a low murmur as ptes of food came and went, and even Pandy began to feel full as Thaniel dropped everything from beans to what she thought was a frittata onto her pte. In retrospect, giving him food right before a meal probably wasn’t the best pn, but she hadn’t seen any other way to save him today, so he would just have to forgo some of the delicious meal.

  After the st course had been removed, the surprisingly sharp chime of the gss rang out once more. This time it took a little longer for the room to still, but when it did, the Chancellor spoke a bit more before politely but firmly telling both the adults and the older students to get out.

  “Please take this time to look over the grounds and meet your teachers. Most of them will be in their rooms and avaible for questions,” he told them as they moved toward the door. “All second- to fifth-year students have free time until lunch. If you need help with books or uniforms, I encourage you to seek out Professor Beeswick in the library, or Mrs. Farrier, our seamstress extraordinaire, without whom many of our students would be out of uniform by the end of the year.”

  He got a small ugh with this, and soon the doors closed firmly behind the departing parents and older students, including Suzanne and Matilda. This meant Pandy could no longer leech Corruption Points from Suzanne’s aura, but since she now had one hundred and eighteen CP, she was satisfied. She definitely had pns for those Corruption Points, but though she had been certain how she was going to spend them, now that she was fairly certain she could get any skill or spell in the game, she found herself hesitating, and not only because she was currently beneath the table in a highly-poputed area.

  When Chancellor Bckwood spoke again, his voice was far more solemn than it had been up to this point, and Pandy could feel tension rise in the room. “I would like to extend a special welcome to the families of our first-year students. We are deeply appreciative of your decision to entrust us with your child's safety and education. Please know that we are committed to honoring that responsibility with the utmost care and dedication. Now, will the students please step forward?”

  With their parents’ urging, children began to make their way forward, until they stood in a ragged line in front of the raised ptform on which the teachers sat. Pandy, Miss Cupcakes, and Winston started to follow their small humans, but were firmly sent back by a teacher Pandy didn’t know. Thaniel cast several gnces at Pandy, but he and the girls soon joined the line.

  Chancellor Bckwood came down the short set of stairs at the end of the ptform, smiling warmly at the children. It transformed his rather stern face into one that looked much more approachable, though his perfectly groomed hair and clothing were still rigidly professional. When he spoke, his voice was noticeably gentler, especially as his gaze nded on a few children who looked a little frightened.

  “I’m sure your parents have expined how we discover a student’s magical potential, but I want to show you, in case any of you are confused.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a chunk of clear crystal. It could have been a piece of common quartz, with a few small crystals nestled around the base of a trio of rger ones.

  “This is an essence stone,” he said, touching his finger to the top of the tallest crystal. It immediately began to glow a soft bluish-yellow, which became steadily brighter until he pulled his hand away. “When you touch the stone, it will tell us what your potential is. That is, most humans are able to do some magic with their innate power alone. But each of us also has the ability to use elementals to do far more. We are, however, each limited to one type of elemental, and this crystal will tell us what yours is.”

  He looked around, checking to make sure he hadn’t lost any of his young listeners. “This elemental type will come as no surprise to most of you. Elements run in families, so if your mother is an Earth mage, and your father is a Water mage, you will likely be either Earth or Water, though you could also be the same type as one of your grandparents. Some of you have also had a natural revetion, which is when an elemental responds to you even though you haven’t tried to summon one, allowing you to do something beyond the ability of a human alone. In that case, this stone will still tell us how strong your potential is, but nothing new about the type.”

  A few students nodded, their little chests puffing out in pride. Chancellor Bckwood saw this, and called these students forward, encouraging them to touch the essence stone. The first one was definitely hesitant, but at the encouragement of a man Pandy assumed was their father, they touched the crystal, which lit with a bright, clear greenish-yellow light. They were deemed to be a strong Nature mage, and sent back to sit with their parents.

  After this, student after student was called, each one nervous and excited. Everyone got used to what the colors and the level of brightness revealed by the crystal meant, though the Chancellor made sure to remind them all that mere strength wasn’t the sole determiner of what a mage could do. When it was Geraldine’s turn, she went with a bounce in her step and a gleam in her eye. Her mana was a beautiful sparkling orange, showing that she was a Fire mage.

  With each name called, Pandy grew more tense, expecting Thaniel to be next. Would her attempt to conceal his mana type be enough? Would the crystal be able to tell that the Light mana he was supposed to be emitting wasn’t his? What happened if it detected both Light and Dark magic? Would it break, or would the light it gave off be an impossible shade of gray? That still had to be better than a clear revetion of Dark magic in front of all the students and their families, didn’t it?

  But Thaniel’s name was never called, and neither was Eleanor’s. When they were the only two left, shrinking beneath the curious gazes of the rest of the people in the room, Chancellor Bckwood gently urged them back to their seats without testing them at all. As the two children sat down, the head of the school began to speak again.

  “Though it’s rarely mentioned, every year we have a few more traditional families who request that their children not be tested. They believe that a natural revetion, which usually occurs in a moment of struggle or emotional upheaval, is different from one achieved with intention. While there is no way to test this theory, we respect it, and so our final two students will be given the opportunity to discover their own elemental affinities, just as those of you who went first did. That concludes our affinity testing, and this, together with other information, will be used to form the small groups every student will participate in at the end of each school day.”

  He smiled around at the gathered students and parents once more, as he slipped the essence stone back into his pocket. “I’m sure you’re just as excited to explore the school as your older schoolmates. You’re now free to go, and your parents may remain to look around and ask questions until lunch time. I will be in my office if anyone needs me, and any staff member will direct you there. Thank you all.”

  He bowed, and there was an immediate surge of adults toward him, while children leaned in toward each other, young voices rising over their deeper adult counterparts. Many of the children had moved toward others with the same kind of elemental mana as them, and now that became even more obvious, as groups formed, chattering and excited.

  Pandy, however, was gobsmacked. She wasn’t even certain what that meant, except absolutely shocked, but the word was the only one that fit. Thaniel wasn’t being tested? At all? Such a thing had never been mentioned in Gacha Love, though she supposed that it wouldn’t be. Whether it was natural or not, every student at Condor had already had their revetion by the time they reached their mid to te teens. The essence stone had been used to show how strong each of them was – and of course Cra was the most powerful, other than her four love interests, which instantly sparked jealousy among the rest of the students. But even she already knew she had Light magic, though she had only learned a few small spells, none of which required an elemental.

  But this…this was utterly unexpected, and if Pandy had been able to ugh, that ughter would probably be more than a bit hysterical. She had spent so many Corruption Points, put herself and Thaniel at risk of discovery and punishment, all for nothing?

  Overhead, Thaniel, Eleanor, and Geraldine had already moved on, and were busy pnning which cssroom they would visit first, now that they were all open. Beneath the table, however, Pandy pressed her paws over her eyes and was just gd rabbits couldn’t cry.