Disclaimer: Do I own Magical Diary? Nope.


Chapter 9: I Take my First Exam

-September 22nd, Sunday-

I screamed in frustration in my pillow that morning when I found out that I had forgotten to visit the magic shop at the mall yesterday…again. So many things were happening that I kept forgetting to ask Manuel where that shop was.

Speaking of Manuel…

Today was the day I would teach him how to play Magic. After getting breakfast, we both sat on my bed and I took out a couple of cards. Fanning out a few in my hand, I began my explanation.

"As you've noticed," I started, "there are five colors of cards, plus artifacts. Different colors have their own quirks. White is usually defensive, Blue is deceptive, Red is aggressive, Green is regenerative, and Black is sabotaging. Most players play with two colors, though you can have one color just to start with. You can play with more colors, but that's usually risky, since it requires you to have so many different kinds of mana to play."

"Mana?" Manuel asked. "They come from land cards, right?"

"Most of the time, yes, but you can also get mana from certain artifacts, creatures, and spells. In the Magic mythos, planeswalkers draw mana from these lands in order to summon creatures and cast spells. So, you see these numbers at the top? Those show…"


-September 26th, Thursday-

After taking Green magic class, I was stopped in the hallway by Wally—I mean Norton.

"Professor Grabiner is having a study session." He said. "I would recommend coming, since the exam is tomorrow."

I mentally slapped myself. The exam! I had forgotten about that, too!

"Yeah, I'll definitely come!" I said.

"Manuel said he would be there too, so we should see him there."

Norton led me to a classroom. There were many students already seated, but Professor Grabiner wasn't there yet. Among the crowd, I recognized Manuel and Mary. Norton and I found seats where we could sit next to each other. In a few minutes, the Grabinator had arrived.

"Open your notebooks, if you have them." He began. "This is not a quiz. This is for your own benefit. If you do not know the answer, look it up or ask someone. If you have paid any attention to your schoolwork up to this point, you should be aware of a broad range of uses for magic within the pentachromatic system. Mr. Arias."

Manuel's ears perked up. "Y-yes sir?"

"If I wished to cast a spell to make a beast's fur fall off, what color of magic would I use?"

"G-Green, sir?"

Professor Grabiner pinched the bridge of his nose. "I should hope that you would know that much without the need to ask for my approval. Miss Sue."

"Sir?" Mary asked.

"What color of magic would you use to transform a lump of coal into a diamond?"

"Red, sir?"

"And how, may I ask, would you use the magic of force to accomplish this?"

"Well, diamonds are formed with a combination of pressure and heat, and since both forces stem from Red magic—."

"Um, Mary?" A Horse with blonde hair interrupted her. "Diamonds aren't actually made from coal."

"They aren't?"

"May I also remind you, Miss Sue," Grabiner jumped back into the conversation, "that we are talking about magic, not science? Miss Middleton, I assume you know the answer?"

"Blue." The Horse answered with confidence.

"Correct. Blue magic is the magic of change, and I shouldn't have to remind everyone of that. Mr. Robertson."

(No, not me!)

"Yes sir?" I asked, worried as to what he would ask.

"If you were to remove graffiti from walls, what color of magic—Mr. Danson!"

"Yes sir?" A boy asked.

I turned to see who it was. It was the same Wolf who sang on stage during club signups.

(Another Danson? What did he do to get Grabiner's attention?)

"As you do not appear to have need of this study session," Grabiner said in a low voice, "you are excused. You may find more challenging material to occupy you this Saturday in detention. I might have you remove the graffiti in the dungeons," he turned to look at me, "using which magic, Mr. Robertson?"

(So much for a free break.)

"Black, sir."


-September 27th, Friday-

That morning, I woke up to someone screaming in my ear, "Wake up Robertson!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I sat up and found Wally glaring at me at eye level. He wore a soldier's helmet and a sticker with "Siegfried" written on it.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You didn't even hear the knock on the door earlier, did you?" Siegfried snapped. "General Potsdam came by and dropped off our exam schedules." He shoved a piece of paper into my hand. "Read it and make it on time, Robertson!"

(Wow, he's taking this solider persona to the extreme.)

He turned to face Manuel, who had a pillow covering his head, and shouted, "Wake up Arias!"

"I'm awake I'm awake, just don't shout!" Manuel removed the pillow and sat up.

"I will repeat what I said to Robertson: General Potsdam came by…"


It goes without saying that I was nervous about the exam. I was scheduled to stop by one of the exam rooms one hour after lunch. I found my door and stared at it. Unlike the classroom doors, there were no windows, so I couldn't see what the inside was like. It was also closed.

(I guess I'm supposed to knock.)

I rapped my fist on the door two times.

All of a sudden, things became blurry. I felt like my body was shifting in different directions, like it was caught up between several ocean currents going in opposite ways. It was a very nauseating experience. When things became clear and the shifting ceased, I found myself in a short stone hallway. I was able to see clearly despite there being no light source. I looked around. There were no doors, windows, holes, or anything to indicate an exit.

"You are now in Dungeon Level One, Layout 5B." A voice spoke.

I turned my head to the direction of the voice, which seemed to come from one end of the hallway.

"The exit from this dungeon lies beyond the wall in front of you." The voice explained. "There are no doors in your room. You must use magic in order to escape. Good luck."

(Great. How am I going to do this?)

I approached the wall and knocked on one brick with my fist. It was pretty sturdy, so will my magic be enough to break through it? I learned a lot of spells from Red magic class, so I think a Blast spell would do the trick…hopefully.

I backed all the way against the other end of the hallway and focused my attention on the wall in front of me. I raised my hand and channeled magic into it. My hand glowed yellow, then orange, then finally red. The glow moved up my wrist and down my fingers to gather at the palm. I could feel pressure bearing down on my palm; the spell was ready.

I thrust my arm forward and shot the collected energy at the wall.

BOOM!

The wall was utterly destroyed. Beyond it were stairs leading up.

"Alright!" I said.

I ran forward and up the stairs.

I found myself in the courtyard in front of the main building. Waiting for me was Professor Potsdam. She beamed and said, "Congratulations, Adrian! Although you can't use violent methods for everything, you still pass the exam and get five merits."

"Thanks, professor." I said.

Next to her, a set of stairs leading down suddenly appeared. A Snake with white hair ran up and quickly shielded her eyes from the sun. Professor Potsdam turned her attention to the girl and also congratulated her. I turned around and noticed that the stairs I had climbed were gone.

(Magic, what a convenient thing.)


-September 28th, Saturday-

My roommates and I decided to go to the pastry store at the mall to find a celebratory treat for passing our exams. Louis passed by using Black magic to pull out the stones from the wall. Manuel Teleported out, but he wound up reappearing on the roof of Toad Hall. Fortunately for him, the professors were there to Teleport him back to the ground.

At the pastry shop, I got a slice of chocolate cheesecake, Manuel had a croissant, and Louis had strawberry short cake with two vanilla cake pops on the side. We sat down together and talked about our week.

When we were finished with our sweet treats, I asked Manuel, "Can you show me where the magic shop is?"

"Sure." He nodded.

"I would like to go, too." Louis spoke up.

"Alright, follow me."

We followed Manuel onto the second floor. We approached a dead end and saw that there was a closed shop. A sign up front read: Candles & More, coming soon!

"This is actually an illusion." Manuel explained. "All you have to do is walk in. Oh, but you have to make sure no normal people are looking before you go in."

He looked behind him and, seeing no one but us, he walked right through the closed doors. I decided to go next. As I got closer, I could see the illusion of the closed store melt away. In its place was a store filled with all sorts of things. A sign above the doors read: Gilwise's Magic Emporium. Completely fascinated with what I was seeing, I entered the store.

(Wow.)

The store was cluttered with things. Wands and amulets behind glass cases, gloves and glasses on shelves, and wings—.

(Wings?)

Hanging on the walls were different types of wings. There were fairy wings, butterfly wings, bat wings, and even angel wings. There were also all sorts of ears and tails on display as well. I looked at Manuel and asked, "Are those wings and such real?"

"No," he answered, "but magic can make them move like they are real. However, they don't have any purpose other than fashion."

"So you can't fly with those wings?"

"No."

"So how can you tell these things apart from the real deal?"

"You just have to ask the person wearing them." Manuel's ears twitched and his tail moved to the left a little. "I've already told you that these are real, right?"

"You did."

(I wonder if Damien's wings are real…sigh…why am I even thinking about him?)

"You can also do an Inspection spell on these things." I heard Louis say.

I turned around to see Louis looking at some hats. He walked up to the front counter and asked the man behind it, "What kind of charms are on these hats?"

"A hat man, are we?" The man asked. "Those hats just give off auras."

"What kind of auras?"

"Auras of cuteness, coolness, weirdness, things like that."

"Hm, not really my thing. Can you do custom enchantments?"

"I can, but it can get really pricey. What kind of enchantment are you looking for?"

"An enchantment that changes your voice whenever you wear the hat."

"Voice changing?" The clerk scratched at his goatee. "That would be around…eighty dollars."

"Eighty?! I don't have that kind of money!"

"Save up then, kiddo."

Louis adjusted his feathered hat and, temper rising, said, "Good sir, I am not to be treated like a kid. I am a gentleman, and I demand respect!"

"Whoa, whoa, sorry 'sir'."

"That inflection in your voice! You are not taking me seriously, are you?!"

"Louis," Manuel spoke up, "please don't start a fight."

"Manuel, this man is insulting my character!"

"Don't do anything stupid." I joined in. A thought crossed my mind and said, "It wouldn't be very gentlemanly if you started a fight, would it?"

Louis opened his mouth as if to say something, but only a sigh came out. He turned to face us and said, "You are right. I should not be wasting my time with those who show no respect."

(Whew. Good save there, Adrian.)

We decided to leave the store for now. Behind us, I could hear the clerk mutter, "Toads…"


Next time, school elections. Who will run for what?