"In this world, there are mystical, edible objects known as spices."
An oddly fruit-like object was shown.
"Those who eat them are said to gain incredible powers, with those abilities being honed in Scarborough Academy to protect the world from those who ate spices, and chose to use their powers to destroy it."
A pair of shadowy figures each took a bite out of the spice, their powers manifesting before they attacked each other, unleashing a smoke cloud.
The spice hit the ground, and a smaller shadowy figure approached it.
"However, caution must be used when eating the spices. Only those from age 13 and up can eat the spices and gain powers."
The smaller shadowy figure took a bite out of the spice and panicked, its tongue turning bright red as they dropped the spice.
"Those who try eating them earlier risk having their taste buds unable to handle the intensity, forever affecting their ability to taste."
The spice fell until landing on a pedestal, joined by other spices in similar pedestals, each located in a large building.
"Currently, a group of spices are kept in Scarborough Academy, ready to be eaten and bring forth a brand new generation… of guardians."
The spice glowed before everything went black...
…
"And that's the gist of it," a blue-haired witch, Sage, said. "Any questions?"
"Yeah," a pink-haired warrior, Rosemary, said while raising her hand. "Why did you decide to tell me this only after we arrived at Scarborough Academy?"
"Because I had the feeling if I told you before, you'd get cold feet and back away."
"And you'd be totally right!" Rosemary ruffled her hair. "I don't wanna lose my ability to taste things! How else will I enjoy Dad's cheesecake?!"
"Relax, Rosemary, today's your birthday, remember?" Sage pointed out. "You should be old enough to eat the spice without any significant issues."
"Keyword being should: nobody knows the time I was born," Rosemary bit her fingernails. "What if I eat the spice, but it turns out I'm like five minutes away from becoming 13, and I end up losing my ability to taste things forever?!"
Sage grabbed Rosemary's hand and held it tightly as she kissed her cheek and stated:
"Everything will be fine, I promise. Now, let's go."
The pinkette calmed down slightly, nodded, and the pair promptly opened the door and walked inside.
In the interior of the school, several students stood waiting for the pedestals to be unsealed, a magical barrier surrounding each and every spice pedestal.
The girls looked around, eventually approaching a blonde dwarf and a redheaded, dark-skinned elf.
"Hey there!" Sage greeted. "I'm Sage, and this is my bff, Rosemary."
"Hi! I'm Parsley!" the dwarf greeted cheerfully. "And the elf next to me is Thyme. She doesn't talk much."
Thyme stared at Sage and Rosemary with a deadpan expression.
"See?"
"Right," Rosemary raised an eyebrow. "So, you're here for the Guardian exam, right?"
"Yeah! Though it's not so much an exam as it is an initiation," Parsley shrugged. "From what I've heard, we'll eat the spices, get our powers, and then we're in."
"... wait, that's it?!"
"Yup," Parsley answered.
"So, the most important Guardian school in all of the world, and the only thing we have to do is eat spices and get powers?!"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"... I'm fucked."
"Please forgive my friend for her language," Sage said, ruffling Rosemary's hair as the pinkette bit her fingernails. "She's kinda intense in general, especially when she's nervous."
"And speaking of which," Rosemary looked around. "Why am I the only one who's nervous!?"
"You're not, you're just pretty blatant about it," Parsley stated. "For example, I might look pretty calm right now, but I'm screaming on the inside."
Rosemary raised her hand towards Sage, who took out a blue stethoscope and put it on before putting it on Parsley's forehead.
An ear-breaking cacophony of screams emerged, so loud that Rosemary jumped and threw the stethoscope at Sage before clutching her chest and shaking violently.
"Greetings, future students."
Everybody raised their heads to look at the heads of the school, The Triad: three women sharing similarly white and golden clothing.
"We welcome you all to Scarborough Academy!" the youngest of The Triad chirped. "We're prepared to welcome you with open arms and help you on your path to becoming Guardians!"
"And in case you prove to be a bunch of disappointments, we're prepared for that," the oldest of The Triad scoffed.
"In front of you are spices, the mythical objects that give Guardians and Destroyers their powers," the remaining Triad member said. "Grab a spice and bite it. Once your powers manifest, you'll be taken to the gym to begin your orientation."
"Now start biting!" the oldest of The Triad snapped. "The faster we get this over with, the better."
The Triad snapped their fingers, and the pedestals were unsealed, allowing the students to go and bite.
Among the ones Rosemary saw, a redheaded boy gained dragonfly wings, a purple-haired girl gained super strength, a guy with brown hair turned into a living smile, and so on and so forth.
Even Parsley and Thyme got powers: the dwarf suddenly grew bigger, while the elf began to levitate.
"Rosemary?"
The pinkette turned around, and saw that Sage had taken a bite out of a spice.
"Is everything okay?"
Rosemary looked down to see she was still holding Sage's hand, and she hastily released.
"N-No, I'm… I'm fine. Honest."
Sage smiled and offered the spice to the pinkette.
"No, it's fine. I'll-I'll go look for a spice myself."
Rosemary began to walk away, just in time for Sage's power to manifest: she sighed, releasing a cold mist she could turn into ice or water.
Rosemary hastily looked around the room for an unbitten spice, but with nearly everybody else biting one, that proved easier said than done.
Eventually, though, she found one: a red spice with orange rings circling around. It had an intense red aura that, at least to Rosemary, seemed to be more for show than anything else.
So, she grabbed the spice, took a deep breath...
And bit it.