"Dangerous?" Miss Chevreuse scoffed with a small laugh, "Nonsense! Simple Alchemy is not dangerous!"
Louise, having had more than enough of being talked about as if she wasn't actually present, ended the debate by stomping down to the teacher's lectern and sending a smouldering glare at Kirche. She then took out her wand, prompting the whole class to take cover.
'This is a reeeaally bad idea.' Louise thought morosely. She would still try, because she always hoped that maybe, just maybe, the next spell might not go awry.
A couple of minutes later, an explosion of noise and black smoke erupted from the classroom, prompting everyone in the academy to think a single sentence in unison as they rolled their eyes.
'Louise the Zero strikes again!'
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Audience Chamber, Academy of Onmyōdō, Kyoto, Japan
Hiiraga Saito knelt in the seiza position in the Audience Chamber with his year-mates. They had been summoned about half an hour after the last of their number had completed the Trials of Light and Darkness.
There were only four other Apprentices in his year: Amekage Chizuru, Akagi Ryuunosuke, Honda Kanna and Yotsuba Toru, and they were all just as nervous as Saito was.
Arrayed behind them were the first- and second-year Apprentices, over forty of them, followed by the five years of Initiates.
The Apprentices had blue lines denoting how long they had been an Apprentice on their sleeves.
The Initiates wore a simple black and white kimono with the Yin and Yang symbol of the Ministry of Onmyōji on their right breast. They had a different coloured sash or obi denoting which year they were in.
In front of the graduates stood the Senior Teachers of the Imperial Onmyōji Academy of Mysticism. The Masters of Fire, Ice, Earth and Water stood on one side of the Grandmaster, with the Masters of Wood, Wind, Lightning and Metal stood on his other side.
The Grandmaster of the Academy was a white-haired man with a neatly trimmed handlebar moustache and an elegant goatee, giving him a very distinguished appearance. He stood with his arms crossed in front of him as he dispatched a runner to complete some task or other, his face stern.
Saito was curious as to how he had done in the Trials. The Trials of light and Darkness, the final exam of a student at the Academy, tested the Apprentices on their knowledge, control and power of magic in the four basic elements -Water, Wind, Earth and Fire- as well as the four Dual Elements -Metal, Wood, Lightning and Ice- extensively.
Other subjects tested included Shikigamijutsu (The Art of the Paper Gods), Divination, Fortune Telling, Alchemy, Astrology and Shinto religion.
Saito himself (with no false modesty) was proficient in Ice, Wood, Water, Earth and Wind magic. He was alright at Metal and Lightning magic, but his biggest weakness was Fire magic.
Both the Grandmaster and the Academy Fire Master had been left puzzled as to why he couldn't reliably control the magic of Fire. The vast of majority of the time, Saito managed to maintain a tenuous grasp on the mercurial energies of Fire. Occasionally, however, his control slipped and he walked away with burnt robes and singed eyebrows.
Saito was drawn from his internal pondering by the sound of a gong being struck. Almost instantly, the background hum of low pitched chatter from the students ceased and all attention was riveted on the Grandmaster.
The old man cleared his throat and spoke in a hoarse, creaky voice that still somehow managed to boom across the room.
"Attention, Attention. Bring ye attention, students." The Grandmaster spoke the traditional opening phrase of the Graduation Speech. "I welcome you, one and all to the Imperial Academy Graduation Ceremony!"
A small cheer erupted from the crowd of students. It tapered off at a gesture from the slightly smiling Grandmaster.
"Before us," the old man continued, "are five mystics. Five young men and women whose teachers have deemed them both ready and able to partake in the Trials of Light and Darkness."
A small murmur made it's way around the hall before falling silent.
"All five have submitted to the trials and have been tested in their magical ability and knowledge, as well as their knowledge of more mundane knowledge, to the fullest extent. Their examiners shall now announce their findings."
With that, Miyazaki Daisuke, Master of Metal Magic strode forwards and regarded the assembly fore a short moment before focusing on Chizuru.
"Amekage Chizuru, you have shown exceptional skill in the Disciplines of Fire, Earth, Water and Metal magics and competence in the Discipline of Wind magic." he announced with a slight tone of smugness when he mentioned his own Discipline. "You did not show reasonable skill in the remaining three Magics."
He then announced her written examination results, before stepping back into line. The next to step forward was Hasegawa Kagerō, Mistress of Earth.
"Honda Kanna, You have shown a high aptitude for the Disciplines of Water, Wind and Ice and competence in Fire and Earth." Kagerō spoke in a harsh voice that had undertones of weariness and exhaustion, understandable considering she was in her mid-nineties, "You have not shown the requisite skill required in the remaining three Magics."
And so it went, with his classmates receiving scores from their examiners. Yotsuba Toru's examiner, the dourly Master of Wood Kobayashi Kaoru, grumbled that he had only shown competence in the Discipline of Wind, then praised his skill in Divination. Harada Yusei, the Master of Water, declared Akagi Ryuunosuke a prodigy in the use of Fire Magic. He had also scored high in Metal, Lightning and Earth.
Finally, it was Saito's turn as Tsubaki Kaname, Master of Ice, strode forwards. Saito gulped nervously.
"Hiiraga Saito." Tsubaki-sensei said slowly, "You have shown exceptional talent in the Disciplines of Ice, Water, Wind, Earth and Wood. You have also shown reasonable competence in the Disciplines of Metal and Lightning."