15 minutes before the Entrance Exam ends.
The leaves crunched beneath Lucy's boots as she walked through the forest, clearing the branches in front of her. It was rather noisy from the sounds of magic bursting throughout the air, as she followed the footsteps imprinted within the soil.
She crouched immediately
She heard footsteps.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked over to where the sound was coming from.
"What in the world is happening"?
Dozens of students were spread out in the open, they weren't fighting each other, instead they were like ants collecting points and giving it to their queen.
Their queen being a small girl with bright blonde hair and baby blue eyes reminiscent of the Shaw family known for their sound based abilities.
Her pristine white uniform was free from dirt, her blonde hair was tied back neatly as she sat upon a fake throne made from the wood of nearby trees.
"This a borderline cartel, she's using them like slaves"!
Lucy's fists clenched.
One student limped forwards and dropped a handful of shining golden coins towards Neila's feet.
Neila stared down at him with a blank stare, as she spoke in a monotonous tone.
"How many points did you get"?
"I-I got 10".
Her eyes widened as she stared straight into his face as she crossed her legs.
"You couldn't get anymore"?
"I-I couldn't get any more, I fought as hard as I could".
She sighed as her voice turned syrupy.
"I told you to steal, not fight others, that way you'll barely get any points, it has been 3 hours and all you could get was 10 points".
"I-I am sorry".
Neila crossed her fingers.
"The way you're continuing to collecting my points won't ensure your safety, you know right? We have 30 minutes left, you should learn how to do better or I'll just hand you over to them".
"Please".
He got onto his knees as he bowed before her feet.
"Don't h-hand me over to them, I'll do anything"!
Neila smiled as she lifted her leg and pressed the heel of her shoe into his head, treating him as if he were a dog.
"Good boy, now go fetch me some points".
She bent over, her eyes glowing with a chill blue.
"Thank you so much"!
The coins scattered beneath Neila's feet.
Lucy stepped out from the bush, her eyes narrowed as she stared straight into the cold eyes of Neila.
"You're enslaving them Neila, what happened to you"? Lucy rubbed her temples. "Never mind, you haven't changed".
"Me"?
Neila's eyebrows raised, as a smirk appeared across her face, she pointed her finger towards herself as if she didn't know what she had done.
"I'm not enslaving them, they are willingly aiding me in my task, I have promised them two gifts in return for helping me just this once, it's more or less a transaction rather than a master slave relationship".
Lucy's eyes swept over the group, most were scared or bruised, some of them had blood dripping from their noses, yet not a single person tried to run.
"This looks like an ant farm, do you really believe yourself to be the queen"!?
"The queen"? Neila said smoothly, her arms folding. "I spared their lives and ensured that they won't be handed over to the government after the exam was over, what more could they wish for"?
"You're not helping them"!
Lucy clenched as fist as she bit her lips, drawing blood.
"You're using them".
"We're witches, we are fundamentally different from humans, our souls are stronger, we have magic yet we're being controlled by them". Neila leaned into her chair.
"If you really want to criticize me using other witches then face the government first, they started it".
Lucy's mana immediately flared up as her eyes glowed a crimson red, an aura of mana bursted around her.
"I'm still not letting you keep them".
Neila sighed.
"I'm giving them a purpose, if I let them be, they were going to get drained of their energy by the government anyways, now this is a chance for freedom".
"But still, you're using them like tools, don't you feel sad for them"?
"Hey Lucy, this is real life or is it all just fantasy"? Neila stood up from her chair as she walked up to Lucy.
"The first lesson we are taught as witches is to be selfish, to be selfish is to let your soul grow and your mana increase".
She held Lucy's shoulder, slightly squeezing her.
"You think I want to do this either"?
Neila walked past Lucy, her face completely cold and blue, not a single hint of empathy on her face as she lied straight to Lucy.
"You're lying to me", Lucy's eyes widened. "Not a single one of yours lies is going through to me ever again and I'm frankly not stupid enough to fall for your tricks".
Blood rippled from underneath her feet as her eyes glowed a crimson red.
The viscous liquid rippled and transformed into strong chains that bound Neila to the ground.
"Shut up already".
Boom
Neila snapped her fingers, the air began to twist and turn as a loud burst of sound broke through the chains and immediately knocked Lucy to the ground.
Neila's mana surged through the ground, sound vibrating the air like a silent static as she cracked her neck.
"Is being the Walker's bitch really that fun, you freak"?
"Shut up, I don't care whether you insult me or not, but you should stop using these people like tools".
Lucy's hand curled up into a fist of seething mana, her eyes narrowed as tendrils of blood jumped out from underground.
No one stood around Neila, it was like an empty wasteland.
They were all afraid of the collateral damage, none of them even bothered to look at the fight, Neila won every single fight against every single previous challenger so far so there was no need to bother in the first place.
"Are you dense or is there nothing in your head? Did you know that if you just let the idiots go Willy nilly then they would just get used by the government? What is your problem in meddling in things not meant for you"?
Neila placed her hand on her hip.
"Is this another attempt at manipulation"?
Tendrils of blood shot towards Neila at rapid speeds.
Neila had her hand in her pocket as she calmly dodged the flying tendrils.
With her other hand, she snapped but only the snap of her fingers echoed through the air.
It was like a low rumbling that went through Lucy's ear.
Her head started to ache as the world around her started to spin, her hands started to twitch as she stared at Neila.
"Hey, Lucy Walker, you know what this is? It's not like my only ability is to produce sound you know? I can control the pitch as well, and what you're hearing is, is at 19 hertz".
Neila squatted down as she looked up at Lucy.
"Lucy, don't worry, I know you despise this system too, a place where they all expect us to kill each other in broad daylight".
Lucy's eyes glowed a brighter crimson as she held her head.
"You expect me to trust you!? You remember what you did"!?
One boy's arm was bent unnaturally, tied to his side with torn cloth. Another girl stared blankly ahead, blood crusted around her mouth.
Neila looked at her with a disinterested expression on her face.
"I can't believe you're still hung up on that peasant girl, why would you care so much for a mere maid".
"She was my friend damn it".
Lucy leaned against the wall as the tendrils of blood behind her started to shake and shot towards Neila's face.
She immediately weaved the attack, immediately dashing towards Lucy and launching a strike towards her face.
Neila's fist was immediately interrupted by a wall of blood.
Lucy's eyes glowed red, punching Neila in the stomach and knocking her straight into a tree.
The shards of the bark piercing into her skin.
Blood trickled down from Neila's lips.
She rolled her eyes as she walked out of the tree, her hands shaking.
"I am going to be the first woman to reach level 10, someone like you isn't going to stop me. Once I reach level ten, I'll fix this world myself".
She bent slightly, close enough that Lucy could feel the mana emanating off of her, it had a special effect to it.
Neila's mana had a blunt force to it, that made Lucy physically recoil, like she was being punched repeatedly.
"Your methods are wrong, fear isn't freedom and subservience isn't safety".
A spike of blood shot from behind Neila, way faster than before. She turned but barely dodging the strike as a piece of her flesh was chipped off her cheek.
Neila stumbled, momentarily disoriented as the blood chain pulled at her leg, trying to bring her down.
Her eyes widened as she clenched her teeth.
"How did you get exponentially faster? Were you just testing my reaction time before"?
"Come on, were you really just underestimating me before"?
Hundreds of blood arrows flew straight towards her at rapid speeds.
"Vigil Hexa".
Neila clasped her hands as she smiled, mana rippled in the air as transparent hexagons circle floated around her like butterflies.
"Hey Lucy, ever seen this? It's a basic barrier technique that we learnt when we were young, such a shame that you weren't taught".
Each arrow broke through the hexagons but the arrows themselves dissipated in return.
Neila smiled.
"This technique was made by my ancestor Elara Shaw, during those times their defensive spells were slow".
Lucy sighed as the blood beneath her rippled once more.
"What is the point in me knowing this about the spell"?
Neila pressed her thumb against the side of her head as she spoke in a condescending tone.
"I told you information on my barrier, making the risk even higher, the higher the risk, the higher my mana output temporarily becomes".
Her foot surged with mana as she dashed towards Lucy, grabbing the side of her neck and pulling her into a kick.
Lucy flew into the ground, the grass shaking beneath her feet.
Then suddenly a bell rang that shook the entire forest.
The leaves rustled as a voice came from the skies.
"The Entrance Exam is finally over! 133 students remain, congratulations to the top 80, you will be accepted into the academy, the remaining 40 will be taken away by the government to given another special use, the thirteen of you that didn't pass will be rejected. We have a special use for the thirteen of you".
Neila stared up at the blue sky.
"You hear that? It's over now".
Lucy wiped the blood from her lips as she stood up.
"Tsk".
1st-Neila Shaw- 398 points
2nd-Dominic Walker- 301 points
3rd-Kira Aamon- 267 points
4th-Sarah Williams- 266 points
5th-Lucy Walker- 265 points
6th-Hoshimi Shirogane- 264 points
7th-Edward Nio- 256 points
8th- Seraphina Shaw- 253 points
9th- Aya Lin- 250 points
10th- Akari Clover- 248 points