[color=deepskyblue][b]Character Name:[/b][/color] Anyu
[color=deepskyblue][b]Time of Day:[/b][/color] Early afternoon
[color=deepskyblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] The practice fields
[color=deepskyblue][b]Interacting with:[/b][/color] 
[hr]
As Anyu and the other Meadowmist students followed Den to the section of the field where they would be demonstrating their magical abilities, she couldn’t help but feel rather anxious about the whole thing.  Though she had come to realize that she probably didn’t need to be afraid of being punished by the Guild for using magic, Anyu was somewhat afraid that her inability to properly control her magic might get her into trouble.  What if everyone thought that she was just refusing to participate because she couldn’t get anything to happen?  She had never really tried to use her magic on purpose before.  And even if she could get something to happen, what if she ended up hurting someone due to her lack of control?  Just thinking about the number of different ways her demonstration could go wrong made Anyu’s stomach churn.

And so, when Den instructed them to line up behind a white line on the grass while he explained a little bit more about how their demonstrations were going to go, Anyu made sure that she was behind everyone else and off to the side so that she could see past her larger classmates.  Once Den had finished explaining the procedures of the test, he called for the first student to approach a white square that had been painted on the grass a short distance away from where the line actually began.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Marius ended up being the first student to step forward to take the test.  Though Anyu was probably not the best judge of the magical talent of other people, she was absolutely amazed by the power and skill that Marius displayed throughout his demonstration.  Of course, it was also a little frightening for the small feline girl.  Marius was a heroic person who seemed to want nothing more than to vanquish evil.  What would happen when he discovered that she wasn’t really a good person like he was?  Trembling at the thought, Anyu resolved to avoid letting him get to know her for as long as possible.

Sylvana, the strange Sun Elf girl who had been laughing during Marius’s demonstration, was the next to take the test.  Though she ultimately didn’t really display the same level of skill that Marius had, Anyu was decidedly more astounded by the Sun Elf’s performance.  Of course, that was really only because Sylvana had the courage to make one of the teacher’s clothes fall off with the use of her magic.   Just the thought of having that kind of anger directed at her by an authority figure made Anyu squirm with discomfort, but Sylvana seemed completely oblivious to the teacher’s outrage as she lay on the ground and laughed hysterically.

The next student to take the test was a pale girl named Artemis.  As it turned out, she was the first student whose demonstration didn’t involve causing substantial damage to the environment or using magic on a teacher.  While that meant that her performance wasn’t as exciting as the others’ had been, Anyu was still amazed at the skill and abilities that Artemis had displayed.  In particular, Anyu found it incredible that Artemis could use her magic to teleport and make objects appear out of thin air, though this was mostly because Anyu had never seen or heard of anyone using magic that way.

A silver-haired girl named Rahele took the test after Artemis had been evaluated.  So far as Anyu could tell, Rahele’s performance consisted largely of summoning a pretty rude crow and talking it into bring her a stick before using magic to make the stick strong enough to break a rock.  Overall, Rahele’s demonstration seemed to be rather simple and straightforward when compared to those of the students that had gone before her.  In a weird way, this was somewhat comforting to Anyu.  She would have felt pretty bad if she had been the only student whose demonstration ended up paling in comparison to those of Marius and the others.  Of course, Rahele’s display was still probably much better than Anyu would be able to do, but still.

Brandon, the Dwarf who had been so strangely nice to Anyu earlier, was the next to take the test.  Much like Rahele’s demonstration, Brandon’s was a straightforward affair that consisted of him repeatedly launching stones into the air with a stomp before slapping them into the ground in front of him.  Though it wasn’t nearly as flashy as Artemis’s manipulation of earth had been, Anyu thought that it seemed pretty impressive how he was able to keep it up without appearing to get tired or altering his timing at all.  He even managed to maintain the same even rhythm while singing some strange song!

The next student to take the test was a large, snake-like Tosuri named S’Hraa whose demonstration involved using lots of different images to show off his different skills until the end when he vanished only to reappear behind the teachers a few moments later.  If he hadn’t been describing what his abilities were before he vanished, Anyu probably would have thought that he was using a slower form of the teleportation that Artemis had used seeing as how she hadn’t been able to detect him at all once he vanished.  Even though it wasn’t like Artemis’s teleportation, Anyu was still pretty amazed by how many different ways S’Hraa was able to use his magic.

Unfortunately, once S’Hraa had received his evaluation, Den called for Anyu to come forward and demonstrate her own meager abilities.  Afraid that hesitating might make some of the others upset, Anyu hurried over to the square despite her reluctance.  [color=deepskyblue][b]”M-My name is Anyuki,”[/b][/color] she stammered as loudly as she felt comfortable, which meant that the other students could probably just barely hear her.  [color=deepskyblue][b]”I-I, um, don’t know what my affinities are.  S-Sorry.”[/b][/color]

After watching her fellow students effortlessly proceed through their demonstrations with confidence and determination, Den was admittedly caught off guard by how nervous Anyu appeared to be.  It was also abundantly clear that she felt bad for not knowing something that everyone else had.  [color=forestgreen][b]”Hmm… Well, that’s not a big deal.  It’s not all that uncommon for us to get students that haven’t received any formal education in magic,”[/b][/color] Den responded gently in an attempt to put Anyu more at ease.  [color=forestgreen][b]”We’ll probably be able to figure out what they are after seeing your demonstration.  Go ahead and begin whenever you’re ready.”[/b][/color]

Afraid that she might end up getting in trouble if she didn’t at least try to do something, Anyu closed her eyes and took a deep breath to help her focus when Den told her to begin her demonstration.  Though she had never consciously tried to use her magic before, she had a vague idea of how it might work.   Every time she had accidentally used magic in the past, she had felt some kind of icy energy surge through her and into her surroundings.  She could even feel some of that same energy flowing out into the air around her in order to create the tiny snowflakes that were currently falling nearby.  And so, she figured if she could find some way to make that energy surge on purpose, she might be able to do [i]something[/i].

Unfortunately, Anyu quickly realized that knowing what it feels like to use magic and knowing how to use it are two completely different things.  No matter what method or level of effort she used to make the energy surge, it remained pretty much unchanged from its usual state.

[color=forestgreen][b]”Okay, Anyuki, you can go ahead and stop now,”[/b][/color] Den called out once he figured that he had seen enough to make an accurate assessment of her abilities.  Unfortunately, that meant that her demonstration had only lasted for about a minute.  The fact that the only thing she had managed to do in that time frame was make it snow a little bit around herself wasn’t a very good sign.  Maybe she had even less training than Den had originally assumed?  If so, why had the Headmaster’s department decided to place her in the same House as a group of students with far more experience?  Sometimes their decisions just made no sense.

[color=forestgreen][b]”First of all, I think that it’s pretty clear from your performance that you need a lot more training in how to use your abilities,”[/b][/color] Den continued once Anyu had directed her attention towards him, somehow appearing even more nervous than she had before.  [color=forestgreen][b]”In particular, your ability to make it snow despite the heat leads me to believe that you have some natural talent as a mage.  It also indicates that one of your affinities is probably for the School of Evocation with a specialty for manipulating water, which is good to know.”[/b][/color]

[color=deepskyblue][b]”Th-The snow wasn’t part of it,”[/b][/color] Anyu responded as Den made a note about her potential affinity.  Though she was afraid that he might be upset with her for failing to actually do anything during her demonstration, she knew that she had to be honest about it.  And so, fidgeting slightly as Den turned his attention towards her, Anyu took a deep breath and continued.  [color=deepskyblue][b]”I, um, wasn’t able to do anything with my magic. S-Sorry.”[/b][/color]

[color=forestgreen][b]”So it’s not something that you can control?  Does it always snow around you?”[/b][/color] Den asked, his tone slightly incredulous.  Anyu’s only response was to answer each of his questions with a small, hesitant nod.  That certainly made things interesting.   [color=forestgreen][b]”Well, that tells me that you definitely have an affinity for Evocation magic and that it’s probably your only affinity.  It also tells me that you have less experience with using magic than I had originally thought.  That means that you’ll probably have to take a few remedial classes on the basics until you manage to get some control over your abilities.”[/b][/color]

Once Den had finished giving her his assessment, Anyu couldn’t help but heave a little sigh of relief that nothing horrible had happened and that she hadn’t gotten into any trouble.  The assessment itself was ultimately unsurprising to Anyu, however.  She had always been aware of her own lack of control and figured that she would have to work hard if she wanted to learn how to use her magic to help people.  On top of that, she had always known what her magic was typically like, though it was admittedly nice to know what the proper name was for it.  It made it sound really official and important in her opinion.  All things considered, Anyu didn’t think that she could have really asked for anything more.

[color=forestgreen][b]”Okay everyone!  Gather ‘round!”[/b][/color] Den called out once he had finished talking with Anyu.  When the other students had gathered in front of him, he continued.  [color=forestgreen][b]”First of all, I want to thank you all for taking the diagnostic test seriously.  Having an idea of your current abilities will help me and the other teachers figure out the best way to help you develop and hone them while you’re students here.

“Now, I know that some of you are going to be upset with me for this, but you do have an assignment to turn in at the beginning of class tomorrow.  Don’t worry, it’s a really simple assignment.  All you have to do is fill out a form asking about what additional classes you want to sign up for.  These possible subjects that are covered by these classes include things like learning one of the magecrafts, learning a new language, or even learning how to fight with different kinds of weapons.  I expect everyone to sign up for at least one class, though you could sign up for two if you really wanted to.  I’ll be dropping the form off after dinner.  Apart from that, you’re free to enjoy the rest of your evening.”[/b][/color]