Class: Elite Class Meeting
At the beginning of the new week, notices were posted on the walls of the academy reading:
> Attention: Advanced students must attend the General Magic Assessment in Hall 5-B. Attendance is mandatory."
This type of meeting was rare, held only when the academic staff wanted to review the performance of elite students, as they called it in formal parlance... or monitor those who stepped beyond the mark.
Seletia (reading the notice with a sigh):
A General Assessment?... That means they'll ask us to present to the Assessment Board. How boring!
Nava (looking at the poster):
It means they don't like anyone who breaks the rules without actually breaking them.
Seletia (curiously):
You mean yourself?
Nava:
I mean everyone who can't be put into a box.
In Hall 5-B, the top students from the various departments gathered. Those seated were the elite: those with superior rankings, those with high magical pedigree, or those who had survived tests that few could survive.
Nava sat at the edge, beside him, whispering to him from time to time. In the center sat Rin the same student who had spoken to him before looking at him without concealing her scrutinizing gaze.
The headmistress of the academy, Ms. Melinth, entered. She was a stern, quiet woman who always carried a file no one knew if she was using it or simply using it as a symbol.
Melinth (in a clear voice):
We are not evaluating you today to test your skills, but to understand your psychological and behavioral stability. Some of you possess powers that are out of keeping with your age. We fear not power... but imbalance.
She looked directly at Naava.
Melinth:
Kurumi Naava, come forward.
Nava stood up without showing any emotion and stood in front of the table.
One of the professors:
Can you name the basic skills you rely on in your studies?
Nava:
Actually, I don't rely on skills, but on understanding. Skill is used, but understanding reshapes the thing itself.
Another professor (in a provocative tone):
So what do you call that ability with which you unlocked the Grief spell? Mindless magic?
Nava:
I call it: Attunement. If it exists, there's no need for magic... just imagination and imagination, and that's it.
Melineth (making a note):
And is this imagination... subject to the Academy's regulations? Or your own?
Nava (quietly):
Both. But the second one is decisive if they conflict.
There was a moment of silence.
Melineth:
That's enough. Sit down.
He returned to his seat, and Celetia leaned toward him and whispered:
Celeletia:
Wow... I almost applaud you, even though I don't understand half of what you said.
Nava (with a sideways smile):
That's why I said it.
The principal coldly declared the end of the session, but some students were still looking at Nava... not with admiration, but with apprehension.
Ren (spoke as she passed by):
Arrogance may impress some, but it won't save you in the arena of challenge.
Nava:
And intelligence doesn't win you... if you don't know who you're facing.
Ren left without replying, while Celetia said with a laugh:
Celletia:
If you weren't a star among us, maybe you'd become the head of the disciplinary committee.
Nava:
I'd rather be like that than bothered by office work.
As the students left, Nava remained alone for a moment, staring out the window where birds were flying in circles... Then he said to himself:
Nava (in a low voice):
When the goal becomes formless... the path becomes a mirror without a reflection.