When Aurora returned to the Field's core, she let herself fall to the floor as she had no energy left in her body. She had no clue of what had happened just a few minutes ago. She didn't remember any of it either.
— Oh no, dear, you can't let yourself stay so beaten now, okay? — said Luria helping her stand up.
— Will you tell me now what happened over there? Because I feel so tired I can't feel my legs. — replied Aurora.
— I've seen a small amount of cases of late bloomers throughout all my years supervising the Quiz, but this sort of amnesiac state is new to me. — said Luria. — You see, Aurora. When the boulder was about to hit you, you stood up to it and with just one hand... created a shield all around you. And not just any shield. You created what conjurers call "protecto agura". A barrier that disintegrates everything that touches it. It's a sort of advanced magic because of the danger it implies. — she continued.
— Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me I just used majka?! — Aurora replied with tears on her eyes.
— Yes, you did. But you did not conjure it. It appeared out of nowhere, almost like you summoned it, so we could assume you have some innate ability involving magic defense. — replied the Guide, smiling at her. — But, still, I can't think of any reason for you to not remember any of it. What's the last thing you remember? — she asked the girl.
— I... I don't know... — she replied, wandering off in her thoughts. — I remember running away from the stone house when the second rock was about to be thrown, and then I turned around... and that's it. That is all I remember. — she said, while looking at Luria in the eyes. — Although... there was a strange and almost new feeling. I felt it before, when I replied to Mr. Guhndavaar's attitude. — Aurora added, wandering off again. — This urge to defend myself. But it didn't feel like my own. It's like someone else was trying to defend me. And I would feel this warmth... all over me. — she continued.
Luria looked her in the eyes, and knew something was strange about it. But now was not the time to theorize, as the test needed to continue.
— We'll continue this later, when the Quiz is over. — said Guide Luria, once again.
— Wait, what? — replied Aurora. — But... But I have no energy left in my entire body. How am I supposed to complete the test? — she added while groaning and looking up.
Luria laughed at her groan, and put her hand in her yellow uniform's right pocket, taking out a small crystal ball of sorts.
— Take this. — she said extending her hand and showing a really small ball made out of crystal, with a sort of multicolour dust inside it, that kept moving continuously. — We call them "replenishers". It's a kind of first-aid for majka. See those small holes in its surface? — continued while Aurora nodded affirmatively. — That's where the magic happens. You see, you need to put it close to your mouth, and breathe in as deep as you can, so you can take in all of it. — she concluded.
Aurora put the replenisher right in front of her mouth, and she took a deep breath, the deepest breath she could take, one that somehow felt like it echoed all around the arena. The majka inside it started to enter her body, making her feel warm and healthy, while an orange aura appeared all around her.
— Wow, these things are really useful. — she said, while looking at her arms and legs, and stretching a little.
— Yes, they are the fastest and easiest way for majka recovery. It does not involve anyone else's healing, so no one is left with less energy than the other. — Luria said. — Of course those with healing powers prefer to use their own skills to do it. But all faculty members carry some with them, in case they are necessary. Otherwise, they are stored in the infirmary. —
— That's just great. Because by the looks of it, I'm gonna need more of these. — Aurora replied.
— We'll have to see, I guess. — Luria said, laughing a bit. — Shall we continue with the next part? — she asked. To what the girl answered yes, with her head.
Guide Luria put her right arm up, and everything started to move, like a controlled earthquake. The walls move farther, making the core twice as big as it was. Four rock pillars came out of the ground, with fire at the top of each one of them. And the ground started to rupture, making Aurora feel scared because of her encounter with the stone golems moments ago. But this time, a river started to flow through the ground ruptures.
— May the Al'kin Quiz, begin! — said Luria.
— What am I supposed to do?! — Aurora shouted at her.
— This part of the test is mainly focused on elementalmajka, so you should try to use it. — Luria shouted back while going to her stone balcony booth just like she did on the first part, where she would supervise the Quiz.
— But I don't know how to do it! I told you I've never used any type of majka. This is all new to me! — she replied. But Luria did not answer back.
Aurora looked all around her, noticing every object and what each one of them symbolized. She tried to focus on the river, listening carefully to the water flow through each small and big crack around the ground's rupture. She tried to connect to the water, to every molecule available to her. But she couldn't.
No matter how hard she tried to focus, something was in the way. So she tried to concentrate on the fire cracking, trying to feel its warmth and power. She extended her hand, inviting it over, trying to control it. But nothing happened. And as there were no answers to Aurora's efforts in her test, she started to get angry and frustrated. So she put both her hands in front of her and tried over and over again to summon her shield, because she needed to feel something, but she only continued to fail.
— Why isn't anything working...? — said Aurora, while clenching her teeth. — Why do I always feel so useless?! — she said while tears started to gather on her eyes. — Why can't I be like everyone else?! — she shouted while falling to the ground.
And as she fell, the ground was suddenly shaken like an earthquake just hit the area. Everything was shaking, the water was crawling out the ground cracks and filling up new ones as they created themselves.
Aurora was clenching her fists and hitting them against the ground a few times, while the ground continued to rupture, but she wasn't aware of any of this. She was alienated and trapped in a sort of bubble of anger and frustration. Feelings that she kept to herself for her entire life until now.
The water started to come out the ground cracks and moved by itself, forming swirls and flowing through the air, but everytime Aurora shouted, the calm swirls transformed into ice spikes that were shot in any direction possible, ending up stabbing the stone walls.
The crying girl continued to sob and shout to let out all she kept inside her, but as she shout louder and louder, the arena started to collapse, with the fire growing and creating firey pillars, and the water flowing through the air surrounding her, almost protecting her.
Guide Luria could not believe her eyes, she felt shocked but at the same time she was watching this poor girl suffer. And although they are not supposed to intervene or interfere in the student's Quiz, the Field's core was now a very dangerous place.
And as Luria started to walk towards her, she saw how a bright aura surrounded Aurora, like embracing her, and somehow, the wrath inside her started to vanish. The aura disappeared as Luria came closer to the girl. Who she held in her hands and tried to calm down.
— Calm down, dear. Look me in the eyes and breathe. — the Guide said to her. — Everything is going to be okay.
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