To enter a Magus academy, a mage must either possess excellent N.E.E scores or fairly dense mana. Since I had neither, I ended up resorting to the worst solution ever.

Gravedigging.

"I hope you didn’t forget to bring a bottle with you, lassie," a clear voice echoed in my head, "Hide it. You can’t let anyone see what’s inside."

I glanced up at Selene. She seemed quite tensed herself which was beginning to scare me too. The cemetery was a kilometre or two away from our neighbourhood. If it weren’t for our lives, forget sneaking out in the dead of the night, I wouldn’t have even dreamt about cemeteries in my sleep.

My knees had grown weak. I was approaching the crossroads, head hung low, the house keys jangling in my pocket. My clothes were the most ordinary—a pair of faded grey trousers, a black woollen cap and a long, off-white shirt. I had to steal these from the attic to appear forgettable.

The fright of picking up the keys from the hallway, sneaking out heel to toe and locking the front door of my house still hadn't ebbed away. My ears thrummed in rhythm with my racing heartbeat. I simply couldn’t calm down.

As we entered the avenue, I looked to my right. The clock tower stood high up in the sky, its hands pointing at half-past two. 

My neighbourhood had always been quaint but, tonight, it seemed unsettling. Darkness stretched on both sides, concealing the forest beyond. A gibbous moon lay hidden behind thin streaks of clouds, occasionally lighting up the streets with a patchwork of foliate shadows and light. The lampposts were spaced too far away from each other, leaving wide spheres of darkness in between. All that, coupled with the soft whispers of the wind, the rustle of leaves and the occasional hoots of the owls created an ambience unnerving enough to scare the daylights out of me.

"Lassie," Selene suddenly said, her voice causing me to jump. I looked up at her. "I'll explain what we are going to do, and I will explain it only once, understand?"

I nodded. 

"Good. Listen well," she said, "You living beings are an assemble of three basic elements: the body, the soul and the mana. Upon your death, your soul leaves the body but your mana remains buried within the earth. This mana is crucial for the living to interact with and harness any forms of magic. What we will do tonight is find an old corpse and extract whatever mana remains in their grave. Remember," she looked down at me, "The tombstone needs to be at least sixty years old. Anything newer than that and you’ll get caught."

"Caught?!" I hissed, making her shoot me a pointed glare. "Caught?" I repeated, telepathically this time.

"Yes, caught. Every mana is unique. The Council keeps an identification record of every single mage based on their mana, but that’s removed from their directory every sixty years. This is confidential though, don’t go telling anyone."

I crinkled my brow. Then how do you know?

Of course, she didn’t answer. The rest of our walk was silent. I noticed Selene wasn’t a very talkative person. Excluding her occasional tendency to fool around, she liked to observe nature and keep to herself most of the time. I had tried to ask her about herself a few days ago but she never answered anything besides, "Oh, I lived a fairly eventful life."

We soon approached the T-section and I turned right. The pavement lead us to another T-section farther ahead, bound on the opposite side by the unmistakable fence of our destination.

We turned right again. A few feet away, across the street, stood a seven feet tall iron gate. My breath hitched at the sight.

The Larkshire cemetery was a beautiful place when we’d pass by in broad daylight. Stretching over an acre, it was a well-manicured land with tombstones lined in solemn, neat rows. The perimeter was bound by scalloped iron fences with arrays of overhanging trees and bushes pruned in the shape of boxes. At sundown, however, it portrayed a different picture entirely.

A faint layer of fog loomed over the ground, clouding the tombstones that lay at a distance. The winds brought with it the chill of the coming winter but the trees stood still, their branches barren and twisted. I could sense a faint scent of decay coming from within.

I swallowed, realising my throat had run dry. "Do we really have to do this?"

"Come on," Selene murmured and hovered across the street.

Two lamp-posts flanked the main gates on each side, flickering on and off. No guards patrolled about. Selene stared at the wrung iron chains barring the gates. Soon, a click resounded and the chains fell.

I looked around, my heart beginning to pound with apprehension. Slowly, I pushed the gates open, thankful that it hadn’t creaked.

"Remember, the minute the security wanders in, you leave. Understand?"

༻❁༺

Note: Sorry for the short chapters. Although I do have many chapters planned out, I'm p̶a̶r̶a̶n̶o̶i̶d̶ worried that putting in too much would cause reader burnout.

Personally, I'm very impatient, so I first scroll down to see the chapter length and then decide whether or not I'd read it and if it's too large, I lose interest, so I'm trying to avoid that with you guys.

Let me know if it's okay with you or not.