Selena softly shook her head. I must be imagining things after the trial. For a second there, I thought he was flirting with me, she thought while looking over at him.

The corners of her lips curved up to form a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you; I'm Selena Ravens, by the way," she stated.

"Wow, you even have a cute name, too; today really must be my lucky day," Cedric said, his tone clearly flirty. He rubbed the back of his head as a chuckle escaped him.

Selena's right eyebrow twitched as a faint blush dusted her cheeks. "You!" she blurted out, pointing her finger at him. "Quit flirting with me already," she stated, causing him to stall in his tracks.

A nervous laugh escaped him. "Tough crowd," Cedric said sheepishly. He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, you caught me. But I was only trying to break the ice since I'm a bit nervous," he stated as he scratched the side of his cheek.

Something about the way Cedric adverted his gaze for a moment told Selena that he was lying through his teeth about not intending to flirt with her on purpose.

A beam of happiness danced around Cedric's eyes when it seemed he remembered something important. He leaned his upper body forward, "That reminds me. Now that you have your key. Dante tasked me with giving you a run down of how to use it before you end up going on your first mission," he explained, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him.

How could they already want to send me out on a mission? I barely even know how to use my powers. It's like they want me to get killed or something, Selena thought with a grimace, remembering what happened back at the trial with that man dying on the spot.

"Isn't it a bit early?" she asked, hoping that he was possibly joking with her. Concern chewed away at her nerves when he didn't admit that being the case in a few seconds.

Cedric's expression dulled, and he softly shrugged his shoulders. "I fully agree with you on that one. But, they believe you learn best if they throw you into chaos; I'm still haunted by my first mission..." he said with anxious eyes before he paused when she made a face.

He quickly waved his hand dismissively. "I shouldn't have said that, so don't freak out. Trust me, you'll do fine. You have me by your side now, after all," Cedric explained with a smile as he pointed to himself.

I don't know whether or not I should be concerned that he is my selected partner, Selena thought, trying her best not to frown. "Trust me, I'm not concerned," she claimed, almost sounding offended that he would think that as she crossed her arms.

"That's good; I was getting worried there for a second," Cedric said. The tension in his muscles disappeared after hearing her words. "Let's head over to the training building before it gets too late. Follow me," he stated. He turned on his heels and walked away.

Surprise crawled across her face when he didn't seem to pick up on the irritation in her voice. Without saying another word, she followed after him.

—--

Click! Click! Click!

Selena's mouth hung open in shock. She craned her head back to look up at a massive clock adorning the front of the building. The sound of the clock's hand moving filled her eardrums, forcing her to pay attention to it.

"That'll probably be the biggest clock you'll ever see in your lifetime. It's still a mystery why they added the thing in the first place, but at least everyone always knows what time it is," Cedric stated with his chin resting between his thumb and index finger.

"I see your point; it really is odd," Selena replied. With each chime that screeched out of the clock, she felt strangely uneasy. "It's kind of a bit creepy if you ask me," she added with furrowed brows. She wondered if the thing would give her nightmares later on.

A soft chuckle left Cedric's lips. "It gets worse if you see it even later in the night," he stated. "Let's head inside," he said, gesturing to the big glass doors, giving a small peek of a glossy brown flooring.

Once they entered and approached a large room ahead, Selena couldn't hide the awe sparkling in her eyes. There were four people inside the room with different colored keys. Each person was sending spells at one another and transforming their keys into different weapons.

Fizz!

Selena's head jerked in the direction where something was rapidly heading toward them. She could feel the temperature increase as orange and red blurred together. Her eyes widened when she realized a wave of fire was slithering through the air, aiming directly for them.

Cedric swiftly moved in front of her and extended his palm out. He shifted his hand horizontally to the right when it came close enough. The fire bounced off a purple barrier he created, forcing the flames to change direction.

Cedric placed his palms against his face and sighed. "I thought I told you guys I was bringing someone new in here. Dante will kill me if anything goes wrong on her first day," he whined with bewilderment in his eyes.

I can't blame him for feeling that way as Dante is...something, Selena thought, thankful that she hadn't got roasted alive.

Cedric sighed and shook his head when one of them waved a hand as an apology. "You guys are unbelievable," he breathed out, in disbelief that they had already forgotten what he told them earlier. "Come on, let's head into the room on the left before anything else happens," he said, guiding her safely around to avoid her being harmed by any rogue spells cast.

"We have this place all to ourselves, so you won't have to worry about hitting anyone with a spell or something," Cedric mentioned as he pushed open the door to enter the room. He spun around the spacious room to prove his point.

Selena tilted her head in confusion when the room resembled the previous one. It was plain with nothing in it. As she approached Cedric, a control panel on the wall with numerous bright red buttons captured her attention. "What's that for?" she asked while pointing at it.

"Oh, it's to help with training; it can alter the room's design or add in targets. It honestly has a lot of features, but don't worry, we'll start simple. You'll face me for practice," Cedric said with a smile as if what he said was no big deal. He reached into his shirt collar and pulled out a platinum key attached to a silver chain.

He has a different colored key than me, Selena briefly thought. "What? You can't be serious! You know how insane that sounds, right?" Selena pointed out. Her muscles tensed up at the thought of fighting a second year, someone who had way more experience than her. There was no way she would be able to win this fight meant to train her.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll only be blocking your attacks. So, hit me with your best shot," Cedric said with a thumbs up. He carefully disconnected his key from the necklace he was wearing. He swirled his key in a circle, causing a bright light to surround it that grew in size, revealing a dark blue double-bladed staff.

Cedric could see the uncertainty flood into her eyes. "If you're interested in turning your key into a weapon, channel your magical energy into it, like you're trying to fill an empty cup with water. Also, don't feel bad if you can only transform your key into one weapon. You've got this," he said, encouraging her the best he could.

Selena's breath quickened as her rapidly pounding heart was plagued by nervousness. Calm down, don't sell yourself short, she thought. She swiftly pulled her gold key out of her pocket and held it out. She closed her eyes, focusing on the magical energy swirling around her body.

It felt almost like a string floating through the breeze, eagerly awaiting her command. In her mind, she reached out and gripped it, causing a white light to take away her vision temporally.

Once the light died down, a surprised gasp escaped her throat when her weight shifted forward, nearly sending her face-first into the floor. She quickly gripped onto whatever her key formed into it.

Selena tilted her head up, her eyes widening. Her key had transformed into a scythe with a black handle that was a bit taller than her. This isn't the type of weapon I expected to summon; I was hoping more for a gun. I guess this will work since I could always try to turn my key into a different weapon later, she thought before drifting away from her thoughts when she heard him speak again.

"I never saw someone with a weapon like that before; nice!" Cedric said with a goofy smile. "Alright, what do you say that we finally get our training started?" he stated. He took a step back and got into a fight.

"I'm ready," Selena replied with a look of determination in her eyes to do her best.