SHINOBI In A World Of Magic

It was the second week of the summer holidays, the Uchiha and Murphy families were going to a stadium. Yohan and Stella were playing their own game of tag using their parents as obstacles. There were other children about and they were playing as well, but Yohan and Stella kept to themselves most of the time. In the meantime, Amber was warming herself up. She had already passed the written exam, next she would be competing in a combat exam. This exam would pit students against each other and test how you use your magic, which is just purely using mana to manifest their elements, in a setting of a duel, since she wished to be a combat mage.

There were however, very few that had learnt spells beforehand and they had the most chance at entering, the academy doesn't rule them out because they consider it as background and ability to be able to obtain and learn it. Getting your hands on spell manuals outside of the academy is only possible when a mage, could be a parent or hired tutor for those nouveau riche masters and mistresses, teaches you or you coincidentally found one in the market place which is essentially impossible, since for one it has to be your affinity and second you have to have enough money since they cost a fortune. Archus has made it this way in order to limit the abilities of rogue mages. This method of restricting the circulation of spell manuals has seen some success, however before this effort happened, those mages that had already learned some spells have passed the spells on to others for trade or to inherit. It also hasn't stopped them from deriving spells and creating new ones, nonetheless there are few rogue mages that have the privilege of knowing spells.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated, the combat exam will commence shortly, if you wish to cheer on your child please do so without being a nuisance to those within your vicinity." The announcer spoke. The Uchiha and Murphy families scanned the field for Amber, they found her performing a few practice wh.i.p.s. Stella and Yohan cheered for her when they spotted her, earning a smile from those around her, some of them nudging Amber and pointing at the two children.

"Hey look its your little brother." "He's really cute, no matter how many times I see him." "That unusual snow white hair makes him look like a cute little puppy!" These were some comments of her friends around her. Even some students from other schools stared at Yohan. Yohan was famous in Amber's circle of friends as that cute little brother that you just wished to cuddle. However they were disappointed since he mostly interacts with his childhood friend Stella and his sister Amber. Yohan still continued cheering to get Amber's attention.

"Yohan, settle down, your sister must be tense right now because of the exam." Vincent said. Yohan quickly quietened down after he realized he may have been a nuisance. He was silently sitting on the chair and looking down to the field with eyes of encouragement.

"Haha Vincent, you must be proud of your girl! Aspiring to become a mage!" Stella's father Jerry was striking it up again with Vincent. They were good friends from their school days.

"It is only to be expected as my child!" Vincent arrogantly stated. Everyone saw his head swell with pride, his face looked so punch-able at that moment.

'That's some bull, you're not even a mage let alone a talented one.' Thought Jerry.

"Your child?" A frigid voice came from Mrs. Uchiha. She felt he was giving himself too much credit.

"Our child! she's our child, Vivian!" Vincent quickly corrected himself while there was some snickering about. They comfortably seated themselves at the front row. The combat exam would allow the examinees to fight 3 battles each to fully demonstrate their ability and prowess. There was also some scouts from the guilds for any new prospect members. They wouldn't want the other guild to have a leg up on the selections. A few battles have passed and it was finally Amber's turn.

"Next examination battle we have, Amber Uchiha, age 11 with a fire affinity going up against a Wind Hawks guild elder's son, Cain Vent, age 11 with an affinity for water, it would seem that this is a bad match up for Amber." The announcer introduced Amber and her opponent, a relative of a member of one of Hakono's resident guilds, the other being Light Bearers.

"Please surrender Ms. Uchiha, I don't think today's your day since you have to fight me." Cain Vent said in an arrogant tone.

"Hmmph, we'll have to see about that, air head" Amber's remark earned her the sight of a vein popping on her opponents expression.

"Then don't blame me for not going easy on you."

"Combatants are ready, you may begin in 3...2...1...Fight!" Amber didn't coat her whip with fire, it would be a waste of mana. Instead she used her mana to quicken her speed. Internalizing mana was a non-elemental magic, which any rookie magician would learn. Cain created water with a staff that had a blue gem and manipulated it towards Amber as she dashed around avoiding the masses of water that crashed into the different places where she used to be. This continued for about 4 minutes.

"Is running *huff* all you could do?" Cain had been too careless, the creation and speed of the water slowed. Amber had used up some mana too, but it wasn't as much as Cain. Amber coated the end of her whip and several lashes of fire traveled across the field towards Cain's position. Cain quickly used his elemental advantage and extinguished those flames. However that drained a fair amount of attention and mana since it was short notice, he was starting to show exhaustion. Amber came from his blind spot and extended her fiery whip towards Cain. "[Water Wall]!" A screen of water came between him and Amber, it was a low tier spell. "It doesn't look good winning like this." Since Amber came so close, it didn't take long or much mana for the water to be willed towards Amber trapping her.

"Hmmph, coward! You even used a spell." She insulted.

"Yes, I admit that I may not have as much battle sense as you, but I won't allow myself to lose this." He said. "[Gush]" A stream of water impacted Amber, another low tier spell, and she was knocked back where she laid there drenched.

"Match over, winner Cain Vent. next...." Amber was escorted off the field. A series of boos from Amber's friends showered Cain, however he didn't show any remorse, just self deprecation. The scout from the guild light bearer made a few sarcastic comments making the Wind Hawks' scout wear an ugly expression. Yohan was busy boring holes at Cain who had a shiver on his spine. Even if his sister lost, Yohan was proud that she could push her opponent with an element advantage to the point that he needed a spell to take her down. Amber was taken note of by both guilds and the academy as a prospective mage. Her next two matches were wins though, which washed off her sour taste of defeat.