An Amalgamated Education

The First Trial

The day of the trial finally came. Aura woke up about two hours before her alarm because of the stress. After almost an hour of tossing and turning, Aura gave up on sleeping. She got up and threw on some jeans, a crop top, and her team jacket. You got this, Aura told herself, as she looked in the mirror. The entire car ride to school, the butterflies were rising in her stomach. She was always anxious before tests and exams. The trial felt exactly like that. A test of whether she was worthy to receive a scholarship.

As soon as the Dreamers arrived to homeroom, Ms Nightshade made an announcement.
"Right students, all contestants head to the hall after homeroom for the trial. For the rest of you, go straight to class. The school isn't watching this trial."
The classroom was in chatters, although Aura couldn't focus on what anyone was saying, her mind was racing. She had no clue the other students would be watching the other trials.
'What if I eliminated in front of everybody?' She thought.
Aura couldn't imagine anything more embarrassing. She pictured every awful scenario in her head, and it wasn't until the bell rang, that she finally snapped out of it.

The groups walked to the hall to find around twenty 2x2m boxes. Aura and Yuki looked around the hall, sussing out the competition. She spotted Emily in an instant. At her old school, finding her bully in a crowd had become a sixth sense to her. Aura elbowed Yuki, gesturing in Emily's direction.
"She's competing as a nage", she whispered. Emily's team had two mages on it already.
"Weird", Yuki mouthed.
"Eeehmmmm" the loudspeaker croaked. Silence filled the room.
"Good morning students. Welcome to the first trial. Headmaster Ambrose will fill you in on the details of the trial. I'm afraid magic is out of my realm of expertise. I just wanted to remind you all of the rules for the trial", said Principal O'Riley. This was when Aura zoned out. Rules always bored her. She tuned in just in time to hear the principal say, "and remember students if anyone faces a high amount of distress during this trial, yell the safe word; FRUIT LOOPS."
"We need a safe word?" Jeon whispered. He was starting to look concerned.
The principal signed off and Headmaster Ambrose stood up to the podium. He greeted the students with a jolly smile.
"Hello Students. I'm going to explain the trial in more detail. Don't worry, a safe word is only in place in case of severe emotional distress". Aura shot a glance in Jeon's direction. He didn't look very reassured, and if she was being completely honest, she wasn't either.
"The wooden boxes before you are charmed to be bigger on the inside. Each student will step into the box. Initially, it will be dark. Don't worry. A spell will be cast on the box and an augmented reality should appear. Now, this trial is aimed at testing your perseverance and willpower. A reality that will appear before you is completely tailored to you. I cannot pinpoint what you will see, though it could range from past trauma to your worst fears. Anything too severely distressing will be filtered by the spell. We don't want to traumatise our students, after all. But there is a safe word just in case. Groups will go to their assigned box number." With the flick of his wand, numbers made of smoke appeared in front of the students. "Each student will go in one by one and you will be told whether you passed at the end of the trial. Good luck students, let the trial begin", he said.

The Dreamers lined up in front of their designated box. Aura counted the students ahead of her, she would be fourth. Orion and Yuki were in their own world, debating whether or not physics allowed the box to be bigger on the inside. Aura turned to Jeon.
"Are you okay? You're looking a little pale" she asked.
"Yeah, just don't like the idea of being trapped in a box while someone casts a spell on me".
"That's fair. There's a safe word though, so someone is listening - at no point will you be completely alone", Aura reminded him.
"Yeah, that's true", he laughed nervously.
Aura tried to help as much as she could. But she was also incredibly nervous as to what awaited her in the box. She watched as other students went inside, then emerge. Some looked completely shaken.