Witch Hunter Academy

Chapter 3- Witch Hunter Academy

This is a terrible idea.

I shouldn’t be here.

They’re going to catch me.

Those thoughts ran through Arai’s mind over and over as she stood in the entrance hall of Witch Hunter Academy, the most powerful school in the Everlands, and probably the most powerful school on all of Erath. The problem was, it was a Witch Hunter school, it was powerful and vital to the humans’ side of the war, it was the strongest defense, a collection of young, powerful Witch Hunters that would totally kill her without a second thought.

She was the first Enchantress in a thousand years and the first thing her Coven did was send her on a suicide spy mission in a school full of people who were going to kill her.

Arai’s mind drifted back to the day before, back in Sylvia’s office under the haunting eyes of Toshi and the penetrating stare of her mother:

“What kind of mission?” She had asked.

“You’re going to be a spy for us in the Witch Hunter Academy.” Sylvia had responded.

“No disrespect meant but, are you insane ?!” Arai had demanded.

“Very. You are the only one who can do it. Now, drink this, it’ll summon a Holy Weapon for you to use.” Said Sylvia shortly.

I’m not sure whether I should laugh or cry about Sylvia admitting to being insane.

Sylvia handed her a flask full of a golden liquid, which Arai drank hesitantly, suspecting poison at first, but then remembering that she was destined to be the most powerful witch in centuries and ultimately ruled out any direct harm coming to her from witches.

The liquid tasted like tears, salty and sweat at the same time, she should know what tears tasted like, she’d shed a fair amount in her lifetime. The liquid had coated her tongue, sliding down her throat easily, and then the burning feeling began, and she suppressed a shriek of agony as the burning continued, clogging her throat and choking her.

The burning slowly faded, replaced by a dull ache on her right shoulder. She pulled down the fabric of her shirt enough to see the mark, a golden bow-and-arrow shone there.

“I thought only Witch Hunters could summon weapons.” She gasped, still trying to catch her breath.

“That is correct. You have only summoned one because that liquid is enchanted to make that happen. It will act like a normal Holy Weapon, granting you super-speed and deadly accuracy. You cannot use your magic in that school unless absolutely necessary.” Explained Sylvia.

“Yes, but why me?” She asked with a frown tracing her lips.

“Because out of everyone here, if you were discovered you’re most likely to survive. You could probably wipe out the school with an enchanted knife or dart, whereas most of the witches here would die before they cast even the smallest spell. Also, I’ve noticed how good you are at hiding behind that blank expression of yours.” Sylvia said.

And that was the end of that. The next day Arai was sent to the Forest Realm to attend Witch Hunter Academy.

Arai looked around the huge entrance hall, where around three hundred Witch Hunters were gathered, all of them her age, or older than her if you wanted to get technical. Arai knew there would be a test of some sort, but she was ready for whatever they threw at her.

Her weapon was enchanted to act as a normal Holy Weapon, but since the summoning of the weapon was enchanted in the first place, Arai already knew how to tap into her weapon’s power. Not perfectly, but it wasn’t difficult either, so if that was the first test, she was sure she’d pass.