The Angel Reapers

Chapter 5: Part 1

Atalie walked back to her dorm in a daze. She hadn't in her wildest dreams thought that she would be sorted into two casts. Upon opening the door to her suite, she was surprised to see Odette already sitting there, a glass of water in hand.

"Hey! When did you get here?" Atalie questioned

Hearing Atalie's voice, Odette snapped out of the deep thought she was locked in and turned behind. After seeing who it was, she stood up and gave a smile.

"Just now." She replied. Her face had a smile but it was strained, not quite reaching her eyes. Come to think of it, she seemed a little off even in the morning. Atalie was about ask if she was okay when the door opened and Sophia stepped in.

"Atalie! What the hell was that?" Sophia almost shouted as soon as she entered.

"What the hell was what?" Odette repeated, her confusion evident.

"She didn't tell you?" Sophia asked incredulously

"Tell me what?" Odette really didn't have any clue as to what Sophia was yelling about.

"Odette, Atalie was sorted into two casts, Mortis and Angelis!"

"What!" Odette exclaimed

"Uh huh" Sophia

"Why didn't you say anything?" Odette rounded on Atalie.

"Well, for starters, I just got here and second, I don't get what's the big deal." Atalie said

"What's the big deal?!" Odette stared at Atalie as if she had grown two heads. "Atalie, how can you say that?"

"What? What did I say?" Atalie was genuinely confused

"Oh Atalie!" Sophia sighed. "You know how we have seven casts and forty two powers?"

Atalie nodded. The girls had explained all this to her yesterday. The power structure in the mage world was basically divided into seven casts as Cast Elementalists, Cast Mentalist, Cast Warlord, Cast Alchemist, Cast Psychic, Cast Mortis and Cast Angelis. Each cast – except Cast Warlord – had seven powers underneath it. Traditionally speaking, a person's future power was predicted using the cast system. If a person was sorted into, say, Cast Elementalist for example, then that person would manifest a power falling under Cast Elementalist.

This was the case with all casts except Cast Warlord. It was so because Cast Warlord did not have any subdivisions in it. Why, nobody knew.

"Well, a Dual is basically a person with two different powers. It means that the person has an arsenal of two powers. There are two ways of being a Dual. One is by getting a power from two casts and the second is getting two powers from one cast. Statistically speaking, the latter is rarer than the former." Sophia  explained.

"Okay so I am from the first type, am I right?"

"Yes and that guy is from the second type."

"Guy? What guy?" Odette questioned.

Sophia explained about how a guy had been sorted into two casts before Atalie. Odette whistled at the end of the explanation.

"Damn! and the Casting Ceremony is only half over by now. This year is gonna have a lot of Duals!"

"What makes you say that?" Atalie expressed her confusion.

"Generally speaking, a Dual shows up every two or three years. Max to max we get 2 Duals in a year but with the ceremony only half over and two Duals already making an appearance it will be interesting to see how many more show up." This time it was Odette who spoke.

Atalie shook her head and exhaled a breath. "Whew! This is confusing! Anyway let's drop this. Let's talk about you guys. Wanna tell me what casts you were sorted into?"

"I already told you what I would be sorted into."

"Wait, you were really sorted into Cast Mentalist?"

Sophia gave a look that said "Obviously".

"Cool! What about you Odette?"

"Oh me? I was sorted into Cast Psychic." There was something weirdly forced about her response but Atalie let it go.

"Well, now that we have our sortings why not let us go enjoy them." The suggestion came from Sophia.

"Oh yes please! I've been dying to max out my black card for so long!" Odette explained.

"Black card? Is that a mage equivalent of a credit card?"

"Close. It's our only source of currency. You see, in the mage world currency is in the form of credit points. It does not have a physical form and thus can only be transferred from one black card to another. We call it Cryillon." Odette cleared up

"But I don't have any money with me."

"Oh that's okay. We can request the school authorities to open a bank account for you. This way you will have enough to spend every month and also have an independent black card." Sophia spoke

"Okay, now enough of this! I'm heading to Merlin Street and you girls are not standing in my way." Odette exclaimed as she grabbed each girl by the hand and dragged them over to the the traveller's door to take them to Merlin Street.

It was decided that, today, Atalie would shop with Odette's black card and then return the money to her once she got a black card of her own. The girls crossed the Traveller's door, a door that created an instant portal to a few predetermined places and stepped out on Merlin Street.

Merlin Street truly lived up to its name. Magical in every sense of the word, Atalie could see shopkeepers selling clothes, books, magical trinkets and God alone knew what else. Colourful clothes, crystal balls, decorative mirrors, dainty and modern coffee shops, there was everything on Merlin Street. The girls dragged Atalie to an old shop. The shop was rustic in design and had clearly seen better days. The wood used for the walls was worn and the sign was a faded little thing that read Achetez votre ennui.

"Shop your boredom away?" Atalie read. She had taken a few French classes in school and was surprised by the weird name the shop had.

"Yep! Welcome to the best shop you'll ever step foot into." Odette declared as she pushed the door open

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Hey guys!! Long time no see!! My wxams are finally over so your girl is back to her weekly updates. Sorry I made you wait so long.

On the bright side, just a few more chapters and the excitement begins.

What do you think about Atalie being a dual? And also how many of you envy Odette who is trying to max out her card limit? (I know I do!)

See you next week!

Love you guys!

Bye!

Fictionally yours,
Aurynn