Spellcrafter-Delta

by Christopher Kirkland

  The teacher continued on until he went through every name and got a reply. There were only a few who had been relocated or did not show up. He simply assumed they overslept.

  “Okay. First of all, my name is Alleyne Atalanta. Please don’t try to pronounce my name, you will fail horribly and I’ll shun you. Therefore, you can call me Alleyne. Thank you all for coming on time,” he started to look them all over.

  “Sir, why were you late today?” One student asked. “Just curious.”

  “I was in a meeting. A meeting regarding that one.” He said pointing his walking stick at Chris. “And that one,” he said as he shifted over to where it now pointed at Penny.

  “They’ve been working very hard and training well together. They might be taught faster than some of you. This boy was seen in the outskirts being able to do things most first years can’t do. This girl has never gotten along with someone so well, minus her sister. She even cracked a smile, and she does have experience. Both will be learning at the same level as the older students and are able to enter the partner competition,” he told them. “I’m not supposed to tell you, but whatever. It’s impressive, so I did.”

  “Why though?” Chris asked.

  “Hmm?”

  “Why me? I get her, but why me?”

  “They think you two might be partners,” he answered. Penny looked over at Chris and he looked back at her. Penny was in shock and so was Chris.

  “You’ll still be in my class from time to time, however, if you become partners, you will attend each other’s classes. Your sister didn’t like the idea of you already getting a partner, and she especially disliked the idea of your entering, but that is your choice, Spellcrafter.”

  Two students came running in, adjusting their clothes as they ran into the crowd. The teacher shook his head. He marked them as tardy and folded his arms.

  “First day...coming in late. Come on guys, do better. I’ll let it slide today, but you’re gonna get me in trouble if you do that later...Break your legs.” he said jokingly.

  “Now before we get started on this first lesson, I want you all to know what an amazing achievement it is just being here. You were selected to become Wizards. You protect, you serve, and you are not just soldiers. You are artists, healers, scientists, animal and nature experts, and you all have skills and talent. It is my job to feed your minds so that talent does not starve; like the Death teacher’s soul does on the first day of every year when he has to deal with the freshman.” Some of the kids began to laugh at this remark. Alleyne set his suitcase aside so it did not get in the way and scanned each student over.

  Alleyne then made a clicking noise with his teeth as he thought about his next words. “Okay class,” he began.

  “I’m going to need volunteers for this next part. You will be summoning your weapons. No instruction yet, we are going to try before anything else.” He set his walking stick against the fountain.

  He pointed at Chris, Penny, Ian, and a girl beside Ian that Chris couldn’t really see. He pondered a moment and then began to select any child who made eye-contact with him. Some went up groaning, some nervously, and some confidently.

  “Okay, so raise your hand if you don’t have a weapon with you already. Whether it’s with you or not, if you own one.”

  He gathered a bundle of fairly good swords...they were not as good as the one Chris received from Emily, but they would get them by until they got better ones. He placed their weapons on the table and made sure everyone could see them.

  “Okay, listen up. You need to summon your weapons to you. I don’t expect you to get it first time, it is a very difficult skill to master, but once you do, there will hardly be any situation where you cannot defend yourself,” his eyes moved across the sea of students.

  “If your weapon is at home, then that’s even better. Call your weapon to you, picture it in your hand, feel it’s weight.” He said as he grabbed his walking stick once again. “Now,” he said as he pointed the walking stick at the four of them.

  Chris, Penny, Ian, and the girl summoned their weapons. Chris summoned his sword he had obtained from Emily. Penny summoned her small sword and shield. Ian summoned a broadsword with a black and grey hilt, and the girl beside him summoned a dark and light green Jian sword with a yellow hilt guard. Chris’ sword had a white and blue shimmer around it, Penny had black, Ian had grey, and the girl had green. They had all summoned their weapons at the same time. The class began to clap, and the teacher clapped the top of his hand that was on the walking stick.

  “See, there you go! All four of them were actually able to do it! I understand you all had prior experience, right?” he asked.

  “Yes sir,” Penny answered. “Chris just learned yesterday.” Chris nodded.

  “Wow alright,” he applauded. “Megan, you were trained personally by the headmaster, correct?”

  “Yes, indeed.” He heard the girl on the end say.

  At this point, Chris just really wanted to know who Megan was, and so he leaned forward slightly. Megan was a girl with pink hair and blue eyes. She wore a white shirt with a black line going down the center, a white jacket, a white skirt with a black trim, white stockings with black bows, and white boots with a black underside and a slight incline in the back. Her sword was elegant and even in the sheathe; he could tell it served her very well. She appeared to be experienced, and Ian would occasionally glance over. He thought to himself, so this is Megan?

  The rest of the class began attempting the same, but only a few were successful. Out of the entire group of maybe fifty or so kids, only fourteen were successful. The teacher told them they would eventually learn, but he wanted to see where everyone was. Then he explained the schedule for the day. Before going to their next classes, everyone would be checked for their magic type. Chris was a little nervous this might involve needles, but the teacher simply explained that he would only need to touch their wrist, similarly to how you check a pulse. Since he was experienced, he could tell a person’s type just by touching them near their veins. So, he checked the students who did not previously know.

  “Ice,” he proclaimed as he placed his hand on Chris’ wrist. “You have Ice magic.” Chris held his hand up and stared at it. He began to ask himself questions like; if he had always had this ability, why had it not surfaced before? Perhaps he just never thought to try, or Emily had protected him yet again. He couldn’t help but remember back when he and Emily were living together. There were hard times, and he drove her crazy, but she still loved and cared for him. She had taught him how to defend himself a week before she left, and he supposed that was why.

  “Does anyone want to try to shoot the target? You only need to hit on the board.”

  “I can try,” Chris volunteered. “But I don’t know how to do it.”

  “You will.” He said giving Chris a light pat on the back as he stepped forward to see a target with the smallest red dot he had ever seen.

  He held out his right hand and wondered how this would work. Nothing happened. He became a bit disappointed and looked back at Penny. She nodded and gave a gesture with her hands for him to focus. Everyone was watching, he couldn’t just fizzle out now.

  A blue shard of ice came from his hand. It did not exit his hand, nor did it hurt him. It simply appeared there. There was a massive gust of wind as it left his hand, spinning rapidly like a bullet and cutting through the air. He had managed to hit the board, in fact, he was near the center. His hands felt cold and tingly, almost numb. Everyone started clapping, but he felt slightly fatigued.

  “Good job. Now I want you to try to hit the bullseye just twice,” the teacher instructed.

  Chris tried, but missed every shot, and the last shot seemed to be the wildest, veering off course and flying into the fountain. One shot bounced off of the fountain and flew at Alleyne who caught it effortlessly and dropped it to the floor, letting it shatter.

  “You will be taught how to better control it, I assume the first was just luck,” he tol
d Chris. “Anyone else?” he asked the class as Chris went back and stood beside Penny.

  “I’ll teach you later today,” Penny whispered under her breath as the next person went up. “There’s a trick to it. It’s all in the mind.”

  After a while the teacher instructed them to go to their respective classes. There was a transition of the students in each school going to the center where the fountain was, and students going to each school. Penny followed Chris to the Ice school. There was a blue color to the school and it seemed almost like it was covered in frost. There were icicles hanging from the roof. There were about ten students in the class.

  The interior of the school was actually rather big. It was only one room, but it was sizeable. The wall was blue with intricate snowflake designs, the roof was a snowy white, the desks were brown and long so two people could sit together at each one. The chairs were white with black padding, the teacher had a desk in the center of the room that was also brown. She had a small baby blue lamp on it with a pile of neatly stacked books.

  The teacher was twenty-three, she had white hair that went over her shoulder, grey eyes, and an excited smile. Chris could tell she was a nice teacher simply by her smile. She had a wand in her hand (or at least he thought it was a wand, it was more of a scepter.) It was rather thick and appeared to be shimmering slightly, there was a blue crystal at the end. She wore an elegant white shawl over her shoulders, a cyan blouse, a long cyan skirt that touched the floor, and dark blue shoes that couldn’t really be seen. She held her wand up to her chest, watched as students took their seat, and waited.

  Chris and Penny sat in the front. It took a few minutes for the class to become settled, and all the while the teacher just waited. She gave Chris a courteous nod when he made eye contact briefly. She pondered her words as the class grew silent. She called role, and did her very best to remember names by repeating them back.

  “Hello class, good afternoon.” There were a few replies back. “Come on. First day and everyone seems to uninterested. Good morning class.” She said again with excitement.

  “Good morning,” the class replied.

  “My name is Ms. Norora. Most people call me Ms. Nora, because it’s shorter and easier. I have been teaching here for all of two years now, so I’m still pretty new, but I do my best! I want to know more about my class before we do anything. Any volunteers?” She asked as she looked around. No one volunteered, she seemed slightly disappointed, but that did not stifle her determination to get the class involved.

  “You,” she said pointing at a boy with brown hair in the back.

  “I’m Princeton Gavvry,” he replied back. “I like computers and this is my first-year learning, but not my first year in the school...Uh I can already use my magic very well. I’ve been in this class before. This is my third year here...and yeah, I’m a mage,” he said as he smiled. The class applauded.

  The teacher scanned everyone again, this time at the front of the class. “You and then the girl next to you.” She said. “You are new. I know who Penny is, but I don’t know much about either of you.”

  Penny shrugged. Chris shifted around nervously. He did not expect to be second, nor did he want to be. He decided to just say it as best he could; it was only an introduction, after all.

  “I’m Christopher Spellcrafter. Most people call me Chris. I’m new here...I don’t know much about this place, but Penny has been helping me out. I’m getting used to it. It’s very different here from Earth. I’m an Earthling...I’ve only used magic once so far. My sister is Emily Spellcrafter, and I hope I didn’t just embarrass myself,” he said as he sunk in his seat. The class clapped.

  “Wow an Earthling? We don’t get those really, there are only three in the whole city. You, your sister, and Megan Fairyhorn. I think you’ll love it here. I’m glad Penny has been able to assist you, and if I can in any way, you just let me know.” The class clapped again.

  Chris noticed Penny grip her skirt slightly as he finished his turn. She was lightly tapping her foot, and looking down at the desk. Chris smiled at her and so she gave back a small smile. Penny spoke quietly, even Chris could not hear her. The teacher asked her to speak up. The class spoke in whispers as she attempted to speak. She finally found her voice after some time and began to speak.

  “My name is Pennelopie Dreadful, but people that are close with me call me Penny. I uh...” she glanced around for a moment before taking a deep breath, and continuing on.

  “I know magic and fighting, but I’m still learning to be a Wizard. I don’t like to talk or think about my past much. I don’t like to talk about my family unless it's my sister...I don’t know if I’ll fit in, but I think I made a friend...he’s an Earthling.” She glanced at Chris and smiled. “I’m a Sorcerer. A Sorcerer by blood, but I chose to join the Alliance along with my sister Tori. I just hope I do well.” The class clapped, a few kids snickered, but she didn’t pay them any mind.

  Chris smiled and Penny nodded back as if to say thank you.

  “Well...you two seem very close already. I’m glad you help each other, that is the biggest thing most partners I see have to work on. If you two do end up being partners; I think you will be rather impressive. I’ll be keeping an eye on how awesome your performance is, thank you for sharing.”

  The class went on, she told about what they would learn and eventually when they got partners they would attend the class together. She emphasized how Ice is graceful and strong with a team, and that many Ice magic users would focus on being able to take damage rather than attacking. Most Ice users were hard to even injure, and nearly impossible to knock down. Most were either leaders or strategists, but some were also scientists.

  “Normally I would have my assistant with me to demonstrate and help, but he was assigned his own class. We called him Mr. Ed, he retired, but he comes in as a substitute sometimes. I hope I’m not ever sick, but if I am just know you have a good teacher in the meantime.: She paused for a moment, scanning the class. “Now that we are done with the introductions, formalities, and protocol, let’s have some fun!”

  She pointed her wand up and smiled widely. Snowflakes began to descend from the ceiling. There were no clouds, it was simply magic. She then flicked her wand to her left and created a snowman with a smile and a hat, and almost immediately after that she pointed her wand at one of the windows and froze it. She smiled and bowed as the class clapped (the ones that had seen magic before like Penny gave a golf clap or didn’t applaud at all.) She moved her wand again and undid what she had done only moments before - but she left the snowman of course, she was rather proud of it.

  “Now that was just for show, you will learn defensive and offensive spells, especially if you wish to continue on and become a mage. Otherwise you will do sparring and combat training. Mr. Ed will come and assist with that, he is very good at instructing students in melee combat. He is also well versed in the history of the Ice school, the Alliance, and whatever questions you may have.” She explained.

  Chris raised his hand, “I have a question.”

  “I have an answer,” she replied waving her hand as a go ahead.

  “What happens if you choose to focus on damage as an Ice Wizard? Why is it so difficult and if I chose to could I?”

  “Well, yes...but,” She emphasized the word but. “I think it’s best to focus on taking damage, Ice isn’t as good at damage as the other schools, especially Storm. Not to say that it can’t be done, do what you want, but it will be difficult. I think you’d want to have Mr. Ed help you and practice on your own, should you choose that path. Once you choose it is difficult to change.” She answered. “That is not to deter you...I’d say make sure you’re confident. Ice has to work harder to be damage dealers. But they can take damage more than most.”

  “Okay,” he replied.

  “Mr. Ed will be here...I think...tomorrow. I’ll check on that for you.”

  After a few minutes class change occurred, they left the Ice classroom and made their way to t
he Death class. It was a black color with a bit of grey. There was a white skull symbol on the two doors. The doors were grey. They entered. The interior was dark with lit candles on each desk, there was rug that led down the center of the classroom that was black and with red flower designs on the rug.

  The teacher wore a black and red cloak with a grey jewel in the chest area. His hair was brown and slicked back, it wasn’t long at all. It was about the length of his neck. His eyes were a pale grey, he had a chin curtain style beard, and a neutral expression. Unlike the other teachers he was actually the most calm so far, he was writing on the board and not paying any attention to the class as of yet. A name resided on his nameplate on his desk, it read Silas Mendelson.

  “Class what is Death?” he asked without turning.

  No one replied, there were a few whispers. “I know what the majority thinks and it is not learning how to kill things faster. It is mastering one’s life force and other’s life forces, even the enemy. To take life from one and give to another. To revive using nothing more than a person’s time...The amount of years they theoretically have left. It is also the ability to allow your body to take heavy amounts of punishment, only to still be standing or even strengthened by it. Although it is a relatively new school, it is powerful. It was not allowed by the Wizards some years ago, but now that it is, it can be finally used for good. Now I’ve been here almost ten years now, I’m forty and I haven’t had a student fail yet. But I do not tolerate slackers, liars, or any other disorderly behavior. You are Alliance Wizards, you are here to learn so you may fulfill that role, this is not social hour.”

  He turned to the class, those pale and cold eyes darting through the crowd. He did not seem mean, perhaps strict, but not mean. However, his eyes gave Chris a certain chill, he couldn’t breathe for a moment and found himself taking a deep breath, as if he was momentarily under water, or his lungs were closed off. The teacher raised his eyebrow, noticing Chris immediately.

  “Ice is the cousin to the Death school, and so it is not strange to see an Ice Wizard get paired with a Death Wizard, what IS unusual is to see Life and Death join as one. It is rare, but powerful. I have seen both, and they make the best partners. You have already had the partner talk, but you probably did not know that as you and your partner grow closer, you can communicate mentally, without your lips ever parting and speaking. You can sense each other's emotions, and if you are close enough you may experience one another’s emotions. If you are too far this will not work, but as a Death Wizard this is essential. You do not have partners yet, and when you get one it will be a bumpy process, but as you grow used to each other, so too will your abilities." He continued on, “Death is not only a part of the life cycle, Death is emotion and an understanding of all life. You are not Life Wizards, you do what they cannot.”