by S. B Terra
There was another large, long corridor room that had wooden doors on either side, the room was lit by large lanterns and looked older and slightly darker than the lecture hall corridor.
“These are the court rooms” said Bella as they made their way down the corridor.
After walking about twenty meters, they stopped outside one of the large, wooden doors.
“Sorry, Alice, do you mind waiting here for a moment? It’s a sensitive issue, I won’t be long” asked Bella.
“Sure, no problem.”
Bella opened the door and walked inside, closing it again behind her.
Alice could slightly hear Bella’s voice through the door but couldn’t make out what was being said, and as Alice stood there waiting outside, she suddenly heard a loud commotion coming from further down the corridor.
Alice turned around and saw a group of people headed in her direction, and as they made their way closer, she realized what it was.
A handcuffed man was being escorted through the corridor by six people in hooded robes. Two of the people were walking to the man’s side, holding him by the arms and the other four had their wands out, two of which walked in front of the man and the other two were walking behind, as if acting as guards.
“You people won’t weaken our world for much longer, you don’t know what’s coming for you” Alice heard the man say as he struggled with the guards, his voice sounded crazed and scary.
Alice could now see the man clearly as they approached, he was of average build and had curly, black hair and a short, scruffy beard, he was wearing slightly ripped, black leather jeans, a black, long sleeved, hooded shirt and had fresh scratches on his face.
Suddenly, the door opened behind Alice and Bella walked out into the corridor.
“Bella Turnox!” the man scowled, still fighting with the guards as they passed.
“You will die soo – “
The man suddenly flew back and slammed violently into the wall behind him, grabbing at his throat as if he were choking, his body dangling and kicking from a few feet above the ground.
“Bella, we’ve got it” said one of the guards.
Alice quickly looked over at Bella, she had her wand raised and pointed at the man, her eyes looked fierce and deadly.
Alice looked back at the man as he let out a loud choking sound, his face had become red and dark, purple bruising had started slithering down his neck like thick veins.
“BELLA!” yelled one of the other guards, raising his wand and nervously pointing it at Bella.
Bella ignored the guards and continued choking the crazed looking man as his body slowly stopped squirming, seemingly losing consciousness, when suddenly he dropped to the floor with a loud thud, gasping for air and looking up at the roof as if he were disorientated.
Alice noticed that Darius Bane was now standing in the doorway behind her, watching what was happening.
Bella turned and looked at the guard who had raised his wand at her, her eyes hadn’t changed and were still looking deadly.
Bella walked over and stood in front of the guard, staring at him directly in the eyes, less than a foot away from his face.
“Raise your wand at me again” she said in a chilling tone.
The guard let out a nervous sigh and looked away from Bella as if trying to avoid confrontation, he seemed instantly broken and afraid, and as he looked away, Bella grabbed the man’s jaw with her hand and twisted his head back so that he was looking at her again.
“I said raise your wand at me again.”
“I’m sorry, Bella, I thought you – “, the man was interrupted as Bella pushed his head backwards, staring him down for a few more seconds.
“Come, Alice” said Bella, walking off back towards the elevator, her voice had suddenly changed back to her calm, usual tone.
“I’m sorry about that, that man killed my friend” said Bella as they entered the elevator.
“It’s fine” said Alice in a reassuring tone.
Alice was stunned, she had never seen a woman act so ruthless and assertive in her life. There was a certain power and trueness that Bella possessed that she couldn’t quite understand or describe, and as they made their way back to the house, Alice realized that the more time she spent getting to know Bella Turnox, the more that her respect naturally grew for her.
The Intuitive Path
Alice sat on the bed and opened her program outline book, it was just after 7am and she had eagerly woken up early up to dive into her program.
Introduction to Magic
Program Outline
Please read through the following sections carefully before beginning any of your assessments.
Introduction to Magic Program
The Intuitive Path
Course Materials
Assessments
Final Exam
Practical Demonstration of Magic
Introduction to Magic Program
The Introduction to Magic Program is a course specifically designed for those who have recently crossed worlds. Upon completion of the program, the newly crossed citizen of our world will have gained a general understanding of the higher, natural world of magic and will therefore be able to begin pursuing several fields of study and practices depending on his or her interests and talents.
In your program bag you have all the necessary books and materials required for each of your assessments, it is advised for you to complete and to fully comprehend the delegated books and lectures before undertaking any of your assessments.
Once your assessments have been completed, assessed and approved by the Terra Education Department, you will be required to undertake your final exam, which you can schedule for any time that suits you and will be conducted and supervised at the Education Department. The final exam will consist of one hundred multiple choice questions, there will be ten questions relating to each assessment topic that you complete, you are required to achieve a 90% correction rate to pass the exam.
If you fail, however, you will be able to re-sit the exam after a period of one week.
Once you have successfully passed your final exam, you will then be required to undertake your practical demonstration of magic, which will also be conducted at the Education Department.
When undertaking the practical demonstration of magic, you will be required to demonstrate and perform a few basic spells and magical acts to show that you have fully comprehended the concepts of magic and power.
Upon completion of the Introduction to Magic Program, you will receive all relevant information and resources on fields of study and careers from the Terra Education Department.
If you have any troubles or inquiries, please feel free to contact the Education Department via mail or in person at any time.
Alice heard a tapping on the window as she finished reading the introduction. She stood up and walked over to the window, and as she approached, she saw Red suddenly jump from the ground up onto the balcony ledge.
Alice slowly opened the doors, quietly walking out onto the balcony.
“Hello, Red.”
Red sat on the ledge of the balcony and stared at Alice, seemingly unphased.
Alice slowly took a step closer.
“Can I touch you?’ she asked in a friendly tone.
Red continued to stare at Alice and didn’t move.
Alice took another step closer and slowly reached out her hand, gently stroking Red’s wing with the back of her fingers, and as Alice lifted her hand to stroke Red’s wing again, he suddenly flapped his wings and flew off somewhere downstairs.
Alice walked back inside and sat on the bed, opening the program outline book, and a moment later there was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Come in.”
The door swung open and Bella walked inside.
“Red was just here, I went outside and stroked his wing and then he flew off” said Alice, slightly excited that she had touched Red.
Bella laughed.
“Well,
that’s nice, he doesn’t usually let people touch him. He came and told me you were awake, he obviously likes you.”
Bella walked over and sat on the bed next to Alice.
“Before you jump into your books, I have some good news” said Bella with an excited smile on her face.
Alice placed her program outline book onto the bed and stared back at Bella attentively.
“As much as I love having you here, you need to be an independent woman and move into your own place with your own space in the Student Village. As Darius said, accommodation in the Student Village is free while you’re studying, however, some of the apartments are a little nicer than the others. The good news is, I pulled some strings and reserved you the apartment that I lived in whilst I was in the Student Village. It’s spacious, private and has a large balcony where you can practice your magic and meditate, it’s also only a five-minute walk to the Student Plaza, where the transportation room is. The Student Plaza has numerous stores and has everything that you need.”
“That sounds amazing! Thank you so much, Bella, how did you get it?”
“The head of student housing owed me a favor.”
“When can I move in?” asked Alice, she was filled with excitement at the idea of moving into her own apartment.
“The apartment will be ready for you to move in tomorrow, I will come and help you move in and show you around the Student Village a little, I’ll show you where everything is” said Bella as she stood up.
“That’s so exciting, thank you” said Alice, unable to hide the huge smile on her face.
“How’s your magic coming along?” asked Bella, smiling at Alice.
Alice had spent over four hours last night practicing and experimenting with the magic that Bella had showed her.
“Good, I practiced quite a lot last night, I’m understanding it more now” responded Alice.
“Good, have you seen all of the books from the Education Department yet?”
“Only the program outline book, I started reading not long before you came in.”
“Okay. In the bag there’s a book on basic, every day spells and cues that you can start practicing as well, just make sure that you manage your time efficiently and don’t get distracted from your program. Once you finish the program you will have the freedom to do whatever you wish” said Bella as she walked over to the door.
“Yeah, I want to finish the program as quickly as possible” said Alice.
“Why don’t you get ready, come and eat and then show me how your magic is progressing. I thought today we could get you organized at the TMR, and then you should be all set. Later in the afternoon I need to go and get some things done and will be back later in the night. You can either hang out here or go and explore the city, I’ll authorize your wand to open the front door. If you decide to explore the city just make sure you stay within Terra, you’ll need to read up a little on geography before you go exploring further.”
“Sounds good, thank you for everything, Bella” said Alice, feeling appreciative for everything that Bella was doing for her.
“No problem. Take your time, I’ll see you down there whenever you’re ready” said Bella, walking out of the room and shutting the door behind her.
Alice sat back down on the bed and curiously started unpacking her program bag, she was focused on practicing her magic last night and hadn’t seen any of the other books yet, wanting to start fresh in the morning before becoming absorbed into the program.
Alice read the titles of the books as she unpacked and placed them on the bed.
‘Introduction to Magic’
‘Geography of the Higher, Natural world of Magic’
‘General History I’
‘General History II’
‘General History III’
‘Every day Magic: Spells and Cues for Beginners’
‘Meditation’
‘Will Power, Intuition & Imagination’
‘Power & Magic’
‘The Natural Laws of Karma’
‘Way of Souls’
‘Plants, Fungi & Their Uses’
‘The Magic Council, People’s Forces & System of Governance’
‘Creatures of the Higher, Natural World of Magic’
Alice unpacked the bag until it was empty, there were fifteen books in total including the program outline book, a container with twenty large scrolls, and a black pyramid object which was clearly the hologram device.
After quickly inspecting the small pyramid, Alice left everything on the bed and made her way into the bathroom to shower and to get ready for the day.
Alice walked downstairs, and Bella was standing in front of the open windows painting with her wand on a large canvas which was placed on the paint stand. The drawing was black and white and was of the view looking out the windows overlooking the trees from her position, the drawing was amazing and had perfect detail.
“That’s amazing” said Alice as she walked over to inspect the drawing closer.
“Thank you, it keeps my mind sharp. I made omelets and soup, yours is in the kitchen” said Bella as she continued drawing.
“Thanks, I’ll have to cook for you soon” said Alice as she walked over to the kitchen and sat down.
“When you move into your new place I can come over for dinner” said Bella from the other room.
“Sounds good.”
Alice had a sip of the soup which was in a silver, crafted bowl and it tasted delicious, she had never tasted anything like it before.
“This soup is really nice, what’s in it?” she asked.
Bella walked over and sat on one of the stools next to Alice.
“It’s just vegetable soup with different plant oils and herbs, very healthy, it will clean you out, I made a big batch about an hour ago”
“Nice, how is it still hot?” asked Alice, she wasn’t sure how long it had been on the bench for, but the soup was still steaming hot.
Bella smiled.
“You’ll get used to everything soon, the silver bowls and plates are of course made with magic and keep foods at the exact temperature as when you dish them.”
Alice then realized that it was going to take some time for her to become familiar with the world of magic.
Alice washed up and then made her way outside to the garden where Bella was waiting.
“Let’s see it, light first” said Bella as Alice walked down the stairs.
Alice raised her wand and light instantly focused at the tip of her wand, the light lasted for about six seconds and then went out.
Alice realized last night whilst experimenting that with concentration she could produce the same result saying the words in her mind as she could saying it aloud.
“Great, you’ve picked it up very quickly, the next step for you is now to train your will and concentration and to hold the spell for longer. Let’s see the bottles” said Bella, looking slightly surprised and impressed.
Alice raised her wand and pointed it at one of the bottles that were placed in the garden, and without saying any words, the bottle quickly raised into the air in sync with Alice’s wand.
Alice moved the bottle around in the air, doing some maneuvers with it before it fell to the ground about ten seconds later.
Bella smiled at Alice for a moment and then walked over to her.
“Great progression, Alice. You are going to be powerful, as your mentor I am going to push you and make sure that you are living up to your full potential. You must always strive to progress and to challenge yourself, to grow your power and to aim for complete self-mastery” said Bella in a serious tone, “when you move into your new place we will start on defensive and offensive spells, we will do at least three sessions per week, it won’t take you long to catch up. Let’s go and get you organized at the TMR.”
Bella walked up onto the porch and shut the front door.
“I almost forgot, come up here and I’ll authorize your wand for the door before we go, press your wand up against
it” said Bella as she pressed her own wand up against the door.
Alice walked up and pressed the tip of her wand onto the door, and as it made contact, the wood around her wand momentarily glowed green and then slowly faded back to its usual color.
Bella and Alice then made their way down to Rose Garden and transported to the Magic Council, walking out onto the square and heading towards the TMR center.
“This shouldn’t take too long” said Bella as they approached the TMR center and walked through the large, rotating, glass door entrance.
The TMR center had five levels inside and had the same elegant black marble throughout as the Magic Council, it was very spacious and spread out and there was a large garden in the center of the room on the ground floor.
Alice followed Bella passed the garden and towards the window counters on the opposite side of the room, and as they approached, she saw that there were large, sapphire cubes sitting in front of the windows on each counter.
“Hi, Alice needs to activate her account, could you run her through everything, please?” said Bella as they approached a small, skinny, elderly lady with long, curly grey hair behind the window.
“Sure thing. Hi, Alice” said the lady as she reached below the desk and grabbed a form, sliding it under the window, “if you could please fill that out and sign at the bottom.”
Bella leant her head over next to Alice’s ear.
“You haven’t written anything with your wand yet, have you?” she whispered.
Alice shook her head.
“Just touch your wand on the paper and say the words in your mind, see what happens” whispered Bella, smiling at Alice.
Alice placed the tip of her wand onto the paper, and as she said her name in her head, the letters started to appear on the paper in her own handwriting.
“That’s my handwriting” said Alice in a surprised tone, turning and looking at Bella.
“Remember, your wand is now linked to you, it knows everything about you.”
“A recent crossing?” said the elderly lady behind the window, overhearing the conversation.
