From the bottom of my heart, thank you to my p4tr0ns: Morpheaus, and RTB <3 <3 <3
Become a p4tr0n too and read up to FOUR chapters ahead!:
h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / t r a s h w i t h g l a s s e s
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"Therefore, the most basic definition of magic is that of: energy which permeates everything, used to temporarily create objects or other types of energy" the teacher finished the frustratingly vague explanation.
"Teacher Glance", I called, raising a hand.
"Yes, Coyote?", the man who wore many belts on his every limb kindly turned to me.
"How are we able to manipulate this energy? Where does this energy come from? Why do people get tired from conjuring spells?", I had so many questions and so few answers! I was so curious I didn't even bother (too much) with the muffled laughs around me.
"Well, Coyote, all of these topics and more will be studied with time. For everyone's safety, yes?"
"Yes…"
"Quite slow, these classes, aren't they?", the boy who I had only seen sleeping finally stirred up a little bit. He had unkept black hair, sleepy eyes, and black leathery clothes. "Well, they have to be. So we don't end up exploding our own heads."
I forced a laugh to accompany the morbid joke.
"…You were joking, weren't you?", when the now awaken boy, whose really most distinguished characteristic was how sleepy he looked, even blinking one eye at a time, didn't answer, I pushed further concerned: "If you weren't joking, don't you think you should pay more attention to these classes, then?!"
"…Good point. I'll try to at least not fall asleep during class", he winked at me, smiling. But not out of malice.
And so, I smiled back.
"How's your name? I'm Skyblue, Of The Coyote Clan."
"Hiber. Deathbed's the Clan", he nodded respectfully.
Hey! As it was going, Principles of Magic wasn't so bad after all.
"Pock!", a pebble hit the back of my head, followed by more laughs.
…And surely it would only get better with time.
Geography. It was a very interesting topic, especially the impressive cliffs and chasms and plateaus of the Grand Canyon down southwest, but…
I simply couldn't focus on that class as much as I wanted to.
Sure, I could deal with some laughs and pranks, and stuff thrown at me, but the real problem lay on tomorrow.
The next day would be Applied Magic again.
I felt nauseated just by thinking about it, my eyebrows and lips curled up by themselves, and innumerable thoughts came to my mind, detailing how every second of the following days would unroll.
"Are you okay, Coyote? Please, remember: you may stand up and leave this lesson whenever you feel like it", the thorny teacher, Visk-Cera, gently rested her hand on my shoulder, only slightly hurting me.
"I am. Thank you, teacher."
But I wasn't, and the time for the dreaded studying topic inevitably came.
"We already went through defensive spells", that was true, and I puzzled my teacher when she couldn't identify what material my shield was made of. In the end asked me to focus on the rock wall spell, just like everyone else. "Now we're going to see offensive spells."
Oh, great! Because I wasn't being beaten enough by Ursus and his gang while they tried to "help me" to defend myself!
"You will need to learn and use the water ball spell. You will be using it quite a lot during the next class, after all… it will be a battle royale. You learned how to defend yourself, you will learn how to throw something at your opponents, and then you will practice it in a simulated battlefield, until there are only 10 of you still in game! And there will be punishments for the losers."
I felt as if I had been hit straight into my stomach, the world seemed to be spinning, and the ground was kilometers down beneath my feet.
We'd be forced to fight against one another! There was no way I could beat innocent people, but Ursus and his gang wouldn't simply let me go with a splash of water, for sure…
What should I do?!
"I know it's tough, but you have to bear this pain!", Ike encouraged me, tightening his fists and frowning as we walked towards my bedroom.
"Thanks, Ike", I smiled over the pain of the shots of water balls that were fired at me with more pressure than they were supposed to carry. If I didn't heal so fast, I'd be fully covered in bruises then. "I think you're right. It wouldn't be right to hurt someone for such a selfish reason. They are just playing, and, besides, I am a seed in a sand desert…", I stopped in my tracks, feeling like changing topics: "Anyway, shouldn't you be with your roommates right now? You also spent all of your rest days with me last time", I wasn't complaining, I found it quite fun to play board games with Ike, actually.
"Well… The thing is… I mean, yeah, you're right! I should be going for now. But don't forget what we talked about! You simply have to get used to these things."
"You're wrong. And you know he is wrong too, Coyote."
To everyone's surprise, it was Spruce; he was waiting before the slit that was the entrance to my bedroom, his arms crossed, his face somber. He hadn't had an easy time during the training either, but it didn't seem that it was the bruises that were bothering him. Actually, he's been ignoring me since we last talked…
"Uh? Who's this?"
"Ah, Ike, this is Spruce. Spruce, this is Ike. You two are… my friends, I like to imagine", I smiled awkwardly, not unlike how Ike acted 99% of the time.
"Don't get it wrong!", Spruce shouted, stepping forward. "I don't make friends with the weak."
"Spruce… What do you-"
"You know what I mean", he was right before me then, looking up in my eyes. "You're letting yourself be oppressed. There will be no end to it… Unless you become the oppressor", he then bypassed me, and continued, staring then at Ike: "…If you like to pretend to be the good guy so much, you know very well that what I say is true", the little person walked away, and before turning into a corner and vanishing from our field of vision, he concluded: "During the battle next week. You have to show those guys what you're made of."