"You're late," he said looking down at them. They didn't know when or how, they were no longer at the end of the class but were now in front of the class. They stood to their feet and turned around slowly. They were met with the eyes of every student present.
"What's your reason?" Chadwick asked. "Today is your first day, so I will give you that grace and not punish you if your reason is good." The six of them remained silent. They couldn't admit that they slept through the alarm. "If you can't speak then.."
"Actually, we got here and then were told we needed to be here with our books," Raten said.
"Yeah, we had to hurry back and get it." Kiyan added.
"We then got lost on our way back," Said Wallace.
"By the time we got here, the class had already begun." Lecter said. Chadwick raised a brow and looked at all six of them. Though there words were true, them being late had nothing to do with their forgetfulness.
"If that is your reason, then why is the hair on your heads still soaked?" Chadwick said quite loudly. "You two look like drenched porcupines," he looked at Rodney and Lecter who stood next to each other. "You don't even have your clothes on right," he said to Damien.
"Next time, make sure you lie without having the truth dripping from your heads. Go to your seats." With a wave of his hand, they were lifted off their feet and their bodies violently flung towards the end of the class and collided with the wall of the class with a bang. The class was then filled with chuckles of the students at the six boys who were sent to a wall.
"Next time I will not be so cool about this. You had better not attend class if you're late than walking in whenever you wish," Chadwick said silencing the class and resuming the earlier lectures. The six boys got up after falling off the wall and had their books fly at them, hitting them on the face.
"Open your books to the fifth page," said Chadwick. The boys picked up the books and sat next to each other in the last seats in the middle row. They opened to the page they were asked to.
"This book, it has spells in it." Wallace noticed.
"Instructions as well," Lecter said glancing through the pages. They then placed their notebooks on their smoothly carved desks. Next to them appeared quills in inkwells.
"Everything here is so exciting." Raten grinned.
"Before the interruption, I was talking about magic and it's connection to our world. It has always somehow being part of life. In this vast universe, everything seems and feels magical doesn't it?" Chadwick carried on with the day's lectures.
"The celestial bodies that you see in the sky, how and why they're there. How and why you are alive and dwelling on a land you know not how you ended up here. Though there are different theories, there is no singularly accepted fact to it. Now, the more we humans look into the world of magic, the more we can draw the line and connect the dots to our existence. The more we can connect with a lot of outside, deeper forces that all are involved with us, at least that's what I believe. As you learn, what fits your thought, you can go ahead and believe."
"From the early days, we have had different meanings used to define what magic is. We have also evolved from being referred to as those who commune with devils and what not. The time of black and white magic. And the one I am most thankful for, the abandonment of those little sticks called wands." The students chuckled a bit. Then one raised his hand to signify he has a question.
"Go on?" Said Chadwick.
"What about the staffs, aren't they just bigger sticks?" A boy asked.
"Those 'bigger sticks' as you call them, are only used as a channel to the mana around us. Most of us have shown no need for carrying it about anymore. You will be taught more on that in your second year. For now, why don't we focus on the basics?" He said and moved to the book on a next to him.
"We'll start with something simple. How to cast a spell."
"This is sooo boring." Wallace groaned.
"I mean, we know how to do this already." Raten said and lay his head on the desk in front of him.
"I'm not so sure about that," said Lecter. "See, this is a basic light spell. Can you bring forth light?" He pointed at the book. The others then looked into it.
"Yeah, we should learn this and stop buying candles." Kiyan said indifferently.
"Still, can you do it?" Lecter asked. Kiyan then turned in the direction of the class. Chadwick had already told the class on concentration and saying the words correctly.
"The more you master spells, the less you need to say them. You can just think of it and it happens. Some of them, just feels right when called out though," He said.
"This should be easy." Wallace said as he read the word in the book. Bringing forth his arm like his teacher did when illustrating the spell, he said the word, "Illuninate!" The smirk on his face was wiped off. He clearly was disappointed. Unlike his teacher, his hands emitted no light.
"This should be easy.." Raten mimicked him and chuckled a bit. So did the others. A vein popped on an annoyed Wallace's forehead.
"I haven't seen you guys make progress!" He countered.
"At least we didn't brag about it being easy." Lecter scoffed. "Illuminate!" He said for the third time and only a sparkle came out. Hearing the sound of a muffled laughter, he said "Don't you dare."
"Illuminate!" Kiyan tried and his body lit up blinding a good number of students and attracting Chadwick's attention. As soon as it lit, it dimmed immediately.
"You were supposed to cause only your hand to emit a glow. You clearly weren't listening when he was talking about concentration and focus." Lecter as always was giving a lecture.
"At least, I got it." Kiyan responded.
"This is very basic and the smug looks have now left your faces. A lot of you can't get it and some of you, are trying to draw my attention." Chadwick said and looked in Kiyan's direction.
"Illuminate!" Damien said, and just like Wallace, he also had no luck.
"Illuminate!" Rodney said the word with a smile on his face. His hands emitted a glow which turned into a small ball that he twirled between his fingers. So far, he was amongst the few who had gotten it right in one go and the first amongst his roommates to do it right.
"How did you do it?" Damien asked in awe turning to look at him. He had to move a bit forward and bend a bit to see him for Raten sat between them both.
"Exactly as he said we should," Rodney replied and cancelled the spell with his mind. This might have been something very simple, but his roommates who found it hard were impressed. The last of them decided to give it a try.
"Illuminate!" Raten said softly hoping for a good result. His result was too good that it was blinding. From his body shot out light so bright everyone in class had to cover their eyes. The ones close to him looked away with their arms over their eyes.
"Which child produced this?" Chadwick thought as the light dimmed. Everyone turned back in the direction of the source of the light. Raten was in shock and so were the ones next to him. Looking at the lurking eyes, he slowly raised his book over his face.
"I'm just going to say it," Wallace finding his voice after being awestruck like the rest, said. "What the heck was that?!"