I just smiled and nodded, not really feeling all that good for myself since beating Jason was just a part of my schedule.
Professor Zane appeared out of nowhere to watch our fight, and judging by the smile on his face he really enjoyed it. The other students were trying to absorb everything they saw. One guy even brought out a book and was taking notes.
"So that was the style you were creating," Professor Zane said "the fabled Kyoki No Kakera. Shards Of Insanity, in ancient Japanese, if I am not mistaken."
"Yeah, it's really something isn't it."
"Very much so!" He seemed to be getting excited "The way you changed your entire fighting style on a dime and still flowed smoothly! Spectacular. You get 60 more bonus marks."
Nice. Just what I needed for an A in APM(Application of Magic), and in turn, straight A's.
"Thanks Professor."
He just smiled at me.
I walked to my next class, this time with Jason, since we both took Runes together and Zari and Raven took Magical Creatures. After that we all took Biology, Chemistry and Physics, which ended our day.
We took our assigned seats at the back of the class, bringing out the rune-quills and the sketchbooks under our tables out.
The Runekeeper walked in- he never told us his real name( I don't even think he had one) and commanded us to instead call him that-with his signature slow, relaxed gait. His gelled black hair shining in the sunlight. His smooth, rounded face showing the beginnings of a smile. But his eyes were different, they were keen, sharp and were constantly darting around.
He wrote something down on the board. Good Morning Class in Vrilith. I would recognize those flowing characters and easygoing strokes anywhere. He then wrote the rune project in the air, the just appeared in glowing letters.
He said "Well then class. What a sight for sore eyes you all are. I dearly missed you during this break, and I would hope that by the end of this semester, at least one of you can make a half-decent spell," He turned to look at me "Except Kyran, that is."
"Now, can someone tell me what a rune is?"
Someone raised their hand, "A rune is a specific character that can "code" Aether in a certain way. That way depending on what the rune represents, and therefore the interpretation of the Mind that evokes it. It draws power from that person. Two people using the same rune will not get the same effect unless they thought similar too."
"Correct. To further elaborate, a rune can be in any language, with the more powerful ones being more ancient and having deeper meanings. A rune sentence is just a group of them, with more specific "coding".
Let's start with a light rune, in any language you so please."
There were objections, from people who wanted to do something more dangerous, or as they put it more interesting
Now what me and Jason did, I would draw my rune and he would draw his, then he supply both with power. I wrote light in Ancient Greek, in thin air with the magical quill he wrote it in Medan. He looked at me, I nodded, and then he channeled.
Mine was an actual star. His was just as bright. We had to shield our eyes and even then we could still see it. Everyone in the class turned to look at us, and they shielded their eyes too, jealousy in their features as they compared ours to their candle flames.
"I think that is answer enough on why we did the boring light rune rather than let's say, explode, since that would have probably killed all of us in this class." The Runekeeper said as he used an overlapping cancel rune on ours, returning the class to early afternoon. He was lying. All the classes have countless high level runes, engraved into the walls and floor and all automated, so the second they detect a problem, it's gone just as quick. "That's 10 extra bonus points for Kyran and Jason."
His voice resounded in my head, probably using a modified project or maybe connect 'Don't lose heart my dear boy. You have a talent in runecrafting, a career path on an otherwise desolate road.'
'Thanks Professor.' That was so comforting.
The rest of the class went in the same way, him giving us more and more complex runes, and us evoking them perfectly. With minor setbacks here and there. I was excited to go since lunch was next and food was my reason for living.
So was Raven.
Me and Jason walked to the cafeteria, talking on the way and groaning about how hungry we were.
"It's funny, the students in this school can lift cars and teleport, even you can cause serious damage with a rune, and yet, this school's food is the most magical thing about it."
"Only your fat ass would see that as magical. But I have to agree with you, the food is to die for."
We got to the cafeteria, looking for Zari and Raven. Me and Zari locked eyes, she was on the other side of the room. I also saw something flicker next to her, causing her red hair to flare around her head. She was smiling.
The next second Raven was in front of me, I registered her distinct smell of vanilla.
Then she hugged me.
I just smiled and hugged her back, enjoying her warmth.
She pulled back, and no matter how many times I saw her, I would always be shocked by how beautiful she was.
Her brown hair had purple highlights, matching her eyes. Every feature of her face fit together perfectly, and even the imperfections looked beautiful. She was the envy of the whole school.
And she was mine.
She just smiled, probably guessing what I was thinking and held my hand, dragging me to our table.
We sat down, our food already on our seats, quesedillas, rice and salad for me, and pizza for Jason.
"Thanks, just what I needed." I said.
"So how was Runes?" Raven asked.
"It was fun actually, we blinded people with a light rune, flooded the class when I decided to be a know it all and write water in Atlantean, and managed to teleport a mouse across a room. How was Magical Creatures, Nix?"
Her eyes lit up "It was amazing! We finally got to work with Icari, which also allowed me to get you some feathers for braiding."
She was awesome
"And as a reward, Professor Frey said I could form a pact with it for exams, and I could keep it!"
Zari was just as excited "And I got that baby Flash Liger, which is perfect for my magic system, and they're just so cute!"
We just listened to the girls losing their minds, smiling. It was a far cry form the start of this school year, when I first came.
Zari was the only one I could talk to, and my episodes were much more frequent. And then came the Ross siblings, I got beaten by Jason and he, instead of ridiculing me, taught me more. I was holding back, but that didn't change the fact that he was actually nice just then. We stuck to each other from then on.
Being friends with Jason, I met Raven, and it was not an exaggeration to say love at first sight, although it was only on my end seeing as she was one of the strongest on the school and I was the weakest.
But it somehow worked out, probably after me and Jason had a sleepover and I caught her crying. She was going through her teammates cyber bullying her, and blackmailing her with the pictures they posted. People did the worst things out of jealousy. She was so sensitive and vulnerable. After that she told me everything. And I did the same.
By next week we were dating.
Those memories brought me back to the present, where Jason and Zari were arguing about physics homework.
Raven was playing with a Dream Elemental she summoned, laughing at the ridiculous illusions it made.
I just sat there and smiled. Happy with our little family.