"This guy is ridiculous... He doesn't even know the other club members' abilities, and he's already claiming he'd beat us all in one fight." Tempted was an understatement when it came to trying to know his abilities. With that scrawny build, who sits in an awkward pose, he says he's the strongest of them all but has yet to prove otherwise.
"Now, President, you must tell us your abilities now that I showcased mine!"
In a hasty response, Chad shook his head. "Uhhh, nope."
Snapping back at Chad, she raised her voice. "Ehh?! I showcased my abilities; why won't you?!"
"I don't need to." Chad said this with his arms crossed and head facing away from Elmira's feisty glare. "You showed yours when I didn't even ask; that's all your fault. Just keep in mind that I'm the strongest, and you should be happy with that information alone." Chad stated, leaning back and forth on his chair. You could tell from Elmira's face that she would explode in rage. She had never met anyone this conceited before and was prepared to wipe his cocky smile off his face.
The tension was growing in the room, with the sheer pressure weighing down on every club member. Keisha was quivering, Niantha wasn't studying, and Shoka was sweating. The club members were focusing on this intense stare-down. While Elmira crossed her arms, Chad saw a few trickles of flame flicker up in her fingertips from the corner of his eyes. Chad did not react to this buildup, completely stoic to the fact that he might be in danger soon.
Soon, the tension broke, with Shoka's hand planting itself on Elmira's shoulder. "Elmira, aren't you late for your magical training lessons?" Shoka asked. Elmira froze, with a deep gulp that could be distinctly heard from her throat. "I COMPLETELY FORGOT!" she screamed. She quickly grabbed her school bag, which lay on the table, and darted out of the room. As her footsteps grew farther and farther away, the club members collapsed in relief. "I'm sorry for what happened, President. Elmira has a short temper." Shoka said. Looking up, she saw the dumbfounded expression on Chad's face. It was almost as if he had no clue what she was talking about. "She had a short temper? It didn't seem like she had one."
Shoka couldn't believe that the President was so oblivious to what had almost transpired. "I just saved you from getting killed."
"Anyways, what do you mean by magical training lessons?" Chad asked. For Chad, it appeared to be quite important if Elmira hurried off like that. Answering Chad, Shoka says, "Oh, Elmira applied for an after-school program where they train you and prepare you for the military." Chad raised an eyebrow. The military was an immense responsibility, considered outrageous for someone her age to decide. "Why is she trying to get into the military? The moment she graduates, she's going to be deployed into the Eastern Continent for battle." Chad said this with his arms crossed. "She wants to become stronger, she says. She wants to be independent and tough enough to protect us. The entire club thinks of each other as family; that's how strong our bond is."
The solution to this problem made no sense to Chad; it was quite a stretch to begin with. "War is hell; why is she choosing the most outrageous option to get stronger? I'm pretty sure other programs can make her stronger as well." Chad does know some people who can personally train Elmira; he doesn't want Elmira to suffer a terrible fate. As he said previously, war is hell, and he doesn't want anyone to experience it. Not giving him the answer, she says, "Don't question her reasoning; let her be. If you were to stop her, it would hurt her more."
"Okay, fine, but can you at least tell me where she's at?" Chad asked.
Shoka raising her voice, replies, "As I said, stop trying to stop her!"
"Who said I was trying to stop her? I'm her bodyguard, remember?" Chad had a snarky tone in his response, giving her an easygoing look.
Shoka squinted her eyes, not accepting his response. "I'll tell you, but first, let's have a bet."
*
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*
*
Designated at the back of the school, there is a huge track field. Right next to that track field is a large facility that had sounds of war heard from within the building. Footsteps stopped in front of that facility, with Chad folding up a wrinkly piece of paper. "Well, this is where they said the place was." He recalled the twenty minutes he spent consecutively beating the After-School Study Club members in a game of "Rock Paper Scissors".
Keisha and Niantha both collapsed to the sheer power that Chad had in "Rock Paper Scissors". Not just moments later, Shoka also fell. "How did you not get a single loss in Rock Paper Scissors, That makes no sense!" Shoka said, speechless. Towering over the club members, he stared down at them with his massive aura. They were like little chicks that had fallen prey to a wolf. Chad gave a cocky smile at them, saying what he had said many times before: "I'm the strongest."
Cutting back to the present time, he was given the location where Elmira was. He promised he wouldn't pester Elmira if he were to be given the location. A task like this sounded easy for Chad, especially when he only came here to check on Elmira. "I did say I would become their bodyguard." He opened the facility doors and waltzed right in. Inside, they were having a lesson of some sort. All the students in the facility were clumped up together, sitting down and listening to this lesson. With a big, burly man at a whiteboard and a marker, he began to write information onto the board.
As the burly man wrote on the board, he also explained his information during the instruction. "Majority of humans are born with magic; only an unlucky few are born without any! The only thing that keeps us equal is a thing called mana. Mana is a source of energy every living being has, and we consume mana to use our magic abilities." After finishing writing one segment on the board, he began writing on the other side. "Now, there are three types of magic: standard, specialized, and primordial. Standard types are magic abilities that are based on any element and cannot be modified. For example, my magic, Icebreath, is standard-type magic and is based on the ice element." He gave a large gasp, ballooning up his chest. Aiming at the rooftop, he exhaled out all of the air he built up, shooting out a huge mist of frost.
"Next, we talk about specialized magics. Rather than being born with magic, they've gotten their magic through other means. For example, some users were cursed with their abilities or gifted their abilities by strong creatures like dragons or unicorns. Pretty simple to explain." As the instructor ran out of space to write on, he picked up the dry-erase eraser that was sticking to the side of the board and erased a big chunk of information that was written down. This was to make room for the final thing to be added to the board. "Now, we should talk about primordial magic. Generally, magic has a basis for it, like how my Icebreath has ice as its base. In the case of primordial magic, they ARE the base magic. This is why they are considered the rarest form of magic out there. Compared to your average magic, primordial-type magic can alter its magical capabilities however they want."
Someone in the crowd raised their hand to ask a question. "Teacher, what do you mean by alter?"
"That's a good question; let me answer that. My Icebreath magic has the basis of the Ice element. It functions off of it but the magic ability will never change; it's stuck as me using my breath as ice."If you were to acquire the Ice primordial magic, you would be able to create any ice-related abilities. In addition to my Icebreath, you could also wield an ice saber or summon ice spikes; these abilities are considered the most valuable for a reason."
Elmira's gaze was fixated on the board. She had a gaze that seemed like she was dozing off, thinking about something. "Primordial magic; I wish I could have something as strong as that." Elmira murmured to herself. Still in her thoughts, she heard a distant voice say something. It was noticeable, but very muffled. The more it spoke out, the more it started to be more audible to her. "Yeah, I know, right? Imagine how cool it could be if I could make dinosaurs out of ice!" it said. Breaking out of her trance-like state, she looked beside her. There was Chad, sitting right next to her in the crowd. Almost raising her voice, she was about to shout, only to realize that there was still a lesson going on. "What are you doing here?" she whispered to him. "Hey Elmira, I know the blonde hair makes look beautiful, but have you ever considered dyeing it? I think making your hair black would look great on you," he said in response. Still keeping a low tone, she says to him. "Don't avoid the original question, you idiot!"
Suddenly, the instructor clasped his hands as his lesson finally finished. He then says, "Alright, class, time for some sparring! We'll be focusing on controlling your mana during our sparring." After the teacher clears the whiteboard, he tells everybody to choose a sparring partner. Elmira, still bitter about what had happened before, chose to spar against the student council president. With Chad being chosen by Elmira, they both go up to the instructor. "Mr. Hansley, I choose this person as my sparring partner!" she says with her arms crossed. The instructor takes a hard look at Chad before shifting to a surprised face. He was almost bewildered at the sudden appearance of this student. "Wha-, who is this guy?! I didn't even notice him walk inside the facility!" he asked. Chad smiled before pulling out his student ID. "I'm the new student council president, Nice to meet you." the instructor, Mr. Hansley, carefully read his ID, nodding his head after a few seconds. "I see, so you must be Chad Brinkston. I always wondered what the new president could be like." The instructor nods again, saying, "Alright, I'll allow you to spar with Elmira. I also want to see what the new president is made of! And if you're good, I might even consider you for the army!" Chad shook his head. "Uhhh... Don't consider me for the army, please."
Elmira and Chad traveled to their designated battle station within the facility. The journey there was filled with many other sparring matches with all sorts of unique magics. "So, for how long have you been going to this place?" Chad asked. He could tell that this place is catered for honing your combat skills so he wanted to grasp an understanding of how good Elmira really is. Elmira did not respond to the question, continuing forward to their battle station. Chad felt the raspy texture his shoes felt against the worn-down tiles on the floor. It was worn down from all of the rigorous fighting that was stationed there. Typing up her hair, Elmira made one last statement before the battle.
"Oh, and by the way, about the question before, it's none of your business!" she screamed.