Mark of the Rising Sun

A strange ringing sound woke me up in the morning which got louder the longer I ignored it. Finally, I opened my eyes and the noise faded. I looked over and found Kat waking in much the same manner. We rose from our beds and showered, dressed, and then looked at the bulletin board. Just as they had told us, there was a new schedule posted for us. There was one small difference for the two of us, but were nearly identical.

Tuesday, Thursday

7-8 – Breakfast

8-10:30 – Introduction to Wind

11-1 – Magical history

1-2 – Lunch

2-3:30 – Introduction to Light

3:30-5 – non-elemental magic

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

7-8 – Breakfast

8-10:30 – Introduction to Wind

11-1 – Introduction to Healing

1-2 – Lunch

2-3:30 – Introduction to Light

3:30-5 – Integrating magic and life

Well, it would be an interesting day. Classes started early and I’ve had classes with Kat most of the time. The light classes would probably have multiple element users as only some could wield that magic. All in all, it was different than any other school I had gone to the first time around.

We hurried through breakfast and made our way to our first classroom to learn about wind magic. As a warrior of light, and knowing that Wind was my element, I figured that these classes would be my most important. We grabbed seats toward the front and Hope surprised me by taking her full form, which also startled Kat who I had forgotten to inform of her presence. Kat stared in wonder at Hope before turning to me, a look of mock anger on her face.

“Friend of yours?”

“Yes, may I introduce my familiar Hope, she is a Pegasus.”

“I can see that, but where did she come from and why is she here? Why didn’t you introduce us before?”

I laughed a bit before answering, “Sorry, I kind of forgot she was there. She is always with me, just in miniature form. She is kind of quiet though and keeps to herself most of the time. It’s very easy to lose track of her. Don’t worry, she won’t hurt you.”

Kat nervously walked up to Hope and started petting her, “She’s beautiful. I wish I had a familiar, but no, I just got myself. I’m jealous.”

While Kat was engrossed with Hope, I started a silent conversation with the Pegasus. Why have you grown and made yourself known?

Because, now is the time to start our education, and I have a duty to learn these things and help you. Even though I cannot focus the magic the way humans can, it is my duty to help you and in order to do that, I need to learn along with you. This is the best way to do it. The teacher will notice me anyway, I’m sure.

If you think it is for the best, then so be it. Just don’t get into any trouble, I don’t want to get kicked out on my first day.

Don’t worry about me, I know how to handle myself despite being part horse. I could hear a tone of hurt in her tone and knew that I had offended her.

I was about to apologize to her when the teacher entered the room. We were still 15 minutes away from the start of class, but he looked ready to go. He scanned the room and his eyes rested on the three of us.

“Ah now,” He said, “What do we have here. A Pegasus, a werecat, and a girl walk into a classroom. Sounds like the start of a joke.” He paused for laughter, but we just stared at him without even smirking. “Tough crowd. You must be Kat and Angela, but who is this fine specimen and what is she doing in my classroom?”

“Sorry Sir, but this is my familiar Hope. Apparently she is supposed to be taking classes with me.”

“Indeed, indeed. I am happy to hear that. I haven’t taught a student with a familiar in oh about 60 years. It will be my pleasure to see what you can do. Not many students get a familiar so you must be something special.”

Before I could stop myself, I said, “But Sir, you don’t look older than 50, how could you have been teaching 60 years ago?”

He gave a chuckle. “Well, you caught me. First, I am not entirely human, I have a mix of some of the ancient races in me which extends my life. Also, magical touches have been added to my figure to make me look younger than I really am. I am actually over 200 years old.”

My jaw dropped at the news and it seemed that my growing up in the Norm world had warped my perception of the magical world. I had studied some of it growing up again, but not as much as I would have as a real child. For instance, I didn’t go to any of the schools that other magical families go to for a basic education, having already received that as Anthony. Everything I learned about the magical world, I had done on my own, and I had slacked a bit during the last few years, my child self, taking the forefront.

We spent the rest of the wait talking and watching the rest of the students file in. There were about 20 of us in all, and we had quite a diversity in types of magical creatures present. To my disappointment, none of the aliens I had seen in the auditorium were present. Despite all the young students, the classroom was rather quiet as all the students were eagerly awaiting their first lesson in the art of magic. I was squirming a bit in my seat myself eagerly counting off the seconds until class started.

Finally the buzz sound sounded in our heads again signifying the start of class. All of our heads turned toward the man at the front of the classroom. He glanced around at all of us one more time before speaking, “Good morning class, I am Professor Goode. I will be your teacher in the ways of wind magic. I will be teaching you for most of the next several years, but how long you stay in my classes depends on how good you are with the magic. The more advanced the spells, the more of you are going to move on to different areas. Even though this is your elemental attunement, there are other branches of magic that you can study. There is no set time for you to learn here. Some come for just a couple years, others study well into their 20’s. It all depends on you.”

He let that sink in for a moment before continuing his speech. “Now there are various uses for wind, some of the better spells will allow you to fly, increase speed, and whip up a monster tornado, all without giving up too much energy. It’s not too great for combat, but is good for getting away from your enemies. Users who do battle with wind have to be rather creative with their attacks in order to defeat their opponents, so most of you will be unable to master that facet of magic. Now each of you was asked to procure a Focus. I would like you each to bring yours out.”

There was a lot of ruckus as all of us reached into our bags and pulled out various items. Most were like the ones I saw at the shop, the ones that I had scoffed at earlier. A few of them were items that didn’t look too bad, but mine was by far the best. I tried to be discreet when I pulled out my Focus, but people took notice and started grumbling about how my item looked so much cooler than everyone else’s. I turned a bright red as they all looked at me enviously, and I slipped it on my wrist.

“Now,” The professor continued, “Each Focus is different and relates in some way to its owner. The look of the Focus does not matter as all it does is help you focus your magical energy on the task at hand. Even the ugliest Focus in the world could be used by the most powerful magician in the world. Each of you was drawn to your item, and it will best help you focus your magic. You could use another’s Focus, but it will never be as effective as your own.”

Despite these words, I could see that many of the students were looking dejectedly at their items. “Okay class, I would like you all to close your eyes and just relax. Let every stray thought leave your mind until you are focused on just the sound of my voice.” He paused a few minutes and let us lose the anxieties we had. Finally, he continued. “Now broaden your mind into your surroundings. Feel the air around you, immerse yourselves in it.”

It took me a while to understand what he meant, broaden your mind? How do I do that, but then, with a gentle nudge from Hope, I understood. Having the familiar link made it easier to understand these things and I could feel the things around me. I was surprised by the amount of energy that surrounded me, but not by the amount of air. My mind reached out and embraced the air, it became like a friend to me. It was like a friend I never knew until that moment, and I knew we could never be parted.

A voice came out of nowhere, and spoke, a soft voice, but upon reflection, I realized that it was the teacher calling out to us. “Now, how many of you have connected with the wind and felt it?” He paused again. I raised my hand, not breaking my concentration, still focused on the world around me. “Not too bad, several of you have begun immersing yourselves in the world of magic. For those of you who haven’t quite managed to reach that stage, don’t worry, it takes time for some people to feel it. Open your eyes and return to the classroom everyone.”

I opened my eyes with reluctance to find myself back in the classroom. To my surprise, almost an hour had past and class was almost over. “Very good class, work on that for next time, I hope that each of you will be able to embrace the wind by next class, and that we will be able to move on to the next step along your journey.” With that, the buzzing sound started again, and the class ended.

Our next class was magical history, and it was basically what it said. To my disappointment, there was no more delving into the magical world with this class, instead the professor started teaching about the origins of magic. Having already learned some of it from the book I had been given by the soothsayer, it was a bit boring, and I tried to immerse myself back in the magical world, but I kept getting distracted by Kat who tried to “Wake me up”.

The class eventually ended, and after a hurried lunch, we split up to go to separate classes. I had Intro to Light, and I don’t remember what she had. I got to the classroom just before the bell went off and found the room completely dark. A bit confused, I groped around in the darkness until I found a desk, and tried to sit in it. Unfortunately, it was already occupied. This went on for some time before I found an empty desk near the back of the classroom and sat down wondering why a classroom about light was covered in darkness.

A melodious voice broke the silence. “Hello all of you, and welcome to Intro to light. You may be wondering why my classroom is so dark, and I will tell you. Darkness is the natural order of the world. It takes no power to generate, and it is always around. Without energy and power, this is what you get, complete and utter darkness.” A small light showed at the front of the classroom and we got a look at our shadowed professor.

“If you add a little light, even a small amount, it drives the darkness away.” The light got brighter. “The more power added to the light, the more intensely it shows, and the more darkness is dispelled.” He poured more light into the room and suddenly even the shadows themselves disappeared. “Given enough light, the darkness will disappear completely, but as soon as the light goes out, the darkness returns with a vengeance.” He dropped the light and the classroom returned to its darkened state.

As she flipped on the light switch, she continued, “It is my job to help you fight the darkness. Since light is more powerful, it seems like it should always win, but this is not so. Does anyone know why?” No one raised their hand, and she answered her own question. “Since darkness cannot beat light in a direct confrontation, they use trickery, deceit and illusion to come to the forefront. By disguising itself as something that is not harmful, or even good, it can lull the best of us into a false sense of security that could be our downfall.”

“You can always tell darkness if you are observant enough, and will always be able to beat it if you are brave and powerful enough. We do not condone the use of dark magic in this school and any use of it will get you automatically expelled. Here I will teach you tactics of light to help fend off darkness and if you are ever confronted by it, you should know how to fight and stop it at the core.”

The female professor went on this rant for some time before continuing the education we had started in wind class. Namely, becoming one with the magic. This time we were told to seek out the light around us and stay away from the darkness and shadow that even now surrounded us in the safety of the classroom. Again not everyone got to the point, but everyone was getting closer and I was able to embrace the light. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, and I was still coming down from it when I reached my final class of the day.

Non elemental magic was a bit of a letdown the first day since most of the training required us to already be pretty good at getting immersed in the magical surroundings, and even though I had gotten it down really well, those around me were still having trouble getting the grasp of it all. I spent the class searching out the different magical elements in the world, exiting the classroom, I searched further. I found signs of water and earth, and though I didn’t explore them much, I did notice that earth was just as prevalent as wind, and water was up there as well.

It took me a while to find fire as it really isn’t found naturally. I felt bad at that point for fire users since it seemed like they would have a harder time controlling and using their element. By the time class ended, I had familiarized myself with the different feels of the magic, and felt most comfortable with the energies of light and wind, which made sense since I was a user of both those magics.