"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."
– Arnold Bennet
Eli
Standing under the stinging jets of hot water, I relaxed and thought over everything that had happened so far. Not only was Earth dangerous to humans, but, somehow, a ton of people had gained the ability to do magic. If that wasn’t weird enough, there also seemed to be a group of people that had been lurking in the cracks of our world that could always cast magic. Enough that they had their own academies and society.
It was while my mind was going over this that I realized that no one had ever answered my question. Just where was Alissa? My heart hurt thinking of the reasons that would cause people to try and distract me. Things like her death. Somehow though, something in my head told me that none of those reasons were right. That she was out there, wondering about me.
Stepping out of the shower, I searched through the wardrobe until I found a pair of underwear and dressed in my new robe. It turned out that it was a fairly soft material. Not silk, but close. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up the emblem and held it above my left breast. It stuck there like it was magnetized. Searching through the pieces of paper, I pulled out a map and went in search of food.
Alissa
I slowly came to, my eyes stinging even with them closed. On top of that, my mouth was parched. However, neither of those held a candle to the pain the rest of my body was in. Groaning, I took a breath in. The scents around me nearly overwhelmed me.
“Take it easy.” Came a deep, soothing male voice. Something inside of me seemed to settle at his command. “I know just how overwhelming all of this can be. So just take it slow. Get used to everything. When you feel up to it, I have a few ice chips here for you to suck on.”
Heeding his advice, I focused on just breathing in and out. Taking in the scents around me and adjusting to just how strong they were. Parsing through them, I smelt cedar and pine, both intertwined with a harsh chemical smell. Slowly, I was able to push the scents to the side and ignore them.
Next came my eyes. The room was overly bright. I found this out when I opened them in one motion, only to instantly squeeze them shut. Moaning at the shooting pain, I slowly relaxed my eyes. Taking my time, I opened my eyes slowly. Letting them adjust before increasing their exposure.
Finally, with eyes wide open, I turned my head to focus on the man sitting next to me. He was well-built. Not a scrap of fat to be seen. Startling brown eyes looked down at me as he lounged in his chair. His hair was slightly long, just long enough to cover his ears. Though he didn’t have a beard. Given the wooden room, I would have thought he would have one. Then again, the need for one was likely based on the types of books I read.
His hand reached out with a chip of ice. Opening my mouth, I accepted it. Letting the water slide down my throat. When it had fully dissolved, I asked, “Who are you, and where am I?”
“My name is Paul. I am the alpha of this pack. Not that I expect you to know what that is.” He said, quickly adding in the last part. “We will go over all that later. Our little community is set deep in the woods. The location really doesn’t have a name. It was not like we really invited people to visit, so there was never a need.”
“Alpha? Pack? Please don’t tell me you all think you are part beast?” I said, afraid that I had been kidnapped by crazy people.
He laughed at that, surprising me. “You are not the first person to say that. However, I can assure you that we have traits of one creature or another in various amounts.” Before I could protest about how his word really didn’t mean much, he held up a hand forestalling me. “For now, just tentatively accept what I am saying is true. You will see what I mean soon enough. However, you must rest here for now. The change was particularly brutal on you.”
“Change? Why would it be brutal to me? What about Eli?” I said in a rush, the words nearly tripping over themselves on their way out.
“We don’t know why but various humans are showing signs of gaining beast traits. So far as we can tell, the more brutal the change is, the stronger the beast is. I don’t know who Eli is. Would you like me to find out?” Slightly shocked at his odd words, I just nodded. “Do you have a last name? It would make it easier for me to locate the right Eli.”
“Moore. Eli Moore. He was in the same room with me when I passed out.” Thinking back, I remembered the moon. A spike of pain shot through my head. Wincing, I reached up and held my head until it passed.
It was only after it was nearly gone that I heard his voice calling my name. The problem was, I have never told him it. “Alissa, Alissa, are you ok? Should I get our medic?”
Shaking my head, I just relaxed in bed, letting my arm fall back to my side. Nothing about this situation made sense. I didn’t know what to believe. For now, I could only trust myself and what I could see, touch, and do. Seeing me relaxing, he gracefully rose from his chair. the motion as smooth as a professional dancer or martial artist.
Quickly closing my eyes, I tried to hide my shock by pretending to fall back asleep. Not saying anything, he left the room. The door latch closing before a bolt snicked into place, locking me inside.
Eli
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Lunch was great tasting. My stomach was the issue. It was twisting and turning, threatening to toss everything up. Slowly, I made my way back to the dorm room. Suddenly a loud shout cried out, “DUCK!” before someone tackled me.
In surprise, I cried out as I went sprawling out onto the ground. My attacker landing on top of me. Craning my head in an effort to see who was on me, I noticed a bright red, nearly orange ball shoot through where I had been walking. Hitting the ground fifteen feet away, it exploded with a pop of fire and smoke.
While I may not have died from such a small pop, I would have been burned. With effort, I pushed up and looked at where the ball had come from. All I saw was their backs as the small group walked away.
My movement caused my tackler to roll off of me. Turning, I went to thank them, only to get glared at. “Damn it,” She sneered. “And here I thought you were a mage with no training. You’re just one of those diseased humans.” With a disgusted look, she quickly got up. Dusting her dark gray robe before walking away.
Sitting up, I looked around. Most people ignored me. The ones that looked my way did so in disgust and anger. Seeing this, it dawned on me just how alone I was now. Suddenly needing to be safe, I jogged back to the dorm and to my room. Looking through the papers for my schedule.
It was near the bottom, under a thin phone-sized object. The object was a dull silver color. Putting it to the side, I read over my schedule.
‘6 AM – Physical Education
8 AM – Breakfast
9 AM – Basics of Magic
11 AM – Beginner History
12 PM – Lunch
1 PM – Beginner Weaponry
3 PM – Self-Selected Class (See back of schedule)
6 PM – Dinner’
The schedule looked pretty simple, and the classes sounded easy. Of course, I had a feeling they would be anything but easy. Turning the sheet over revealed a short list of additional classes to choose from, as well as descriptions for each.
‘Alchemy 101 – Learn how to create basic potions. You will find some of these useful in a pinch. Some may even save your life. While these potions are cheap to produce and buy, they will help you master the basics needed for advanced alchemy classes.’
Having the ability to create healing potions would be nice, but something about it didn’t sound right for me.
‘Enchanting Basics – Learn how to enchant objects. These enchantments can be as simple as lighting a candle when tapped, to as complex as a bag of holding. This class will go over the basic structure of enchantments and how to apply them. Advanced classes only teach more complicated techniques. All of which can be learned through experimentation or self-study.’
Now that was interesting. It sounded like something that I could do at my own pace. Still, might as well go over all the other options before making a final decision.
‘Spell crafting – Learn how spells are created and designed. This class is only available to those that can demonstrate at least a basic understanding of spells. Each student will need permission from the professor to join this class.’
Yeah, I had no clue how to even cast magic, let alone how it worked. Still, that would be an interesting class.
‘Blacksmithing – Learn how to craft the tools and weapons needed in everyday life. This will range from the sword a guard or warrior needs to defend, to the plates and chisels needed for other crafts.’
Nope, just a big nope. That sounded like the worst class I could take.
‘For any other class options, please talk to your class’s assigned professor. Your assigned professor is Professor Olivia Stevens.’
That was it. There were no other options. I would have thought that there would be some sort of herbology class or such, but there seemed to be nothing of the sort. Writing the class location on the front of the page, I put the paper to the side and picked up the phone-sized object.
It was thin. Half the thickness of my old iPhone. Just as long and wide, though. Turning it over in my hand, I couldn’t find a single button or depression. Nothing that would indicate which side was the front or the top. Practically dropping the object on the table, I searched through the pile of papers for any information. I found it near the bottom of the pile, right above where the device had been placed.
‘Student Electronic Assistant Kernal – A device designed to assist students with learning magic. It will grow in capability along with its user. Such a device is only available for free at the start of one’s education. Losses or destruction will not be replaced by the academy. To activate and tie the device to you, insert magic into it.’
Handwritten under the typed text were instructions on how to do just that. Almost as if someone had realized that we would have no clue how to do such a thing. ‘Hold your hand over the device. Focus inward and feel for your center. Feel for your core. Typically, this is a ball of dense energy. Pull a thread of that energy out. Keep the thread connected to the core as you stretch it up your body and down your arm. Connect that thread to the device. This connection will drain quite a bit of power from you as it charges the device. You will need to do this to keep the device charged. Get into the habit of charging it when you have time or excess mana. After the device is charged, do the same thing with your emblem.’
So, it was some sort of magical technology. Based on how it ran, it made me curious about how the lights worked. Did someone have to go around and charge them the same way? Would that be one of the jobs that we had to do to keep our rooms lit? Tucking away those questions for the first day, I picked up the device. Holding it in one hand, I got comfortable on the chair.
Relaxing, I focused inward. Trying to relax and find my center. Each time I felt like I was getting close, something would startle me out of the meditative state I was in. Determined to succeed, I kept trying. Finally, I found it.
Sitting just above my belly button was a small sphere of, something. It looked like a sphere of liquid metal, shining in my mental sense as it swirled. Reaching my mind toward the surface, I tried to probe it. Probing it was shocking, literally. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I fell out of the meditative state.
At this point, I was too curious to quit. Well, that and I have always been stubborn. Quickly retracing my steps, I returned to the sphere. Prepared for the shock, I pushed through the sharp pain and mentally rested my hand on it.
It felt like an active generator. Recalling the next step, I visualized pulling a thin thread of power from the sphere. The thread shocked me constantly as I pulled on it. Almost like it was a live wire with no protective sheathing.
With twitching neck muscles, I pulled the thread up my body and down my arm. Finally connecting it with the device. In the process, I had probably received enough jolts that my muscles felt sore.
A snap of power flashed through the wire. Flowing out of the sphere in a rush. Everywhere the power passed, the nearby muscles twitched and clenched. After the initial rush, the flow of power reduced to nearly a trickle. This was a good thing based on how the core looked.
It went from a full sphere of liquid to a clear sphere with nearly a quarter of the liquid left. The sphere was slowly filling back up, though I had no clue where the odd liquid was coming from. It just seemed to flow down the sides from somewhere, joining the rest at the bottom. Pulling back, I opened my eyes. Sitting in my hand was the device, all lit up as characters scrolled by in a dizzying pattern.
