Vermelha arrived at the school and sighed. It wasn't like she wanted to go either but, the opportunity to get stronger mattered to her the most for her goals. She looked toward Matsumi.
"I talked to someone last night while you were playing cards, and they ended up getting us our schedule. We actually have the same teacher and classes for the most part. So i'll be there for you."
"No way! We get to be together! I hadn't even thought of what would happen if we weren't!"
"Someone probably understands your situation, throwing you to the wolves isn't a great idea. Anyways we're supposed meet our teacher here..he's the guy who will be training us."
"Do we need to go somewhere? Where is he?"
"Classroom 1F…that's what I was told…"
"And where is that? Whatever, we'll find it on the way."
Vermelha walked along the halls as students of all different species, races, genders and backgrounds walked along to their classes. She didn't really pay it any mind, since from where she lived her entire life her home was the same as this. Very diverse and expansive. She put her hands on her head, walking along as she looked at the class numbers to find their room.
"1A..1B…1C…2A?…So it just ends at C?…"
She continued to walk through the school.
Matsumi never really respected personal space much, same thing went for his staring problem. Every new race or species in the school would have Matsumi looking at them for a solid five seconds each, out of complete curiosity. He followed behind Vermelha.
"You sure you heard them right?"
"Yeah..I definitely did, I didn't mistake it." *
The kids continued to flood the classrooms, leaving the hallways more empty by the seconds.
"But there's no other F classroom."
"Were probably not looking hard enough. Just keep an eye out okay?"
"Okay."
With his eyes wide open he scanned every room he could see, even the ones in the far off distance.
Room 1F was down the hall on the right. Vermelha snickered and smiled.
"I knew it was here. I couldn't be going crazy."
"Why is it so far from the others? Should be right next to it, someone can get lost. Not us though."
"Alright. I have you Bara so behave please. Don't cause any trouble for us on the first day,"
Matsumi barged into the room without a second thought.
"Helloooo? We made it!"
The room was empty, except for one man that held a striking resemblance to that man long ago. The one that was on top of the world as one of the three that were chosen. He turned to the two in the door and smiled.
"H-Hey! Welcome to class! Sorry. I was still getting things ready."
"You're our teacher? I was expecting someone way older. Although you do look a little familiar.. I don't know what though."
"I usually get that but from women…I'm only thirty two, not exactly a youngster but for what it's worth i'm still in my prime..familiar? Maybe you've seen me..ha.."
He rubbed the back of his head before turning fully toward the two.
"What are your names?"
"Matsumi Ryokō!-"
He repeated the same things he always did, willing to go on a tangent unless someone stopped him from speaking. Vermelha cut in almost immediately.
"I'm vermelha. I've seen you before. You were apart of the group that saved the world..long ago."
"Really? Then what's he doing teaching?"
"Well after the world was saved I trained a bit with the group. However, one of them passed away sadly. So I took up teaching in hopes to help the next generation. That wasn't available when I was your guy's age. My village got ripped apart and incinerated."
"Jeez. Well, sorry about that. You've been a teacher for a long time then?"
"I think she passed..Seven years ago or so. So I guess if seven years is a long time to you then sure."
"A girl you knew died? Was it your girlfriend?"
He tilted his head.
"I think she was to old to be my girlfriend."
He laughed to himself a bit.
"It was one of my teachers. She..decided to end things for herself. Her name was Kyoki Zenin."
"Kyōki? I've heard that name before back in my town. Do you know why she did it?"
"The only person who knows is Ashi Zenin and..maybe his wife. She distanced herself from everybody else and society. Nobody knows but him, and he refuses to speak on it."
"Oh, sorry. I guess I would've been ten when it happened."
"Well things happen..and then you move on. You know? You'll probably go through some things yourself..and then naturally you'll move on. Sometimes to something worse, and sometimes to something better."
"Well, I don't really think about sad stuff! The now is what's really important!"
"Ha! I used to have friends that acted just like that! Man I feel old. Hell..I used to have your same energy. I was a top player in my village in sports and combat."
"Really? It feels like everyone around here just thinks of fighting and fighting. Mr. Moon would probably yell at everyone here, that old geezer."
"Well when I was your age it was in the early stages of becoming a sport..but it was far more ruthless and violent. Now it's more moderated, and it's an outlet for all the children. They don't have to go vandalize anything or break all the rules. They can step into the cage or pick up a ball and join a team. It's with the times now, most kids want to climb the PWI to the top."
"Then I guess I'm pretty special then. Oh! And this is Barg!"
He pointed at the amulet he now had on him.
"I almost forgot to introduce her."
"Hm? Some kind of spirit? Or is that a name for the necklace?"
"Something like that, I just met her myself. Right before we got here, I thought we were gonna be late. But nobody's here yet."
"Actually, if you want to be technical nobody else will because outside of your required courses to pass you'll be spending most of your time with me in groups of 3. So, you do your math, history, whatever with normal students for about half of the day, and then the rest is spent with me, training or working on those things if you're struggling, or any other problems you have you can bring them to me and I can try my best. It's the first day so, today you spend it with me for the most part."
"What?! Math and History?! I knew I shouldn't have come here! Wait a sec, you said three. Where's the other one?"
He started to look around the room.
"They must be late. I was told another name."
"I hope it's someone I know already."
"Or someone that isn't too boring, at least."
The door flew open as the girl was panting. Red face. Messy Hair. Eyes diluted. She was unkept which wasn't usual for her. She had quite the night prior. Quite the night. She looked on at Matsumi and Vermelha.
"S-Sorry i'm late..I was dealing with things."
"No way! It's Shizu! This is the best way it could've gone!"
"What does that even mean?"
"What else would it mean? This is good!"
Shizu sat down at one of the desks, nearly falling over it.
"Yeah yeah…I'm tired…"
"Alright, so everyone is here already. Now what?"
"Well..why don't you tell everybody a bit about yourself. Maybe something you haven't necessarily said before. Well go around the room."
"That I haven't told someone before...Well, most of my friends are from Leordoba, not really close by from here. Magic really isn't that common over there so everything in this school is kinda new to me! Umm...I've lived with my dad for as long as I can remember."
He started to fidget with his fingers trying to think of what to add.
"Things get boring fast sometimes, so I try to avoid staying anywhere for very long! And...my favorite thing to do back home is mess with the adults there, although they always tell me I'm too old to do it anymore, but that's ok!"
"Leodorba. Haha..I've been there a few time. Very nice county."
"You have? Maybe that's where I've seen you. But I can't think of much else to say right now. What about everyone else?"
"Well, For a very long time I actually lived in Greece..and originally I never actually fought. I was training to be a chef. However, after seeing their top general I decided to train…and what's more, is I actually trained under her tutoring. She taught me everything I know, and I wish I still talked to her. I ended up moving after awhile back to the original country, and I've lived in Yoshiwara ever since..Then I met Tengoku."
"Oh, you guys knew eachother before?"
"Before the volleyball game? Of course we did..but there were some new faces like you who joined the team."
"Ok, ok. What's your magic? I don't think I've seen it yet!"
"What do you mean?"
"Your magic! Do you have ice fangs? Can you make tornadoes? Can you spew toxic goo?!"
"Technically I could do the first two..but my Tokubetsu is far more complex than that.."
"What do you do then? Teach said anything we haven't told people before!"
"Thats a secret. Technically you're not supposed to reveal your techniques to anyone."
"What?! That's not fair, I don't have any magic to hide."
"Well thats because you can't even use magic in the first place..if you knew the rules of witchcraft and magic you'd hide yours too."
"Why would I do that? I don't have anything to keep from you guys."
"It's considered bad luck. You'll get tenyears of it if you reveal your Tokubetsu for no reason. It's a tale as old as time."
"That has to be fake. There's no way that's real. You don't have to make something up to not tell me."
He rolled his eyes:
"What about you, Vermelha? It's your turn."
"There's nothing fake about that."
She put her hands behind her head, leaning against the wall.
"Well I was raised in a witch house in the woods. I was always raised in those arts. Spells, Omens, Talismans..thats pretty much been my whole life. One day my mom told me that I was going to live in the mortal realm..and ever since then i've been living here. Now im going to school here and learning about what it's like to be human."
"You aren't human?"
"No. I'm not human at all actually."
"Then what are you? You look normal to me."
"Woah!"
He poked and prodded Vermelha.
"So, you're like, a ghost kinda."
Vermelha slapped his hand similarly to how you would slap a child's hand when they're trying to grab something they're not supposed to.
"Not kinda…I am a ghost, but because i'm also a witch I can interact and see spirits and other things of the life, while also being able to interact with you."
"So that's how you found all the weird magic things and Barg. You're actually pretty similar."
"I guess so. I guess we are the same."
"Cool! You gonna hide your magic from us too?"
"I told you it's a rule in witchcraft and magic. This isn't just imaginary. This is real."
"Ok, ok. Whatever. Now what do we do, teach?"
"Well…What do you want to do?"
"You're asking me? Well...right about now I'd like to skate around the city and eat new stuff!"
"Is that all you do? Are we serious right now? You have an opportunity to learn virtually anything about magic and you want to go skating?"
Vermelha sighed and face palmed.
"We can't do that. We're in school right now for the next few hours."
"Ugh, then why ask me in the first place?"
In utter disappointment and boredom, he threw his head back to stare at the ceiling.*
"I wouldn't mind a stroll around town. That way you can technically be doing work, and you get to have fun right?"
"I guess that's fine. What work though?"
"What im getting from our conversation is that you're probably not a user of spells. Thats not your style. What you need is to learn Chikara."
Nomuro smiled at Matsumi.
"I think it's a lot cooler..I was never somebody who was great at using techniques when I was around your age. I opted for a more physical and bare bones style of techniques that could make me feel like I belonged. Even if it's outside of combat."
"Huh? Chikara? There's more stuff I gotta memorize?"
"Only if you want. You're going to have to learn one to pass the mana exams, which will hinder you from getting a travel license to see more things."
"This is such a pain…"
"You'll be fine with it…It'll help you."
"Maybe I can just let Vermelha win the Mana Exams! Then I wouldn't have to learn all this stuff! That's a good idea!"
"They wouldn't let you travel with me anymore after a certain point. You'd be restricted to here and your home. So if you want to do that.."
"You serious? There's so many hoops to go through! I should've just left as soon as I bought what I needed."
"That option is still technically available. But at the same time you're in pretty deep now."
*He sighed, he wasn't excited about anything right now. Following all these rules, doing boring stuff, taking classes, it just sapped his energy.
"You'll be alright Matsumi. Theres tons of activities for you to have fun. Maybe you can join a team or some type of club."
"Alright, what's this Chikara thing?"
"Spells are usually spiritual manifestations of ideas. Certain Concepts. Chikara is physical enhancement of your vessel, and it doesn't really require a whole lot of mana to do so. Since the ideas of mana are limitless this allows individuals to use their body to the highest limits. There are basic techniques that everyone can learn, and advanced techniques that can be modified.
"Do all of you use that?"
"Some people can..but in general you usually choose one or the other because it's not great on your body to try and use both..especially at the same time. So if you learned, it would make you special in a way. Chikara has sort of died down in the last few years…Nobody can really tap into their Qi anymore."
"Qi is another thing like mana?"
"Some people are born with mana blockers or they're unable to use it to its fullest capability. Think of Qi like an alternative. It's basically when you go all in on physical, and less on spells like I said. I've seen people jump to the clouds or heal broken bones immediately by using Chikara and Qi, which is possible by spell to a degree but not really. There's an old legend about a man jumping all the way to the moon by using his Qi alone.
"Oh, I think I've heard that one back home! Also the one about the moon falling!"
"So, I could fall how many times I want and be ok after?"
"Yeah..or you could make it so you never fall. It's really up to what you want to do."
"Is it hard to learn?"
"Nope. Way easier than Spells."
"Ok, I can try it out. I just don't want it to be a chore."
"Things are only as much of a chore as you make them. You naturally make everything a chore because you don't try."
"Who wants to do stuff they don't want to do? I focus on the good stuff, people like teach here focus on the boring stuff."
"Why don't you just leave then? You could go back to doing what you want to do, and you wouldn't have to go to school."
He blew a raspberry at Shizu.
"Can't. Already made a promise that I would go to school today."
"Well, what do you want to learn how to do? If you had a power that you could use everyday for the rest of your life, What do you think it would be? Come on work with me a bit."
"A power I would want? That's easy! Clones! That way, we could all skate together! They could do stuff for me so I'd never have to do boring stuff again!"
"Thats easy. Thats one of the first few spells you learn. Everyone can do it."
"It is? Let's try that!"
"Are you sure? Im not sure if it's going to be easy for you in specific."
"Huh? Why not?!"
"You're not exactly the sharpest crayon in the crayon box."
Vermelha laughed to herself covering her face.
"That doesn't matter! Because imagine-!"
He stood on top of one of the desks.
"I could have a clone and act out scenes from different stories!"
He acted as if he had a sword in his hand and talked to no one.
"How dare you steal my treasure?! You will pay!"
He then jumped over to the desk in front of him, starting and acting as the other guy.
"Wait, no! I didn't mean it! It was a joke!"
He jumped back to the first desk.
"I can't take jokes, you buffoon!"
He acted out stabbing the other guy, before jumping to the second desk one last time.
"No!"
He acted like he was being stabbed in the chest.
"You'll never find the treasure now!"
He then fake coughed before letting himself fall down on the floor. Matsumi then jumped back up to his feet.
"You could do stuff like that!"
"What? So you want to be an actor?.."
She held her hand to her chin for a second.
"That wouldn't be a horrible avenue for you. Plus it could take your mind off school. I think we have an acting program..and the clones could help you out."
"Never thought of acting, it would suck to memorize so many lines! But you get the idea! Clones help out in everything!"
"Well I suppose you can try..worst case scenario you dont do it and you complain a bit afterwards. Couldn't hurt to try."
"Exactly, you read my mind! Is that another of your witch powers?!"
"Psychics can do that. Im not one so I can't but I can guess what you're thinking."
"Ok, so how do I start it? Like this?"
He moved his hands, and actually formed a hand sign. One from before mana was even a thing.
"That used to be the way..but times have changed. Hand signs are different now.."
"Like this?!"
He made up some other sign that wouldn't ever do anything.
"Or like this?!"
Another sign.
"Or maybe this?!"
"Nope. Try channeling your mana within..then make this sign."
Nomuro made a sign, putting both his hands together. One that could've only been done by pristine mana users.
"Oh, you mean like this?"
He imitated his hand sign, his mana stirring inside. However, the result was a complete loss of balance in his body. Matsumi stumbled on nothing and fell down to the ground, this time it wasn't on purpose. He hit his head on the ground, he held it as he looked up.
"Hey, what's the big idea?! Is that a falling magic?!"
"Well I told you it may not be easy for you the first time around. You're not a witch or a magic user. So you probably ended up amping yourself up to much..Resulting in you falling."
"But I barely even started! That makes no sense!"
"Sometimes it takes a minute for you to really get used to it. It's a process, not a one time thing."
"Ugh, what a pain." Doing exactly what Vermelha predicted earlier.
"It'll take practice. Probably something you're not used to. Maybe we should stop for today..I think that might be best for you."
"Really? It's already over? Sweet!"
"Well resume a real class tomorrow. Right now just get some rest."
"It's okay! I overslept today, so I'm still full of energy! I'll take these two to jump over buildings or something!"
"I'm actually going to bounce. You don't take school seriously but I do. So im signed up for more courses than you are. I can't just leave like you."
"What?! Then, what I am I supposed to do by myself?!"
"I don't know..but please stay out of trouble okay? I'll be back to get you in a few hours..who knows..you might meet somebody."
Vermelha smiled, before exiting the classroom, her shoes clicking on the floor.
"What does that mean? Man, people in this place are so confusing. What about you, Shizu?"
"I also have more classes..and im interested in where Raiden went. Sorry Matsumi. Im going to have to pass to."
"With blondie?! Seriously?!"
"He's…" Her face went red. "Y-Yeah!..Sorry I gotta go Matsumi. Maybe get a phone and text me okay?"
She ran out of the classroom, partially out of embarrassment.