The Most Important Thing When Camping

The next day in the Metorium, almost as soon as I settle down in my seat, I hear an irritating voice in my ears. "Hey loser, how'd you like the ass whooping you got yesterday?" I turn around to see Keldin smiling widely at me. I turn around, deciding to ignore him, but he doesn't give up. It seems Drew was right when he said Keldin would probably keep disturbing me.

"Aww, come on. Answer," he says as he begins poking my head.

"Will you quit it?" I snap, slapping his hand away after the third poke.

At that moment I hear a mocking voice from the back of the class. "Look, he wants to get beat up again." The words are followed by laughter. Keldin stares at me, a strange light in his eyes, then he smiles. "You've got fire in you. Keep it up kid, it'll help you later on." Then he walks away.

I stare at him, hell in my eyes as I vow to rip him to pieces when I get stronger. After he leaves, Tobi, Bella, and Han come and take their usual seats near me.

"Hey," They greet, after settling down.

"Hey," I reply, forcing myself to calm down.

"Why'd you agree to fight Keldin?" Tobi asks.

"Yeah, I thought I wasn't hearing right when I heard that," Han says.

"Didn't you know Keldin is like, crazy strong?" Bella asks.

I say. "If I knew he was that strong I wouldn't have fought him. Also, I was just tired of him annoying me so I thought I'd teach him a lesson by beating him up."

"Instead he taught you the lesson," Bella points out.

"Yup."

Tobi shrugs. "You know, if you had fought anyone else in this class, you probably would have won."

"You're joking," I say, remembering my disgraceful performance yesterday.

"I'm serious. I only know like three noers I can use in a fight: enhancement, protection, and telekinesis. You had that Uua covering thing and what was that noer you used to stop Keldin from moving?"

"Yeah, what was that? I was kinda surprised when I saw Keldin freeze."

"You mean the noer that barely lasted a second?" I ask belittling the binding noer.

"Dude," Han says, "that thing forced Keldin to use the Alpha Counter technique. No one else in this class can make him do that."

"Really?" I ask, wondering what Alpha Counter is. Judging by the name, it should be something defensive. A way to counter certain noers perhaps?

"Yeah!" Tobi says. "Why do think I said you could probably beat up anyone else in this class. You just had the misfortune of getting to fight Keldin first."

It's easy to tell that they are trying to cheer me up, but I can't say it's not working. I say after a brief moment of deliberation. "If you want I could teach you the noer once school is over."

"Really?" Tobi asks.

"Nice," says Han. Master Speller comes in at that moment, putting an end to our conversation.

After classes, I go to the B.L.D as usual to have my lunch. More than quite a few people recognize me from my embarrassing fight yesterday and I do my best to ignore them. In the restaurant, I eat alone -neither Drew nor Lathia come- before meeting up with Tobi, Bella, and Han in the training center to teach them the binding noer. They grasp it pretty easily. Once I leave the training center, I head to the bookshop to do my usual cleaning up before going home. On the way home I do my best to stay alert, remembering the serial killing case. Currently, I and Tahku are probably the only ones who know that the killer is a magician. And maybe the Laen too. The Eldest had said that they fought all evil in the world, this should count as evil.

By the time I get back home, I am hungry and can't wait for dinner to be prepared. I talk to Emily as she prepares dinner and once she is done, I eat before going back to my room to start my daily practice.

The rest of the week is nothing short of a nightmare. Keldin seems to have made it his life's goal to haunt me. Apart from his usual insults, he has also become more physical with me, as if he is trying to goad me into another fight. After a few days, most people forgot my humiliating fight with Keldin, but he is determined to make sure nobody in our class forgets it, doing his best to remind everyone about it every day. If I wasn't the recipient of his actions, I might have found it funny. The only thing that kept me from exploding is my still fresh memory of getting beat up and Tobi, Bella, and Han, who ridicule Keldin's actions whenever they have the chance to.

Tobi and his crew have also begun acting as though I am an encyclopedia, asking me questions on every little thing they failed to understand in class. I do my best to answer what I can and advice them to meet the Teachers for the rest.

On Friday I go to the B.L.D as usual and am a bit surprised to see Lathia sitting at our usual table. I haven't seen her all week so it is a bit surprising to see her here.I go to her table.

"Hey," I say as I sit down opposite her. From up close I can see that she looks a bit tired.

"Hey," she says, flashing a smile at me.

After I order something to eat, I say. "You look tired."

"Yeah," she says, "We were given a mission on Monday and we just completed it yesterday. I haven't had the chance to sleep well yet."

A mission, I think. That's probably why she didn't come to the restaurant all week. "Where's Drew?" I ask and she shrugs.

"I'm not sure. I think he's preparing for our trip to the Lands of Time tomorrow." She then looks straight at me. "He said you're coming with us, is that true?"

I nod. "I am. You know, I haven't even packed my clothes yet."

"Well, don't pack anything too fancy, after all, we're just going camping."

"Camping?"

"Yeah. We don't usually get holidays because we spend our summers here, so two years ago David suggested that we go camping in the Lands of Time and we all agreed. You're the first none member of our team to come with us."

I shake my head. When she mentioned camping, a horrible thought came to mind. "Wait, where are we going to sleep?"

"In tents."

"What if I want to use the restroom?"

She looks at me. "When was the last time you used the restroom?" I open my mouth to reply then close it. Now that I really think about it, the last time I used the restroom was a few days ago, but before that, it was a few weeks ago since I previously had to use the restroom. Noticing my silence, she continues. "Don't worry, you can go another few weeks without having to use the restroom."

"And what happens when I want to take a bath?"

"You return home quickly, take your bath, then return. At most, just a few hours will pass in the Lands ."

"Oh. Okay then." I sigh, relieved.

She shakes her head slightly. "I can't believe that what you were most worried about was where you could use the bathroom."

"Of course, what else should I have been worried about?"

"Well for starters, how about the fact that you have no idea what we're going to be eating or that there will be no adult supervision." She says giving me a strange look.

I what to ask her why I would think of that when a strange thought enters my head, leaving me with my mouth slightly open. She seems to realize something and says quickly. "Wait I didn't mean… wait, why do you have that expression? What are you thinking about?"

My face heats up suddenly. "Um… nothing… um, actually, I was just wondering if.. what if an accident happens?" I ask, saying the first thing that pops into my head. Thankfully she doesn't question any deeper.

When we are done eating, we separate. She tells me she still has some training to do with her Master, and I want to go to the training center for a bit of training on my own.