Dratworth Academy. 1.1.5

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The energy of magic in the life of the mind. The energy of life in the body where the magical mind lives.

Ayshek Burrow.

1643. 15 February. Earth's Firmament. The human continent. Dratworth. A closed academy of higher magic of the first class, Narnaunt. Gasper's room.

I looked resentfully at the two couples leaving the room. One of them, was some guy from third year, and Vika, and the other, the guy's twin brother, along with Lucy. No club classes today, so these two went out on dates. Eh... And I was left alone....

I cast a sad glance at the stack of textbooks, then focused on "Runes. Familiarisation.", trying to draw it to me with telekinesis. This technique was getting easier and easier every day, and if the first time I had to focus all my attention and concentration on the right object, now I could do it even while doing homework or something else.

So, in a couple of weeks we're going to start lessons on Runes, because of the new programme, and therefore, I should read more about them.

So, chapter one, "General Information." Let's read on.

"Runes... One of the most complex, as well as the strongest, sections of magic. With Runes, you can create artefacts, change the weather, extract unprecedented wealth, as well as destroy enemies. Runes are divided into several sections: simple, complex, compound. The latter, especially effective, and easier to apply than the same, complex. But let's go in order. Simple Runes, there is a sign denoting magical action. Ignis (fire), aqua (water), aer (air), terra (earth), fulgur (lightning), vitae (life), mortem (death), lux (light), tenebris (darkness), veneficium (poisoning) and others ... A complete list of Runes, is given in a special guide: "Full list of Runes. Complex Runes, are usually applied to the highest artefacts, to save space on the material. They have the same functions as composite Runes. The latter, are bundles of Runes, for example, tempus mortem (time death) gives the effect of temporary death for an hour or two hours. Or, sit pila ignis (let the ball of fire), allows you to release from the material fireballs. The easiest, by far, the easiest way is to study Latin, which is the pronunciation of Runes. In this way, you will be able to masterfully create a bunch of Runes.".

- I don't like Runes. - I heard a woman's voice at my ear.

From the surprise, I jumped up on the bunk... and as a result flew off it. I was preparing to feel a lot of pain, and then yell at the woman who had scared me, but I... froze a few centimetres from the floor, grabbed by two hands on my torso.

- Hee-hee, you're so scary, Gasper. - This time, I was able to recognise Kurumi's cheerful voice above me.

I was placed on the ground, after which, I finally looked up into the face of this... this.....

Flashback.

- Ser... we didn't want to fight that... person at all. - I politely tried to turn away from the guard. Actually, in my status, I was supposed to say 'commoner', but I despised this kind of treatment from the nobility. I even remember being punished a couple of times for playing with the servants' children.....

Kurumi, meanwhile, pretending that she had nothing to do with it, was picking a hole in the ground with her foot, occasionally glaring menacingly at the townspeople passing by.

- And yet your friend beat this man, Mr Crowle. - nodded towards the unconscious man, the guard. - And I wondered how it was that a little girl could beat a grown man without even panting.

I licked my lips nervously, glancing at the handle of the revolver holstered on the guard's belt. If it was a standard guard revolver, like the ones the guards had on my estate, it should be loaded with three silver bullets, to eliminate the threat of vampires and werewolves, whose attacks were more common in the cities. And if I say that Kurumi is a vampire, then... I think it would be a very bad development.

- You see... My friend is the daughter of... Mr Frausenberg. - I remembered the name of one of the big business owners my father used to take me to sometimes. - And... she was trained in martial arts. And also, like I said, we're students of the Narnaunt Academy, and she's one of the most promising melee mages, and so her body is very strong thanks to the influence of magic... but I swear! No spells, she didn't use any! - I looked at the guard who had already opened his mouth. There's a law forbidding the use of magic against ordinary people, not in self-defence.

- Okay, I'll be laughed at if I bring children into the ward during my probationary period. You may go, however, if you do anything else..." the guard glared angrily at Kurumi.

- Of course, of course, thank you very much! - I smiled happily, grabbing Kurumi's arm and dragging her away with force.

***

- What were you thinking? - I irritatedly barked as we entered one of the alleys. - What if we'd been taken to the station???? Imagine how much we'd have to listen to from the teachers! And we'd be lucky if we didn't get punished.....

- Let go of my arm. - Kurumi said with a smile.

I looked down, finding that I still hadn't let go of Kurumi's hand. Blushing slightly, I mumbled 'one haemorrhoid from girls', looking away.

- Ooh, look at those pretty faces. - came a husky, nasty male voice from the back of the alley.

Kurumi and I simultaneously turned our gaze to a bunch of men, four in number, looking at us with a gangly look.

- Yeah. I'll take the girl's arse, ha ha ha ha. - came from behind us.

I turned around to see two more men in front of me.

- Me and Brad are gonna take the kid. He's got a real pretty face. - smirked one of the two "wardrobes," with muscles showing through his clothes.

- Just don't fuck him to death. Judging by the clothes, their families are rich, so we can ask for a ransom. - chuckled one of the bandits.

- Yeah... Bloder and Crowley are pretty rich. - Kurumi grinned, looking at the bandits with a sneer.

- B-Bloder? - Abruptly changing his tone to a frightened one, one of the bandits interjected.

- Gasper, you take those four. And I'll beat these two. - clearly said Kurumi, turning to the two. At the last moment, I saw her pupils flashed particularly brightly with scarlet light.

- Good. - Cautiously, I nodded, after which I whispered: "Hand of Darkness," forming a spell in my right hand.

A second later, a huge, black hand materialised in front of me, and it had the same effect as with Sinens. That is, it made a sharp dash towards the targets, and then squeezed two of them. Except, I wasn't restraining myself now, as there was a real danger to Kurumi and me.

The snow beneath us, coloured scarlet in some places, and under my paw, there was no white space at all. I swallowed, trying to stifle the nausea at the sight of the picture after fluttering my hand, however... it didn't help much. At the shouts of the two thugs running away from me, I bent down, releasing the lunch I'd recently taken at the diner.

- Eh... that lunch cost 3 bronze coins..." Kurumi's sad voice came from behind me.

End of flashback.

Since then, we hadn't spoken once... Still, I didn't want to discuss that attack, and I would have to.

- Kurumi..." i sighed, "stop scaring me all the time.

- No big deal. - The girl smirked, picking up a fallen Runes book. - You decided to prepare for the upcoming lessons?

- Mm-hmm. Still, I'm not used to going to subjects I know absolutely nothing about. - I said, picking the book back up.

- Where are the others? - Kurumi asked, glancing at Vicky and Lucy's seats.

- On dates. - I sighed.

And what's missing is my date with someone... like Kurumi... My thoughts made me blush, staring at the image of the Runes Ignis.

- What are you thinking about? - Kurumi asked cheerfully. Damn, I noticed.

- Nothing..." I muttered. - And you... why did you come?

- I just wanted to talk to someone normal. - Kurumi sighed, locking herself onto my bed. - Most of the students in this academy are afraid of me because of my race. So I don't have many friends....

- That's how..." I said sadly, levitating the book onto the table.

- Listen... let's have some fun, shall we? - Kurumi smirked.

- Shall we? - I asked again. - How?

***

- That I would agree with you one more time on..... MMM!!!

The palm of Kurumi's hand that covered my mouth made my speaking ability a little slower. At that moment, one of the academy's guards came into the storeroom where we were sitting, but thank goodness he didn't go round the rows where we were sitting, and after standing for a couple of minutes, he came back out.

- Come on, it's no big deal. - Kurumi giggled, letting me go, all red.

- Think about it??? - I hissed. - The fact that we crept into the storeroom where you're going to steal fortified wine is what you call 'think about it'????

- Calm down and help me. - Kurumi said, pulling out from her backpack behind her back, a wooden tap and two, green, glass bottles.

I accepted the bottles from her hands, after which she put the tap to one of the wine barrels and with a stroke of her hand, hammered it inside.

- Give me the bottles. - she said.

I handed her what she wanted, and then looked back frantically at the door, which opened again. The same guard was more serious, and moved along the rows, checking for places to hide among the barrels.

- Kurumi..." I whispered, turning pale.

- Calm down. - The girl smirked, taking out the tap and filling the hole in the barrel with a strange black mass, then took the filled bottles into her backpack, and... hugged me.

- Don't move and don't make a sound. - she whispered in my ear, causing the degree of my redness to instantly reach a maximum.

And so, a guard, with a revolver in one hand, and a formed spell in the other, walks into our row... And just walks past us without noticing. As he moved on to the next one, Kurumi whispered:

- I'll explain later, now let's quietly leave.

Letting go of me, she ducked a little, and then, silently walked in the opposite direction from the guard, that is, towards the exit. I exhaled quietly and followed her in the same manner.

***

- Okay, now it's time to try it. - Kurumi said with a smirk, sitting down on Lucy's bed and taking bottles out of her backpack. - Here. - She added, tossing me a bottle.

I... didn't catch it. The bottle was halfway to shattering on the floor when I remembered telekinesis, which I instantly used. The bottle froze a few centimetres off the floor, just like I had a while ago, then rose up into my hand.

- Mmm, good telekinesis. - Surprised, Kurumi praised me.

- Thank you. - I replied with a smile.

- What are you standing there for? Open the bottle. - The girl said, seeing that I was in no hurry to take the alcohol... After that, she threw her head back and began to drink from her throat in large gulps.

"Why not give it a go?" - I thought, pulling out the cork with telekinesis. Whew, here we go! I, similarly to Kurumi, started drinking the wine, wrinkling my nose at the nasty taste. However... the taste was somewhat pleasant! After taking a couple of sips, I put the bottle away, transferring the sensation.

- You've had enough. - I heard Kurumi's voice, and before I could look up, my bottle was snatched away, finishing the three quarters of the bottle that was left.

- Hey!" I said indignantly.

- I'm a vampire. - Kurumi said, smiling without opening her eyes. - For me, these two bottles are like for you, your two sips. So don't resent me. Well, now for the main purpose of the outing.

- Main objective?

***

I took one last look at the two sleeping boys, about ten years old, who, according to Kurumi, had had a glass of strong kvass a couple of hours ago... as well as our empty, stolen bottles by their beds.

After closing the door, I hurried after Kurumi, who was leaving.

- And now, we're going to see Bland-sama.... Hehehe - Kurumi giggled evilly.

- And... why did you do that to them? - I dared to ask.

- It's nothing... Those assholes decided to tease me with blood 3 days ago... - Kurumi grinned merrily. I stared at her beautiful, snow-white fangs, but I quickly pulled myself together and averted my gaze.

***

- So, these goats will be punished for stealing wine from the cellars, drinking it before the age of 15, and for breaking one of the barrels during "their" theft. - Kurumi said contentedly while I chewed on a green apple, savouring its sourness.

We were back in my room, where we had returned to after reporting to Gaby about the drunken students. Vicky and Lucy were still gone, even though it was already 9:00 p.m. on the clock. By the way, 9.30pm is curfew.

- I guess I'll be going now," Kurumi said, getting out of bed and heading for the exit. - Good night, Gasper.

- Yeah... good night. - I replied sluggishly, imagining what our conversation with my mum would be like tonight... Stealing... drinking... messing around....

- And... Gasper... - Kurumi stopped, walking out the door.

- Yeah?" I looked up at her.

- Thank you. - Kurumi said embarrassedly, closing the door the next moment. However, I swear, in that instant, I managed to see a blush on her cheeks.

***

- Well, hello children. - said loudly... a full-figured lady, about 50 years old. - My name is Cruella Deitz. I'm the one who will be teaching you Runes magic. I'll tell you right away that I don't like lazy people, so in my lessons, you'll have to squeeze all the juices out of yourself if you want to get my favour. - at that moment, she ran her eyes over Vika, Lucy and me, sitting next to each other as usual. - Oh, so it's true! We really have three Great Children enrolled this year. Would you care to introduce yourselves?

I gently nudged Vika with my foot, suggesting that she start first. The girl took the hint, stood up and tucked her dishevelled hair behind her ear, then introduced herself:

- Victoria Flame. Third Child. Master of fire. - then immediately sat down. Sighing, I rose to follow her.

- Gasper Crowl. Fifth Child. Master of Darkness. - and then I sat back down, mirroring the look on Vicki's face.

- Lucy Ordinem. Fourth Child. Master of Order. - the girl on my left repeated after us.

- Ahem... Yeah, you're not what I thought you'd be like... But come on, lesson time, especially the first one, is not to be missed! I'll start by asking, does anyone know what a Runes is?

Several hands went up, and a definition ran before my eyes.

"Runes are the simplest ritual to materialise a certain magical action. A certain pattern turns the mana poured into it into a special magical action."

Meanwhile, Mrs Deits asked some student who voiced similar thoughts to mine. However, as far as I understood, the applied pattern, is only necessary to facilitate the infusion of mana. On each pattern, mana flows move in their own way, but to make it easier, mages create a pattern on some object, so that it would be easier to imagine the movement of flows when infusing mana.

- That's right. With the right pattern, you can do anything! From a simple, fiery explosion, to revitalising a dead forest! And who can tell me what the Runes are divided into?

I've already raised my hand to answer. Still, this woman is worth getting on good terms with. Based on what I've learnt about Runes, this section of magic is very promising, and will allow me to reach unknown heights in magic!

- Now, Mr Crowl, if you would be so kind. - said Mrs Deitz.

- Runes are divided into simple, complex and compound. Complex Runes are less cumbersome, but more difficult to execute than composite Runes. Otherwise, their meaning is the same. - I said, noticing the angry look in Sinens' eyes. Yes, the man in question, unfortunately for me, quickly set all the right bones, not without the help of the healers, and then returned to our company.

- Quite right. To tell you the truth, it doesn't take much to fully learn the art of Runes. Basically, for simple users, a knowledge of Latin is enough, as well as at least minimal mana control. And naturally, imagination, because without it... you know what I mean. For a deeper study of Runes, you need a jeweller's control of your magic, as well as a steady hand, because with complex Runes... a small mistake in the runes can cost you your life. Well, that's for later. Right now, let's try to practice making Runes. I'll take turns calling you over, you'll draw some Runes you know on a piece of paper, and then pour mana into them, triggering them. If anyone isn't familiar with Runes at all, there is an ignis sign above the entrance, meaning "fire", so you can draw it. Let's get started.

***

At some point, it was my turn. I took a quill in my hand and drew my favourite Runes. The Runes of Darkness.

- Good, now pour mana into it, Mr Crowl. Just don't overdo it. - said Mrs Data.

I nodded, and then carefully began to infuse the Runes, noticing as I did so that it was starting to blacken a little.

- That's enough, Mr Crowl. Now, cut away from this Runes, giving it freedom and allowing it to be applied. But first, step back.

I obeyed the advice, and then detached myself from the clearly felt Runes. And instantly it dispersed a black sphere around itself, with a radius of about a metre and a half. And when after a couple of seconds, the sphere disappeared without a trace, I found that everything that entered the sphere, a little cracked, as well as blackened.

- Excellent, Mr Crowl! - said the smiling Mrs Deits, waving her hand towards the blackened table. It was instantly covered with a few burned Runes of time, and the table regained its original appearance. - I can tell you're very good at your element! Unlike some people. - The woman added, glaring angrily at the crowd of already experienced students. Well, a couple of unpleasant incidents have indeed already happened..., for example, Vika overdid it with mana, and almost completely burned her clothes, as well as the mantle of Mrs Deits herself. The latter of course quickly fixed it with the Runes of Time, but... the residue remained.

***

I fell to the ground, once again, struck by Saurus. He'd taken to chasing me and not Lucy. And as a result, dropping my training blade again, I sprawled out on the wooden floor of the training room.

- Get up. - Saurus's cheerful voice sounded, and by the way, he wasn't even out of breath while I was trying to catch my breath.

- Give... fuh... a break..." I replied, trying to regain my breath.

- The fastest way to learn, keep doing things without having the energy to do them! So get up or else I'll put another bruise on your leg. - Saur said.

I picked up my elven training blade and then stood up. Why an elven blade? Because of its lightness and durability, which for my future fighting style would be quite important.

Another fight with Saurus... Here he is trying to reach my leg with his long sword, the most popular sword in Dratworth. I block the blow, then try to shorten the distance by pushing him with my shoulder. Although he's much taller than me, many people call him a "skeleton" because Saur is very light and skinny for a guy his age.

He lets me past him, tripping me up. I manage to jump over, and then strike with my sword from the turn. Saur blocks it with ease, then delivers a knee strike to my elbow. My arm explodes with pain, my sword falls out of it, and I bend painfully, trying not to groan in pain.

- The potential is good, one might even say marvellous! A couple of months of practice and you could... last more than 20 seconds against me! - Saur grinned mockingly and said, but seeing the hurt on my face, he came closer and tousled my hair and said: - "Don't worry about it. I've been honing my skills for seven years, and you've been practising for a month. In a couple of years, I swear I'll make you a master swordsman! - Standing in a pompous stance, proclaimed this... this... this...