[Class] Magic Class 1 : The Elements of Magic

[Thomas Barkhelm]

| Lesson 1 : The Elements of Magic |

This is the seating arrangement.

The teacher moved into the room slowly, his dangerous golden eyes locked forward as he progressed forward. The sound of his shoes on the stone under his feet echoed through the walls, ending as he sharply turned to the classroom. He lifted a hand and behind him a chunk of chalk lifted up into the air, twirling about for a moment before writing in clear, stylized cursive "Lesson 1 : The Elements of Magic".

"Good morning class." He said in a heavily accented voice, deep, thick, but oddly alluring, "Today we begin our very first lesson. I am professor Barkhelm. That is how you will address me, and by that alone. You've all received a syllabus. I expect it to be read, memorized, and followed to the letter." He glanced slowly around the room, catching each set of eyes with his own dangerous ones, there was no compromise in them. "I do not feel I need to go into the punishments for doing otherwise."

"Now." He motioned to the board. The chalk wrote out the words, "Mind", "Body", "Spirit" and little symbols under each of them. A fist, an eye, and a swirling cloud.

"Take out your notebooks. Follow along, I will repeat nothing."

"The elements of magic can be broken down, students, into three basic forms. The magic of the mind, the magic of the body, and the magic of the spirit. It is possible, over time and with much training, to learn to master all three. However, it’s not possible for everyone. Every life is attributed stronger towards one or the other. Those of you that are physically weaker may find that inside you dwells great spiritual strength. Those of you that feel spiritually weak, you’ve little willpower and confidence might find yourselves dangerously clever. Those of you that find that you’re not at all bright might find that there is little to compete with your strength."

"In our first lesson… I will assess each of you. I will find which of these is your strengths and based on that, you will be grouped up according to these three elements and trained accordingly."

"Magic is not the creation of new power. It’s the enhancement of power that already is, already exists. Within you is the power to light fire out of mid-air… within you is the power to lift a boulder… within you is the power to change the true nature of something into another. It’s the realization of this power, of your individual strengths that brings this power. In this class you will learn to do just that."


((Yes you may post now, breaking here for any reactions, questions, etc.))  

[Rayne Winner]

Ligeia had been at his seat, gloved hands working on first braiding his hair, folded it over and wrapped a ribbon around the middle of it to keep it all back and out of the way. Another Magic Class, this time with the other teacher. He wanted very much to learn this subject so that meant that he wanted to go through both teachers, to learn what they both had to say about the subject and what both of them taught. He dropped his hands immediently from his hair when the teacher appeared.

Was it just him or were both of the Magic Teachers a little on the intimidating side? He was glad that Vorel was willing ready and able to just stay at his side and rest. He was being well behaved today, no doubt because he had been bought off with snacks. He gave him a little pat on the head before the teacher started to talk and all his attention went to him due to his tone. He blinked as he found himself enthralled not just by his words but by the sound of the voice that was saying them.

He reached into his bag that hung off the back of his chair to get out his notebook and pen, opening it up to the first page when the Professor told them too, he didn't want to miss anything so he wrote out what he heard word for word, hand scrawling down all that he heard. In the top margin he scribbled down the three symbols as well not sure if they would be needed or not but decided just in case it wouldn't hurt to add them. Fist, Eye, and Swirling Cloud... he looked up as the Professor said that he was going assess them to figure out their strengths to see how they were going to be grouped up. His wings gave a litle flutter as he looked down at the notes he had so far wondering what he would do well with, the part that spoke of those physicaly weaker finding the spiritual strength seemed to stick out in his mind and the ache in his fingers from his first battle class seemed only to punctuate that... he pushed the thought away though. He had no idea what the assessment would come up with so he would wait until then instead of making assumptions.

The teachers voice drew him out of his thoughts and he was again writting down notes, then wondered if he needed all of that then decided that it was best to have even what he didn't need as opposed to missing something that he might.  

[Tao Orii]

Threee pencils were scribbling furiously, writing down notes in Laial's notebook. They copied down almost word-for-word (a few 'of's, 'the's, and 'a's were missing her and there) the teacher's lecture. When they finally paused, Laial looked up at the board and began to process some of the information he just finished writing down.

He had been sitting in a rather unusual position, even more so if you had never seen the nautilus child before. Pushing the chair to the side, he had curled his legs up inside his shell and used four tentacles instead of legs.

Wait, so is it like Rock-Paper-Scissors, here one is strong against one but weak against the other? Or all they all equal? He looked up at the board, as if the answer was on there somewhere. When he couldn't find it..... he dared to raise his hand. Oh, you're screwed now....  

[Raja]

Fingers idly worked at the rough scales that ran along the dragon's head. This teacher lectured a lot like the other one did, it was nothing like the battle classes. Frankly, Keanu wasn't the best at sitting still, so scratching at the dragon's forehead at least let him do something. It kept him from fidgeting, and also it did give him something he could mindlessly do while he listened to the teacher. Besides, it also kept Ymir happy and in one spot instead of wanting to try to look for attention. Because frankly, Keanu got the impression that the man would be as happy as the other magic teacher would have been if the hybrid walked up to demand attention. No, it was deffinitely best to sit tight and listen.

At least this teacher was a bit more interesting though. The other hadn't started off with explaining magic types, she'd asked questions. Mostly regarding tings they couldn't really know since they were there to learn the basics. This one at least started by stating things, instead of asking them to explain what they couldn't know.

Ymir was plenty happy to simply leave his head resting on Keanu's leg as the teacher spoke, mildly paying attention to the man's words. His tail smoothly sweeping the ground behind him as the man babbled o. Nothing brisk enough to caus ea disturbance, just a near silent motion that repeated itself. To and fro, back and forth. Nothing too troublesome. He of course had realized that this teacher wasn't going to be his friend shortly after walking in. Far too intense looking, and strict in appearance. No, this one would not be his friend and pat him on the head. Which made it nice that Keanu was giving him the nice forehead massage instead today. All in all, it didn't seem like such a bad class.

Unlike the other two students Keanu's spare hand might have had a pencil, but he certainly wasn't writing on the paper before him. He figured this class would be best learned listening. Notes had never been a specialty of his, and he'd soon given up on them. If he bothered to write too much he ended up missing chunks of the conversation. It was simply best to watch, and listen. Which he did.

Three types of magic was fairly interesting. It meant more to try to master, but practice wouldn't hurt. He was supposed to work on things at home anyway, and this wouldn't be anything new. He'd just have to take a little less time with sword fighting, and maybe cut back here and there. This could work.  

[Thomas Barkhelm]

"Now." The professor folded his hands behind him, straightening up as he looked between the students, "What you must understand is that there is indeed a difference between the magic that you as handlers will be learning and the magic that your dragons will be learning. You will be our first subjects for you see- in order to handle a creature that will begin learning magic, you must know a bit about magic yourselves. Identifying your own strengths and knowing what you can and cannot do are essential in every way."

He stepped forward slowly walking himself towards the students, "Dragons are frightfully powerful creatures. Like us, each dragon type has its own different ability... black dragons for instance spit acid that can burn through flesh, bone...." he paused, giving Keanu a sharp eye. The boy would somehow know that he was being quietly scolded for not having anything written down. The words weren't even there, he'd just somehow know. There was something about those dangerous golden eyes, "And steel..." He continued walking past the students, turning to weave in-between their desks. "Some dragons spit ice, others can create mist.... you have to identify each dragon's power to understand what your own is capable of, but more importantly how best to have your dragon work with those that will one day fight along side him."

He glanced to the students again, "That is after all what this place has been established for...you are no longer happy little children with pets. You are being trained as soldiers and valuable partners in combat. Those in the room beside you are your brothers and sisters in arms. Pay attention to their lessons as well as your own, know each other’s strengths and weaknesses...."

He walked himself back to the front of their desks, standing just a foot away from them. "Any questions thus far?"
 

[lithle]

Earako was neither as studious as Ligeia and Laial, nor as willing to simply listen as Keanu. She took notes, but they were quick, brief things, a couple of the words he said that struck her as particularly important. She'd come in angry, furious at being forced into 'proper clothes', a shirt with only a little lace. Pants, and even if they were satin, they were still pants. No wonder she felt a little miserable.

But as she listened to the teacher, her attention started to wander. There was Keanu. There was Ligeia. Friends. It was enough to make her start to smile, at least a little bit. And if she wasn't happy with her current attire, the idea of being able to do magic was at least interesting.

She shifted in her seat, wondering what type of magic she'd be good at. None of it sounded like something that was a skill of hers. Too bad there wasn't sewing magic. Or art magic. Something she could do. Somehow she'd imagined the whole procedure as more... magical.

Questions?

Umm...

"How will you assess us?" she asked the question in her usual near whisper.  

[Gabriela Juliana]

One line another...there his figure had arms. Next the boy drew a thick arrow pointing to a little symbol above his stick figure drawing, 'SPIRIT'. There that looked good. Paxton liked visuals they put everything in prospective for him. Besides one could catch things much easier that way, writing everything down word for word caused you to loose attention to what the teacher was saying.

Leaning back Paxton looked at his notes for a second. Hmmn, what was the professor saying now? Professor...it felt weird to think of someone as such, so far all his teachers had simply asked him to call them Ms. or Mr. something...or even just by their first name. Professor Barkhelm was possibly the most serious adult Paxton had ever encountered in his short life thus far. The idea only embedded farther in Paxton's mind as Barkhelm gave his little speech about not being a ‘happy little child’ any longer. ‘Brothers and sisters in arms’? Paxton’s' brown eyes swiveled about the room...it was hard to picture some of these kids fighting next to him, or even fighting at all. Never the less, it brought an amused smile to the boy’s face as he caught Keanu getting a stare from the teacher.


Turning back to his paper he took his pencil and drew another arrow near ‘BODY’, he wasn't sure what type of magic his friend was but he simply labeled the blank pointed line 'Keanu' and then next to the one with 'Mind' he added a ‘Paxton’. Ah it was all pointless, just something that would help him remember, though, it was all in silliness. Sticking the end of the eraser in his mouth Paxton leaned his head on his elbow and watched as the white bat girl dared speak up ...her name was Earako or something wasn't it?


 

[Raja]

Keanu's attire fit the codes well enough. Well once he'd left the jacket on the rack. As it was starting to grow a bit colder, something both boys were enoying, he'd switched into jeans again instead of shorts. Though the shirt had remained sleeveless. Solid black in color. He'd never gotten into the fancy clothes thing, and so solids tended to be his favourite. The shirt itself was fitting, nothing that stuck to him though. He'd never completely gotten used to having his fur pressed tightly, thus the shirt remained semi-loose. Nothing baggy though, that would get in the way if he was ever to practice. Besides, he couldn't have the shirt getting caught on things. One of the rules this place had.

Though at least there hadn't been a rule about shoes. Keanu still prefered wrapping his feet to actual shoes. Something he didn't think would be changing, one really couldn't get a feel fro the terrain with shoes on. Besides, claws and shoes didn't get along well. It was the same with hif he wore full gloves. Part of why he chose fingerless ones instead these days. Still kept his hands from being hurt, but he didn't rip them as easily. It was also easier to write with them on.

That didn't change the fact that listening was more important than writing stuff. Even the glare which told him he really should have been writing it all down didn't get his hand moving. He wasn't going to miss something important just to scrawl something down. Maybe later he'd write down a few things, but as long as that man kept talking he'd let it rest. Though he did tap the pencil a few times as if he was going to start before the man went back to speaking.

Yes, Ymir might have been his best friend, Paxton had a close second, but he just couldn't compare. But even witht hat, they were partners. They'd fight evil together once they finished learning how to. Which was why they were all here.

Including...

The dragons head lifted slightly at the familiar voice as it spoke up, but soon dropped down at a small tap on the nose. That was right, even if it was that girl who didn't mind petting him, he couldn't go over. Not durring classes. His tail gave a quicker almost agitated sweep of the ground before he settled down into putting up with the now meager attention he was getting.

Keanu had glanced over at the familiar voice too, giving the girl who'd earned the title 'Princess' a light smile before directing his attention back tot he teacher. One annoyed glare was enough for the day, it was best just to keep listening and try to remember as much as he could for later reference.  

[Tao Orii]

Laial lowered his hand the instand the teacher began talking again. The three pencils began scribbling away again as it went into his ears and onto the paper. Very effecient for writing lots of information in little time.

Of course, writing with three pencils probably helped. Oh, tentacles were so useful at times.

He really didn't look around at any other students, but after hearing what he thought was a familiar voice, he turned around to see. Oh, it was the Bat girl. He didn't wave, though, remembering that they weren't exactly friends. Not enemies, just not friends.

Laial himself was dressed in a blue t-shirt and dark blue shorts, with his high sandels on his feet. Oh, he liked his sandels.  

[Rayne Winner]

Ligeia's eyes went down to look at Vorel and idly he wondered if he should mention to the teacher about their experiment with the dragon's breath attack. He wasn't sure though, with as serious as he looked he wasn't sure if he would be very amused knowing that the two of them had used an icy breath attack to turn juice into popcicles. He decided instead to keep his mouth closed for the moment, turning towards Earako as she spoke up. Her question was something he'd wondered about but hadn't asked, he was glad that someone though had the courage to speak up. He found himself chewing on his lip. He needed to try harder to get himself more vocal in his classes, there wouldn't always be another student that would ask the question that he wanted too after all.

He looked down at his notes writing down some of what the teacher had said mostly because it stuck in his mind. Trained as soldiers? That was they were created for? Then... He felt his stomach tighten a little, he wasn't all that great with his wooden pole, he'd tried hard in the defense class but still he knew that he was lacking. What would they do with those not fit to be soldiers? Worriedly he decided that he was going to have to try his hardest in the magic class to make up for his lacking in the battle type classes.  

[Thomas Barkhelm]

Thomas quirked a brow slowly at the question. "How?" He said calmly, walking himself to her desk. "How indeed."

Quite suddenly the teacher slammed his hands down on her desk, leaning forward as his golden eyes widened for the first time since they'd seen him. Those eyes would almost draw hers to his. She'd feel something, something looking into her. Like there was nothing to hide, no secrets, she might even feel naked, like there was nothing between her and those eyes, nothing to hide her at all.

"A polite child...you see the world differently. Colors, shapes, how they appear on someone. An eye for detail, an eye for how things would work with another...You try to see what's beyond what's in front of your eyes." He spoke in a hissing whisper though to her it would be clear as if it were her own mind speaking he words. The others would only hear dark mutterings.

He spoke up again, this time for all to hear, his voice clear as it had been before, "The power to see something's true nature, the desire to know what makes it what it is, the eye for detail, to see the inner workings of something else... even as insignificant as fashion. The quality of mind is in you." He stood himself up, putting his hands behind his back calmly once more, "The element is inside you from the moment your heart strikes the first beat. Your hobbies, your interests, your behavior... are all triggered from this element." He circled around her desk and started for the next student...Ligeia, "Young lady, you will be learning the arts of the mind."
 

[Tao Orii]

Holyfreak. To say the teacher's actions startled Laial would have been an understatement. A big one. Half of his tentacles were inside his shell the instant of the sound.

Heiko immedietly looked up from around her master's 'legs'. She looked a the teacher, to Earko, and back to the teacher. To say she didn't like him was an understatement, but Laial had told her to be invisible. So invisable she had to be.

Laial blinked. He had no idea how the teacher was assigning these things without even asking them any questions. Could he mind-read? Don't be silly, of course he can't. The nautilus child went back to reading his notes.  

[Raja]

The idea of being a soldier wasn't what Keanu had in mind himself, but he had trained to fight. Soldiers faught. He just wouldn't fight for any cause that was wrong. That's how he was different from a soldier. A hero fought to save people, not mindlessly following orders. It was protecting people, no matter what the price.

Which was why the boy stood up as the man slammed his hands on Earako's desk. Even if he was a teacher, no especially cause he was one, he couldn't hurt another student. Though after a moment it was obvious he wasn't hurting her, or at least not physically. The boy blinked once before flopping back into his seat again. Wierd teacher, strange one. He was talking aloud now, saying she was a mind type. That made enough sense, she certainly wasn't meant to go around hitting things. She was a princess after all.

Still from one friend to the other. Next was the other boy, the one with the frost. He'd first seen him at Orpheus' class. And at the mission Alan had given them. He'd never really seen the boy fight though, so he couldn't say what might fit him. No, that was the teachers job wasn't it? But how exactly had he done it before?

Ymir gave a mild grunt as his head was almost hit against the top of the desk as Keanu had suddenly jumped up. Teachers might be evil, but they didn't attack the students. At least that one woman hadn't. She may have warned him, but she hadn't hit him. Besides, he might not like people getting hurt, but he'd been told to behave. Unless Keanu attacked first he wouldnt take part. At least not unless the leopard was hurt. Laying his head back on the boy's legs he nudged his nose lightly at the boys stomache until his hand returned to the top of the dragon's head. Calm again, that was good. No need to go fighting with anyone, D-Corp wouldn't hurt it's soldiers afterall, right? That's what the teacher had called them anyway.  

[Rayne Winner]

Ligeia was jolted out of his musings, a line of ink ending up going across the paper as the teacher's hands slammed down upon the batgirl's desk. He looked up from the notes that now might need redone and over to teacher. His tufted ears twitched back and forth as he tried to make what was being said to her. He found himself unable to though, almost as if the man was talking in another language so he opted instead just to stare.

Wow... Well maybe this teacher was a little more frightening then the female teacher Raven?

Then the teacher was talking normally again and Ligeia wondered if he were supposed to write down what was being said now, the momentary mental question died before he could even think to lift his pen as the teacher turned towards him and walked towards him. Ligeia's wings fluffed up and he swallowed hard as the Professor grew closer, as if he were preparing for the loud sound of hands meeting desk again.  

[lithle]

Earako shrank back into her desk, her initial jump followed by physical shaking as the man spoke. Before recent events, her reaction might not have been so strong, but her youthful trust had been shaken, and she was scared. Shrinking back in her chair, she wanted to cover her head, her eyes. He felt like he was in her head and she had to bit her lip as he spoke to keep from whimpering.

She heard what he was saying, but barely understood the words, fear stealing meaning.

When he finally backed away from her, she whimpered, wrapping one arm around herself and using her free hand to pet the now hissing red dragon at her side. Her breaths were shuddering, weak little gasps, and her wings stayed wrapped around her like they might shield her from further events, or hide her from another such uncomfortable invasion.

Arts of the mind. She tried to hold on to that. But mostly she just wanted to hide.