Chapter 4: Second Half of the First day,
Primp Magic
We we were traveling extremely fast through dimensions, it almost felt like an amusement park ride. One of the seats had enough room for us three to fit. I was on the window side while Feli sat on the opposite side, and Lemres remained in the middle. We all sat comfortably in our parts of the seat, waiting for a while. Feli fell asleep on Lemres' lap, I'll admit it, she looked adorable. It was so appealing that it was picture-worthy, but no one had a camera on board. We eventually exited the rift and reached Primp Town. As we stopped at the the designated station, Feli had woke from her "nap". Us three got off and I looked at my schedule for one final time for the day. A class labeled "Potion Crafting" was next, then my last period of the day was "Basic/Intermediate Magic Training". "Well looks like we'll have one more class together today…" Lemres said before his voice trailed off. "Hey, that's not bad, we can become great friends the more classes that we are in." I assured Lemres. "Heh, I suppose that ought to be pretty damn good. We have fifteen minutes to get there, so no need to rush." We relaxed and walked at our leisure, still having a couple of minutes leftover. We entered the class, most of the other students that were there stared at us, attentively. It was as if we were odd balls of the bunch, we were half-students, but still it was weird. Class had begun shortly with the clap of this school's bell. Our instructor for this class appeared, she looked a little too young for the job though. I was sitting at a nearby stool with no assigned seat to sit in. "Alright class, I would like your attention please." Immediately, the students, including us, gave her the desired attention. "It is of my understanding that we have a new student here today, if you're the guy, then please stand up." I then stood up from the stool, the young instructor seemed surprised. "Huh, you're a half-student right?" "T-that's right miss." I said, then heard quiet murmurs of other students, talking about me. "Now, how about you come to the front of the class and introduce yourself?" I had no reason to decline, so I did so. I listened to more of those murmurs, only now picking up on some of the words spoken. "Is he shy?" "What's up with him, I don't sense any magical power from him…" Those words in particular struck a chord of mine in the wrong way. If people here start to figure out that I'm an individual with no magic power, they'll laugh at me for enrolling to this school. Accord… why do you soil me so? I was sure that she planned something, but she probably didn't take this dilemma into consideration. "Alright, enough with the gossip class... As for you Dave, I am Instructor Witch, the one who teaches everything related to making potions. You may now take your seat over there, she points to a nearby empty desk. This seat was interesting, the first one that I got over at the front of the class. I didn't really have a problem with it if it meant I would be learning better. The class continued for seventy minutes, a bit long for my liking, but I had no control over that. The bell clapped, ending class. This left only one class left, basic/intermediate magic training, located in a room that I recognized from before. This was in Ms. Accord's room, so she DID have one thing planned for me. This will hopefully help me fit into Primp Magic more. Lemres noticed me heading off for my last class. "Well, looks like we're done hangin' out for today." Feli came up to me soon after. "It… was nice getting to… know you Dave…" I saw her smile and her face brighten to the color red. "Aw, wouldn't chu look at that… Feli seems to have the stuff for you…hehehe!" Lemres emphasized. "D-damn it Lemres! You know that… that no one can charm me more than you..." Feli pouted and lightly punched Lemres in the arm, he remained smiling and laughing from his joke. "Well… um okay, I gotta get going, see you guys tomorrow." I waved goodbye to them and left for Accord's room.
I found the room and entered inside. It didn't occur to me before, but this room was smaller compared to the other classrooms that I've been to throughout the day. The student count was… miniscule compared to all of the other classes. Not counting me, there were no more than five other students. Certainly strange, that's for sure. I've seen small classes in my days back in the past, but not any like this. "Oh hi Dave!" I hear someone call out my name, it was Amitie. "Hey, I didn't know that you were here. So what's the deal with this class anyway, why is it awfully remote with the student numbers?" Amitie reviewed the question I had asked her for a minute. "Well, most of the Primp Magic School students go to classes that focus on one part of magic. We often don't get ones who are new to magic itself, so this class a lot of the time, goes unused." The bell clapped and the other five students sit down in their seats. I meanwhile lean against a nearby wall. Ms. Accord enters in and welcomes the class for the day. Okay class, today is a special day. We have a new student that will be part this magic learning curriculum. This student introduction will be one of a kind, he's a half-student you see…" I hear the group of five exclaiming "Half-student?!" "*giggle* Why don't you introduce yourself kid?" "I'm not a kid Ms. Accord… please respect me as a young adult." I said. "Oohoohoo! Excuse me for my insincerity, I am often the instructor for younger teen students, so this is rather new for me. *giggle*" Come on Accord, this happening wasn't so out there… "*sigh* Alright then, my name is Dave for those of you here right now. And yes, I do indeed confirm that I'm a half-student." Accord seem genuinely happy with my introduction to these other five students. "Good, you can take that desk right next to Amitie." I went to sit over there, again this felt weird with only six total pupils in the room. "So today, we are going to stray away from our normal lessons. Two important things must be done for Dave before we can continue on. First off, I want the rest of you to chat with Dave so that he can get familiar with you and vice versa. Have the desks form a circle, it'll be better for a group discussion." We all began to make our desks in a circle shape. I was at this moment that I paid attention to the looks of the other students more, besides Amitie of course. There was a refined, pink haired girl. Despite her petite stature, she seemed physically strong. Another girl was next to her, wearing a green sweater. The sleeves on that thing were obviously too big for her, she looked to be the youngest out of them. Going to the opposite side, this big guy was somewhat meandering about, clearly not used to this. The last guy was… strange to me. He always kept this devious face on, like he was up to no good. I didn't trust him for a second, even if I hadn't fully met him yet. He was just too suspicious and I didn't like it at all. Him just wearing those glasses and appearing to be a smug as hell brainiac, ugh...
This circle was finally made as we sat back down, Accord was sitting on the side. I met with each of these guys individually, starting with Amitie. "It's great to have you in our class! Ever since I saw you yesterday, I just knew that we would be great friends! No need to tell you my name, you already know it." She said. "W-well, thank you Amitie, that's kind of you." She smiled at my compliment and moved on. "My name's Raffina, charmed to meet you. You should know that I am quite rich compared to everyone else here, thanks to my family." I nod in approval. "Oh la-ti-da! He's impressed with me!" The girl in the green sweater was a bit nervous at first, I could understand her current feeling. "I'm… I'm…" "It's okay, relax, I'm bashful and soft spoken too. No need to feel pressured at all..." That line must have made her feel much better because she sounded more relaxed. "I'm Lidelle, very glad that you are more reserved like me." "Well, it's nice to meet you Lidelle, promise me that you will work on coming out of that shell of yours, okay?" She nodded to me, promising that she'll try to do it. The big guy was next, he had a deep voice. "I am Tarutaru, great to make you my acquaintance." He tips his hat down as a form of respect. And then the last, the one guy I did not trust. "Salutations pleb, my name is Klug." Klug whispers to me soon after. "Don't plan on becoming buddy-buddy with me, it's not happening. I can tell that I'll despise you from what you've shown so far, pathetic ingrate…" This clearly made me angry, but I wasn't about to spout out said anger like an idiot, so I kept it to myself and remained calm and quiet. I couldn't let one guy get the better of my emotions. I continued to talk to these newfound friends that were not named Klug. I ignored him as much as I could. "Alright kiddies, it time for Dave to be tested to see whether or not he is capable of wielding magical power." I rose my hand up in question "Uuum, test?" I wasn't sure what she meant by "test". "Oh, you'll see… *giggle*." I didn't like the sound of that, the way she chuckled in response, it was going to be crazy, whatever it was. "Kids, follow me this way." Accord had us follow her for several minutes outside and then, I saw it. Some sort of obstacle course filled up my vision, my jaw dropped in astonishment. "Dave, in order for you to have the chance to cast magic, you need to have good physical and mental exercise. This course's traps will force you to think on your feet, as well as outside the box. All of the other things standing in your way will make you work on your reflexes and agility." My body wasn't made for this sort of thing, even as it changed. I figured that I was completely screwed and I couldn't do this, even if it was for my life. Failure seemed imminent, I felt hopeless, I hit the ground in disbelief. The others saw me collapse in shame, coming to comfort me in time of my need, except for Klug of course. He didn't care what was happening to me. In fact, at the corner of my eye, I saw him smiling from my pain. He was enjoying me at my worst, the true nature of an absolute bastard. Luckily, he did not see me looking at him on a whim, I traced my eye back to my now dirtied hands. "C'mon Dave, I know that you can do it, just believe!" Amitie cheered on. "You helped me Dave, now it's time for you to be helped in return..." Lidelle said. "Just look at me Dave, even I passed this monstrosity, and I'm not that well fit." Tarutaru emphasized. "I dunno, I'm still not sure guys..." At this point, I had shed a tear and pounded my fist in frustration. "Seriously now, how can you call yourself a young adult if you're losing hope and dignity already damn it?!" I realized that this was Raffina yelling out these words to me. Beyond that fact, she was right, I needed to start manning up to this shit. "Y-you're right Raffina, I must not hesitate... anymore." I stood up again, presenting a proud stance to everyone else. Klug had stopped smiling at this point in time, he was appalled by the sight. I couldn't let them down, any of them. Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, Tarutaru… Not just them though, but also Lemres, Feli… and Ringo... I could not falter here, I had do this for everyone that I considered a friend. "Very well, I'll do it and pass, I know that I can with the support of you guys." I breathed in as preparation to focus so deeply. And so, with me leaving my backpack behind in the hands of Amitie, I finally began this gauntlet of endurance.
In front of me incoming was a wall of thorns, I ran as fast as I could. At the last second, I reared my feet in a way where I started to slide. I slid under the thorns with relative ease, surprising myself in the process. "Alright! Go Dave!" I heard Amitie cheering me on along with the others. Now, I felt quite confident with myself, of course never being too sure of myself. I continued on for a while, starting to get tired. I had no idea how much time had passed since beginning this soon to be hell. I came up towards multiple rings of fire, only that I didn't exactly have the strength to full pull through these. My face, arms, and legs started to burn. "Ah! Fuck! This shit hurts like a bitch! This is no ordinary fire…!" I wasn't allowed to stop though, I had to keep going. "I must finish this to prove myself... like hell I'm going to have it stop me!" As though a deus ex machina had blessed me, I found new strength within. I kept going forward until one final challenge stood in my way. It was an extremely long path of monkey bars, along with saw blades moving about. "You gotta be shitting me…" I was never good with monkey bars, let alone a huge string of them. And now, my life was on the verge of ending just because this was my first day at Primp Magic. Regardless, I trudged on forward with determination. I came to about halfway before encountering problems. More saw blades were coming over to me, a couple managed to cut up my already burned body. "Argh! Damn it! Why do they have to make it this way?!" I was bleeding from several spots and it was hurting me badly. The more I moved around, the bigger my wounds opened up. I was almost there, just a couple of bars left. "C'mon…! Arms, you can get me there, just... hold on…!" I successfully made it through that hell and the course itself. I walked down a ramp that lead itself over to patches of grass. "You did Dave!" I heard a voice off in the distance, it was Amitie. "That was surely a wicked performance that you have done!" "Y-you think so? Th-thank you, as well as the others, you all motivated me... enough to get b…" I felt strange at this moment, like my body was shutting down temporarily. The next thing that I knew, I was back in the classroom, laying on the floor. "Oh hey guys, he's awake!" I was trying to get my eyes to adjust to the light. "Oh God... what happened? Ack!" All of my classmates heard and circled around me, besides Klug since he didn't care. "Don't stress out your body anymore... you blacked out like a busted light." Raffina explained. "You've sustained heavy injuries from the course, so I called up the school nurse to patch you up Dave." Accord said. "Well, I should be thanking all of you for caring about a stranger such as myself." "D-Dave, you're not a stranger to us, not after what you said to me before your test. Strangers never understand the feelings of others on a personal level immediately…" Lidelle was right, I was no stranger to these guys, they knew that I was someone that they could trust. For most of the remaining period, I kept lying on the floor. In the meantime, Amitie left my backpack close for me to hold. The others watched me in careful observation, praying that I would be alright. I finally recovered enough to stand up and move around. I was no longer burned or cut up thanks to healing magic, I just had sore muscles to deal with. "Okay, I think I'll be fine for the time being, my muscles hurt a little, but besides that, I can take care of myself now." The school nurse gestured to me and left. The desks were arranged back to how they were when I first entered the room today. I sat back down at my assigned seat until the bell clapped for a final time. My first school day was over thankfully, I could at last rest back in Suzuran. However, I had to get there first. "Oh Dave, there something important that you should know." Accord pointed out before I went out the door. "There's another vehicle that is here right now, it's for taking half-students and bringing them to Suzuran. It should be located right outside the school." I knew where as she said that that. "Thanks, I appreciate you guiding me to my ticket back home." I waved to her and left. I found myself by the station I was in before, just several half-students were waiting for this along with me. I guessed that the majority of half-students were from Primp Town, given this change in numbers. The vehicle came, and I entered. I came back to Suzuran, it was starting to get dark, I had to get to Ringo.
I made it to Ando Family Fresh Produce, Ringo saw me and her face lit up. "Where were you? You've been gone for a while since I came back here, what took you so long?" "Oh trust me, you do not want to know, it was a tad rough throughout this first day, I'll say it that much…" Ringo seemed like she didn't want to press for any further answers. "Well, if you… don't want to talk about it… I understand…" "N-No, it's not that I don't want to discuss it, I'm just not sure if you'll feel comfortable after I'm done explaining what happened in particular…" She urged me to talk, I sighed and began. I spoke all about the "test" I was given and how I was injured in the process at the latter half of the course. She went to hug me out of empathy and care. "Look Dave, the important thing is that you're still alive, and you had friends like Amitie to look out for you." She was taking this rather well, although she didn't actually see it happen with her own eyes. The human brain can only imagine so much about something. "Let's go inside, I'm sure that you're hungry Dave…" *growl* Sure enough, my stomach begins to rumble, we both laughed at the timing of that and entered. Ringo's family was making dinner, and it smelled great. We all sat in the family table with plates of the stuff. Safe to say, it was delicious and very much needed after all of that. I didn't exactly scarfed it down, but I certainly wasn't taking my time either. After dinner, I went in the shower, cleaned up, and passed out on my bed.
Author's Notes: Chapter 4 is the last chapter for a while before the plot starts to pick up in pace. Not only that, but this story's tone is about to become more mature, starting at Chapter 5.