Chapter 4

The Next Morning

Valon's eyes lazily drifted open. He looked around and noticed it was morning.

"Aw snap! I fell asleep and missed the duel with Mason!" He jumped out of bed and looked out the window. He noticed Gil at the Ice School. He took a quick shower and rushed outside. "Gil, what happened last night? I remember you being with me in my dorm, so why didn't you wake me up?"

"Wake you up?" Gil questioned. "You didn't fall asleep last night."

"But I don't remember creaming Mason last night."

"Yeah…that's because…you diddn't…" Gil said nervously. Valon just stared at Gil for a second.

"…Wait, what?"

"Well, you almost won…You would've destroyed Mason, but when it came down to it, your card fizzled."

"Fizzle?"

"On every card, there's a circle with a percentage in in. Y'know, 70 percent, 100 percent, yadda yadda. That means that the card you choose will only work that percent of the time. When it doesn't work, it shrivels up and turns to ash."

"Wait…You mean to tell me I could have destroyed the creep that gave me such a hard time on my first day here, AND I LOST DUE TO MERE CHANCE THAT THE CARD WOULDN'T WORK!"

"Yeah, that's about the size of it."

"I don't believe this! Whatever. All I need to know is that if it wasn't for poor accuracy, I would have beaten him. Wait, why are you standing out here?"

"I'm waiting for Tina."

"Who-na?"

"Tina stayed behind last night after you lost and the crowd dispersed. She helped me get you in bed so your health could refill. She told me that she would meet me after class."

"Class…Aw snap! I was supposed to sign up for classes yesterday. Okay, I'm a Necromancer, and Headmaster Ambrose said something about a…"

"Secondary school?" Gil interjected.

"Yeah! Now if I'm a Necromancer, I wonder what the best secondary school for me would be…Maybe Life!"

"That may not be such a great strategic move." Gil stated.

"Why not?"

"Well, Necromancy focuses on stealing health from enemies, so you'll most likely be able to take care of healing yourself without life magic."

"Well, what about Balance?"

"Balance…Balance is basically a combination of all forms of magic. So it's kind of like every Balance Spell is only one sixth as powerful as all of the other schools."

"What's your secondary school?"

"Well, I chose Life. I think I'd go with Divination if I were you."

"Divination…It rings a bell, but…"

"Divination is Storm Magic. Because I feel like Necromancy is perfectly split between healing and average strength. However Divination focuses solely on strength. It is the most brutal of all types of magic. I think it compliments Necromancy nicely. It's kind of like you'll be working on two thirds power. And then the other third is focused on healing, but you'll be stealing that health from enemies, so it'll still be damaging your opponent."

"Hmm…I guess it would be a strategic move. Alright, I'll go with Divination as my secondary school. I'm gonna go tell Ambrose."

Just then, the door to the Ice School opened, and Wizards exited.

"Gil, what's up?" A voice said. A girl came out of the building and looked at Valon.

"Hi, Valon." She said.

"Hi…Tina?" Valon guessed that was Tina.

"Are you feeling better?" Valon looked at his watch.

"Fine, I guess. My health has fully refilled."

"Well, I'd hope so. You slept like a baby as soon as your body touched that bed." Gil laughed.

"Okay…I'm starting to feel like a third wheel. I'm just gonna go see the Headmaster. I'll see you two later." Valon ran off. Once he exited the tunnel that led to the Commons, he ran to Ambrose's office. "Headmaster Ambrose, I'm back for my class schedule."

"Good! Now you know where all your classes are held! I hope you were successful in choosing a secondary school."

"Yes, sir. I chose Divination as my secondary school."

"Excellent choice, young Wizard. Now, until you are a level 10, you will have to learn with Malorn Ashthorn every day from nine A.M. to ten A.M., and then you will have class at the Storm School with Professor Balestrom for the next half hour. The rest of the day shall be yours to roam free about Wizard City. You have today off, so if you want, you can wonder about to see what all Wizard City has to offer. I should mention though, there have been some strange events around town. Nothing serious…Nothing that a promising Wizard like you couldn't handle. Here, take this." Merle handed Valon a piece of paper with a large 1 on it.

"What's this?"

"That, young Wizard, is a Training Point. While you are studying in your secondary school, your professor cannot teach you a Spell because that is not the school you belong to. However, these slips of paper hold a magical essence that makes the Spell your trying to learn act as a creature from whatever school you belong to long enough for you to master the Spell."

"So your saying I could go ask Professor Balestrom to teach me a new Spell right now?"

"Yes. Just remember that some professors make you reach a certain level before they let you train for a new Spell. Halston's class should be out by now. Why don't you go ask him?"

"Thank you, Headmaster." Valon left the office and headed back to Ravenwood. He knocked on the door of the Storm School and heard a faint 'Come in!' He walked in to see Halston Balestrom happily perched atop his desk.

"Oh, it's you. Hello, and welcome to the School of Storm. Am I to assume that you have chosen to honor yourself by taking up Divination as your secondary school?"

"Yes, sir. Headmaster Ambrose gave me this slip and told me to give it to you."

"Ah, a Training Point. What level are you, young Wizard?"

"I'm a level 2."

"Ah, then you qualify to learn my level 1 Spell. Think you can handle it without even taking a class?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay…then come along with me." Halston hopped along with Valon following close behind to the tower right across from the school house. He simply waved his hand and in a flash of electricity, a Thunder Snake appeared. Halston, then tossed Valon a blank card. "Okay, young Wizard, this will be a true challenge for you. To capture the monster, you must somehow figure out a way to place the card on the monster's body. You will, then say Erutpac, then recite the name of the monster backwards. Ready? Attack!" The Thunder Snake rushed to Valon and wrapped its body around him. Electricity then bounced around the snake's body, shocking Valon to the core. Valon, paralyzed as he was, found the strength to smash his head against the snake's. It's grip around Valon loosened, giving him the split second opportunity to jump out of the snake's grip. Valon rushed toward the snake in an attempt to put the card on the snake's head. But it quickly swung its tail at Valon, smacking him into a wall. It shot a blast of lightning at Valon.

In fear, Valon rose his wand, which deflected the bolt right back at the snake, momentarily paralyzing it. Valon took the advantage and ran toward it. He slapped the card down on its head.

"Erutpac Ekans Rednuht!" Valon said. The snake began glowing and it turned to pure light. The light shot right into the card. Valon walked over to it and picked it up. It was a Thunder Snake Spell Card.

"Congratulations, young Wizard. You have mastered your first Storm Spell. And even without taking a class. You're a special one, yes you are. Now why don't you go test that out? I heard there's a ghost infestation on Unicorn Way. Valon ran out the tower and through the tunnel to the Commons. It was there that he ran into Gil. He was soaking wet.

"What happened to you?"

"Well, let's see, I was hanging out with Tina when that jerk that you almost beat shoved me right into the lake." Valon grimaced.

"Mason. Where is that underhanded wad of Troll spit? I'll pound him into the dust so hard, he'll wind up back on Earth! I just got a new Spell from Professor Balestrom and I'm ready to do some serious dueling!"

"So you learned some Divination, did you? Well would you mind whipping up a wind storm to dry me off? I'd let Tina do it, but she can only conduct freezing wind which would freeze me to death. Now if I were you, I would steer away from Mason. You just got trounced by him last night. Why don't you go to Unicorn Way and help with that ghost infiltration; It'll make you stronger so that when next you two duel, you can be ready.

"Hey, guys." Said Tina.

"Hey, Tina." Valon responded.

"Do either of you want to join me at the fairgrounds tonight to watch the fireworks?"

"I will." Gil said eagerly. Valon quietly chuckled.

"Well, I guess I'll let you two enjoy that. I'm going to get spend the day working on my skills." Valon said as he turned around and began to walk toward the Unicorn Way tunnel. "…Enjoy your date."

"Date?" Gil and Tina said in unison.

A/N: I would just like to point out that since this story was thought of in mid-2010, the newer aspects of Wizard 101 such as planting, advanced pets and Celestia will not be included in this story.