Disclaimer... I don't own any ideas of the Darklandians or dance...
Day 151-
The new teaching plan became routine almost instantly. Everyone including Master Kamek seemed to enjoy this method. We'd have lab experiments in Science Class, tinker projects in Shop, and other hands on experiences in the other class. Master Kamek happily engaged each Koopling's question in whichever subject when asked.
I had never seen the wizard smile so much. It made me wonder whether Master Kamek was as lonely as King Koopa. Thinking back to my time in the castle so far, I've never seen the viceroy engaging in any conversations or joking around with anyone. I guess it must be just as lonely being #2 as it is being king.
Sometimes the idea made me feel sad for the turtle until he gave me detention. Although to my surprise, detentions have been few and far between lately. The hammer only came down during in class writing assignments and during tests (of which I have yet to pass).
Jimmy would walk around the room and randomly shout, "No talking, Footstool" or "Stop cheating, Footstool" even when my head was down. Inevitably his outburst led to the blue robed professor assigning detention.
I never objected to the punishment. Truthfully I felt Jimmy was entitled to some revenge and I thought I owed the fungus. I may have spoke up or something if it happened daily but it was only like once or twice a week and not very serious (usually I ended up cleaning), so I allowed it.
I think since I'm the "practice" dummy during Magic class and an army of one usually in Physical Education, Master Kamek believes I suffer enough punishment on those days. Truth is those classes aren't so tough and I still get to spar with Mort after school.
Turns out I am quite resistant to magical attacks. My body endures the physical stress incurred from the fireballs, ice shards, and fierce winds my classmates have produced. I can even withstand mind manipulation defying Master Kamek attempts to force me to be his footstool during class. Luckily my devotion to my king prevented the sorcerer from succeeding.
Conversely, however, I have absolutely no talent casting magic spells whether reciting the incantation aloud or in my head. I discovered my innate ability while reviewing the subject matter with Morton during our sparring matches. The scepter just fails to activate when I'm holding it.
My friend's broken language prevents him from performing the spells out loud but has proven very skilled at the silent incantation. It added a whole new level of difficulty to our training sessions. So not only does Morton have private lessons with King Koopa, he combos it with magic during our matches.
Mort leads with his fists, adding a kick, and a tail whip then waves the scepter striking me with a spell knocking me out of the air. Thank goodness my king permits me to eat as many mushrooms as I need to heal. Sometimes on those days, I find myself having to order 2.
Physical Education has a written portion of the class which was similar to health class back on Earth. It's used to inform the Kooplings of the various power ups the Super Mario Brothers can use to gain tactical advantage against all Darklandians. I found the class particularly fascinating just considering whether the icons will enhance my power too.
The primary goal of the physical portion of the class is to improve the Kooplings' strength, speed, stamina, and if at all possible develop their flame. So during the gym part of the class, I find myself pitted against all the Kooplings thanks to Master Kamek's idea of "fair" teams. Not surprising recalling the teams from my day in the arena. I was pitted unarmed (so he thought) against Jimmy, Ed, and Bain.
Thanks to my sparring matches with Morton, my three "S's" placed me at a higher level than the Kooplings except for Morton. The two of us had some intense matches often not concluding until the end of class. Most of the time, Kamek and the rest of the class sat around watching us.
However neither of us could breathe fire. Me for obvious reasons, humans aren't necessarily known for naturally breathing fire, and I'm not sure why Morton can't. I'm sure it'll just take the big guy sometime and practice. By the end of class, Kamek would encourage Morton advising that it's only a matter of time for him but usually failed me for the day.
Master Kamek would pair me with one of the youngest Kooplings attempting to slow me down. His plan worked as I ended up absorbing the attacks launched our way trying to protect them.
Although I was rewarded once while protecting Larry Koopa. Absorbing a tail whip from Morton intended for the competitive Koopa and slamming into a wall, Larry released a solid wall of fire burning his brothers and Wendy. We all got mushrooms that day.
Master Kamek keeps us busy with homework assignments and I find myself having to work on the written assignments while I wait for my king to return from his dinner with Mort. My king has been returning to the room a little earlier apparently Morton is cutting their training time short to work on his own assignments.
"Footstool," King Koopa asked putting his feet up. "How come I never see you doing homework?"
"I normally finish it while you're at dinner, my king," I answered truthfully.
Although, I'm not sure why I bother doing the assignments; everyone of my papers comeback with a great big Yoshi egg on it. The worst part is all my answers are right. Kamek only gives me a zero because he hates me.
"Do you like going to the Koopa Academy," King Koopa asked with a smirk.
"Yes, sire. Thank you for allowing me the honor to attend," I responded. "Master Kamek's ideas for the classes' redesign made them exciting."
"Yeah, Kamek's ideas," the king rolled his eyes laughing. "Time for bed, Footstool."
Day 153-
Today Kamek announced that our Shop projects from earlier in the year were due at the end of the week. I decided to make a clock for King Koopa and present it to my king on Bowser Day. The official day hasn't been announced yet but I'm hoping to get this project the way I want it by the end of the week.
I managed to connect the gears and sprockets allowing time to actually churn. The outside design of the clock had a tiny brown castle with 3 towers resembling the "Rook" or "Castle" pieces from chess. The clock's face was in the center of the middle tower and there was a door at the center tower's base. There was, also, a golden brick road, a flag pole, a few trees and a Princess Toadstool figurine as alarm.
The plan was to have Princess Toadstool exit the castle at the designated hour and travel past the flag pole and the trees to the platform's edge. The figurine would say "Time to wake up my king" while bending over making a kissing sound until he gets up.
Not sure if I want to share this particular design with the class, I have a back up figure I'm going to surprise Master Kamek with at the end of the week. Unfortunately I'm having trouble perfecting the role of both figurines due to my lack of magical prowess.
I know my king can help performing my desired spell with ease but then it wouldn't be a surprise. How my king hasn't caught on to my little project is beyond me. I've been shaping the small pieces of marble (thank you Princess table) after he falls asleep. Sometimes I do it even when he's passed out in his chair.
Our 8th classmate, Roy still hasn't shown up to class. I asked Mort about him which my friend just shrugged off. He said Roy's been busy and doesn't believe him about the changes in class. Poor Roy, I hope he's okay.
Day 158-
Today something strange happened so fast during gym my head is still spinning. Wendy ran at me leaping high into the air. During her decent toward me, Wendy's legs folded into a flying kick.
My brain shouted at me to "DUCK" and "DODGE" and "MOVE" but for whatever reason my body didn't want to listen. I caught her. Instead instantly throwing her to the ground, I held her suspended in the air for almost 10 seconds then gently set her down.
A blank stare froze her face giving me a chance to create some distance between us. Before I could reset, the female koopa ran at me. This time after jumping into the air, Wendy stretched her arms behind her back and closed her eyes while extending her head straight out instead of attacking.
Once again my brain yelled "GET OUT OF THE WAY" but if I moved the Koopling would slam into the stone floor. My conscious couldn't/wouldn't let that happen. My arms climbed upward catching her again. When I finally set the princess down, she stared at me with an evil grin but as she went to say something Master Kamek interrupted.
"Wendy! You're suppose to slash your opponent not leave yourself open for a counterattack," Kamek ordered checking the clock. "Class dismissed." He added while the class started shuffling for the door, "Don't forget your Shop projects are due in 2 days."
Heading for our training room, Wendy chased me and Morton down. "Hey," she commanded my attention tugging my shell. "Footstool, I like need your like help."
"Get wost Whendy," Morton answered. "We got twaining."
"Pa-Pweese," she asked with desperation in her voice. "It's like… um… private."
"Go on a head, Master Morton, I'll catch up," I said seeing her grimace. Mort nodded and left us alone. "What's the matter Princess Wendy?"
"What did I like tell you about titles?"
I sighed, "We're out of class. Titles apply."
"Whatever," she clearly wanted to get to her point. "Listen. I like need you to like help with my Bowser day like gift."
"What can I do-," I cut myself off recalling the memory of the princess in her leotard.
"I'm like going to give daddy like a ballet but I like need someone strong to like catch me during the dance," Wendy asked. "Please Baldo."
I stiffened at her use of my nickname. I rubbed the back of my neck, "You heard that."
She smiled knowing that she's got me dead to rights. "Yeah, Morton isn't exactly like a whispering type," She put a hand on her hip. "Like do this and I promise like not to tell."
"Are you sure? I'm not exactly graceful."
"All you got to like do is like catch me," she said. "Just like come to practice tomorrow-."
"I can't. We have General Studies. I'm going to be in detention and the next day," I laughed thinking about my Shop project. "But I should be able start next week."
Wendy looked nervous, "Fine."
"Okay, I've got conditions," I answered. "First since slaves aren't allowed to perform, I'm going to need a mask and costume so I can sneak out of your dad's room.
"Second, I want you to accept one of your father's dinner invitations." I added seeing her face. "They're not negotiable."
Her eyes rolled. "Okay fine but I'm like not going to accept dinner until like after we perform on Bowser day."
"First invitation after Bowser day and we got a deal," I extended my hand for a hand shake.
She sighed, "Deal."
Wendy returned my gesture confirming our agreement. After shaking, we both went on our own way.