Chapter 20: Terrorists!

A few weeks pass at school while I work toward my goals. Jen has started giving me recipes for baking and I’ve strip mined the mountains for valuables. There are even more than in the mountains back home.

I stay in my seat after mandatory classes and wait for the new professor in the lecture series. We’ve had professors for spatial storage, fire, water and earth. The fire professor was mentally deficient, his unique ability was making a flame that could cut through metal, but he was just using wind magic at the same time to make the flame hotter. Complete hack.

“Hey Alfred, are you still free for sword practice later?” Eric takes the seat next to me and asks.

I’ve been sparring with Liara a lot and I think Eric is jealous. Or maybe he realized he’d get steamrolled in a fight, so I’ve been giving him little lessons. I don’t mind, it reminds me of teaching Oliver, and learning to fight is smart.

“Of course, if you can hit me, I’ll give you a bottle of cider” I tease him while also providing motivation, turns out Eric is a lush.

“Oh you’re on, the cider will be mine” he has a determined smile, that’s good, but he couldn’t hit me if I had a blindfold on.

“Still fighting over alcohol are we?” Princess Sylvie sits next to Eric and teases both of us. I don’t want to say she’s grown on me, but I tolerate her better.

“Princess Sylvie I’m simply providing positive reinforcement for my student” I reply.

“And I want to drink more cider!” Eric exclaims without a hint of shame.

We all chat until the new professor walks in.

“Good afternoon everyone, I’m Professor Linda and my research specializes in healing magic” 

Oh man this lady is the whole reason I took this course.

“My unique ability is harder to demonstrate than most of your previous lecturers, so I’ll need a volunteer” she says.

Eric’s hand flies into the air so fast I feel wind against my face. Guess he was excited for this too, I can probably get the gist of it from where I sit so that’s fine. The professor points next to me.

“Yes, young man in the third row, please come and take a seat”

Professor Linda pulls a single seat out and places it at the front of the class then directs Eric into it.

“My unique ability involves the use of healing magic to alter a person’s perceptions. Young man, what’s your name?” she asks.

“Eric Duren, it’s a privilege Professor” Eric responds.

“Why thank you. Now there are three distinct applications of my unique ability - altering sights, sounds and state of wakefulness. These can be useful when treating various ailments, but being able to put someone to sleep has been of the greatest benefit” Professor Linda explains, “now Eric, I’m going to alter what you’re seeing first, please describe how your vision changes to the class”

Professor Linda places her hand just above Eric’s head before she pushes her magic out. It’s a modest amount and it swirls into the energy in the air before it moves toward Eric’s head. The combined magic has a deep green glow.

The mix of magic and energy flows to the bottom center of Eric’s brain and forms a circle. Or maybe it’s filling a small circular structure deep inside the brain? Damn I wish I took biology classes in college.

“It’s dark, like I closed my eyes. But I know they’re open” Eric says in awe of the experience, “now it’s getting brighter, I see a sunrise? And flowers and trees. It looks like the front of the school in the morning”

“Exactly right Eric, I can provide sights and sounds I’ve experienced before, though I can’t provide smells. That’s always vexed me..” Professor Linda says with consternation on her face, “alright, next I’m going to put you to sleep and I’ll wake you with a loud sound. You may feel startled when you wake up” she warns Eric before pushing a new swirl of magic and energy into his brain.

Eric slumps forward.. anddd he’s snoring. Hot hell that works.

“”ahahha”” the whole class bursts out laughing.

“Yes, it happens quite fast. If we left him be he’d sleep for quite some time” Professor Linda says with a smirk while looking down at a snoring Eric, “now to wake him”

Professor Linda starts swirling more magic and energy together, but before she can finish, everyone’s attention turns to the hallway.

“HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!”

“AHGHURK thunk”

Did someone just get KO’d in the hallway? Feels like high school in my old world.

The door to the classroom flies open and four men with swords rush in, they’re wearing the tan clothes knights put under their armor when it’s cold and their heads are wrapped in black cloth obscuring their faces.

The first man in steps forward and knocks Professor Linda to the ground. Fuck man, this is probably the most useful week of class this academy can offer me.

But a school attack is a universal male fantasy. We’d all get taken captive then launch a counterattack, I could make ice slicks on the floor to make the bad guys slip or trip them with condensed magic footholds. I’d tip the scale in our favor with little stuff like that then clobber a guy or two so I look cool, but not freakishly cool.

“Princess Sylvie you’re coming with us! The Alarian Empire will not stand for your insults!” a knight brandishing a long sword yells.

Oh man take her. My friend group is perfect if she’s out of the picture. Please lord, you scared me for a moment interrupting such an important class, but I understand you work in mysterious ways.

“EEK” Princess Sylvie shrieks then shrinks into her chair on my left.

She’s shaking, but she’s also a pain so..

“AHHHHHHHHHH” Eric wakes up screaming and sweating like he was having a nightmare.

He jumps to his feet and looks around the room to see another nightmare.

“What’s going on here!?” he yells again.

“Shut it kid, we’ll kill anyone who tries to stop us from taking the Princess” the knight responds.

I’m pretty sure Eric is on a family mission to marry into royalty, there’s no worse thing he could hear.

“YOU WHAT!?!” he screams, turning red like a tomato.

He’s going to do something stupid and get killed. Argh, Eric actually has grown on me, watching him die would bum me out.

Focus, what’s the play? I could just be a freak and mop them, but then I’d have to leave the kingdom. I was starting to have some fun here..

I look around, but don’t recognize anyone besides Princess Sylvie and Eric. And no one has swords on them. They won’t be any help.

I can pick up the Princess and book it out of the window, they’d probably leave Eric be to chase us and no one can catch me. But the Princess would be insufferable if I did all that.

Arghh.

Actually, there’s an idea in there. If Eric saves the Princess he’ll get closer with her and I just have to hold the guys off at the front for a little bit. I can probably manage without looking too weird, everyone knows I’m decent with a sword and use water magic.

I let my magic flow out to scan the area, there are more guys in the hallway and some knights are fighting at the front entrance of the school. The window’s their only option, I don’t sense anyone behind the building, so they can escape.

I’m three rows behind the front of the class, and there’s a knight just in front of Eric ready to impale him. I stand up from my seat, pick up my chair and fling at the knight's head, then jump forward after it.

The Alarian knight is focused on Eric when a wooden chair crashes into his head.

THUNK thunk

He drops and leaves his sword for me, it’s a kind gesture.

“Eric, take the Princess and flee through the window. There are probably more in the hallway” I command.

I take the fallen knight’s sword and raise my eyes to the three knights in front of the door.

“Alfred?” Eric snaps back to his senses and his head returns to a normal color, “right, Princess we have to go!” he takes off towards her.

Damn he didn’t even try to stay and fight with me, at least argue for a second.

“Kid we’re going to turn you to ribbons for hurting our commander!” a knight yells before meeting my gaze.

I’ve got my hunting eyes on, and I’m looking at prey.

I spray the floor near the door with water magic and place a magic foothold behind the knights at shin level, if I can knock them out of the room the plan will really come together.

The yelling knight swings his sword down aiming for my skull.

“RAHH” he yells.

I block it and raise my right leg to kick him in the chest. It connects, sending the first knight back into the others who stumble on the magic foothold, two of the three crash into the hallway while the third falls inside the room.

I jump on top of the straggler and sink my sword into his heart then turn to the class.

“If anyone can use earth magic block the door with it! At least make the entrance skinnier!” I scream at the class, pulling them from their terrified daze.

Two older students stand up and strain their magic towards the doorframe. A number of meter tall spikes erupt from the ground. It’s not perfect, but they’ll have to jump it to get in. I should be able to stab them before they land.

The Alarian knights in the hall start shouting at each other.

“The Princess went out the window! Two of us went down inside her classroom!”

I hope Eric and the Princess can run fast, I can’t help them much more directly.

“Double check in the class!”

I see a swell of magic past the earth spikes, and a foot pushing that magic into the earth, making it explode.

Balls, they’re not chumps.

A fragment is flying for my stomach, I can dodge it or knock it out of the way. Or I can let it hit me. I’ll let it hit me on the left.

A watermelon sized piece of rubble hits me on the left side of my stomach with a glancing blow, tearing my uniform and skin. A smaller piece hits me above the eyebrow, drawing some blood.

Perfect, I look a little injured.

I drop to one knee and use the sword like a cane to hold me up. The magic kicker steps into the classroom and surveys the area.

“Commander!" he shouts and scans the room, "shit, we are two down. I don’t see the Princess! Circle around the school!”

Now if Eric got the Princess to safety we’re in business.

“You’re the little shit that took them down? Tch” the knight looks down at me, barely holding myself up with the stolen sword.

I want him to leave, I haven’t done anything besides being calm under pressure and I’d love to keep it that way.

“Huh a prodigy noble kid would be good to have too” he mumbles.

The knight walks into the room and kicks my sword cane out. I fall listlessly forward, before the knight picks me up and throws me over his shoulder.

It’s the second-best outcome, and I was hoping to play the captive role at some point today. This could be fun.