Books are Scary, but Potions are Terrifying

Me? Well, my hands were already bound with chains. Of course, I wasn’t actually ‘captured’ – my broach was still a light gray compared to the deep purple the others were turning. My disenchant magic could easily break these chains, but it made no sense to risk it right now. There were two other types of books flying around.

The first were books that contained a detection spell. As the name implied, the spell could detect other living creatures, even if they were invisible. Even worse, they could share information with the other flying books. Plenty of chains were floating in the air as they wrapped around the students who cast an invisibility spell.

The second type of books were troublesome. Instead of having a regular binding spell, it was an anti-mana variant. Students who broke out of the first binding spell were wrapped in one of these, making it impossible to use magic. They seemed to be rare, but it was impossible to tell which book type was which. I was pretty sure I could still disenchant the anti-mana binds, but I didn’t want to risk it.

So, I sat in the corner of the classroom, biding my time until I could escape.

~~~

After about five minutes, the door to the classroom opened. Two students entered, each wearing a deep purple broach. Both of them also had the same style of clothes and wore glasses. The only discernible difference between them was their different genders…probably. Their faces were ambiguous, making it hard to tell.

The two looked around the classroom. Most of us had been caught; there were only a few still left standing. However, only around half the bound students’ broaches had changed, so they were likely observing the pair too.

“Hmm, looks like we only have half of the class,” the male(?) said, slightly annoyed. The female(?) shrugged in response, as if it didn’t concern her. She didn’t seem particularly enthused to be here.

“Well, whatever,” he waved off before addressing the class. “Hello all! We are members of the Book Club. You have just experienced some of our anti-theft measures installed on each and every book. As one of its representatives, I would like to welcome you all.”

Many of the caught students groaned in agony. Given how little any of us opened the books here, it made sense. Nobody here wanted to be stuck reading for hours after school.

The female(?) tugged on the male(?)’s jacket wrist. “We better get going before the other clubs show–”

BOOOOM!

What the heck?!?

An explosion destroyed the wall of the classroom facing the hallway. It wasn’t powerful enough to hurt the students, but it blasted any nearby to the other side, knocking them unconscious. The two from the Book Club fell down on top of each other. I was lucky enough to already be near the opposite side of the room.

The male(?) stirred before looking towards us once again. My eyes locked with his. However, we weren’t looking at each other. Rather, we were watching a glass bottle containing a green liquid that was thrown in through the wall, landing right between us.

Crack!

As soon as it hit the ground, the bottle smashed into pieces. The green liquid instantly vaporized, clouding the entire room in a green smoke.

“It’s the Potions…Club… Thud!” the male(?) barely said before passing out. The other students who breathed in the vapors fell unconscious. The broaches that were still light gray now turned green.

This may be a problem, but there’s only one thing I can do!

In a low voice, I whispered, “Repel the mana from the air surrounding me [Disenchant].” A small barrier formed around my body. The green gas oozed ever closer, but as soon as it touched my barrier, it turned back into a thin liquid. It seems like I’ll be safe for now. Potions are terrifying. I breathed a sigh of relief. However, just in case, I slumped against the bookshelf, making it seem like I was affected.

~~~

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the green gas still lingered. My back was starting to ache. I wanted to bolt out of the room, but with my luck, I was sure that I would’ve been caught immediately. So, I continued to pretend.

Eventually, two more students stepped through the now exploded wall into the classroom. I couldn’t see their faces as they each wore a gas mask, but their green broaches definitely indicated they were part of the Potions Club.

“Seems like we got a pretty good haul today! Nobody came running out either!” one of them cheerfully spoke as they inspected the broaches.

“Captain, did you have to blow up the wall? That could’ve actually killed someone. We should be lucky that no one was badly hurt,” the other said. She was slowly making her way over to me.

“This again? How else are we supposed to show off the destructive power of our potions? I made sure to make it weak enough to not hurt anyone. Plus, we have high-grade healing potions otherwise.”

“And what about the Student Council?”

The captain immediately jumped and averted his eyes. “U-um, it’ll be fine. I’ll just tell them there was no other choice.”

The girl sighed. She was almost on top of me. “Who are you planning to fool with that excuse? Plus, it seems like we also knocked out some of the Book Club members. Ugh…I don’t want to go around apologizing again!”

“...sorry about that,” the captain said in a quiet voice, scratching his cheek or, at least, where his cheek would be underneath the mask.

“Whatever…huh?” The girl looked over at my broach. “This one is…”

Now!

Bop!

“Agh!” she yelled as I headbutted her. It hurt me too, but I was already prepared to deal with the recoil. I jumped up and ran through the broken wall towards the stairs. It sounded like the girl was going to chase me, but I didn’t pay any attention.

I just kept running.

***

Bop!

“Agh!” I heard Asa scream from behind me. One dude was somehow still conscious. The sleeping potion should’ve put everyone to sleep, but it was no use worrying about it now.

The dude quickly ran out the wall and towards the stairs. Asa made to follow him; she was extremely pissed.

“Stop, Asa!” I yelled. She turned around towards me; some blood trailed down the side of her mask. I could tell she wasn’t thinking rationally.

“But captain–”

“You wouldn’t be able to catch him. We only have explosives, sleeping potions, and healing potions. Either would kill him or do absolutely nothing. He seems like the type of dude that could escape almost anything. So, stand down.” Asa begrudgingly stopped, stomping out of the gassed classroom. She was probably off to take a healing potion. Probably.

…probably.

I sighed, looking in the direction the dude ran off. He managed to escape us, but he probably wouldn’t make it that far. Even if he did, I was sure Asa would get revenge tomorrow.

Well, with that gaming nerd guarding the front doors, I doubt it would ever come to that.