elisha santino and The Return of the Dragon

Disenchant

Actually, this summer started out pretty normal, but it didn't end that way at all. Oh, by the way, my name is Elisha Santino. Yeah, I know it sounds like a girl's name, but don't get any ideas, I'm a boy. My mom loved the name Elisha, so that's what she named me. At least that's what Cedric told me. Cedric is my stepdad. My family entrusted me to him before they died, but I love Cedric a lot. I don't know what kind of people my family were, but entrusting me to Cedric was the right choice. Anyway, getting back to the point, as I was saying, the summer started out pretty normal. I woke up like I always do and got ready for school. This year was my sixth and final year at school. This school is not like the normal schools you know. This is Stellan School of Wizardry and Creature Hunting. Usually, children of wizarding families come here at the age of 12 to receive an education, and after six years of schooling, they can either go out into the world and fend for themselves, or they can continue to stay at the school. This decision is made by the High Council, which is made up of the most prominent professors in the school. Of course, I didn't come here at the age of 12. Cedric taught at Stellan, so I had grown up here my entire life. But this year was special. This year, I could start taking on missions, which meant I could start exploring the world. The thought of exploring the outside world made me jump out of bed and get ready. Today was sword selection day, so I put on my protective gear, because that's what Cedric told me to do. Protective gear, you ask? Well, if you come from a wizarding family but can't do magic, they train you in protective combat and turn you into a protector who can fight alongside the wizards. As for the wizards, what do they need swords for? They should stick to using wands! The reason I put on my protective gear today was because, as I said, it was sword selection day, and for every sixth-grader, this day is very important. Once you select a sword, you'll use it until you either die or break it. Before leaving the room, I took one last look inside to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything and then hurriedly walked out. First, there was breakfast. It's a tradition of this school that by 8 o'clock in the morning, everyone should have finished their meal and be seated at their table. Otherwise, you might incur the wrath of Miss Sofia. While hurrying to the dining hall, I checked the time to see if I was late. It was only 7:30, so I wasn't late.

I quickly entered the cafeteria. There were still 15 minutes before the meal started. I immediately found Alex and Floria, who were my closest friends. We've been together for six years. Alex is a protector like me, and Floria is an earth wizard. I saw that they were talking passionately about something. I sat down next to them and Alex said, "I thought you were going to be late for a moment." "I made it, I made it. What were you talking about?" I said, out of breath. "We were talking about swords. Which one do you want to come out the most?" Floria asked curiously. "I don't know, it could be the dragon's double daggers, or the whip sword, or..." "It would be great if the magic cutter came out. It's always been my dream to have it," Alex interrupted excitedly. Floria said a little hopelessly, "Didn't the dragon use that sword last?" Now you might be thinking that the dragon usually produces a protector and the strongest wizards, and no one has used the magic cutter since the last dragon. "Besides, that sword is very selective, and the chances of it choosing us are very low," I said unhappily because I really wanted the magic cutter to come out. Alex was about to speak when Ms. Sofia stood up and said, "Enjoy your meal." As soon as she said that, the food appeared on the tables. Everyone stopped talking and focused on eating.

Today, before the sword selection ceremony, we had our magic training class. Yes, I had mentioned before that as protectors, we can't do magic, but we can do small spells. Of course, these spells are more for distracting creatures rather than causing damage, as protectors who are capable of casting powerful spells to cause damage are rare to find.

We started our magic training class, but I hated it because our teacher always talked about exotic creatures and abnormal wizards. The teacher was Lady Gloria, who was also a prominent member of the school's high council, even though the school's headmistress, Lady Sofia, made important decisions with the council. "Alright, sit down, everyone. Mr. Sten has some business to attend to today, so I will be your teacher," she said, sounding both unwilling and unhappy. Apparently, Lady Sofia had assigned her to teach this class, which made me giggle just thinking about it. "What's so funny, Mr. Elisha? If you're so good at this, then why don't you tell us what dual-wielding means for wizards?" Lady Gloria asked, her eyes gleaming with delight. I knew she was enjoying this. "Um... I'm sorry, Lady Gloria, but I can't explain it," I stammered, feeling my face flush. "You didn't seem to have a problem laughing earlier, but fine. Never mind, Mr. Elisha. Just don't make unnecessary noise like your friend if you don't want to embarrass yourself," Lady Gloria replied, clearly annoyed. I was about to give her a snarky reply when Lady Sofia intervened and urged me to take my seat. "Well, in wizardry, dual-wielding means being skilled in two types of magic at once, and before the last dragon of light was imprisoned, the light magic had grown so strong that the rare practice of dual-wielding had become more widespread among them. That was before the dragon, but remember, even for the dragon, dual-wielding is considered an abnormal form of wizardry," she explained.

I had fallen asleep at that time, and suddenly jumped from my place due to Mrs. Gloria shouting next to my ear, "You must write every detail of each feature of a double-wing in a file for your homework." Just then, the bell rang. "You can leave now."

We had just finished class and Floria was walking beside me, complaining about how long the class was. They had combined two classes, but all other classes had been canceled for the day because of the sword selection ceremony. We headed to lunch since we had been in class for an hour and a half

We picked up our food and took our seats, and about ten minutes later, Alex joined us. "Where were you?" I asked Alex because I remembered he wasn't in class. "I helped Cedric prepare for the sword selection ceremony," Alex said happily. Of course, I would have been happy too if I didn't have to attend Mrs. Gloria's class. "Yeah, and he's supposed to be my stepdad," I shrugged. "Don't be like that, Elisha. Cedric loves you so much, it's obvious," Floria said. "Anyway, let's quickly finish our meal so we don't be late for the sword selection ceremony," I said. Alex and Floria nodded in agreement, and then Ms. Sofia came and said, "Enjoy your meal." After that, everyone focused on their food.

(to be continued in the next section)