Enchanted Casters

Chapter 3

The next day, Kyle attended his first battle magic class, which was held in the same room as the opening ceremony. For the class, chairs had been set up on the stage along with a blackboard. Punching bags all lined up in rows filled the floor below.

Professor Valentine, a middle-aged woman with silver braided hair and a gold mini silk hat, was teaching the class how to use Shieldara. It was a spell that brought forth a magical shield that protected the caster.

"This spell will be your greatest defense against any magical attacks that are casted your way," she explained in a sophisticated tone.

A boy raised his hand, "What kind of situations will that be the case in?"

"Usually, if you encounter any malevolent wizards or creatures that set their sights on you," Valentine answered. "Though, it can also occur in magic duels that are a common form of entertainment around here."

She rubbed her nose confidently, "I should know as I was quite the duelist in my younger years."

Once she gave a demonstration of Shieldara, she dismissed the class to go and practice the spell. Everyone took a punching bag and practiced the spell in front of it. When it was time to present, Valentine moved the bags out of the way and had one of the students stand on the other side of the room.

"Smokoko!" Valentine cried.

A medium sized smoke ball launched at the student, who protected themselves with Shieldara. The ball hit the shield and exploded, resulting in a cloud of smoke engulfing the student. It cleared seconds later to reveal the student unharmed.

A few students went before it was Kyle's turn. Valentine instructed him to head to the end of the room. Kyle slowly walked his way down. He stood in Valentine's line of sight and took a deep breath. Valentine casted Smokoko his way.

"Shieldara," Kyle softly ordered.

The spell casted and protected him from the attack. The smoke that resulted from the impact cleared and Kyle's turn was over. He noticed that the way he used Shieldara was no different than when the other students used it. In a way, he was confused, yet kind of relieved at the same time. Having it not act up meant not having to deal with the unwanted attention. He started to convince himself that it was all just a fluke.

Supper was over and Kyle was making his way back to his room. Walking down the hallway leading to the back doors to the dorms, he overheard two girls talking, one was quite in a distressed state.

"I can't believe something like that would come here!" a girl with short, platinum blonde hair remarked.

"I know, but it was so cute!" the other girl squealed.

"Are you crazy? It looked so menacing... We need to tell a professor immediately," the first girl retorted.

Kyle stopped in his tracks. He wanted to learn more about what they were talking about, but they immediately stopped discussing it. He knew he was going to have to ask them directly.

"U-u-um," Kyle stuttered, trying to get their attention. "W-what are you talking about?"

The first girl looked at him, "We're talking about this dog creature that's wandering near the Sunlight Dorm. I'd stay away from it if I were you."

She was going to say more, but Kyle had already left to go investigate her claim.

Arriving at the location, Kyle cautiously looked around to see any signs of the creature. While peeking around a bush, he saw something limp out from behind a tree in the corner of his eye. He moved his head up and saw what looked like a Bernese Mountain Dog. Getting a more precise look, it had the coloration and front half of one, but had the back half of a lion and sported a pair of wings on its back. It walked a few inches before its legs gave out.