Blades and Spells

TRIALS OF COURAGE

A lot of tables were in the room, all organized neatly, with a stool beside each. To the front of the room was a larger table, with many beakers and bowls on it. Many students were in the room, all standing behind a table. With the majority of the room occupied, the calmness would be surprising to any tourist of the area. The students' faces directed at their tables, their hands danced, seemingly trying to manipulate the object in front of them. Most had one of either a beaker, flask, stone or crystal on their table. One student even had their pet "venom cobra," on the table. On one table, water danced out of the flask like a ballerina, on another the beaker rotated in circles as if it was being spinned by an invisible force.

Jimmil, leaning against the table with his chin resting in his palm as he casually scanned the room. His black jacket, with its reflective sheen, caught the sunlight streaming through the window, making him stand out against the dull gray of his t-shirt beneath. He looked across each person's table to see what they were doing. As he glanced, he saw all of the students focussing. Majority of the students there were girls, many of the students were in robes. All the people there were doing various types of magic.

He looked down at his table and there lay a piece of iron. He lifted his hands above the iron, outstretched his fingers with palms faced above it. Few inches away from the iron, he moved his hands slowly. His left hand moved clockwise, and his right hand moved anti-clockwise. Under his careful gaze, the iron glowed with an ethereal light, its dark, metallic sheen gradually shifting to a lustrous, silvery hue. As the final spark of magic dissipated, the once rugged iron had seamlessly transformed into a gleaming bar of silver, catching the light with a radiant brilliance.

His lips slanted to the left while he looked downwards. He then slowly raised his head, and as he did, there stood a light-skinned female looking at him.

"Really good, The Alchemist," the glowing, light-skinned girl wearing a yellow headband said while smiling.

"Thank you," he responded with a soft smile. "Aren't you practising too for when the teacher returns?"

'No... I'm just waiting on Tes, I actually am leaving here soon."

Jimmil raised his head as his chin directed at her. He lowered his eyebrows, and with the look of a detective he said, "let me guess..."

".....Someone wants their hair to be done," both said at the same time.

Jimmil's lips outstretched as he levelled his head. "Earning from what you love is the pinnacle of life."

As she folded her arms across her chest in a self-assured embrace, her fuller figure was accentuated. She looked at him while smiling and then replied, "and how do you know that I like it?"

With widened eyes, he responded, "your hair on your head, and those knee-height shoes are literally yellow. I wouldn't go out of my way to do such things if I didn't like it."

She chuckled. "Well true..."

Towards the door to the front left of the classroom, a loud footstep could be heard approaching. It caught a lot of people's attention as many anxiously looked. The girl talking to Jimmil before, walked hurriedly towards her desk. As they looked at the door, a white over-the-knee boots came through the frame. Everyone looked, and out stepped the person.

With a gracious smile and bright beautiful eyes, she smiled as she approached the centre of the front of the class. With a paper being held near her head in her right hands she looked at everyone. "I have the sign-up paper for the upcoming mission, make sure you sign it up now as it is urgent," Contessa said.

"Yoo. You frightening us, we thought it was miss!" Shouted Jimmil.

Everyone had a small laugh.

Tes smiled as she placed the paper on the table under a bowl of ink. She walked with her head held high and in the direction where Jimmil was. The yellow-haired female walked from her seat also in that direction while glancing at Contessa at different intervals.