Amity

Chapter 32: Playing With Fire

"You. Two. Are. Late!" his distant-eyed teacher stated, tapping both Megumi and his forehead with a thick book with each word.

Dré sighed while rubbing his forehead. "Sorry, Miss Bright." With all that happened in the marketplace, he didn't even think about asking Megumi who her next teacher was.

"It's Bianka. Take a seat." She pointed at the only two seats available with her long nails; front row. They sat down; Dré ignored the peering gaze from his classmates, reminding of school on Earth.

"Back to what I was saying," Bianka began, "Out of all five elements, fire is the hardest to control, and the second hardest to master. Our element thrives on confidence and is weakened by doubt. In layman's terms, the more confident you feel, the stronger it is.

"As I'm sure most of you have tried, you'll find it hard to tap into your element now. The reason why it was so easy to use it at the entrance exam was because you were acting on desperation; your will to live. Once you were out of danger, your body calmed down, temporarily disabling your elemancy until you can control it on own free will.

"Of course, it's possible for your elemancy to simply not awaken. If that were to happen, and it refused to awaken before you turn twenty, then you'll never be able to unlock it." Her cheerful tone had turned serious so fast that it was almost frightening. "But luckily, you're all here, so we don't have to worry about that," she said, beaming at the students. Her pink lip gloss shimmered under the fluorescent lights, making them stand out against her brown skin. Dré could hear the students mumbling behind him, and he had an idea why. Bianka seemed to have a couple of screws loose.

"Alright students, stand up. Up, up, up." Bianka gestured for the students to stand, her sleeves waving wildly over her hands. The class hesitantly did as told. "Now, hold your dominant hand out, palm up, and try to form a fireball."

Is she serious? She wanted the class to forge a fireball, even though no one in class knew how to control it? Bianka didn't just have a few screws loose. She was full-on insane.

"Uh... Bianka?" Megumi began, raising her hand. "You sure we should be attempting this inside? I mean, what would we do if we can't control it?"

Bianka gave Megumi a wide smile. "Don't worry, little troublemaker." Megumi scowled at the moniker. "There hasn't been an Apprentice in this school yet who has been able to successfully form a fireball on the first day. I'm just curious to see how far some of you can go. Now, close your eyes. Focus on making the fire appear in the palm of your hand."

Dré closed his eyes, straining to force the fireball in his hand. Concentrate, Dré. Imagine the fire in your hand. He thought of the soothing heat from a fireplace, the smell of burning logs and smoke. He thought of the burning sensation he had felt when his elemancy had first awoken. Unfortunately, he didn't feel any difference. He snuck a quick peek at his hand. Nothing. He was getting angry, considering yesterday he was able to release a large wave of flames.

"Okay, you can all stop now," Bianka called. "I see that some of you still have a ways to go, but no need to worry. You'll get there before the end of this term, I'm sure. You'll even be able to do this at the end of your Apprentice year." She rolled up her sleeves and effortlessly formed a fireball, displaying it to the class. The students all looked in amazement as she raised her left hand, igniting another fireball.

"If you think that was cool, check this out." She directed both fireballs at each other and brought them within inches of each other. The flames fizzled out as flashes of electricity flowed in between her hands. Just as sudden as the fire disappeared, lightning crackled between her hands.

The students wowed at how much control she had of her element as she held her hands over her head and spread them wider. The lightning flowed freely through the air, streaking across the ceiling in jagged lines across the air. They flowed into the lights, overcharged them, and made them pop in a burst of sparks. The class roared with applause with only the light from Bianka's electricity and the sunlight through the window.

The streaks receded back into Bianka's hands as she gracefully lowered her hands. "That, my students, is what a master of flames can do." The roaring of applause continued as she bowed. She looked up at the lights, astonished. "Oops. Guess I got carried away," she said, chuckling nervously. "Anyway, back to the lecture.

"There are five different sub-elements to fire. Of course, there's fire itself, which I don't believe I have to go into too much detail about. Then there's electricity and magnokinesis. Magnokinesis is the ability to change the polarity in magnetic fields." She slid a throwing knife from her sash and laid it on the table. "This is what you can do with magnokinesis." She raised her hand; at once, the throwing knife levitated, as if she was controlling it with thread. "You can do this with any metal, and even turn metals into magnets. Very useful on the battlefield."

Dré was still bothered that he wasn't able to conjure fire. It made no sense for him not to be able to be able to do it. What changed between the Edge Walker's forest and now? He put his hands under the table, trying to focus on flames igniting once again. He thought about flames dancing in darkness, imaging the crackling of the flames in his ears. He tried to clear his mind, closing his eyes so he could ignore everything else in the room.

"Then there's technokinesis, which I can't do. Technokinesis is the ability to manipulate technology with your electricity and your mind. People who can perform technokinesis are very much wanted in military agencies on both Earth and Amity since you'd be able to hack into almost anything. You'd have to be lucky to be able to use technokinesis effectively, however, so I wouldn't get your hopes up. Mr. Wolf!" Bianka called, taking him out of his meditative state. "I would appreciate it if you did not fall asleep in my class."

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry." He ignored Megumi snickering at him.

Bianka cleared her throat before returning to her lesson. I've got to be a bit more inconspicuous. He kept his eyes on Bianka but kept his mind on using his fire. What made him able to use it before? He remembered that feeling of desperateness once the Edge Walker began closing in on him. He remembered Kimmy almost dying to protect him.

A wave of guilt passed through him as he thought of Kimmy on a hospital bed, her shirt covered in blood. It was his fault that she almost died. All because he was weak.

Dré frowned at himself. He was weak. But he would change that. He swore to himself that he'd get stronger to protect Kimmy, even if he had to give up his own life.

Then he felt a strange warmth licking at his wrist. He glanced back at Megumi, who seemed too focused on Bianka's lecture to pay attention to him. Looking down at his hand, he noticed a silvery blue light from under his table. His eyes bulged as he fell out of his chair, yelling at the top of his lungs, swinging a fistful of blue fire wildly about. The students around him all filed to the back of the classroom while Dré thrashed. The fire grew in the palm of his hand; it was clear that he had no control of it.

"Stop, drop, and roll, you idiot," one of his classmates had said.

"Dude, that totally doesn't work," another classmate said.

"It totally does work, stupid."

"Calm down students," Bianka said as she dashed towards Dré. She grabbed the base of his wrist and squeezed. The flames slowly died down until it extinguished completely.

Dré fell to his knees, sucking in air. "Are you alright?" Bianka asked.

"Yeah," he said, winded. "Yeah. I think so."

"Good. So, I can call you a complete idiot for not listening to what I said! Had I not known to stop your fire, you could have died!" She walked back to her table and cleared her throat. "Take your seats, please," she said cheerfully. The students mumbled to themselves, as if they didn't want to be anywhere near Dré. "Take your seats." In an instant, they hurried to their seats.

"As I was saying, the dangers of overusing your power can lead to severe exhaustion, muscle-deterioration, and death." She turned her attention to Dré. "Severe exhaustion. Muscle deterioration. And death. Got it, Mr. Wolf?"

"Y-yes ma'am," he said as he placed both of his hands on the table, sinking as low into the chair as he could.

"Good. And leave them there until the end of class."