Mrs. Bleu, EM in water and teacher of Magic History, is standing at the front of the classroom showing us projections of old pictures. It is alchemists and so-called wizards and soothsayers from the ancient times.
"... They also had a secret language, full of images and codes, so they would not reveal their alchemic secrets. For example, the petals of this flower symbolises a specific thing, but if the flower were to be another type, it would change the meaning." Mrs. Bleu points at a flower on a drawing. With a flick of her hand, the picture slides along and a drawing of a man levitating feathers comes up on the screen. He is surrounded by people seemingly struck in awe at the wonders before them.
"But the rules of alchemy was for professionals. Common wizards would use tricks passed down via oral tradition, rather then read about it from books. Where the alchemists goal was to discover, the wizards tried to earn money. Their goal was to amaze. Therefore..."
I slowly lose contact as the Mrs. Continues talking about the matter of earning money at the expense of others. As I am dozing off, Mina leans over to my desk, whispering. "Really, why do we have to learn this? We all know the "wizards" were just scams. They used static electricity and stuff instead of real magic. This is not magic history we're learning!" I nod in agreement and whispers back. "Yeah, it really isn't worth it. Why learn about this when it doesn't help you reach the 1st place in the League?" I smile. The League is a magical tournament, the greatest in the world. People flock from the whole world to compete and win. The prize is enormous. You win money and fame and everyones praise. You will live the rest of your life as THE champion. It is my dream to win, although combat magic usually doesn't make it too far.
"Alexandra!" I bolt up from my desk, doing a salute in the process. "Yes, Mrs.Bleu!" I hear the class snicker around me, and I can see Mrs. Bleu smiling a little, too. "You would do good in the military, with your reaction time. But you have to focus. Can you repeat what I just said?" Oh, shoot. "Err... alchemists used flower petals?" The class laughs again. Mrs. Bleu sighs, and proceeds to tell me that I have been missing out for the last 10 minutes. Ten minutes! I was fantasising about the league, and lost track of time. I sit back down, a blush starting to creep up my neck. I try to focus the rest of the period, and manage to catch that some soothsayers actually had magical abilities, but people never believed they had them. After some time, the "wizards" also gained the so called basic abilities every person has now, like general levitation and spells. Later it branched out and became the general classes we know today. Elemental Manipulators(EM), Defensive(D), Offensive(O) and Spiritual(S). There are sub-classes, like personal magic (enhancing of ones own abilities), but it usually goes under D, in the same way that psychics goes under S, even though the abilities are often used for fighting.
I am naturally gifted in combat magic, with my family basically being different types of martial art specialists combined with magical strength and inhumane agility. If Amethyst can throw someone ten meters with her mind, I can get to them and double kick them in the face just as fast. But I am terrible at strategy. I have no sense of forethought whatsoever, and I can't change that, no matter how much I try. Mina is much better at that. She is born with the ability of invisibility (D) and unchallenged strategy skills, although she might need some time to figure the strategy out. That's her weak point. She might use a few seconds to figure out how to throw her knife, and if you're quick enough, you can stop her train of thought before she hits you. The people who are not born with spells or special fighting abilities use normal weapons in combination with whatever gift they are born with.
Mina prefers knives. She uses basic levitation to move the knives, all the while invisible to her opponent. She throws them and cuts with them, basically acting as an invisible lawn mower. It is not fun.
Rrrrriiinnngggg!!
The bell rings, and everyone sprints for the exit. Recess! That means ten minutes until next period. I turn around and opens my mouth. "Math" Mina doesn't even look up from her book. I smile."Alright. That means Mr. Crimson, right?" "Unless he got ill during the history lesson, yes." Mina closes her book "There. Done." She starts packing her bags. "Done with what?" I look at her bag over her shoulder. She looks over her shoulder back at me, her brown hair slightly covering her eyes. "The history homework, duh." "Already?!" Mina straightens herself and puts on her red jacket. "Yeah. I started during class. I am busy the next days, so it is best for me to be done with it. Dad is coming home, and we are planning on going to the Skating rink, and the park, and the zoo... " Mina smiles, her blue eyes glowing. Her father works abroad, and only comes home every other month. Mina, an only child, misses him a lot. She always looks forward to his homecoming. I smile as we walk towards the exit, wondering what I will do the next days.
