Alkalians

by Caleb S. Bugai

  “Gah, yeah, I got it!”

  “Good.” Yanking him back up by his hair, the woman trips him over backwards, having him hit the floor hard, before a swift kick to his ribs sends him rolling away. “Now get your filth out of here!” Stumbling to his feet, Ryan hastily bumps his way past the other students and out of the cafeteria, the woman’s enraged expression following him.

  Once he is gone, she sighs out a deep breath, brushes some of her blue hair away from her face, and turns back to Matt, her expression kind as she says, “Sorry about that, and pay that creep no mind. He’s all talk, and not worth much in anything else. If there’s anything you need proper guidance with around here, my associates and I would be glad to help you.”

  “Oh, uh, thank you.” Still reeling with surprise from the turn of events, plus the woman’s eyes truly being a chilling, pale blue, Matt manages to ask while the other students return to their meals, some chatting about what just happened and others acting like nothing happened, “So, um, are you, Lyn Arcterus?”

  “Yes, that is me. And you are?”

  “I’m, ah, Matt Calamos.”

  “Matt Calamos. Calamos. Would you happen to be related to a Romulus Calamos?”

  “Ah, yeah. He’s my father. And Fenrir Arcterus is yours?”

  Lyn’s icy blue eyes widen in joy as she exclaims, “Yes! Wow, Matt, we meet at last!” For the umpteenth surprise, she swiftly grabs Matt and hugs him, causing the other women and students to share Matt’s startled expression. “Fire Spirit be praised, it’s so good to finally meet the son of my father’s good friend!”

  “Uh, it’s good to meet you, too!” Once Lyn lets go of him, he tries to remain composed as he says, “My father’s said good things about yours, as well. And now, here I am meeting his daughter! Isn’t that great?”

  “Yes, it is! Oh, there is so much we can talk about, so much we can learn about each other!” As she realizes she’s still drawing attention from those around them, she calms down a little. “Although, there will be plenty of time for that, especially when my friends and I can help you out with studies or whatever.” Gesturing to the table where her gang sits, she asks, “Would you like to join us for lunch, Matt?”

  Feeling the eyes of all others boring into him, Matt is sure he is about to have a nervous breakdown before he replies, “No, that’s all right, I have my roommates to eat with, over there. But, thank you for offering.”

  “You’re very welcome, Matt.” Lyn glances to the other students, her cold stare turning them back to their meals, and says back to him sweetly, “And besides, right here probably isn’t the best place to get better acquainted. I can see all of this may be a little overwhelming for you, at the moment. How about, after class hours, you can come to our reserved study hall?”

  “Um, yeah, I guess that’s…Oh, no, wait, that won’t work today. I have detention with Professor Kaloss.”

  “Aw, you’ve gotten in trouble, already? That’s a bother. But, it won’t be a problem. You could still come to our study. I have Kaloss for my next class, and I can let him know you’ll be serving out ‘detention’ with me and my girls.”

  “Re-really? You can do that?”

  “Oh, yes! As long as you’ll be doing what you would have done in his room, he won’t mind if we take you in. And, I can assure you, our study hall will be a much happier place to spend your sentence. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Ah, yeah, that would be great! I guess I’d like to come, then.”

  “Great! Hang on a sec.” Reaching into a pocket of her vest, Lyn pulls out a small slip of paper and hands it to Matt. “Here’s the room number of our study hall, here in the building. You can come on over right after your last class.”

  “Alright. Thank you, Lyn.”

  “It’s a pleasure, Matt. We’ll see you later, then!” After they exchange a hand shake with her sweet smile beneath her ghostly eyes, Matt nods, retrieves his lunch tray, and departs across the cafeteria for Sean and Rose. When he sits down next to them, letting out a long sigh, Rose asks him, “So, did things go well over there?”

  “Ah, I’m not so sure. I still feel a bit flustered after all that happened so fast.”

  “Well, Matt, let me tell ya, you’re one lucky fellow, for now,” Sean says between bites of his sandwich. “But don’t forget, you gotta be careful around them, especially Lyn. She is a time bomb waiting to go off, with a short fuse. If you do or say the slightest thing that upsets her, she will chew you up and spit you back out before you can even think of apologizing. Literally!”

  “Hmm, is that so, Sean,” Rose says after sipping from a juice bottle. “And how would you know her so well? Have you had first-hand experience?”

  “You know, I’m starting to think you like me in misery, Rose.” After Rose shrugs at him, Sean sighs before explaining, “Last year, I went ahead and hung around Lyn and her gang, for the help with studying and such. But then, only a month into the school year, an all-out war erupts between her, Cain, and James, and I soon found myself getting caught in the cross-fire. One moment I’d be chatting with the girls outside the building, the next moment I’m running for my life while battle morphs are clashing all around me! Eventually, I couldn’t take the drama anymore, and I tried telling Lyn that I wasn’t so comfortable hanging around with her crew anymore. The next thing I know, she explodes in my face, cussing me out and calling me a spineless coward, among other things, and tells me to get lost! And as if that weren’t enough, later, when I was at the casino, she and her girls…”

  “Whoa, wait, what?” Rose interrupts him. “Casino? What casino?”

  “Ah, I’ll tell you, no, show you both more about that later, you’re gonna love the place! Anyway, at the casino, they find me, drag me by my heels to the pit arena…”

  “Pit arena?” Matt asks.

  “WILL YOU LET ME FINISH!? Anyways, they throw me into the pit arena, and it’s in there that Lyn totally ravages me in our battle morphs, nearly tearing me to pieces and such. The morale of the story, then, is don’t give a girl with scary eyes and scarier tantrums a reason to hold a grudge with you!”

  “Wow, that’s scary,” Matt complies after gulping. Glancing at the table of women across the cafeteria from them, he adds, “I don’t know if I would believe you, after how nicely she treated me, if I hadn’t seen what she did to that Ryan guy.” Looking back to Sean, he asks, “Did Lyn stay mad at you after all that?”

  “Eh, well, no. Once the gang war all cleared up, she, or more precisely one of her girls, as I made sure to always avoid her after her outrage, came to me and apologized for her loss of temper at me. And I just smiled and nodded, wanting to say, ‘Don’t expect me to come back for your help!’ All I can say is, Matt, be very, very careful with those girls. They could make your first few months here at school pretty nice, or they could do the exact opposite and make it a waking nightmare!”

  “Uh, yeah, I’ll be careful.” A moment passes with the three eating their meals before he asks, “So, what did you two talk about while I was gone?”

  Rose clears her throat of the juice she is drinking before replying, “Well, I was just telling Sean about how Cynthia Volvaron is in my music class.”

  “She is?”

  “Yeah, and, I suppose Sean wasn’t exaggerating about her looks. She really did have all the guys in the room constantly gawking at her. She was also quite aware of the hold she had on them. She would purposely move in, uh, suggestive fashions, and speak in an alluring tone that made the guys melt when she talked to them. I didn’t care much for it, of course.”

  “Ah, I see. So, does Cynthia play an instrument, then?”

  “Oh yeah, she does. She plays the violin, and, from what I’ve heard so far, she’s very good at it.”

  “Huh, that’s interesting.” As they finish their meals, Matt looks to Sean and tells him, “By the way, I probably won’t be joining you back in Kaloss’ for detention. Lyn said she could get me moved to the study hall she and her group uses.”r />
  “Oh, really? Hmm, I suppose that’s good for you. Plus, that leaves him all alone with me! Muahahaha!!” With a devilish grin still on his face, he gets up from the table with his tray and says, “Okay, guys, see ya both later in gym!”

  “Yeah, we’ll see you soon,” Rose returns as she and Matt get up, and the three part ways into the moving mass of students as they leave the cafeteria.

  ***

  Later that day in gym class, Matt, Sean, and Rose, along with the rest of the freshmen class, emerge from locker rooms off to a far side of the arena, all changed into workout clothes like t-shirts, shorts, sweatpants, or athlete bras. Matt is wearing a red tank top and loose, black shorts, Sean has on a torn and ragged t-shirt and some ripped-up jeans, and Rose wears a green training bra and matching, tight shorts, with her amulet still hung around her neck. After Prof. Serpanz yells at them to warm-up with three laps around the arena, all the freshmen take off into steady jogs while Matt, Sean, and Rose bundle together to chat as they run. Sean begins the conversation with, “So, how was alchemy?”

  “Eh, it was okay,” Rose says, “we just got to look at and feel different samples of elements, which we tried to change into other elements, some of us better than others.”

  “Heh, sounds like simple stuff. How’d you guys do?”

  “Well, that’s the strange thing. I did just fine, changing some copper into iron after a few tries, but Matt…” She glances to him, who nods, and continues, “When he tried changing the copper sample into silver, it instead turned into a rare form of metal known as ‘aegis steel.’ ”

  “Aegis steel? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Matt replies, “Well, after the half hour or so of him trying to figure out what happened, how it happened, and making me try to change some other metals a few times, each time producing the same stuff, Prof. Loske told us how volcarnothium, better known as aegis steel, is perhaps the toughest metal ever found and used by Alkalians. Pure veins of it are extremely rare, and although one could just transmute some other substance into it if they knew how, aegis steel, like other rare minerals such as gold and diamond, are illegal to transmute except through specialized miners from Minari or Riaquen.”

  “Huh, and you made a bunch of it without even knowing what you were doing? Now that’s just weird.”

  “Hah, you know what else was weird?” Rose remarks. “During our experiments, James Iroshen would keep coming over and checking on me, to see if I was doing alright and if I needed help, and every time I would assure him I was fine before he went off again. I suppose you were right about one thing, Sean. James may have taken an interest to me already.”

  “Ah hah, you see? I did warn you!” They continue jogging the rest of the laps with the other freshmen before resuming conservation as they make their way to the center of the arena, where there are some intermediate students again standing near Prof. Serpanz. Seeing them, Matt asks, “So, what’s going on today? Didn’t we already do that inauguration thing yesterday?”

  “Ah, they’re just here to give us visual examples,” Sean assures him and Rose. As they sit down on the floor with the other freshmen, he adds, “The professor shall explain.”

  Once all the freshmen gathered before her on the floor, Serpanz begins a lecture, her tone serious and resolute as she paces back-and-forth before them like a drilling instructor. “Today, I will enlighten you all upon the basic techniques and abilities of battle morphs with some demonstrations from the volunteers behind me. It is important to know these things, as not only are they common abilities for many Alkalians, but you will also be able to recognize the common kinds of battle morphs and know what they are capable of, which is an important factor in any battle. Now, before we begin, are there any questions?” Waiting for any hands to fly up, she sees one that does and calls on it with a bit of distaste. “Yes, Sean?”

  Granted permission to speak, Sean asks, “Okay, so, is there really any point for me to sit and listen to this whole presentation, when I’ve already sat through it last year? And, let’s say there are people here who already have a concept of the basics, like Matt and Rose. Do they have to listen to this, too?”

  “Yes, of course you do,” Serpanz sternly replies. “Even if you think you know all about the basics, it wouldn’t hurt to rejog your memory on them. Or, if you preferred, you could rejog the three laps you did for warm-up. Plus seventeen more.”

  While the other freshmen, including Matt and Rose, act disgruntled at the thought of running some more, Sean chirps up, “Heh, that’s fine with me! I’ll go ahead and run those twenty laps, instead of sitting through this boring procedure again.”

  All the freshmen, and even the intermediates, turn to him in surprise, and Serpanz remarks, “Oh, really? You think my presentations are boring?” A moment goes by with her staring at him in thought, unnerving the freshmen around him, before she suggests with a smirk, “Well, Sean, how would you like to, instead of watching this demonstration, participate in it? You can do that, or it’s fifty laps around the arena. I’ll let you decide.”

  There are either gasps or snickers from among the other students as Sean ponders what he had gotten himself into before he says, “Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess it would be a privilege to be in the demonstration!” He stands up and walks over to Serpanz’s side, bearing a jolly old grin.

  Trying to ignore his display of good humor, Serpanz addresses the freshmen and continues, “Now, the first thing we’ll talk about are the most common abilities used in close combat. The energy blades.” Motioning to one of the intermediates, he steps up next to Sean as she explains, “A high percentage of the Alkalian population have battle morphs that arm themselves with sharp blades, whether made of energy or not. For example, here…” As she gestures, the intermediate morphs into a figure with green, chain-mail armor, and a broadsword made of green energy sprouts from his right arm. “Is the typical Swordsman type, armed with a single sword made of concentrated energy. The blade is truly solid while the energy is focused, but it also has weight to it. However, most battle morphs are automatically strong enough to wield their weapons with ease. As long as the Swordsman keeps focus on the energy, the sword remains solid and visible. If his focus is broken, though, whether by a stunning blow or by having his hand severed, the sword dissipates and is no longer in use. Any questions so far?”

  For a moment, none of the freshmen respond, but then a girl raises her hand and asks, “Can the Swordsman drop the energy blade, or even throw it at an opponent?”

  “A good question, Sarah, and no, for most morphs, they can’t. However, they can transfer the focus of the energy to their other hand, which is useful for a quick change in techniques, or they can hold it between both hands, which increases the size and weight of the blade, a method reserved for dealing stronger blows. So, while there are those morphs with weapons made of energy…”

  At her cue, the Swordsman demorphs and steps back while another student steps forward and morphs into a blue-armored warrior with a spear, its long pole held between both his hands and tipped with a curved blade. Serpanz says, “There are those morphs with weapons made of actual, solid substance, like the Spearman. The advantage to the weapons being of real material is, like Sarah asked earlier, they can be juggled between the wielder’s hands for certain techniques, or even be thrown at opponents. In this case, the Spearman could twirl, thrust, or block with his lance in quick order. We shall now demonstrate how that works.” Turning to Sean, she commands, “Morph, and engage in combat with Simon here.”

  Eyeing his appointed competition, Sean shrugs and says, “Oh, goody, I get to be impaled!” before morphing. After she steps back to the intermediates, Serpanz gives the okay with a nod, and Simon begins the spar by thrusting his spear’s blade at Sean, who barely dodges it by bending his torso back like he was playing limbo. For the next several seconds, he quickly side-steps and ducks the sweeps and stabs of the spear, angering Simon and amusing the freshmen more and more until he as
ks, “Professor Serpanz, may I point out something?”

  “If you must.”

  “Very well. I do believe there is a distinct disadvantage to these real weapons, which, simply put, is that the warrior’s opponent could…” Right after he dodges another thrust, he suddenly reaches down, grabs the wooden pole, and yanks it out of Simon’s grasp, whipping the spear point back at him. “Do this!” Astonished by the fact his weapon is no longer in his hands, but Sean’s, Simon looks with horror at him as Sean says, “Now it’s my turn to play poker!” and starts jabbing the lance at him.

  While Simon frantically avoids Sean’s frenzied attacks and is chased around the floor of the arena, many of the freshmen are laughing at the spectacle, the intermediates look disgusted, and Serpanz tries to keep the students’ attention as she explains, “Yes, that is one disadvantage, and then there is the possibility the weapon may be broken in two, as most of these weapons are based on a wooden pole, which also leaves the warrior disarmed. However, if the weapon is broken, most Alkalians can simply focus some energy to make a fresh weapon to replace it. And yet, what we are seeing isn’t such a case.”

  By this point, Simon had enough of hopping out of Sean’s reach and finally turns to run away. While Sean puckers his lower lip in annoyance, one of the freshmen who isn’t laughing notices something and says, “Excuse me, professor, but why doesn’t Simon just demorph? Won’t that get rid of his stolen weapon?”

  “I’m glad you asked that, Jordan, but no, that wouldn’t be a good idea. Not only will he be completely harmless against the morphed opponent, but his weapon will also remain in existence. The only time the weapon disappears is when it is in the hands of its original owner. It’s the same phenomenon as how the personal belongings or clothes on the Alkalian disappear when they morph.”

  As she says this, Sean comes up with an idea to take down the fleeing Spearman. Floating up into the air, he propels after him, holding the spear with his left hand, and quickly closes in on him. Sensing he is about to get struck from behind, Simon turns just in time to see the lance’s point get driven into his upper chest, knocking him down to the ground as Sean lets go of it and slides to a stop as yellowish green wound energy bursts out of him.