Instantly stiffening up as all their eyes turn to him as they stand, Matt scans over the friendly faces to soon recognize Amelia, one of the women rising from the couches, and Lyn, the lone woman at the window to turn around and see him, a bright smile coming to her face. Walking across the room to greet him, she says, “Welcome, Matt, to our humble study hall, which we reserve for studies or recreational activities throughout the year. What do you think of it?”
His eyes darting about as all the women gather around him, so close to him he can see every one of them and their cleavage, he hesitates before replying, “It’s, uh, it’s nice.”
“Why, thank you, Matt.” Facing him with only a foot between them, she asks, “So, how are you supposed to spend your ‘detention’ with us?”
“Uh, well…” Finding something else to focus on other than the women’s chests, Matt bends down to open the bag and explains, “We were working with making runes that emit smoke in class, so the professor wanted me to finish working on my own…” He then holds up a blank slab of rock, one of many yet in the bag. “And then make fourteen more.”
Examining the blank piece of stone, Lyn asks him, “Hmm, smoke runes, eh? Just simple smoke, or some kind of special gas?”
“Um, just smoke. Normal, gray smoke.”
“I see. And that’s all?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I’ve spent so much time already on my own rune, though, I don’t know how I’m going to manage making fourteen more in no more than two hours!”
“Hmm. Well, actually, that won’t be a problem for you, Matt.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because, while you finish up your own rune, the rest of us can make the other runes!”
As the other women nod in agreement, Matt is amazed by their generosity and asks, “You all really don’t mind?”
“No, of course not! Our job is to help other students out with their assignments or studies, after all. We are obliged to make the rest of those runes for you.”
“Wow, thank you, that’s, ah, very kind, of you. But, uh, how can you all make runes without rune chalk? I only have enough for myself.”
“Oh, don’t worry. We’ve got our own supply.” As she mentions it, Lyn and the others reach into pockets in their vests and pull out dull, white-colored stones chiseled to points for drawing. “In our study hall, we like to be prepared for whatever the assignment may be.”
“Ah. And, you all know how to make runes?”
“Pff, of course! The most of us here are seniors, so we’ve all had experience making runes here in college. Plus, I’m in Kaloss’ class as well this year, so there’s more knowledge of runes to boot!”
“Oh, I see. Then, there’s no problem?”
“No problem at all, Matt!” Snapping her fingers, she instructs the other women, “Go ahead, girls, and pick out some rocks to make some runes!” While the other women reach down into the bag to take the blank slabs out before going back over to the couches, she takes the blank one from Matt’s hands and suggests, “Why don’t we head over to the table, where you and I can chat while we work? Amelia, you may join us.”
As Amelia nods in compliance after getting a rock for herself, Matt, distracted from observing the women’s cleavages as they bent over, snaps out of it and says, “Uh, okay,” before getting his own rock with runes on it and following the two women over to the table, taking the seat between them. As he tries to find where he left off in drawing the rune’s symbols, Lyn begins talking to him as she starts drawing her own, her chalk tracing a fine mark on the stone. “So, Matt, how has college been for you so far?”
“Oh, it’s been fine, I guess.”
“That’s good. What classes do you have this year?”
While trying to find the answers, Matt looks up from the rune and can’t help but glance side-ways to both Lyn and Amelia, visually comparing their breast sizes. When he sees Amelia’s are much bigger than Lyn’s, he curses beneath his breath before replying, “Ah, besides runes with Prof. Kaloss and gym with Prof. Serpanz, I also have biology with Prof. Malkia and alchemy with Prof. Loske.”
“I see. How are you liking them?”
“Well, Malkia’s been pretty nice, so far, Loske’s has been either curious or confusing, and Kaloss’ has been, um, difficult, as you may have noticed.”
“Haha, yes, I’ve noticed that! Kaloss can be a bit smug at first, but as long as you stay out of trouble, he shouldn’t be a bother to you for long. And what about Serpanz? She hasn’t broken down you freshmen too much yet, has she?”
“Um, well, to be honest, I’ve felt the most comfortable and capable in her gym class.”
“Oh, really? And why is that?”
“Well, I still have far to go in getting used to these different academic fields and studies. And I’m not a very sociable person. But, if there’s one thing I know I’m good at, it’s fighting with my battle morph. And since I’ll be working with others in our battle morphs in her class, well, that’s a good thing for me!”
“Wow, isn’t that something? A freshman who isn’t dreading Serpanz’ gym class! That’s wonderful for you, Matt.” Before Lyn can continue, one of the women from the couches calls over to her, and she looks to them in understanding and says, “Excuse me a moment, I think the girls need some reminders on the rune-crafting,” before getting up from her chair and walking away.
The moment after Lyn leaves them, Amelia asks Matt, “Say, is my rune supposed to look like this?” and shows it to him. It looks exactly like Matt’s own symbols, except it is still a pale white like the chalk, rather than the dull gray of his.
Upon seeing it, Matt takes a moment to compare their runes before replying, “Uh, yeah, I guess that’s right. But, um, you still have to empower it, I think.”
“Empower it?”
“Um, yeah, that’s what Kaloss calls it. See, like this.” Taking his own rune chalk, he places it on a small symbol of Amelia’s rune and retraces it in a slow motion while the end of the chalk glows with energy passing through it to change the symbol’s color from white to gray. “To empower the rune, you have to focus energy and your thoughts upon the symbols you’ve drawn, setting up the details of how much energy is needed to activate it, how much energy can be stored in it, and what its function will be. He also said something about how different functions require vastly different amounts of energy from the rune crafter, so one can’t go make runes do whatever he wants without the proper knowledge and practiced rate of energy dispersed into them.”
“Uh huh. Thanks for the tip, Matt.”
“Um, heh, you’re welcome.” While he replies to her, his attention swaying briefly to her chest again, the small symbol of the rune glows gray and activates, puffing up a small plume of smoke between them and causing Matt to jolt back in his chair. Being startled as well, Amelia asks, “Whoa, how did that happen?”
“Oh, ah, right, I’m sorry. The professor also said the rune crafter has to be completely focused on empowering the rune. If he lets his mind wander or be distracted, even for a brief moment, the rune’s settings will be improperly made, and it may do any number of random, unforeseen, and possibly dangerous things. One of the more common incidents, like just now, is it will prematurely activate.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
“Um, yeah. Sorry, again, for that puff of smoke.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Matt. We all get distracted every-now-and-then, don’t we?”
“Haha, yeah.” When the two look back to their own runes to continue working on them, Matt is suddenly seized by a tantalizing thought of curiosity about something, and he can’t endure holding it. Looking back at her, he asks, “Hey, Amelia?”
“Yes, Matt?”
“Um, your uniform, that you, Lyn, and the others wear. Do you all, um, wear anything beneath the vests?”
“Hmm? Oh, no, we’re not wearing any bras, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Hiding his surprise and intrigue, Matt replies, “Okay. And,
that’s fine with you? I thought, well, all women prefer to wear bras, or whatever.”
“Oh, well, most women do prefer to, yes. It’s all a matter of personal comfort and support for our breasts, but it’s not absolutely necessary. As for us in Lyn’s company, we choose to refrain from wearing bras, because it helps us stand more apart from the other girls here at college. It’s a part of our uniform, really.”
“Ah. You don’t say…”
“If you don’t believe me, I could show you I’m not wearing a bra, Matt.”
Just as his cheeks brightly blush at the suggestion, Matt is still stunned when Amelia, smirking, goes back to drawing her rune, and Lyn returns to the table with them, sitting down next to him and resuming conversation with him. “Anyways, Matt, what is your type of battle morph?”
“Gah, it’s, uh, Paladin. I’m a Paladin.”
“Really? That’s a rather rare and elite battle morph.”
“Um, yeah, I suppose. What’s your battle morph?”
“Oh, I’m a Beast, Wolf-style. Just like my father.”
“Ah, a Wolf. That’s cool.”
Picking up on the uneasy tone of Matt’s voice, Lyn shows concern when turning to face him, asking, “You okay, Matt?”
“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I think.”
Smiling sympathetically, Lyn suggests, “You’re still having a few nervous ticks around people?”
“Ah, yeah, I guess you could call it that.”
“I see. Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised. As your father told mine, you grew up and lived in the wilderness, far away from other people, yes?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s right.”
“Right. Well, I have a pretty good idea of what you’re going through right now.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. See, I grew up just like you did, deep in the countryside, away from the public. So, when I first came here to the college as a freshman, I too was quite a bit shy and uneasy around others.”
“Really? How did you get over it? I mean, how did you get so used to other people?”
“I guess it began when I started seeing other students who needed help and I, well, helped them. As I did that, I just got more concerned for other people’s problems than my own fears, and poof, here I am! I assure you, Matt, it’s only the beginning of the year. As the days go by, you’ll get more used to other people around you and talk more easily around them. If I came through alright, I’m sure you will, too!”
Chuckling a little, Matt shows the first sign of calming down as he replies, “Thanks for the kind words, Lyn, and for all the help you and the other women are giving me.”
“It’s our pleasure, Matt.”
A moment goes by as they continue working on their runes before Matt asks Lyn, “Hey, speaking of battle morphs. Earlier, on my way here, I wanted to morph so that I could carry the bag of stones more easily, but I found I couldn’t morph. Do you know why?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s easy. Excluding the gym arena, no one can morph while inside most of the campus’ main buildings.”
“Really? How come?”
“Well, there’s this special kind of gas that goes through the buildings’ ventilation. It’s an invisible, odorless gas that inhibits an Alkalian’s ability to morph as long as they are exposed to it. With our inability to morph indoors, it prevents students from starting fights and causing damage to others or their surroundings in the school.”
“Oh, I see. So, were you really as shy as me?”
“Hah, actually, I was worse than you! I couldn’t even think or say anything to anyone. I would freeze right up around people, wanting only to run away and hide!” As she laughs at the present humor of her past problem, Matt laughs along with her as they go back to crafting the runes.
***
Later that evening, walking through the empty halls of the college again, Matt has a smile on his face as he goes down the main hall and out of the building. Thanks to Lyn and her entourage’s help, he had completed the runes by the time his detention had ended, and he had just returned the runes to Kaloss’ classroom. As he was leaving, it had humored him to see the amazed look on Kaloss’ face. Thinking that Sean or Rose would have already ordered dinner for the cabin and had gone there, he is on his way there as he passes through the main doors and out into the autumn evening, the sun setting above the horizon in a beautiful tinge of orange.
As he is walking along the main, treaded path between the college buildings and the cabin lots, passing by small groups of students that are either off to side in huddled conversations or walking by him, Matt doesn’t feel nervous or timid around them. Instead, he thinks back about his experience with Lyn and the women in their study hall. It’s hard for him to imagine that Lyn, the one who had been so kind and sweet with him and somewhat knew him already, could go off like a loose cannon as Sean had described her. And yet, he can’t help but still be a little spooked by her eerie, pale blue eyes, like they were the glassed-over eyes of a dead animal.
And then, there was Amelia. He had no idea why she had been so open to his improper question, and then came back with actually offering to show herself to him. What bothers Matt even more, though, is not just how he can’t stop thinking about Amelia and how attractive she was, but also how he almost wished she would have shown him she had no bra on.
In the middle of his thoughts, Matt gets pulled back to the walking path and the open field around him when he hears a sneering voice from behind him call out, “Well, well, well. There’s the new, favorite freshman of Lyn and her whores.” Turning around, he sees Ryan, the same guy from the cafeteria that day, and three other guys in dark suits next to him, all of them leering at him from over their sunglasses and half-grin, half-scowls on their faces. “Think you’re all cool and awesome, now that you got to hang out with the pretty ladies?”
Sensing the mocking scorn in his voice, Matt realizes he is looking for trouble, and is on high alert as he slowly backs away from them. Trying to remain calm, he puts his hands up and says in a shaky voice, “Listen, uh, Ryan, I don’t want any trouble…”
“Ya don’t want trouble, eh? Then ya shouldn’t have gone anywhere near the forbidden fruits!” While the other three men chuckle behind him, he takes some steps forward, continuing, “Instead, ya should have minded your own beeswax and been worried about your next class’ test or something, like the rest of you freshmen do.”
Backing up some more from Ryan’s approach, Matt glances about to see that other students nearby have overheard Ryan’s boasts and are gathering around them, curious to see what was about to happen to the single, lost-looking kid he is picking on. Clearing his throat, Matt tries again to reason with him. “Hey, I don’t think Lyn and the others would be too happy with you if they found out…”
“Hah, like I would care how they feel about me putting a piece of freshmen scum back in his place! It doesn’t matter what they think or feel about anything, as they are women, after all. Pretty, but stupid. And besides, I’m just doing my job, as any responsible senior in his right mind would do. I am teaching some hopeless freshman that the girls clearly older and in a higher class than him are strictly off-limits to his presence!”
In a flash of blue, followed by three other flashes behind him, Ryan and the other three men morph. While the men become an Axman, a small ax of energy forming from his right hand, a Handgun Gunner, his left hand bending and hollowing out into a pistol, and a Magician, his suit being replaced by dark robes over his figure, Ryan changes into something much more intimidating.
Standing at least five feet taller than before, with chain mail armor and skin a deep blue in color, Ryan has a domed helmet on his head and four arms instead of two with long, wickedly-curved blades of energy protruding from each hand. He twirls them around in fancy coordination and eager malice, saying, “Now get in your morph, so we can tear ya to shreds, little man!”
Looking between his challenging foes and the interested crowd, Matt for a moment is afraid and unsure
of what he should do, hoping that there may be someone to help him out of this mess. Then, something clicks within him, like a switch flipping on in his mind. He realizes that people like Ryan are mere bullies, and if he doesn’t stand up for himself they would constantly harass and torment him whenever they got the chance. And besides, they are challenging him to a battle, so the honorable thing to do would be to accept.
Looking back to Ryan’s cocky face with a hardened expression, Matt says nothing as he enters his battle morph, coming out of a flash of black in his plate armor. With his opponent in morph, Ryan’s eagerness to attack him turns into an all-out frenzy as he charges, his four arms flailing forward with the curved blades in incomprehensible coordination.
Just before the swords descend upon him, Matt launches himself backwards and into the air on a thrust of air balance, escaping Ryan’s deadly entwinement. Then floating in mid-air, he turns his left arm into a rifle, takes aim at Ryan below him, and fires a single shot. The black bullet pierces through Ryan’s chest, the wound bursting with yellow green energy from the entry-and-exit holes, and causes him to stumble backwards from the hit. Before the other three men can comprehend what happened, they too, in rapid order, are pierced through the chest or head by Matt’s sniper shots, sending them to the ground with yellow energy pulsing from their deep wounds.
After all four were struck down by his bullets, Matt drops to the ground, discarding his rifle and forming his sword from his right hand, and sprints towards them. Being the first for him to meet, Ryan, still trying to stand up straight, sees him coming and tries holding the blades of his left arms out to catch him. The meager effort fails as Matt, in a short dash of air balance, zooms past him below the blades while spinning once with his own blade outward, leaving behind a complete cut through Ryan’s left leg to sever it and have him fall over on his side.
Not looking back to his crippled foe, Matt is already bearing down on the Handgun Gunner, who has gotten onto his knees just in time to look up and see the dark sword swooping down at him. A second later, Matt dashes away from him on air balance, raising his sword above him in momentum while the Gunner’s neck erupts with reddening wound energy as he is essentially decapitated, demorphing just as the wound energy blooms a dark red and rolling over to his side with his real neck still intact.
Alkalians Page 10