Alyssa's Adventures

BONG!!!

The great bell tower tolled again, waking Linda from her nap, sitting up on the bed, stretching her back before getting dressed. Gathering her stuff, she headed out of the infirmary to lunch.

"Don't stress yourself too much dear, stay safe out there." said Ms. Pearl

"I will, and thank you!" Linda responded as she left.

-

Alyssa handed in her scavenger hunt list and all the items she could find.

"Thank you," said Mrs.Rayleigh "it seems your getting better and better at identifying them, good job."

"Thanks, by the way, what were you discussing?" Alyssa asked, out of curiosity.

"Oh, that, well... it's a little private, but I don't mind telling you" Mrs. Rayleigh answered, "let's just wait till the end of the day, then we can talk, okay."

"Sure, I'll come over when I can." Alyssa cheerfully replied as she headed off to her friend's meeting spot.

-

Alyssa and Linda sat near the fountain at the front of the college, enjoying their lunches. They looked on, beyond the front gate, to the magic barrier designed specifically to keep those whose powers were beyond their control, it often was controversial whenever these barriers were put up, people were worried that folks who didn't know about their power could get trapped, or be forced into the college, or worse.

"Do you think anyone could actually be trapped in here?" Alyssa asked

Linda, disturbed from her thoughts, began to ponder Alyssa's question.

"I don't know, I do know someone said it felt like going through cotton."

"Yeah but, has anyone actually been unable to move through the barrier?" Alyssa said, "like they just can't get past it."

"Are you just asking this because you can never experience it because of your lower mana level?" Linda teased

"Don't be mean, it's just a question." Alyssa pouted.

BOOM!!!

an explosion of fire blasted close to the field on their right, before long there was shouting, with students running towards the spectacle.

"Was that Dolan again?" Alyssa asked Linda as she looked in the direction of the commotion.

"Probably, maybe another first-year thought he was from the same grade or something and challenged him." Linda pondered

Just as the two roommates were thinking of what caused these events to occur, supervisors were immediately arriving at the scene, most likely breaking up the fight and taking the trouble makers to the office.

"It's his fucking fault, I was just showing him how stupid his decision was!" Shouted a hot-headed goblin, who was most likely Dolan.

"That doesn't mean you should retaliate so violently." stated one of the supervisors flanking the goblin as they passed by.

"Whatever, it's not like it'll change much anyway." Dolan muttered under his breath.

-

Ms. Lauren was busily working in her office, reviewing a report that one of her students named Linda, had a vision of sorts, or at least that's what all the information she got from Daniel and Ms. Pearl, who was currently sitting in her office.

"This is odd," She said looking at the notes "so she saw both Alyssa and I in this vision?"

"Yes she did, and she seemed too scared to reveal more." Ms. Pearl answered.

Lauren retreated to her thoughts, thinking about how to proceed with this information.

"Should we try to ask for clarification of these visions?" Daniel asked Lauren

"Hmmm... perhaps at a later date, when she is more comfortable." Lauren answered "besides, we don't know how "bad" it is, or how far in the future it can be."

"Very well." Daniel responded

"Oh and try to keep a close eye on her, she might see something or someone that might trigger the visions again," Lauren clarified "we don't want to cause a scene, especially with visions of a possible future."

"Sounds good to me." Ms. Pearl replied.

"Okay then, are these all the questions we have?" Lauren asked the two faculty members

"That's all for now." said Daniel

"Yup." replied Ms. Pearl

"Alright, I'll head off to lunch, care to join me." Lauren asked

"No I'm alright, thank you tho." Responded Daniel

"I don't mind," answered Ms. Pearl, getting up off the chair and following Lauren outside.

"We've already had enough to worry about as is." Lauren thought to herself "whatever these visions are, I hope they are far ahead in the future and not as bad as they seem."

-

Alyssa and Linda were walking down the halls of the college, talking to each other as they had their next class close by to each other.

"So since we've got like a few months till the final, do you have any plans for our adventure?" Alyssa asked in excitement.

"Not really, it's a big world out there, so I haven't really thought about anything particular." Linda responded

"Aw come on, you should at least have something in mind, can't go on an adventure without a goal to reach!" Replied Alyssa

It was difficult for Linda to argue with Alyssa's cheerfulness, she always had that thing about her, Alyssa always seemed to be able to get people to answer what they wanted, whether it be as simple as chocolate or as personal as a family legacy, she could always get an answer. This means Linda had to think of something.

"Okay, how about, hmm..." Linda thought for a bit.

"Well, what is it?" Alyssa asked excitedly

A flash went through Linda's mind, dragging it back to her visions of the ruins.

"Probably visit old ruins and learn about their history I guess." Linda responded

"Huh, that does sound interesting." Alyssa said as she stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the old archeology books that talked about old ruins and what they could find in them.

"Well, what about you?" Asked Linda, attempting to turn the focus of the conversation to her. "What do you want to do?"

"Hmmm...." Alyssa thought for a while before answering "I want to help as many people as I can!"

"You said that last year." Linda sighed "and besides, don't you think that goal is a little all-encompassing, you can't help everyone you know?"

"I know that, it's just that 'getting an angel feather' is a little too out there as well." Alyssa countered

"True true, getting an angel feather IS a little outlandish of a goal, especially if you don't know how to get to one."

BONG!!!

The bell, once again rang its loud tune, telling everyone it was the end of lunch and to head to 4th period.

"Welp, see ya after class." said Alyssa as she headed off

"See ya soon!" called out Linda as they parted ways.

-

Heading into the alchemy lab, Alyssa was met with tables with two seats on one side, on top of the tables sat a variety of different ingredients and equipment. Her teacher, Qasim, was a foreign man, he traveled far and wide, across mountains and deserts, through oceans and the skies, but those times were far from him, now too old to go beyond the horizon, he settled down and taught at the college as the head alchemist. She learned a lot from him, whether they were alchemical recipes or some of his old tales of adventure, to be honest, he was probably the biggest reason why she wanted to go out to explore the world in the first place, she wanted to see great cities that stood the test of time, great beasts that stand taller than mountains, foreign magics only ever seen in those lands, she wanted to experience it all and craft her own great stories from them.

"Ah, Alyssa, early as ever," Qasim said softly "here to listen to more old stories, or do you just want to test something new?"

"Hello Qasim, while I do have some ideas, I don't mind listening to another story." Alyssa responded

"And which one do you want to hear, hmmm?"

"Tell me about that great dragon you saw, the one that causes storms wherever it flies!"

"Ah yes, he goes by many names, the draconic eclipse, the shadow of vallia, the beast of flame, or most famously, Vigilo the first."

Alyssa sat down at her usual spot near the front as she listened to the old man's story.

"We were docked at a small town called Spruce port. I was with my friend ostlin, we decided to settle in for the night and get some rest. If only we knew what morning would bring, we would have left as soon as possible." Qasim chuckled

As he continued his story, several other students came in, they quietly went and sat down, as if to not disturb him.

"When we went outside, several of the townsfolk were near the port, looking at something far off in the distance, it looked like a black stone slab, thinking nothing of it, we went to get the crew ready to set sail, it was only when we headed out of the harbor did we all realized what we were looking at."

He straightened his poster before continuing.

"That beast was over us in seconds, its wings swallowed up the sky and cloaked us in darkness, his head was possibly as big as the town, if not bigger, the wind he caused with his flight carried our ship back into the harbor, slamming into the streets and houses, I held onto the rigging as if my life depends on it, for all I knew it probably did."

He let out a sigh and chuckled to himself

"My friend was tossed into the sea, though thankfully he survived, the town was in ruin, the harbor was destroyed and the streets were cluttered with all sorts of rubble from the destruction. It probably lasted less than a minute, but it felt like an eternity, I'll never forget what happened that day."

He looked up, seeing the class waiting patiently.

"Welp, looks like everyone's here, let's get started," Qasim said as everyone began taking out their notes and ingredients.

"Remember to wear safety equipment, just because you know what you're doing, doesn't mean you won't cause any accidents."

Alyssa placed her new recipes to the side as she strapped on her gloves and placed her goggles on, looking at her partner, sir Alexander tuton, a lesser nobleman who didn't seem all that interested in the task at hand, simply placed rare and exotic alchemical ingredients beside him.

"I'm sure you'll find these most useful." he said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"Thanks." Alyssa said

-

Linda headed outside towards the courtyard, where stone circles were placed in rows with a border dividing the arena in half. Her teacher was a tall broad giant, standing at 10 feet in height, he is usually called rook, as his actual name is quite hard to pronounce, he taught crystal magic and he often did so physically. If one were to get a bird's-eye view of the courtyard, they would see the layout of the court, the circles were placed in four rows, four circles in the front, three behind that row, four behind that row, and three behind that one. In total, there were 14 circles on each side. This is how he teaches his class, with a 13 vs 13 team match, the goal is to knock your opponent out of their circle, by any means necessary, as long as it does not harm the student severely. If you are worried about the safety of this type of learning, don't worry, the students usually wear protection to prevent some of the more serious injuries, though a dislocation has happened from time to time, but other than that, hardly anything gruesome has occurred.

Heading towards where her class was gathered, there were 26 students in total, several of them being of different races and sizes. Rook looked over the class and began to speak

"Okay, you know the routine, go get equipment and be ready for a practice match, don't rush yourself, and make sure your gear is worn correctly alright." Rook announced to the class.

"Yes sir" replied the students

"Alright, go and get dressed, I'll wait here"

Linda headed off to the female locker room with several other students.

-

Entering the locker room, she passed by several other students putting on their gear, most likely from the other physical classes. Finding her locker, she placed her hand on the door, it began to glow around it, outlining her hand before opening. Inside was a suit made of textile and leather, magic swirling across its surface, a small spell tome, it only carried the spells she will need which usually were summons that buffed her abilities and agility, and finally, a charm necklace made of wood and string, her grandfather gave it to her as his final gift, meant to keep her safe from danger, she highly values this gift and keeps it in the most secure place she knows.

-

"Are you sure you're not overreacting?" Asked Dean Gareth "I doubt this is something that the college board should worry about."

"That would be the case, but based on the college records on oneiromancy, she is the only one to have such a reaction" Lauren answered as they walked down the halls.

"She is right, this could be something to keep an eye on." stated Sophia, the Head of mind magic.

"And considering I am in it, I doubt this is something not to worry about." Said, Lauren

The trio soon stood before a strange wall with a diamond-shaped hole in its center.

Dean Gareth walked towards the wall, taking out a metallic cube from his coat sleeve, placing it into the hole he began to silently cast a spell, a small circle on one of the cubes' faces turning with his hand, after hearing a small bell the wall retracted slightly before descending into the floor, revealing a spiral staircase on the other side.

"Let's hope this isn't too much of a hassle." said Gareth as they began to walk down the steps.

-

Linda, fully equipped with her gear and green cloak, walked out towards the court, several of her classmates also had different colored cloaks, 12 had green and the other 13 had orange, the greens were on the left, and the oranges were on the right. Walking into the court several of the students had chosen their stone circles on the field, Linda chose the center circle in the second row.

"Alright!" Shouted Rook "I'm sure you remember the rules so I am not going to repeat myself!"

Several of the students began to cast their spells to prepare for the match ahead, Linda looked into her spellbook and picked a simple familiar to summon.

Summon: feline familiar

Summoning level: 2

Creature Type: familiar

Abilities: grants the caster the agility of a feline.

Weaknesses: fire, lightning, dark, earth, ice

Creature description: despite its inability to do much in fights, this familiar is still useful in its utility.

"Also just because the gear will prevent much harm to the wearer, it does NOT mean you can go all out!" Rook stated to the class "BEGIN!"

A small bell chimed, signaling the start of the match. Immediately the stone circles glowed blue. Crystal projectiles were being flung from both sides. Linda avoided some, focusing on key players to take out.

One orange player at the front created a golem made of crystal and was swiping at the front row with its massive hands.

A green player at the back left corner created a tower to snipe from above.

Linda ensured to cover her teammates as they focused on knocking other players out.

Several minutes went by as both teams lost players.

Linda cast crystal bolts alongside a teammate who cast crystals enhanced with electricity, to smash through crystal walls.

At the ten-minute mark the small bell chimed again, the stone circles on the second and fourth row began to glow and rise several feet off the ground.

Linda, as well as a few other players, now had a height advantage.

-

"Aaaand there." Alyssa said as she stabilized the blue mixture.

"So what does this one do?" Alexander asked

"Well if I did this correctly, then this can give you the eyes and claws of a dragon." Alyssa answered cheerfully as she kept an eye on the potion.

"Hmm, that does sound useful, can you make other potions?" Alexander asked, looking at the potion with curiosity.

"Well, some of my other ideas tend to be more...extreme." Alyssa said

"Like what? I doubt changing one's features can be less extreme than other ideas you have." Alexander questioned

"Well they tend to be less changing your body, and more making people disabled, and I doubt the college would appreciate such elixirs being made." Alyssa answered again

"That is a serious worry," Alexander said, "and I have heard of people using what they learned for more nefarious means."

Alyssa began to pour the potion into a green glass bottle, with a simple picture of a dragon's hand on it. Afterward, she began to clean her tools to be ready for the next mixture.

"Let's see here, how about a tonic that can give you gills." Alyssa said cheerfully as she looked at her notes.

-

Linda felt the crystal shards crash against her quickly formed barrier. The weight of the attack caused her to stumble. she quickly got her footing before the next attack came. This one, though not as strong, was just enough to knock her off the platform, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Ow, that landing isn't getting any easier, ugh." Linda said as she walked to the sidelines, where she could watch the last of the players continue the fight.

It was a beautiful sight to behold if you weren't in the middle of it, watching those crystals shine and sparkle as the casters perform their attacks. Linda waited for the next match to start, however, in the back of her mind, she wondered what else that strange dream had in it, what details did she miss, and who were those other figures standing with them. The idea still scared her though, what if she panics again, but if she wanted to know more, she will have to take that risk.

"I hope you will keep me safe." she said as she held the little charm in her hands.