I readied myself as I left Tyson to his "special training" or whatever it was Wyatt had come up with for the both of them. While I wish them both the best, it took every fiber of restraint I had in me to not tell Wyatt off about calling me "a little bitch". The nerve of that guy! Lucky for him, father taught me to always take the high road in matters like that. I miss him so much today. Having Tyson and my other classmates to hang around usually kept my mind from homesickness, and now that I think of it, this is the first time I've walked to school by myself since Tyson and I became friends besides that day or so after the attack on the city. Just as finish that thought I see Alice and some of my other classmates waving me over, they tend to do that whenever Tyson's not around. People really should give him a chance and stop treating him so differently, but I do enjoy our one on one time, so I don't really protest unless someone speaks out of line about him.

"Li-li! over here!" Alice continued to beckon me as I prepared myself. I take my fist step into the courtyard and an auburn hue glowed from beneath me as I stepped on each tile. Whoever designed the layout of this academy had some strange ideas, most of the walls were white or some neutral color because the school doesn’t have any sort of mascot or representative creature. Tyson told me that it was supposed to resemble a blank canvas, a welcome space for expression and experimentation. It set me up for surprise on my first day here. I stepped into the courtyard gawking at the statues past valedictorians, daydreaming about what mine would look like and how jealous my big brother would be once he could see it. Then Tyson snapped me back into reality when he nudged my arm.

“Way to make an entrance new girl, sheesh.” I looked up at him and then went flush when I realized that the entire student body was staring at me and the light show that went on within a fifty-foot radius of me. Every foot of the area danced with every different color under the sun until I realized what was happening and cleared my mind, thinking of leaves in the fall. It wasn’t immediate but the color shrunk down to just the tiles I stood on top of glowing in the varying colors of autumn. I had never seen spectile in person before, father said it was too expensive and didn’t offer any actual value towards study of the arts. It was just a way for lesser artists to peacock in his eyes, but after that experience I thought it was pretty cool stuff.

Since that incident I was starting to get the hang of suppressing the magis in my body. The sheer amount used to be a burden to me when I was younger, but it's given me so much extra room for error because I practically can't use it all without trying my hardest. Because of this I've garnered almost all the most common affinities and most of my actual study involved working with combinations on my own.

After making small talk a with Alice and a few other friends we all split up and went to our first classes of the day. My scheduled first class today was herbalism for apothecaria, which could not have sounded more boring to me. Since it is just an elective after all, I decided to take that as my period for independent study for today instead, and I decided to check into a training hall to try out some new ideas. I’ve felt so inspired since I moved here and without someone to train me directly, I had free reign over my studies, and I had never felt more liberated. I hummed as I walked into 26B, some fond memories were generated here, and it was the source of my inspiration for today’s menu. When I saw Tyson tear apart that sphere of flame around Kurt I was floored! Then I remembered when that light show happened in the courtyard because of me, the tile Tyson stood on was the only one to not emit any sort of color. It got me thinking while he may have some super unique affinity, that doesn’t mean that his methods can’t apply to the way I cast. I just need to adapt it to my style and next time I should be able to take any random that attacks my friends single handedly. I still think I would’ve handled that guy if he wasn’t purposely causing collateral damage, so distracting!

Shaking off the regret of my defeat, which Tyson always refers to as “saltiness” whenever he clearly cheats at something, I began to do my stretching and breathing exercises before I started experimenting. I probably should’ve changed into activewear for this, but hey no one is usually dressed for a self defense situation, so I might as well learn to be comfortable in uniform. Just when I’m starting to feel limber and my mental state is perfect for exercises, the door creaks open. “Good morning! I’m sorry but I kind of need this space right now, you can use one of the other rooms though.”

The intruder walked in anyway and closed the door behind them slowly. It was Mr. Buchanan, a tall and lanky sort of guy who always overexplained things in class. Wait, he teaches… “Mr. Buchanan!”

He put a finger up and took off his hat, I never really gave it much thought before, but he never takes off his hat, or his coat for that matter. It was some leather getup that covered his mouth with the collar, with a tacky derby hat to match. As he brought his hat down, a mane of black bramble flowed down his back. I was at a loss for words, I had no idea there were people who took their craft to the point of it literally being a part of them!

“Mrs. Ferreri, it has come to my attention that you are an exceptional student, prodigious would be the word for it, yes.” He slicked back the thorny tendrils, if I hadn’t known better, I would say they were alive. “I don’t feel disrespected in the slightest that you thought my teachings weren’t worth your time. To be honest the curriculum I pose here is pedestrian on its best day, however that’s all that most of these simpletons can really bring themselves to comprehend. It’s a shame really.” He began to unbutton his coat as he strode towards me.

“That’s not a very professional thing to admit to a student sir. By the way who is teaching your class right now?” He’s still getting closer. I know this guy’s a bit of an eccentric, but something seems way off at this point.

“Yes well, between you and myself, I loathe teaching the basics of my craft here. I just feel like so many of my pupils don’t care about if it doesn’t involve some level of destructive power or reality warping. I decided to let them have the run of the class today, be the fun teacher yes? I supplied a plethora of fruits, berries, spices and the like. Then I proposed that for our first exams we have a bit of a party. Students take home their studying materials and their pick of ingredients and concoct dishes and drinks for their classmates. Then they give a presentation of the properties of their work and we grade based on the opinions of the class.”

I blinked at the idea. “Well yeah, that actually sounds like a pretty good time.”

He stopped at about 25ft away and widened his stance, hands in his pockets. “Yes, I thought so Mrs. Ferreri. Worry not, we’ll be having our own fun today. Consider this an assessment, I have my suspicions that you may fit some criteria for an important position. Would you mind humoring me? This shouldn’t take long at all.” He spread took his hands out of his pockets and spread them wide as if expecting an embrace or something.

Red flag Alina, time to make your exit. I couldn’t think of a clever lie or anything, I never had any practice doing that. “Mr. Buchanan, I don’t know how else to say this but you’re making me uncomfo- “

A network of roots burst forth from the ground in front of me and I almost fell scrambling to get out of the way. He must’ve somehow predicted the way I would dodge because he was ready to cut me off. “Sir what’re you?!” A sharp pain flashed across my back before I felt thorns tear into the rest of my body from the neck down. This psycho had me wrapped in his hair! Which grows on command apparently. I gasp for air as the bind tightens, digging thorns deeper into my flesh. He then begins to thrash and bang his head all over the place, which in turn whips me back in forth as the thorns in his hair are the only thing securing me in this hold. I’m pretty sure I blacked out at some point and started wailing, because my throat was sore by the time I had my wits about me.

He tutted several times a she tapped his foot on my vegan prison. “Well this won’t do at all, your reaction time was brilliant at first, but then you took a mighty thrashing just like any of these other peons would… I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve been wasting my time staking this establishment out. There’s just no talent here. I suppose you’re just like the rest of them, no casting without you basic somatics then?” He started to lean forward, planting his weight on me. Breathing was tough enough as it is. “Shame, I’ll have to cover my tracks and bury you with the rest of the trash. That’s all this ‘academy’ is at the end of the day, a landfill.”

As those words fell on my ears my blood began to run cold. This MONSTER has done this before?! What’s worse he’s murdered other students and he means to tell me that we walk his work everyday none the wiser. This is insane! He’s a danger to everyone! Someone’s got to stop him! I need to pull myself together. If I don’t do this, who will?!

My rage burgeoned, my glasses had fallen off my face while I was being whipped around, and I couldn’t see now that the vines were covering me entirely. My prescription helps me filter through all the magis I see with my eyes, giving me normal vision. In this situation however, it helped me see exactly where that scumbag was standing. I dug deep, most of my training involved me trying to keep my magis under control, but this is life or death so if there was ever a time to let loose, this is it! So, I let go.

Energy crackled forth from every pore of my body. A wave of unrefined flames burst from my core Incinerating the vines that covered me. All the stinging and pain that had riddled my body up until a few moments ago had vanished, and the entirety of the room glowed like hot coal. I fixated on Buchanan, whose devilish smirk only made me angrier. He clapped after shirking off the flames, discarding the bits of his hair that were emblazoned with a whip-like motion.

“See there it is! That is what I have been looking for, the kind of raw talent that is, well generation defining I daresay!”

I hurled a fireball at him, the hardest I’ve ever thrown. The blowback pushed me back somewhat, and I warded myself with my own flames to provide resistance. I was so sick of him talking, I didn’t think twice about ending it there. But I hadn’t

The bastard casually walked out of some sort of plant pod that had absorbed the force for him, what’s more it was some species that was flame retardant seeing as it hadn’t ignited after the blast. Buchanan twirled his cane as he stepped down, “Well Mrs. Ferreri, you have most certainly shattered my expectations this morning. After that display I don’t have much time to make my exit though, so you and I will have to adjourn for today.”

I conjured a storm network around him as fast as I could, using the heat in the air and what was left in the moisture from his plants as a base to make storm clouds for the axes. Within an instant he was trapped in a cage of lightning. His eyes lit up at the sight of it. “Impeccable! Mrs. Ferreri I cannot thank you enough for your participation in today’s evaluation. I personally cannot wait to give you a star-studded recommendation!”

“What’re you on about?! I’m taking you to the authorities, you sicko! Also stop calling me Mrs., I’m not married!”

He tapped his cane on the floor and large seeds with ruins in on the surface began to drill themselves into the floor beneath him. “Yes, my dear, we will most certainly see to that!” Taking a bow, with his stupid hat, the seeds burst into toots like before and he was brought down into the earth beneath the academy.

I screamed in frustration and confusion, and then got my magis under control again. The room was destroyed. Not too long afterward Mr. Travers ran inside with some other students not far behind him. “Ms. Ferreri are you harmed?! What happened here? Who’s responsible for this?!”

It took me a second to register that for now, I was safe, and I needed to tell Mr. Travers as much as I could. Then when I thought about it, it hit me. “Mr. Buchanan’s first class today, you have to check on them!”

We made a break for the classroom as fast as we could. Of course, Mr. Travers just used his abilities and was there in an instant. But that’s why my heart sank, and I dropped to my knees when I saw he was standing in front of the classroom with a look of horror on his face. He barred anyone else from entry. He told me in confidence what had happened before he made the announcement that classes for that day were cancelled. My classmates had been poisoned, he reported to me that when he entered the classroom, everyone had died sitting in their desk. Some had branches protruding through them, others had seemed to pass before they know what they had ingested had killed them. I just sat there in his office while he explained, unable to fully process what had happened today. I... I need to be involved in whatever response we have for this.

I Mr. Travers in the eyes squarely and firmly informed him. “Buchanan, and whoever else is behind this assault on the safety of me and my friends… I’m going to make them all regret everything Mr. Travers.” He didn’t seem like he wanted to hear that from me, but he continued to meet my eyes with his as if to say he understands.

“Tell me how I can help Mr. Travers, I'll do whatever I have to. I’m going to fight. I’m going to protect everyone!”