Transmutation Day 2

John blinked in surprise, still not quite used to the abrupt transitions between classes.

How do they get the timing so perfectly every day anyway?

He pondered this as he walked across the threshold and into his second class of the day. Unlike the last time he was here, the room was silent. About twenty students stood around the circular table today, and John found an empty spot to occupy. Instead of small animals running around the space, there were piles of rocks. A few more students rushed into the room at the last minute, and the Professor began his lecture.

Arabella was too worked up to head to the forges today. She knew that in this state she wouldn’t be able to do any truly great bladework. Which in turn frustrated her more. There was really only one thing she could do today to turn things around, though she didn’t particularly enjoy resorting to it. She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, then let it go slowly.

Fuck it, might as well.

She changed out of her comfortable at home clothes and into tight workout clothes.

“Mira, malvada perezosa hija de puta, ¡voy a salir!” she shouted to her roommate.

“Where are you going?” was her shouted response, followed by steady footsteps.

Arabella rolled her eyes as her roommate came into view, and responded with an exasperated “I’m just going out, okay? Don’t burn the dorm down while I’m gone.”

Her roommate harrumphed in response.

Arabella pulled on a Firesmith club jacket, from the Smiths club, and headed out the door. Her mind was a brewing storm of memories she didn’t want and feelings she really didn’t want as she walked to the Duelists clubhouse. It looked eerily similar to the Smiths clubhouse, just a dilapidated apartment complex lobby to a mundane person but a lavish lobby complete with overstuffed chairs to a Firesmith student (as long as they were wearing their school ring). The attendant for the Duelists clubhouse was a steel elemental, a chiseled greek statue of a man polished to perfection. His gleaming smile revealed even his teeth to be made of steel as he greeted Arabella.

“Arabella, darling, what brings you to our humble clubhouse this fine morning? Shouldn’t you be in class, young lady?”

She **** a reciprocated smile through her gloomy mood.

“I have the day off today and thought it would be nice to blow off some steam with you guys. Is anyone else here yet?”

The steel elemental tapped his chin, making exaggerated “hmm” sounds as he thought of his answer.

“We have more than a few early birds like you fluttering around, though everyone else brought a sparring partner. You’ll have to wait until someone else shows up and ask if they’d mind a third.”

“I wouldn’t mind sparring with a golem or artificial spirit, it’s just to blow off steam. Nothing serious, really.”

“If it’s alright with you, then. I’ll summon a dueling spirit for you. Any weapon requests?”

Arabella **** another smile, “surprise me.”

John stared menacingly at his pile of rocks, conscious of everyone else’s eyes on him as he tried his best to levitate at least one of them. No matter how many times Professor Vihaan insisted John use his “pure spirit,” nothing changed. As far as John was concerned, he didn’t have any pure spirit. All of his mana was elemental in some way. His pile of rocks just sat there, slightly scorched, as the Professor commended his classmates for making their rocks tremble and wobble; or in the case of the girl four spaces to his left, for levitating five of them and making them spin in the air.

Operation Z-00538
Time - 10:15 a.m.
Location - Lower East Side, sector Z-30
Drones Present - Archimedes Series 12, units 1-20; Achilles Series 4, units 6-15; Odysseus Series 2, unit 1.
Operatives Present - Knights Haytham, Powell, Adams, Berkley; Arcane Knight Gorbachev

Tricia’s brow was furrowed in **** concentration as she typed at a frantic pace on the holographic keyboard extending from her drone control hub. Knight Haytham stood behind her, his Achilles units blasting away at a squad of mounted Dryads. Knights Powell, Adams, and Berkley were similarly engaged deeper in the forest, defending the Archimedes drones as they retreated. Tricia had never seen readings such as these, it was almost as if the Dryads were real and not simply coalesced ambient mana. Whoever had left this barrier behind had left it in a state of utter turmoil, and she couldn’t help but demand to know why.

Who was this flame mage, why were they here, why did they create this barrier, why did they just leave it, why didn’t they close it, where were they now? Could they truly have shipped a whole tribe of Dryads out to the outskirts of Springfield and thrown them in a barrier? The lack of answers enraged her beyond the limiters of her suit, and it beeped warningly. She raised the emotional suppression with a curt wave of her hand and kept typing.

A vine panther pounced past Knight Haytham, its rider left behind as a corpse shot through with well over a dozen bullet wounds. Tricia’s Achilles drones shot it out of the air at her mental command, and it landed next to the van with a dull thud.

“A-K! By the Lady, can your drones fly back any faster? We’re being overrun!”

“If even one of my drones is shot down and loses even a byte of data, I will personally see to it that you are all demoted,” came Tricia’s emotionless response.

Haytham grunted his understanding as he unsheathed his sword from his hip and unstrapped his shield from his back. He thundered forward with a cry of “The Lady shines upon me, her enemies beware!”

All the Dryads shifted focus from the frail looking scientist whose back was turned, to the hulking man whomst they felt the sudden need to attack instead. He glowed with a golden radiance in their eyes as they all lunged for him at once. His shield held off two Dryads, and a third impaled itself on his sword, but the rest slashed at his exposed sides and back.

Much to their despair, though, their attacks rebounded. A slash to Haytham’s ribs appeared on a Dryad’s ribs. A spear thrust that should have impaled Hatham’s chest from behind instead glanced off of his radiance, and a hole tore itself into a Dryad’s chest. For the next 15 seconds of battle, Haytham stood stoically as his enemies killed themselves on him.

His prayer ended and he leapt into action, executing a flurry of blows to stave off a new wave of Dryads. It was then that Tricia’s drones flew into the clearing, escorted by his fellow Knights. Tricia deactivated the hologram and let the drones fly into the van, motioning for the Knights to follow suit. The Achilles drones all began a synchronized barrage of attacks at Tricia’s command, decimating the remaining Dryads. She got into the passenger seat of the van with a blank face, mentally analyzing all the data flowing into her neural network from the drones who had flown out into the forest. Knight Berkley started the van and they exited the barrier, setting a course for Brighton Manor.

John faced Professor Vihaan’s disappointment as class neared an end. He simply couldn’t grasp the concept of “pure spirit,” and therefore failed today’s lesson.

“I expect better performance from those of you who could not perform today. Learn from your shortcomings and overcome them. You are dismissed.”