I guess school is going to be a lot different from what I had imagined. Jack thought to himself as he entered the room for his next class. It was a very big room with coliseum-type seating that scaled up the wall. The room was ¾ full and the remaining students seemed to be finding spots and taking their seats, so Jack did the same. As he was approaching the benches he noticed a boy waving to him, it was Sable.
“Hey, over here!” Sable gestured enthusiastically with his arm in the air. Jack was happy to see a face he recognized, so he walked over and sat beside him. “How was your first class?” Sable asked excitedly.
Jack didn’t know what to say, so eventually, he just said. “Intense.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, our first class was weapons training and two students had to go to the medical wing.” This got Jack’s attention. Sable was about to explain more when a tall woman entered the room. She walked in with the confidence of a teacher, and the class quickly got quiet as she scanned the crowd.
“I am your basic monster’s teacher Ms. Harriet Griffith.” She started to speak, her voice was loud and clear, and it easily echoed around the room. “Today, we will be learning about the basics of Elemental Monsters, and how they are created.” Jack didn’t know anything about monsters because of where he grew up. If a monster showed up in the city, it would quickly be dealt with. This meant he had never seen a wild monster and didn’t know anything about them. Monsters were very interesting to Jack, and he was excited to find out how they came to be. The topic had never come up while training with Gant and Fineus.
“Monsters are not a species of their own but a transformation of naturally occurring creatures. Animals are able to organically absorb elemental cores without rituals. Once an animal absorbs a core it transforms into a magical beast of the corresponding element. It is speculated that some animals are more likely to absorb an element. There have been numerous studies into why and how animals are able to absorb elemental cores, but nothing has been confirmed. Animals can absorb as many elemental cores as they want, as opposed to humans who can only absorb up to four.” Ms. Griffith had been pacing as she spoke. Once she was done with her speech she walked over to a wall and pressed one of the buttons. A huge screen descended from the ceiling; the panel quickly lit up displaying all sorts of magical creatures on its display. Jack didn’t know what any of them were, but Sable beside him knew a few.
“That’s a Tail Spiked Snake, see that thing with the three heads, that’s a carnivorous tree hugger. Those are nasty buggers; we have them where I come from. Usually, a couple of people die to them a year. The bird-looking thing is actually an aquatic creature nicknamed screamers, I don’t know the official name. Apparently, they make sounds that can drive sailors mad, jumping into the water where they can easily eat them.”
The teacher started speaking over the children, quickly shutting them back up with her domineering voice. “These are some different types of monsters you can find in the wild around our great continent of Carcas. Today we will be looking at a broad variety of monsters and analyzing their threats and weaknesses.” The class was unbelievable. Jack learned about all sorts of beasts, some were apparently common, but he had never seen an in person and was nervous for his first encounter.
“This is A Horned Gargoyle Toad. Commonly found in swamps. When a common toad absorbs the earth’s element, this is what they usually become. As with all monster transformations, it is not perfectly predictable. There are always rare variations that can be found, but they always follow the same basic transformation. Horned Gargoyle Toads are sometimes referred to as Plague Toads. This is due to the fact that they are full of deadly poisons. Their body is covered in brittle bone spikes that are hollow and full of deadly toxins. These toads also have tiny spikes on their tongue. Of course, their tongue is incredibly long and can shoot out very fast. The tongue spikes are less toxic and designed to knock the prey unconscious for the toad to eat.”
“I’ve seen one of those before,” Sable whispered to Jack. “She is overplaying its danger. Although that was a baby I saw, and it had already killed a man.”
“Next, we have the Walking Puff snare. A horribly gruesome little beast. They are one of the few examples of something that is originally classified as a plant becoming a monster. They are originally carnivorous mushrooms that has tiny holes that eat bugs when they enter. Once they absorb a shadow core, they become one of the worst monsters to hunt because they can multiply so fast and they are really hard to find if they don’t want to be.” It looked like a mushroom with a large round mouth that had rows and rows of teeth. Each tooth looked extremely sharp, and each tooth wiggled slightly. “They hide in the ground in the shadows. They like to prey on unsuspecting feet. Once they get hold, they are impossible to get off.”
“After that. We have one of the odder monsters. A Rock Boulder Bull Slug. Also known as a Sluglord. Sluglords are neither hostile nor friendly. They are highly protective of their shell. As they should be. A slug lord’s shell is made of one of the most expensive materials in the world. They are a slug that has absorbed the crystal element. Once absorbed their shells become what is known as God’s Rock. The crystal is one of the hardest materials in the world.”
“Next is the Thunder worm. The thunderworm is a worm that has absorbed the electricity element. It is another highly sought-after monster for its power potential. The thunderworm is able to produce an very large amount of electricity that can be used to power machines. They live underground and come out during thunderstorms to absorb ambient electricity. The thunderworm is attracted to the electricity and is always causing issues to maintenance crews maintaining power systems in more wild environments.”
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She switched the monitor to a new monster, it was huge and looked extremely ferocious. “A monster that is feared all over the world. Before transforming was already one of the world’s most deadly beasts. A black bear. Once absorbing a power element, they are unstoppable.” It looked like a giant bear on steroids with 2 extra huge arms. “The Corpse Defiler.” She looked at the photo of the insane monster with a mix of awe and fear. “Aptly named for the fact that everything it kills it smashes until there is nothing left. The guess for how many people have actually died is extremely variable due to the fact it can be impossible to identify bodies after they are done with them.”
Sable gulped beside Jack as they looked at the huge arms of the beast. Ms. Griffith just kept listing off monster after monster. Each creature looked more deadly and evil than the last, one was literally nicknamed the widow maker. By the end all Jack could think was. What the fuck. I don’t wanna fight this shit.
Halfway through the class, the monitor turned off and everyone focused back on the teacher. “Now we have seen many dangerous and deadly monsters that only want to mutilate your body. Fortunately, not all monsters created are bad.” That’s when a little lizard crawled out from under her jacket. A few students gasped when they saw it, obviously knowing what it was.
“This here is Frank.” She pointed to the lizard on her shoulder. “Frank is a gecko that absorbed the fire element. Frank became what is known as a Blissful Spark. They are sapient geckos that can be trained to be an incredibly useful ally and maybe even a friend.” The lizard stood on his back legs and seemed to puff out his chest proudly. “Frank here has been my friend for 20 years. We have been through a lot together and I consider him family.” The lizard was absolutely adorable looking. He had purple scales that had a mild sheen to them. His underbelly was a soft white and he had two big cute looking eyes. Along his back, tiny little flames could barely be seen. The flames were the same tint as his scales. He crawled along her shoulder, and up onto her head. He stood on his back two legs so he could be as high as possible. He looked around menacingly and puffed out his cheeks. His menacing stare didn’t seem to scare anyone as his cute little chubby face seemed to get cuter by the second. After mean mugging the crowd he made a weird face, then he suddenly burped. A huge fireball shot out in front of him. A bunch of the students swore as they had all been leaning in curiously at the small innocent-looking lizard. Seeming satisfied with the crowd’s reactions he scuttled back into her jacket.
The teacher looked around. “As you can see monsters have personalities. That is something that is very important to study. A monster maintains most of its animalistic personality traits when changing but they also get some traits that coincide with the element absorbed. For example, fire usually gives something like passion or attitude. A monster’s traits are one of its greatest weaknesses and strengths. When fighting them always take advantage of their weaknesses while avoiding their strengths. Never fight a monster where it is comfortable.”
The monitor turned back on. Showing more monsters. But these monsters looked different. Most of them didn’t look like they wanted to eat and dismember you. Among the photos, Jack saw a blissful spark that looked similar to Frank.
“These monsters are all sapient and can be communicated with if tried hard enough.”
“First is the White Wise Orion. A common raven is one of the smartest animals before it absorbs an element. Once it absorbs the Ice element it becomes the White Wise Orion or sometimes called Snow hawks.”
She switched the monitor to a cute three-tailed fox-looking thing. “One of my personal favorites, a three-tailed wisp. A fox that absorbed the fire element. They are incredibly mischievous and playful.” When she said that the little lizard Frank came scuttling back out and seemed mad at her. He puffed out his cheeks and seemed to mean mug her.
“Oh relax,” she said. “You will always be my most favorite.” The salamander seemed to think about it for a minute then slowly sulked back into her coat, eyeing her the entire time with something like threat in its cute little eyes. “The three-tailed wisp is one of the most coveted companions for its famous protective and caring companionship.” She continued as if she was used to being constantly interrupted by Frank.
“A more interesting sapient beast is the Soul Whisper. A common turtle, once they absorb a Light element, they become able to have completely normal conversations with humans without ever actually learning the human tongue. They have extraordinarily good memories and are sometimes used for advanced information storage.”
“A beast that I want everyone to pay particular attention to is one of potentially the best or worst ones you can run into. The AuraTaura. Once a common house cat that absorbed the metal element. They are incredibly smart and mischievous. They can be bargained with, but they are also known to be fickle and lie. They love to play with their food before they eat it, and they see everything as food. The only way they won’t eat you is if they see you as more trouble than you’re worth. If any of you first years ever run into an AuraTaura I want you to run, run away fast.”
For the rest of the class, the teacher spent time teaching about monsters that could be bargained with or reasoned with. Jack had almost had a panic attack earlier in the class but now he was feeling the excitement of the possibility of meeting such exquisite creatures.
Jack liked Ms. Griffith, she seemed to know everything about magical monsters. Once class was over Jack stayed to ask her some questions. He described the mechanical rat to her and said the name Ticking Rodents. She knew of the creatures and had him follow her back to her office, which was unfortunately across the academy. Once there she gave him a book from one of her shelves. The book was made of metal and was covered in gears, screws, and hinges. The internals of the book also had a very subtle tick to it. The book seemed to vibrate ever so slightly in his hands to the tick. The metal was a beautiful brass and bronze, similar to Pyke.
“That,” she said. “Is the best book on mechanical magical beasts. A rare and interesting subject that I’m afraid I don’t know much about. I have heard there has been an increase in infestations throughout the city but alas I do know not the cause or solution. I wish you luck in your pursuit of knowledge, I must get to my next class.”
She showed Jack out of her office then she quickly strode away. Jack looked down at the book in his hands. He flipped it over and read the title. “Mystical Mechanical Creatures for the Passionate”. The font was in a mechanical script that was very blocky, and the letters stood out from the cover. Interestingly enough there was no author. After quickly flipping through the book and seeing all sorts of fascinating diagrams, pictures and tables Jack gleefully put the book into his bag and headed off to quickly grab lunch before his next class.