A Spark of Companionship

Chapter 8

As Jack walked around the school, he tried to get a lay for the land. The floor plan was not very straightforward, and he found himself getting lost more than once. The academy must have been ancient, but it was kept in pristine condition. He would find himself admiring the most mundane of items because they too had been crafted and maintained to perfection.

Every single tile looked to be handmade and intricately carved with flowing and abstract decorations. Sometimes the floors were solid simple colors, in other places of the academy the tiles were very small and vibrant colors. The different colored tiles were laid out so that if you stood back, they would look like a giant image. The thought they must have put into the design was unimaginable.

As he was exploring, he came across an interesting-looking room. Whoa. It was some sort of miniature library/lounge. There were two chairs and a sofa, and the walls were overflowing with bookcases. The room was reasonably small for academy standards but in reality, was a huge room that could hold probably 100 people.

Two tall windows accented one wall letting in beautiful golden rays of sun. Between the windows were large paintings. One painting immediately drew his attention. It was large and had a dusty wooden frame. The artistry was impeccable. The brush strokes were smooth and thick. The painting was of a wild battle with a sunrise in the background. It was a muddy battle with many fallen on the ground. Reading the inscription, it said.

The battle of Hope

He had wanted more information but that was all the engraving had. After admiring the painting for a few moments, he walked over to try one of the exquisite-looking chairs. They were soft and welcomed him with a deep embrace. Eventually, Jack found his way back to his room. When he went back to his room, he heard a sound.

The sound was awfully quiet, but he was sure it came from his room. After rummaging through his room, he found the cause of the sound. It was the box he had put the mechanical rat in. He carefully opened the box and the rat scuttled out.

“Hey, little buddy.” The rat sat on its back legs leaned back and tilted its head. He was looking intently at Jack. Its eyes were tiny red gems. “Can you understand me?” The rat tilted his head the other way. He obviously heard the words, but it was impossible to tell if he understood them. Jack sighed and put the rat on his desk. The rat scurried around enthusiastically smelling every inch of the desk.

Jack went back to training; he created a spark in the middle of the room. This time he tried something different, he tried to create a separate spark a foot beside the original spark. Holding his right hand out in front of himself, he closed his eyes. Slowly concentrating on the spark, and where he wanted to create the second spark. He focused, the electricity would slip and slide in his mind trying to get away. Oh no you don’t. Jack held on tight, He gripped the electricity with an iron grip and slowly led it toward where he wanted.

Crash!

He was so close to getting it when the mechanical rat knocked over some books distracting him. The electric shock blasted off right into the rat. “Fuck!” Jack ran over and checked on the rat. It had been blasted off his desk and was laying on its side. After a moment of twitching, it got up and looked around happily as if nothing had happened. Its eyes had been little red gems but now they were blue, the color of the spark Jack had inadvertently blasted it with. “Are you ok little guy?”

The rat seemed to understand that he was concerned and hopped a little then ran towards him with excitement. It scuttled right onto his outstretched hand and wiggled enthusiastically.

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“Huh, I guess electricity can’t hurt you.” Jack thought about that. “That could be really useful. At least it means I can’t accidentally injure you. That’s a good thing.” He lifted the creature up and gave it a little bump with his forehead. The rat just sniffed his head and looked around the room with interest.

He sat the rat back down on his desk. Again, it scurried around checking everything. He went back to training, pulling out his sword. The sword Gant had given him was his most prized possession and he cradled it for a moment before holding it properly in his right hand. The grip was a soft leather that had a thin copper wire neatly intertwined.

The copper being a great conductor allowed Jack to have more control over his electricity. The wire smoothly flowed up through the blade. He could feel the path and focused on the sword. Sending a small amount of electricity into it. He felt the copper wires encourage the electricity to follow. The electricity slowly crept up the blade. With the special sword Gant had given him, he could create a weak aura for a limited time.

The electricity quietly crackled and spat as it engulfed the blade. Once fully covered Jack very slowly started a meditative martial dance Gant had shown him. Gant was a large man but surprisingly agile on his feet and moved incredibly smoothly when showing him. Jack did his best to imitate Gant and slowly followed the moves. His wrist was slightly limp, and the sword flowed smoothly behind. As the sword moved it left a minor afterimage in the air.

He slowly increased the pace as much as he could. Soon he was at his max speed. He would swing and turn and twist and duck. All while smoothly controlling the blade. Deep in focus, he noticed something new. This feels amazing.

The electricity wasn’t fighting back like it usually did. The power felt incredibly calm as he was in some sort of trancelike state. Jack had never meditated this long and was completely exhausted. His legs were quivering, and his arms were shot, but he didn’t want to stop. The sensation of the electricity working in tandem was exhilarating. But alas, eventually he lost control, and the electricity blasted into the light again. This time the light exploded. The bulb burst, showering Jack with small shards of glass.

“Aww damnit, why didn’t you break earlier?” He said out loud to the bulb.

Grumbling to himself, he went about cleaning up the shards. After cleaning the mess, Jack went to the front desk and was able to get another bulb from maintenance. They were actually quite polite about the whole event. They explained to him it happens all the time with students trying dangerous magic in their rooms.

When he got back to his room the rat was still on the desk, but now it had curled up and was sleeping peacefully. Jack wondered if he needed to feed it and told himself he would look into it when he could. Jack was tired so he went about cleaning his room. Cleaning had always given him a sense of fulfillment. A clean room felt great. And now he had a beautiful room to clean. As he organized his room, he noticed small details he had missed earlier.

Jack found hidden shelves in his wall that would pop out or in. The space between the stone chunks that normally was grout was somehow all shelves. “This is incredible,” Jack said as he pushed the shelf in and out. He happily put his books on his new shelf. After placing his books, he placed the few items he had brought with him from his previous life.

First was a small wooden box he had found in an alley once. At the time it was one of the nicest things he had ever seen. Compared to the academy he was in now it looked like a piece of junk, but it meant the world to him. Inside the small box were some random tiny knick-knacks he had kept.

Beside the box, he put his small collection of makeshift tools and equipment he owned. On his desk, he laid out some paper and placed a nice pencil cup in the corner. The desk had a small accent light that illuminated the working surface nicely.

Jack flipped his bag over and shook it checking to see if he had forgotten anything when a small gear fell onto the ground. He picked It up examining it. It was a piece of the destroyed critters from the shop. Jack examined the gear closely.

He was still amazed by the craftsmanship of the gear and couldn’t possibly understand how they came to be. He took the small broken gear and put it into his tiny chest for treasures. It was a memento from his first day at the academy and he will always remember the experience.

Eventually, he finished organizing his room. His clothes were hung up in his closet, all his belongings were neatly organized, and he felt ready for his first day of class. Jack lay on his neatly made bed and took and big deep breath. He closed his eyes and just relaxed. He could hear the birds chirping outside, the day had been pretty hot but now it was cooling down and the breeze smelt fantastic. Jack reveled in the comfort. The window was right beside his bed, and he just lay on his bed watching the sun slowly go down.