Meeting Babyface

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Reality shattered like glass. The dragon was gone. The room was whole again, as it had been. The walls stood unbroken, the roof intact and glowing with warmth, the dark stone of the floor clean, except for the befuddled bawling kids sprawled in various states of disrobing, furniture strewn about, and occasional blood droplets. There, on the dias, stood an unassuming young woman of short stature and petite build, her face a mask of forced composure. 'Like she had just tasted mud. Is that disappointment?'

"Fix yourselves. We'll begin the class now." said the woman.

"Oh no, Babyface!" someone muttered.

"Comm! Shhhh!!"

The woman mercifully faced away from the clambering students, scratching away at the pristine blackboard. Even the loudest brutes were stalked silently, steps confused but soft, their groans muffled, and signals unvoiced. In an uncharacteristic display of understanding, they silently worked together to set a couple of seats upright again, opting for the closest empty workbench, ignoring the rest of the mess. Soon, there was peace, that of labored breathing and scribbles of chalk. Tommy found himself seated between Aldy and Dalda, Asva to the far right.

"Greetings, class. I'm your advisor. I will also be instructing you in the Dao of illusions. We'll meet every second day. Unless it is a new moon - then you'll head into the Tutorial for practical diving. Do not die. It would ruin my perfect record, and you will regret it. The schedule and books are on the board. Anyone using the older editions will fail by default. Questions?"

There was a tense silence in the lecture hall, a stark contrast with the jittering limbs and swiveling heads as the wannabe teenaged mages looked anywhere but at their new instructor. They peeked at her, of course, when they thought she wasn't looking at them.

"Right. Call me Professor Kim."

The stalemate, rather stare down, continued. Professor Kim showed no indication of moving on. She looked relaxed, partially sitting on the mahogany desk, her feet planted on the ground. The podium and the desk stood bare, unused, only the board behind her showing their schedule - 6 days of classes, one day off. Four courses. And a bunch of book titles and a list of materials for Illusionism.

Haltingly, a few hands went up around the room, each providing strength to keep going to the others. Kim pointed to one of them.

"You, skinhead."

"We just got attacked?"

"Yes. Also, not a question. Next. You, puffy eyes, at the back. Do better."

"Was all that an illusion? What.. what was that?" stuttered Dalda. She hadn't even raised her hand.

"Good. Yes, that was an illusion. To be accurate, an advanced spell that blends several illusions. I'll break it down for you over the course, piece by piece, and hope some of you will keep up. Grab your styli. You will all write reports on what you saw, do well to remember the details. Or are there any more questions?"

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Again, they went straight to work, everyone. Tommy found the synchronized actions bizarre. From his vantage point at the top, it reminded him of the puppet show that his brother's troupe did. Saruk had bitched for months about how their portrayal of the Sukei's elite troops resembled Steppen bandits instead. Babyface looked up from the register in her hand and pointedly stared at him, as if aware he was slacking.

'Gotta get working.' he thought, ducking his head quick enough to escape a verbal lashing.

To his left, he heard Asva mutter something decidedly exotic, and colorful. She had her hand up, barely inching above her little head.

"What?"

[Professor, I don't know the Vermillion Kingdom's language. Can I use Gillish?]

"Ah, even a foreigner. No, you must use Aelic." She turned to Aldy, "You, ponytail. You will help her. Go to the library after the classes. Make sure she doesn't break anything." Then back to Asva, "Don't stop writing, pirate girl. I expect finished work. Tomorrow. Understand?"

As Tommy's two teammates got to work, the professor promptly ignored them. She went back to staring daggers at anyone whose hands stopped. While Tommy wrote, he heard nothing but furious scratching on paper. Asva and Aldy appeared to be talking, yet no sound reached his ears, as if a bubble surrounded them. 'Bullshit magic, indeed.'

Only the sarcastic quips from the professor marked the passage of time.

"The class is over. Ms Liu will be the class representative. Don't bother me, address your petty issues to her. Read the first three chapters of Tuftwad's 'Sights and Sounds'."

"Liu, remind Rohodan to assign you all into teams of three, not two. All too many commoners so budget well. Who knows, some of you may still die after all."

Then, she was gone. One moment, her disappointed glare upon them, next the stage was empty.

Only the one called Liu had a bright smile while fixing her dishevelled robes. The rest had grim faces, some openly scowling, others moving stiffly or still hunched over their desks.

"Finally." said Aldy, turning to Tommy as he got up, "Karma be blessed, my robe is clean and my heart hale."

Further down, the skinhead snapped his notebook shut and bolted out, his last exclamation hanging in the air, "That babyfaced devil!"

Tommy wholeheartedly agreed.

"She's a devil alright. I wonder if I can still catch back up with the caravan, incredible opportunity be damned."