AN: I'm thinking of switching to this size text from now on, to make it a bit easier to read. What do you readers think, helpful or not? Let me know, since it's for your benefit after all.
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Chapter 5: Back in Hell
"Ah, there you are, class was just starting, your seat is the empty one in the back. Introduce yourself and have a seat." - Sage
"Hello, I'm Mallic Caervylen, I'm 5, nice to meet you all." I say, bowing my head slightly, before I sit.
Most of the curious stares returned to the front, putting me much more at ease.
The older students in the class opened books, or are doing something else, I assume they've already heard this lecture.
"Now, as I was just saying, it is my job here as your teacher to instruct new students in the basic principles of magic and basic study." - Sage
"To begin with, magic is broken into 3 categories, those being Primal, Natural, and Spiritual."
"Primal is elemental magic, starting at the basic four elements of earth, air, fire, and water."
"Once you gain enough control over a combination of these 4, then you are able to combine them into additional effect, such as Ice or elemental lightning."
"As you all know, everyone can learn the basic invocations of each element, which you will learn here."
"At 10, you will learn of your elemental affinities, and progress from there."
"Most of you will have one dominant element, while in a progressive rarity, you may find yourselves with more than one, meaning it's more rare to have 4 than 3 and 3 than 2."
"Natural magic is the ability to commune with and control nature, from plants and animals to soil and weather."
"It shares some abilities with Primal and Spiritual magic, and can produce added effect if combined with the proper affinities."
"Spiritual magic is broken into 4 parts, two of light and two of darkness, they are Healing, Hallowed, Shadow, and Void magic respectively"
"Healing magic is fairly self-explanatory, it heals the user or others, alone or in groups, depending on the rank of magic."
"Hallowed magic is attack and defense magic of the light category, it is primarily used to combat the unnatural forces of the world, such as undead."
"Shadow magic is used primarily for stealth, as it doesn't have any direct combat ability until very late in its mastery."
"Its' most common abilities are shadow manipulation, shadow movement, and shadow concealment."
"Void magic consists of negation and absolution invocations and barriers, but also has various drain effects."
"The basic magic you will be taught in this class, for the next 5 years, will be primarily from the Primal category; however, I will also be teaching you the basic commune for Natural magic."
"Are there any questions before I continue on with the first days' lecture?"
A few of the other 5 year olds in the class asked some simple questions, receiving snickers from the older students before the last one finally asked something pertinent.
"Why do we only learn to commune with nature and the basic Primal magic?" - random 5-year-old
"Good question, since that looks like all the questions, I'll answer that and then continue the lecture." - Sage
The answer to that question was that, while everyone has an affinity for Primal, not everyone has an affinity for Spiritual magic.
Also, affinity in Natural magic is gained through understanding of the world and communing with nature.
Apparently, if someone without the proper affinity tries to use a magic, it will cause backlash, which can damage the mind and body of the caster depending on the element.
The backlash from Void magic can supposedly even damage the soul if someone is stupid enough to try to invoke one of its' higher ranks.
We also learned that everyone produces an aura, which varies in appearance based on the strength of their soul, their personality and their affinities for magic.
With proper training, everyone can see this aura if they concentrate, but some are able to view it at all times or can read it much better than others.
If we show enough promise, or just if the family wants to make the trip, we are brought before someone who can read them with high certainty.
They will then tell us, and our parents, of our affinities in the various magics.
At lunch time, I was bombarded by the curious students as soon as I took out my food.
I was asked repeatedly why I was late of course, to which I responded, "My bed attempted to eat me."
Apparently, there was one person stupid enough to believe that, and we had a good laugh at his expense.
The class is made up of 6 males, including myself, and 2 females, who happened to be among the older students.
From talking with them, I found out that the older students were given a review sheet of sorts to complete before I got to class.
Talking with the girls didn't seem to sit too well with the oldest male in the class, but at least so far he's kept it to just glaring at me.
I spent the rest of lunch time talking with most of the younger students, and getting to know some more about them.
After lunch, the lecture continued, but moved on to some of the other topics that were going to be covered in the class.
The "self-defense" we were going to be learning was actually more like a medieval gym class.
The younger students would be working on their basic physical education, while the older students would be learning basic blocks and attacks with a variety of simple weapons.
World study would cover the local flora and fauna first, then move into more advanced concepts paired with environmental factors and their common flora and fauna.
Reading and writing would be taught in tandem, utilizing local stories and known tales for the older students, while the younger ones would review the alphabet and start on the basics.
Arithmetic, or course, is teaching us the number system, which thankfully uses the same one I already know, as well as covering the currency used in this world.
With the lecture finally over, the first day of school ends, with my head fuzzy from information overload.
When I got home my mom was dealing with a patient, so I went to my room and crashed onto my bed, waiting for my head to finish processing everything I learned.
At dinner, I was asked how my day went, to which I honestly replied, "It could have been a lot worse."
Over the next two years, my day was split between attending school and communing with nature behind the house.
We learned how to commune in the first month...turns out it's a lot like meditation, you just relax and let yourself blend into the environment through the use of mana.
I'd tried this back on Earth, but never really got the hang of it, it's a bit overwhelming to the senses at first, but quite peaceful after you get the gist.
Two new students have joined the class, one male and one female, putting our total at 10, and I've gotten to know all of them a bit better, even the oldest jackass.
Despite the small number of students, it's still a typical classroom.
You've got a few genuinely nice people, one or two who don't seem to care, a couple of sporty type of people, and a bully or two.
The only thing it's missing is the rich entitled little pricks, but that's probably because this is a small village.
So far, I get along alright with about half the class, all 3 of the girls, a nice guy who sits in front of me, and the excited dumb one who we all laughed at during lunch on the first day.
He's among the sporty type, which I usually find exhausting, but his stupidity is of the funny variety, so I'm able to laugh at him a lot.
The oldest jackass, who is now 9, has just gotten worse, as apparently he likes one of the older girls, and acts very possessive.
Since she's part of my little group that eats lunch together every day, he really doesn't seem to like me much.
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According to her, he's been targeting everyone who gets close to her since before I started, and it doesn't show any signs of changing.
Lately, the oldest kids have been paired up with us to teach basic defense with weapons.
Unfortunately, today I got paired with the controlling asshole, so I can foresee some issues headed my way.
During the matchups, we each get a straight short sword made of wood, a small round wooden shield, and a wooden chest protector that goes over the head and ties together at the waist, to keep in it place.
At the start, it's just practicing blocking basic sword swings with the shield, it's designed to teach how to position the shield to be most effective.
As such, all strikes need to be blocked, parried, or deflected by the shield, while we each take turns on the offensive.
He's been glaring at me with a smile on his face since the start, because he knows full well that after, we get to do a light spar.
Even though we are only supposed to use the basic stuff, when the spar started, much like I assumed, he came rushing at me to try to beat me down with his little wooden sword.
I had a lot of trouble, as I was trying to play by the rules and use my shield to block or parry all the swings.
The Sage, decided to let it go unless it got too out of hand, and at some point all the students had gathered around to watch.
I can't really blame them, it's fun watching people fight, and we were moving much faster than what most do during a basic spar.
Honestly, I'm not doing as well as I should here, due to the added weight that this body isn't use to, as well as not being overly familiar with shields and the unwieldy chest protector.
I ended up taking a hit to the shoulder and knee before he bashed me in the face with his shield after I moved it to the side to block his sword, which forced me back a couple of steps and dazed me.
I faintly heard the Sage yelling "That's enough!" before my impact blurred vision turned red from anger.
Dropping my shield, I was done playing by the rules.
I closed the distance in a couple of steps and kicked the bottom of his shield, sending it up over his head, and making him stumble slightly.
Before he could recover, I stepped in and drove my sword into the connection between his chin and neck.
The strike, pushing up and back on an unbalanced opponent, sent him crashing to the ground.
He dropped his sword and tried to bring his hands to his throat, but just managed to slam the shield still attached to his left arm into his own face.
I followed up with a two-handed swing coming down on his groin, which made him turn green, and in a coughing fit, writhe around on the ground.
I just watched him, laughing sadistically, until he started crying while in a fetal position on the ground holding his groin.
Before the shocked onlookers, including the Sage, snapped out of it to come help, I walked to his head.
Taking another two-handed grip, I brought the flat of the blade down flat onto his ear, making him scream again and clutch toward the new pain of a shattered eardrum.
Of at least try, as he rolled to his back after the blow, and the shield hitting the ground wouldn't allow his hand to reach his ear.
With him now on his back, I took the opportunity to reverse my sword grip, and still standing by his grimacing face, stabbed my sword down into his right eye.
With an extremely high-pitched scream, that plastered an evil grin on my face, and a little spray of blood and goo as his eye burst open, his bladder let loose and he passed out.
I tossed my sword next to the jackass and turned to apologize for going a bit out of control, only to find a look of horror on his face.
The rest of the class wasn't much better, everyone was either pale from fear or green after just having thrown up, and the youngest girl had actually fainted and was laying over at the side.
Seeing this, I scratched my head bashfully and said, "I went a bit too far, sorry."
The old man finally snapped out of it, and rushed over to the passed out 9-year-old.
After a quick once over, he picked him up and told the rest of the students to go home before hustling off away from the school.
I ended up just following the Sage, since it turned out he was headed to my house to have my mother heal him.
I opened the door for him and he yelled, "We need healing here quick!", to which my mom came running.
Once mom started healing the boy, the Sage excused himself to go tell his parents and have them pick him up.
Along with a lot of apologizing from my mother and I, mom explained to the boys' parents that everything was cured, and he was no longer in any danger, but that she wasn't skilled enough to regenerate his eye.
After the boy and his parents left, the Sage stayed, and we all gathered at the table to talk about what happened.
The Sage told us, that although my retaliation on the boy wasn't a problem, how far I took it was.
Had I stopped at just beating the boy, or breaking a few bones, it could have been easily fixed with no recourse, but since I did irreparable damage and scared the shit out of the entire class, I was going to be barred for a month.
After saying his peace, he left to go clean up and make sure everyone got home safely.
I was then lectured by my mother for hours, I swear she only stopped because she had to start fixing dinner, but stated we would continue the "talk" after father got home.
And sure enough, after we all had dinner, we picked it right back up, and it continued until I was sent to bed.
The whole gist of it was simply, that I need to control myself better, so that I don't take it so far next time.
When dad mentioned that I might have inherited some of his ancestors Úlfhéðnar blood, they decided they need to keep a closer eye on me just in case.
When I asked what that meant, they told me, and apparently it's something like a berserker from D&D.
The lecture was a bit more light-hearted after that, since they had something they could blame my behavior on probably.
I was mostly warned to tell them, immediately, if I was feeling any sudden fits of anger or aggression, especially if accompanied by a desire to see blood or break things.
Dad also told me that we would be sparring with each other after dinner for the next month, to see if I have any more fits.
Unfortunately, my month of freedom from hell went by way too quickly.
I sparred with my father every day after dinner for 2 hours with wooden swords and shields.
He taught me some more basics for the first half, and we openly sparred for the second.
After every spar, he would bombard me with questions about my mental state, to see if I was having any surges of anger.
Toward the end of the month, my parents sat me down and asked me to give my best opinion on why it hasn't happened again.
After thinking for a while, I said, "I think it's because dad cares for me, while the boy didn't."
When they asked what I meant, I told them about him not liking me from day one, and why.
"I think I lost it like I did, because after spending years with him directing his dislike and bloodlust at me every day, I felt a need to return it all to him when the chance showed itself." - Mallic
"So you're saying, I wasn't really trying to do you harm...that would explain why you took out his eye at least. But what about his ear?" - Connor
"I'm honestly not sure, the only reason that comes to mind is that he never listens to what other people tell him. Most of the bullying he does to people, is because they talk to a girl he likes in class, even though she doesn't like him." - Mallic
To which, mom chimes in with an evil grin, "Well, if a man refuses to hear, he doesn't really need his ears, now does he?" - Keelin
"..." - Mallic and Connor
"That's kind of scary and cool at the same time mom." - Mallic