Loop Two - Chapter Nine - No Thoughts, Head Empty

Morgan was kind enough to actually help the girls up, and then fetched some fold-out chairs from a locker for them to sit down and rest for a moment. “Cassy, you rely far too much on your magic,” she said. “Good trick, but it’ll only work once against an experienced enemy. You might have more luck against some of the more animalistic monsters. It is very strong.”

“It didn’t even work once on you,” Cassy said.

“It did work,” Morgan said. “I lost my footing, and for a moment you three had me stuck in mid-air with no way to easily dodge.”

“You did that flippy thing with the sword and flew at me!” Cassy said. “Like, instantly. It was like something out of a movie, but worse because it hurt.”

“I would suggest learning how to actually fight at close range then. Also, if you can change the direction of the pull relatively quickly at shorter ranges without incapacitating your allies, that could be a powerful trick to keep an adversary off-balance.”

Cassy grunted and crossed her arms.

She doesn’t look too angry. I think her pride was stung more than anything else.

“Now, Amber. You did fairly well. I think the best out of you three, though I suppose you’ve had a bit more experience.”

“Just a couple of days’ worth,” Amber said.

“That’s plenty more than Jade and Cassy,” Morgan replied. “Good try with the tossed knives. And the trick with them returning your way was nice. Poorly executed, but nice. Try to make your throws less obvious, and don’t frown so much when you’re going to execute a trick, it’s a giveaway.”

Amber nodded slowly. It’s probably good advice. “I’m really not great at close ranges. You were basically playing with your food there.”

“I was testing your limits, more like. You treated the situation seriously from the start, so I wanted to see what you could do. I’m… not exactly impressed though. Forgive me.” She didn’t seem all that contrite, but Amber noted the very slight wince and nodded.

“I guess more practise would help. I don’t think I’m very good at fighting though. My weapons also feel… weak?” Amber raised one of her knives and flipped it around and around. “They don’t seem to do much, and someone like you can just avoid them or smack them away.”

Morgan nodded, then reached a hand towards Amber. “May I see one? If you don’t mind.”

Amber flipped the knife again so she was holding it blade-first, then passed it over. Morgan took the blade, rolled it around and turned it this way and that while inspecting it.

“Very light. Not so light that it can’t be thrown, but still, not as heavy as I’d expect from an actual weapon. Too light to be metal, maybe. I’d suggest meeting a magical who knows more about magic weapons and letting them inspect yours. A magical’s normal weapon often has a lot of little features that aren’t immediately obvious. My sword’s rigidity changes a little based on my will.”

Morgan flicked an arm to the side and summoned a sword. She held it before her, fingers pinching the blade, then she bent it until the point was at a ninety degree angle from the handle. Then she straightened it, grabbed the end in a fist, and put obvious effort into bending it without the blade moving at all.

“What’s the point of that?” Cassy asked.

“Flexibility in combat. Knowing how a sword will act after receiving a blow is more important than you’d think, but that’s a bit more of an advanced thing when learning sword fighting and fencing,” Morgan said.

“My broom can double as a hammer,” Cassy said. “It goes smash.”

Amber held back a laugh at the flat expression that crossed Morgan’s features. “I’m sure we can figure out some way for you to smash things well,” she said.

“What about me?” Jade asked.

Morgan nodded, seeming happy to be put back on track. “You’re not bad. Perhaps a little too timid in a fight. Your scarf seems to have decent capabilities as a net, but I’m not sure they’ll work on anything… intelligent.”

“She can catch projectiles, and I think it can act as a shield,” Amber said.

Jade clung onto her scarf. “I can try that.”

“Last… uh, time, we spoke of getting Jade some guns. She can store things really well.”

“A pocket dimension, right?” Morgan asked. “That… could be useful. There are some magicals who use guns, but they’re of limited use against a lot of creatures we might be facing. Still, better than nothing. Have you considered turning your scarf into a meteor hammer?”

“A what?” Jade asked.

“I’ll have to show you a video. It’s a very impractical weapon for most people, but I think you can control the motions of your scarf?” At Jade’s nod, Morgan continues. “Then maybe you can make it act like a whip. With some practise, I can see it as a decent mid-ranged option, and if you have any sort of battlefield control, that’ll only make you more flexible.”

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“CC and utility with just a bit of DPS,” Jade said.

“Huh?” Morgan asked.

Amber stood up with a hop. “It’s fine,” she said. “So, what do we do now? I’m not sure I’m ready for another beat-down.”

Morgan shifted her attention away from Jade. “I would suggest hitting the gym? We still have most of the day, and with so few teams here we’ll have the place mostly to ourselves. It will make it easier to teach you how to use the machines there.”

“Sounds good to me,” Amber said. And the gym was close to the cafeteria for any post-training lunch.

“We just need to grab your phones and such first,” Morgan said. She pulled out her own and checked her messages. “Oh, your things have been sent over to the dorm.”

They packed up the chairs, and Morgan made a note that the room needed some cleaning before they left the building.

Amber took the lead. Feels weird to be one of those who knows where to go around here. The others bunched up behind her, Cassy casually riding on her broom while Jade asked Morgan some questions about guns, of all things.

Amber tuned out the conversation as she noticed a building at the end of the street. It was surrounded by cones and lines of yellow caution tape. The side of it had a hole blown out, the way some bricks were still scattered on the street hinting that it had exploded from within.

The stonework above that was marred black by soot and grime. Signs of a fire, she guessed.

“What’s in there?” Amber asked.

“Nothing intact,” Cassy quipped.

Amber snorted at the unexpected answer. “I meant pre-explosion.”

“That was an office,” Morgan said. “Mostly paperwork, I think. Most of that is done in the admin building, but I guess the academy does need someone to do their taxes and all that, and there’s only so much room in the admin building—and a lot of that is taken up by teachers’ lounges and conference rooms.”

They walked by, Amber tilting her head back to take in the building better. The hole let her see within, but all she could see past the poor lighting were some desks and office paraphernalia that had been tossed around and burned. “No one was hurt, right?”

“That’s what I heard,” Morgan said. “You think this is that person you talked about?”

“The pink-haired girl… maybe. I don’t have any evidence of that, I guess. She destroyed the admin building in the last… uh, time, and later she placed a bomb near our classroom. Could have been someone else.”

“I’d really rather there be only one mad bomber bitch,” Cassy said. “Or, you know, none.”

“None would be nice,” Jade agreed.

“We need to do something about her,” Amber said. “I’d really enjoy pinning her down for a bit.”

“Kinky,” Cassy said.

Amber shot a glare at the girl, but it bounced off Cassy’s happy laugh.

“I never figured you for the pinning sort.”

“I could pin you to the floor,” Amber said.

“Oh,” Jade said.

Amber turned to Jade, threatening finger pointed at the girl. “Don’t get ideas.”

Jade smiled innocently, both arms raised in surrender. “No ideas here. Not a single one,” she lied.

Morgan sighed.

“Anyway,” Amber said. “Pink-haired girl. We should find her. It can’t be that hard, I imagine.”

“Didn’t the entire school look last… loop?” Morgan asked.

“Loop, I like that. And I guess, but it felt like they weren’t doing anything. This place isn’t as, I guess strict is the word?”

“The academy is run strangely,” Morgan admitted. “But it produces very good magicals, so I don’t think anyone really wants to change things. The student council is probably on the case. They’re well-organised, at least most years.”

“Unless Pinkie is in it,” Cassy said.

“That’s a disturbing possibility,” Jade said.

Amber shook her head. “I don’t think she’s old enough for that.”

“The academy doesn’t accept people based on age, it takes them in based on ability and magical talent,” Morgan said. “Some of the younger students are fourteen, the other ones around nineteen or twenty.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Amber said. “Is there a way we could meet the council? I might be able to recognize her, especially since she probably doesn’t know I’m looking.”

“That’ll be an edge,” Cassy replied.

“We might need every edge we can get. I… like this academy. And I like you three,” Amber said. She ignored Cassy’s teasing “aww” and Jade’s much more honest sounds of endearment. “I don’t like seeing it destroyed, so I want to do what I can to make it better. And… and if I can get my hands on that girl, I’d like to return the favour. I don’t appreciate the way she murdered me.”

“Whelp, that went dark fast,” Cassy said.

***