When the alchemy finished, another teacher was already waiting for the whole class in the corridor. It was the biology teacher, who led everybody to the correct classroom, where they had a regular lesson.
It started a period throughout which they had non-magical classes.
Lena stuck to him, but she didn't really pay too much attention to what was going on and didn't note anything.
As the day progressed, they got their last lesson for the day, which was the defense against magical arts. A tall dark-blonde man with straight-standing hair picked them all up and brought them to the basement of the school. He was wearing a bronze robe with golden symbols embroidered on every part of it, and a stern expression wasn't living his face at all.
The whole group ended up in a large but empty chamber, with red crystals floating under the ceiling, giving out a warm light. The floor was covered in shapes separating a space in the middle, that for Trevor looked like a space utilized for some kind of game, but among those patterns, he spotted a few that he already have seen before. Back in the safe room, the one connected to his room.
- My name is Derek Hearth - the teacher finally introduced himself. - And I will be teaching you the art of defense. We will be practicing both protective and offensive spells, dueling, and learning how to react in dangerous situations.
As he finished speaking, he looked through the whole class.
- We will be starting with one of the basic shielding spells known as the 'Shell'. You will learn the spell, and then you will put it to use to gain experience and a better understanding of your magic. Does anybody already know this spell?
Few people raised their hands. Among them was obviously Lena, but also Duncan Esthose and his little group.
- Good. How about you show your friends how to cast the spell? - he asked and his eyes got stuck on Miss Karcrow.
The girl stepped to the front and turned to face her peers.
- You focus the energy on the tips of your fingers, then push it outside, while tracing half of a circle with your right hand, and the other half of it with your left - she explained, while showing.
The tips of her fingers started to shine with red as she moved them through the air, forming five halves of a circle, one with each finger, which then turned into whole circles, as she did the same with the other hand.
As the lines connected, a semitranslucent convex buckler appeared in the air. She turned around to showcase that the spell followed her, drifting in the air, with a bit of delay.
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Some teenagers started clapping, but not all.
- Very good - the teacher complimented her. - Of course, if you don't have the proper practice, you will fail to cast the spell, but with enough experience, you will eventually learn how to do it. If you master it, you can even cast it without the hand motion, but it's really hard. Those who already know the spell, are welcome to step into the safe space and put their magic to practice by dueling one another. The rest, you know what to do to cast the spell, so start trying.
Lena immediately moved into the space, separated by the symbols, which made the other students, who already confirmed they know the spell, hesitate in following her.
- Not you miss Karcrow. I believe you already had enough practice in this type of magic. Besides, I doubt that any of the students here would be a match for you. I doubt that they all would be a match for you... - said the professor.
She just shrugged her shoulders and moved to the side.
Trevor, paying a bit of attention to that, moved slightly closer to the nearest wall, to have some space, and began his practice. Pushing the energy to his hands was easy, but anything more than that gave him some problems.
He focussed on the process, and with just a bit more practice, finally managed to make the tips of his fingers shine with blue light, then started tracing the half circles, but the lines were breaking with even a little loss of concentration on his side.
The magic was slipping through his grasp, but he wasn't giving up, and repeated everything over and over, each time progressing just a little bit further.
He didn't even notice when Lena came to his side, and just stood there, watching his every move in silence. He simply was too consumed by the task he was performing.
The other students around him had similar problems. Their power was slipping out of their grasp, not allowing them to finish the spell.
Eventually, Trevor took a little break, and then he realized her presence. He almost jumped, that's how she scared him.
- Don't be afraid - she said. - Man up.
He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he resigned from doing that.
- You are not doing badly. Don't get discouraged - she said, and then pointed at other people around, not doing much better than him.
Trevor glanced at those whom she pointed out, but then the duels in the protective field caught his attention. Duncan was showering one of his pals, who hid behind 'Shell', with some type of fire magic. It was kinda like small fireworks. A tiny arrow made out of flames, rapidly shot out of his fingers, just to crash on the semitranslucent, brownish field of force created by the spell.
The sheer amount of the projectiles made small cracks on the buckler, that eventually shattered like glass, with a minimal difference. The fragments disappeared in the air. A few of those arrows hit the boy in the chest, burning small holes in his robe, which caused Duncan to laugh, but his friend wasn't so happy about what happened, and his lips twisted with anger.
- Focus - said Lena, pulling his attention back to her. - Don't look at them, and practice your spell.
- Why do you care? - he asked, as he got a bit angry at her.
The frustration from continuously failing the spell was a big reason behind that.
She took a step closer, getting straight to his face, and smiled, sending chills down his spine.
- Because I like you - she whispered, then she stepped back and added: - You are like me. Different. We should stick together.
- Says who?
- Says me. Do you dare to disobey?
- I'm not your pet - he growled at her.
- No, you are not - she confirmed. - You are a friend.
Her words made his face burn, and he didn't respond to her at all. Instead, he returned to practice, yet again pushing the energy to the very tips of his fingers, and repeating the pattern, trying to create a protective circle in the air.