If anybody has any suggestions for a class at Drudania Academy, it would be very much appreciated.
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I felt much better after I told the Headmaster my choice, most likely because I no longer had to worry about choosing my weapon. I was still concerned about the class I didn’t know yet. I could only hope for the best and prepare myself for the worst.
I did still have two months until school started, so they probably won’t give me the details until later. All I could do is wait.
The weapon in my pocket was still a concern of mine for I didn't know how the stone transformed into a weapon and why my parents had such a thing. When I got back to my room, I would probably look at it because Michael very rarely was in there, so chances are, I wouldn’t be bothered.
As soon as I got back yo the room I took out the stone and looked at it. By doing this I noticed a small change in its appearance, only so slight I barely even noticed it, but it was there. Inside the gold stone with a black, wavering center, was a small red speck similar to the color of parents hair. More similar to my mother’s hair though. A beautiful, fierce red that, even being so small, had a presence in this strange stone.
I tried to figure out how I could get the weapon to come out again, but was at a lost. I tried picturing the weapon with its strange blade and unique handle, but to no avail. After several attempts with no success I was not angry, but just disappointed. I tried only once more to see if it would happen before I went and got some dinner. But to no surprise of mine, like my previous attempts, I failed.
I then figured I do some more research doing weapons of unique or magical origins the following day, but not without getting dinner first. The dinner, as splendid as usual, was very fulfilling so when I returned to my room I quickly changed into my pajamas before heading off to bed.
That night I remember dreaming vividly about my mother and her vermillion red hair. I specifically remember her smiling, something that very rarely happened. Another strange thing I remember about this dream was that Father was not in it. Whenever I dreamed about my parents they were always together without fail.
I thought that maybe the red speck the the stone caused me to dream about my mother, but I did not think too much about it. I completed my regular morning routine and headed of to the place filled with the knowledge of a millennium and the words of the mortals.
As soon as I entered the library I was greeted by the scent of the thousands of books before walking over to a shelf labeled Weapons:Uses and History. I looked over the shelf before locating a group of books, all by the same author concerning magical weapons, how they were made, how they differ from regular weapons formed traditionally, and several other subjects.
I brought a few of the books over to a nearby table and began to read them. They were relatively small, so very little time was spent on reading it as opposed to the large amount of time thinking about the information in the books and how I might use it. I did this often when reading books. I would read it and after reading it or sometimes even during it I would think about how this information would help me or how I could use the information given. This helped fully understand the information presented to me.
The books told me that magical weapons were weapons that were created when magic power was solidified to the point where it maintained a physical form at all times and could be returned to origin of the magic (i.e. the magician's body) .
This method was difficult even for high level magicians because you are virtually creating a new weapon each time you bring the weapon out. This method is very rarely seen and the weapon made by this technique are very customizable but it is very difficult for others beside the creator to wield the weapon.
There is a way to make a magical weapon beside the one aforementioned. This involved taking a weapon forged through traditional means and taking such weapon during its creation and pouring magic directly into the weapon causing it to be more accustomed to the element originally poured into it.
Regular metals can’t stand the pressure of magic being put into it, so only special metals can be used when making swords in this manner. This causes those metals to be highly sought out and highly expensive.
Because of the skill needed to make the weapons, they had very few of them in the world and should one be found and put up for auction, it would go for price astronomically high.
I did notice, though, that in none of the books they did not mention about the weapons being in a form different from, well, a weapon. I was also curious if the weapon I had even was a magical weapon. I assumed at first glance because of its ability to return to a rock-like form, but I was not so sure about my assumption anymore.
After reading the book that I found most of the information I found useful for my cause, I pondered it for several minutes. I hoped that by doing that I would find some way to bring out the weapon again, and to my great delight, I thought of a way that might work.
I finished reading the final book, only 50 or so pages, before heading off to my room, not before returning the books to the shelf. As I returned to the room, I sat on the chair by my desk and took out the stone out of my pocket. As soon as I felt the cool texture against my skin, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. For some reason I had butterflies in my stomach, as though they knew something I didn’t.
I then looked at the stone and begin to channel my magic into it. I was guessing that the weapon would perhaps react if magic entered it and woke it up. It was difficult to get the magic flowing at first, but I began to visualize the golden wings in my mind and take that power and beauty and channel it into the stone resting on my palm.
I closed my eyes, trying to visualize the wings without distractions and after doing this for what seemed to be a few moments, the rock felt different. The weapon I saw before lying on the ground in the library, was now in my hand. It was perfectly balanced and had the same weight as the stone originally in my hand.
I opened my eyes to see the weapon of incredible beauty. I looked closely upon the blade trying to, perhaps, understand the runes written delicately along the blade. When looking at it, I realized that the runes on it looked similar to runes of magic as opposed to the runes of word.
Runes of magic were usually used in sealing or imprisonment spells as opposed to regular magic. The runes, primarily written in a circle form, were used to denote an area which the magic conditions written in the runes was held true. Magic prisons were primarily used against magicians while regular prisons were used to hold regular citizen.
Runes of word were runes that were similar to the letter’s written by most species. The runes occasionally had hints of magic imbedded in them, but these runes were commonly used many years before this happening.
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I knew several runes from both magic and word, but this runes seemed to differ slightly from both. While I was also observing the blade I looked at the point of connection with the pole and blade. I saw that if the pole came off, the blade could be an entire different weapon more suited to close combat. I did not see any way that the blade and pole could separate, but then I realized that this weapon seemed to react better to magic than pure force, so I put some of my magic into the weapon,thinking about the weapon separating it worked.
The blade and pole slid apart from each other, and as though sensing that it was not needed, the pole disappeared as soon as the contact with the blade expired. Now the blade was only left, so I took the handle in the middle of the blade and tried to figure out how to hold it.
It was awkward at first, but gradually I gained a good feel of it. I swung it around a few times to just see how the weapon moved. I did notice that the blade, despite being lightweight, was very durable and sharp. Another thing I noticed was how weak I was. After swinging the blade around a few times my arm was tired, it was during that time I realized I needed to exercise more.
It would be ad if during class I couldn’t keep up with the other kids. I suppose one of the reasons for my lack of strength was because I didn’t have a foot for most of my life. That did make it hard to get around. But enough excuses, I really needed to get some strength before school started.
This, of course, meant having to ask Michael for help. Not that I had anything against Michael, but I knew that he was practicing with the longsword and I doubt he wanted a child who knew nothing about fighting to interfere with his training.
I then headed over to the training grounds and looked to see if Michael was anywhere in sight. I then spotted him at the very back of the grounds and proceeded to walk over to where he was.
As I became closer to where he was, I could see him practicing and was astounded by his swordsmanship. Whenever he swung the blade it looked so very graceful, but the moment it hit the dummy, a cut appeared in a fatal place. His swordsmanship from my untrained eyes looked remarkable.
“Michael.” I said.
“Hey, Luc. What brings you to this section of the academy?” He said after putting down the long sword in his hand.
“Michael do you know of any way for me to get stronger before school starts?” I asked. Better to get straight to the point.
“Why the sudden interest? All you’ve been doing was reading books.” He said in a friendly way. I knew that he had already made friends with a lot of the people on campus and was quite popular.
“I just felt that I should become slightly stronger so I’m not exhausted after my weapon class.” I said.
“That does make sense.” Michael said, slightly suspicious. “I can help you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. We are roommates, aren’t we?” Michael said with his usual goofy smile.
“We are.” I said, admiring his exuberant personality. I may have admired it, but that never meant I wanted to be like him.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked him.
“How is you stamina?” he asked.
“Poor.” I replied bluntly. After saying that Michael laughed a little.
“You certainly are blunt. Well, it's probably a good idea to get your stamina up before we work on strength. I would suggest that you go to the Brors Forest and run around there for as long as you can. You can also try hitting the trees there. Should help strengthen those arms of yours.” Michael said jokingly. “Don’t run too far though, it can get dangerous.”
He wasn’t kidding about the last part though. Brors Forest had magical monsters located in its heat, so it was better to avoid that part until you were strong enough to deal with them. The forest was on the Academy’s property so the students could use it whenever they wanted but outsiders needed to receive permission from the Academy.
“Thanks. I’ll leave you to your practice.” I said, getting ready to go.
“Another thing, Luc. Make sure you don’t use your wings, they would defeat the entire purpose.” He said while, turning to pick up his sword.
“Don’t worry. I won’t.” This was true for the most part, but chances were I was going to fly a little bit to help strengthen my wings.
I then left the training grounds and headed to the forest. The entrance was at the back of the school, so it took a little while to get there. As soon as I reached the front, I saw a sign warning the ones who entered not to wander too far.
I entered the forest and after I walked for a little bit, I figured I would continue along the main path to make sure I wouldn’t get lost.
After figuring out my plan, I began to run along the path. It was quite strange running with wings attached to your back. My foot also felt a little strange.
It was during that time I realized how weak I was. After running for only a few minutes, my legs felt tired. I could still breathe normally which was surprising. I thought my breath would escape long before the energy in my legs would. Because of this I figured I would fly a little bit until I felt I could run again.
Surprisingly flying at this time actually uses less energy than running.
As I flapped my wings I was slowly lifted off the ground. I was only about 3 feet above the ground because I figured I didn’t need to be that high to exercise my wings. Another thing was that if I went any higher, I would probably run into a few tree branches and I had in interest in getting cut.
I lowered my body to a slight angle and flapped my wings quickly to move forward. When flying you went much faster than running, but had far less control. If you came to a sudden stop you would be in a lot of pain and your wings would be damaged.
I could fly for about 25 minutes without getting tired, but because I already used a bit of energy, I could only go for about 12 minutes. That was plenty enough time to allow my legs to rest up, so I landed quickly and proceeded to run again.
If only I remembered the warning that Michael had given me.