The sweltering afternoon sun beat down on Mark’s back as he flew through the unpleasantly humid air, his construct helping only marginally against the sun.
He had left the cool indoors of their building, to make the journey towards the Institute.
When the university campus came into view once more, he could see the large shadow of the Thunder Dome hanging over it.
It had clearly once been a stadium, probably used for everything, from concerts to football games. Much of the original structure had survived, but someone, or many someones, had added a feature to the top of the stadium.
The half dome was crisscrossed with chains and earthen spikes. Blocking any entry, or exit from the sky. It was something only the system could have facilitated in such a short time.
Landing on the campus grounds, Mark followed the path toward the main building.
His eye, still caught by the large structure just next door, was drawn in further by the sounds issuing forth from the top of the dome.
Whatever was going on inside, was enough to elicit roars of excitement that Mark could hear all the way from the campus ground. It had not been anywhere near as loud the last time he had come here.
The short walk under the sweltering sun had Mark wishing he had compatibility with ice magic. This time when he came to the quarts notice board, he continued past and entered through the main doors of the Institute.
Right away the heat and noise lifted considerably, the ancient building blocking out the worst of it. The Admissions office was like any other campus Mark had seen. With the exception of the older woman currently reading a file, while a pleasantly cool breeze churned around her. Acting, almost like her own fan, and helping to keep the room cool.
The woman was clearly not a receptionist, because as Mark approached she seemed to expect this, and held up her hand in a halting motion. Instead, pointing to a large stack of pamphlets on one of the nearby desks. Which somehow remained perfectly undisturbed by the room's constant breeze.
Walking over Mark scooped a pamphlet up, and opened the thing. It turned out to be a really well-made map of the building layout. Mark was pretty sure someone had manifested these because the paper was coarser, without the normal glossy finish, but its durability was surprisingly high.
He knew the number of the room he needed to get to, so following the map, he found his way there in no time.
Entering the assigned room, Mark spotted Sam sitting near the front row, waiting with a map of her own. Other than the two of them, they were the only ones in there.
She was sitting right next to the large open window, where the sun streamed in. Walking over, he plopped down next to her. She had already incorporated a churning aura of ice-cold air around herself. No doubt copying and improving on the woman's technique he had seen earlier.
She had arrived before him because her understanding of flight magic was growing in leaps and bounds. Already she had caught up to his speed and was even outpacing him in this regard. Mark didn’t feel down about this, in fact, he was glad for her. She was a monster, that was constantly trying to incorporate the newest concepts into everything she did.
Of course that didn’t mean he would give up and let her charge ahead. He’d keep working at it in his own time.
“Did you see where Jon went?” she asked as he sat down.
Mark settled into the presently cool air and said.
“I’m pretty sure his class starts a eight in the morning, so he’s already missed today's slot. He’ll probably head over to the dome”
Mark stuck his thumb in the direction of the stadium which was clearly visible from their second-story window.
Suddenly, the door to the lecture hall was pulled open and a girl and boy entered the room locked in each other's arms. Slamming the door behind them, they barely came up for air to take a look around, but when they did, the girl spotted Sam and Mark sitting there and gave a yelp of surprise.
“What!? Dammit T! I told you people might be here!”
The guy looked shocked but whined at her anyway.
“Ah come on Bunny, everyone knows Sunny's always late”
The girl looked like she wanted to smack the guy, but controlled herself.
“They are very clearly new students, Dummy”
She took a breath and turned to Mark and Sam.
“Sooo… Hi, sorry for that, I’m Bonnie and this is T.”
They both dressed in simple clothes with pictures of metal bands on their T-shirts and now that he was looking at the guy, he could see he had an electric guitar strapped to his back.
Mark couldn’t help but grin.
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“Just…T?”
T looked defensive.
“Yeah, what of it?! It sounds cool!”
Mark held his hands in amused surrender.
“Fair enough. Nice to meet you guys”
They walked further into the room and actually took up a seat near Sam and Mark, Bonnie was the first speak.
“So… just so you know, for like the future and stuff. Sunny’s like…nee-ver on time. So most of us just show up late…”
It made sense from what Mark had seen of him the other day. And, also explained how they had managed to get here slightly late and still have a completely empty classroom.
Over the course of the next twenty minutes, they chatted with their deskmates and were surprisingly fast friends.
The initial awkwardness was gone in moments when Bonnie and Sam hit it off almost immediately. They exchanged stories, drawing Mark and T in their recounts. Bonnie and T, had been in the city when things went down. They were high school sweethearts, and the zombie apocalypse only made their bond stronger. Their faction paid for their classes so that they could learn more about a sub-set of casting called Passion-casting.
Mark thought it could use some rebranding, but apparently, they had to name the class that because the churches had thrown a stink when the teachers had called it Belief or Faith-casting.
The idea was that one could cast a spell, even if they didn’t know how Mana should interact with the world. The complete opposite of how Sam and Mark tackled their casting. Faith-based casting was just that, having faith. Faith that the spell one needed would come out because one believed it would. Apparently, when Mana was driven into such an uncompromising devotion, it would take a more active role in the spell that was being cast and solve the problem in front of it through raw power.
The fact that the Mana would do this, left room for doubt in people’s hearts. Was there something directing the energy? Some higher being? People were calling this, the Divine, and it was the main reason so many new faiths and cults were popping up all over the place. Mark had had his fair share of cultists, and if some god was helping them cast in exchange for sacrifices, or something equally stupid, then he wanted nothing to do with that lunacy. There were of course heavy drawbacks to this form of casting. The main one being the cost –which Bonnie said could sometimes reach more than ten times the norm– the other being injuries. More often than not, people suffered heavy mental lashback, perhaps from casting spells they could not handle. Though, the faithful insisted, it was their inability to handle their god's divine presence. The upside of this type of casting was that it was very versatile, allowing for the use of all three energies, and seemingly endless outcomes.
Both Sam and Mark did not hide their skepticism and neither Bonnie nor T held it against them. They wanted to figure it out too, to pull back the mystical smoke and mirrors that faith brought in.
While they spoke, the class slowly began to fill up, as people filed in. Sunny was a popular choice, just like his roster had hinted at.
Then Sam asked.
“It's great that your people would pay for you guys to go here, we want to be able to do that later too. What faction are you with?”
Both Bonnie and T clammed up and got more guarded.
“Um, we’re with NAS, but just so you know, we don’t have the sway to get you in if you don't have the levels and strength.”
Sam shook her head at their misunderstanding and explained they weren’t looking to join, just interested.
“So, is that something people do?” Mark asked.
“Oh, sure. You wouldn’t believe how many people we have to bat off on the daily. NAS stands for absolute strength in the city and people want a piece of that. The thing is, they don’t want to have to work for it. They should just go through initiation if they want it that bad, and stop bothering us”
T –Which they had learned was short for Terry – went off on a rant and Bonnie had to calm him down, which led to the most sickenly sweet displays of affection from the pair.
Mark took a moment while they were distracted to search their persons and he did indeed find small unassuming patches on their shoulders, They blended into their clothes, which is why he had missed them at first, but Bonnies read thirty-two, and Terry’s was thirty-five.
They were powerhouses.
Mark was just about to ask another question on what faiths there were around when the door to the classroom opened once more and a small group of people ambled in.
Right away, Mark could tell they held themselves with a sense of poise and dignity. They were all dressed immaculately and strode into the lecture hall as if they owned it.
They searched for a spot away from everyone and sat down, muttering and laughing to themselves, oblivious to the rest of the room.
Terry clicked his tongue in disgust, apparently able to pull himself away from Bonnie long enough to stare daggers at the group.
Which they didn’t even register.
“Not friends, I’m guessing,” Mark asked.
Terry glanced back at him.
“You’re new in the city, so a warning. Don’t get mixed up with the Scions. They are a sub-faction of the Loyalists. The ‘Chosen few’ they call themselves. Kids of rich families that spare no expense in pouring resources into their development. Items, guarded killing sprees, healers at their beck and call, you name it. They don’t actually fight, all they care about is getting the highest numbers to show off to each other”
Mark watched the group of men and women, willfully ignoring the rest of the room. It made sense that NAS and the Loyalists were at odds. They had very different operational styles, but Terry's anger seemed more direct as if they had done something to him personally.
Bonnie lay a hand on his clenched fist and once more calmed him.
Mark didn’t care who or what they were, as long as they didn’t mess with anything he was trying to protect. They could both live in the world and get on with their business just fine.
However, if they weren’t taking this seriously, then they would be chewed up and spit out by the things out there. Or more likely eaten.
The group did not interact with anyone else in the class, even when individuals from other groups tried to strike up a conversation. They were deflected and sent away.
Mark lost interest in them and turned to Sam as the door the door burst open.
“Okay Okay! I’m not that late yet! Is everyone here?”
Teacher Sunny entered the hall in a downright panic, hurrying to the podium and pulling a backpack off his shoulders.
Previously Mark had thought the guy looked thin, and now he could see Sunny had a small delicate build. The hoodie covered most of it, but androgynous features shone through. He looked young but his age was difficult to pinpoint. Someone in the class confirmed everyone was there
“Alrighty then, I see some new face so we are gonna do the usual. I’m focusing on the new students and then I’ll be around to see how the rest of you are coming along. If you have any problems just gimme a little shout”
When he stepped out from behind the podium, a sense of confidence had suffused him. This was his environment and he seemed comfortable in that fact.