2 - 2 -

"Hello, class!" We all whipped around and a figure came into view. It was a relatively large creature, with a very top-heavy torso. His stringy legs carried him towards the door, where my classmates had cleared a path for him. He spread his arms.

"Welcome," he bellowed in a low voice. I could hear moaning coming from what I assumed were regulars from the school. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mister Grey will not be able to teach for the time being. As a replacement, I will be taking over his position while he gathers his bearings."

"Great," Boingo hissed. He had sprung up onto my shoulder once again. "Mister Grey's creepy and all, but Wrecking Ball's even worse!"

The substitute teacher cleared his throat. With one powerful thrust, the doors parted and slammed into the sides of the school. "Now, shall we begin? Perhaps we should start with a little review? If you've been practicing the skills you've harnessed over the break everyone should be able to nail this small examination."

Suddenly, everyone flooded out into the vast field. Boingo had joined them, for once putting him out of my sight. Nervous, I approached the teacher. "Sir… I've no experience with magic."

I caught his attention and he turned around. "Oh? I'll start by teaching you the basics, then. If you go over there, I can tutor you while all the others are busy clearing the rust that they accumulated." He bowed slightly, bringing a huge hand to his chest. "And please, just call me B."

I nodded and started moving towards a secluded area of the field. I couldn't see any hint of Boingo, much less anyone else. As time went on, I found myself idly looking around at the sky. In a way, it seemed artificial. Everything did. I periodically checked in on the massive group that was to the left of me, B merely a smudge among all the unrecognizable creatures. Part of myself though that the bell would ring and I would've stood out in the field and still not know a thing about magic. It would be a shame if that occurred since I was initially ecstatic that it had been adopted into a school subject.

B's voice cut me off my train of thought. "Alright, that should do it for today. Now they just need to figure out what they need to train themselves on." I turned my head and saw that he was approaching me, so I quickly stood. "Sorry to keep you waiting for so long, they were quite the hassle."

I smiled, mostly because I would finally be doing something other than simply thinking to myself. B's expression turned somewhat to stone as he rapidly switched the subject. "Alright. Now, about your learning… Are you sure you've never even touched magic?"

I didn't need to sift through my memory to answer the inquiry. "I haven't. None of the people in my hometown have cast any spells whatsoever."

B furrowed his semblance of eyebrows. "So how did you get into the school? Was it a referral?"

My mind, encountering a mild roadblock, had to lightly think about this. "I believe the principal came up to me one day, placed a hand on the top of my head then asked me to enroll when I had the chance. He left me a card afterwards that had his phone number on it."

"So you're one of those kids..." B nodded. "Picked by the principal himself."

"That's right."

"Okay, I'll teach you. One of the simplest and least taxing spells you can cast is the fireball. It also makes for a good way to improve your skills, as the roundness of it can be improved over time. Before you get into that, however, you will need to find and harness your innate energy bank. Right now, you've most likely never touched it in your life. It'll feel unnatural to access it at first, but over time it'll only feel like flexing a muscle. After that, you can get into the fun stuff. You see, magic stems from creating devices from raw materials. Think of it like this; to construct a hammer, you will need resources for the handle and another, harder substance for its head. When you're learning magic, you will be taught how to form new resources from the raw energy that you will soon be able to feel, then put those together to create sometimes intricate devices. These mechanisms can then execute certain tasks, such as picking things up and even building an actual hammer or other physical objects." B then grinned, his large teeth glistening in the sunlight. "Whoops, there I go again. I just think you'll really enjoy it. Now, let's get started, shall we?"

It seemed as though only a handful of minutes had passed before the final bell rang to end our session. B had left a few times while I was left to practice, but this time he left without any intention on coming back. I also started walking with him towards the school, my stomach rumbling. I figured that I would also rely on Boingo to tell me where the cafeteria was since I had no sense of direction around the titanic school.

I joined the flood of students inside the hallways and swiveled my head around in the hope that would find the small yellow creature. As time passed, I repeatedly punched my roaring gut in order to silence it. I was not going to get any more second glances today.

Several minutes passed since the lunch break had started. I had found the cafeteria, but there was still no sign of Boingo. Because I figured that it wouldn't be wise to lose my only guide to the school, I started to roam the halls once more. I frowned at the idea that I would eventually have to eat by myself if this kept up.

"Feste?" I heard a familiar voice speak out among the hushed conversations the other students were having. I whipped my head around. "Oh, there you are!"

I now purposefully embraced my acquaintance that was a fraction of my size, ensuring that he didn't immediately rush to towards my head the instant he leaped onto my chest. "Finally. Let's get a meal together, I nearly starved walking around the school." I punched my abdomen yet again.

Boingo nodded as a response. "Yeah! I thought you disappeared or something!"

"Oh, this is so good!" Boingo nearly spat out the food he had in his mouth onto my tin tray. I almost had to fight the urge to mirror him, the flavor was so pronounced and the entire meal overall meticulously put together.

I placed my fork on the tray, completely satisfied. "Normally cafeteria food would be rushed, but this... This just took me back to a fancy restaurant we used to eat at together as a family!" I felt a pang of homesickness rising up my esophagus. I stifled it, exposing no more than a sudden frown. This was only the first day here, I didn't have a reason to become sad just yet.

"Feste?"

"Yes?" I shifted my eyes back to Boingo, his disproportionately large eyes staring into my soul.

"Are you okay?"

I brought myself to chuckle. Why would Boingo get upset at only a few seconds of vulnerability? "What? No, I... I was just thinking about my home. It's alright now."

This didn't seem to falter Boingo. In fact, his eyes narrowed. "Hey Feste, why did you come here in the first place? Last time I checked, the principal only picks students that already have magical powers. But you even struggled to make a fireball last class! What's going on, huh?"

I was taken aback. Sure, the principal suddenly showing up was a peculiar event. But I still had a reason in mind that made me enroll. I shook my head. Even if I told Boingo about it now, he would only laugh. Right?

Meanwhile, the creature in question pouted. "So you're not gonna talk then, huh? Fine, have it your way." He left the table before I could reply. As he rounded the corner and out of sight, I always kept the topic in the back of my mind as I slowly resumed eating my meal. My eyes also drifted towards Boingo's, too. I cringed and hoped that he wouldn't simply leave it half-eaten.