12 Choosing your lesson?

I want to visit culture and art!", Celes proclaims! "But that's boring and of no use!", I answer. 

"What use has the magic lesson to you?", Celes asks. 

"I can sleep and still ace the test!", yeah smart smart thinking. You have to admit that. 

"So you are lazy! Do you want to waste this life sleeping?"-Celes 

I sigh and continue to study the letter we got from the Midpoint headmaster. At the moment we are on the school grounds and about to register our lessons. 

Nicol didn't understate when he said it was a highly regarded school. It's BIG. Without the letter and a map, we wouldn't have found our way. 

There are areas for each school grade, so the younger students don't get in the way of older ones. 

To advance a grade, you have to complete at least nine lessons of it. Mathematics, language and basic magic are fixed lessons for us, but we have to choose ten! 

It leaves seven lessons to our choice. 

Our problem is that Katrin instructed us to take the same lessons. And I am not in the least interested in the stuff Celes likes. The same goes for her of course. 

"Fine, we throw a coin and whoever wins gets to choose first. So he has four choices, while the other has three."-Me 

"Never! I know how good you are with telekinesis, you would just influence the coin to your advantage!"-Celes 

"Tch!" 

"Hah! I knew it! You had a plan like that!", she looks at me accusingly. 

"Fine! We both choose three and take the last at random.", I suggest. "How?", Celes asks. 

"We write some leaflets and draw one blindly.", I suggest. "Hmmm....", Celes bites her lip while thinking. 

"We will ask a random person to name one subject until it is one we can take." -Celes 

"You don't trust me at all, don't you." -Me 

"I trust you my love! I am sure you would take every chance, that would make my life more miserable and yours a little bit better. So let the war begin, I will start!" 

"Art!" 

"Rune Magic!" 

"Culture!" 

"Science!" 

"Close Quarters Combat!" 

"You just want to beat me up!" 

"That's not a subject, but if we ask Nicol, he could have the headmaster to introduce it." 

"Magical combat training!" 

"Now, you want to beat ME up!" 

"So who do we ask for the last one?", I speak to myself. "Over there! The gardener!", Celes replies. 

"That guy is sure to say nothing intellectual, you want to trick me!", I complain. 

"Fine, we stop that teacher there. HEY! Professor! Can you help us, please!?", Celes runs up to a random guy and stops him. 

"What?", the old guy stops. "We want to choose a last subject together, but cannot decide. So we want someone else to choose for us, could you be so kind?", Celes asks. 

The old guy starts to grin like a devil, "You two are a pain in the ass, to disturb me for something like this! So I will have you two join the worst lesson a first year can take. MINE! Take the mystic arts lesson. BE there the next time, or I will come and get you! I know your faces and you have horns! Not hard to find you.", the old guy turns around and walks away. 

"Why does it feel like we have problems now?", Celes asks me. "Your fault!", I comment. "WHYYY!?", she screams. 

I just shake my head and check the lessons on our applications. 

The registration process afterwards wasn't worth mentioning. We went to the responsible office and gave them the required documents we got from our parents. 

At least there wasn't any need to stay inside the dorm. Rose would take us to the school every morning and get us in the evening. 

Protection wasn't necessary, the school had its own security guards. That's because the school teaches many kids from noble families. There wasn't anyone allowed here who didn't belong to Midpoint. 

As we make our way to our first lesson, strangely enough its -Close Quarters Combat-, we meet a known face there. 

"Celes! Oh I wanted to see you! You take the same lesson!?", Tanja Morden jumps as she shakes Celes hands. 

"T...Tanja. Why are you here? Aren't you older than us?", Celes asks. "Oh, no problem at all. The instructor takes everyone who wants to. There are kids from six to twelve here." -Tanja 

Celes gets dragged to the dressing room by Tanja. And at last some peace for me! 

I walk to the boys area and change into sportswear too. Then I take a look at the very spacious gym. 

The instructor has already started to individually teach some kids hand to hand combat. 

I guess it doesn't make much sense to hold a lecture here. A few small fighting arenas are in the corner of the gym. There will probably some kind of show-fight in the end, to judge our skills. 

Everyone is wearing the same track suit, regardless of gender. 

"Is that you Angrod?" - I turn around and see a cute girl of about my age. She has silver hair and wolf ears with a tail, her eyes are skyblue. "I am sorry, do I know you?", I don't recognize her. 

"No, you don't know me yet, but I have seen you at the party. You were so coool. I hope we can be friends!", she walks up and links arms with me. 

"My name is Iris, by the way.", Iris informs me. 

What's up with this little kids slutty behaviour? Is this world mad? What is wrong with the little children here? But Iris... that name sounds familiar. 

And why am I jumped by a girl, only five minutes after I am separated from Celes? 

*Check* "Aahhh!" *Plomb* 

Iris is pushed from my arm and falls flat on the floor. Celes is suddenly beside me, "Don't touch my fiance!" 

"What's wrong with you!?", Iris screams while standing up. 

"Just taking care of my valuables!", Celes smiles bright. 

So I am something like a favoured earring after all! Stupid witch, The episode with her alone a few days earlier almost made me waver. 

"Celes, aren't you a little too rude? We don't even know her?", I try to calm the situation. Though I am thankful to her for removing the slutty child from my arm. 

"Honey, keep out of girls talk, and I wont interfere in boys talk. Do we have an agreement" -Celes 

Uh..... she is playing with her hairpin. Good luck in your next life slutty wolf girl. I only knew you for less than a minute. That's not enough to risk my head for you. 

"Celes, you should probably know that.....", Tanja wants to say something but.... 

"What is going on here!?", one of the instructors came over. 

"She gave me a body-check for no reason!", Iris complains to the instructor. 

"Hahaha, you touched and dirtied something valuable to me, horny wolf.", Celes smiles that perfect  smile of hers. 

"We don't use violence outside of a match here, I hope you two will understand that." -instructor. 

"Then I will have a match with her! I want revenge!", Iris screams at the instructor. 

Nooo! Slutty wolf girl, you are digging your own grave here! Morden tugs at me, "Angrod, we have to stop them! That's Iris Tulhelm, she feared here for her brutality and is the best newcomer in magic assisted combat! Celes will be hurt!" 

Goodbye slutty wolf girl, now I guess you will make her angry. There won't be much to scrape from the floor. 

"Fine with me, if I win you keep ten meters distance from Angrod!" -Celes 

"Ugh, if I win, the same goes for you!" -Iris 

"You two! Matches aren't made for such a reason! And you Celes? You are a newcomer? You can't just fight an advanced disciple of the master at the first day!" -instructor 

"Where can we fight?", Celes looks at the instructor. 

"Haven't you heard me?", instructor starts to get angry. "Let Them Fight!", an old geezer with a raccoon tail comes up to us. "Everyone has to learn their lesson! Some lessons are harder than others. Better they deal with it in the ring, than anywhere else! Step into the arena." 

He points to a miniature arena, which is lowered under the level of the normal ground. Celes and Iris make their way down into it. 

"We really have to do something Angrod!", Tanja Morden is out of herself. 

I step up to the raccoon geezer, I have had bad experiences with those. "Uhm, Master? I guess?", I ask him. 

"I am teacher Tongord. I supervise this lesson.", he answers. 

"I think it would be good to call a healer. One will be needed. ….. a good one!", I tell him and he looks at me with a raised eyebrow, but then he waves at the instructor. The instructor dashes off. 

In the meantime Celes and Iris have taken positions inside the arena. Celes just stands there with folded hands. Iris had taken something like a praying position. 

"You may Go!", Tongord calls. 

Suddenly Iris explodes with magical energy and disappears, just to reappear before Celes, which didn't even twitch. 

*CRACK!* 

She plants a perfect punch on Celes's chin and Celes is taken five meters up into the air. Iris disappears again and makes a reappearance above Celes. Her left foot impacts on Celes with a terrifying blow *CRUNCH* and Celes is sent down into the arena again. 

Iris pulls her teleportation combo a third time and before Celes can impact the floor, she is hit by another fist. 

*CRACK* 

Celes is sent into the arenas wall. *BAM* 

We can feel the ground shake, as the whole wall collapses over her. 

"Oh, no! I could hear the bones break! Why haven't you stopped this master Tongord!", Tanja cries out. 

"Hmmmm.....I didn't expect this.", Tongord answers. 

*BAM!* 

The ground shakes.... 

*BAM!* 

The ground shakes again! 

"Oh, Iris has done it, she is angry now! The poor little Iris....", Tongord and Tanja look at me like I am mad. 

*BAM!* 

The collapsed part of the arena blasts apart and Celes walks out of the dust cloud. 

Iris is still standing where she dealt the last punch. Her eyes go wide, as she sees Celes slowly walking her way. 

Suddenly she turns around and tries to limp away, as if she has a broken foot. Being too slow, Celes reaches her and grabs her good foot. 

*SNAP* 

"KYAAAAA!!", we hear a pitiful scream as something breaks. 

*WHAM!*  *WHAM!*  *WHAM!* 

Celes slams Iris three times into the ground like a child, playing with a doll. Confirming, that there is no movement any more, Iris gets tossed over the shoulder like a broken doll. 

"I have dealt with the disturbance honey!", she smiles and waves at us. 

At this point I have to do some explaining, I think. Well the simple version: Celes is a magical idiot! Even as a god, she knew just the most basic spells. She has almost zero ability to sense mana. 

What she has though, is godlike control over her inner mana flow. Some people would even call it inner power or just Ki. She is a master in manipulating it. It is a far more advanced version of what Iris did. Iris wrapped herself in her own mana, to enhance her physical abilities. But in the process, she wasted much of it and it burst out as energy. We, as bystanders, could feel it. 

From Celes, who was doing the same, we could feel nothing. By coating herself with such a thin tight layer of mana, Celes becomes almost immune to most physical attacks and spells. That's why I had a hard time against her as a god. I had to pull off fucking nukes, to dent her defense. 

Well, to say it with other words, she is a martial artist, who uses mana to her advantage. Or a simple brutish idiot I would say. 

The only thing Iris did by hitting Celes, was breaking her own arms and leg. 

I wave back at her, while I already see some healers advancing in our direction.