The Bog...For Detention?

Luckily, the moss and vines in the water seemed to wrap onto the beast entangling it. I flailed and was suddenly free. With a strong kick I rocketed to the surface, bursting out of the water and taking a deep gulp of air. I swam over to shore and dragged myself onto solid land. "Jesus..." I coughed. 

Suddenly, the swamp exploded and out lunged the monster. It looked like the cross between a bear and a dog, its back covered with moss and mushrooms. I screamed and rolled to the side, one of its claws whistling past my head. I turned and prepared to use magic when I remembered that I knew no magic. Ah, shit. 

"Choal!? I need help!" I shouted avoiding another strike. Nothing. "Choal, I'm sorry! Please, I need to see my skills!" 

With those words time seemed to slow down. I realized that my body was barely moving. What?

[I sped up your mind, idiot.]

Choal materialized next to me.

I tried to speak but realized that my mouth was responding, just really slowly. 

So...my skills?

Choal vibrated and a blue screen appeared. All my stats were there and I could see my skills at the bottom. Magic wasn't the same as skills so I needed to both learn a spell and use a skill at the same time.

Inventory.

The screen changed displaying a bunch of empty boxes. Some were filled though. Bedroll. Backpack. Rations. Rope. Dagger. Ah. I would need that later. And...was that a spellbook? 'Choal, I need that.' I thought. The system vibrated again before time slowly went back to normal.

I jumped out of the way of the lunging monster and a book appeared in my hands in a shower of sparks. I opened it and quickly skimmed through one of the pages. Suddenly multiple spells just popped into my head.

[Congrats! You have learned Magic Missile (Lv 1), Shield (Lv 1), Charm Person (Lv 1)]

Yes!

I let the book disappear before putting my hand up. 

"Magic Missile!" I shouted. Three glowing darts appeared in front of me as the beast charged. I smiled and the darts shot forward, all three hitting the monster in various places. The beast squealed and careened to the side almost crushing me.

I didn't stop though. I shot Magic Missile after Magic Missile, unrelenting.

Finally, with a dying screech the beast fell dissolving into dust. I fell to the ground, panting. Why was I so tired?

[You only have 7 mana left and 32 HP.]

Ah. I smiled up at the system. "Thank you, Choal." I said. The orb turned a dusty pink.

[You did most of the work.] 

I laughed at the system's embarrassment. 

[Congrats! You have gained the skill, Bombardment (Lv 1).]

I frowned. A new skill? "Ok. Let me see."

[Bombardment (Lv 1)]

[When using any ranged spell you can cast that same spell again without expending mana.]

I raised a brow. So if I used magic missile and it took mana, the second time I used the spell it wouldn't take any mana. That was perfect. It would be incredibly useful for later spells too. 

"Any other skills?"

[Yes.]

[Fey Ancestry (Lv 1): You may use a spell and the power will be increased by 15%. If you use this skill, there is a 50% chance the spell will not work.]

I gawked at the screen. What kind of skill was that? It sucked. Hmm. I had two more skills.

[Wild Magic: When you use an elemental spell the damage type is increased by 30%. But there is a 19% chance the spell will backfire damaging you instead of the target.]

[Draconic Bloodline (Lv 1): You have a proficiency with Fire magic due your dragon ancestry. All fire spells have 10% increased damage. You may also take a spell and change its damage type to fire.]

Those skills weren't so bad. And the percentages would probably increase once I leveled the skills up. But I would prefer something cool. And in terms of the spell I did have there wasn't much. "Hey Choal? What was that monster?"

[That was a Groff. A large Plant monster. Unaligned.] I nodded. I looked at my XP points and almost fainted. The Groff had given me 1,100 XP points. Almost enough to level up. But for now the only thing I wanted was to reach the school. Speaking of..."Where the hell am I?"

[You have overshot the school by a good 10 miles. You are in the Detention Bog.] 

Ten miles?! And detention? Why was there a bog called the Detention Bog? "I have no words to describe the amount of annoyance flowing through me right now." I muttered before turning around and trudging along avoiding large bodies of water.

It would be nice to learn a spell like Paths Revealed. Or another elemental spell. Maybe nature based?

[I can guide you around the Witherbloom campus and Sedgemoor to the Central Campus.] 

Ok then.

Only about an hour and a half later I finally reached the outskirts of the central campus. Finally. [Slowpoke.] "Choal I will turn you into a pacman game. Leave me and my out of shape ass alone." I panted.

(You're a very lean stick figure. oops. I forgot I'm supposed to be watching not commenting. As you were.)

It was beautiful. A mass of intricate buildings and star arches curling around in the sky. I could see hundreds of students milling about. Laughing, smiling, and just having fun. There was some horseplay between some students too. I grinned, excited. Fountains, and gardens and magic in every corner. It was like a dream. A really good dream.

[This is the Central Campus. In here lies the Biblioplex and library.] 

I nodded and headed for the large domed building in the distance. Above it was the largest star arch I had ever seen. I was so busy glancing around at all the sights that I didn't see the girl in front of me until I slammed into her. "Ack!" I stumbled.

"Oh! I'm sorry." I said putting a hand out to the girl who was on the floor due to me hitting her. "It's fine." She took my hand and I pulled her up. "I'm Miri. You?" The girl asked smiling as she began picking up her scattered papers. I knelt down as well and began to help. "My name is Jeo-I mean, Peren. My name is Peren." I said. Oops. I forgot that I wasn't home anymore. I had to use my character name.

Miri nodded. "Nice to meet you, Peren." She smiled at me again. Miri was about my height with light green skin and glowing green eyes. She had a flower crown over her leaflike green hair. 

"If you don't mind me asking...what are you?" I asked tilting my head.

"I'm a dryad." Miri said. "Come on we'll be late to orientation." She turned and began walking towards the large domed building. The Biblioplex? I jogged after her. Maybe this school year wouldn't be so bad. At least I hoped it wouldn't be. Little did I know how wrong I really was.

(Yes. Foolish mortals. I'm surprised that you are still here. But please carry on with your reading. You'll need it.)