Kidnapped Part I

I found myself standing on line in the cafeteria. Next to me were a few people. Two of them garnered a lot of attention from all of the first year students.

Some random student walked over to our group. Ignoring me, he slightly bowed towards the two students in question. "Your royal highnesses, would you care to join me for lunch?"

Jacob shook his head and replied as politely as possible. "No thank you. We already have a prior engagement for our meals. Maybe you can join us in the future."

The student nodded. "Very well. I will be waiting for the day. Enjoy your meal, your highness." He glared at me with eyes of envy, hate, and disgust as he walked away.

This was probably the eighth time this had happened. A few of them were a bit more direct and hostile. They would say things about how the royal's meals would be spoiled due to having a commoner in their presence. Fortunately, Prince Jacob seemed to be quite well versed in turning away nobles. He is a royal prince after all so this attention is nothing new for him.

Jacob looked at me. "What are you going to have for lunch?"

I thought as I gazed upon the menu. It was just as overwhelming the breakfast menu. "There are too many options to choose from. Back home, I would eat whatever was put on the table. What do you recommend? I'm sure you are more experienced with food of this caliber than myself."

Jacob laughed. "You seem like a driven man, similar to myself. I prefer a simple lunch that is easy on the stomach. My go to is a wrap with turkey, lettuce, tomato, and hummus. It is simple, healthy, and will keep you energized all the way to dinner."

I shrugged. "Sounds good. I'll try that then. I'll also get a steak for later."

Okami then called out from within my head. 'What is a wrap?'

I shook my head and spoke to myself. 'You will find out soon.'

This internal dialogue did not go unnoticed to Jacob. He also had a beast companion in the form of a nine tailed fox.

Jacob smiled. "How about we eat lunch in my room? That way we can avoid imposing eyes and ears."

I nodded, understanding what he was hinting at. We could more freely discuss certain matters. "That would be nice."

The walk to Jacob's room was uncomfortable, as usual. Many first year students repeated the actions of others in an attempt to gain the favor of the royals. Each and every one of them would glare at me once they were rejected.

Okami sighed. 'What did you do to all of these humans?'

I shook my head. 'I did nothing. They are jealous of me.'

Okami laughed. 'Interesting. Humans are peculiar.'

I nodded as we arrived at Jacob's room. He grabbed the door handle and turned it as he injected his mana into it.

The inside of the prince's room was not much different from mine. He hadn't decorated it as I expected. As he said, he must be a driven man with little care for extravagance. The only difference was the presence of a small table next to the foot of the bed. Around it were 8 chairs. Jacob waved his hand and table settings appeared on the table, one on each of the four sides.

Jacob smiled as he sat down. "Before we eat, how about we let out our friends."

Anna's eyes lit up as she excitedly sat down and observed the three of us attentively.

Yanni nodded and let his dragon form from his stomach. Jacob quickly did the same as the small nine tailed fox emerged from his body. I sighed and did the same, letting Okami out.

I pulled the steak out of my storage ring and tossed it to Okami. He caught it in his mouth with flames of hunger lit in his eyes. Yanni and Jacob also tossed meat to their partners.

Anna's eyes were glowing. "Callum, you got the kludde?"

I nodded. "What's so special about me getting Okami as my partner? I noticed the surprise when he came out but I didn't think much of it."

Jacob laughed. "You are the first person in this kingdom's history to ever bond with a kludde. They are held in extremely high regard and are even more rare than dragons and griffins. I am curious what Thanatos meant when he thought you smelled interesting."

I shrugged. "I'll have to ask him some day. I'm sure that we will meet again. Speaking of that stuff, is Anna allowed to know this stuff because she is a princess?"

Anna shook her head. "Not because I'm a princess, but because I am also enrolled in one of the two secret academies. I am in the Royal Dragon. I am being groomed to take over the constables. Royal constables often work with you guys when dealing with important issues."

I sighed. "So much information. How do they expect someone like me to handle all of this? I come from a simple life and I'm starting to miss it."

Jacob laughed. "If you were chosen by my father, you are definitely special. Anyways, let's eat. I'm starving."

Yanni nodded as he quickly opened his takeout box. "You could say that again."

We all ate quietly and enjoyed our lunch. The food was delicious. As Jacob said, the wrap felt great once it was in my stomach. It was light but quite filling.

Jacob clapped to get everyone's attention once he was done eating. "So what extracurriculars are you guys interested in? MMA sounds pretty cool."

I nodded. "I was going to look into that. However, a certain maniac might come looking for me."

Jacob raised his brow. "How do you mean?"

I laughed nervously. "Professor Mason has me in his sights. He claims that I'm his new favorite student."

Jacob grimaced. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Anna sighed and shook her head. "We haven't known each other for long, but you will be missed."

I shook my head in confusion and tensed up. "Why are you guys talking like I'm going to die?"

Jacob shook his head. "It's much worse than that. Our father warned us to be wary of Professor Mason. He is quite the character."

I nodded. "I got that, but why is it so bad? I thought that students would do anything to become an assistant."

Jacob laughed. "HA! That is true but he is different. His assistant essentially becomes his babysitter."

I grimaced. "That manchild is going to be the death of me. How does anyone tolerate him?"

Jacob shook his head. "Compared to other mages, he is a god-like existence. If it wasn't for his genius, he would have been buried a long time ago with the amount of people he has offended. I wonder how his wife deals with him."

My jaw dropped in shock. "HE'S MARRIED?!?!?"

Anna laughed hysterically. "He is. The story is kind of funny. He graduated at the top of his class at the White Dragon. The second ranked student was his polar opposite. Apart from being perfectly sane, she is also a genius but in a different way. Lady Mason has made an art out of manipulating people throughout her tenure as a constable. They apparently fell in love back in their academy years and got married shortly after. I still don't know what she sees in him."

I sighed. "It seems I must prepare myself."

Jacob nodded. "Yep. Well if you survive, how about the four of us form an MMA team. I was genuinely impressed with the abilities you showed during the exhibition."

I forced a smile. "That is starting to sound like a big if."

Jacob laughed. "Indeed. Well, there is a meeting for students interested in sports teams in ten minutes. The three of us will attend it while you go jump into the lion's den. There is no avoiding it so you should get it over with as soon as possible."

I sighed. "I'll be going then. Come on, Okami."

Okami ran over to me and jumped. He quickly merged with me and we headed to the door. I opened the door and stepped out. As I turned around to close the door, I found myself in a dim room that was most definitely not the hallway.

I shook my head. "So it begins."

Cackling could be heard. "Honestly, no reaction is much better than what I ever could have hoped for. You may have some promise yet."

I relaxed my stance and sighed. "Professor Mason, can you turn the lights on?"

Mason grumbled. "Fine." I heard a snap and the lights flickered on. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

I nearly choked. "Professor, you're the one that kidnapped me."

Mason laughed. "HA! You are right. Now, what did I bring you here for?" He waved his hand and a notebook appeared in his hand. He started flipping through the pages. "No… no… no… must be in the other one." He tossed the book in the air after closing it and it swapped with another. He caught it and quickly went through the pages. A few moments later, he snapped the book shut and returned it to his storage ring.

He looked at me with greed. "I have brought you here to be my assistant. Now that you have accepted my oh so generous offer, let's get started. First order of business is getting you…"

I cut him off. "I never agreed to anything. Why do I want to be your assistant?"

Mason froze. "Why… hmmmmmm. To put it simply, because I'm me. The real question is why you don't want to work with me."

I laughed. "If the only benefit of being your assistant is to spend time with you, then I'll have to pass."

Mason shook his head. "You do realize that you'd be passing up the opportunity to learn from the greatest healer in this world, right?"

I nodded. "I do. What I want to know is how being your assistant will benefit me. I already know that there is something about me that interests you so I want to get something out of this too."

Mason sighed and sat in a chair that materialized as he flopped backwards. "Fine, I'll actually tell you about stuff. First, let's let out our friends. They will help with this discussion."

A bright light emerged from Mason's stomach as a huge bird began to form. It was at least six feet tall with a wing span of at least ten feet. The bird was entirely white apart from its black beak and black feet that boasted monstrous talons. Across the front of its wings and atop its head were gentle white flames that were comforting to look at but without a doubt held great power. Atop its head were white feathers that stuck out from the rest. It also had a large tail that had long white feathers with black tips. White flames also emanated from the tail.

Mason gestured to me. "I showed you mine, now you show me yours."

I nodded as Okami formed out of my stomach in a cloud of darkness. "So how does this display help?"

Mason nodded. "Well if you haven't noticed, our companions share two elements. Chol, who is a sunbird, is attuned with light and wind magic. Your kludde is attuned with light, wind, and fire. Chol and I haven't practiced much in terms of the wind element but there is no better pair to teach you light magic other than us. I am confident that you will have many masters. I have learned under both beasts and humans alike. I don't care for background or appearances. I only care for talent and wisdom. That's why I'm so interested in you. Although crude in method, your avoidance of the other students during the move in walk caught my attention."

I sighed. "So you intend to teach me light magic. What are you getting out of this?"

Mason laughed. "HA! I am getting a prodigy chosen by the king himself to help with my work. On top of that, I have a feeling that you are hiding many things including the depth of your comprehension of water."

I raised my brow. "Comprehension?"

Mason nodded. "It makes sense that you don't know about it. Comprehension is a term that mostly surfaces in the research community. Comprehension essentially is a measure of how well someone can manipulate an element. People like us with beast companions can master the elements our partners are attuned for with little effort. The others require us to work like normal people. That is why I stick with light magic. I've never delved into the darkness side of the coin but I am unparalleled in light thanks to Chol."

I nodded. "Very well. I will be your assistant if you can agree to one condition."

Mason perked up. He had a look of deep hunger on his face. "What is it?"

I smiled. "I want to be on an MMA team. As long as I will have time for that, I will be your assistant."

Mason chuckled. "That's nothing. If anything, MMA should be a great place for you to practice my teachings."

I tilted my head. "How is that? From what I've learned, light magic is only used for healing."

Mason shook his head and stood up. "Let's have a demonstration. You can attack me any way you choose. I will only use light magic to defend myself. If you can land a single hit…" He thought to himself before grinning. "If you can land a single hit in 10 seconds, I will give you ten thousand points."

I nearly choked upon hearing that number. From what I have heard, the number one student rarely earns that many points and still sits atop the rankings. I shook myself out of my stupor. "Fine. Let's do this."

The mad professor and his favorite student were standing about ten feet from each other. Mason was standing there casually without a single concern in his expression. I began feeling concerned. What could he do with light that can block an attack?

I shrugged as I formed a sword of ice in my right hand and a few daggers in my left. Once that was done I nodded. "I'm ready."

Mason smirked. "Your time starts now. 10."

I rushed at him and threw one of the daggers straight at his face to distract him. While it was flying I lunged at him with my sword aiming for his chest.

Mason yawned. "9."

As my sword was about to hit him, I was blinded by a flash of light as I felt something solid push both me and my sword away from him. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and looked at the professor.

Mason was standing there casually still. "8… 7… 6."

Not wanting to waste more time, I decided to try a different approach. I summoned a wall of daggers and launched them at the professor. As they neared him, he waved his hand and a wall of light appeared before him. The daggers shattered on impact and crumbled to the floor.

Mason smiled. "5… 4… 3."

I needed to at least try one more time. I ditched the sword and covered both of my fists with ice before charging at him.

"2."

I was right in front of Mason and wound up my right arm to punch him. As I threw my fist forwards, I felt a gentle force push my arm to the side, just enough to miss him. This punch had all of my strength behind it so my body followed my fist. I put out my foot to try and regain my balance but I kicked something solid and ended up tripping onto the floor.

Mason continued. "1… time's up."

I scoffed as I turned over and sat up. "What did you do?"

Mason laughed. "I did this." From his hands, two swords of light formed from nothing. "This is what it looks like to truly understand light."

I sighed. "How can light be solid?"

Mason shook his head. "So simple minded. Allow me to fix that. Light is not just a thing that can illuminate a room or heal a living being. Light is an element, and can be manipulated the same way as the others. The manipulation is just slightly different due to the nature of it. This is the one thing I will not directly teach you. In order to truly understand light, you must figure this part out on your own. That is what my teachers told me, and it is what I am telling you now. Shall we begin our first lesson?"