Studying Formations

The interior was very beautiful. Large paintings of different scenes and people, hung on the walls. The floor was tiled with beautiful grey stones, that looked brand new. A large staircase led to the second floor, with statues of people on both sides. Fox said "This is just the main hall. Our classes will take place on the second floor. The higher one goes, the more advanced students are".

She then continued "There are four ranks that the Formation Students are separated into. The Beginners, Novices, Intermediate and Advanced. We are Beginners, so we have access to the second floor only… well most of the time. I have access to the third and fourth floor as well". I nodded, as we headed upstairs to the second floor.

Some youngsters were staring at me, but I didn't pay much attention to them. I asked Fox about something, that's been on my mind lately. "Do Formation Masters actually fight?". Fox replied "Some of them do. There is a department in the Academy, that specialises in combat. Although, only Advanced Students can apply, and the selection is very strict". I replied "I wonder how strong they are?". Fox laughed a bit, and said "Even you may have some problems. From what I heard, they are annoying to deal with".

We then arrived at the classroom, and Fox told me to sit next to her. She said "Because you are a total beginner, I will help you out. I'm not good either, but I at least know a thing or two about Formations". I nodded, and Fox passed me a few books. She said "Read them for the basic theory. For everything else, just watch me, and ask questions. I will try to answer". I nodded my head, and took the books.

I started reading the first book. It was about some kind of strange symbols. The book explained that the basics of Formations, were those symbols. The symbols were quite easy in the beginning, but the further I flipped, the more complex they became. 'It's like learning the Thousand and One Herbs book again. I'm not sure if I want to go through this one more time' I thought.

As I read the book, I felt someone approaching me. I turned towards that direction, and noticed a guy walking over. He looked at me, and said "Why don't you take a walk, I have some stuff to talk about with Fox". I laughed, and said "Kid, you are to stupid, to even realise what you want to get yourself into". Fox was busy reading a book as well, and didn't even notice that guy.

He got angry, and a few more guys appeared. I wanted to laugh, but I restrained myself. 'A bunch of kids want to threaten me, this is just laughable' I thought. I turned towards Fox, and asked "You know these kids?". She raised her head with a "Huh?", and looked behind me. She said "Oh, they are from our classroom. I don't really know them much". I looked at the guy, and said "See? She doesn't even know you guys. Seriously though, I suggest that you just practice or something, and stop disturbing people". I turned towards my book, and continued reading.

The guy had a short temper, and ran at me with his fist clenched. I wanted to swat him like a fly, but to my surprise, Fox did that before I could. The guy flew back, and hit the wall. Fox said "Don't you think, you are too full of yourself?". The other kids turned around and grabbed the guy from the floor, then ran away. She looked at me, and asked "Are you alright?". I couldn't contain my laughter anymore, and laughed loudly. After a while, I said "Seriously? I found them amusing. I mean, if they know what they are getting themselves into, they would run even faster". Fox smiled, and returned to reading her book.

I took the second book, and opened it. The book explained how to use those symbols. In truth, these were not called symbols, but Runes or Markings. If you wrote them in a specific way, you could make a Formation. The book explained that Formations could range from beginner to advanced, and finally mastery. The Beginner Formations were quite simple. Only a few Runes were used, but the effects they created were usually rubbish.

'So even if I learn how to write and connect them together, I can only make rubbish Formations. Although I guess, making a difficult recipe from Nick's books would be hard too, compared with the easy ones' I thought. One had to start somewhere, and that was where the third book came in. It contained a few of the "recipes" to create Formations. I also found that I needed a special brush, ink and paper to write them. Of course the more advanced students didn't need that, and could imbed their Formations into objects.

I decided to give it a try. After all, I wasn't that bad with drawing. This was a sort of glorified drawing too, but instead of drawing figures, beast and landscapes, I would draw Runes. I asked Fox about the materials, and she handed me everything I was required. I then followed the "recipe" for my first Formation. It was a Formation to make the paper wet. I had no clue, what use this would have in the real world, but I wasn't concerned about that.

I draw the strokes the best I could, but in the end, the paper didn't get wet. 'Hmm… I followed the instructions to the letter. Why wouldn't it work?' I asked myself. Practice was the best solution, and that I did. Time passed, and when I looked up, I noticed it was getting darker outside. Fox was not next to me either. 'I must've been too focused on studying. Formations are quite interesting' I thought.

I decided to explore the place a bit myself. When I left the room, I saw the stairs leading to the third floor. 'I already made a blunder once. Besides, I still don't have that pass. Can I leave this place?' I thought, and tried going downstairs. Nothing stopped me, which was good. I took a tour around the place, and checked out the paintings, as well as some statues. 'These are probably some famous people, that I know nothing about. Not that I want to know either' I thought. I wasn't interested in some famous people's history. Whether I learned it or not, wouldn't change anything. I classed it as useless knowledge.

While I walked like this, I noticed it was rather quiet. No people were running around, hurrying for their classes. 'This place is so peaceful during the evening. I kinda like it here' I thought. I then heard someone running behind me. I turned around, and it was Fox. She said "There you are. I was looking for you". I smiled, and said "I thought you went back home, or something". She shook her head, and replied "I went to get some food, you haven't eaten anything for the whole day".

I laughed, and said "True, I didn't. Remember the time we first met? I was starving back then. If I didn't eat anything, I would die". She replied "You were scary back then. You should thank me, that I fed you". I asked surprised "It wasn't Shelly? I always felt out of sorts, when I thought about Shelly feeding me…". As we walked upstairs, I said "I have meat with me, we can make some fire, and…", but before I could finish, Fox said "Are you some sort of savage? There is plenty of food here you know? You don't have to hunt, and eat tasteless meat". I replied "It's not tasteless...".

I was dragged back to the classroom, with a table full of food. Fox said "When you focus on something, you forget that the world exists. I brought the food here, because you didn't respond when I called out". I sat down, and ate. I was hungry to be honest. Halfway through table full of food, I asked "You don't want any?". Fox replied "You can eat everything". I nodded and continued.

After the meal, I said "Time to find a place to stay. I will see you tomorrow, get some rest too". She grabbed me, and asked "Where do you think you are going?". I was confused, and replied "To sleep? An inn or pub, if I can leave through the gate. If not, I can always find a place here. By the way, it would really help if I could get that Formation thing, to leave through the gate". Fox just shook her head, and said "You will sleep at our place, in the tower". I had nothing against that, so I followed her.

We arrived at the top of her father's tower, and she showed me my room. It wasn't very big, but I wasn't the one to complain. She said "As for that pass, I will give you one tomorrow". I nodded, and said goodnight to her.