Bobby woke up and immediately regretted it. His limbs felt heavy and anchored to the bed. All he wanted to do was escape into the void and wander until it was dinner time. Until he noticed a few problems with this plan. He needed to eat lunch and take his pills. There was also class to attend and the most bizarre one: he couldn’t find the void. No matter how empty his mind became, regardless of how empty his heart was, he did not feel the call of the void. He sighed, as he heaved his legs over the side of the bed.
He stared down, witnessing him feet submerged into a deep purple puddle. Bobby was puzzled. Not that he felt anything, but that it was weird seeing an illusion so early in the morning. Bobby looked at the window’s shades. Although it was covered, he could still see some light creaking through the edges. It was early, that’s for sure. On a count of three he lunged his body forward, and walked over to the window, peaking through the corners of the shades. It was dawn. “That’s a first,” Bobby muttered. ‘Today will be a long day,’ he thought as he got dressed. By the time he was done, he had to leave. ‘It’s a shame I didn’t work on the program,’ he thought, grabbing the laptop and left the room.
He was glad that he found the building and room so quickly this time. Just remembering the past journeys to find classrooms was a nightmare. He released a groan as he sat down. And just like last time the silence was disturbed by random noises, but nothing that disturbed the peace. Bobby just wanted to sit down and forget about everything. But he reluctantly opened and turned on his laptop, waiting for Professor Dave to start his lecture. But he never noticed when Professor Dave started to stand there.
“Well?” he repeated with a harsh tone. “Is there any student who knows the answer to question from Monday?” He stood there, his cane was a gorgeous ebony black, ingrained with a silver vines, blossoming into various flowers. It was a perfect match to his pure black suit and shoes. He twisted his lips, as he tapped the screen behind him. The question appeared, and he read it out loud, “Explain how either manifestation or realization could have been used to erase your memories. Nowadays, we use alchemy to erase your memories, since its less harmful. Why should people avoid casting magic on other people’s minds?” He eyes scanned the room, waiting for someone to answer.
Only a few seconds passed, but it felt like a saga was shorter than the slow ticking of time. Eventually, Bobby raised his hand. “There is no need to raise your hand, Bobby. Just say the answer,” he said slightly disappointed by the class.
“Its like planting a trojan horse,” Bobby said. He decided to ignore all the staring soulless eyes that turned to face him. He looked straight at Professor Dave, hoping he would take the spotlight instead.
Professor Dave nodded, “I can only imagine what you mean when you say trojan horse, but yes.” He said, tapping the screen, showing a blank slide. “Although its not the complete answer, using either manifestation of realization magic will lead to…” Professor stared at the crowd, choosing his next words carefully, “some form of mental corruption. Another person’s magic left to run wild can only lead to disaster.” He faced Bobby, “however, you did not answer the first part of the question.”
Again, millions of eyes snapped to Bobby’s direction. He just wanted to sink into the chair and remain hidden from sight. But his sore body did not want to move a muscle and yet he could run his mouth all he wanted. But he remained silent. Mainly because he did not remember the exact difference between the two types of magic.
Professor Dave nodded, “Its only the second day of class. There is not much to worry about,” he said. But his face clearly betrayed him. “Manifestation would tap into the will of the world and declare that this person will, has or never can learn magic. Realization would tap into the mind and leave a part of themselves and manipulate their memories from there.” Professor Dave smiled, “take a guess and tell me which one is worst for the victim? Any volunteers?”
The class remained silent, taking notes on everything he just said. Professor Dave turned his head, facing the screen. “Realization magic will lead to some form of mental corruption,” he said, tapping the screen. “A yes and no question and they still got it wrong,” he murmured. He snapped his fingers, teleporting to the side of the room, letting them take their notes. He crossed his arms, waiting for them to be done.
Eventually, when they all looked up at the screen, he snapped his fingers and appeared before the screen. He tapped it and it went to a blank slide. “You should know the origins of magic, and you should also know that there are two types of magic,” Professor Dave said, with a grin. “But how is magic done? Afterall, energy can only change function, so how does energy turn into magic?”
Again, the room remained silent. It was almost possible to hear the lecture from other rooms. Professor Dave kept his smile and faced the board, tapping it. A title popped up. “Runes. The catalyst that changes energy into magic is called runes. I assume you all attended your meditation class?” He eyed the class, seeing a few nods out of the many doll-like heads. He nodded, “meditation will help you etch your runes onto your person. However,” he tapped the screen showing a full slide of notes. The students rushed to write down everything they saw on the screen. Professor Dave smiled, “a person can only have and use six runes efficiently. And all six runes will come from alchemy. Not much is known about creating a rune, but that is something you will learn later.”
Bobby was confused since what he was hearing from Professor Dave’s mouth was not the same as he was seeing. It’s not impossible that he was seeing a illusion of words. However, it has never happened before. He also hoped that the pills were helping, although it would take a long time to see their full effect. He typed whatever he heard from Professor Dave’s mouth. At least he could trust his hearing.
“What you must know, is that runes come in a set. For example, I have three runes which allow me to wield three abilities. Puppeteering, Teleportation, and String Manipulation,” he said glaring at the students, still burrowing into their notes. At least one person caught it. “Normally, I would have three other runes to use, however we do not know them. Some runes sets are fully known. As proven later, not all sets of runes are created equally.” He stared at the class, waiting for all of them to finish their notes. “In this class, we will study the sets of runes and what they represent. And then delve into how manifestation and realization could be used in different ways.”
“its all memorization from this point on,” he said tapping the screen again. And so, a long journey of Professor Dave discussing facts continued into the end of class. By the end of it, Bobby had a headache, but it was nothing he could not deal with. But he couldn’t deal with seeing two Professor Daves at the same time. “Bobby, do you have a minute? I’d like to discuss something with you.”
Bobby nodded, as he closed his laptop. This was so much more convenient than a notebook, pencil, pens, and whatever else. He took it with him, quickly following Professor Dave. As quick as his sore body allowed him. “How are your classes? And how is Yu Xiao?” He said, he back still showing Bobby.
Bobby wanted to tell him about the pills, but he thought about it for a moment. He was just fooling himself; “magic is real.” Wasn’t that the exact line he told to Amanda? And now he’s taking pills to cure his “illusions” to finally see the “real college” Boss wanted him to attend? It was all a joke. Some twisted and cruel joke he played on himself. Disillusioned with his own illusions. At least that was something consistent. He sighed, thinking about how quickly Boss threw him out, and how Amanda… whatever was happening with her, she was not the same.
“We are here, if you have anything to actually say, find any of my clones. I’d be very willing to help.” Professor Dave said, making direct eye contact with Bobby. Bobby couldn’t help but deflect his eyes, seeing the professor with a beard in the door behind Professor Dave. He was blowing some bubble gum, staring a hole into Professor Dave’s back.
Professor Dave just stood there, “I’d prefer if you could find a way to help Yu Xiao. There were many attempts to help him,” he smiled, finally showing his crow feet at the corner of his eyes. “You are not the first to help him, nor will you be the last, but hopefully Yu Xiao will learn something.”
Bobby stood there, thinking about it. He didn’t hear Professor Dave say goodbye to him. Nor the fact the other professor was calling out his name for attendance. But he somehow found himself in a seat, with his laptop in front of him. He wasn’t sure how to help Yu Xiao. Nor not sure why Professor Dave brought him up. But it struck Bobby that he didn’t ask where to find food on campus and he should have asked Professor Dave.
But none of that mattered, as he listened and took notes. The professor eyed him from time to time, but his class was much easier to understand than Professor Dave’s class. It was all about the history of runes and where they were founded. The current section was about Egyptian runes. The Egyptians had it, but then jews took it from them and made Exodus. And the jews went to Sania, only to ditch the runes in the desert. As for why the Jews did that, it was because they could no longer practice witchcraft according to their religion. That was the basic summery of this lecture. There were no surprising questions or incorrect slides. It was enjoyable, surprisingly.
