Winds of Magic Chapter 6!

 

Chapter 6

The weeks passed without much fanfare. Then I got the letter. I had been accepted. I was now part of the Freshman class at Rockwell Magic Academy. My practical score had been dismal, but I had scored the highest of any of the test takers on the written exam.

But even so I was rated a “Third.” I did not know exactly what this meant, but I had no illusions about its connotation.

Rei, on the other hand, was listed as a “First.” She received a full scholarship, all expenses paid, and was the second-highest scorer on the practical exam. Her written exam results were nothing to scoff at either.

Rockwell was just within walking distance of our houses. The day of orientation arrived, and Rei woke me up early by knocking on my door.

I got dressed and went to the door. “Ready?” I said, once I opened it.

“Ready,” said Rei. We walked the fifteen minutes it took to get to the campus and arrived to see a great number of students who were gathered in the entrance square.

The academy was formed of silver and magic. Each building flowed through the air, hanging at strange, obtuse angles and sparkling with an electric brilliance. It resembled the “future land” models that one sees in pictures of what the fifties thought the future looked like. Not outdated, but a bit quaint in its sensibilities.

The biggest building was a fluted column that stood at least twenty stories tall, decorated with what appeared to be twinkling diamonds. That building rose out of the middle of the campus, surrounded by the other buildings, all of which complimented it.

There were over five hundred students arranged in the courtyard, with five sets of tables carrying nametags and attendance sheets.

Rei waved. She had spotted Tetra and Jade. Tetra waved back and approached us.

“Hum hum,” said Tetra, holding her hand luxuriously in front of her mouth. “I see you have both arrived.” She eyed me. “Mr. Miracle.”

That was Tetra’s nickname for me, as she considered my entrance into Rockwell to be a miracle. I couldn’t argue with the name as it appeared to be a term of endearment when coming from her. Her mind, as always, was a bit obtuse.

And so was Jade’s. She bowed, without saying anything. I saw the badge on her shirt.

“You’re a Second?” I said.

“And you’re a Third,” said Tetra, in place of Jade.

Tetra’s badge indicated that, like Rei, she was a First. Tetra, to her credit, did not boast about her placement rank. We looked at each other, and then Tetra chuckled. “Anyways, it’s time that we got signed in for orientation.” She paused. “I never did ask exactly what your major was.”

“Magical cyber engineering,” I said.

“Ooh, a tough one,” said Tetra. “I myself have joined the art conservatory.” She laughed. “And Jade is studying magic medicine.”

Jade nodded, though she did not speak.

I motioned towards Rei. “Rei is training to be a hyperspace engineer,” I said.

“Ah, hyperspace,” said Tetra. “Quite the strange subject.”

“Have you seen it before?” asked Rei.

“Once I saw it during a lab for my AP Spatial Manipulation class. It certainly gave me quite the surprise.”

“Yeah, hyperspace does that,” said Rei. “You get used to one kind and then they show you another and it boils your brain again.”

“Very few people can handle looking straight at hyperspace,” said a voice, approaching us.

It was a professor. She wore a mauve business suit and had on a name tag that identified her as “Dr. Simmons.” She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five years old. Quite a feat for a professor. She also held in her hand a poster with “Magical Engineering” written on it. She motioned towards the greeting tables. “I couldn’t help but hear that Rei Ward was in attendance.” She extended her hand. “Stacy Simmons. Dr. Stacy Simmons.”

Rei shook the professor’s hand. “Rei Ward,” she said, “Though I suppose my reputation precedes me.”

Dr. Simmons smiled. “Indeed. Your mastery of the hyperspace portion of the written exam was something to be seen.”

Rei laughed nervously. “Yeah, um, I spend a lot of time looking at it.”

“You don’t happen to be a natural, do you?” Dr Simmons paused. “Of course you are. No one who hasn’t delved deep into the hyperspace levels could answer like you did on the exam.”

A “natural” was someone who could see hyperspace without needing equipment. Rei was one of them. When she was a child, it really bothered her, but now that she had grown up she managed to keep control of it. Even so, some days the hyperspace took over her body and made her bedridden for a while. It hadn’t happened in some time but I was always standing by for an attack.

Not now though. Now we had to bathe in our success.

“Yes, I am a natural,” said Rei, a bit guarded. “Now, if you will excuse me.”

“Ah, one thing before you go,” said Dr. Simmons. “Say hello to Dr. Richardson when you can. He can help you in ways most professors can’t.”

We excused ourselves from Dr. Simmons and went to the sign in table. After waiting in line for a while we both received name tags that also displayed our chosen major. We were then told to gather around the Orientation Leaders who were holding the signs of our major.

I returned to Dr. Simmons, who appeared to be the only professor among the orientation leaders. I didn’t know what was going on there but I didn’t want to ask. About a hundred students gathered around her sign.

The groups split and began their tours of the campus. I got to see all the halls, each one unique in its twisting, graceful form. The windows reflected light as if encrusted with gems.

Hammard Hall was the location where most engineering students had their classes.

 We also saw the Battle Spire. That was the tall building at the center of the campus. It was, as its name implied, a tower for battling. Though it looked only twenty stories tall, it was actually over two hundred stories tall. City height limits kept the physical manifestation of the building short but, make no mistake, the place was huge.

“Battling is the foundation of Rockwell Academy,” said Dr. Simmons. “Believe it or not, our school is number two in our league when it comes to magic battles. Our team is called the Rockwell Angels.” She pumped her fist. “Go Angels!”

“Go angels!” echoed some of the more energetic students.

I, of course, couldn’t possibly compete in the magic “battle” system, given my poor practical results. But I wasn’t aiming to not be involved either. The field of “battling” was a great test bed for my inventions and programs. If I could worm my way into a position as a battle engineer, I could advance my projects at much quicker rates, and in the process help my school.

“There are three teams here at Rockwell,” said Dr. Simmons, standing on the steps of Battle Tower. “One. Curling. Two. Rockeye. Three. Bladestep.”

Curling was a magic sport where two magicians stood on opposite ends of a field containing twelve pillars. Each pillar was built beforehand with magic by the auxiliary team, and could be comprised of anything from bone to ice. The goal of the game was to destroy all your opponent’s pillars without letting yours get destroyed.

Rockeye was a game resembling magic paintball. Teams of three would run through terrain and fire off magic shots at enemies while hiding behind cover.

Bladestep was a game where one team created a trap-filled maze for the other team to traverse. The traversing team was equipped with magic shields. Scores were assigned based on how deep the team got into the maze before sustaining a “death,” where a player’s protective shielding was broken.

Dr. Simmons continued. “We also perform in the magic athlete’s festival each quarter. Training for that, as well, happens in Battle Tower.”

The magic athlete’s festival had ten sports, each one a test of skill for the player.

“And finally,” said Dr. Simmons, “We have Kamigeki, which translates to individual combat. Our school is one of the five in the nation that still upholds the values of Kamigeki. If you wish to challenge someone to a Kamige, you must put forth equal wagers and bring a judging panel of three teachers. A challenge made through Kamigeki is sacred. Do not take one on lightly. At worst, you may lose a limb or even die.”

A student raised her hand. “So you’re saying people can get seriously hurt like this?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” said Dr. Simmons. “Without risk, the Kamige system doesn’t mean anything. Like I said, it’s sacred. Our school has been performing it for three hundred years.” She paused. “Now on to Peter’s Hall. We’ve been here long enough.”

I had been interested in Kamigeki since I had learned of Rockwell. This practice was a holdover from the days before magic casting devices made it so that more people could use magic. Before that, magicians were more marginalized in society. They used Kamigeki to solve disputes between themselves without the interference of a non-magic governing body. Now that there was an official magical regulations board, however, only select places still practiced it, all of them grandfathered in through the regulations against it.

We came to Peter’s Hall. It was a magnificent structure, even considering all the other crazy architecture on campus. Its flanged facets rotated through the rising cone of its silhouette. Multiple colors of window ran up along the angles and twisted magnanimously.

We entered through a grand crystal door. The inside was wide, huge, a hall like no other. The stage was small as seen from the entrance point. This auditorium looked like it could hold five thousand people.

“And this is the interior,” said Dr. Simmons, her voice echoing. “It was remodeled several years ago by the famous architect Joseph Siycamore.” She motioned. “If you’re successful here, you may get a chance to perform on that stage.” Dr. Simmons then took us out of the building and gave us a further tour of the campus. There was the Elephant Fountain and there was a piece of the Berlin Wall, as well as many modern art sculptures.

We finished our tour in the cafeteria, where the other groups were filing in as well.

I waved to Rei. She came over to me and tilted her head.

“I want to join the curling team,” she said, almost instantly. “I want you to be one of my auxiliaries.”

“A bit quick much?” said Tetra, approaching from the other direction. She snapped her fingers and five chefs in white kitchen garb came through the door pushing serving carts. The whole cafeteria turned to look.

Tetra motioned. “You can eat with me if you want.”

“Of course!” said Rei, before I could say anything. She lifted the cap off of one of the dishes. “Oh wow, lobster,” she said. “It’s been a while.”

“Take as you may,” said Tetra.

“Thanks,” I said, as I received a platter filled with sumptuous baked potatoes.

As the rest of the cafeteria watched, we sat down at a table near the edge and were waited on hand and foot by the chefs. Tetra spent the whole time talking about her major and the classes she was going to take and the artists she had studied and the actual works of theirs she had hanging in her house.

So we spent the rest of orientation.