Alex Tesla & the Academy: Chapters 6-10

CHAPTER VI

Professor Vaine led the group of boys to their dormitories, showing them to their rooms. Each room had two bunk beds but just one window and bathroom. Alex and Drake moved into one of the rooms with their suitcases and claimed their beds. Not long after they'd claimed their beds, two more boys came into the room. The first was tall with faire hair and green eyes. He came over to Alex and Drake immediately.

"Hi guys. I'm Warren Strahm, how's it going?" he asked politely, holding out his hand.
Alex shook it first. "Alex Tesla."
"Drake O'Malley," greeted Drake when it was his turn.
Warren threw his bag down on the one of the bunk beds as the second roommate came in.
"What's up, dude?" asked Drake with a smile to the second boy.
The boy just shrugged and went to the last bed, sitting down on it silently.
"Hello?" asked Drake, waving his hand in front of the silent boy.

"Oh, that's Ivan Rasputin. He doesn't talk after his parents died a few years ago," explained Warren.
"And how do you know that?" asked Alex curiously.
"He arrived here with a letter," replied Warren.
"Oh, okay. I'm sorry, Ivan," said Alex to Ivan.
Ivan acknowledged his sympathies with a nod and sat down on his bed.

There was a knock on the door and two more boys came in. Both were tall with green eyes and square jaws. The first had blonde hair while the other had light brown hair.
"Howdy, I'm Todd Langley. How's it all going? We're just doing the rounds," greeted the brown haired boy, Todd.
"My name's Haste. Jason Haste," greeted the second one.
"Hello, Haste, Jason Haste. I'm O'Malley, Drake O'Malley," mocked Drake playfully.
Warren burst out into laughter and Ivan smiled widely at the remark.

"I'm Alex Tesla," said Alex, breaking the uneasy tension that Drake had created.
"So how'd you come to be at Slate, Alex?" asked Jason, sitting down on an empty chair.
"I got a letter in the mail. A weird letter," explained Alex.
"Let me guess. A small note that when viewed at through a mirror had its letters rearranged?" asked Jason with a smile.
"Yeah, that's right. How did you know?" asked Alex curiously.

"We all got them. It's called Reflective Paper. The first message is just a clue to get the second message, which can only be obtained when looked at through a mirror. It's quite simple," explained Jason.
"How do you know that?" asked Drake.
"My father went here when he was our age," answered Jason.
"Wow. Both you and your dad got recruited here," said Todd quietly.

"I didn't get recruited," corrected Jason. "I was always going to be coming here."
"Ah, your father bought his way in," smiled Drake.
Both Alex and Warren snickered while Jason gave Drake an icy stare.
"You really aren't too bright, are you? Allow me to educate you. There are only two ways to get to Slate Academy. One, get recognized by those that run the Academy, or two, be of family relation to a past student. Family relations of ex-students are automatically accepted into Slate," said Jason with a smile.

"Right, so you weren't actually noticed, like us," countered Drake.
"I'm curious," started Jason with a raised eyebrow. "What did you do to get here? Save a kitten from a tree?"
"I helped stop a robbery at my parents shop. The next day I got the recruitment letter. What about you, Warren?" asked Drake.

"I stopped a little girl from getting hit by a car on a crossing. Todd?" asked Warren curiously.
"I won a chess tournament. I don't see how that got me recruited," said Todd quietly.
"That's all? What's so great about that?" snorted Jason.
"Slate recruits people who are quick thinking. I'm guessing you're one of those guys, right?" asked Warren.
"I was the only human player," replied Todd.
The whole group raised an eyebrow.
"It was against chess playing computers," Todd explained.
"Ha, he's a bloody genius!" exclaimed Alex, Todd smiling.

"What about you, Ivan?" asked Drake curiously, hoping that he would get a response out of the silent boy, but nothing.
Drake shook his head. "Never mind."
"Whatever you did, Ivan, I'm sure it was great," said Warren with a smile.
Ivan nodded and smiled back.

Another knock at the door introduced yet another new face. 16 year old Mikey Bane came into the room with a smile. He was short with short faire hair and blue eyes.
"Hey guys! Check out what I found!" said Mikey excitedly and rushed off.
Alex and the other boys quickly got up and followed.

Mikey led the group outside the dorms and through the main courtyard. After they left the courtyard, the group was at the edge of the Academy, where a few old sheds sat. Mikey ran over to one of the sheds and went over to a large piece of cloth. He lifted the cloth up to reveal and old, rusted vehicle of some kind. It looked like a snow mobile, only with no slides underneath it to glide along the snow. Instead, it had small circular discs underneath. They looked like power generators of some sort.

"What is it?" asked Alex, looking over the old vehicle with awe.
"I'm not sure. I just found," replied Mikey.
"It's a vehicle. You ride on top of it. I forget the name," muttered Jason. "Go on, Alex, ride it."
Alex looked over at Jason with a frown on his face. "No, you ride it."
"I have no desire to do such a thing. But I can see you do, I can see it in your eyes," said Jason with a sly grin.
In the short time that Alex had known Jason, he already didn't like him, but he was still right. He did want to get on the old thing and see what it could do. Alex looked over to Jason who was staring right back at him. Alex nodded, accepting the challenge.

Alex moved up to the vehicle and sat himself on top of it. He looked around for a way to start it but couldn't find anything.
"Alex, you're crazy. Get off that thing," said Drake, concerned for Alex's safety.
"Are you going to listen to your mummy, Alex?" asked Jason tauntingly.
Alex didn't take any notice of either of them. Warren walked up to the side of the old rusted vehicle.
"Doesn't seem to work, piece of junk," he said, kicking it hard in the side.

The vehicle sprang to life. The engine started and the whole vehicle started shaking violently. The discs on the bottom of the craft emitted a dark blue light. All of a sudden, the vehicle slowly rose up into the air about a foot with Alex still on top! Alex gripped the handle bars tightly. He noticed that bars were the same as a motorbike. Alex took a deep breath and rotated his wrist forward. The craft suddenly jerked forward as sped off away from the group.

"Holy god! Alex!" screamed Drake as Alex sped off.
Alex was thrown backwards and off the seat, landing hard on the ground about thirty feet away from the group of boys. The vehicle kept going however, increasing in speed and altitude. Alex and the boys watched as it came on a collision course with one of Slate's buildings. It hit at high speed and then BOOM!

The entire vehicle exploded in a ball of fire and sparks. Twisted chunks of metal fell to the ground and littered the area. Alex got to his feet and looked at the boys behind him. Jason and Mikey were already running. Drake, Warren, Ivan and Todd just stood with their mouths hanging open. All at once, they sprinted back to the dorms.

CHAPTER VII

The morning bell went at precisely 6:30am as always. The loud bells rang continuously for thirty seconds to wake up all of the students. Classes began at 8:30, but students needed to be up with their dorms clean and tidy by 7, in the breakfast hall by 7:05, finished breakfast by 7:45, with free time until classes.

Alex slowly lifted his head off his pillow and let his eyes adjust to the morning light. His eyes stung as he opened them. It was way too bright for 6:30 in the morning, he thought. It looked as though it were midday outside. The sun was nearly at the very top of the sky. It was midday, thought Alex.
"I know what you're thinking," said Warren, who was sitting at the window enjoying the morning sun.
"And what am I thinking?" asked Alex as he sat up.
"You're thinking that the sun is too high to be this early in the morning. I did too, so I checked the brochure. The sun takes approximately four minutes and thirty two seconds to reach the middle of the sky once it has risen. It will remain there for another twelve hours and then go down for seven hours, like clockwork. It's always the same. It never changes," explained Warren, holding up the brochure in his hand to prove it.

Alex walked over to the window where Warren sat. He noticed that Ivan and Drake were still trying to drag themselves out of their comfortable beds. Alex looked out the window and took in the sight. The Academy was so silent in the mornings. Apart from the gentle breeze and quiet chirping of birds, it was almost dead silent. Alex also noticed that Warren was right; the sun was high up in the sky already.
"This world is definitely...something," muttered Alex.

Drake and Ivan came over to the window shortly after.
"What's with the sun?" asked Drake. "What is it, like seven in the morning?"
"I'll explain later," replied Alex quietly, still trying to fully wake up.
Warren pointed out the window with a smile. "Look!"
Alex, Drake and Ivan looked out to see Professor Jeremiah Vaine standing with a puzzled look on his face as he saw what remained of the destroyed vehicle that Alex had rode, and crashed, yesterday afternoon. Vaine looked around the area, the boys in the window immediately ducking down to the floor when Vaine's gaze came their way. Alex burst out into laughter. Drake and Warren did the same, while Ivan just smiled.

After the boys got dressed in their uniforms, they headed to the breakfast hall, along with the other boys and girls in their year. Alex sat himself down at one of the six seat tables. Ivan, Drake and Warren sat in the other seats. Two more people filled the last two seats, some familiar faces; Abby and Lex.
"Morning boys," greeted Abby with a smile.
"Good morning ladies," replied Alex with a charming smile.
"So, we all ready for class?" asked Lex curiously.
Drake shrugged. "I haven't seen mathematics or English on our timetable, that being said, hell yes!"
Lex giggled at Drake's shouting.

Several of the kitchen staff came over to the table with plates on their arms. They set down one plate in front of each student with their breakfast on top. Alex looked at his meal; two pieces of buttered toast with a side of bacon, one egg and two sausages. A coffee mug was placed down next to him next.
Alex nodded with a large smile. "Whoa, they're not cheap here."
Alex looked up and everyone else was already digging into their breakfasts, so he did the same, forcing down the well cooked and prepared meal. For the first time ever, Alex was eager to get to class.

"What do we have first?" asked Drake.
"Standard magic," replied Lex.
Drake raised an eyebrow. "You didn't even look at your timetable."
Lex shrugged with a thin smile. "I memorized it."
Drake chuckled quietly.
After breakfast was over, the group of six went and chilled out in the courtyard for the time until class. The group listened to Warren and Lex read about interesting things from the brochure.
"Cool, it says that Slate Academy's main sport is called Warp Racing. Events are held with six students riding a Warper around a pre-set course. Warpers can reach speeds of over 250km/h, and because of this, you must be a Year 3 student or higher to participate. What's a Warper?" asked Lex curiously.

Alex, Drake and Ivan all exchanged glances. So that's what Alex rode.
"Don't know," said Alex and Drake at the same time.
"Listen to this. Students are to stay within the Academy fences at all times, unless with a teacher, during the weekdays. On weekends, students are allowed out of the grounds but are not permitted to leave the Slate region. Absolutely no attempt should be made to reach any other regions that are not on the Slate Island," read Warren from the brochure. "They also included a map."

Warren held up the map and showed the group. A large, green island was on the map, marked with the words Slate Island/Academy on it. Another larger landmass was just across from Slate Island, just over a small sea spanning about twenty kilometers. That landmass was in red and marked with the words No Go Zone.

All of a sudden, the bell rang out loudly. The group of six grabbed their bags and moved off through the large hoard of students, trying to find the correct classroom. Finally, the group found it and went inside, taking their seats.


CHAPTER VIII

The classroom for Standard Magic looked nearly the same as a science laboratory that could be found in a normal high school. There were long desks that seated three across, each seat with their own sink and tap in front of them. The walls were covered with shelves which held hundreds of jars filled with different coloured substances. On the board in front of the classroom were the words:
Year 1 Standard Magic
Professor Patricia Chain

Alex sat in the middle of one of the tables with Drake to his left and Warren to his right. Looking around the room, Alex saw Abby and Lex sitting with fellow student Michelle Ocean. Michelle looked pretty similar to Abby; one might mistake them for sisters. They had the same colour and length hair and same eye colour. The only real difference was that Michelle was about fifteen centimeters taller than Abby. Alex also saw Ivan sitting with Mikey and another male student. Jason Haste and Todd Langley sat up the back of the classroom with Erica Wattle.

Drake leaned in and whispered to Alex. "That Erica is pretty gothic, ey?"
Alex observed Erica. She had dark black hair with purple streaks in it. Her fringe came down covering most of her face. She had dark green eyes and was dressed completely in black, even though the students were supposed to wear white shirts.
"She is different. Probably get along with Jason though. They both seem evil," joked Alex.
Drake smiled and nodded towards the front of the classroom as Professor Chain entered the room.

Patricia Chain was twenty eight years old, tall with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Despite being one of the kindest teachers on site, Chain's eyes looked similar to that of a cat; her pupils looked more like a slit than a circle. This gave her a more frightening appearance, something she used to her advantage when dealing with an unsettled student.
"Good morning, class. First of all, welcome to Slate Academy. I hope you all enjoy learning here over the next six years. To begin, I'd like you all to open the top drawer of your desks," instructed Chain, pointing to the top drawer on one of the desks at the front of the classroom.

Drake opened up his draw and peered inside. Alex and Warren did the same to their draws. Inside was a small bracelet. It was silver with a slight green tinge on it and was very shiny. Everyone in the room picked up their bracelets and waited for further instructions.
"These bracelets are called Force Bracelets. Please excuse the originality of the name, as it is very hard to give a name to something that helps you to create magic," laughed Chain.
Few students laughed along with her, Chain going fairly silent after that.

"You are to wear these throughout the year. They help you to learn and use magic. By the end of the year your body and mind should be capable of creating and sustaining magic spells without them. They're to be worn at all times, if you take them off you're back to square one and I don't have time to teach a student the same thing twice in one year, Any questions?" asked Chain curiously.

A wave of eager hands shot up from the class. Chain pointed to Mikey first.
"What kind of spells do we learn?" asked Mikey curiously.
"This is standard magic. You'll learn your basic elemental spells first, such as fire, ice, wind, water, lightning and others. Also, you'll learn spells such as float, gravity manipulation spells, quake or fault spells, spells which allow you to move an object; that's called Psyche, and basic energy spells; firing a concentrated blast of energy at an opponent," replied Chain.

The students hung off every word that Chain was speaking. Each and every student found it so interesting to actually be learning magic. Not just simple $20 tricks performed by an actual magician, the real stuff. Chain pointed to the student with the next question; Drake.
"Do we have to speak weird and long sentences to make a spell occur, like in the movies?" asked Drake.
"No, of course not, because it's time consuming and you'll sound stupid," explained Chain.
This time the whole class laughed at the joke, which made Chain more comfortable.
"To cast a spell all you need to do is say the word of the thing or something the thing may do. For example, if you wanted fire, you could say the word fire, a variation of the word like flame or blaze, or something fire does, like burn. Another example; ice. You could say ice, or freeze, pretty simple stuff, ey? But one thing that you have to do, is you have to think about the spell happening. You can't just say the word and expect it to happen; you have to make it happen. You don't say you'll try to cast the spell, you say you will cast the spell" explained Chain.

"When can we start doing magic?" asked Lex eagerly.
Chain smiled at the anticipation that the whole class seemed to have.
"Right now," replied Chain with a smile. "Grab a glass and fill it up with water then return to your desks."
The students grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Alex placed his glass down in front of him. He looked at the water and wondered what Chain was going to get them to do.

Chain went to the front of the classroom with her own glass of water and placed it down on her desk where the whole class could see. Then, in the blink of an eye, she flicked her hand and fingers out towards the glass, and instantly the water inside the glass froze solid. The entire glass gasped at the amazing sight. Never before had they seen anything like this.

"How'd you do that? You didn't even say anything," said a confused Lex.
Chain nodded. "After awhile, two, three years maybe, you'll learn to cast spells without speaking. The only thing you'll ever need to do is direct the spell with your hands."
Lex nodded, beginning to understand how everything worked.
"How is it that a spell is actually cast, Professor?" asked Alex curiously.
"A good question; there is an invisible energy force all around us, in the air, everywhere. We call this energy, Link Energy; please don't ask me why, because I don't know. The bracelets you're wearing draw the energy to you, and then when you speak your spell, the energy is converted to that spell. It's pretty technical and I haven't even got it all figured out after six years of teaching," explained Chain.
Alex nodded, not fully understanding how it worked, but satisfied with the answer none the less.

"I want you to all freeze the water in your glasses. It may take as long as an hour for you to actually get it, so that's all we'll be doing today. Good luck, now get to it," smiled Chain as she sat down in her chair and watched the students begin.

Alex looked over to Drake who looked right back at him.
"Do you really think we can do this?" asked Drake.
Alex just shrugged. "I suppose we'll find out."
Alex looked at the glass and flexed his fingers. He could hear the other students shouting at their glasses "Ice!" and "Freeze!"
Alex took a deep breath and flicked his hand forward.
"Ice," he said in sync with his hand movements.
Nothing. The water in the glass remained unaltered in every way.

Alex looked over at Drake who was putting everything he had into the spell. Even standing up and spinning before trying to cast the spell. Each time he was unsuccessful. And each time, he looked like an idiot. Alex just smiled and turned his attention back to his own glass. He prepared to try a second time.
"Freeze," he breathed quietly with his hand.
As soon as he spoke the word, a cold mist like substance had surrounded his glass, covering it in a layer of frost. The water was still a liquid, but he'd sure done something. He focused his mind completely on ice, thinking about the water in glass in front of him turning to ice before him.

"Freeze," he breathed again with another flick of his hand.
This time, Alex heard a soft crackling and looked at his frost covered glass. Inside was no liquid, just a cylinder of ice. Alex sat back in his chair and breathed out with a large smile on his face.
"I did it," he muttered to himself. "I actually did it."


CHAPTER IX

At the end of the Chain's first magic class, Alex found himself strangely popular with the other students. Everyone was congratulating him on his recent success of learning the ice spell. In the one hour class, Alex was the only one to successfully freeze the water. Lex had made the glass completely frost covered, Drake accidentally shattered his glass and Abby ended up boiling the water to the point of evaporation.

Alex sat down on one of the benches for the first break of the day. It would last twenty minutes and then the bell would sound for the next period. Abby, Drake, Warren and Lex sat around Alex, all eating away at different foods such as biscuits, small sandwiches or chocolates.
"How'd it feel, Alex?" asked Lex curiously. "Was your hand cold? Did you get a brain freeze?"
"I felt tired, actually," replied Alex with a frown.
Lex just smiled at him. "That's normal. It says in the brochure that casting spells can be draining the first few times. Once you get used to it though, you can do it without wasting any energy."

"We've got weapons and combat next. What will that be about?" asked Drake.
"Headmaster Falcon did say we'd be taught the ways of combat. We're going to learn to fight," said Warren with a smile.
"Sounds a bit dangerous," said Lex.
Abby smiled and patted Lex on the back. "It'll be nothing."

As the next bell sounded, the group made their way to a building called the training arena. Inside was a large area like a fencing stadium. The floor was soft blue padding, as were the walls. There were several boxing rings and punching bags set up, along with weights and treadmills. It looked like a normal gym.

Alex looked around and saw two thick steel doors in the side of one of the walls. In great big letters above the door, curving in and arc were the words ‘Hilltop Heights'.
"You needn't look upon those doors just yet, kids," said a voice from behind the group.
It was that of Instructor Eric Marsh, the teacher for this class. Marsh was the youngest teacher at Slate, coming in at 23 years old. Marsh had attended Slate Academy for six years, done mercenary work throughout the world of Heart for one year, and then returned to Slate Academy as a teacher. Tall with short brown hair and brown eyes, Marsh was without a doubt the best looking teacher at the school. Because of this, most of the girls that took his class particularly enjoyed it.

"You won't be going in there anytime soon, not until you're in your third year," explained Marsh.
"Why? What's behind there?" asked Jason rudely, as if he demanded to know immediately.
"Hilltop Heights is an advanced training arena. It is in its own dimension, separate from both Heart and Earth. It's just a large field, filled with hills...and beasts that the senior students use for training," explained Marsh.
"Beasts, sir?" asked Drake nervously.

"How about I go into further detail when you guys reach you third year, agreed? Now, welcome to the beginners training arena. To assist me today I have some of the third year students to help you along," said Marsh pointing to a group of six year 3 students.
Several of them waved while others just ignored them.
"Okay, first off today; choosing your weapon. The weapon you choose today is the one you will be practicing with for the next six years. Try to choose one that will suit your own attributes and ability. We've got tools ranging from firearms to fighting gloves to swords to shurikens. I try to discourage students from selecting the firearms as first choice, but rather as last resort if you cannot get used to another weapon. I suggest choosing something more...elegant; after all, guns are boring. Point and shoot, what's so good about that?" explained Marsh.

The students laughed at Marsh. Alex and Drake eyed about twenty tables set out with the weapons sitting on top, just waiting to be chosen.
"Go, choose from the tables. The year 3 students will help you if need be," said Marsh.
The students moved over to the tables are started looking over the vast variety of weapons. Drake picked up and large axe and nearly dropped it on his foot from its heavy weight.
"Maybe not," he muttered as he put the axe back down.

One of the older students in their third year came over to the pair.
"Hi, I'm Marcus Valley, need any help?" asked the young man politely.
"That'd be great, thanks," accepted Alex, having absolutely no idea which weapon to choose.
Marcus was eighteen years old, tall with dark red hair and brown eyes. He looked over the table of weapons and picked up two small daggers. He twisted and spun them in his hands like an expert. Grabbing the foot long blades, Marcus offered the handles to Drake.
Drake took the daggers, one in each hand and looked at them.

"They're so light," exclaimed Drake, noticing that each dagger weighed not even one kilogram, not even half of one.
Marcus turned his attention back to the table and looked over the weapons again. He smiled as he picked up a beautifully crafted sword. The blade was two and half feet long, and the handle was simply made for the blade to be swung quickly and efficiently. Marcus passed the sword over to Alex. Alex gripped the handle tightly and spun the sword in his hand.

"It's perfect," said Alex, taking an instant liking to the sword.
Like Drake, Alex was amazed at how light the sword was. Looking around the classroom, Alex saw several other students choosing their weapons. Abby had picked up two Katanas and instantly fell in love with them. Lex held a pair of Rai in her hands and was currently spinning, twisting and turning them in her hands. Warren had chosen something that Alex had never seen before. He had two metal casts on each of his forearms, and when he pressed a trigger with his fingers, a short, one foot blade shot out of the cast, giving him two lethal blades on his wrists. The weapon was simply called wrist blades.

Alex also noticed Jason had a similar sword to him, Ivan held a Bo Staff, Todd Langley had a small axe in each of his hands. Mikey had a long spear that was taller than him and Erica Wattle had the same wrist blades that Warren had. Everyone in the class now had some sort of weapon, so Marsh called them back to a group.

"Well, I'm fairly proud with your selection of weapons. Of course, the ones you hold will be your primary weapons. When you're out in the field, you'll also have a small sidearm as a backup. For those of you that don't know, a sidearm is more or less a pistol. Now, how about a demonstration? You stand up," said Marsh pointing to Jason.
Jason got to his feet and approached Marsh. Marcus helped Jason into a protective vest and then pushed him towards Marsh.

"Mr. Haste. Strike me with your sword, if you can," instructed Marsh.
"With pleasure," muttered Jason as he moved forward.
Jason swung the sword as hard and as fast as he could towards Marsh. The blade cut through the air like a knife as it picked up speed, getting closer and closer to Marsh. Then, effortlessly, Marsh side stepped the strike, sending Jason tumbling forward and crashing to the ground, his sword sliding out of his hands.

"Balance is one of the most important things you'll need in combat. Move with your sword, not against it. Move as one. Over time with training, you'll treat your weapon as part of yourself. You'll swing it as you do your arm when throwing a ball. When you learn to move with your weapon, that is when you will be most deadly," explained Marsh.
Jason sighed angrily and got back to his feet. Marsh looked at him and snickered.

"Don't accept defeat too easily, Jason. Perhaps you should go against one of your fellow classmates. Mr. Tesla?" asked Marsh, pointing to Alex.
"Me?" stuttered a surprised Alex.
"Yes you. Come one, get up," said Marsh, grabbing a second protective vest and putting onto Alex.

Alex now stood opposite to Jason, who had his sword in his hand, ready to go. Alex picked up his sword and prepared himself.
"Your goal is to strike your opponent on the vest. No arm or leg shots. Good luck," explained Marsh.
Jason slowly moved forward towards Alex, his sword drawn and ready to fight. Alex did the same, moving forward slowly, and then picked up speed. Jason broke into a sprint at the same time Alex did. The pair swung their swords and the two blades clashed. Alex and Jason held their swords against one another's, struggling to each keep the other at bay.

Summing up all of his strength, Alex slowly pushed further and further back, Jason's sword dropping further and further down. Then, out of nowhere, Jason screamed and removed one of his hands from the handle and forced it towards Alex.
"Ice!" he screamed.
Suddenly, a burst of tiny icicles shot out from Jason's hand, scratching along Alex's face, forcing him to withdraw his blade and stumble backwards. Alex looked over at Jason, who's right hand was blue and misty from the magic spell. Jason raised his hand, ready to strike again, but Alex was quicker.

"Flame!" screamed Alex, a small fireball shooting out from his hand, traveling quickly towards Jason, smacking him in the chest.
Jason fell to the floor like someone had tackled him to the ground. Getting to his feet, Jason had his fingers outstretched; a ball of ice hovering in the air in front of his palm. Alex did the same, only he had a fireball in his hand, waiting to be thrown.

Marsh stepped forward and clicked his fingers. Alex's fireball was smothered and Jason's ice-ball melted to water.
"Save that for later, please, boys," said Marsh.

The bell then rang and class was over. Jason moved off quickly with Todd and Erica by his side. Alex walked over to Drake, Abby, Warren and Lex.
"Class dismissed. Take your weapons but for the love of god, keep them sheathed," said Marsh.
Alex and the group exited the building and went to the courtyard. Abby looked at Alex's hand and noticed it was singed from his fireball.
"Way to shame everyone else, Alex. You learnt two spells in one day," congratulated Lex, wishing she'd been able to do the same.
"You'll get there, Lex," reassured Alex.

Marcus Valley came out of the training building and made his way over to Alex and his group.
"Tesla, the Headmaster wants to see you," said Marcus.
Alex sighed and muttered to himself. "Shit."


CHAPTER X

Headmaster Jepp Falcon sat behind his desk in his office looking at Alex Tesla and the Jason Haste. The two boys stood looking at the floor silently. Falcon sat himself up in his chair and leaned forward.
"I'm giving you both one strike on your records. Three strikes and you'll be suspended from this institution. Five strikes and expulsion will take place," explained Falcon.

"Sorry, Headmaster," muttered Jason quietly.
"I'm sorry, sir," continued Alex.
Falcon sighed as he looked at the two boys. Troublemakers, he thought to himself.
"Even though you broke the rules, boys, I am delighted to hear that your magic is coming along nicely. I don't think we've ever had a student successfully cast a spell on their first day here, let alone two! While your hearts may be in the right spot, your heads are certainly not. That is all, dismissed," said Falcon.

Jason and Alex quickly exited Falcon's office and rejoined their groups who were starting to make their way to the next class; piloting and driving with Professor Vaine.
The students found themselves at one of the two ovals at Slate Academy. All driving and piloting classes were marked as the ovals in the timetable. Alex looked around for Professor Vaine who should've been here teaching the class, but he was nowhere to be seen. Everyone else in the class was looking all around the oval for him, but he still didn't appear.

A quiet humming could suddenly be heard. It sounded like the buzzing of a bee, but it was very quiet. It started to grow louder and louder and coarser and coarser. Alex looked up and saw a vehicle, the same kind that he'd flown on, and crashed, the day before; a Warper. Vaine sat on its seat and landed it in front of the students, all looking upon the vehicle with awe and excitement.

Vaine hopped off the vehicle and approached the students. At 28, Jeremiah Vaine looked 20, with dark skin and brown eyes; he had extremely short black hair and always had a pair of circular goggles around his neck. Vaine stood in front of the students and looked up and down at the group.

"Good afternoon, students. It is my job to teach you the necessary skills that you will need here in your time at Slate Academy. Behind me is a Warper, a hovercraft which can reach heights of thirty meters. Yes, I do realise it looks quite similar to a snow mobile, so let's keep the laughter to a minimum, shall we?" said Vaine as he paced to and fro in front of the students.

Vaine raised his arm and pressed a series of small buttons on his wrist watch. Almost straight away, a whole group of Warpers piloted themselves in front of the students, each one stopping itself in front of a student.
"Take one for a small fly around the oval. Do not fly above five meters as the engine will cut out at that height as these are beginner Warpers. Good luck and be careful," said Vaine.

Alex and his group hoped on top of their Warpers and started them up. Alex noticed Lex holding onto the handle bars tightly, her knuckles going as white as snow, as was her face.
"Are you alright, Lex?" asked Alex.
Lex shook her head quickly and tensed up. Still holding onto the handle bars as if her life depended on it, Lex shook with the vibration of the Warpers engine.
"My interest is in magic, not defying gravity!" she yelled.

Warren, who seemed to have instantly mastered the Warpers movements and capabilities, hovered next to Lex. He grabbed her hands and loosened her grip on the handle bars.
"You'll break your fingers doing that for too long," smiled Warren.
Lex finally seemed to relax a bit as she started to become more and more comfortable in the seat. Alex thought it was because of Warren; it didn't take a genius to figure out that there was an instant connection between the pair. Warren and Lex both eased their throttles forward and started moving down the oval at a calm and safe speed.

"You should be a natural at this, Alex," laughed Drake as he sped off around the oval, instantly becoming in an unspoken race with Mikey.
"What'd he mean by that?" asked Abby curiously who sat hovering next to Alex.
"I had a previous encounter with one of these," smiled Alex, winking at Abby before going full throttle down the oval.
"Hey! Wait for me!" she called out, speeding up to catch him.

After about twenty minutes, everyone seemed to have a good feel for the Warpers. Alex and Abby rode around the oval side by side.
"So what did Headmaster Falcon want?" asked Abby pryingly.
"He decided to award myself and Jason with a strike on our records. Three strikes and you're suspended. Five and expelled," explained Alex with a sigh.
Abby smiled at Alex and winked.
"Don't be so foolish next time. Anyone can see that Jason bugs you, don't let it influence your actions. You'll end up acting on impulse, which in this place, means heaving a fireball at someone," laughed Abby.

An hour of class had gone by spent just flying around the oval a countless number of times. Although it seemed a bit repetitive, a good number of the students thanked Vaine appreciatively at the end of the lesson, feeling as though they'd each achieved something; how to successfully ride a Warper.

Lunch time soon came and the boys found themselves absent of the girls, who were off still getting their lunches. Alex, Drake and Warren sat with a group of about nine boys from the first year. Everyone ate their lunches quickly as an intriguing conversation began; who they like out of the girls.
"I swear, Erica is one of the most gorgeous girls I've ever seen," said Todd Langley.
"She's one of the only girls you've ever seen," laughed Mikey.
"Oh, and who do you have your eye on? Wait let me guess...Drake!" countered Todd.
The group erupted in laughter, except for Drake and Mikey.
"Oh, he's a regular comedian, ass," replied Mikey, going quiet after that.
Jason snickered. "I don't hear Drake denying."
"For your information, I think that Lex is probably the number one girl here," replied Drake.

"I second that," said Warren, causing Drake to frown.
"Well I've got the winner here...Nurse Hazel," said Jason with a smile.
Apart from Alex, Drake and Warren the group applauded, some evening getting to their knees and bowing to Jason in a joking manner.
"What about you, Alex?" asked Todd curiously.
Jason butted in before Alex could start talking.

"Everyone knows he fancies Abby. He's been mesmerized by the girl since he arrived here," said Jason. "But, eh, he's not the only one."
"What happened to the Nurse?" asked Alex.
"She's the back up if number one, Abby, falls through," said Jason with a seedy smirk.
"Then you may as well go straight for Hazel. Abby would never go anywhere with you," said Alex steadfastly.

"Is that so? Then let's see. We'll both ask her to next weeks dance, yes? Then we'll see who she chooses," suggested Jason, holding out his hand. "Twenty bucks she'll be with me."
Alex smiled and shook Jason's hand. "Done."

At the same time at the Academy's cafeteria, Abby, Lex and Michelle Ocean were picking out their lunches and having a very similar conversation.
"I can not get Warren out of my head. Is he not dreamy?" muttered Lex to the others.
"Yeah, he's great," said Michelle sarcastically. "I'd say Drake is a bit more...masculine."
"Drake?" giggled Lex. "He's tiny."
"I think you're both a little nutty talking about boys and their...masculinity. There are much more important issues around," said Abby.
"Such as...?" asked Michelle.
"Such as it is our first day of school in a parallel world which enables magical forces and flying snow mobiles," exclaimed Abby.

"Uh-huh. So you and Alex were just having a friendly chat during Vaine's lesson, flying side by side for forty minutes?" asked Lex.
"Y-yes, just two friends talking," stuttered Abby nervously.
"About what?" followed up Lex.
"Just catching up," replied Abby quickly.
"You've known him for what, three days?" noted Lex. "What's there to catch up on? Just admit it, you like Alex."

"You obviously didn't see her in Chain's class," said Michelle.
"And what happened in Chain's class?" asked Lex inquiringly.
Michelle smiled. "Abby had some constant staring at one, Jason Haste."
Lex dropped her arms and mouth and looked at Abby with a strange frown.
"Jason Haste? He's such a jerk!" exclaimed Lex.
"I've got an idea, let's eat lunch," said Abby, grabbing a sandwich from the selections and walking out of the cafeteria quickly, Michelle and Lex following from behind.