Still amidst the cascading rain, a man in a star patterned robe of black and white approached Lurisa. His greying beard and tired eyes shared a kind smile with her, "Young lady. I seen what you did there. That was a grand six spell and you don't even look drained after it."
There were three levels of spells, regular spell, grand spell and arch spell. They would be numbered up to ten in terms of difficulty. Although most mages would only ever get to lower levelled spells. Maybe the top five percent would be able to cast arch spells. Problem was the higher the cast the more risk. It had been recorded that some mages and wizards died casting them. Thus resurrection magic was forbidden as the caster died without the spell ever working. Lurisa had been able to cast low level arch spells, although they would make her ridiculously fatigued. She smiled back at the old man, "Practice makes perfect."
"Ah, indeed. You know where one can practice the most? College."
Her brow raised, "Okay?"
"Since you insist, yes, I am a professor at the college of arch wizardry. My name is professor Bernard Bolothomy. Most just call me Bolo for short," his grin was strangely wide. Insistent even. "I am a master of earth, lightning and powders."
"Are you a drug dealer?" Arthur asked.
Lurisa gasped, "Arthur!"
"He said powders."
Bolo laughed at the boy's ignorance, "Indeed, but for brewing young lad like the drinks you take for when you have a sickness. Not powders for discos. Although…that's not a bad idea." He paused, seriously considering the possibility, "Sorry, I'm getting side tracked. Young miss, we fear in the college of Springfree there is an infiltrator taking the entrance exams. And we wish for them to be caught."
Lurisa politely shook her head, "I'm afraid I'm extremely busy."
"Indeed. You are. Thus I've found the location for the second demon lord commander for you. In exchange you will enlist in the school and find the traitor," Bolo said hastily.
"How can you find the second demon but not a traitor of seventeen year olds," Lurisa mocked with an escaping screeching laugh that she rehearsed in her head after because it sounded really weird.
"It's a private policy decree for the school. I know, unfortunate. But I can't lose this job. Not another one. Or my wife will take the kids…again," he stared at the ground, reminiscing.
"I'll have to discuss with my friends. How did you know–"
"Don't ask how I found out who you are. I would be killed," he laughed earnestly and suddenly halted, "seriously. I would die a gruesome death that even the Wither himself would pity me." He saluted, "Great meeting you. Let me know by tomorrow morning." He handed Lurisa a silver device in the shape of a compass called a Teleminder. When she would open it, he would hear her next words in his mind. The device would only work for a minute once opened but they were hugely popular for playing pranks at one stage which Lurisa had done to mess with people at night. They were only really ever used for formal meetings, otherwise two would share a permanent device and would organise a time on it to where it would only work for that certain period.
After discussing it with everyone Samara decided it only made sense to take the deal, if they were to continue the quest. Although, how could they? Without the chosen one how could they possibly defeat another commander. Another problem for another day. Bill and Arthur said they'd also join the school. There were different sects such as melee, spell wielding, restoration and lesser ones but still essential like agriculture and others. Lurisa was going to spell wielding, of course, Arthur asked to go to melee, they didn't realise but Arthur secretly wanted to learn how to fight and you didn't need magic in this case, you only needed to be able to wield a magic infused weapon. Bill was to go into magical therapy–yes that was a real thing and had almost nothing to do with magic except your patients would happen to be mages and wizards. Samara was to help enroll them as a guardian. So, she would have to attend parent-teacher meetings. Great. Not just that but attend their big hunger royale.
"How long is it going to be?" Samara asked.
Lurisa shrugged. How was she meant to know? She opened the teleminder and spoke gently, "Yes. I will attend. And two of my friends will go to protect me. I will meet you in the centre tomorrow at midday to organise the rest. Regards, Lurisa."
"So, while you three are at school, I'm just going to be, doing nothing and waiting," Samara said, somewhat disheartened.
"You'll be supporting us obviously," Bill said.
She bit her lips together and let out a blipping sound, "Great."
Floating in the air a hundred feet in the sky, Springfree. Like a palace of white glass hidden under the clouds. It was an astonishing sight. A natural whirlwind would collect students. It would allow them to sit down on a row of seats and then it would take off into the sky taking only twenty seconds to travel up. To go down, one would simply use a leap cloud. They would place this fluffy cloud under their two feet and simply jump off and float down to the bottom. They could only float but the whirlwind would natural pick them up and carry them back to the rest of the stock. Bolo told Lurisa it had to be completed within the first semester which was two months. He said that after too long the intruder would simply never be found. He explained that it wasn't confirmed there was an intruder, however, rumours had spread of Noughts. They were people who could not wield magic, allergic to it. Since the world revolved so much around magic, it became harder and harder for them to exist. Lurisa didn't realise Nought's were still alive, she presumed them all dead with how prominent magic was. Bolo suggested that the Nought's had begun a rebellion and where else to start but the school of the most talented magic users. To climb to the top and crash the summit into the ground.
"Be good, you hear me. And don't take too long. I can't be bothered waiting," Samara brushed her thumb along Lurisa's young face. A sweet weeping nostalgia overflowed Samara. The three had a small folder provided by the college which would expand infinitely. Well, in the fine print it said there was a limit of forty thousand pages, they didn't expect anyone to realistically hit that as the folder was only for school material and no personal readings. Samara was waving them goodbye. After their parting words Bill shouted, "See you soon, Sam."
"Bill!" Immediately he twisted like a soldier listening to his commander. She added, "Never ever call me Sam. You hear me?" She smiled gleefully and threateningly. He nodded and gulped at her bark.
They sat quietly on the bench of chairs made out of a fluid metal. It could harden and soften wherever it wanted. The chair was incredibly comfy for something that looked metallic. It curved where they sat allowing them to dip into the seat. As the whirlwind approached Arthur closed his eyes, "Whatever happened to stairs?"
Metallic seat belts covered their waist as the whirlwind got close. No backing out now, Lurisa thought. They had expected thunderous spinning winds that were ferocious on sight. Instead it was as still as a lake with no ripples or waves. As it traversed over them, the winds carried them up. Only then did it occur to Lurisa that the winds were so fast that the human eye couldn't comprehend it. It whirled up and weaved to the right. Arthur was taking in deep breaths, although it was a struggle as he started to think the winds were taking away any breathable air to use for its own whirling needs. Once he opened his eyes the storm had left to collect its new batch. Seat belts unbuckled automatically and the three stood up. Wobbling to his feet, Arthur grabbed Lurisa's shoulder for stability. They couldn't believe the sight in front. Hundreds of students walking in and out, different coloured robes for the different years in school. White for first, red for second and black for third. The different sects had their own personalised designs to separate them. There was no door in the front. Just an empty wall with only a clear mist in between the white blocks. Bill noticed how the mist smudged up the natural air, it was like a deterrent for eyesight. In perfect symmetry grand lotus trees stood taller than a two storey building. These trees in particular had massive white petals instead of branches but they were just as sturdy. Students laughed as they entered the mist. Lurisa took in the environment, analysing it. Students seemed happy as they shared laughs around the campus, it was extremely clean, filled with beautiful colours like the white petals and then the jade grass complimented the amber bricks leading up to the mist wall. The entrance to Springfree.