Alkalians (14 page)

“
No, of course not! Our
job is to help other students out with their assignments or
studies, after all. We are obliged to make the rest of those runes
for you.”

“
Wow, thank you, that’s,
ah, very kind, of you. But, uh, how can you all make runes without
rune chalk? I only have enough for myself.”

“
Oh, don’t worry. We’ve
got our own supply.” As she mentions it, Lyn and the others reach
into pockets in their vests and pull out dull, white-colored stones
chiseled to points for drawing. “In our study hall, we like to be
prepared for whatever the assignment may be.”

“
Ah. And, you all know how
to make runes?”

“
Pff, of course! The most
of us here are seniors, so we’ve all had experience making runes
here in college. Plus, I’m in Kaloss’ class as well this year, so
there’s more knowledge of runes to boot!”

“
Oh, I see. Then, there’s
no problem?”

“
No problem at all, Matt!”
Snapping her fingers, she instructs the other women, “Go ahead,
girls, and pick out some rocks to make some runes!” While the other
women reach down into the bag to take the blank slabs out before
going back over to the couches, she takes the blank one from Matt’s
hands and suggests, “Why don’t we head over to the table, where you
and I can chat while we work? Amelia, you may join us.”

As Amelia nods in compliance after
getting a rock for herself, Matt, distracted from observing the
women’s cleavages as they bent over, snaps out of it and says, “Uh,
okay,” before getting his own rock with runes on it and following
the two women over to the table, taking the seat between them. As
he tries to find where he left off in drawing the rune’s symbols,
Lyn begins talking to him as she starts drawing her own, her chalk
tracing a fine mark on the stone. “So, Matt, how has college been
for you so far?”

“
Oh, it’s been fine, I
guess.”

“
That’s good. What classes
do you have this year?”

While trying to find the answers, Matt
looks up from the rune and can’t help but glance side-ways to both
Lyn and Amelia, visually comparing their breast sizes. When he sees
Amelia’s are much bigger than Lyn’s, he curses beneath his breath
before replying, “Ah, besides runes with Prof. Kaloss and gym with
Prof. Serpanz, I also have biology with Prof. Malkia and alchemy
with Prof. Loske.”

“
I see. How are you liking
them?”

“
Well, Malkia’s been
pretty nice, so far, Loske’s has been either curious or confusing,
and Kaloss’ has been, um, difficult, as you may have
noticed.”

“
Haha, yes, I’ve noticed
that! Kaloss can be a bit smug at first, but as long as you stay
out of trouble, he shouldn’t be a bother to you for long. And what
about Serpanz? She hasn’t broken down you freshmen too much yet,
has she?”

“
Um, well, to be honest,
I’ve felt the most comfortable and capable in her gym
class.”

“
Oh, really? And why is
that?”

“
Well, I still have far to
go in getting used to these different academic fields and studies.
And I’m not a very sociable person. But, if there’s one thing I
know I’m good at, it’s fighting with my battle morph. And since
I’ll be working with others in our battle morphs in her class,
well, that’s a good thing for me!”

“
Wow, isn’t that
something? A freshman who
isn’t
dreading Serpanz’ gym class! That’s wonderful for
you, Matt.” Before Lyn can continue, one of the women from the
couches calls over to her, and she looks to them in understanding
and says, “Excuse me a moment, I think the girls need some
reminders on the rune-crafting,” before getting up from her chair
and walking away.

The moment after Lyn leaves them,
Amelia asks Matt, “Say, is my rune supposed to look like this?” and
shows it to him. It looks exactly like Matt’s own symbols, except
it is still a pale white like the chalk, rather than the dull gray
of his.

Upon seeing it, Matt takes a moment to
compare their runes before replying, “Uh, yeah, I guess that’s
right. But, um, you still have to empower it, I think.”

“
Empower it?”

“
Um, yeah, that’s what
Kaloss calls it. See, like this.” Taking his own rune chalk, he
places it on a small symbol of Amelia’s rune and retraces it in a
slow motion while the end of the chalk glows with energy passing
through it to change the symbol’s color from white to gray. “To
empower the rune, you have to focus energy and your thoughts upon
the symbols you’ve drawn, setting up the details of how much energy
is needed to activate it, how much energy can be stored in it, and
what its function will be. He also said something about how
different functions require vastly different amounts of energy from
the rune crafter, so one can’t go make runes do whatever he wants
without the proper knowledge and practiced rate of energy dispersed
into them.”

“
Uh huh. Thanks for the
tip, Matt.”

“
Um, heh, you’re welcome.”
While he replies to her, his attention swaying briefly to her chest
again, the small symbol of the rune glows gray and activates,
puffing up a small plume of smoke between them and causing Matt to
jolt back in his chair. Being startled as well, Amelia asks, “Whoa,
how did that happen?”

“
Oh, ah, right, I’m sorry.
The professor also said the rune crafter has to be completely
focused on empowering the rune. If he lets his mind wander or be
distracted, even for a brief moment, the rune’s settings will be
improperly made, and it may do any number of random, unforeseen,
and possibly dangerous things. One of the more common incidents,
like just now, is it will prematurely activate.”

“
I see. That makes
sense.”

“
Um, yeah. Sorry, again,
for that puff of smoke.”

“
Oh, don’t worry about it,
Matt. We all get distracted every-now-and-then, don’t
we?”

“
Haha, yeah.” When the two
look back to their own runes to continue working on them, Matt is
suddenly seized by a tantalizing thought of curiosity about
something, and he can’t endure holding it. Looking back at her, he
asks, “Hey, Amelia?”

“
Yes, Matt?”

“
Um, your uniform, that
you, Lyn, and the others wear. Do you all, um, wear anything
beneath the vests?”

“
Hmm? Oh, no, we’re not
wearing any bras, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Hiding his surprise and intrigue, Matt
replies, “Okay. And, that’s fine with you? I thought, well, all
women prefer to wear bras, or whatever.”

“
Oh, well, most women do
prefer to, yes. It’s all a matter of personal comfort and support
for our breasts, but it’s not absolutely necessary. As for us in
Lyn’s company, we choose to refrain from wearing bras, because it
helps us stand more apart from the other girls here at college.
It’s a part of our uniform, really.”

“
Ah. You don’t
say…”

“
If you don’t believe me,
I could show you I’m not wearing a bra, Matt.”

Just as his cheeks brightly blush at
the suggestion, Matt is still stunned when Amelia, smirking, goes
back to drawing her rune, and Lyn returns to the table with them,
sitting down next to him and resuming conversation with him.
“Anyways, Matt, what is your type of battle morph?”

“
Gah, it’s, uh, Paladin.
I’m a Paladin.”

“
Really? That’s a rather
rare and elite battle morph.”

“
Um, yeah, I suppose.
What’s your battle morph?”

“
Oh, I’m a Beast,
Wolf-style. Just like my father.”

“
Ah, a Wolf. That’s
cool.”

Picking up on the uneasy tone of
Matt’s voice, Lyn shows concern when turning to face him, asking,
“You okay, Matt?”

“
What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.
I think.”

Smiling sympathetically, Lyn suggests,
“You’re still having a few nervous ticks around people?”

“
Ah, yeah, I guess you
could call it that.”

“
I see. Yeah, I wouldn’t
be surprised. As your father told mine, you grew up and lived in
the wilderness, far away from other people, yes?”

“
Yeah. Yeah, that’s
right.”

“
Right. Well, I have a
pretty good idea of what you’re going through right
now.”

“
You do?”

“
Yeah. See, I grew up just
like you did, deep in the countryside, away from the public. So,
when I first came here to the college as a freshman, I too was
quite a bit shy and uneasy around others.”

“
Really? How did you get
over it? I mean, how did you get so used to other
people?”

“
I guess it began when I
started seeing other students who needed help and I, well, helped
them. As I did that, I just got more concerned for other people’s
problems than my own fears, and poof, here I am! I assure you,
Matt, it’s only the beginning of the year. As the days go by,
you’ll get more used to other people around you and talk more
easily around them. If I came through alright, I’m sure you will,
too!”

Chuckling a little, Matt shows the
first sign of calming down as he replies, “Thanks for the kind
words, Lyn, and for all the help you and the other women are giving
me.”

“
It’s our pleasure,
Matt.”

A moment goes by as they continue
working on their runes before Matt asks Lyn, “Hey, speaking of
battle morphs. Earlier, on my way here, I wanted to morph so that I
could carry the bag of stones more easily, but I found I couldn’t
morph. Do you know why?”

“
Oh, yeah, that’s easy.
Excluding the gym arena, no one can morph while inside most of the
campus’ main buildings.”

“
Really? How
come?”

“
Well, there’s this
special kind of gas that goes through the buildings’ ventilation.
It’s an invisible, odorless gas that inhibits an Alkalian’s ability
to morph as long as they are exposed to it. With our inability to
morph indoors, it prevents students from starting fights and
causing damage to others or their surroundings in the
school.”

“
Oh, I see. So, were you
really as shy as me?”

“
Hah, actually, I
was
worse
than
you! I couldn’t even think or say anything to anyone. I would
freeze right up around people, wanting only to run away and hide!”
As she laughs at the present humor of her past problem, Matt laughs
along with her as they go back to crafting the runes.

***

Later that evening, walking through
the empty halls of the college again, Matt has a smile on his face
as he goes down the main hall and out of the building. Thanks to
Lyn and her entourage’s help, he had completed the runes by the
time his detention had ended, and he had just returned the runes to
Kaloss’ classroom. As he was leaving, it had humored him to see the
amazed look on Kaloss’ face. Thinking that Sean or Rose would have
already ordered dinner for the cabin and had gone there, he is on
his way there as he passes through the main doors and out into the
autumn evening, the sun setting above the horizon in a beautiful
tinge of orange.

As he is walking along the main,
treaded path between the college buildings and the cabin lots,
passing by small groups of students that are either off to side in
huddled conversations or walking by him, Matt doesn’t feel nervous
or timid around them. Instead, he thinks back about his experience
with Lyn and the women in their study hall. It’s hard for him to
imagine that Lyn, the one who had been so kind and sweet with him
and somewhat knew him already, could go off like a loose cannon as
Sean had described her. And yet, he can’t help but still be a
little spooked by her eerie, pale blue eyes, like they were the
glassed-over eyes of a dead animal.

And then, there was Amelia. He had no
idea why she had been so open to his improper question, and then
came back with actually offering to show herself to him. What
bothers Matt even more, though, is not just how he can’t stop
thinking about Amelia and how attractive she was, but also how he
almost wished she would have shown him she had no bra
on.

In the middle of his thoughts, Matt
gets pulled back to the walking path and the open field around him
when he hears a sneering voice from behind him call out, “Well,
well, well. There’s the new, favorite freshman of Lyn and her
whores.” Turning around, he sees Ryan, the same guy from the
cafeteria that day, and three other guys in dark suits next to him,
all of them leering at him from over their sunglasses and
half-grin, half-scowls on their faces. “Think you’re all cool and
awesome, now that you got to hang out with the pretty
ladies?”

Sensing the mocking scorn in his
voice, Matt realizes he is looking for trouble, and is on high
alert as he slowly backs away from them. Trying to remain calm, he
puts his hands up and says in a shaky voice, “Listen, uh, Ryan, I
don’t want any trouble…”

“
Ya don’t want trouble,
eh? Then ya shouldn’t have gone anywhere near the forbidden
fruits!” While the other three men chuckle behind him, he takes
some steps forward, continuing, “Instead, ya should have minded
your own beeswax and been worried about your next class’ test or
something, like the rest of you freshmen do.”