Chapter 16 - Too Soft

The dire wolves halted their advance, turning their attention to the intruder that had interrupted their hunt. Professor Kal gave the wolves a passing glance, focusing on his students who were currently cowering in the middle of the pack of wolves. Only Ryan seemed to have heard the Professor when he spoke, the other three still squeezing their eyes shut, shaking like fawns without their mothers.

Sensing danger from the man in black standing before them, the wolves regrouped, ignoring the man cubs for now. Professor Kal didn't back down either, calmly walking forward with his black staff in hand. By now, the other three had sensed a change, opening their eyes, they saw their would be savior, being surrounded by the very wolves that had been tormenting them mere moments ago.

"Professor! Be careful!" Laura couldn't help but shout out, not wanting her beloved Professor to fall victim to the wolves.

She thought very highly of Professor Kal, he had changed her life ever since that day. She knew that he was a very talented alchemist, but as far as being effective in a battle, she didn't know. Magic took time to cast, one needed to chant the specific spell before it would manifest. With so many wolves circling around him, she didn't know if he would be able to kill them all before they could attack.

Time seemed to slow down, she watched on in horror as the four wolves tensed up, then exploded forward like springs releasing under load. She didn't see it, but Professor Kal's calm face twisted into one of disgust as the wolves sprung forward. He lifted his staff up in front of him, and like Moses parting the Red Sea, slammed it down into the ground.

As the tip of his gnarled staff struck the ground, sharp spikes made of earth instantaneously rose up from the forest floor, meeting the wolves' bodies, who's paws had just lifted into the air. The earthen spikes skewered the wolves easily, passing through fur, skin, and bones alike. The spikes continued to grow in girth and in height, lifting the massive wolves up into the air like macabre trophies on display.

The wolves whined in agonizing pain, struggling to get free, but only for a moment. The amount of blood each wolf lost caused them to soon expire, leaving only warm corpses for the crows to feast upon. Having taken care of the wolves, Professor Kal walked through the newly grown forest of bloody, earthen spikes.

"Stand up, you're embarrassing yourselves." Professor Kal said, not bothering in trying to comfort his students.

"C'mon, everyone else is waiting."

Snapping his fingers, a Warp Gate opened up next to him, swirling in purples and blacks. The students helped each other up, Richard requiring a little bit more help than the others, and timidly made their way into the portal. Instead of taking them back to the place they departed from in the forest, they found themselves back in their familiar classroom. They were the last to arrive, their fellow classmates waiting for them in their assigned chairs.

They did the same, sitting at their desks, waiting for the Professor to arrive. As they waited, they looked around, noticing that most of the other students looked like they had almost as rough a time as they did. Some had their clothes torn, some were covered in dirt, one boy was cradling his arm that was bent at a weird angle.

Professor Kal soon came through the portal, along with Professor Treffle. He closed the portal, then tapped his staff on the ground, gathering everyone's attention.

"Well, I have to say that I am thoroughly disappointed. Out of nine groups, seven of you got yourselves lost, three groups managed to find wasp nests." He paused, pointing over to a group that was covered in stings.

"One poor fellow fell and broke his arm." He pointed to the young boy holding his arm.

"And this group over here managed to almost become dog shit!" Professor Kal exclaimed, anger on his face.

Everyone turned to look at Ryan and his group, even the boy that had the broken arm stared at them. They all lowered their heads in shame, embarrassed to be singled out.

"This may come to you as a surprise, but this was not only a test to see how well you would do in finding and collecting herbs, but also how you would handle being on your own. If you had two brain cells to rub together, you should all be able to figure out that you have failed." Professor Kal yelled out in a lecturing voice.

"But." He said before pausing.

"I do not blame you for your failure. I blame this society, mostly this Academy, in failing to prepare you for the outside world." He said, gesturing towards Professor Treffle who was standing next to him, still trying to process what was going on.

Her and Professor Kal had been in the forest, talking about magic. The students had been off into the forest, collecting herbs, when Professor Kal had paused their conversation and opened a Warp Gate. He had left her there, telling her to wait for any students that might find their way back. That was the last she'd seen of him until two groups showed up. He had then warped back, opened a Gate for them, then opened a new one for himself before taking off again.

Now, she was standing in his classroom, looking at his students who looked like they've been through a battlefield, and being berated by Professor Kal himself. All she could do was try putting up a defense for herself, it wasn't her fault the students had turned out the way they had, and she didn't want to take the blame. But before she could say anything, Professor Kal cut her off.

"So I'll be talking to the Dean about adding some practical courses to the syllabus. I suppose I'll have to teach those myself, but it's a small sacrifice in comparison to the alternative." He said, suddenly acting as if he was becoming a martyr for a just cause.

"Your're all excused. I expect everyone to be here tomorrow, you'll be crafting your potions then. What? You didn't expect to get out of it did you? You should know better than that!" He said after gauging their reactions to having to continue with the original assignment, even after what most of them went through.

"Ah, I almost forgot. Here, take this." He added, handing a green potion over to the unlucky student who broke his arm.

"Take that, it'll fix you right up."

The student greedily drank the potion he was given, lines of green liquid running down his chin. Wiping his face with his sleeve, he waited for the potion to take effect. A warm sensation worked its way from his stomach to his limbs, numbing the pain he was biting back. He didn't feel any pain, only pressure, as his bones in his broken arm moved on their own, setting back into place. After a few moments, he moved his arm, opening and closing his fist. With a bright smile, he thanked Professor Kal before leaving class with the rest of his shell shocked classmates.

"What is wrong with you?" Sarah asked once the classroom was clear of students.

"What?" Professor Kal said, cocking his head.

"You took an entire class of noble CHILDREN out into the forest, injuring some, then blaming them for it?! And what was that about some almost turning into dog shit? If their parents find out about what happened, both of our heads will roll." She said, getting more worried and angry as she spoke.

"Oh, we'll be fine. They should be thanking me anyways. It's better to get them used to the real world now before something really dangerous happens, at least now, they'll be better prepared." He dismissed her worries with a careless shrug of his shoulders, ignoring any further protests by opening a portal and retreating into it.

Seeing Professor Kal 'run away' made Sarah irate. She started to curse at him as he walked into the Warp Gate, but he acted as if he didn't hear her. She kicked a stool over in anger, yelling at the wall. She thought about going to the Dean about his behavior, but then thought twice about doing so. She was right there with Professor Kal, so it was very likely that she would share the blame along with him for allowing the situation to escalate.

Gritting her teeth and stomping her feet went a long way in calming herself down. Once she had composed herself, she left his accursed classroom, heading towards her own. Her class was about to begin, and unlike a certain Professor, she cared for her students, so she wouldn't leave them waiting.

…..

Dean Petticoat was currently going over some admission paperwork, a glass of brandy was in his hand. Admissions were up sixty-percent for the next year, and it was only expected to continue to rise. This had put him in a rather pleasant mood, the only thing dragging him down was Duke Hutchens' bellyaching about his son. He could stomach that for now, as long as good news continued to come in.

While going over one particular applicant, the young prince of a foreign country, his secretary Minie, burst into his office. The sudden entrance of his longtime secretary caused him to spill his brandy all over the neat paperwork occupying his desk.

"Damnit Minie! What is the meaning of this?!" He bellowed out, face a dark shade of red.

"Forgive me sir, but the King is summoning you, it's an emergency." Minie said in her mousy voice, bowing her head low in apology.

"The King? What's the emergency?" He asked, forgetting all about the spilled brandy staining his paperwork.

"I don't know. The court steward is here to explain." She said before stepping aside and allowing an extremely well dressed man into the Dean's office.

He was a tall man, maybe six feet in height, with black hair and a chiseled jaw. He held his back as straight as an arrow, pride clear in his stature. This all made the look on his face all the more startling.

Dean Petticoat instantly stood up, bowing towards the man, showing him the utmost respect. The court steward represented the crown, so showing him respect was the same as showing it to the King himself.

"We need the most capable healer in the Academy." The Court Steward said, bypassing all the regular decorum.

"O..of course, right away." He said, already knowing who to summon.

"May I ask what the matter is about?" Dean Petticoat added, just as curious as anyone else would be.

"The First Prince has fallen ill. He'll arrive at the castle in a few hours, the rider that came ahead of him says that he is near death, we haven't a moment to loose." The Steward said, his face pale.

The First Prince was next in line for the throne, so of course anything related to his well being was of the utmost importance. Him being gravely ill was sure to have riled up the entire castle, the King was bound to be worried sick. Dean Petticoat didn't have much time, if they failed to save the Prince, it was hard to tell how far the Kings wrath could reach.

"Minie, summon Professor Kalcifer here at once." He ordered out to his secretary.

She nodded her head, then turned to leave, running out the office, but before she could reach the hall, a Warp Gate opened up directly in front of the Court Steward. Neither one of them had time to react before Professor Kal non chalantly walked out of the portal like he owned the place.

"Dean, we need to talk. These students are too soft, we need to toughen them up if they want to survive longer than five minutes in the real world." Kal stopped talking, suddenly realizing that the Dean had a guest.

Looking around, he noted the tense atmosphere along with the looks on both the mens' faces.

"What? Did somebody die?"