Stellar Tomorrow

“Alright, class. Today is the second day of your seven spent in classes in Tuphere, so like I said yesterday, we’ll be going over what guilds are.” Miss Liddicoat looked over the crowd of students. “ Xue Fang and Maya, no interruptions. That goes for the rest of you, too.”

Vale rolled his eyes, wishing he was at home. He hadn’t slept well the past two nights, probably because he had trouble sleeping somewhere other than his own bed, in his own house. His put a hand to his cheek and leaned on the desk, listening to the teacher, but only half-heartedly.

“Guilds are groups of four or more Amphites. When you graduate from the academies, you can form your own or join an existing guild. You go on missions with the members of your guild that joined at the same time as you. Some people may join guilds after graduation, and as such, are group with those in the guild who have done the same or almost the same amount of missions as you.” She paused, narrowing her eyes at Xue Fang. “Two or three people who don’t want to join a guild, or can’t form a guild due to the lack of people can form parties by linking their Amphones together, which allows them to go on missions together.”

“So, if you’re a single person, you can still go on missions, right? But instead of being with others, it’s just by yourself?” Maya asked.

‘Yes,” Miss Liddicoat nodded, “Parties and lone people can be linked up to work with missions. For example, if Vale wasn’t in a guild, and Maya and Xue Fang were in a party, those three could be asked to work together.  Sometimes, it’s multiple single people and sometimes it’s multiple parties. It depends on the amount of people that may be necessary for that particular mission. For larger or harder missions, sometimes even guilds will matched with parties, singles or even other guilds!”

Miss Liddicoat looked over the room, before continuing. “After the founding members of a guild have finished 25 missions, they can personally visit the deities and pledge to one of them. They will give you powerful buffs and even gifts. It is very beneficial to do this, because you visit them to obtain your ultimate form. However, that power is too much for a human body, and that’s why the temporary sacrifice takes place. It is exchanged for the power needed to use the ultimate form, and it becomes permanent when you try to use it again before you’ve before you’ve restored enough power.”

“When are we going to learn about missions?” Maya blurted out, before realizing her mistake. “Ah, oops! Sorry!”

“It’s okay. Asking questions will help you, I just don’t like wasting time.” Miss Liddicoat nodded to Maya. “The lesson is done. I’ll go over the rest of the week now. Tomorrow, we’ll be learning about missions. Then, we'll be learning about the Nether Brigade, and what they’re doing. After that, we’ll learn more about Tuphere’s gods and goddesses. Our final true class will be spent looking over Tupherian Square, the capital of Tuphere, and the city we’re in now. The seventh day is when you graduate and you can go home. Some of you have to go to school right after, so keep track of your time. After classes here, make sure you meet with your mentors. Especially today, because you will be transforming and using magic today. Class is dismissed.”

- - - - - -

Vale had made good progress with his scythe, considering that he many different scythe-wielding idols that he had watched fight time and time again. Serrina had also gotten the hang of her's quickly, and she had gotten used to using the ammo, magical crystals which would cast bursts of elemental energy.

Aurianna had ditched her cast and crutches yesterday. She stood near a training dummy, waiting for both him and Serrina.

"Good, you're here," she smiled, gently. "We're going to practice magical abilities today, so no weapons. Tomorrow and the rest of the time we're training together will be used to practice both."

She pulled out her Amphone. "Press the ninth button and shout 'Amphone, transform!'" She didn't do it herself, but she looked at her students to repeat the process.

"Amphone, transform!" Both of them shouted.

It was a warm feeling, and light seemingly surrounded them. Vale's black jacket was replaced  with a purple sweater and a black scarf, and his jeans lightened. His boots became black instead of brown. Serrina's sweater changed from gray to blue. Her skirt turned into a pair of jeans, and her high heels turned into boots.

"This doesn't look at... fantasy-esque as I thought," Vale murmured looking at himself and Serrina.

"Yeah, I've gotten that a lot!" Aurianna chuckled. "The fantasy stuff is for the higher forms, but sometimes we get cool armors on Amphites. Oh, Kiriel was so excited when he saw himself." She commented, presumably reflecting on her memories. "Anyways, your attacks are usually exclusive to you, or people with similar forms and elements as you. However, the magic form's spells are similar. Today we're only learn two, so we'll have Vale use one of them, and Serrina use the other. Then, practice them and we'll eventually switch. We'll learn more over the week, and you can even discover some of your own."

Vale folded his arms and sighed. Aurianna turned to him. "You go first. When you say it, it'll usually be instinctively done, as long as you've transformed. With enough practice, you might be able to use the spells without saying it. This one is called Icicle Shot. Go ahead and try it." The purple haired woman watched him.

"Icicle Shot!" He narrowed his eyes and shouted, concentrating on the dummy. As if on instinct, he moved his hands up and two large icicles shot out of it, absolutely decimating the poor thing.

"Whoops," Vale shrugged.

"Ahh... that normally doesn't happen." Aurianna paused. "You must be really powerful then. Good job."

After Aurianna went through the process of replacing the the dummy, she taught Serrina her spell, Snowstorm.

Serrina nodded, and begun to spin around as she shouted, "Snowstorm!" Furious winds and snow forms a cyclone and enveloped the dummy. It didn't do as much as Vale's did, though.

Eventually the two switched, and the result was the same. Vale brutally decimated the dummy, and Serrina barely damaged the next one. Aurianna had Serrina keep practicing her spells, but out of fear that Vale would break the entire room, she had him sit out.

"Sometimes, during the assessment, the roses can determine an Amphite's power. The Earth one makes more vines, the water one's fountain gets bigger, and the light one glows more. Others, like ice, don't have that ability, so we wouldn't really know how powerful you are. You're going to make a great contribution to the fight." Aurianna smiled, before frowning. "I got injured in combat. My girlfriend Felice, our guild's leader Kiriel,  his best friend Lectric, and I.... we were all out on a mission. I got hit really bad on my leg, but it wasn't broken or anything. I'm an idol, like Illiya - well I was. I went back on stage, and I hurt my leg even more, breaking it. I'm terrified of going back out or even going to the stage. You've only just started, and I believe you can do better things than me."

"That's not entirely true. You're teaching me. Everyone has their strengths. I might be powerful, but I only put effort into things that I like. I'm not that good at math, but I'm in an AP English class. What I mean is that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Serrina, I think she might not be as powerful, but yesterday when we were sparring, she was really defensive and good at dodging me. You probably have something you're better at, too."

Aurianna's frown turned into a smile, and then a laugh. "Here I am, getting taught a life lesson by my apprentice. Thanks Vale."

Serrina herself had heard him too, and she was smiling as well. "Yeah, thanks! I was starting to feel discouraged until I heard what you said."

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes before smiling slightly. This wasn't as bad as he thought it was.