The next morning, the classroom hummed with the low murmur of the professor's voice as he paced behind his desk infront if them, gesturing toward a series of metal tools laid out on his desk and some apparatus as well.
"Always pay attention to the alloys," the professor droned, his tone both stern and distracted. "Iron tends toward neutrality. Gold and silver, on the other hand, magnify the effect of the spell. Carelessness with metal choice can turn a spell into a catastrophe."
Quentin, half-listening, rolled a coin between his fingers, its clink barely audible. Kady and Penny were nudging each other, clearly as checked out as Quentin.
The professor's gaze swept the room. "I caution you test your tools before ritual work. The wrong alloy can alter your magic at a quantum level."
Kai smiled faintly at that and leaning back in his chair. The professor, in his enthusiasm, had slipped into German mid-sentence, the words spilling out like a lecture at a Bavarian university.
'Oooooh kay… there there, let it out,' Kai thought, chuckling quietly at the man's obliviousness.
But the grin faded, his expression snapping to seriousness as he remembered this particular scene from the series. 'Oh shit… I forgot.'
At that exact moment, the clock struck twelve noon.
Time froze.
The professor's hand paused mid-gesture. Quentin's coin stopped spinning between his fingers. Kady and Penny, caught mid-smirk, couldn't move a muscle. They could only move their eyes wide, bewildered, watching as the air seemed to thicken.
The mirror on the far wall rippled like water, and from it poured a swarm of wasps.
Kai's gaze sharpened.
And then came the figure: a man in a grey suit, his head completely obscured by the writhing mass of wasps. He skipped skipped into the room, an eerie playfulness in his step, and came to stand before the frozen professor.
'So that's the Beast, he doesn't look that tough, but the magic rolling off of him sure is' Kai thought grimly as he could actually taste the magic emanating from the beast.
The Beast raised a six-fingered hand, made a casual gesture and tightened his index and thumb before pulling them apart.
And the professor crumpled lifelessly, his body fell like a discarded puppet.
Dean Fogg burst in at that exact moment, rings of glowing white magic circling his forearms. With a sharp motion, he blasted the Beast, sending him crashing through the professor's desk.
But the Beast rose, unbothered, like dust shaken off a coat. He lifted his strange hand again like an opera director. Dean's arms shot upward as if yanked by invisible strings, and with horrifying precision, the Beast moved closer and plucked out the Dean's eyes, setting them carefully on the desk like trophies and drew and arch with the blood to form a morbid smiley face.
'Yikes. That's gotta hurt… not yet,' Kai thought, grimacing.
Then the Beast leaned in, sinking his teeth into the Dean's neck.
'Ohhh-kay… that's more my thing,' Kai mused. 'But damn, overkill much?'
The Beast turned, drifting toward Quentin.
"Quentin Coldwater… there you are," he hissed, grabbing Quentin's frozen face.
That was enough.
Kai's mask of pretense dropped. With a burst of vampiric speed, he rose just as the Dean's enchanted stopwatch vanished from the fallen man's hand appearing, flickering, into Quentin's and he pressed it making time move again.
Kai acted fast, opting to keep his vampirism hidden…for now at least and cast a maiming spell.
"Per se qui e fracta toi, per se qui e total toi."
The Beast's hands twisted at grotesque angles, fingers fracturing invisibly. Several of his ribs cracked under the invisible assault making the beast scream in pain. A ring of fire whooshed up around him, making the nearby students recoil in terror as they all scrambled in terror.
Without missing a beat, Kai layered on another spell:
"Phasmatos Morsinus Pyrox Allum."
The Beast's swarm of wasps began to collapse, dying mid-flight one by one as he popped whatever blood vessels was in the magical wasps tiny heads. The man stumbled, gasping as the pain spell bore into him as well, seizing his mind like a vice with pain vibrating his brain like a hot poker being used in there.
The Beast glared at Kai through the haze of agony in surprise as his wasps kept dying around him. "You… you're new… What are you? I can't read your thoughts…"
Kai grinned, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, I'm just Bugs Bunny in a magic hat. Someone summoned me here for extra spice. Surprise!"
"…What?" the Beast muttered, confused.
That gave Kady her opening. She launched a bolt of battle magic straight into his chest which shook the beast lightly but did nothing.
The remaining wasps fell faster, sizzling as Alice began casting, her hands a blur of precise gestures.
Kai extinguished the fire ring with a flick of his fingers. His voice was cool, focused. "Motus gravis."
The Beast, ribs shattered and hands mangled, hurtled backward, slamming into the mirror.
At that moment, the stopwatch Quentin held crumbled to dust, scattering like sand.
Penny surged forward and shattered the mirror with a powerful strike using a chair nearby, shards flying as the portal collapsed in on itself.
The room fell silent, save for the heavy, collective breaths of those left standing.
'Ok, now here comes the questions and answers.'
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