Alkalians Read Online Free Page B

of,
Matt?”
    Visibly caught off-guard being put on
the spot, he eventually gets out, “Well, um, I don’t know much
about plants, but, uh, I suppose I like the horned bear, or slag
raptors.”
    To Matt’s wonder, some of the
students, and even the professor, briefly stir uneasily at the
mention of raptors, before she says, “Ah, is that so? And what do
you like about them?”
    “ Oh, they’re just great to
look at, I guess. And occasionally fight against.”
    “ Um, what do you mean by
fighting them?”
    “ Well, uh, back where I
live, in the mountains, I’d go hiking to observe the wildlife, and
every now-and-then I’d see one of them, or they would stumble upon
me and attack me. But, it wouldn’t take much for me to strike back
and scare them off.”
    “ Oh. Well, that’s very
interesting, Matt! So, who else would like to mention their
favorite plant or animal?”
    As a girl near the back of the class
speaks up and mentions something about tigers, Matt looks away to a
corner of the room, scratching the back of his head while he tries
to calm himself. One part of him says he has completely freaked out
the professor and other students, but the other says he may have
impressed them, and that felt good to him.
     
    ***
     
    Once his first hour class ends with
Prof. Malkia sending them off with wishes for a good day and good
night’s rest, Matt finds himself caught and whirled about by the
herds of students milling by him before he realizes, once again,
he’s completely lost. Soon, feeling like the only poor soul left
wandering the halls, he finds a map again, locates the room of his
next class, and hurries through the corridors, down some stairs,
and around a corner to the room. Pausing to take a deep breath and
calm himself, he then opens the door into the room, and immediately
wishes he hadn’t.
    While his interruption of Prof.
Malkia’s class had been greeted with a warm reception and
environment, this first impression is a complete opposite. The room
itself is dark, its only lights being provided by the faint glows
from large, rune-like patterns along the walls and ceiling, and the
air feels cold and damp. As soon as he opened the door, all the
students and the professor, a man in a black suit with long, messy
black hair, turn their heads to him with cold, piercing glares.
Gulping from instant terror of embarrassment and uneasiness, he is
considering spinning around and running away when the professor
says in a nonchalant, yet sinister, tone, “Ah, a straggling
freshman, I presume. Come in, and close the door behind
you.”
    Obeying, Matt enters the room,
carefully closing the door behind him, before turning back to the
chiseling glares. “You can take that seat in the far corner, over
there.” With a long, bony finger, the professor points to an empty
desk, made of stone like all the rest, in the corner to his left.
He timidly makes his way there and sits down, all the while with
the professor and students still staring at him.
    After a long moment of silence, as if
they are testing him to see if he would have a panic attack, the
professor strolls up to his wide desk at the front of the room,
with the wall behind it and the desk itself covered in
complex-looking runes, and picks up a sheet of paper, peering down
at something written on it. “So, as I have already taken
attendance, I am going to assume that you are…” His azure eyes leer
back to him over the paper. “Mr. Calamos?”
    Matt, after glancing about and
realizing he should say something, gets out, “Ye-yes, sir.
Professor, sir.”
    “ Hmm, indeed.” He sets the
paper back on the desk before slowly making his way towards him
through the rows of student desks, his black shoes causing clacking
noises on the stone floor with each step. “Tell me, Mr. Calamos,
how much do you know about runes?”
    “ Uh, they’re some kind of
ancient writing. Hieroglyphs, I think, sir?”
    “ Hmph. At least you have
some idea of them. Yes, some may