kkaebsong indeed

The Rise of the Mages
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[kkaebsong: A word popularized by Baekhyun from EXO which has multiple meanings. 1) When you feel like something is pitiful or shouldn't have happened. 2) When you say something funny but it's not interesting. 3) Sorry! ] [Ex. "Oh, kkaebsong! I got scared." ]

 

[KAI, Class of EXO]

                   

 

                                                                  Their eyes on me were a sign that I wasn’t welcome and the fact that I wasn’t welcome was enough for me to step back, scanning their faces. There was only one guy smiling at me, his face pointy but kind and I smiled back, feeling a little bit at ease that there was another person who was friendly. They didn’t move, the one named Baekhyun gawking at me on the floor while the one named Chanyeol had his eyes narrowed on my face like I was an unknown creature. A good-looking guy stood among them, with pink hair and a flirty smile on his face winking at me. Sehun and Kyungsoo were nowhere to be found.

Xiumin cleared his throat with authority. “Be nice to her,” he spoke, a hint of warning in his voice.

It didn’t do much, and those who weren’t smiling still looked wary of my presence. With a mumble, they backed away and finally began to move. The one with the pointy face turned to help Baekhyun up who was on the floor, handing him a napkin. Baekhyun accepted it, a pout forming.

“Now I’m hungry again,” Baekhyun wailed, stomping his foot on the ground and handing back the handkerchief.

“We have to go to class,” The guy said and Baekhyun stuck his tongue out, prancing away. The guy turned to Xiumin, as if waiting for him to say something, his gaze landing on me again.

“So, she’s joining us for class?” His voice wasn’t menacing and he asked it out of utmost curiosity. Xiumin nodded in response and the guy asked another question. I could tell he was still doubting the fact that I was a mage, but at the very least he was being nice about it. “Let’s walk together then?”

“I have to bring her to the library to check out a couple of textbooks,” Xiumin told him. “I think we’re having a pop quiz later so don’t forget to read up. I’ll meet you in the class room in half an hour.”

“Of course,” he answered, turning to me and giving me a small bow before heading out of the gym following the rest.

Xiumin told me to follow him and I obeyed, walking through the beautiful columns of the school. It was quiet and there were no people around at all but I could hear a couple of voices hear and there coming from the classrooms that seemed to be occupied with their lectures. We stopped by a big door and my attention was drawn to a big bulletin board that had writing on it.

Squinting, I realized that the names of the EXO and NCT and a couple of other groups were on it. In front of my eyes, I saw the numbers beside Baekhyun’s name increase and I blinked. Looking back up to the top of the bulletin board, I saw Sehun’s name listed as number one.

“That’s the point system. Those who are the top of their class are able to choose their opponent,” Xiumin said and I nodded, hearing it from him before. “It’s been Sehun for awhile now. I think he really wants to graduate so he can head back home and help his father in handling the Order.”

“The Order?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I heard of the Order and knew they were equivalent to a government on Earth, but this is the first time I have heard about Sehun’s background. “Is Sehun’s family part of the Order?”

“Mhmm. His family has always been part of the Order and quite frankly, they’re very good at it. Sehun was about to take their place but they found out he was a mage with active powers.” Xiumin let out a sigh. “Mages with active powers aren’t allowed to be part of the Order. People are scared that it may lead to tyranny. Some of Sehun’s cousins are mages but they’re still part of the order because their powers are passive.”

Xiumin pointed to another side of the bulletin and when I went closer, I realized that it said ‘Alumni’. It must be the people who have graduated, I thought, seeing Heechul’s name under a group named the Supers.

"This guy is Sehun’s cousin, graduated last year. He had the ability to tell if someone was lying and had often sat in Order meetings at a very young age," Xiumin said, tapping his finger onto the glass.

“Suga…,” I read, smiling at how similar it sounded to Sugar. “So, what do people do when they graduate from SM?” I asked, genuinely curious.

[Suga, Sehun's cousin] 

“Beats me.” Xiumin shrugged. “Sometimes they go and work for their family. Suga was supposed to work for the Order but he didn’t want to. I heard Sehun say he opened a famous tavern somewhere in the middle of Soul City. We all go do different things I guess, unless the war begins and calls for us.”

Nodding my head, Xiumin then told me that it was best to hurry and get the books. Walking inside the library, I saw Xiumin take out a sphere. I recognized it as the item Lay was holding in his hand as he spoke into it like a microphone and I walked closer to take a closer look. There was a creature inside. It had big eyes and looked like a chameleon with wings. It fluttered in the sphere and turned to look at me, its tongue coming out of its mouth, lapping up the air.

“What’s that?” I asked, shocked that it was in a small sphere when it could be enjoying its freedom. “Why is it trapped inside?”

Xiumin laughed, opening up the sphere and it fluttered out, landing on one of the books.

“That’s an Echowomp. Don’t worry, it’s not trapped. We take them in every time we have a meeting or need our voices amplified. These creatures are able to mimic our voices and make them loud. This was what Lay was using when he spoke before the duel,” Xiumin told me and I gaped in awe, the Echowomp fluttering in front of me in circles.

“We take care of them and every time we need their help, they come. Once it’s done, we release them. We take care of them as pets though.” He seemed to be enjoying my reaction. I had held out a hand, the Echowomp slowly landing on my palm. Its wings fluttered and its soft fur brushed against my fingers.

[Echowomp]

“It’s cute,” I said and to my surprise, it began to speak in my voice.

“Thank you, I know I am!” It said and I gasped, looking over at Xiumin who chuckled.

“They don’t have voices of its own so they can only mimic the voices of those around it.”

“That’s right! That’s right!” The Echowomp exclaimed loudly, this time in Xiumin’s voice.

“Master Xiumin,” a voice sounded. It was deep and gruff and I looked up to see a creature. It had a pointy hat made of thread and protruding two front teeth. It was short, half of me and it held a duster in one hand. It wore an overall over a white shirt and striped pants. It looked at me, breaking into a smile before bowing down so deeply, its head almost hitting the ground. I didn’t know what this creature was, but it was flexible.

“Oh. I’m here to help Harin check out some books and to return the Echowomp. I think one of our Seniors might have told you about it,” Xiumin pressed and the creature nodded eagerly.

“I had it prepared as soon as Master Kris told me to, sir,” the creature said, running away, hopping over the books and disappearing through another door. I looked back at Xiumin, my eyes wavering as I waited for him to tell me what the creature was but Xiumin had his attention on the books on the table. Dying with curiosity, I poked him and he jumped, turning to see the expression on my face.

“What?” He asked and I jerked my finger towards the direction of the creature. “Oh. Sorry, I forgot. That’s a brownie,” Xiumin explained. “They serve us. Brownies are extremely loyal and find joy in cooking, cleaning and doing household chores. His name is Mr. Bobbit, but we usually call him Mr. B. He has served SM for a long time.”

Right at that moment, Mr. Bobbit appeared, books on his thin frail arms. My eyes widened at the number of books he was holding and was about to step forward and help him when Xiumin stopped me, a hand pulling my wrists back. Shaking his head, I stood back and watched Mr. Bobbit place the books down on a cart heaving with shortness of breath.

“Here you go, Master Xiumin, sir.”

“You did amazing there, Mr. B,” Xiumin complimented and Mr. Bobbit beamed, his bright eyes sparkling with happiness. “Well, we’ll be off. Harin here has her first class in a few minutes.”

“Bobbit wishes Mistress Harin a very good luck!” Mr. Bobbit said, his voice loud, bowing one more in the same manner he did before. I almost bowed back and was stopped by Xiumin again, the male grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the library with one hand and pushing the cart with another. Once out of the library, he let go of me and pushed the cart as I walked alongside of him.

“We do not bow or try to help Brownies. They take it as an insult that they aren’t doing enough,” Xiumin explained to me and I nodded, making a mental note to not do it in the future. We walked down the hall, the sound of the cart droning in my ears.

“Why don’t you use magic to bring the books into the room?” I asked Xiumin, when realizing that he was pushing the cart like a normal human being.

“I can’t,” he said simply. “I don’t have that skill.”

I wondered if I should ask him what kind of power he possessed when I saw Suho walking down the hall. He was wearing a white coat today, and the color looked good on him. I noticed that there was something behind him and when he neared, I realized that it was Bubbles. The squonk waddled behind him, trying to catch up. Suho nodded at Xiumin in acknowledgement, turning to me.

“It was wailing in the room so I decided to bring it to you,” he said, though there was no annoyance behind his words. “Bring it with you to class, I think it has separation anxiety.”

Bubbles the squonk shuffled towards me. Suho crossed his arms and looked at me, like he was taking in my features from head to toe. His gaze stopped on the uniform I was wearing and he nodded in satisfaction.

“The uniform suits you,” he said to me before wishing me good luck on my first day, turning his heels and walking away from both of us. Xiumin proceeded to push the cart forward until we reached the classroom… Or at least it seemed like a classroom with a bunch of students screaming.

“GRAB IT!” Baekhyun’s shrill scream could be heard and I peeked into the room with Xiumin who was as confused as I was. “KAI! GRAB ITTTTT!”

The guy with the flirty smile I saw in the gym, whose name now I know as Kai, was teleporting around the room. He was seemingly trying to grab something. Baekhyun was on the table, screaming out words that were eligible to my ears, pointing in different directions. I could see Chanyeol, Baekhyun’s friend, sitting on the chair with his feet up. My eyes then landed on Sehun who was at the back of the classroom, looking as unbothered as ever.

“What’s going on here?” Xiumin asked, walking into the room as I followed him. I saw a dash of brown shoot through the room. Kai flickered to the middle of the room, leaning against a chair, huffing and puffing. Sweat trickled down his neck as he tried to catch his breath.

“I can’t—It’s too fast.” Kai raised his hands into the air as a sign of giving up when Baekhyun screeched.

“USELESS!” Baekhyun belted out loudly before turning to Chanyeol, pointing to him. ‘YOU! I told you to wash your feet before coming to class. Now there’s a Sniffler in the room! Because you—”

“I WASHED MY—”

“LIES!” Baekhyun yelled back at him. I winced at how unstable the table was being, Baekhyun’s body rocking back and forth. “If you washed it properly—”

His voice was drowned out when I noticed a small black fluffy animal with a squashed face zap across the room. It had a brown beak-like mound as a nose and its big eyes were bordered by a light brown line. Its body was filled with fur and its feet was similar to a platypus hand.

“That’s a Sniffler. They are incredibly fast,” Xiumin said. “They are attracted to bad smells. Chanyeol must have forgot to wash his feet again today.”

The sniffler had its nose on the floor, zooming across the room one more time when Kai teleported near it, trying to catch it. It scampered, suddenly stopping in front of me and Bubbles, its nose sniffing the air when it… gagged. The sniffler stuck out it’s tongue and gagged, making a noise that was similar to a human puking. Getting the wrong idea, Bubbles began to cry.

“No, no. He’s gagging not because he thinks you smell. It’s because we smell good, that’s why,” Xiumin reassured and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s get you to your seat," he told me and I walked to my seat, Bubbles close behind.

Kai had left the door open and when he took his seat, I saw the sniffler zap to the entrance of the classroom. Baekhyun climbing down slowly from the top of the table, looking defiant.

“Go! And never come back!” He shouted loudly when the sniffler turned and farted, before disappearing into the trees outside. Baekhyun sat down with a huff, turning to me when he realized that I was sitting beside him. A devious smile stretched across his face and he lowered his voice.

“Hey, Gaian. Tell you what, I’ll let you copy off me on the pop quiz if you wake up the sleeping guy right there,” he whispered and I looked back to the person he was referring to. It was Sehun, his peaceful face down on the desk, the sunlight rays on his skin. Beside him was Kyungsoo, who I saw was staring at me like an owl.

“Please don’t listen to him,” a voice sounded and I looked up to the kind face of the male who smiled at me in the gym. “He might whip up a tornado. Sehun gets grumpy every time someone wakes him up.” He sat in the seat at the table in front of me, taking out books from the space under the table.

“You’re no fun Chen.” Baekhyun glowered at the male and gave out a huff, taking out a notebook. “Why ruin it for the rest of us?”

“Yeah, Chen,” Chanyeol said, turning from his seat in front of me beside Chen. “Why ruin it for the rest of us?”

I sighed, feeling like I was in the midst of kindergarten kids; Xiumin excluded. Biting my lip, I bent down to pat Bubbles on the head and found out she was sleeping again. How lucky you are, I thought, not a single worry in the world.

The room suddenly went quiet when a shadow emerged from the door and Kris’ figure entered the room. He looked grumpy, as always, walking in and slamming a book onto the front podium that stood in front of the desks.

“Pop Quiz,” he spoke, and everyone fumbled to put away their books. I looked around nervously, not knowing what to do next. “Ong Harin, sit this one out,” he told me and I smiled, thankful that I wasn't made to take a quiz I had zero knowledge about.

“Well, that’s not fair. It’s easy. Don’t Gaian’s know anything about the popular tactics in war attack or the three basic policies in war allocation?” Baekhyun huffed, blowing air out of his mouth.

“No?” I answered, wondering what all he said was and if I had to learn it.

“So, what do you know?” Chanyeol spoke in front of me, turning around and wiggling an eyebrow. I paused at what to explain what we learned on Earth, knowing they would have no idea what I was talking about.

“Uh… The Study of Evolution by Charles Darwin?” I countered, with a lack of confidence in my answer when Chanyeol looked confused at what I was saying.

“Useless,” he muttered under his breath, turning back toward the p

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mandalee
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nehaosta_05
#1
Chapter 49: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1444457/49'>Epilogue: Part III [Kids!...</a></span>
Hey!!! This story was like gold. Too good. Plot good, Storytelling, POVs, references to fairytales etc etc and so much more. The drawings Kyung did and the way he spoke in broken grammar. It was all groups came together for some Kcon festival or something. Superb story with correct amount of fantasy and plot. It was good to see so many side characters and they carrying out the story. Idk what else to say . I waited throughout the story to complete and then comment because I was so indulged . Took me 3 long days to finish it but it was so worthwhile. I don't have words to say. Really really good. It should get featured already. It has so many good elements.