Lina scowled at the black sailor dress uniform hanging in her rather bare closet. There was no way she was going to wear a dress. It was ridiculous. Since when did schools require uniforms? She snorted. No, there was no way she was wearing that dress. But if they wanted her to wear a uniform...
Zelgadiss, as was usual, walked alone on his way to school. There was plenty of time, even at his leisurely pace he'd make it with time to spare. He was a second year student at Eastern, one of four high schools that were collectively called Slayers High School. Despite the advances in magic and civilization, the world outside of the cities was still dangerous so schools such as Slayers HS, where magic and weapon usage were taught alongside more traditional subjects were not that uncommon.
In fact, it was because of schools like this, where students of all kinds were accepted as long as they obeyed the rules, that Zel was even able to walk around town without being struck down as a monster. Humans, normal humans that is, grudgingly allowed humanoids and non-humanoids to live in the city if they were students at one of the schools. All of the "non-humans" had to wear special badges that identified which school they attended and carry their school id at all times. But prejudice still ran high among the normal humans.
Even he was affected by it, and Zel was human. With, Zel thought bitterly, an emphasis on the word "was". He certainly didn't appear human anymore, thanks to his crazy grandfather. Zel's ears were pointed, even more so than an elf's, his stone-hard skin was a light blue-gray with dark gray stones, and his wire-like hair was a silvery violet. Only Zel's eyes hadn't changed during the accidental transformation, they were still blue and slitted as they had always been. In short, Zel hated the way he looked.
Though he didn't realize it, Zelgadiss was still a very eye-catching figure. His black school uniform contrasted with his lighter colored skin and hair, hinting at the slim firm body underneath. On his back were carelessly slung his school bag and practice sword.
And as he neared Slayers High School's east gate, he was greeted with an unusual sight. A group of students were gathered around what must have been a fight from the way people were cheering.
"FIREBALL!!!!"
Make that a spell battle, Zelgadiss amended, watching several burnt bodies go flying into the air and landing at his feet. He nudged one of them with his smooth black shoe. Not bad. They were burnt enough to make sure they were out of it but not so bad that they'd be killed. Not many had that kind of skill when it came to an area attack spell like Fireball.
"DILL BRANDO!!!"
From the tone of the voice, even from Zelgadiss's distance a block away, he could guess it was a girl. He didn't remember anyone from their section of school being that skilled... maybe it was a student from one of the other three high schools on the campus.
Zelgadiss walked up to the crowd and tapped one of the students on the shoulder.
"Excuse me."
The student first shrugged away Zel's hand and continued trying to look into the center of the fight. This time Zel gave the guy a hard shake. The student turned around to yell at whoever was doing the rough treatment but the words died on his tongue when he saw who it was. Students began to back away from Zelgadiss and for once, Zel was rather thankful for his freakish appearance.
So, rather easily, Zelgadiss was able to get to the center of the crowd to see who was the skilled magic user making all the ruckus this early in the morning. To his surprise, it was just a lone girl. A lone girl standing atop a heap of very well-done students that Zel could just make out to be some of the "tough guys" at school. The girl was currently holding one of them by the collar and shaking him like he was a limp doll.
Now that was a surprise. The girl seemed quite small and not that strong despite her present display of strength of shaking someone who must weigh at least twice as much as her.
"WHY YOU MORONIC FILTHY BASTARD!! How DARE you call me a guy!!!!" she screamed as the guy she was shaking began to see two worlds.
Zelgadiss sighed. He supposed any girl would be angry at being mistaken for a guy though he wasn't quite sure how someone would mistake her for a guy despite the fact she was wearing the boy's uniform. Though she didn't have much of a figure, her long fiery hair and feminine face most definitely put her among the fairer sex. Though Zel personally thought that calling her the weaker sex would be a misnomer.
Still, enough was enough. Zel stepped up to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think he's had enough."
"Flare Arrow!!" the girl screamed and three red streaks shot out from her outstretched hand at whatever dared to patronize her.
Zelgadiss easily leaped out of the way though he couldn't say the same of the student crowd behind him. Not bad, he thought as he landed some distance away on part of the wall that surrounded the school. She had cast the spell instantly and with only one hand. The spell was weaker than he would have expected, the students who didn't have the sense to get out of the way or summon a shield were singed but not badly burned. So that must have been a streamlined version, used to buy time and space during battle.
"Not bad," Zel smirked from his position on the school gate.
The girl glared at him, dumping the human doll and prepared another spell. Not waiting to see what else she could do, Zel let loose Dust Chip, a shaman water spell that shot out countless tiny arrows of ice. To his surprise, she didn't dodge the ice, taking the hits and continued with her spell. The girl was either a fool or stronger than he thought.
"Fireball!!"
A very large roiling ball of flame formed before the girl and shot out from her hands.
Too easy. Zel again easily leaped out of the way to land back on the ground near the girl.
"Is that your best shot?" Zel asked mildly, giving her a small condescending smirk that sent several girls swooning.
The girl gave him a feral smile as she leaped out of the way. "You think?"
Zelgadiss most definitely did not like that smile. Or the fact that students were falling over each other to get away. Looking up in the sky, he saw the fireball he had just avoided heading straight back at him. With a thought and a whisper, Zel raised both of his hands, calling the wind to gather into a shield around him.
And not a moment too soon as the fireball exploded... a safe distance away.
Zel heard laughter and turned to scowl at the girl. "Now that could have done a lot of damage."
She shrugged, still grinning that she had tricked him.
And the school bell rang.