Woodwyrm Academy - Chapter Two

WoodWyrm Academy is a monstrous facility nestled in the hills of Rottering Downs. Established over two-hundred years ago by Rylogath Ryodarr, a mountain dragon and scholar renowned for his advances in theoretical alchemy, the Academy started as a single stone building with a student body of just twenty. Professor Ryodarr worked tirelessly to promote the Academy, and through a mixture of his recruiting efforts and his substantial renown in the field of alchemy, enrollment increased rapidly and the single stone building became one of many. Today that stone building is used primarily for storage, and on occasion as an overflow study hall when the newer study hall is overcrowded, particularly around exam time. WoodWyrm Academy grew to boast two student dormitories, a large and thoroughly modern dining hall, a complex of laboratories that housed all of the latest alchemy equipment, and multi-wing classroom facilities.

Aside from the dormitory situation, Alexander couldn't be happier with the facility. His grade school experience was certainly satisfactory and he easily maintained a place at the top of his class. But here, at WoodWyrm, he would be among the elite, his fellow intellectuals. His time was coming.

Over the years, WoodWyrm had developed a sort of notoriety among dragon institutes of higher education. In a time and place where tradition set the standards for all things, including education, WoodWyrm was known for its unorthodox methods of teaching the arcane arts. For example, under traditional teaching methods students must spend at least one year learning about the many theoretical aspects of alchemy before they are allowed to so much as enter an alchemy laboratory. At WoodWyrm, students are encouraged to spend as much time as they can in the labs, learning from their books but also from their mistakes. At first, the more traditional schools scoffed at this radical new approach to the alchemical arts and disregarded it as base amateurism. Many traditionalists called for a boycott of the school, calling its methods irresponsible and dangerous. However, when WoodWyrm students began performing markedly better at the intra-school alchemy challenges, it was WoodWyrm that had the last laugh. Nowadays, the vast majority of dragon educational institutes employ a trial and error method of teaching that WoodWyrm pioneered so long ago. It is no secret that these other schools look at Woodwyrm Academy with a sort of quiet jealousy. It is even less of a secret that the students and faculty of WoodWyrm take great pride in that fact.

This year, WoodWyrm was home to over two hundred young scholars in four grade levels, and Alexander spent a good part of his orientation week at school lamenting that he had been forced to room with what was almost certainly the clumsiest of all its students. On his very first night in the dorms, Fleevius managed to step on Alexander’s eyeglasses, bending the arms in a most unattractive fashion. In his zeal to apologize to Alexander for mangling his eyewear he succeeded in toppling over a series of treatises on earthen alchemy that Alexander had just finished unpacking and organizing. Alexander wanted very badly to leave his dormitory that night just to get away from Fleevius and his oafish behavior, but he was afraid that if he left him alone for more than a few minutes he might destroy the entire room. Alexander could just hear that soft, nasally voice: “Whoops – sorry about that!” while the room around him lie in a smoking heap. Alexander shuddered. Things would have to be better once classes started. They had to be better once classes started. Once he had homework and laboratories to worry about, he could stop focusing on every little irritating, clumsy, annoying, obnoxious, troublesome...well, it would be better. It certainly couldn’t be worse.

Alexander had spent a good two weeks of his summer carefully selecting his classes. After spending hour upon hour laboring over the course offerings, he had finally crafted a schedule that was the perfect blend of challenge and reward. He painstakingly studied the official biographies and credentials of each of his professors so that in the event an opening arose to mention Professor Glick’s famous anodyne thesis or Professor Crow’s balefire experimentation, he could seize the opportunity and make a positive impression. In addition to all of this, Alexander even arranged for two free afternoons every week for extra-curricular activities. He hoped to get involved in the WoodWyrm Research Journal, which was the Academy’s renowned publication on alchemy. Only the best of the best students are accepted for the Journal staff, and he had high hopes and good chances of making the cut. Members of the Journal staff were always highly sought after professionally, and often went on to have successful careers as alchemy professors and lecturers. Classes would not start until the following day, but Alexander felt that through his careful planning and research, he was well on his way to greatness.

“Hey Allie. Allie!” Alexander’s reverie was broken by the claws-across-a-blackboard sound of Fleevius’s voice.

“Fleevius, no one calls me Allie. It’s Alexander. I’ve been Alexander all my life.” He made no effort to conceal the annoyance in his voice.

“Al, do you think I should sign up for ‘Etymology of Arcane Symbols,’ or should I just take an extra study period after lunch?” Fleevius nibbled thoughtfully on the tip of a toothmarked pencil.

Alexander was dumbfounded. “What? You haven’t finished your course schedule yet? Classes start tomorrow!”

“I was going to wait until morning, but I thought I would get a head start on everything by choosing my classes tonight,” Fleevius said, completely oblivious to the fact that Alexander was gaping madly at him. “I guess I’ll take another study hall. I don't know why I'd need a class on arcane symbols anyway. Bo-ring!”

Alexander shook his head in amazement. How did Fleevius pass WoodWyrm Academy’s brutal entrance exam? He certainly wasn’t going to succeed here. At least there would be more room in his dormitory once Fleevius flunked out. He allowed himself to revel in that daydream for just a moment and decided it was time to go to bed. Tomorrow would bring his first day of classes at WoodWyrm, and he wanted to be well-rested so that he could get an early start and make a good impression on his professors.

***

Alexander awoke before the sunrise on his first morning of classes at WoodWyrm Academy. He had some trouble sleeping, partly because he was so excited about his classes, and partly because Fleevius snored quite vigorously all night. Alexander was tired, but he wasn’t about to let a little sleepiness get in the way of a successful first day.

He had already organized his textbooks, notebooks and pens the night before, so after he dressed and readied for class he grabbed his bookbag and left his dorm without so much as a word to his smelly roommate. Fleevius was still snuttering and snorking as he closed the door behind him. He sprinted down the four flights of stairs and out of the dormitory into the cool autumn air.

Alexander’s first class, Basic Principles of Alchemy, was on the second floor of the laboratory complex. While he was generally excited about starting his first class, he was concerned that such a basic introductory class might not be very stimulating. After all, he had taken a number of alchemy courses in middle school, including Advanced Alchemy Formulas, and aced them all. In comparison, Basic Principles of Alchemy should be quite elementary. The advantage of such an elementary class was not lost on Alexander: it would be a wonderful opportunity for him to show off his knowledge of alchemy to his classmates but most importantly, to his professor.

Alexander was quite early for class and he had his choice of seats. Naturally he chose a desk at the front and center of the classroom. He took his seat, neatly laid out his pens, notepad and textbook and began reviewing the notes he had taken during his initial review of the textbook

The classroom began filling up with students, and the seats around Alexander were soon occupied with dragons of all shapes and sizes sharing the same nervous excitement of the first day of school. Alexander quickly sized up the dragons filling the seats around him. The female water dragon to his right smiled shyly at him when their eyes met. Alexander nodded politely but immediately dismissed the possibility that she could be his academic rival. It was clear that she hadn’t even reviewed her textbook yet. To his left sat a tall, spindly air dragon wearing a tattered coat a good two sizes too large for his gangly frame. The air dragon shuffled his notebooks and textbooks anxiously. Surely this nervous creature wouldn’t present much of a challenge for Alexander either. The rest of the class appeared equally unimpressive. Alexander was a bit disappointed - he was hoping to find a rival early in the school year, but so far no one seemed to measure up. His disappointment was quickly tempered by his realization that he was certainly secure in his place at the figurative head of the class. His smug conviction snapped sharply when a familiar face bored uninvited into his head.

“Hey, Allie! I didn’t know you’d be in this class too! Maybe we can be study buddies!” Fleevius thumped Alexander on the back as he plopped into the desk directly behind him.

Alexander groaned loudly and set his head down on his textbook.