The World of Elm

The Fear Tactic

Y/N

Wow, it's so open!

Felix

Shit-!

Chan

Felix, behind you!

Minho

...

Y/N

Oh, that's Minho!

Hyunjin

Yes, a fascinating storm manipulator. The blue-head over there is Felix. He's the best ice mage our school has.

Jeongin

...

Hyunjin

Chan, the one with purple hair, specializes in crystal magic. He's quite the skilled one as well.

Seungmin

I heard some people call him Bang Chan, because he-

BANGGGGG

Y/N

The ground is shaking-

Seungmin

...That is why.

Y/N

I'm not sure how I'll be able to compete but I won't back down.

I noticed Han running over to a boy practicing by himself.

Changbin

...

Y/N

Oh, that's Changbin...

Seungmin

Looks like Han is with him.

Jeongin

That's weird, I never knew they were close.

Hyunjin

They're not.

Hyunjin frowned as he watched the two from a distance. We quietly watched them until Felix and Chan came running up to us, along with Minho.

Felix

You must be Y/N!

Chan

Hello, welcome to Elm!

Y/N

Hi hi, you guys looked really cool just now! And...it's nice to see you again Minho.

Minho

Mm.

Hyunjin

We were going to help Y/N unlock their abilities. They're in a hidden state for now.

Chan

Oh cool, I'm down.

Felix

Aw, I'd love to help but professor told me to help Jeongin out during this class.

Hyunjin

I see, well there's a lot of space over there for you two.

Felix

Mhm, come on Jeongin!

Jeongin

Yeah...

Felix skipped away, Jeongin trailing along behind him.

Y/N

Do they not get along?

Seungmin

Felix and Jeongin? It's not that...

Hyunjin

Jeongin specializes in water-type abilities, but he has been working on unlocking his ice magic.

Seungmin

He gets insecure about it since he still can't use it very well, especially coming from a family of water and ice mages.

Y/N

Ah...I'm sure he'll get there someday.

Hyunjin

Of course.

Minho

But now you Y/N...need to get to work! Should we use the fear tactic or go easy?

Y/N

Fear...tactic-?

Chan

Haven't done the fear tactic in a while.

Seungmin

Hyunjin used it when I first got here. It's not for everyone.

Hyunjin

C'mon, it wasn't THAT bad~

Y/N

Woah, woah...woah. You guys are scaring me and I haven't even started yet!

Minho

What is there to fear?

Y/N

Uh-huh, says the god of thunder himself or whateve-

The ground began to tremble again, but something about this tremble made the hair on my skin stand up. It was different from what Chan did.

Y/N

WHAT'S HAPPENING?!

Seungmin

...You really threw Y/N up there.

Minho

It's like pushing a child who can't swim into water, no worries.

Chan

...I don't think that's how it works Minho-

Hyunjin

Y/N, just close your eyes!

Y/N

I'm not closing them until you bring me back down!

Hyunjin

...Don't do it Min-

Y/N

AHHH

Minho

...

Chan

...

Seungmin

...Y/N, relax!

Hyunjin

You're telling someone falling from the sky to relax?!

Seungmin

siGh-

A strong gust of wind had swept me up into the sky. It felt like an invisible person was holding me up in the air.

Then the feeling disappeared, and I was falling towards the ground below. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping I'd land in a pair of arms.

I wanted to force myself to fly like they do in the movies, or at least land on a small, puffy cloud.

I vividly imagined myself falling on a soft cloud, just a pinch away from the solid ground.

Then...I landed.

Minho

See, I told you guys it would wor-

Hyunjin

YOU PSYCHOPATH-

Seungmin

Well, it DID work.

Chan

Y/N, you good? How you feeling?

Y/N

...Am I dead?

Seungmin

They're out of it. Abort, abort-

Minho

Look what you're sitting on, scaredy cat.

My shaky eyes slowly trailed downwards. I was...quite literally floating an inch or so off the ground.

Y/N

What...but how- OOF-

My body then plopped onto the ground, and I sat there in a daze.

Hyunjin

What Minho just tried on you was our notorious "fear tactic" which is also VERY dangerous and is not guaranteed to work for everyone.

Hyunjin glared at Minho as he spoke, though Minho didn't seem to care.

Minho

It's hard to tell if that was wind magic or...maybe even gravitational.

Chan

Wind magic is definitely more common. Could be a storm manipulator like you as well?

Seungmin

Gravitational magic...is banned?

Hyunjin

Indeed it is, so let's quickly move along. I believe you possess some form of wind ability Y/N.

Minho

...

Y/N

I- That easily?

Seungmin

Fear tactic. Always works.

Chan

Most of the time.

Felix

Jeongin, calm down!

Seungmin

What's happening over ther- What the-?

BOOOOM