The Alchemists Academy Book 2: Elemental Explosions by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online Page A

backpack slung across his shoulders seemed to be far larger than someone so frail looking should have been able to carry.
                “Welcome, students,” the man said. “I am Sir Percival, and I will be responsible for teaching you the finer points of the care and control of magical animals.”
                Alana stuck up her hand. “What does that mean, Sir Percival?”
                “Well, it used to mean learning to fight the things, the way we did in my day.” Sir Percival puffed out his chest. There wasn’t much of it to puff out. “Ah, those were the days. Hacking away at dragons. Killing Gorgons with mirrors. Taking on hordes of tree warriors with nothing but a sword, some courage and a couple of cunningly concealed flamethrowers. Great times.”
                “And that’s what we’re doing today?” Wirt asked. He wasn’t sure whether to be excited or simply frightened.
                “Sadly not,” Sir Percival said. “These days, it is all about conservation, you see. Creatures are just too rare to go around fighting them all the time. Instead, we have to think about ways to ensure that they thrive, and only go after them with the old sketch pad and ankle tags.” The knight shook his head. “All very valuable, of course, but not the same, somehow.”
                Wirt let himself breathe a sigh of relief. Most of the rest of the class did the same.
                Sir Percival wasn’t done. “The more observant of you will have noticed that this lesson is quite irregular in its scheduling. That is because I will be teaching this class through field trips almost exclusively. It is vital to observe creatures in their natural environment, after all. I hope none of you mind a little hiking. No?” Sir Percival didn’t wait for an answer. “Good. Follow me please.”
                He set off, setting a blistering pace despite the backpack, heading along the main track leading from the tree, through a wooded area, and out into a series of large meadows. While several of the others struggled to keep up, Wirt found himself and Alana alongside their teacher as they walked.
                “Tell me,” Sir Percival said, “are you the two students who met with Llew down in his cave?”
                “You know him, Sir Percival?” Alana asked.
                “Oh, we used to fight quite a bit back in the old days, though with things getting so busy recently, we haven’t really had the chance. He used to be a very accurate dragon when it came to breathing fire, I remember that. You must suggest that we have a rematch, when you next see him.”
                Wirt couldn’t really imagine this old man fighting someone like Llew, though presumably, it had happened when Sir Percival was younger. Certainly, he didn’t want to think about what would happen to the knight if he fought the dragon now.
                “Um… I’ll try to remember,” Wirt lied.
                “Good, good. Now, we’re here, so gather round, everybody.”
                They were there? Wirt looked around, trying to make out what kind of animal they might be learning to deal with today. All he could see were a few horses grazing together in the next field, their heads down.
                “Today,” Sir Percival declared, stabbing a finger at the sky in dramatic fashion, “we will be studying unicorns.”
                Almost all the boys in the class let out a collective groan, while the majority of the girls seemed to be suddenly very happy that they had chosen the class. Even Alana seemed excited by the prospect. Wirt was very definitely with the rest of the boys on this one. Unicorns? Who cared about creatures that were little more than ponies with horns? They probably weren’t even dangerous.
                Only when he took a second look