Magic Academy *Official*

[omicron27]

CHAPTER ONE: A NEW SCHOOL


Amadeus awoke suddenly when his alarm sprite started sirening. Directing at the sprite, he ordered 'snooze' and went back to sleep. Five minutes later, however, the sprite started up again, and Amadeus had to get out of bed.

After taking a shower and putting on his daily apparel, Amadeus left for the 'Orientation Class'. His room was on the 815th floor of the academy, so it took a while for him to get to the class, which was being held on the third floor. He took note of the beautiful paintings on the walls on his long trip down the winding staircase in the center of the academy. Some of the paintings were from his home nation, so he recognized some of the artists who drew them. One particular painting caught his eye. The title of it was written below the painting in gold letters.
"Death of the aristocrat's wife" it read. Amadeus smirked and appreciated the comedic undertones the painting held. The woman in the painting held a knife to her bosom as her husband, with seemingly the same intent, held a match to his earnings.

Continuing his decent to the third floor, Amadeus overheard two fellow students talking to one another. "I bet we could sneak into the cafeteria after class and steal some Lunarboar steaks when no ones looking."
"Why would they have Lunarboar steaks here, Tyler? I swear you're such a--"
"I heard Mr. Ornry talking to himself about it! He was thinking of how succulent they will be! I bet they're have'n a teacher's dinner or something!"
Tyler's friend sighed. "You go ahead, but I'm not going to ruin MY first day here by trying something stupid."

At that Amadeus chuckled to himself. His family used to get Lunarboar steak from a farm up on the moon. It was in fact one of his favorite foods, but Amadeus knew it would not be wise to get on the bad side of the staff on the first day.

At last he reached the third floor. The room he was looking for was called the 'Orientation Room'. Amadeus was surprised, as Sceleris Terra Adustum did not have a room for the sole purpose of an orientation class. This, Amadeus concluded, meant that this academy was larger and more well off financially. With his thoughts constituting most of his attention, Amadeus did not notice that someone was running in the hall in front of him. He accedentally walked straight in the way of this person and they collided, both falling to the floor. Amadeus was about to apologize when his fellow collider spoke.

[Overlord Delta]

Lucius felt the blast electricity run through his body. His alarm worked, that's for sure. He thought it would be a good idea, shocking himself to wake up. The only problem was he put a little too much power into the spell. Woops he thought. He hated this day so much. The start of classes. The start of doom. Lucius steeled himself for his most arduous challenge yet, assisting in the Orientation class. Why did it have to be me he thought to himself. He showered and threw his clothes on, and headed through the familiar 815th floor, and down the spiral staircase in the center of the academy.

Madly dashing down the stairs, Lucius heard some students chatting. "Did you hear about this year's freshman class?"
"Yeah, isn't it supposed to be filled with foreign students, low-tier hedgemages, and some girl who can't use magic on demand?"
"Yeah, and the year above us got a foreigner too," the other replied.
"Dang, we got conned," the first added. Lucius could listen to no more lest he be late to Orientation class. Aquaria, help me get down there fast, please he thought. Aquaria thought back Alright, fine, just jump, I'll help you. He felt her power on his feet. Lucius jumped down the center of the spiral stairs, scareing first years all the way down. Everyone else was used to his "shortcuts."

Barrelling down the hall, Lucius hurtled through the twisting halls of the third floor trying to get to the Orientation classroom. Passing through a side hall, he blasted forward, crashing into another student. Sending this red-haired, red-eyed student crashing to the floor, Lucius immediatly apologized.

"Oh dear, I'm incredibly sorry," Lucius babbled out trying to keep slightly calm, "I hope I didn't hurt you."
"Might I ask who you are and where your going?" Lucius asked.

[omicron27]

Amadeus sat in his fallen position for moment staring at Lucius.
He was wearing a long sleeved, bright green shirt. Over that he had a red vest that had a collar that goes up to his nose. Upon examination Amadeus noticed that the vest was shorter than the other second year students'. Lucius had long cargo pants of a dark blue color. Lucius' hair was brown, and also damp and untamed. Behind Lucius' glasses, he had two differently colored eyes, one orange and one violet.

Amadeus noticed a strange presence with Lucius, and decided that trusting him would be a bad idea.

Trying to avoid a conversation, Amadeus told him "I'm no one special. I've got to go."

With that he sped down the hall to orientation class. He entered the large auditorium in awe, the room seemed to have no end, since a magic illusion covered the walls and ceiling. The illusion took the appearance of a mid-autumn day, with orange and yellow leaves slowly falling off the many trees. This was even more amazing considering that the auditorium had other rooms surrounding it on all sides!

"The rules and regulations can be accessed by an enchantment cast on the keychains that you all will be given shortly..." spoke an older woman on the stage. Amadeus was surprised, he was late! Surreptiously gliding down the walkway, he found a seat near the back. Sighing, Amadeus was relieved that he at least made it to the class.

[Overlord Theta]

"Wake up, Willow," a voice muttered."Willow, WAKE UP!!

"You don't have to be so rude, you know." Willow murmured angrily, getting up."Why do you you wake me up every morning, anyway?"

She never understood why the stupid ghost had to wake her up every morning. It wouldn't even tell her it's name, yet here it was, waking her up every morning like some nanny or something.

"Well maybe Ｉwouldn't have to wake you up If you would get up on time. You have classes today, remember?" It said spitefully.
"Oh! Classes! I almost forgot! I better get ready."

Willow ignored the unkind things that the spirit said to her after that and got up and got dressed in her usual array or color, looked in her mirror, and checked the time.

"Oh no...I'm going to be late if I don't get out soon."Willow said unenthusiastically.
"Well, your not going to be late if you hurry, not that you will."
"You be quiet! I don't want to be late just because I was waisting time talking with you!" Willow said while she left the door.

Willow lived at the 678th floor of the building. Not very close to the 3rd floor where her class was. Willow looked at the old stair case and smiled. Plenty of shadows to help her out. She called the shadows forward and let them carry her down. She passed quite an array of students on her way.

She stopped at the third floor and began to walk. She stopped to see a couple of kids crash in the hall, right out side the class. Watching the way they interacted she decided not to try and help. Instead, she walked past with out them noticing, (she was quite good at that, not being noticed.), and marveled at the class room before her. It was a pretty sight.

"Don't just stand there! Find a seat!" the ghost interrupted her viewing."Class is about to start."

Willow held her tung, and sat down at the nearest seat. And listened to the woman who was about to speak, when a student who sat next to her turned and asked for a pencil.

Willow reached into one of her many pockets and polled out a pencil and gave the student it.

[Overlord Delta]

Lucius, still stunned a bit by the crash and his fellow student's answer, dashed to the door. No good, it was locked. Lucius steeled himself for his newest challenge, getting in. Sapientia ferrum mens Lucius thought. He used this phrase to give a boost to his spells. The orb of shocking force materialized in his hand, and was quickly enveloped in another orb of water. The ball of water glowed black. Lucius smiled, sucess he thought. "Black Pearl," Lucius murmered as he tossed the Black Pearl at the door. A large blast echoed throught the hall. Well, the doors open Lucius thought to himself. "Sorry I'm late!" Lucius exclaimed as he hurried to the desk set up for the class assistant.
"Lucius, I don't think your setting a good example for the new students," Ms. Masters, the Orientation teacher, nagged at him.
"I'm sorry," Lucius said feigning sorrow and hiding his true thoughts. I'm sorry you magically locked the door Lucius thought. He had been prepared for anything. Even his wandering thought of playing a large prank. Nah he thought. Then he saw that guy he had crashed into. I'll get his name now Lucius thought. He just had to wait till the introductions. He eyed the students over, looking for some to take under his wing. He saw four good looking prospects. The one he bumped into, a girl wearing a kimono, a boy dressed in a black, rune covered robe, and a girl with a scar and top hat who seemed to silently argue with herself at various intervals. Lucius activated his magical sight and focused on them. A ghost, how intersesting he thought. How interesting, their magic manifests differently then everyone around them Lucius thought. The one he bumped into appeared as having a flaming musical staff embracing him. The one in the robe seemed to ooze ice. Strangely, he saw just a small glowing orb on the girl in the kimono. Lucius was hungry for answers. Why do they manifest like this? he pondered. Introductions were soon to begin.

[akikowolf]

Akiko Wolf woke up automatically to her alarm clock and reached over and turned it off. She sat on the side of her bed and stretched her arms out. She quietly got up, showered, got dressed into one of her favorite kimonos, had breakfast, and finally began brushing her teeth.
As Aki stood in front of her mirror, she thought about the day to come. She was excited for her first day at the Academy, but also felt quite nervous. Akiko was hoping she could push her shyness away and make at least one friend. Will I do well in my classes? she thought, I hope that I fit in. After she rinsed, she got her things and left her room to go down to the 3rd floor where her first class was. "Wow, I have to walk all the way down from the 678th floor," Akiko whispered to herself. "At least it's good exercise." So she happily started on her way down to the 3rd floor from the 678th.
What floor am I on now? She thought, and looked for one of the signs labeling it. "670th" it read. I'm glad I got up early.
Akiko walked and walked and finally got to the 3rd floor. "Now what room was it?" she muttered. Akiko walked along the halls looking for her classroom, and when she had found it, she stood in the doorway looking into a large room. I’ll have to do something about that long walk. She was tired. The room was filled with chairs, and only about half had students, all sitting in the front. Yes, and I'm still early. Hmmm…what time is it? She looked around. Oh, there's a clock. She smiled. Ok, only a few more minutes before class begins, but where's the whole other half of the class? She looked around at the students. Akiko realized that most of the people here were first years like herself, and the others would probably use spells to pop in at the last second. Realizing the students in the room were staring at her as she just stood there in the entrance, she remembered herself and quietly found a seat towards the back.
As the two minutes ticked, classmates continued to pop in, or appear in the hallway, and step in. An important looking woman walked in, and took her place in the front. Akiko sat there alone in the back, and overheard some murmuring in the hall about some collision, but paid no attention. A girl in a top hat walked in and muttered to herself, then sat down next to Akiko. Aki wanted to say hi or something of that nature to the girl, but couldn’t get herself to talk to a stranger. So, to get rid of the nervousness, she looked through her things. Kiko realized she had forgotten a pencil. Well that’s not good. She thought. I’m going to NEED a pencil. Aki sat there for a second; thinking about if she’d have time to go back to her room and get one, but the woman in the front stood up and started to speak. “Hello students, my name is Ms. Masters. I will be your Orientation teacher.”
Aki realized that she did not have time and the easiest way to get a pencil was to find the courage to finally talk to the girl next to her, “Do you have a pencil I may borrow? I forgot one.” She whispered to the girl. Kiko was hastily handed a pencil and she felt accomplished. She smiled and turned her attention up to Ms. Masters.
Akiko looked over at the doorway to see a boy in black walk into the room, and sit down in the back. After Ms. masters saw this, she magically closed the door. Maybe it was because she was reminded that she hadn’t closed the door, or she was upset at the boy for coming in late. Ms. Masters continued talking “Now, shall I move on to our policy on tardiness?” She said. Then the door burst open, and a young man walked in. The young man and the Orientation teacher bickered a bit, and the man sat down in the front. Akiko turned her attention back to the teacher.

[omicron27]

In the front of the class the old woman started talking about tardiness. All of a sudden the doors sprang wide open and a young man walked in. Amadeus thought of how close he was to getting into such an embarassing situation. The young man walked up to the front of the class to speak with the older woman. Being in the back of the room, Amadeus could not hear what they were saying.

"Students who are found tardy will be cursed with one of our resident spirits, who will continue to erk and annoy that student for the rest of the day." Amadeus imagined for a second having one. Constantly talking to you, most likely asking questions.

"Very distracting." he whispered lightly. Amadeus noticed the person whom he collided with staring at him. Irritated, he stared back, realizing that the student was eyeing his mana. Quickly, Amadeus created an illusion to fool the student. It seemed as though it worked, as he passed his gaze onto two other students a few rows in front of him.

The old woman stood up and spoke, "Now, it is time for introductions. My assistant," gesticulating at the student sitting next to her, "will pass out all of your keychains while headmaster Elrosdorf speaks your name."

All of a sudden, all the students were teleported in an alphabetically ordered line. Amadeus was about mid-way through, so he waited for the line to move forward. When he finally made it to the front of the line, the student he knocked into held out a keychain for him. He gave Amadeus an awkward smile, and one was returned to him. Amadeus decided to try to test him. When taking the the keychain, he ignited his hand. Just as soon as the fire ignited, however, it was extinguished by a spiral of water jutting from the students wrist. With another smirk, Amadeus walked off as he heard Elrosdorf recite his name.

[Overlord Delta]

Lucius knew his would-be apprentices' names. Amadeus, Akiko, Willow, and Alastor. Amadeus igniting his hand had only encouraged him to have him as his apprentice. What do you think about them, Aquaria? he thought to his spirit. Well, pyroboy will make things interesting, that's for sure, but something was unsettling about the robed boy, Alastor, I think Aquaria replied. Lucius was too lost in thought to notice one student yelling to him. The student in question had dark brown hair, and wore a flowing, violet robe.
"Pay attention, you impoverished maggot!" the boy yelled at him. It seemed that the student was yelling at him.
"What do you want?" Lucius asked kindly.
"Teach me that trick you did to put out that boy's hand," the student replied, more of a command then a question.
"Why? I don't want to teach some stuck up idiot who insults people and then demends their service." Lucius fired back.
This response had not been what the student had hoped for, and it appeared to send him over the line. He furiosly said the name of his spell, Granite Spire, and had the large spike aimed at Lucius. I think this will be a perfect time to show off Lucius thought. Make sure you don't get hurt Aquaria thought to him, in a caring little sister tone. The spike flew at Lucius, who merely side-stepped it, and prepared to fight back. "Black Pearl," Lucius said calmly. He generated the orb of electircity folloowed by its shell of water. He tossed the orb, hitting the student square in the stomach, causing a large splash of charged water, stunning his opposition.
"You!' his opponent fumed, "I'll get you suspended for that!"
"Incorrect," Lucius replied, with all eyes focused on them, "you see, the rules say that it was retaliation, meaning I am near blameless, and YOU are the one who would get suspended, right Headmaster?"
"Lucius is right, you are the one at fault here," Elrosdorf answered.
"I'll make sure my sister hears about this!" the student managed to screach before he was teleported to detention. Sister, Lucius thought that could be trouble if I know her. The students sat in awed silence.

[omicron27]

Amadeus waited for the rest of the line to pick up their keychains. After everyone was finished, they were all teleported back to their seats.

Ms. Masters walked back to the front of the class, and Elrosdorf teleported back to his chambers. "Alright," Ms. Masters spoke, "Does anyone have any questions?"

The room was silent. "All right then," Ms. Masters said, "you're next class will be--"

"What about that Labyrinth supposedly beneath the academy?" a student inquired. "Isn't it called Death's Crucifix? They say that--"

"That is insignificant." Ms. Masters interrupted. "Student's academic responsibilities should come before anything else."

A light enveloped the room. When the room returned to normal, Mr. Vanlentine was standing in the front of the room.

"The Labyrinth is indeed beneath the academy," he spoke as he walked slowly forward. "It's called Death's Crucifix because of the many souls congrugating there. This tower acts like a magnet, attracting spirits here from the surrounding areas. The spirits then descend through the tower and into the labyrinth, where they say Death himself presides. Their, the souls are guided by Charon into Hell."

"Mr. Valentine!" Ms. Masters said, "Your class is starting in less that half and hour, and YOU are wasting time here?"

"I've been teaching this class for more than six hundred years, and I have not been late for it once. Why do you think I'll start now?" With that he disappeared.

Ms. Masters was agitated by this surprise appearance, but kept her cool and ended the class. Amadeus got up out of his seat and walked to the Magic History room.

[Overlord Delta]

Lucius eyed the schedule for tomorrow's Orientation class. The teacher was Ms. Lear, and the topic was the academy's policy on fighting. How ironic Lucius thought. It seemed like it wouldn't be too bad. Lucius got up and hurried to his next class, Legendary Beasts. It was an advanced class that he didn't really want to take, but when his parents heard, they forced him to take it. At least it's with Ms. Lear Lucius thought.
Why's that? Aquaria querried.
She's my favorite teacher, maybe it was because se was always so nice. Lucius thought back, Probably because I had the highest grade in the class in Alchemy last year. He hurried to Ms. Lear's room on the 20th floor. Another boring walk was about to occur when Lucius overheard something two students were talking about.
"I heard that one student tried to burn the Orientation class' assistant," Lucius heard one say.
"Yeah, we can't allow that kind of behavior to pollute our academy!" the other student replied.
"We need to remove him, what was his name?" the first student asked.
"Amadeus Rosseual or something."
Well, I can't let my apprentice be taken out by these losers Lucius pondered with a half smile on his face. the perfect opportunity to gain trust, defending one from would-be hitmen. Lucius left before he was noticed and headed to class.

Greeted by the smiling Ms. Lear, Lucius took his seat. The next person in the room shocked and dreaded Lucius to the depths of an abyss. It was Elise Fourule.

[Overlord Theta]

Willow smiled at hearing the tardiness punishment."Not mush difference there," She smirked."I won't have to worry about being late then."

"Oh stop it," the spirit said, " and pay attention!"

As the spirit said this Willow noticed some one was looking at her curiously. She turned her head away deciding to take note of it, but take no action.

She then found herself in a line toward the front. A teacher said her name and gave her a key chain, which willow put in a pocket and watched the other students. She saw the girl that asked her for a pencil , Akiko, and the boy who was staring at her, Lucius. It was a slightly tedious process and the spirit wouldn't shut up, so she looked at her schedule and left for history. She thought that the spirit might enjoy the teacher there, and it happened to be her next class.

When she got there the spirit said " Ahhhhhhhhh, a teacher that might actually know some thing."

Willow found a seat near the front and waited for class to start. Mr. Valentine looked about the class and Began to speak.

"Class, as you may know I am mr. Valentine"

[omicron27]

Amadeus leaned against the back of his chair, waiting for the class to start. Mr. Valentine was at the front of the classroom, (he was when Amadeus entered the room,) but was also waiting for some of his students to enter.

Finally all the students had entered the room. "Class, as you may know I am Mr. Valentine." he started. "I will be your Magic History teacher for the next decade. I'll probably be your children's Magic History teacher as well. And their children, and their children, and their children. I suppose those are the perks of being a ghost." He glanced around the class, taking a moment to use magesight on each of them.

Amadeus was surprised how often people were trying to magesight him, so, with paranoia, he decided to keep a cloak on his mana indefinately from now on.

"Ahh. Seems like we have quite a few familiars among our new class this year. This may turn out to be as interesting as I thought.."

Amadeus was puzzled as to this new teacher's mysterious nature. "As he thought?" he pondered. "What did he mean by that?"

Mr. Valentine continued. "I know what you are all thinking. You are wondering how a punk little preteen like me got a job like this? I am over a millenium old, so if any of you hoodlums attempt anything funny on me, just be warned that I have a thousand more years of experience than all of you combined."

Amadeus almost chuckled. "How fiesty he is. He certainly may make class interesting."

"Now I know you think that this isn't your fault," the teacher said, "but you were all tardy to my class. All of you were wasting time at the orientation class instead of coming to my class on time, and therefor I am forced to shorten my lesson to accommodate your need for additional learning."

Shocked, Amadeus starting to doubt this teacher's sanity.

One of the students spoke, "But Mr. Valentine! You were there yourself! We all saw you!"

"Me? At the orientation class? What motivation would I have to go to my most hated class of the year? Either way, it is irrelevant whether I was there or not. For being tardy for my class, you will all have a spirit bound to you for one day. Since I do not have enough time to teach you a lesson about magic history, hopefully this spirit will!"

A gale of spirits rushed in from the floor above, each soul finding a student to inhabit.

Mr. Valentine could only grin at the facial expressions his students were giving him. The first day of the year was always his favorite. "Alright, class is dismissed. You all have twenty minutes until your next class. Listen to your new friends until then, I'm sure they have lots to say.

[Overlord Theta]

Willow felt the somewhat familiar sensation of a ghost entering her soul, but to her delight, it didn't fuse. It just merely bounced off muttering something about spot being taken and floated off.

"Well now that is an unexpected advantage to having you here, spirit. I can't be possessed." Willow murmured happily.

She looked around to realize that every one was staring at her. She blushed at the sudden attention and tried to think of something to say, when the teacher spoke.

"It seems that you have some how managed to summoned up a spell to deflect the spirit, Miss. Carnopia. Quite an impressive feat for a first year.Still, you were late, and punishment is punishment. Lets see what the old ghost has to say, shall we?" Mr. Valentine said as if he were very annoyed.

" No! Please, I didn't do any thing. It just sorta... well... bounced off. I'm not sure why. But I had nothing to do with it." Willow was desperately trying to avoid punishment, and she wasn't really lying. It was just that the last thing she needed was the whole Academy knowing there was a spirit in her soul.

"So much for the unexpected advantage." the spirit mocked her. It took any chance it could to laugh at her misfortune.

" I am well aware of your type, Miss Carnopia. You go around thinking that you can take on the system because you know a few tricks. Well as a part of this lesson I shall let you know that never works. And look the spirit is here." Mr. Valentine announced.

The spirit went up to the old teacher and whispered to him. It was a huge relief to Willow that it didn't announce what had went wrong.

"....I see... " Mr. Valentine said." Well, it appears we had a misunderstanding. Class dismissed."

Willow was relived and went to her next class. Along the way she did hear some kids talking about the incident.

"It's totaly unfair. We get these annoying ghosts THAT WON'T SHUT UP, and she gets off easy." one student said rudely.

Willow went up to him And frowned. "Get used to it kid, I've dealt with annoying ghosts longer than you had."

He just looked dismayed. Willow grinned and cloaked her mana before he could read it. She then walked away leaving him confused and bewildered.

[Overlord Delta]

Lucius nearly screamed. Lucius nearly realeased most of his mana in an uncontrolled burst in her general direction. Lucius nearly killed just about everyone in the room. Aquaria had put her hand on his shoulder for support, but Lucius still was angry. Lucius hated everything about her, especially the fact that she was his former friend. Elise was regarded by the greater population of the school as the most beautiful and talented student there. Lucius knew another face behind her flowing hazel curls and "glorious" blue eyes. He knew the truth. She was a cunning and conniving monster who thought of Lucius as her modeling clay so to speak. When he read her diary, he discovered all of it. Elise considered him the perfect material for a "project," turning him into whatever she wanted. Lucius had never let her know that he found out, but he cut his ties with her post-haste. She smilied friendily and flirtatiously at him, but Lucius just burned with hate whenever she did. She was smiling at him at that moment.
"Good morning Lucius!" Elise exclaimed delightedly.
"Mmfm," was all Lucius could mutter without succumbing to his rage. Dear god, why is she sitting next to me? Lucius thought. Calm down Lucius, getting this worked up will never help anything Aquaria thought to him. Lucius did, indeed, calm down. the class wasn't too bad for him. He particularily enjoyed learning about the Hanging Gardens around the world and the Troliphic Beast. I wish I could go to a Hanging Garden Lucius yearned. Then he saw something that fit perfectly into his plans and wishes. There was a leaflet on the wall for Ms. Lear's Exploration Club.
"Learn about our world, fight beasts, discover great treasure, have fun." the leaflet read. this is perfect Lucius pondered.

[akikowolf]

Akiko was more than happy to have a temporary companion. She was missing her wolf who would be dropped off at The Academy soon, and needed a buddy. She learned a lot from the spirit named Alsavior. He told silly jokes, and enjoyed teaching the humble Akiko.

"There was once a Magus so powerful, he became depressed by it. He could destroy everything just by the slightest thought. He could do anything, go anywhere. But, all he wanted was to be normal..." Alsavior had noticed something about Akiko, and this topic made him want to point it out to her. "Even someone like myself who specializes only in history, and not magic skills, can sense great power within you. I'm sure someone more sensitive to mana would be able to notice it so much more. If you ever were to unleash it, I wonder what would happen..." It was almost as though Alsavior was saying this last sentence to himself. Suddenly, Akiko was hit with several feelings mushed together to form a heavy glob sitting on the floor of her stomache. Yet, she felt an emptiness within her, as though some information was missing. No one has given her a compliment on her mana before. She always thought that her mana level was below average. Aki felt uneasy.
Was something being hidden from her? How come no one has ever told her something like this before? Did everyone think that she had already known that her power was so great because it was so obvious? Or...are people trying to keep her from using her powers and unleashing her mana by keeping her innocent, and oblivious to magic, and even her own power? When he noticed Aki's confused expression, Alsavior changed the subject. "Oh, well. Don't want to give you too big of a head...um...Hanging Gardens, yes."
Akiko was confused by what the spirit had told her. She didn't believe that she could ever be anything special. Aki tried to pay all of her attention to what the spirit was now saying in order to get rid of the bad feeling she was given.

[Overlord Epsilon]

"Is this all you have to report for today Nex Pennae?"

<Unfortunately, yes. Nothing but idle gossip from around the school.>

"Very well."

<Don't your classes start today, Alastor?>

"Yes, but it is only daybreak now, I still have plenty of time to get to the classroom. Keep checking the hallways, you know that I need your eyes and ears to complete my goal." With that the raven gave a nod and flew off into the hallway. Well, Alastor Valere thought, I should head out to the classroom now, and walked out of his room.

The light from the night torches illuminated the hallways as he worked his way down to the orientation classroom. Of course no one was walking with him, so early in the morning as it was. Even if it was about time for class to start no one would be walking with him. That was just the way things were. Well, I'm about 3 hours early, Alastor thought as he went to the very back of the classroom. Time to do something interesting, and he began sifting through all the visual, audio, and other information that his familiar was sending him.

"Last one in the classroom gets hit with a drenching spell!"

Alastor concentration on information was broken as the person who shouted it raced into the classroom as if he had winged feet. He probably does, thought Alastor wryly. Anything happen, Nex?

<Some students collided in the hallway. One is a fire orchestrator, and the other is bound to a water spirit. Another student was shadow warping to class, but that is hardly interesting. Other than that everything is normal.>

Good, then I want you to lend you your analyzing ability to see what I have to deal with for a class.

<Very well.>

Alastor adjusted his eyes to accomodate for the new vision he would be receiving. All of a sudden a rush of energy surged through him, and he looked at the student who ran in. He did use a flight spell, why do students have to be so late anyway? Can't everyone just wake up on time so they don't have to use magic? Shaking his head Alastor went back to observing the newcomers when a student with red hair walked in. So thats the fire orchestrator. Nothing of interest there. He was about to go back to studying when the door crashed open, and another student came in.

<That's the contractor I mentioned earlier.>

The one bound to the water spirit? Alastor recieved a sensation in his head that he knew meant that he was right. I wonder if anyone interesting will show up?
<Well, there was the shadow manipulator.>

Like that is anything of interest at the moment.

<Also I'm going to send you some info on one girl in the hall.>

What is so special about this girl?

<Take a look for yourself.>

As Alastor read the report, his wonderment grew.

"Hmmm, interesting."

[Overlord Delta]

Lucius saw his quarry. The two students who had conspired to harm Amadeus were heading to intercept the fire magus who was located down the hall. Silent as a night wind, Lucius padded behind them. One of the students stopped Amadeus.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" shouted one boy, "Do you think you were clever by trying to burn the class assistant?"
"I think he deserves a nice thrashing," the other boy tossed out.
"Yes, in the name of myself, the soon to be student president of the freshman class. I condemn you to die!" the first boy said, his voice rising to a feverish shriek.

Lucius allowed nothing like that to occur. In wha seemed like no time, he proceeded to kick the second student's legs out from beneath him. He took a quick back step and decided to try out his newest strong spell.
"I beesech thee, great maiden of the frigid tide, all ow a plume of your power to engulf my enemies, please assist me, Aquaria!" Lucius chanted. Aquaria materilized behind him, a Lucius struck the ground with his palm. His seal of contract appeared on the floor. It rapidly expanded until it reached his desired size. "Now you fall!" the magus exclaimed. A pulse of mana went through his arm, and a large spiral of water went around the edge of the seal. Suddenly, geysers erupted from the ground under Lucius' opponents. The force of the blow hit them hard, sent them flying, and they fell unconcious.

Lucius also fell to his knees. So this is what the price is, I can hardly move Lucius thought. An offensive cnjuration sends absurd amounts of mana through one's body, I'm surprised you aren't out like your opponents Aquaria thought back. "A little help, I can hardly move," Lucius said to his would-be apprentice.

[Overlord Gamma (the great)]

...?

[omicron27]

Amadeus slowly walked out of the History classroom, listening to his spirit.

"You're lucky, young fella! I had to walk fifteen miles to my history class, and without shoes for that matter. All throughout the winter, too! Why, I could hardly dream of only having to go down eight hundred flights of stairs."

Letting out a sigh, Amadeus attempted to ignore the spirit, but to no avail.... "Hell to this, I have to get to Practical Magic class. The classroom is on the.... 172nd floor?!?? Amadeus knew he had to hurry if he wanted to make it on time.

Hurrying up the stairs, he managed to make it to the 20th floor in a matter of seconds. There, however, two first-year students stopped him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" shouted one boy, "Do you think you were clever by trying to burn the class assistant?"

"I think he deserves a nice thrashing," the other boy tossed out.

"Yes, in the name of myself, the soon to be student president of the freshman class. I condemn you to die!" the first boy said, his voice rising to a feverish shriek.

Amadeus began to recite a cantation when Lucius ran in from behind, quickly purging one student of his balance.

The other student quickly turned around to see him preparing another spell. An elegant looking water spirit appeared before Lucius, and together they knocked the student back with an encore of water. Lucius fell to his knees, temporarily drained of mana.

"It's that guy." Amadeus thought. "Perhaps he's more trustworthy than I gave him credit for? Or perhaps he's just more complex in his trickery?"

Amadeus thought to himself for a short moment. Was it really so hard to trust Lucius? "I haven't trusted anyone since...." He stopped himself. "For my sanity-- no, because I want to, I will give this person some of my trust."

Aquaria quickly got in the way when Amadeus walked toward Lucius. Surprised that she would be so defensive, he stepped back. For some reason though, the spirit seemed to change her mind and disappeared. Amadeus walked up to Lucius and held out a hand.

After all this, Amadeus said one last thing to Lucius. "Even if you think it's altruism that persuaded you into helping me, I can't believe that that was the only reason. We should talk some other time. I'll see you at lunch."

[Overlord Delta]

Besides my mana being drained, that went well Lucius thought. Lucius staggered to his second class, Compounding with Mr. Lamengo. Luckily, his class wasn't too far away, or else he probably would have collapsed. Lucius fell into his seat with relief. Now I get to watch all the girls fantasize about him, while I actually get the lesson, yay! Lucius thought. Lucius, it seems to me like you don't like most of your fellow student, save a few, why? Aquaria asked. It goes a ways back, but the point is, most teenage persons have very little respect for anyone other then yourself. Maybe I'll tell you the whole story later, but not during class Lucius answered.
Mr. Lamengo seemed to be staring right at him. "Yes, Mr. Lamengo?" Lucius asked him.

"Who were those thoughts directed too?" Lamengo questioned.

"So you can read minds, interesting to know. Maybe you could use that to keep classes under control," Lucius retorted.

"You didn't answer my question, Mr. Lionheart," Lamengo stated sternly.

"If you must know, I was having a short conversation with the spirit I bound to myself," Lucius said flatly.

"I sure hope you don't do that during class, it's quite distracting," the teacher replied.

"You must have learned how to tune out the girls constant fantasies about you," Lucius stated.

"You sure are blunt, aren't you? Well, anyway, it's about time for class to start," Lamengo told Lucius as he got his materials for the class ready. Lucius listened intently trying to learn all he could from his teacher's speech pattern and style.

Things he couldn't have learned last year.