Halls Of Le Fay School Of Magic

"...and if we got down here, we should be at the dormitories..." Nathan pointed down a hallway of paintings that led to what looked like a large panning mural of a peaceful-looking park with a building in the background.

"That's just a painting, mage?" Gwyn pointed out, watching some people walk up and into the painting. "Wha?" From there, they moved around like living ink and interacted with the things in the printing as other people walked out of it.

"Don't worry about that; there's weirder stuff around here..." Blake muttered, having seen all of this when he and the others got toured around by Magnus. "...check this out!" He went up to another painting of an apple tree. "Yoink!" And after jabbing a hand into it, he pulled out a ripe apple. "Heh! Can you do one of those?" He asked, looking at Nathan as he handed the apple to Mari still on his shoulders.

"Hmm? I would have to paint one first but in a sense, yes..." Nathan wondered, tapping a finger to his chin. "...or maybe I could get an artist to commission one...hmm?" He started walking off from there.

"Great, he's in his head again..." Blake groaned while Nathan went off aimlessly with everyone else following after him. "Huh? Uhm, hi?"

Which included a petite girl looking about 12 with short black hair styled in a bob cut and a pair of yellow cat-like eyes. She wore a long tight-fitting black robe with white frills at her ankles, a comically wide-brimmed witch hat, and her feet were bare.

"Hello!" The random girl beamed as she waved a large leather-bound book in Blake's face, on it was nothing but cutesy apple patches, meaning she was some spellcaster, maybe a witch in training.

"Hi! I'm Mari!" Mari cheered right back at the girl with Os coming out of its jar to wave. "And that's Os! My Slime!" She tossed the now half-eaten apple into the air.

"Oooh!" Making Os shoot after it like the tongue of a frog. "~hooo~" Then quickly dissolved the fruit in a matter of seconds.

"A pet Slime! That doesn't need a command spell on it! That's amazing!" The little witch bounced up and down as her hat flopped from left to right. "Oh! Right, names! I am...? Ugh? Uhm? I am?" She averted her gaze when it came to saying her name with them fixed on the apple tree painting.

"Come on? You were about to tell us, right?" Blake tried getting the girl to continue. "Uh?" But under his semi-intimidating face, she hid under her hat. "Hey! Now you're being rude!" The smith pulled at her hat and lifted her off her feet with ease. "If it helps I'm Blake, a smith..." More of the same came to him as the witch curled her legs in and looked like a big black cat getting punished.

"Smith, what are you doing to a young child that is not your student?" Nathan asked, after coming out of his books to see Blake holding a little girl like he was about to toss her out a window.

"What!? I was just trying to get her name, that's all!" Blake yelled back at Nathan still slightly pissed off by this kid. "What is up with all you magic weirdos acting...you know? Weird!" He brought the still-cowering girl to the group's eyes.

"Sir Blake! Put that child down at once!" Risabeel berated the smith for his treatment of a little girl. "As Sir Nathan said; Lad Nobel is one thing, but that girl is another!" From there, she put on her stern look.

"Ok! Ok! Just don't give me that look!" Blake sat the little witch down nicely while backing away as Risabeel kept her eyes on him.

"Hmm?" Nathan's eyes, on the other hand, were on the black ball wearing a giant hat. "Come now. The scary brute is over there you are sa-AH!" He screamed when he reached a hand to the curled-up girl only for her to spring up from the floor like a jack-in-a-box and into the mage's face.

"It's you! You're him! Right here! EEEEEEE!" A nearly inaudible screech left the witch's lips as she bounced up and down in front of Nathan. "Sign it! Sign it! Sign it!" She tore open her book to a pair of pages where there was nothing but notes and drawings of Nathan, The Great Mage himself.

"Wha?" Both Nathan and Gwyn slightly gasped in confusion.

"SIG-ECK!" The fangirling witch's head was caught and tucked into Natula's bosom, shocking her at first. "~Hmm~" Until a soft hand came to rub her back.

"There, there, calm down, you can't be asking for things like that now can you?" Natula warmingly asked the girl in her arms. "Hehe," Then giggled once she got a shaking head in answer. "~Right~ Now could we get your name, little lady?"

"Hmm...?" Again the girl meekly averted her gaze, slowly panning over the group until she came to a stop on Nathan still surprised by what was asked of him. "...You wouldn't laugh, right?" She asked, looking Nathan in the eye and held her book close to her chest.

"Why would I have a rea-ugh!" Nathan's promise was cut short by Gwyn slapping a hand to his back.

"And if he does I'll break him!" Gwyn bashfully offered with an overly playful smile on her face.

"I might." Blake and Mari held up their hands together. "Or not..." Blake brought his down when Risabeel turned to him.

"Good," The Demon nobbed with crossed arms and awaited the girl's name.

"Go on, tell 'em?" Natula acting the part of a mother motioned for her current not-daughter to speak.

"Uhm? It's...Morgen..." Morgen finally spoke up and waited for the group's reaction.

"Heh! Morgen? Ain't that a guy's name? Hah-OW! Why are you hitting me?!" Blake chuckled at the name and got smacked by Gwyn for it. "You're laughing too!" He pointed at the small smirk on the knight's face.

"Then do something ab-Fuck!" Gwyn barked back at Blake before taking an uppercut to her chin. "It's on!"

"Fight! Fight!" Mari cheered from Blake's shoulders even as fists were flying between her brother and Gwyn.

"Sir Blake! Knight Gwyndolin! This is too much!" Sadly with the two acting like that, Risabeel lost the chance to calm them down. "Ah!" And was nearly dragged into it if she didn't take a step back.

"Idiots..." Nathan and Morgen grimaced at the fight set off by a laugh. "But...Morgen?" Then the mage turned to Morgen, making her hide her face behind her book. "That name holds quite a bit of meaning. Your parents must have high hopes for you in the magical world." He shot her a small smirk that lit the little girl's face up.

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"It does?" Gwyn and Blake asked in the middle of pulling at each other's hair with Mari frowning at the interruption in her show.

"Ugh! I keep forgetting how ill-informed you country folk are..." Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose before holding a hand out to Morgen. "...stay there..." And had to pull her back when she tried to creep away. "...Morgen, Le Fay, is where this fair maiden's name comes from, yes?" Nathan explained then looked at Morgen to confirm it.

"Yeah..." Morgen slowly nodded with a stupified look on her face, seemingly caused by Nathan calling her a fair maiden.

"Who is that?" Was the question asked by Blake, Mari, Gwyn, and Risabeel.

"Oo?" Even Os seemed curious as it turned orange.

"Hmm..." Again the mage pinched his face and whispered 'Should I?' under his breath. "...Morgen, Le Fay happens to be a great and powerful witch who along with the Royal Family Penfenics and House Ovis brought Gorz and by extension all of Laudonia to its current glory! In fact, the very school you are in was built by her and her alone!"

"Huh? Not bad I guess," Blake muttered, looking around the place more closely then came back to Morgen, fidgeting as she stared at Nathan in awe and wonder. "Still a weird name."

"Yep!" Mari nodded in agreement with her brother.

"Sir Blake, Marius, have you two no tact?" Risabeel had to ask the siblings.

"Hah! Your name's Marius! That's even worse!" Morgen shot back at Mari. "Eek!" Only to jump behind Nathan once Blake turned to her with a shadow cast over his face.

"So, what? I like my name!" Mari crossed her arms and nodded proudly with Os making a double of herself. "My dad wanted another boy after Blake, and he got something better! ME!" She cheered, throwing her arms out.

"Damn right!" Blake followed suit by bouncing Mari up and down a few times.

"Idiots..." With both Nathan and oddly Morgen pinching at their noses. "Hmm?" Causing the two to stare at eachother for a moment. "Ah, yes! You asked for my signature before did you not?" Nathan pointed at Morgen's book.

"Uhm! Right! Sign it! Sign it! Sign it!" Morgen's face lit up at that and shoved her book in Nathan's face like before.

"Uh, where's the pen?" Gwyn asked, seeing as Morgen didn't have anything to write with on her. "Wait? You have one, don't you?" She turned to Nathan, pulling a pen out of his robe. "Of course..."

"Hmm, hmm, hmm! I am always prepared to take down notes!" Nathan smirked, putting his name down inside Morgen's seemingly harmless fan page about him. "Hmm?" Or so he thought, as he took a closer look at it and found all kinds of information about himself; from his age, height, the number of spellbooks he has, she even had stuff about his time before becoming a student at Le Fay. "What?" There was even a spot that had his likes and dislikes with a certain brutish knight marked under likes in pink. *Ahem, you are quite thorough in your studies, I see?" He reluctantly praised Morgen for her hard work.

"Hehe! It's only for people I find interesting!" Morgen cheered, lovely hugging her book. "Ugh! That means you guys too..." Her face went into a scowl as her eyes fell on Blake and Gwyn.

"Us why?" Gwyn asked, pointing to herself and Blake.

"I have my reasons?" Morgen answered, looking anywhere but at the knight and smith.

"Sure? Well, you can get a big read on me if they put this guy's report in the library." Blake wrapped an arm around Nathan to poke him in the cheek. "By the way, how long is that gonna take, man?"

"Hmm? Knowing that my sister is among them? They should be done about now..." Nathan guessed, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh?" And a magical message appeared in front of him to prove him right. "Hmm, hmm, hmm! As I said!" He snapped his fingers at the message and read through it.

Congratulations!

You have been selected as one of the very few spellcasters who have proven themselves capable of coming forth with an advanced and/or never-before-seen magical study that is not only informative and detailed but almost beneficial to both magical and non-magical attuned persons.

As such, you shall be taken to the testing grounds at this very moment once you have finished reading this message and are whole-heartedly prepared to face the coming trials.

"Huh? Taken to the testing grounds? How does that work, Mage...? Mage...? Nathan?" Blake looked up from the message once it started to disappear, and so did Nathan. "Magic?" He asked anyone there willing to answer.

"Magic..." That being Morgen with an unsurprised look on her face. "Yesss!" But soon locked her eyes on Nathan's signature with a glint in her eyes. "Want me to show you where he is?" She offered, closing her book and stuffed it in her hat a bit too easily as seemingly disappeared in there

"What? You put a tracking spell on him?" Gwyn joked, finding it funny how a random little witch knew where Nathan was even if she was overly interested in him.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Morgen asked herself in an innocent tone that only put off the people she was willing to help. "Ugh? I mean it said testing grounds! And there's only one place like that at the school! That's it! Nothing else! Haha...?" She nervously laughed, walking over to a painting of a forest trail. "It's this one!" She cheered, walking right in.

"Ugh? Are we just gonna listen to her?" Blake asked the others with Morgen and Natula walking off without them. "I guess that's a yes..." He muttered, following after them with Gwyn, Risabeel, and Mari.

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Inside The Forest Painting

After going through a seemingly endless forest led by the little witch Morgen, the group came out to an opening in the trees. "That's big..." Gwyn mused as the first thing they saw were broken-up parts of a giant coliseum floating over a dull-looking stretch of land.

"Hey, is that the lightning dude?" Blake pointed at some sparks of lightning coming from someone floating between the pieces of the flying coliseum, doing...something? To them by the looks of it.

"There, that should do it..." The person was, in fact, Magnus, finishing up a quick personal check of the coliseum's parts. "Hmm? Why are there people here so early?" He turned to Blake's group after picking up on their mana then in a flash of lightning, he appeared before them. "Oh? It's you all?" He raised a brow at all of them.

"Sup, lightning dude," Blake and Mari waved a hand at Magnus along with the others

"Ma-ma-ma-master Magnus! The Lightning Blink!" Morgen, on the other hand, was more or less having another fangirl moment, not as bad as Nathan since she didn't throw a book in the guy's face. "Ahaha!" Instead, she hid behind the biggest thing around.

"Hey! Stop clinging to my pants!" Which was Gwyn at the moment. "Come here, you!" Who grabbed the petite witch and set her on a shoulder. "There! Out in the open!"

"Oh? She got you here...that explains things." Magnus rolled his eyes at seeing Morgen and set them back on the main group. "Now then let me do some explaining of my own. Currently, we are deep inside another world connected to Le Fay via a few portals that are kept a secret..." He shot a glare at Morgen already hiding under her hat. "...and is mainly used for meetings and special events."

"Such as a new Sigil Sect member being added?" Risabeel held a hand up as if she were in a classroom.

"Exactly," Magnus nodded in answer with a sparking finger pointed at Risabeel. "Although, this time around, it's more of a public event due to the one in charge..." A look of annoyance fell on Magnus' face before he went on. "...but, we plan on teleporting those wishing to watch here thus keeping our portals unknown, in fact, I was planning on seeing you all here personally if it wasn't for someone..." Another glare was sent Morgen's way when she poked her head out.

"What's up with her?" Gwyn asked since every time Magnus looked Morgen's way the knight felt non-stop shaking on her shoulder.

"She is an overly obsessive admirer who finds a way into everything..." Magnus answered in a dry tone, tugging at his chest a bit before throwing out his arms. "...now then, I can't really talk that much more since the rest of the viewers will be showing up soon, but I will set you up with some good seats!" Bolts of lightning shot out from his fingertips and formed a ring around the group.

"Ugh!" Which put a look of dread on Blake's face. "Wait?! Hold o-"

"Lightning Shift!" With a quick clap of his hands, Magnus sent the group off in a flash. "That battle freak better be happy with the turnout both combatants and viewers." He muttered before seeing himself off as well.

Chapter End