Prologue
Setting: London, UK, Clock Tower Center of the Magus Association, January 3 2018
Rapid footsteps echoed through the quiet halls as a lone figure strode through the arched hallways of the Clock Tower. The young woman carried with her several thick envelopes, all stamped and sealed with the official crest of the Mages Association. She glanced down nervously every few moments to ensure that they were all still within her grasp and found her grip tightening with each passing look. She paused her quick march by of the tall windows that dotted the hallway in order to ease her breathing. She glanced out into the gray winter sky of London and was thankful that she did not have to journey to one of the campuses that spread out from the central hub. Normally, these halls would be filled with eager students as they learned the art of magecraft, but that was still a few weeks away. She brushed a few strands of long chestnut-brown hair out of her face and granted herself a few moments to replace the strands in her ponytail. She carefully set the large envelopes down on the windowsill and used the reflection from the window to properly style her hair, which, thankfully, was being cooperative today. Once she had done so, she took the opportunity to make sure the rest of herself was presentable. The white blouse, embroidered with the crest of the Mages Association on the left breast was neatly buttoned and tucked into a pair of dark pants. She brushed her legs to ensure no dust was visible and made sure that her collar was centered properly. She smiled inwardly to herself as she went over these purely superficial checks. If this was to meet any of the standard staff, she might not be so picky. But these letters were addressed directly to the headmaster! Not only was he the headmaster of the school, but he is also the head of the entire Association! She never though that she would get the honor of meeting with such a high-ranking member so soon into her employment. She had only been hired shortly after Christmas as one of the secretarial staff, with the intention of working with students or low-level administrators. She gingerly retrieved the envelopes, double-checked that they were all in good condition, and with a deep breath continued on her journey.
Fifteen minutes and four flights of stairs later, she arrived at a mahogany door with a gold plate that read "HEADMASTER". For a moment she panicked, thinking that perhaps he was not in today and that she had come all this way for nothing, when her ears picked up the sound of muffled music drifting from behind the door. She sighed to herself and chided her impetuousness. She did a quick once-over of the envelopes and herself before standing as tall as she could and rapped on the door. "Lord El-Melloi," she called softly, "I apologize for the intrusion but I have a message for you." At first, there was no response. As the seconds ticked by she considered knocking again, but as she raised her hand to do so a low voice emanated from the room. "You may enter." Maintaining her composure, she slowly opened the door and entered the room. She had never been in the Headmaster's office, but for a moment she fully believed that she had stepped into the school's library. Bookshelves lined the walls, all full to bursting with tomes and manuscripts. More books were piled on end tables and a central coffee table. She was aware of her total failure to maintain her stoic appearance as she walked towards a large wooden desk situated at the far end of the room. The desk was covered in more books and papers, a record player was situated on the windowsill to the large window behind the desk, which offered a lovely view of the city. Sitting in a dark leather chair was the man she had come to see, Lord El-Melloi II.
He rose from his seat as she drew near, giving her a chance to examine his appearance, for this was her first time seeing him in person. He wore a dark black suit jacket with matching pants and button-up shirt, with the only color being a red and gold striped tie. Long black hair flowed down to below his shoulders, dark-rimmed glasses perched on his face and she felt his eyes on her the entire way. A shiver went up her spine, it felt like she was being watched by a predator, keenly examining its prey as it decides how best to attack. As she halted a few feet from the desk and prepared to speak, he forestalled her with a raised hand. He motioned to one of the empty chairs near the desk, "Would you care to take a seat? Ms…" "Davis, sir," she replied, "Susan Davis, sir, I apologize for intruding so suddenly. I'd normally send a message ahead to avoid interfering with your busy schedule, but this came up so suddenly, and I was told there was no time and…" her voice trailed off as she became aware that she was rambling. She slowly sank into a cushioned chair and felt heat rising in her cheeks. "Come on Susan, get a grip!" she scolded herself and forced herself to meet his hawk-like gaze again. A small smile tugged at the corner of El-Melloi's mouth as he retook his own chair.
He gestured towards the record player, "Tell me Ms. Davis, do you recognize the piece being played here?" She was briefly thrown off by the seeming randomness of the question but refused to ignore the headmaster. She listened to the music for a minute or so, "Y-yes I believe I do. It's Mozart's Twelfth Symphony in G major." She allowed a bit of pride to creep into her response. The tall man across from her barely raised an eyebrow, "Very good Ms. Davis, you are correct. I am glad that at least one of my employees seems to appreciate the classics. You are new around here, yes? Considering that most general staff will not be returning until the tenth, and that you could not place an appointment, must mean that you have a very good reason for being here at this time. Am I correct in this?" He slowly leaned forward and folded his hands together on the desk as he talked. She had to fight the urge to lean back, "I had no idea he would be like this. He's rather intimidating, but not in an aggressive way. It feels like he's reading me like one of these books." She rose from her seat and gently placed the envelopes on the desk in front of him and spoke as calmly and evenly as she could. "Yes sir, I believe I do." She retook her seat and began to explain the situation, "You are correct by saying that I would not normally be here, but I had come in early to get a feel for the school and the systems that I would be working with. I ran into a group from our International Monitoring Committee, and they mentioned that they had found some…anomalies. Rather, one of the Eastern branches did." El-Melloi had since reached for the first thick envelope and was in the process of opening it, "Which branch was it specifically?" he asked in a tone that seemed to belie some curiosity. "I believe it was the Korean branch, sir," she replied. At this, he arched an eyebrow and murmured, "Really, Korea? Hmmm…" She lapsed into silence as he scanned the first letter, quickly moving through the three pages it contained in less than a minute.
He reached for the second, a larger manila envelope and spoke once more. "So why were you elected to bring these to me, and not them? Surely they all have functioning legs and a basic sense of direction?" She was stunned by his bluntness but nevertheless replied, "Well, once I told them what my position was, they deemed it more fitting that I would deliver it as this would, how did they put it…'better acquaint me with the machinations of the upper levels of administration. Admittedly, their logic was flawed but they seemed so adamant that I decided to help out." He nodded slowly, either at her or the charts that he was now laying on the desk, she could not tell. He finally responded dryly, "So, they tried to trick one of our new secretaries into delivering this to me. There are two possibilities; one, they are afraid of me. Or the more likely, they do not fully trust their findings and do not want to appear wrong in conversation. Either way, a cowardly action." He glanced at her and his voice seemed to convey sincerity, "I thank you on their behalf for your part in this." While she glowed inwardly at being praised, one thing did not sit right with her. "Umm…Lord El-Melloi? I don't remember announcing my position to you. How did you know I'm on the secretarial staff?" A small smile spread over his face once again, "That's an easy one Ms. Davis, you are wearing the appropriate uniform." She felt her cheeks heat up as the stupidity of her question dawned on her, "Oh, right…" By now, she was waiting to be dismissed, as she had completed her job and received a thorough examination from the headmaster.
A full five minutes passed with the only noise being the end of the symphony and the rustling of papers as Lord El-Melloi II read through the letters with startling speed. She allowed her eyes to roam around the office and mused to herself, "So this is why he needs so many books. At the rate at which he reads, he could probably finish one of these novels in a day." She was startled out of her reverie by El-Melloi's sharp voice, "Ms. Davis, I have a job for you." She was immediately at attention, "Whatever you need sir, if it is within my abilities I will do what you ask." His eyes bored into hers, but this time she did not look away. "That is the correct response Ms. Davis," he spoke with a more direct intensity than she had heard during their conversation. "I need you to contact the headmaster of the Korean Magus Academy as well as our branch out there. Inform them that we have a possible Code Seven, Priority Golden. Have them assemble dossiers on every suitable mage within their sphere of influence. Do the same for our satellites in America, Brazil and Egypt. Will you remember this or do you need me to write it down for you?" She shook her head, "No need sir, I have a very good memory for this, it comes in handy for this kind of work. If I may be so bold, sir. What exactly am I telling them to do?" A few moments passed, her heart seemed to stop beating, "Did I go too far?" she thought nervously. But then, a sly grin spread over his face and he leaned far across the desk, as though he was going to whisper to her. "Tell me, Ms. Davis. What do you know about the Holy Grail War?"
Chapter 1
2 Months later
Setting: Korean Magus Academy, Twenty miles outside of Seoul, SK, March 4
Sometimes, it was pretty good to be a mage. Sure there was a bunch of responsibility and other stuff to deal with, but that was a long way off. For now, all there was to do was to get through this next semester. These were the thoughts that ran through the mind of Alexander Talphus, an international student of magic at Korea's premier Magus Academy. He stared blissfully up at the ceiling from his bed, thoroughly enjoying how his spring semester had started. For the first time during his stay in South Korea, he gets to experience how having a room all to himself feels. This is normally a privilege reserved for seniors or graduate students, but his roommate, Charles, decided to spend the semester in Argentina. Alex thought about his British roommate and genuinely missed him already. The two men had become fast friends after having to endure an Intro to Mana Development class freshman year. The memories brought a smile to his face as he recalled that horrible class. Somehow they both passed. But he was gone for now, which meant that Alex had the run of the place. He reached for the side table that was next to his bed and clicked a button on the remote that was lying there. The speaker system that he had set up across the room soon blared to life as he hit the "Shuffle" button. The speakers were connected directly to his phone and it was always a mystery to see what would come up when. That's when he heard the sounds of violins and low, solemn vocals drifting across the room. "Ah, the Lacrimosa by Mozart. That's one way to start the new term," he thought as he drifted along to the rise and fall of the concerto. Most of his room was set up anyways, and if he keeps getting the classics, then what's the harm with a little relaxation?
Just as he was starting to drift into a light slumber, the final "Amen" sounded and the song came to an end. "I wonder what's next," he questioned aloud, half speaking and half mumbling in his subdued state. His question was answered as the sound of tolling bells rung from the speakers. He grinned even wider, as he knew which song was about to begin. He managed to turn up the volume just in time for the first guitar riff of Sabaton's 'The Last Stand' blasted through the room. He swung out of bed, now full of energy and began to air-guitar and hum along with the vocalist. Occasionally he had to brush his white-blonde hair out of his eyes, but he didn't let that stop him from staying in time. As the song neared its end, he became dimly aware of another sound that wasn't exactly in time to the percussion. He stopped his performance and listened through the music and realized what it was by the time the final notes were diminishing. "Ah shit, someone's at the door." So that's what the sound was. Someone was knocking rather insistently at his door. He quickly paused his playlist and headed towards the door to his dorm room. As he strode through the living area and past the kitchen, he realized his necklace had become skewed. The silver chain had two items hanging from it; one being a stylized Thor's hammer and the other being a simple crucifix. The chain represented both his heritage and his faith, so he was always careful with it no matter what he did. By the time he crossed the room, the knocking had only gotten louder. "Yeah, yeah I'm coming, I'm coming," he called with a hint of exasperation in his voice. He pulled the door open, still talking. "Who is-" but before he could finish the statement, a very irritated female voice cut him short. "Alexander Talphus! What the actual hell is wrong with you?"
"Oh crap," he instantly recognized the voice and glanced down and met the dark eyes of a young Korean woman. "Hey Mina…what brings you by?" He had a fairly good idea as to why she would be in such a mood but hoped to placate her by sounding at least a little chagrined. Her tone clearly implied that she was not in the mood for any excuses. "You know damn well why I need to be here you moron. Seriously man? It's day ZERO! I already have a noise complaint, and of course, it had to be you. I get that you're happy to have a single this semester but could you at LEAST wait until everyone is all settled in?" She sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her dark hair and gave him a withering disappointed-mom-look. "Aggghh I hate it when she does that," he thought miserably. She continued to press the attack, "I thought, as my friend, that you were supposed to make my life as an RA easier? Well it doesn't look like you're doing that right now huh?" Under such an assault, Alex had no choice but to relent. "All right, all right! I'll be sure to keep the volume in check from now on. I'm sorry Mina. Damn, despite being short she can be really intimidating when she wants to be. Any way I can make it up to you?" He quickly came to regret that statement as a malicious grin spread across her face. She stepped in close and spoke in a low tone, "Well, now that you mentioned it. There is something that you can do to make this whole incident more bearable for me." Alex did not like the emphasis she put on bearable in that sentence.
"Tell me Alex," she continued, "how much did you practice over break?" "Uhhh…not…much," he slowly responded. "But hey! It was break! Don't you think we deserve some time to not do work?" He knew that this was a bullshit excuse, and he also began to understand what Mina had in mind. Mina's eyes narrowed as she closed in for the kill, "Well it seems to me that you've gotten lazy over the past few months. I think you need to shake of the cobwebs. You. Me. Training grounds. One hour. Sound good?" She finished her statement with a dazzling smile, one that shattered what was left of his willpower to resist. "Damn it all…fine…I'll be there," he half- spoke half-groaned. She playfully punched his left arm, "Sounds great, go to room 6. See you soon!" She turned and began to walk down the hallway when something clicked in his mind. "Hang on," he called after her, "Isn't that the open air training ground?" She looked back over her shoulder and gave him a wicked grin, "That's right. We're going to stretch both muscle and circuits tonight. Try to warm up a bit beforehand, I don't feel like getting the health department because you get a seizure or something. Najung-e bwa! (See you later)." Alex sighed and retreated back into his room, trying to figure out how he got into this mess. "Training with Mina", he thought glumly, "guess I'm starting the semester with some fresh bruises. But if she wants to play rough, I will gladly oblige." He slowly extended his right arm and opened his circuits. He felt a familiar tingling sensation as mana flowed into his arm. He concentrated for a moment and was rewarded by a floating orb of crackling electricity. "Alright Mina, lets kick this term off with a bang."
