Hey guys. So I've decided to update this story, along with The Life of a Pirate again. I feel like just because it's the first chapter, neither of these stories have gotten much attention. I said that the story would pick up, and it should actually reach a small peak in chapter 3. I'm still trying to figure out some mechanics in my story, but I won't let you, my wonderful readers who I thank for taking the time to read my stories and have also inspired me to keep going, worry about that. Instead, all you just need to do is R&R, PM, and Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The next day, college had begun for Nathan. Nathan met all of his classmates, people who had similar interests as him. Alexander Fulton was their teacher, just like he said yesterday. He was wearing the white trilby hat and the gray jacket, both of which he took off after entering the room. Mr. Fulton started class off like most classes do on the first day; each student stood up, said their name and where they were from as well as one interesting thing about them. When it came to Nathan, he said his name, that he was from a small town in Indiana and that his brother influenced his college choice. Mr. Fulton nodded and the remaining introductions went by fast.

The rest of the day went by just as fast and they were dismissed early from class. Nathan, after gathering up his things into his bag, decided to hang back in the student lounge. He sat down at one of the circular tables and brought out his Magic deck, shifting through the cards once again.

"Hey," Nathan looked up and saw one of his classmates sit down in front of him. He was a skinny guy with sand blonde and streaks of dull red hair. He wore a red polo shirt and white dress pants. "You play the game?" Nathan nodded, and his classmate, Michael if he remembered his name correctly, pulled out his own deck box.

"Wanna play a round?" Nathan hesitated for a moment then nodded. The two began shuffling their decks and Nathan noticed Michael had a smug look on his face. "Before we begin, I'd like to know what deck type you'll be playing. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Nathan hesitated again, thinking about the pros and cons of telling him his deck, and finally said, "Jund deck."

Michael snickered a bit, and said, "Seriously? Three-color? Nobody uses those anymore, not since Return to Ravnica. But since you told me yours, my deck is a Rakdos Vampira." Nathan knew a Rakdos deck was a combination of Red and Black, two of his deck colors, and he guessed Vampira meant vampires. Nathan and Michael traded decks and cut them, then returned them.

Nathan drew his seven and asked, "Mulligan rules?"

"The first mulligan you can keep a hand of seven, but second and after you have to lower it by one." Nathan nodded and shuffled his hand into his deck again, then redrew. Michael did the same and smiled at his new hand. Nathan noticed some people were looking in their direction, and could have sworn he also saw Mr. Fulton in the mix.

"Okay, let's begin!"

"N-No way!" Michael stared at the field layed out in front of him; Nathan had three creatures-Wildheart Invoker, Jungle Weaver, and Carrion Thrash-while he only had one tapped creature.

"I tap Kazandu Refuge and Rakdos Guildgate for two red mana and play Pyretic Ritual, giving me three red mana. Then, I use all three red mana and tap one Mountain and four Forests to activate Wildheart Invoker's ability. I give the power and toughness boost to Carrion Thrash and sweep for nine damage."

Michael groaned in disappointment as his remaining seven life dropped to zero. "Well, you beat me," Michael said. By the end of the game, quite a few students had gathered around the two to watch. "I must admit, you made a pretty good comeback. I almost had you." Michael had managed to reduce Nathan to five life before Nathan was able to bring out both Jungle Weaver, preventing Michael's Rakish Heir from using it's equipped Fleetfeather Sandals, and Wildheart Invoker in two turns.

"Well, that was a good game," Michael said, standing up to leave. "I'll see you around." The crowd of students also left as well, and Nathan began shuffling his deck again before putting it away. However, before he did, Mr. Fulton sat down in front of him, with his own Magic deck.

"Mind if I play you?" Nathan was surprised Mr. Fulton played Magic as well, and Nathan pulled his deck back out. While they were shuffling, Mr. Fulton said, "I overheard you used a Jund deck, so I should tell you that I play Mono-White." They cut each other's decks and drew their hands. Nathan looked at his hand and saw he only had three lands, and everything required at least four mana, so he redrew.

This time he came up with four lands, one of each, and nodded. Fulton brought out two 20-sided dice, one white and black, another blue and white, and gave the blue one to Nathan. "We roll to see who goes first." They rolled and Nathan came up with 12 while Fulton got a measly one.

"I'm going first," Nathan said. "I play a Swamp and end my turn." Fulton drew and looked over his cards. "I play Evolving Wilds, then I tap and sacrifice it to play a Plains." He pulled out the basic land and placed it in a tapped position, then shuffled his deck and ended his turn.

"Okay, my turn then. I add a Mountain and end my turn."

Fulton untapped and drew. "I'll also be adding a second Plains and end my turn as well."

Nathan sighed in relief, and began his turn, "A forest this time. I'll end once more." Nathan had so far only been getting lands, and he only had cards that required four mana. He had Wolfir Avenger, but he still needed one more Forest.

"I'll be adding my third Plains and I play Archetype of Courage (2/2). Now, all of my creatures have first strike and none of your creatures can have first strike as long as it's on the field." Nathan was slightly intimidated, but continued his turn.

"I play my second Forest, and then I tap both of my Forests and my Mountain for Wolfir Avenger (3/3)." Nathan smiled, since his creature was stronger Fulton wouldn't dare attack with his Archetype.

But Fulton had a smile on his face, "I add a fourth Plains, and then I tap all four to play Knight of Glory (2/1) and Lyev Decree." Fulton placed the Sorcery card on Wolfir Avenger, "Now, until my next turn, your creature can't attack or block. So I'll use the opportunity and attack with both creatures." Nathan's life dropped by four, and it was his turn.

He drew, another Forest, and smiled as well. "I'm afraid you underestimate me. I play a Swamp, then I tap one Mountain, both Swamps, and one Forest to play Lighting Elemental (4/1)." Fulton looked surprised at this, and Nathan continued, "Not only does this creature have four power, but it also has the ability Haste. I attack with Lightning Elemental." Since both of Fulton's creatures were tapped, he got a free shot at Fulton, bringing his life down to 16 as well.

Nathan ended his turn, and Fulton removed the Lyev Decree and untapped his creatures. "Very good Nathan, but I'm afraid you've also underestimated me as well. I play my fifth Plains and tap one for Ajani's Presence." Nathan looked at the card, he never heard of it before, and when he looked at the set symbol he didn't recognize it either. "This spell also has a special effect called Strive, where I can pay an additional mana cost to give the effect to more of my creatures. So I tap three more Plains to give both of my creatures +1/+1 and indestructible. Now, my Knight of Glory attacks. And since he's attacking alone, his Exalted ability activates bringing him up to 4 power and 3 toughness."

"I block with Wolfir Avenger." Nathan stopped the attack, but his creature died while the Knight remained.

"It's your move."

Nathan untapped and examined his hand: two Forests, a Mountain, and a Sorcery-Ranger's Path. 'With Archetype still standing, and his first strike ability, I can't risk attacking with Lightning Elemental. I need a creature on this draw.' He drew, and it was another Mountain. He sighed, and played it. "I tap both of my Forests and Mountains to Play Ranger's Path. This allows me to search my deck for two Forests and put them into play tapped." Nathan hoped that by shuffling, he could increase his chances of getting a creature next turn. "I end my turn."

Fulton untapped and played his sixth Plains. "I tap four to play Seraph of Dawn (2/4) and two to play Glory Seeker (2/2)." He tapped out all his mana to play two creatures, both powerful in their own right. "I attack with Archetype and my Knight."

"I don't guard." Nathan took the four damage and hoped this draw would yield something good. Another Mountain, and Nathan groaned in disbelief. "I play a Mountain and end my turn."

Fulton drew and looked at his two cards. "I play Evolving Wilds and sacrifice it to add another Plains. Then I tap five and activate Knight Watch, allowing me to play two 2/2 white Knight tokens with the ability vigilance onto the field. Now I attack with my four creatures for a total of eight damage."

"I block the Archetype with Lightning Elemental." Nathan knew it was a risk, but he stopped two damage.

"Also, Seraph of Dawn has lifelink, so I gain two life." Nathan's turn began, and he was hoping for something good. He drew quickly and peeked at the card. His eyes grew wide and a smile grew across his face.

"I play a Mountain." He slammed the card on the table, and Fulton knew he had drawn the card he needed. "I call upon the dragon lords of Jund to lend me their strength; come forth, Flameblast Dragon (5/5)!" He tapped the necessary mana and threw down his card.

Fulton was smiling, and said, "That was a lucky draw, but you've already lost. You might have your dragon lord but I have four creatures and two tokens, all of which have two power." Nathan's smile faded as he realized what he meant, "Which means no matter which creature I block, I'll still take 10 damage."

"And unfortunately, you only have six life left." Nathan's head dropped, and he lowered his hand to reveal the cards he had. Fulton looked at them and saw he only had two Forests in his hand. 'So that's why.'

Fulton stood, taking his cards, and said, "Well Nathan, that was a good game. You had a bad hand, but you played well." Nathan nodded and collected his cards as well. Fulton extended his hand out to him and Nathan shook it. "I'll be expecting a rematch soon." Fulton pocketed his cards and left the building, and Nathan soon followed. Nathan saw Fulton head around a corner and continued to the dorms.

As Fulton rounded the corner, he began to think about his match with Nathan and how it could have gone differently if Nathan had mulliganned again, or if he never mulliganned at all. A flash of light caught his attention and he turned to see a floating symbol covered in blue flames. He sighed, then smiled, and finally walked up to it. In another flash of light and a thundering boom, he was gone.

Darkness soon engulfed his vision, and he walked forward. He didn't need a light; he already knew the way. After walking for a few minutes, a voice broke the silence, "So you tested him." The voice was very low and gruff, almost like a growl.

Fulton stopped in his tracks and said, "Of course I did."

"And?" another, more younger sounding voice said.

"He put up a good fight, but he lost."

The first voice scoffed, "Of course he did. I told you he'd lose."

"He lost," Fulton retorted, "because he had a bad hand. He had three spells and four sources of mana, and every time he drew it was more mana. He didn't get a card that could save him until it was too late."

The voice became silent, and another, more feminine voice spoke, "I say we move on. He might have the gift, but there are more on that plane with greater control, greater potential."

"I believe he has potential as well, he just needs a push in the right direction. His spark needs to ignite."

There was silence for a moment, "If you believe in him," the second voice said, "then so will I."

The female voice sighed, and said, "So will I."

The first voice growled in defiance, "I do not believe. I will let my ax judge him for me."

Fulton sighed and said, "Very well then. I have a plan, but I will need to do this alone." He sensed the approval of the others and left in another flash of light.

I hoped you all enjoyed this new chapter. As always, R&R, PM, and see ya later!