I do not own Kamen Rider Wizard or Mahou Sensei Negima! Those belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for profit. So sit back, relax, and enjoy it.
Mahou Ridaa Negima
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 4: Ocean of Malice
Kagurazaka/Konoe/Springfield Room
Negi yawned, finishing the last of his paperwork for his next few lessons. After the chaos of the Cherub Phantom he was just glad to get back some normalcy to his life. Thankfully none of the monster's victims seemed to remember the specifics of what they had been up to since the Phantom cast it's spell. Negi wished that he could have forgotten considering how worked up he saw Touko and Shizuna become. Nodoka certainly became a little different in his eyes since Negi witnessed her try to use rock climbing equipment to chase after him in the library.
"Finally, some normalcy," Negi sighed, stretching his arms. In the midst though, a slightly ran scent suddenly touched his nose. Frowning slightly, he lowered his arms, "That time again huh?" Magic was great for cleaning one's self off and the Wizard armor actually removed any substances like sweat or blood among other fluids that opponents my shoot at him. It wasn't a permanent solution though, as was being proven now.
Since he was by himself at the moment and it was late, Negi felt that the bathing area in the dorm should be free and more importantly, empty. He'd had his fill of perverted situations with all of those girls and women throwing themselves at him during the last few days.
Grabbing his bathing supplies, he exited the dorm room and headed in the direction of the baths. It was in the building connected to the dorms so it was a bit of a walk, but thankfully not much of one. Being placed on the sixth floor it meant that Negi was in for more of a walk than the other residents on the lower floors. Trekking his way to the bath hall, he took the time to listen for anyone inside. Hearing nothing, Negi thanks his lucky stars and headed inside.
Inside the bath hall made him gape slightly. It was massive! The entire area looked more like a spa than a bathing hall. There was a massive pool-like area with an island in the middle decorated with ferns and other high-temperature plants. There were smaller pools off to the side, some of them looking like Jacuzzis. The only real way that one could tell that the room was meant for bathing and not something like swimming or lounging was the row of taps and showerheads along the tiled wall.
"Wow," Negi couldn't help but admire. He got to bathe here? That was incredible!
Negi managed to tear his eyes away from the admittedly beautiful decorations to find the changing area. It allowed him the space to remove his clothes and wrap a clean towel around his waist, leaving his clothes in a basket. Coming out to the bathing area, he walked to the taps where he could take a seat on a provided stool and wash himself. Japanese bathing was somewhat more complex than the western method. The bather would actually clean himself off first with water at a provided tap, but enveloping oneself in water didn't happen until they were clean so they could enjoy soaking in clean hot water. Negi never got the reason why, but he did see the appeal in soaking in hot water without it being clouded up by the day's dirt and grime.
Reaching the tap, he noticed his reflection in a mirror above the taps, likely used to help the people (girls in this place) bathe themselves properly, letting them see spots they might miss. Negi glanced in the glass, spotting himself but he didn't stop to admire it. His physique was lithe but had a fine amount of muscle on it although those weren't what Negi disregarded. Littered across his torso were numerous scars. Some were very faint and hard to notice, others were somewhat more visible. Negi often played them off as scars he received from the attack on his home town. In truth, they were received over his time as Wizard and his battles against the Phantoms. The armor was powerful and capable of protecting him, but Phantoms were powerful and could pierce the armor if they struck hard enough or in the right place. The result was wounds which sometimes left scars and quite often had Nekane going into fits as she or a trained medical magi treated it.
Shrugging off the memories, Negi began washing up. It felt a little awkward being on a stool instead of in a bath or shower, but he got used to it quickly enough. He made sure to be thorough since he knew others used the hot water pools for soaking and he didn't want to get the reputation of being the one who dirtied it up. A juvenile insecurity to be sure, but one that Negi moved to ensure didn't come to pass. After a complete cleansing of his body, Negi headed to the largest of the hot water pools and sank inside. He sighed at the blissful temperatures, feeling very good after cleaning himself and moved to the island in the middle to enjoy the water in company of plants. It was almost like a tropical vacation!
So relaxed, he hadn't truly paid attention to his surroundings and had actually forgotten that he was still inside a girls dormitory as the lone male occupant. As such, he was abruptly brought out of his state of utter relaxation by the noises of girls chatting with one another. Blinking, he turned to face the source of the noise out of reflex. He of course whipped back a nanosecond later with his face so red it may have caused people to have health concerns.
Entering the bathing area were the forms of Konoka, Haruna, Yue, Nodoka, and Ayaka, all of which were preparing to enter the bath themselves. Naturally, all of them were nude with towels and a bucket of supplies for bathing. Yue and Konoka thankfully had their towels on but Ayaka, Nodoka, and Haruna certainly weren't shy about how they looked au naturale. They were definitely not unattractive in any stretch of the mind, but for a group of fifteen year old girls they were surprisingly shapely. Asuna certainly wasn't the only one graced with an enviable figure.
'Dear lord!' Negi thought to himself in a near panic. Thankfully he wasn't in the habit of breaking into massive nosebleeds when naked women were involved like most Japanese young men were. Otherwise he would have passed out in the water and drowned before the clouded red water alerted the girls to his presence. As it was, he struggled with not searing the memory of his nude students into his mind.
Ayaka reached one of the stools and began to scrub herself down, heaving a sigh of irritation. It didn't escape Haruna's notice, her sharp hearing for gossip saw a potential rumor material appear as she began grinning, "What's wrong Rep? Still steamed about Negi-kun rooming with Asuna?"
"Damn straight I am!" Ayaka huffed. "Asuna is completely wrong for a roommate for someone like Negi-sensei! Knowing her temper she might end up killing him if he so much as sneezes in her direction the wrong way!"
"Oh come on Ayaka!" Konoka giggled. "She's not that bad. They're getting along loads better now. They just got off to a bad start."
"I bet the dean would let Negi-kun room with us if we asked," Haruna grinned impishly. She glanced over to her shy bookworm friend, "Right Nodoka?"
"Ah!" Nodoka gasped, but the blush on her face and the small smile certainly showed she was at least agreeable to the idea.
"You three can barely look after yourselves! Negi-sensei would be picking up after you all the time if he lived with you!" Ayaka snapped. "What kind of image of Japan would that paint for him? A bunch of slobs?"
"Oh? And you're such a perfect example of a Japanese woman?" asked Haruna, smelling a not-so-pure motive a mile away.
"Of course! I've been taught all the lessons a young lady in the modern world needs," Ayaka nodded, running her fingers through her hair. "Negi-sensei is of course intelligent, but he's still alone in a foreign country and he needs someone to help him adjust and fit in here."
"And you're such a shining example?" Haruna pressed, itching to hear the real motives.
"Of course!" Ayaka insisted. "I'm intelligent, educated, poised, and of course I'm much more mature that someone like Asuna."
"Oh, 'mature' right," Haruna grinned, hefting her boobs to insinuate what Ayaka no doubt what meant about being mature. It served to make Nodoka and Yue laugh at the inside joke.
"Her motives are soooo pure," Yue smirked.
"Damn straight!" Ayaka insisted.
Negi was of course unable to not listen as he hid in the water behind the ferns on the opposite side of the island in the largest pool, making sure he couldn't see anything. It didn't stop him from hearing the conversation. He was by no means a naive ten-year old anymore. He could guess that Ayaka was jealous that he was rooming with Konoka and Asuna, more likely it was Asuna more than Konoka. To be honest, it sounded like Ayaka was trying to paint herself as an ideal modern Japanese woman who could guide Negi through any questions or concerns he had about being in a new country...and incidentally appear like an ideal potential spousal candidate of some kind.
"Hey, are you calling me out on my figure?" Ayaka snapped. "I'll have you know I'm a perfect ten!"
"Yeah, on a scale of one to a hundred," Haruna shot back teasingly.
But then the conversation seemed to degrade into an argument about boob size.
"Hey y'all, Rep, what's up?"
Negi flinched when he heard the voice of another one of his students, Kaede Nagisa if he recalled properly, apparently enter the room. Ayaka and Haruna were slightly surprised to see the tall young woman, but were more stunned over how Kaede's breast size outdid theirs.
"We were...uh...talking about," Ayaka began.
"Ayaka's body actually," Haruna finished.
"So we don't talk about boys anymore? Weird."
Kazumi Asakura spoke those words as she likewise entered the bathing room, not even bothering with a towel. Of course, as the girl with the fourth largest breasts in the class she certainly didn't mind showing off. With her and offering a polite greeting was the long-haired brunette Chizuru Naba, Ayaka's roommate, and the uncontested largest boobs in the class. Following them was Mana, likewise in the running among the class as one of the largest. Behind them came more of the 2A students such as Chinese foreign student Ku Fei or the Narutaki twins. Soon all of 2A was cleaning themselves up or chatting with their friends. While not all of them were gifted in the bust area, they were certainly gifted in some shape or form.
"Welcome to the Miss Naked Japan Competition," Ayaka sweatdropped with a laugh.
"Kinda forgot how...gifted...some of us girls can be," Haruna grinned.
"Are they really middle-schoolers?" Ayaka asked.
"A competition?" asked Fumika, overhearing Haruna and Ayaka conversing. "What's the prize?"
"It's nothing, just us being stupid," Ayaka insisted, trying to wave off the inquisition.
Yue spoke up, sipping a juice box filled with a weird concoction like she was known to drink, this time hot cola, "It's a little complicated, but it seems like the girl with the best boobs gets to have Negi-sensei."
"REALLY?"
Suddenly the majority of the girls who had been only keeping a passive glance on the conversation out of curiosity made it their focus as they tried to hear about the apparent contest. Some of the girls of course didn't care either way such as Chisame or Mana while others seemed to just sit back and decide to enjoy the show such as Kaede or Kazumi.
"What kind of crazy contest is that?"
"No crazier than anything else around here!"
"How do we get Negi-sensei? Like does he move in with us or we get special lessons?"
"Can we do anything we want with him? Like have him do our homework?"
"Totally!"
Negi was beginning to fear for his safety as well as his chastity. He was still a little leery of some of his class after the Cherub Phantom incident. 2A was certainly one of the wildest classes he had ever seen. Once they got rolling on some kind of wild activity then they were almost impossible to stop. If someone really did win this silly little contest then he could very well end up living with another one of his students who may or may not have less than noble intentions for him.
"Hey wait!" One of the girls, Makie, pondered. "It's not fair if we go with just boob size! Yuna, Chizuru, and the rest will be sure to win! We need to be more fair about it!"
"Oh? What is your suggestion then?" asked Kazumi, ready to egg the competition on.
"Nude posing!" Haruna shouted with a grin. "Sexiest pose wins!"
"Sounds good to me!" Yuna Akashi cheered. "Let's do it!"
What followed to Negi's ears was giggling and cheers of several of the girls as they apparently got their little contest underway. Bathing was apparently forgotten for the time being as they began posing with certain decorations in the baths or in the water. Negi silently prayed that the girls didn't enter his section of the baths and see him. If Anya's reaction during that one time he accidentally walked in on her in the shower he wouldn't survive.
Mana shook her head, lathering up her body as she listened to her classmates compete and posing in the nude for the chance to take Negi-sensei for themselves. He was certainly a catch, being capable of fighting off Phantoms and apparently having done so for years. One didn't become as skilled in fighting those kinds of monsters overnight. He had to have survived who knew how many battles to become as good as he was, his experience rising to the point he could actually kill the Phantoms without flinching.
It made her respect for him certainly rise.
"Mana," Kaede's voice spoke up, breaking the markswoman's introspection, "I couldn't help but notice that you're wearing a ring similar to Asuna-san's." the Kouga beauty took a seat next to her rival, bringing out her soap to lather up. "Anything interesting you want to share?"
"Nothing important," Mana shrugged, beginning to fill her tub with water.
"And the fact that it's the exact same style as the one Negi-sensei gave Asuna?" asked Kaede, her squinted eyes opening slightly.
"Payment for services rendered," Mana answered coolly, splashing the water over her body. "I saw him getting mobbed during that weird incident a few days ago and pulled his fat out of the fire. I mentioned I don't work for free so I got one of the rings in payment. Might be worth a pretty penny when things get rough."
"Hmm," Kaede smiled. "I know you better than that Mana-san. If you wanted money, you would have sold that ring as soon as it was in your hand. You kept it. That tells me that it's more than just a ring to you."
"Waiting for the market to be right," Mana insisted. "The gemstone is large so I'm looking for the right time to make the most of it."
"How mercenary of you," Kaede chuckled, obviously not believing it but starting to bathe herself nonetheless.
Mana took the discussion as closed, but knew that Kaede didn't believe it. She and Mana knew each other too well. They were rivals for a long time now and knew how they best operated with one another. Kaede was observant, almost devilishly so and she knew Mana's habits. Yes, Mana could certainly be money-grubbing when the mood suited her, but she preferred to have cold hard cash instead of baubles and gems. She only had jewelry to help her blend into sophisticated places for some of her jobs. Uncut or gaudy gems were quickly sold off. If Mana was keeping a ring like the kind Negi had, then likely it was for a reason.
She put the thought from her mind, but she knew she would have to concoct a better excuse and let Negi know so he could back it up. She knew the ring would hide her magical potential from the Phantoms who sought to use her as a Gate. Selling it wasn't an option and she couldn't be choosy about wearing it. If all else failed, she could just lie and pretend that it was the first gift she got from a boy in a while and she wanted to savor it. Her classmates would believe it since her social calendar wasn't exactly exploding with activity.
Tossing a second tub of water over her to wet down her hair, Mana reached for the shampoo when from the corner of her eye she saw something move. Out of reflex, she glanced over. She half-expected it to be one of her classmates showing off for their silly contest, but instead saw that it was some of the plants that decorated the island in the main pool were shuddering. Mana glanced to her classmates and did a quick headcount, finding all of them there, even the nigh-mute Zazie Rainyday. If it was a girl from another class, she would have just said her hellos and not try to hide. They were all girls after all. Only one person in the entire dorms would have a reason to hide off the top of her head...
"Something wrong?" asked Kaede with a raised eyebrow.
"I think that 2A's little contest might have an unintended audience member," Mana replied, gesturing with her eyes to the island and the shuddering ferns.
"Hm?" Kaede glanced over to the island and saw the movement before coming to the same conclusions. She began to smile in amusement. "Oh, naughty sensei."
"Keep an eye out," Mana spoke. "I'll see what's going on."
Brushing the wet hair from her face, Mana grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself before sinking into the hot water. It naturally made the towel quite useless at hiding her figure but she'd rather her curves be seen rather than everything else. Coming up to the island, she slowly walked around it and quickly found the naked form of her teacher hunched in the water, looking quite steadfast in looking away from the scene at the bathing area.
"Should I be worried for my chastity Negi-sensei?" Mana grinned.
"URK!" Negi grunted, managing to keep himself from yelping. Again, by reflex he looked to her but flushed quite deeply as he saw Mana wrapped in a wet towel which did nothing to hide her shapely figure even if her goods weren't on display. Flushing, he looked back down at the water. "Sorry!"
"I've got nothing to be ashamed of," Mana shrugged. She'd used her body enough times in the past for jobs to be comfortable with it. It was amazing how so many of her targets could be distracted even in the middle of a gunfight when a pair of breasts became revealed to the world. "You on the other hand will be if everyone finds out you're here. Just how did this strange situation turn out, hm?"
"I just came to have a bath!" Negi insisted, keeping his eyes trained on the water religiously. "When I got here there was no one else here. I just bathed, got into the water and relaxed. I guess I stayed too long or something since the next thing I know all of you girls start coming in. I haven't been peeking! Honest!"
"Your self control must be amazing then," Mana smirked. Negi's voice was much too strained and panicked to be anything but truthful. She had to give him credit for not blatantly staring even now. Not many other men would have resisted. "Now comes the question of how to get you out of here. You can't wait it out you know. Once the others end their contest they're going to want to get in the water and it won't be long until they find you."
"I know," Negi grimaced. "I'm doomed."
"Relax Sensei," Mana reassured her teacher. "Saving my life is a pretty hefty thing and simply keeping a secret for you is too cheap even for my tastes. I'll help you out of here free of charge. Just wait for my signal and when everyone's attention is trained on me you escape to the far side by the windows and sneak around to the exit. Make it quick though."
"Oh, no worries," Negi agreed.
"Good." Mana nodded. Glancing about, she saw the large palm trees that were part of the island decoration before an idea hit her. Getting out of the water, she walked to the front side of the island before eliciting a sharp whistle which caught the attention of her classmates. It seemed to be the perfect timing since the cheerleaders were trying to get Ako Izumi to pose for the contest, much to the shy girl's horror.
"Too late for me to join in?" asked Mana, her hands on her hips.
"Nope!" Haruna, the official judge grinned. "Hit us with your best shot Mana!"
"If I hit you with my best shot, you'd be dead," Mana smirked. Grabbing the edge of her towel, she removed it with a sharp yank and tossed it aside to show her whole glory before she reclined against one of the trees, her arms over her head, one of her legs relaxed with the knee bent and her toes just touching the ground. Her head was slightly turned with her best come-hither eyes which were just magical considering their natural golden tone. Add her naturally tanned skin and long dark hair and she looked like the epitome of exotic femininity mixed with raw sex appeal.
"Ooooh! The sexy island woman!" Haruna grinned., holding her thumb up in approval. "Awesome! That's easily in the running for top five!" The announcement served it's purpose as the contestants and audience all took the time to admire Mana's posing and how she seemed to drip sexuality all the while either being jealous, admiring her, or simply wondering how they could do the same thing.
Negi saw his chance and dove under the water, swimming through it to the far side where Mana said for him to go. He reached the edge of the pool quickly, slipping out as silently as he could. Sticking near the large glass windows, he ran for the exit as quickly as he could. He managed to sneak around the girls, desperately keeping his eyes averted so he wouldn't see anything that he shouldn't. Although he was sorely tempted to glance so to see what Mana had done for a distraction. Keeping his will strong, he managed to run into the change room, grab his clothes, and make a dash for his room again. He could get his supplies back later!
"Okay everyone!" Haruna called out. "After careful consideration I've finally determined who the winner is in the Miss Naked 2A Competition! I've graded you all in sexiness, creativity, and a bunch of other areas that women like us should take pride in!"
"So who won?" asked Kazumi, mentally taking notes, possibly to write a funny article.
"Drumroll please!" Haruna called, Zazie beginning to play her bathing tub like a drum. "In Fifth Place we have our star gymnast, Makie Sasaki! Although she doesn't have much on top her legs and flexibility sure made for a great floor show!"
"Well excuse me!" The pinkette cried covering her chest protectively.
"Fourth Place coes as sort of a surprise, but with her innocent girl charm and the use of ferns as naughty concealment which was hardly effective, we've got Konoka Konoe!"
"Eh heh heh heh! I feel like a naughty model," Konoka giggled, flushing.
"I can't believe you did that," Asuna grumbled.
"Third Place, although she didn't quite get what we were competing over, her healthy body with all the right curves an exotic looks won Ku Fei her own top spot!"
"Is too bad. I be winner if martial arts," The Chinese girl shrugged.
"Maybe you should drink more milk. You'd have won with a bigger chest," Chao Lingshen grinned teasingly, dodging a swipe from her friend.
"Second Place comes thanks to the womanly charm of the modern Japanese woman, Ayaka Yukihiro!"
"Hmph!" said blonde grumped, upset at not being the winner.
"And our grand prize winner, with the exotic body of the ages and the attitude to make every inch of it sexy enough to render men comatose, I give you our champion: Mana Tatsumiya!" Haruna gestured to the exotic girl, Nodoka and Yue clapping politely while others in the class made token cheers. Those that didn't have a vested interest or weren't taking it seriously anyway.
"No photographs, please," Mana smirked, returning to washing her hair.
"So Mana-san, what are you going to do with your luxurious prize?" asked Kaede with her ever present smile.
"What else? Sell him to the highest bidder," Mana replied.
"Ooh! How cold!" Kaede laughed.
Drawn by the conversation like a bloodhound though, Ayaka charged for the pair, skidding to a halt with a cry of, "NAME YOUR PRICE!"
Chaos of several offers erupted soon after.
Negi would go to bed feeling like he was once again a side of beef with hungry wolves looking for a bite.
Mahora had a very large swimming pool. During the weekdays, the pool was only open to members of the Swim Team. It was only open to the public on weekends. At night though, it was free to be explored to it's full size without a care of anyone else being there. Right now, it was being used, as someone was swimming laps in the pool. It was a girl in the standard school swimsuit and she swam fluidly through the water. It didn't seem like she was exhausted at all. When she reached the end, she looked up and saw a couple of feet. Pulling her goggles up, she blinked as she saw who they were. "Ah, Phoenix-sama! Medusa-sama!" The girl climbed out of the pool and removed her swimming cap to reveal brown, green-tinted hair that went down to the small of her back.
"Hello, Mermaid," smiled Medusa.
"So, it looks like you're having fun," Phoenix remarked as he looked down at the pool water. Water wasn't exactly his element. He hated the stuff. Fortunately his fires were so hot he didn't have to worry about it most of the time. The girl-Mermaid-went over to one of the poolside chairs and grabbed a towel to dry herself.
"Well, my Gate did enjoy it and I did inherit everything," said Mermaid with a proud smile. "So, what exactly do you both need me to do?"
Medusa handed Mermaid a picture and the girl looked at it, "Ah, I know her. She's on my Swim Team. Akira Okochi."
"She's a Gate," said Medusa. "And your target."
Mermaid smirked as she looked at Akira's picture. Mermaid herself was proud of her swimming skills but Akira's talents were a match for hers. Now, Mermaid had a chance to eliminate the girl. She hadn't been allowed to kill the girl since Mahora had the largest population of Gates within its property so there was too much risk.
"This will be easy," said Mermaid. As they were on the same team, Mermaid knew what Akira loved and knew exactly how to drag her into despair. "It will be done, Medusa-sama." With her identity as Akira's sempai, Melissa Thorton, she could easily approach the girl then send her to the deepest depths of despair to give birth to a new Phantom. Then not only would they have a new comrade but she'd be the swim team's new ace!
The next morning, Negi was heading to the school with Asuna and Konoka. Girls who knew about the 'cute teen teacher' would pass by and greet him sweetly and he greeted back. He was an English gentleman, after all. He'd already started getting used to living with Asuna and Konoka and he was getting comfortable with his duties as 2A's homeroom teacher. However, the occurrence in the students' bath last night made him wary as the girls had certain intentions towards him. As flattered as he was, they were his students, and it wouldn't be right. Plus he had duties as Wizard to perform, hunting Phantoms and preventing them from creating more Phantoms by putting Gates into despair.
What frightened him though was that twice now it had been students in his own class that had been the targets, intentional or out of opportunity. The Phantoms didn't know who he was yet, or at least the vast majority of the didn't know beyond the Phoenix and Gorgon Phantoms anyway and they didn't seem to care either way since their minions didn't seem to know until he used his magic.
"Ready for another day Negi-kun?" asked Konoka as they ran towards Mahora in hopes of beating the bell.
"As I'll ever be when it comes to 2A!" Negi smiled back.
The group managed to arrive on time and class began as normal. Fortunately there were no riots breaking out this time but for some reason several of the girls were giving Mana glances. Negi merely shrugged it off and kept on with his lessons through the day. With no chaos going around for once, Negi was able to relax for a change when the day ended and he could sit down at his desk in the teacher's lounge. He was still something of a novelty for the other teachers, but so far none of them could dispute he seemed capable. Negi himself was just glad that he didn't have to deal with Phantoms or some kind of magical emergency today.
"Nice and relaxing," he sighed, resting his head in his arms.
"I'd hate to rain on your parade then Negi-kun," Shizuna tittered, approaching Negi's desk with a manilla envelope in her hands.
"Ah, Shizuna-sensei! How can I help you?" asked Negi.
"Well, Takahata-sensei asked me to give you something," Shizuna explained, handing the envelope to Negi. "It's his after school session list. You see, he would hold pop quizzes every so often and the low scorers would have to stay behind after school for supplementary lessons."
"Ah," Negi nodded. "Let's see who the lucky devils are then." Breaking the seal on the envelope, Negi removed the lone paper from inside and looked over the roster of names. "Yue Ayase, Asuna Kagurazaka, Ku Fei, Makie Sasaki, and Kaede Nagisa. Well, since I'm their homeroom teacher then this falls under my job as well."
"I knew you would," Shizuna smiled. "Good luck Negi-kun."
"How hard could it be?" asked Negi
2A Classroom
"Deep as the ocean, Baka Blue!"
"Bright as sun, Baka Yellow!"
"Full of energy, Baka Pink!"
"Dark as the night, Baka Black...and Asuna's Baka Red."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BAKA?-!"
Negi had arrived at the 2A classroom after the day's lessons were done. He found his five students there already. Oddly enough, four of the five were striking poses like something out of a superhero television show of some sort and announcing themselves. Nodoka and Haruna were at the back with a stereo playing some kind of theme music. Yue, Makie, Kaede, and Ku seemed to find it funny that they were the low scorers in the class but Asuna on the other hand found it embarrassing and rightly so since she had the lowest marks out of the five according to the roster.
"Um..." Negi blinked, honestly unsure as what to say.
"Pose successful," Yue nodded. "We've broken the enemy's mind."
"Uh...right," Negi sweatdropped. "Alright then. You ladies all now why you're here. Takamichi's last pop quiz had you all scoring the lowest so to help raise your grades we'll be having some extra lessons."
"It was a fluke," Asuna grumbled, trying to explain away why she scored so badly. Likely she didn't like having to admit she wasn't doing well when it was her crush teaching in case it would make him look bad.. "I just have a lot going on right now. I can get into the high school level on my own...sooner or later..."
"Considering this is an elevator school, you're probably right," Negi nodded. "But Takamichi would certainly be happy to hear that your grades are going up before you do...or perhaps be disappointed to hear that they didn't."
"YOU-!" Asuna snarled, clenching her hands and ready to throttle Negi for hinting he would tell her crush about her scholastic problems but soon thought better of it, dropping her head. "Fine! I'll take the stupid lessons!"
"Excellent," Negi grinned. "Take a seat ladies and we'll begin with a quiz. It's just ten points and if you want to leave you need to score a six or higher."
The girls did as they were told and Negi handed out the quizzes. They weren't meant to be incredibly challenging, but made to test general knowledge on what the class had already been taught so far. It would take some thought, but if you knew the material then you could get through it quickly.
"Done," Yue announced suddenly, bringing the paper up to him.
"Already?" Negi blinked. Taking the paper, he read through Yue's answers, marking the ones that were correct. To his surprise, she passed with flying colours! "Nine out of ten Yue-san, excellent!" Haruna and Nodoka cheered for their friend. Negi personally couldn't believe Yue did so poorly on the pop quiz, but he had a suspicion that either Yue didn't do well under pressure which as far as he knew wasn't the case or she just hated to study.
As Yue headed for the door with her friends, Makie, Ku, and Kaede brought their tests up to be marked. After a moment, Negi sweatdropped and read off the scores, "Three, four, and three. Sorry ladies, you're still stuck with me."
The trio went back to their seats while Asuna stomped up and held her own paper out. Negi took it and looked it over, finally coming to an outcome, "Two...wow..."
Shaking off his shock, Negi had the girls sit down before moving into revision lessons to address the areas where the girls seemed to have trouble. After the revision was complete, he handed out another quiz, this time with different questions for the girls to answer. Ku and Kaede both finished first, bringing them up to be marked.
"Both of you scored eight points. Good work!" Negi nodded. "Keep this up in class and you'll be passing in no time!"
"Thanks Negi-kun," Kaede smiled as she left.
"Bye-bye!" Ku waved as she followed.
Makie came up after them, barely managing to pass with a six but she still managed it as she headed out where her friends Yuna, and Ako had come to pick her up. Lastly was Asuna who looked as grim as ever when she passed her paper in. Negi had been hoping to see some improvement, but instead all he had seen was Asuna's mark actually getting worse with a single point to her name.
Not discouraged, Negi dove into his lessons to try and help Asuna out. He went over all of the areas she had trouble in, hoping to explain it in a way that would make sense to her before he would quiz her again. Time and time again though, Asuna blew every quiz, scoring a four at the highest and the rest were between one and three. Negi knew that she wasn't stupid, but he couldn't figure out how she was doing so poorly. Yue merely hated to study so sometimes the facts would slip, Makie obviously had a shorter attention span than most which made paying attention to lessons hard by his estimate, Ku was originally from China so having to learn English on top of already adapting to Japanese would be tough, and Kaede seemed to have her main focus on other areas besides English. Asuna seemed to have the drive, but it was like it just couldn't stick.
'Maybe she's dyslexic?' Negi thought to himself.
"I are stupid. You am useless," Asuna grumbled, looking like she was on the brink of tears after failing so many times.
Negi checked the clock. Maybe Asuna just needed a break. It had been close to an hour since the sessions started and it had only been in the first twenty minutes that the other Baka Rangers managed to get good scores and be allowed to leave.
"Hey, Negi," Asuna spoke up.
"Huh?" Negi asked.
"Do you have some kind of ring to make me smarter?" she asked hopefully.
"Sorry, even if there was that kind of magic, I don't really know it," Negi admitted. Well, that was kind of a lie. There was the Gray Cell Spell but the side effects would make the subject a moron for a whole month after being a genius for 72 hours. He doubted Asuna would want that. Angry over his answer, she went and grabbed his collar.
"What kind of wizard are you!?"
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Negi and Asuna heard tapping on the window and looked over to see the Red Garuda PlaMonster tapping on the glass with its beak. Asuna released Negi so he could open the window and let it inside. The only reason Garuda would come at this time was because there was a Phantom on the attack.
"I think we're going to have to cut it short tonight," Negi frowned.
"Right," Asuna nodded.
Seeing that he and Asuna were on the same page, Negi dashed out of the classroom and headed for the outdoors where Garuda would be waiting for him.
Meanwhile, Akira Okochi was practicing with the Swim Team. It was getting late and she was supposed to meet Ako, Yuna, and Makie soon but she wanted to stay to practice just a little longer. She just loved swimming so much that she couldn't help but want to stay in the water as much as she could. However, it was getting late and her teammates had already left.
"Hey, Akira," said Melissa, one of her sempai on the team. "You should really be heading back. It'll be dark soon."
"Hai, sempai," said Akira respectfully as she climbed out of the pool. She grabbed her towel and walked towards the locker room while drying her hair. Melissa watched her go and wore an evil grin.
In the locker room, Akira was slipping out of her bathing suit before switching into her school uniform. After a shower to get the chlorine off, she felt refreshed and ready for a good night of hanging out with her friends. She collected her belongings and headed outside, watching as the street lights lit up. At a nearby bench and talking amongst themselves were of course her friends Ako, Yuna, and Makie.
"Oh! Akira!" Makie waved, catching sight of the tall girl first.
"Hey everyone," Akira smiled. "Sensei let you our early Makie?"
"Only after my second try!" the pinkette grinned. "Negi-kun's my good luck charm when it comes to my grades!"
Akira smiled and met with her friends, "So what are we doing tonight?"
"Sakurako and the others said an awesome karaoke place has just opened up," Yuna grinned. "I figure what better to blow off steam from extra studying than to go out and sing ourselves hoarse!"
"Yeah, I'm gonna sing all my fave songs!" Makie cheered.
The group of four friends made a unanimous agreement before they headed out to have the night of their lives. As they walked, a shadowed figure began to follow them while keeping out of sight. It needn't have bothered though since the excited chattering of Makie and Yuna's naturally loud voices helped drown out the sounds of any sort of footsteps. The silent chase seemed to just go on as the girls progressed, going past several alleys and other isolated places that just seemed perfect for jumping someone. Still, the shadowing figure didn't make a move as it continued to follow the four teens.
That pattern changed when the four girls reached a bridge going over a river. The shadowed figure stopped at one end of the bridge as the girls walked. Rather than try to catch the group's attention, the figure merely made a gesture with its hand.
BLOOSH!
The water in the river erupted into the air, defying all laws physics and actually running over the bridge, cutting the girls off and keeping them from progressing any further.
"Ahhh!" Ako screamed in fright, her friends recoiling in shock.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," the shadowed figure laughed, sounding female. The voice made the four girls turn to see who it was. The figure decided to oblige the four and step into the light, revealing her full figure for them to see.
She was indeed female, but didn't look anything like a human. Her torso was donned in silver armour that looked like it had clams cupping the breasts and fish fins rising from the shoulders. The arms were covered in blue scales with more fins rising from the forearms while the hands had webbed fingers. the legs were partially concealed by a long skirt styled like fish scales but ended in boots that were silver with metallic barnacles decorating them. The bottom half of the face looked like a porcelain mask with blue lips, but the rest was a silver helmet with several round eye holes with fins rising from the sides. Trailing down from the back of the helmet was a scaled ponytail ending in a fish tail.
"AHHHH!" Makie screamed in fight, gripping onto Yuna's arm for protection
"Oh, don't be frightened little girl," the Mermaid Phantom cooed. "I'm not here for you, even if you would make a wonderful little Gate in the future. I'm here for someone else."
"Wh-wh-who?" Ako trembled, hiding behind Akira.
"Why, the guppie you're hiding behind," the Mermaid Phantom replied, pointing at Akira. "Would you be so kind as to hand her over so I can snap those legs she's so proud of?" Her voice had gone from pleasant to malicious, causing the four teens' faces to go pale in fright in a heartbeat.
Akira was the palest of all, hearing the monster wanting to break her legs.
"No way!" Yuna snapped. She stepped forward although she was obviously afraid. "You're not laying a hand on her!"
"Oh?" the Mermaid Phantom smirked. "Fine, I'll go through all of you to get to her and maybe rise four new Phantoms instead of one." Snapping her fingers, a stream of water rose from the barrier and landed in the Phantom's hand, transforming into a trident. "Now...hold still. I despise getting messy."
The four girls had not expected anything like this happening to them, even with the rumors that were going about. Now it was being proven true right in front of their eyes.
"Medusa-sama and Phoenix-sama wanted me to go after Akira first. I'd better start with her," the Mermaid Phantom raised her spear to attack.
"FLAME, PLEASE! HI! HI! HI, HI, HI!"
The water barrier behind the girls suddenly exploded with heat and fire with a magic circle being in the middle of it all. Roaring through was a man in a black and ruby outfit riding atop of a motorcycle. Racing past the girls, he lifted a gun before taking aim and firing several rounds at the Phantom.
The Mermaid Phantom cried out as the silver bullets pierced her body. Snarling, she glared at the one who'd dared to interrupt her hunt. "Damn you, Wizard!" The bike skidded to a halt as the masked man in black and red looked at the Phantom.
"What's the matter, Phantom? Did I spoil your hunt? I did, didn't I?" taunted Wizard. He turned his attention to the girls and addressed them, "You should do yourselves all a favor and run. This isn't a place for young girls."
"Who...who are you...?" Makie managed to ask.
"Wizard," he said as he turned to address the Phantom, "Now, it's Showtime."
"Oh, I'll give you a show!" the Mermaid Phantom snapped. "Take this!" A twist of her staff sent another stream of water through the air, crashing towards Wizard at breakneck speeds. Wizard didn't bother to try and fight, he gunned the acceleration to try and avoid the stream. He raced past the Phantom, aiming to pull a U-turn and shoot at the Phantom again. However...
"That won't work!" the Mermaid Phantom shouted, changing the direction of her attack and throwing it at Wizard once again.
"Bollocks," Wizard frowned, revving his machine once again. The space on the bridge wasn't exactly wide but it wasn't narrow either. He managed to roar down the streets, dipping and serving past the trailing stream of water. It crashed down several times against the ground, leaving craters as it went. Still, Wizard kept going, trying to get a bead on the Phantom again with all the dips, turns, and spins but it was slow going.
"This isn't getting me anywhere," Wizard muttered. Holstering the WizarSwordGun, he slipped off his ruby Flame Ring and popped on a sapphire diamond-shaped Water Ring. Flipping the Hand Author, he swiped the ring across the surface.
"WATER, PLEASE! SUI~, SUI~, SUI~, SUI~!"
A blue magic circle passed over Wizard, changing his crimson armour blue with diamond shapes on the sides of his chest and his faceplate had turned into a blue diamond. Twisting his bike around, Wizard began charging at the Mermaid Phantom once again.
"Losing your mind, Wizard?" laughed the Phantom, redirecting the water stream to attack Wizard. The now blue Rider didn't make himself an easy target by donning a new ring and swiping it over his Hand Author.
"LIQUID, PLEASE!"
The water streams surged at Wizard, but the Rider's body collapsed into a liquid which vanished into the Mermaid's water attacks. The Phantom was confused by her opponent's disappearance before a stream of water emerged from the attack and struck her in the chest. The impact sent sparks flying as well as the Mermaid Phantom who landed a few feet away from the impact point on her back. The rebellious water surged to the ground, reforming the sapphire blue warrior.
"Now, shall we go for the finale?" asked Wizard, raising his weapon once again.
The Mermaid Phantom hissed but didn't reply. Instead, she slammed her trident into the ground and summoned a vortex of water which swirled around her. It quickly collapsed, leaving a ring of water behind but no Phantom. She had escaped.
"Hn," Wizard sighed. If nothing else, Phantoms were good at running away when they wanted to. Shaking his head, the Kamen Rider turned to head back to his bike and start going on the hunt. Mounting the Machine Winger he gunned the ignition and began driving away before any of the magical teachers came to investigate. He didn't need to be blamed for the attack again.
As Wizard drove away, the four girls who he fought to protect poked their heads out of a nearby alley. Ako was trembling something fierce while Makie tried to comfort her, obviously scared herself. Yuna and Akira on the other hand had their gazes fixed on the bridge where the battle had taken place.
"Did we all see the same thing?" asked Yuna.
"If you mean we saw a guy in armour fighting a monster that could control water, I'd say we saw the same thing," Akira nodded.
"S-s-scary!" Ako trembled.
"It's okay. It's over now," Makie tried to reassure the frightened assistant nurse.
"I'm never doubting Paru's ability to gather gossip again," Yuna shook her head. "Didn't she say that some guy in a suit of armour was spotted running around on campus?"
"Something like that," Akira nodded, her gaze still fixed.
"C-can we please leave?" asked Ako. "I wanna go home!"
Akira and Yuna both blinked before they were at their friend's side in a flash. Helping Ako stand, they began heading down the street to their dorms instead of a karaoke joint. They had enough excitement for the night.
Negi pulled up to the dorms, checking to see if anyone was around. Seeing that he was, he activated his Connect Ring and pushed his bike back into storage. Sighing, he stuck his hands into his pockets before heading inside. Grabbing the first free elevator, he headed to his floor before turning to reach his room. Passing through the door, he spotted Asuna looking over her notes from the tutoring session.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"Mermaid Phantom, and it got away," Negi sighed, turning to the kitchen area so he could begin a pot of tea. "It was cornering Ako, Akira, Makie, and Yuna. Obviously one of them is the Gate but which one I just don't know."
"Don't you have some kind of Gate detection thing by now?" asked Asuna.
"If I did, I would be using it right now," Negi replied. "Asuna-san, anybody with magical potential is a Gate. It's obvious when they're trained magi but when it's someone who has no idea they have the potential then it makes figuring it out a little harder. I mean, to know someone has the ability to use magic I kind of have to see them use it in some way."
"But don't you have some kind of means of detecting people like that? I mean, the books have that sort of thing and-" Asuna argued.
"Asuna...Harry Potter is hardly an accurate depiction of the magical world," Negi sighed. "Most magic users are in some way related to the magical world or live in a place where sooner or later they're going to reveal they have that potential. Outside of that, the potential usually goes to waste and no one is the wiser. It's why we create a network of people to alert us to this sort of thing but it's far from perfect."
"But how can those Phantoms know who's a Gate?" Asuna asked.
"I wish I knew, but as far as I can guess is that they have some innate sense about who is a Gate or at least some of them have a special ability to sense them out and send out other Phantoms to do the job," Negi shrugged, pouring the hot water into the teapot. "I don't think I've ever fought one like that. The Phantoms are organized so any of them with that sensory ability are probably going to stay hidden."
"Organized?" Asuna frowned. "What makes you say that?"
Negi retrieved his tea and sat down across from Asuna. He offered her a cup which she took out of courtesy. Negi sighed, "When I survived the Sabbath Ritual, and the Phantoms were born a lot of them took notice of me. Several argued about trying to kill me so the Dragon could come out but a pair of Phantoms nixed that plan. All of the other Phantoms big and small just bowed their heads and obeyed when they spoke."
"Really?" Asuna blinked. "What did they look like?"
"A Phoenix and a Gorgon Phantom," Negi nodded. "Those two are different from the other Phantoms and likely much more powerful. None of the other Phantoms dared argue against them when they said it was time to leave. Only one remained to try and finish me off when the White Wizard saved me."
"Have you seen them since?" asked Asuna. If those two were as powerful and in charge like Negi said, they might be in Mahora!
"Now and then, but they never tried to fight me," Negi shook his head, taking a sip. "Phoenix thinks I'm a funny little boy for trying to fight them and the Gorgon once said I was too cute to kill just yet. They never bother with me themselves."
"If sentai shows taught me anything, then sooner or later that's going to change," Asuna sighed. "You've been getting up in their business ever since you got here."
"That's...not exactly a good source," Negi sweatdropped.
Poolside
The Mermaid Phantom sighed as she emerged from the Mahora pool still in her bathing suit. Red welts were on the visible parts of her skin from where Wizard's bullets had struck her during the battle. She was sore, angry, and tired from taking damage and throwing so much of her power around.
"Having troubles?" Mermaid stiffened as she turned to see Medusa approaching with Phoenix beside her, looking rather displeased.
"The wizard got involved and allowed the Gate to get away," Mermaid replied, quick to place the blame on the Kamen Rider. "When she was long gone, I decided fighting wasn't in my best interest, especially with all of the other magical teachers here."
"Bah, those losers wouldn't stand a chance against the weakest of us!" Phoenix snorted, leaning against the fence.
"I felt that secrecy would be better for us," Mermaid argued. "Especially since Takamichi T. Takahata is employed here as a teacher and protector."
"One of the former members of Ala Rubra," Medusa nodded. "And likely one of the only humans who could destroy a Phantom without the use of Magic Stones. With that debacle Cherub started he likely is aware of our presence and is preparing accordingly."
"So what?" Phoenix grunted. "He's an old man and past his prime. I could take him down no sweat!"
"And how many times would you have to die before he was too tired to fight?" asked Medusa, cutting Phoenix' rant off. "The key to our success is ensuring that the magicals continue to believe we Phantoms are nothing but stories for bad children to be scared by so they will not try to counteract us before it is too late. Takahata has political pull and is likely still in contact with many Ala Rubra members who will come to aid him at a moment's notice if we reveal ourselves recklessly."
"Whatever," the red-clad Phantom grunted.
"That aside," Medusa returned her attention to Mermaid. "There is a strategic retreat and there is cowardice. Don't let this be a continuing trend."
"Of course not Medusa-sama," Mermaid bowed.
Mahora Dormitories - Izumi/Sasaki Residence
The quartet of sports girls returned to Ako and Makie's room to try and recover from the shock they had been dealt that night. Ako was still terrified with Makie a close second. Both were being treated with blankets on their shoulders and hot cocoa to try and soothe their nerves. So far, it seemed to be working. Akira and Yuna on the other hand were brimming with questions about what they had seen. That monster had been too realistic to be anything but real no matter how much common sense said otherwise.
Akira herself was likely the most unnerved out of the group even if she didn't show it. The monster had specifically gone after her, aiming to break her legs or worse. The malice coming off the creature was scary enough, but having it all pointed at her was terrifying.
Monsters were supposed to be the stuff of nightmares and movies, not real life. What was going on? Where had it come from? Why did it want to hurt her? What did she do to make it want that? Would it try to go after her friends again? It all served to make Akira feel slightly ill.
"Okay, I'm all for hunting down Paru and pumping all information about this armoured guy out of her!" Yuna announced hotly. "I want to know just what the heck all that at the bridge was about!"
"D-D-Do you think it might come back?" asked Ako with a tremble in her voice.
"I hope not," Makie mumbled.
"Girls," spoke up Akira, "That thing was coming after me. It looked right at me, told me it wanted to break my legs."
"Yeah...it did say that didn't it?" Yuna frowned. "Why would it want to do that? Do you think someone from one of Mahora's rivals summoned a demon or something to get back at you after you won that swim meet for us?"
"Yeah, that Kikajima girl from Hakoniwa Academy seemed pretty mad at you when you won that prize money," Makie nodded.
"I don't know...but that thing is still out there," said Akira. "What do we do?"
"How about we ask Negi-sensei?" Makie suggested.
"How would Negi-sensei know about monsters and stuff?" asked Yuna. "It's not like he's some kind of magician or something."
"Yeah, but he's smart!" Makie insisted.
"Maybe w-we could ask one of the occult research clubs?" suggested Ako timidly. "They might know."
"Now that's an idea!" Yuna grinned, pointing at her friend. "Those nerds research all sorts of weird stuff! We can just ask them and figure out what's going on! If they don't know then probably no one does!"
"Let's hope they do know something," Akira sighed. "That will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm not going outside tonight."
A chorus of agreements chimed in with her.
Kagurazaka/Konoe/Springfield Residence
"Which one of them was the target Gate?" Negi wondered out loud as he sat at the kotatsu. The population of Mahora had a large abundance of Gates but a Phantom would only target a specific Gate. Part of the trouble was trying to figure out who that Gate could be sometimes. Not all of the Phantoms were straightforward in their assaults. Some would attack people associated with the Gate rather than the Gate himself which more than once sent Negi on the wrong path and left the true Gate at risk.
Hoping for an idea or at least something to give him a lead, Negi was looking at his class roster at the four girls. All four of them were parts of different sports clubs. Gymnastics, soccer, swimming, and basketball. They were certainly all an athletic bunch but it didn't offer any insight into which of the group was the Gate the Mermaid Phantom was after.
"Hey, it's getting late," said Asuna, watching Negi studying so intently. "You should get some sleep."
"Oh?" Negi looked up at the wall clock. "Right...right..." He yawned.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
"Just mana depletion," he said. "I'll be OK after a good night's rest." He asked, "Where's Konoka-san?"
"Having dinner with her grandfather so she'll be back late," said Asuna. "So, what's keeping you up so late?"
"One of those four girls was the target Gate," said Negi. "Which one, I'm not sure."
Asuna frowned, seeing the profiles of the four in question that Negi was studying. Again, she wasn't really all that close or chummy with Yuna, Ako, or Akira and Makie was more or less an acquaintance since they were both Baka Rangers. Still, hearing that a Phantom was chasing one of them with the intent to kill them made her blood boil. Before she could make a snide comment about Phantoims, she was distracted by a knock at the door.
"That must be Konoka," said Asuna. She opened the door but instead of her roommate was a mailman with a wrapped up box in his hands. "Huh?"
"I have a package for Negi Springfield," said the mailman as he held up the box. "Could someone sign for this, please?"
"Isn't it a bit late for deliveries?" Asuna asked. Mailmen never delivered packages directly to the dorm rooms before. The residents had mailboxes for letters and such but packages just had the recipient get a notice so they could pick it up from the post office. This had the marking of something strange written all over it.
"Special delivery," the man replied, allowing Asuna to place her signature on the papers before he handed the package over to her. "Thank you." He left and Asuna closed the door.
"Hey, Negi! There's a package here for you," Asuna said.
"Huh?" Negi perked up, sucked into his studies on his four students. "For me? This late?"
"I know, but it has your name on it," Asuna replied, tossing the box to him. "Here."
Negi caught the box and set it down on the kotatsu. Swiftly untying the string and tearing the paper, he found inside a white box with a magic circle embossed in gold on top of the lid. Unlike Negi's circle though the gem-like face in the centre had curved eyes. Negi smiled at the sight. "So, he managed to deliver."
"Who?" Asuna asked curiously.
"Back home there is someone that makes my rings," said Negi. "He taught me how to make Wizard Rings as part of my training. I only ever made my attack rings with the orange Magic Stones though. He made my transformation rings."
Negi undid the tape holding the package closed before opening the lid. Negi and Asuna's faces were immediately showered in red light as they took a look at what was inside. Held in foam packaging was what looked like a sizable hunk of raw ruby which had a glowing core in the centre. Asuna could feel heat splashing on her face as if she were sitting at a bonfire, feeling rather comfortable.
"What is this thing Negi?" she asked.
"This Asuna-san, is a raw Magic Stone," Negi spoke almost reverently. "This is raw magical energy which was compounded under pressure and crystallized into a solid substance. The colour and the heat coming off of it makes me think it's fire elemental magic so any rings would probably work best with my Flame Style."
"What are you going to do with it," asked the orangette.
Negi frowned, gazing at the rock, "The White Wizard is testing me. I've never had to make a ring out of anything but the most common and basic Magic Stones. The elemental ones are more volatile and making a ring is hard enough."
"What's so hard about it?" Asuna frowned.
"The hard part is refining the crystal enough so that I can fit it into a ring without damaging the magic inside," Negi explained. "One crack will allow the magic to escape and the Magic Stone will likely explode. The refined stone also has to be as small as possible since the less crystal to get in the way the more effective casting the spell will be. Less resistance and all that since the crystal can actually block the magic in the core."
"How do you know what the spell will do?" Asuna was now really interested in all this Magic Stone stuff. The ruby rock in front of her looked downright incredible and she was half tempted to ask if she could get a piece of jewelry out of it herself.
"That's the hard part. I never do until it's done and I test it out," Negi sighed. "It could be an incredibly powerful ring or something completely useless."
"What do you mean by 'useless'?" Asuna asked. How could magic be useless?
"Magic effects all things from the elements to aspects of the body," Negi explained. "For all we know, this stone could only make smoke or just cause the air to warm up on a cold day. Not exactly helpful against a Phantom. All I know is that it will involve fire and heat."
"So, do you need anything else to make a ring?" asked Asuna.
"I have the tools," said Negi. "All I need is a workshop."
Asuna frowned slightly, trying to think of a place she knew which would fit the bill, "Well, there are plenty of arts and crafts clubs in the school that have workspaces for things like this. Although those guys usually make plastic jewelry for their boyfriends or families."
"That sounds great," said Negi.
"But I bet making a ring takes a lot of time," Asuna added. "And you do have a job as a teacher."
"I know. Free time is fast becoming a precious commodity," Negi nodded. He had his teaching responsibilities which he couldn't neglect both to keep his co-workers in the dark about Wizard as well as his own sense of morals. "Still, I'll have to make time if I want to finish this ring. It might mean the difference between life or death against this Phantom and more."
"Life or death," Asuna repeated. She looked at Negi. He was around her age, just a kid, and yet he was taking up so many responsibilities. He was a wizard, a teacher, and he needed to fight the Phantoms. It was a wonder that he hadn't snapped a long time ago if he had his Wizard responsibilities weighing down on him. "You should get some sleep."
"You're right," agreed Negi as he rubbed his eye. He closed the package and tucked it under his arm as he headed for his living space. "I'll need to be up early for a staff meeting anyway. Goodnight Asuna."
"Goodnight Negi."
To Be Continued...
A/N: Okay, we see the beginnings of another adventure, but also the start of what will become a new Wizard Ring for Negi. Negi's receiving pressure from all sides in his duties as a teacher and warrior. The pressure seems to be starting to strain on him. Can he handle it enough to rescue his students from the newest Phantom threat?
