Chapter 4: Magnum Sorc-Con 1011

"…And so you see, I am not condemning specialization. Rather, I am encouraging you to become harder to predict in battle- something which is especially helpful if your opponent happens to know what it is you specialize in. An opponent that has spent the whole battle fighting against golems rarely expects an attack from the golem master him or herself. And I know from long experience that no one ever expects to get hit with a fireball from the opposing party's healer.

"So go forth! Master new spells! Expand your horizons! Stick those aces up your sleeves! Then you'll be one step closer to invincibility! Thank you."

The crowded auditorium erupted into loud applause. Many sharp whistles and shouts of approval were let out as Ralse Kalvos took a bow and left the podium to return to his seat.

A large group of teenage sorceresses about Lina's age in the front row jumped up and down while holding up home-made signs. Lina rolled her eyes and smiled as the girls bounced wildly while screaming their signs' message with a loud, "We love you Ralse Kalvos!"

Lina had been standing by her mentor's side for most of the morning and most of the previous day listening to half a dozen lectures from an equal number of big-name wizards. Then she had continued to stand by Ralse's unoccupied seat as he had gone up to give his own speech. Yes, she knew that her job at the moment was to play the part of the dutiful young apprentice, but boy did her feet hurt. Then her stomach grumbled loudly.

Lina grinned innocently as Ralse turned around in his seat to give her an amused look, though none of the other sorcerers and apprentices standing by seemed to have noticed over the still-roaring crowd.

As the applause began to die down, the director of the Magnum Sorcerer's Guild stood back up from amongst the assembled guest speakers. Lina guessed that he was probably in his late fifties and may have once been a very well-built man, though he had long since gone to pot. Once the big man in emerald green robes made it to the podium, the noise of the audience began to fade away.

"Thank you, Ralse Kalvos, for that most invigorating lecture!" the director boomed in a deep, jovial baritone while stroking his thick, white walrus mustache. "And many thanks to all the rest of you- my esteemed colleagues- for coming here to share your wisdom and experience with the younger generations.

Ralse and the other guest speakers arose again from their seats and bowed, inciting another round of loud applause.

"And that concludes the guest lectures," The director continued once he could be heard again, "We will now break for lunch, and allow you to enjoy the rest of the festivities at your leisure. We hope that you will join us again at four for the Ancient Magic Relics Exhibit on the top floor of the greater tower. Please enjoy the rest of your day here at the Fifty-Seventh Magnum Sorcerer's Convention. Thank you!"

A final storm of applause ended the lectures.

Though it was at last time to eat, it was Kalvos' expected duty as a guest speaker to hang about to answer questions, make small talk, and sign autographs. Amongst those who came to visit with the famed sorcerer was the screaming group of teenage girls with the signs. Lina waited patiently with a coy smile, all the while wishing desperately that everyone would buzz off so that she could eat and give her aching feet a rest.

To his credit, Kalvos did do his best to speed things along as politely as possible, being all-too aware of Lina's lack of patience and insatiable appetite. Despite his best efforts though, it still took him and his apprentice "Linda Linverse" over forty-five minutes to extricate themselves from the giant auditorium.

Five feet from the door and salvation, however, and three more people materialized out of the crowd and stepped in front of them. Lina groaned quietly and stared up at the ceiling while tapping her foot impatiently.

The strangers were, presumably, one female accompanied by two males. The woman was about six feet tall, possessed a muscular yet curvy figure, wore a militaristic outfit, and had short but elaborately done red/green hair (I don't mean that she has red and green hair. It means that I'm indecisive about it. See bottom of page*). Her escorts both wore dark cloaks, though the taller one was wrapped completely in his, and wore a hood and stone mask to conceal his features. The other escort carried a staff with a red gem, had a long purple bowl cut, and a light, cheerful expression.

"That was quite a speech, Kalvos," the woman said as she and her chaperones came to a stop before the sorcerer and his apprentice, clapping lightly and with a mocking gleam in your eye.

"Oh, its you," Ralse said not unkindly, though the look in his eyes made it clear that the trio was not welcome.

Lina's stomach rumbled again and the sorceress sighed heartily, spacing-out from pure boredom.

"I'd be more respectful if I were you," the man in the cloak and mask said in an echoing, ethereal voice.

"Now, now, Seigraam," the woman chastised, putting a hand out to stop her bodyguard, "No need to be rude. We're not here to fight."

"Then what are you here for?" Ralse demanded, raising his voice ever-so slightly. He had by now noticed the shimmering of the surrounding air around himself and the three strangers, indicating the presence of a sound-dampening field.

"Oh, I was just bored sitting around, so I came by to see what the biggest nuisance inside the Mazoku Barrier was up to," she said, leaning backwards until her back popped loudly.

"So you don't have any plans for this convention then?" Ralse asked, his eyes narrowing with distrust.

"Well…," the woman began, pretending to think about it. Then she waved a hand towards her purple-haired escort as if inviting him to jump in. Which he did.

"THAT is a secret!" the priest exclaimed, raising an index finger as he spoke.

"I'm sure it is," Ralse said without expression while the other two laughed between themselves. Seigraam said nothing.

"Well, I better get back to Wolf Pack Island before Phibs throws a fit about the barrier again. Be seeing you, Kalvos!"

With that, the woman turned on her heel and walked off until she and her escorts literally disappeared into the crowd.

"Ugh, finally!" Lina groaned upon noticing that the newest group of groupies and/or colleagues was gone. As she and her master at long last exited the auditorium, her stomach gave another angry roar.

"Hungry much?" Ralse asked with a grin, having already cast aside all thoughts of the encounter. There was no need for Lina to become acquainted with HER and her priest any sooner than necessary.

"Just a little," Lina replied with a wink and a grin.

Master and apprentice continued on down the crowded hall towards the cafeteria. Neither had yet brought up the episode from two nights before, and as far as Lina was concerned, it could stay that way.

Despite her hunger and her aching feet, Lina was still able to call up the energy to admire all of the strange and interesting things that were for sale at the huge convention. Brightly colored robes and cloaks and fat tomes filled the numerous booths, as did collections of sparkling gems and necklaces, shiny crystal balls, and countless other magical odds and ends ranging from the common, the rare, and the unidentifiable, to the just plain weird. It was a virtual treasure trove of magic devices, and Lina could barely contain herself from dashing about to check out everything in sight. And just by looking at him, she could tell that her teacher was much the same way, and this pleased her to no end.

At last unable to contain herself, Lina finally broke down and stopped to look at a booth where a demonstration was being given on experimental magic weapons technology.

Although this booth already had a sizable crowd in front of it, one look at Ralse from the other sorcerers gathered there, and Lina and her teacher soon found themselves up front and standing next to a tall tiger beastman in a cloak and headband (much taller than any tiger beastman that either Lina or Ralse had ever seen), with a strange stuffed…bunny?...perched upon his right pauldron. Although certainly an odd sight, many people were known to wear and do odd things during conventions like this, and so Lina dismissed it without a second thought.

They watched for about twenty minutes before Lina's stomach went off again, this time much more forcefully than before and accompanied by a renewed protest from her sore feet. Lina sighed, the crowd and the demonstrator's stared, and Ralse laughed. So they continued on.

It was shortly after this that the pair came across a booth selling miniature souvenir golems. The stand was run by three people: one a tall and muscular older man with a short, gray beard; the second was a young man in his early twenties with a long, maroon-colored pompadour; and the third was a chesty-yet modest girl in her mid-teens with pink hair done up in two large pigtails, and an expression like she was terribly embarrassed to be in the presence of the other two. All three of them looked irritatingly familiar to Lina, who had to stop and observe them a moment to think about it.

Then Lina noticed the golem-seller's center-piece product and it all came back to her: A huge-eyed, chibi-style clay doll that looked as if it were supposed to be in caricature of…

"Oh, Master, I'd love to stay and keep looking, but my feet hurt really bad and I'm really hungry, so let's go to the cafeteria now, okay? Okay! Let's go!" All of this was said in under two second, and was followed by Lina grabbing Ralse by the arm and dashing down the hall at an incredible speed with her teacher in tow, nearly taking out an indigo-haired girl in the process.

"Um, dad," the pink haired girl at the golem booth said to the older man as the dust from the sudden take-off began to settle, "Was that Lina Inverse?"

"Hmph, maybe. Who knows?" the gray haired man replied in his gruff voice.

"The Amazing Lina Doll!?" Ralse roared with laughter, nearly choking on his drink, "A golem match!? You've never told me that one before!"

Lina's cheeks turned an angry red as she crammed another whole pork loin into her mouth, now regretting that she had chosen to explain herself at all. Master Kalvos was a nice guy and all, and really understanding, but he was far too easily entertained.

Several minutes passed as Kalvos tried to bring himself under control, though his efforts were often thwarted by random bursts of laughter. The hilarity of the tale had struck the older sorcerer's fancy so much that he had almost failed to notice the tea-sipping man with a staff sitting behind them whilst casually eavesdropping. Almost.

Lina merely grumbled in irritation and continued to shovel down food as if she were a starved dragon.

More than once people stopped what they were doing to stare. Although sorcerers typically required a much higher calorie intake than most other humans- and many were carrying trays weighed down by heavily laden plates of food- few had ever seen anyone eat like Lina Inverse, er, Linda Linverse.

"Please excuse my apprentice," Kalvos smiled apologetically at the starers between bursts of laughter, "She's a black magic specialist." Amongst other things, Ralse Kalvos had obviously failed to teach Lina anything about table manners, as she had thought it to be of no consequence.

Those who had been staring nodded in understanding and returned to what they had been doing. Black magic was well known for consuming far more energy than most other spells.

"Not a half bad lecture," Lina complimented through her fourth helping of calamari, "Despite the fact that it's a lesson I've been practicing since before you'd even met me."

"Yes, but it's an important lesson all the same," Ralse- who had finally gotten a hold of himself- replied as he bit into a chicken-fried drumstick. "Though I really would have preferred to do my one on magic and morality. 'Far too preachy.' Hmph! Indeed!"

This last part was said while alternating between a mocking imitation of Lina's voice and a bucket load of indignant sarcasm, respectively.

"Thank Ceipheed for that," laughed Lina.

"Of, really? Well let's go ask Ceipheed himself about it. I'm sure that Luna- the Knight of Ceipheed- would love to hear that my thoughts on morality are boring!"

"That's not funny!" Lina growled angrily while her mentor laughed.

The man eavesdropping behind them put a hand to his mouth and laughed as well, though Ralse continued to ignore his existence.

Suddenly Ralse stopped and sniffed at the air.

"Hey, wait a second," he said, "Do you smell sulfur?"

Lina sniffed at the air too, and then gagged.

"Yeah," she replied, "What is that?"

By now the rest of the people in the cafeteria were sniffing the air with disgust. As Ralse and Lina stood up and began to look about for the source, this disgust quickly degenerated into full-on gagging and spluttering. In some cases, people were even falling to their knees and vomiting.

Then Lina turned towards the hall which led out to the guild's main entrance and saw it: A drifting green-yellow cloud flowing into the cafeteria; preceded by gasping sorcerers falling to the ground unconscious.

"Poison gas!" Lina gasped.

They were under attack!

To Be Continued…

Author's Note- Can you find and name all of the cameos? Magic cookies of justice for everyone who answers correctly!

* The Hair Color Thing: I'm aware that the novels describe her human form as having orange/red hair, and I try to be as canon as possible with my fics (not to mention that red is my usual hair preference), but whenever I see that manga picture of her and Dolphin, I can't help but picture her with mint green hair. Suggestions for a decision for this fic are GREATLY appreciated, and in fact are encouraged, as this indecision is driving me crazy. For my source info on Z.M. and the aforementioned picture, go to: http://

kanzaka.

wikia

.com/wiki/Greater_Beast_Zelas_Metallium