"L-lorelei…" Yahiko started to speak as they walked away from the scene.

"Yes?"

"That guy really did have a crush on you...He told me back at the club. He really adored you…I mean…maybe even worshipped you. It was kinda creepy but…"

"Is that so?" Lorelei closed her eyes a moment in contemplation. A silence grew between them as she walked. As Yahiko and Tsukimiya began to look at her curiously, Lorelei spoke.

"It is for the best. I would have rejected him anyway. Furthermore, being from the occult club, he knew about the World tree's power. Maybe not its full extent, but he tried to take advantage of me with it nonetheless."

"M-maybe he thought…ya know… it was just a good luck charm or superstition?" Tsukimiya countered timidly.

"No, I think Lorelei's right about that…everyone in my club believe in it 100% after the research we did yesterday." Yahiko responded.

Lorelei sighed with a bit of boredom. She was tired of this topic already and wanted to move on.

"Yahiko, Tsukimiya, let's take turns with the mapping project. We only have one piece but there are a lot of things to go see today. Is there anything in particular you wanted to see today?"

"Oo! Oo! The Fireworks display tonight!" Tsukimiya bubbled cheerfully.

"Hmm…I wouldn't mind going to the philosophy reading event at the Library." Yahiko said, nodding in agreement with herself.

Lorelei nodded back to them. "I'd like to go to the horse riding event myself. The philosophy reading starts pretty soon so you better get going. So, each shift will be 3 hours. It shouldn't take more than 9 hours to finish the map. First shift will be Tsukimiya, second will be Yahiko's, the last will be mine tonight. Tsukimiya, do you think you can handle this task too?"

"Sure! You taught me a lot about magic n stuff. Let me see the box and I'll draw a great map! You'll really like it."

"Ok…hey, take this." Lorelei pulled out the rudimentary map of the points. "Map these two points. Give the map to Yahiko in 3 hours and tell her to map the next two, going clockwise. Remember, we want to know the size, shape and intensity of each point, and especially the width and intensity of the ley lines uniting each point."

"uh..ok, I think I got it. So, why are we doing this again?"

"For the knowledge, of course. Maybe, we might even use it to help jump start our own club. Who knows? If anything, I want to make some certain people feel uncomfortable. Kay?"

"Otay! Well I'm gonna get to work. C'ya Lori-san!"

"Don't call me that! C'ya…" Lorelei grumbled and turned about, walking off through the crowds.

Lorelei figured she'd catch up with Yahiko and attend the Philosophy reading event, then drop by the Chao Bao Zi, then the horse riding area. As Lorelei walked toward the Philosophy event, she noticed the World tree flare up again. She wondered what was causing it but didn't have the faintest idea of where to begin on that mystery. So she just ignored it and kept walking. The bustle of the crowd around her was also bothering her. She was a bit people phobic and felt a bit nervous with all these visitors around. She needed something to take her mind off it, and her paranoia. It really wouldn't help if she had a PTSD breakdown and freaked out. That'd be bad.

She caught up with Yahiko and sat with her, settling in to listen to some famous philosopher's read from their books and sign autographs. Yue was there and they waved to each other, though Yue did so with hesitance. Once finished there, she dropped by the Chao Bao Zi but again Chao was not there. She had been away all day. Yotsuba didn't know where she was either. Lorelei didn't buy anything this time and continued on to the horse riding event. Lorelei made her way through the crowd as quickly as she could.

Once Lorelei was at the horse riding area, she began to relax again. The rustic smell of grass and earth was familiar to her. Once upon a time she had been just a simple country girl in America's deep south. Horse riding was second nature to her, and it had been awhile since she'd seen one. Mostly, all she saw were Equestrian club members showing off. However toward the back of their fenced in area was a small area for regular people to trot around on a horse. She frowned, making her way toward it past the densely clustered crowd. Her baggy pants snagged a bit on others clothing and she tried to keep them out of the mud. Then, of course, she had to wait in line.

When it was finally her turn, she strode up to the horse confidently.

"Here, let me help you ma'am…" The Equestrian club helper came to her trying to explain how to ride, assuming she was just another novice visitor.

She held up her hand to him and shook her head.

"That is ok, I know what I am doing."

She placed her foot in the stirrup and with one graceful movement she swung her leg over and settled into the saddle. With perfect posture, like a member of nobility, she trotted around. The other club members were impressed.

"You like horses?"

"Yes, actually. I used to ride them all the time in my home country."

"Where ya from?" One of them asked.

"America, Alabama to be precise." She even used her accent a bit, thought it was difficult to speak Japanese with a southern tone.

"Oh hey, that's pretty cool. I don't know where Alabama is though haha…"

"That's ok; many Americans don't know where it is either."

She then ushered the horse forward into a light gallop. The handlers were a bit surprised but it was too late for them to do anything about it. Lorelei brought her horse close to the rail to avoid the others in the center. She rode high in the saddle, her hair blowing in the wind. She loved this feeling, it was a feeling of both strength and beauty and majestic prestige. After riding it full circle around the perimeter of the area she came back. Trotting up to the handler, she hopped off, handing him the reins. He was fascinated by her and then it donned on him.

"Oh hey you look kinda young, are you a visitor or a student?"

"A student…"

"Excellent, maybe you'd like to join our club?"

"I'll think about it."

It was about time for her to begin her shift. The sun was setting low in the sky and clouds were turning red. Fireworks were starting to go off intermittently and things were beginning to settle down around campus. Lorelei hoped she could get her shift done quickly, so she could go hunt down Chao for real. Lorelei was tired of waiting for Chao to pop up.

Once at the danger point, she spotted Yahiko quickly, waiting on a bench. She smiled lightly and waved at Lorelei, who just sort of nodded in return to her.

"Alright, let's see what we got so far…may I see the map?"

"Sure."

Yahiko handed Lorelei the map. Yahiko's portion was very well drawn and accurate. Tsukimiya's however looked like a kindergartener's scribbles. There were even doodles of cats, flowers and smiley faces, as well as random notes in illegible scrawl. It did have the point's and what looked like Ley lines, so Lorelei didn't say anything, just sighed. She then took the box from Yahiko and waved to her before departing.

With her eye's peeking into the box , she walked along the path of the ley line, noting landmarks as she did to get a general feel for its location in relation to the map. So far, the line had followed a perfect circular tract, so it was safe to say it'd continue to do so, so her job wasn't that hard. This was apparently the weaker line. According to Yahiko's drawings, 90% of the energy followed curved arms radiating out from the tree and ending in these points, so it looked like a hurricane. Since the outer circle and arms had been consistent, she decided to focus on the next point, which was a ways away. Getting on a trolley, she made her way toward it.

When she got off, she noticed a large gathering of fighters nearby. Perhaps it was a martial arts gathering of some sorts? She had somewhat wondered why there hadn't been any yet. Mahora seemed to have a lively group of martial artists. The amount of commotion coming from the crowd seemed out of the ordinary. Her curiosity piqued, she glided over quietly, trying to diminish her presence as she mingled into the crowd. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on, posted on the notification board was a large flyer with a figure of 10 million yen in huge bold letters. Next to it was smaller text stating that the Mahora martial arts tournaments had been rolled into one huge tournament.

She overheard a familiar voice, and noticed Negi sensei. He had shown her around school and was one of the magi who were at the meeting under the world tree. She figured she'd just disappear into the crowd before he noticed her. She did, after all, have a big piece of the world tree in a box with her. It was a little suspicious. Once out of sight, she watched the going's on until the announcement to enter arrived. She wondered to herself if she should join, she was rather capable fighter and 10 million yen would do much to further her goals. Lorelei didn't like fighting for sport though.

Once inside, she was really surprised at the size of the courtyard. Fighting platforms were already set up and there was a ton of people. Some red headed girl was welcoming the visitors over the microphone loudly, adding to the grandeur of this event. Suddenly feeling a bit self conscious about her box, she stuffed it in a bush along one of the walls. As she did this, the next thing Kasumi, the announcer said stunned her.

"Lets hear a opening speech for the person who bought this event! The most popular student in the Academy, The miss of Chao Bao Zi; Chao Rin Shen!!"

Lorelei's eyes went wide. So this had been where she was all this time.

'What on earth is she planning? The Magi were trying to erase her mind a minute ago. If I were her I'd be laying low…REAL low…'

Then Chao began to talk about her intentions regarding the 'Outer' and 'Inner' world. When she declared the rule of: 'no curses', Lorelei felt her heart jump. This was it! At the same time, it began to don on her what Chao was trying to do, which seemed rather bold from Lorelei's perspective.

'This girl, she isn't just learning about the Magi…she knows full well about them…she's trying to provoke them! I wonder how they will respond to this. Hm…I don't know if I agree with your methods Chao, but I want to meet you.'

She knew what to do to get a feel for the reaction of the 'inner world'. She knew who a bunch of them were already. She carefully slipped through the crowd, getting in earshot range of Negi and company. She wouldn't dare use her ravens in a situation where they could be detected. She had to keep low so she could get the secrets of the magi, and stay secret herself. So now, for her fighting in the tournament was out of the question.

Before her they all assembled; Ku Fei, Kaede, Mana, Setsuna, Kotarou and Negi. Some others associated with them were there too but she could tell they weren't fighters. Getting this close, she couldn't help feeling something…familiar about Kotarou and Setsuna but she didn't let it bother her. More were coming, namely the one known as Evangeline and the teacher who had helped her the most with her English, Takahata-sensei. With both Takahata and Negi there, she backed away a bit, reluctantly.

She maneuvered where she could hear them better and stay out of sight. Eavesdropping was a specialty of hers, after all. As they talked, some important revelations were made to her.

'So that little blonde haired girl is Negi's 'master'? I do like her outfit, she has good style…Oh and Takahata is going to duel with Negi? These guys are real muscle heads. Violence is not a sport…it's a deadly serious tool for settling 'disagreements'. It pisses me off seeing combat neutered into some friendly competition sport…'

Then Asuna jumped forward, also entering

'Tch, like Lemmings, they're all jumping into this.'

Soon, Kasumi began announcing the rules of the fight. They needed 160 participants, and they would be divided into groups of 20 for battle royale. 2 from each group would go on to the real tournament tomorrow. As the registration began and the crowds began to disperse, Lorelei moved back to her bush with the box hidden underneath. She felt a little disappointed she wasn't going to be joining in, however it was for the best.

Once the groups had been formed, she kept her eye on Negi. He was the most likely to show his magic in her opinion. She was surprised at Takahata though during his preliminary round. Everyone in the ring just seemed to melt away before him to some invisible attack. Meanwhile, Kaede and Kotarou showed off their ninjutsu. There were so many things she has never seen before. Lorelei's mind was racing, trying to process all the new techniques and spells being shown to her even before Negi fought.

Now with the wanton fighting going on, some ravens flew down quietly. One perched itself on one of the corner posts of the arena Negi was in before his fight began. It, and Lorelei with it, watched and listened quietly to him as he began his fight. Of course the grown men in the ring laughed at him. Lorelei even was not anticipating the power he possessed. When he used his Cantus bellax she couldn't help but grin. She wanted to learn that one too. Then the Saggita Magica spell was used. Lorelei struggled to keep her eyes closed. When it came to magic, she had a hard time controlling herself. She practically lusted for it. Every aspect of the arcane excited her. The mystery to solve, the power to be had, the beauty and charm of it; it all delighted her. There was nothing about magic Lorelei didn't like.

With the obvious outcome of the preliminaries decided, the announcement of the starting time was made. 8 AM. Lorelei groaned audibly. She had already had to wake up early once. She hated going to bed early.

Lorelei picked up her box and left with the rest of the crowd as it filtered out. As she did, she felt a large hand land on her shoulder. She practically jumped out of her skin.

"Uwah!" She yelped, turning around to see Takahata and Evangeline.

"Oh, sorry Lorelei!" Takahata smiled "I just wanted to say hi. It's been awhile since I last saw you."

"Eh..yeah…" She fidgeted a bit. She hadn't known he was part of Mahora's inner world until yesterday.

"Oh hey, whats in the box?"

"Eh? This?? Oh, just..uh, some things I've been collecting for…the…" She was horrible at lying on the spot. "Er, I mean, from the festival. There are so many neat things on sale, I needed a box!"

Lorelei tried pivoting the box around her side more behind her back. As she did this she exposed the hole to Evangeline, who was on eye level with her hip where she held the box. Evangeline grinned lightly, not saying a word.

"Oh, I see, well don't strain yourself. So, what do you think about this tournament?"

"It's...exciting, that is for sure." Lorelei needed to keep cool.

"Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying it…" he then looked her dead in the eyes.

"If you have any trouble, let me know. I'm here to help, ok?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Great, see ya later Lori-chan." He grinned and waved. The blonde haired girl gave Lorelei a strange smile. She didn't know what to make of it.

They departed and she let out a long sigh of relief. Lorelei then made her way for the train back to the main campus. As she got on, she realized she had forgotten all about the mapping project. In light of these new developments though, it really seemed like small fry. She pulled out the map they had been working on. One third was nicely done, the other third was in scribbles and the final third wasn't even

there. Some map. She put her head in her hand, resting her elbow on the metal ledge beneath the window of the train.

"I need a rest…"

With that, the first day of the Mahorafest festival was over.