"Here you go!"
A girl in magenta robes with blonde, rounded pigtails, hands a large, rectangular box to Nicole.
"Here are the packs of rock candy and fried worms for your ice beetle," Jackie Whisperflame says.
"Please, do come again to the West Ende Girls Pet Snack Shop," a masked girl in white and green robes says. On her name tag, was Dusty Shadowcloud.
"Thanks!" Nicole calls back to them. The necromancer walks out of the snack shop with the cumbersome box, to find Scarlet and Morgan outside, observing the different pets lined up for derby races. Nicole trots up to them and lets her miniature spellbook plop out from her pocket. The book grows in size, way bigger than a thick dictionary.
"Guys, help me fit this box into my backpack," Nicole requests.
"Here, let me carry it. Open your backpack," Scarlet offers.
Nicole lets the big box onto Scarlet's hand, and then takes her staff from Morgan. The spiraled end of the staff touched the pages of Nicole's open spellbook, and a portal opens.
"Yeah, yep, that's right. Lower," Nicole says, as she gets up to guide Scarlet, who was setting down the oversized pet snack box into the portal to Nicole's magic backpack. It was a snug fit, but after some hard work, Nicole, Morgan, and Scarlet managed to stuff the big box into the backpack's portal.
"So pet snacks are done," Morgan says as she crosses it off her mental list. "Next is for us to buy bats and cobwebs and such for the dorms."
"So to Spooky Bob's wagon we go?" Scarlet suggests.
The conjurer nods. The three girls make their way out of Pet Pavillion through the tunnel. As they come out, the three find that dawn was no longer and the sun peeked from the horizon, starting to take off its orange drapes. The Commons wasn't too crowded. Students were hanging out by the lamp posts. The old seagull was fishing by the Rainbow Bridge, humming with a piece of straw hanging by his beak. It was more than quiet enough for the birds to tweet their songs. Morgan, Nic, and Scarlet made their way through the tunnel by the Headmaster's place, and out into the Shopping District. It was like village with shops lined up on the sides of the streets, with clotheslines decorated with clothes and Hallowe'en décor above. They approached a skeleton dressed in fine, but torn clothes, silent and inanimate as he lay on the streets, propped up on a wheel of a gypsy's schooner, a prairie wagon. It had an orange cover and purple, peltogyne wood for the wagon bed. Spooky Bob the Skeleton, stirred in his rest. His bony fingers grasped at his pumpkin staff, and he rose onto his feet. His voice was like a scarecrow's and eyes void of light.
"Welcome, children, to my shop!" Spooky Bob invited.
The skeleton walked towards Scarlet and her friends in an enticingly unbalanced manner.
"May I interest you in costumes? Decorations? Wands? Staves? Heheh… Candy?"
"Decorations! Bats! Cobwebs! Banner ish thingies! And… yeah! Costumes!" Nicole chanted. "Oh and by any chance, do you have neon lightsticks?"
"Neon?" Bob asks. "Well, I do not know what this neon is, but I do have lightsticks, along with the other goods you have requested for!"
The skeleton vendor snaps his fingers toward his wagon, or at least tries, as he had no skin to make the sound from. At the barely audible sound of his finger bones grinding, banners started flying out of his wagon like snakes, with bags of cobweb and bats. Tombstones popped out of the ground around the wagon, lawn decoration ghosts floated out from its stores like authentic specters, even bags with a witches and broomsticks inside went on display. Witches Crashing into a Pole Pack was what it said on the label. Metal sticks with clothes hangers on them hovered around the wizardly three, and costumes of all sorts materialized on the clothes hangers.
"Feel free to browse! But as always, you come here for my goods, I come here for your crowns!" Spooky Bob says with a peppy tone.
"But tis certainly shame this Hallowe'en season. All the streets are blocked off because of these dark times. It was miraculous that Unicorn Way reopened yesterday evening! Now if the same could be said about Colossus Boulevard and the Three Streets…"
"Don't worry!" Nicole chimed.
Spooky Bob's head perked up. "Hrm?"
Nicole glanced back at her friends with a smile, then back to Bob. "I'm sure someone will come and save the streets."
"Well," Spooky Bob says, crossing his arms. "I do hope such things happen! But anyways, enough with this gloomy, mushy atmosphere! Go! Go! Did you not come here for Hallowe'en supplies?"
Scarlet starts to speak. "Well yeah but-"
The skeleton swings his arm behind him, displaying two large booths with doors and locks.
"Go ahead, try the costumes. There are dressing rooms ready for you! I actually remembered to bring 'em this Hallowe'en! I don't have much of a memory because I've no brain! Bwahahahaha!"
"That joke was worse than Alex's," Scarlet muttered.
The three gathered all the supplies as needed. Bags of candy were also bought to hand out during Hallowe'en, but Nicole kept drooling over the bag, so that was a no. With the remaining free time, they browsed to try out different costumes.
"How's this?" Scarlet stood triumphantly with cutlass in hand, worn out boots, striped Elizabethen breeches, pirate blouse, and all that. A terror of the seas. A pirate.
"Needs more belts," Morgan suggested.
Scarlet gathers a bunch more belts of leather and tassels, having about five around her hip, one from her shoulder, and twelve around her neck. "How about now?"
"Perf," Nic and Morgan say in unison.
Nicole had a black, hooded, torn cloak like a wraith's. The wings were well made but the only exception was… She had bunny ears to top her crown and giant paws. A bunny wraith.
"I am now the queen of everything," Nicole announced, proud of her costume taste.
"Where's your scythe?" Scarlet asked.
"Oh I've got that taken care of~" Nicole sticks out a tongue and giggles mischievously.
Morgan's costume was probably the most normal of all, though it was the complete opposite of what a student of balance would wear. Morgan wore a loose blouse under a burgundy corset with golden cogs and clockwork embroidery on it. She wore thin, striped trousers with the left leg cut off. On that leg was a dark red knee sock. Both feet had tall, leather boots and on her left hip had half a short skirt. Her outfit was finished with long, burgundy gloves and a top hat with goggles. She was like a steampunk Mad Hatter. Scarlet whistles at the look, while Nicole gawked at how fine the costume was.
"It doesn't fit you, but you look totally awesome in it," Scarlet approved with an eager smile.
Morgan giggles into her wrist. "When I was little, my aunt joined an expedition to a strange world sunken in water. I've always wanted to be an explorer like her. But, now I'm a wizard. Although, we're still going places I guess."
She takes off her top hat. "We're going to save Wizard City before Hallowe'en. We aren't going to have our season ruined, right?"
"I won't let anybody take my candy!" Nicole shouted with a strong fist.
"Heh, we can bet on that," Scarlet smirked with a sparkling incisor.
"Hey, y'know, we haven't got a costume for Adrian yet," Nicole brought up.
"Well you know how he wears all that aristocratic clothing?" Scarlet asks. "He could be a vampire!"
"Hmm," Morgan thought on it. "Well he has silver hair. He could also make a good angel!"
"I guess we can just bring both for him to try out," Nicole suggested.
"We can buy one of his costumes and put the other on his tab. He says he has lots of crowns anyways," Scarlet plans.
"But we didn't ask Adrian," Morgan pointed out.
"Knowing him, eeeeh, I'm sure he won't mind," Scarlet smiles. "Now c'mon, we have to get out of these costumes and check 'em out."
"Well…" Morgan held a worried look. "Alright then, but if he gets upset, it's all on you."
"Pfft, you like him but you know him less than me!"
"Scarlet!"
The three get back into their normal outfits through the changing booths then checks out the transaction with Spooky Bob.
"That'll be one hundred 'n twenty one crowns, m'dears," Spooky Bob confirms as he spins his pumpkin staff, leaning on a cash register on a table.
"Ooh, that's a lot. It must be the costumes," Scarlet summed up. The pyromancer brings up the crowns that were distributed from the three of them plus Adrian and a bit extra from Scarlet in place for Adrian's second costume.
"Hundred ten, fifteen… twenty!" Scarlet grabs a wad of crowns out of the bundle and hands it to the skeleton salesman.
"Would've been easier if you had a credit card," Nicole murmured as she rubbed her bunny ears on her cheek.
"What's a credit card?" asked Morgan.
"Eh.. Nevermind."
"Probably just Earth stuff," Scarlet assumed, which she was right. "Well, it's two before noon. You guys want to head back to the dorms to rest a bit?"
"Sure~" Morgan and Nicole says in unison.
Morgan crouches down with a glittering piece of chalk that she must've summoned. With it, she draws an X within a circle on the cobblestone street, and then places her palm on it, transferring her mana into the chalk marks.
"What are you doing?" Scarlet asks.
"Setting down a marker, that way, I can just teleport back so we can continue to Eudora's Crafting Shop in Olde Town from here," Morgan explains.
"Smart," Scarlet shrugs.
"I suggest you guys should do the same," Morgan adds in.
The pyromancer and necromancer follows along, repeating after Morgan.
Scarlet frowns and huffs, "How do I activate the marker like you did, Morg?"
Nicole already got the idea of how to do it, but she ends up making the chalk poof into a cloud of chalk, making her cough.
"Eck," Nicole coughed.
"Guys," Morgan called. "You've got to think something like, 'I want to come back here'. Now imagine those words in a bubble of mana, flowing from your brain, through your arms, out the palm of your hand, and into the chalk."
"Worth a try," Scarlet shrugs. "Hold on, then what did Nicole do?"
"I just figured I let my mana into the chalk like Morg said," Nicole explains, as she successfully imbues mana into her chalk marker.
"Hold on now…" Morgan eyes Nicole with caution. "Using the marker teleportation spell eats up like a quarter of your mana store. If you overflown your chalk marker like that, then you must've used like seventy percent!"
"Really?" Nicole questions. "Didn't feel like any mana was used."
Morgan's blue eyes widened, wondering how large Nicole's mana store was. Wait, no. It wasn't how much mana Nicole had within her but-
"It's how well she can control her mana," Morgan thought aloud.
"Ah, enough with this nerdy stuff," Scarlet complains.
The pyromancer struggles a bit, but manages to visualize her mana-encased words seep into the chalk marker.
"Got it."
On the other hand, Scarlet doesn't seem to have good mana control, Morgan hypothesizes.
Immediately, the conjurer gets up on her feet. "Come on; let's get back to the dorms.
"You play cricket, as the team captain?" Adrian asks as he looks up to the centre newsboard, in front of the Bartleby.
"Yeah," Alexander Mythshade says, as he rubs the back of his neck. "Ravenwood is uh… not the best in cricket."
"Your team is dead last in the Spiral in terms of ranking," Adrian says, without really thinking.
"Aaaah, yeah…" Alex chuckles nervously. "But we never give up."
"Can I join?" Adrian asks.
"W-Wait, what?" Alexander likes at the thaumaturge bewildered. "You actually want to join?"
"Sure, why not? I think I should get a break from my hobbies anyways. I'm a good thrower and runner."
"Well, after seeing your physique, I can't argue," Alex chuckles. "You know how to play?"
"Ahah… well no." Adrian shrugs. "I've seen it in the papers. You bat the ball, you run, you catch and throw the ball. It all seems simple."
"It's a difficult game, actually." Alex warns. "And the guys on our team… Let's just say they aren't too athletic, like wizards naturally are."
"I'm just looking for another activity to engage in, that's all," Adrian puts simply.
"Alright then…"
Alex looks to the sun beginning to shine its orange rays through the leaves of the Great Tree.
"You're going to have to get a physical in the infirmary first. Like, they check to see if you're fit," Alex explains.
"Fair enough, I just need to learn the game," Adrian sums up.
Footsteps sound and the two wizards turn to see a dog in fine clothes, a dapper coat, top hat, monocle, with a cane and suitcase in his hands.
"Ah, I see two students eager for my classes." The dog tipped his hat as he made his way to a footlocker by a big newsboard.
"You two are awfully early for my Practical Applications class. Ah, oh! Alexander Mythshade! I didn't recognize you from afar."
"I'm taking my friend here, Adrian, on a tour," Alex explains, and then the conjurer turns to Adrian.
"Adrian, this is Mister Arthur Wethersfield. He teaches Sorcery, or Balance magic. Ravenwood doesn't have a school for Balance, but plans say that Mister Wethersfiend's class could take place within Bartleby."
Alex motions his hand up to the giant tree behind the smaller newsboard.
"Bartleby; the Grandfather Tree, the creator of the Spiral, and center of all magic."
"I knew t'was something not right with a fountain being a center of all magic," Adrian comments. "This seems more genuine."
"Ah, so you attended Pigswick Academy before Ravenwood?" Arthur Wethersfield asks, "Uh… I believe I have not gotten your full name."
"My name is Adrian… Uh, Kensington," he says hesitantly.
Arthur's eyes widened at the name Kensington.
"Hold on now, Kensington, like Earl Ebenezer Kensington? So the rumors are true… It is no wonder you are better dressed then the other students."
"Huh? What's this? Rumor?" Alex asks.
Professor Wethersfield clears his throat.
"Rumor has it that Earl Ebenezer Kensington, the lord of the Kensington district and half of Marleybone's trade ports, had a son and heir. Now his wife was a lioness from Zafaria and he was a dog. Of course, the outcome was unpredictable. But to think their child would turn out… human. I see why he wished to hide his child…"
The Balance Professor turns to Adrian. "You are the child of Kensington, right?"
"…. Yes," Adrian admitted bitterly.
"I see…" Arthur caught the sight of Adrian's now cold-hearted eyes and decided to drop the subject.
"Well, Alexander! Would you like for me to introduce the school of Balance?"
Alex switched his attention between Adrian and Arthur, and then nodded. "That would be appreciated, Professor."
"Well now," Arthur turns to the thaumaturge and sits on the footlocker.
"The magic of Balance, or Sorcery, is about harmony and finding balance in all things. It draws power from each of the other school, using Magic-Directed Transmutation to mix and create new possibilities of magic. Transmutation: the process of changing something into another form through magical means, and by what I mean 'Magic Directed,' I mean transmutation made for magic types."
The dog teacher clears his throat and pulls out a canteen, drinking out of it then slipping it back in his coat.
"Balance does not rely on the internal aspects of the caster nor external forces of the world. It is the creation of new things. Sorcerers, as suggested, are typically creative and don't choose sides. Rather, they consider all sides and decide the final verdicts."
"That sounds a bit like Equilibrium," Adrian says. "It's all about bringing out order of things. That's about it though. I like the idea of Balance better, as I enjoy creative tasks."
"I see! Then I take it that you would be interested in the school of Balance!" Arthur smiled.
Adrian chuckles and shakes his head. "The Book of Secrets, I took the test and the book was quite confused. It kept saying I should be a Diviner, or Thaumaturge, or Necromancer. I settled for ice and death magic."
"I see." Arthur scratched his chin. "That is a rare occurrence, for someone to be suggested into three schools with equal judgment. A shame though, sorcery is a complicated school, but its power is unbelievable," Arthur added.
"I see that you're a more investigative-slash-innovative sort of creative than what Balance is."
"Well, I do mess around with transmutation occasionally. I never heard of transmuting through active spellcasts though, or that is what I'm guessing," Adrian explains.
"You're right, young man! What do you use transmutation for?" Arthur asks.
"Oooh, just general alchemy and such. Transmutation circles, all that," Adrian answers.
"Ah, so you know how to make potions at such a young age!"
"Actually… It's just generally changing general objects into another."
"Nuclear Alchemy? You use Nuclear Alchemy; the art of rearranging elements and compounds' particles into a desired object? Why, that's awfully advanced for a child like you. You'd have to have a bachelor's degree of chemistry and calculus straight from Thames College!"
"I just read a lot," Adrian shrugs.
Alex was utterly confused by the words flying around. "Isn't that like science? I thought science doesn't mix with magic."
Wethersfield wags a finger.
"Magic, is of imagination, and will of mind. We use our life-force, or mana, to manipulate space, time, and matter around us. That is magic. Nuclear Alchemy requires understanding of what is going on when rearranging atomos and particles. Perhaps you have to add neutrons, take away an electron, identifying the valence electrons, or see how many ions there are, so and so. When you use Nuclear Alchemy, you have to know what is going on in the atomic levels and it does not require imagination, thus, requiring little mana use. The more knowledge you gain in how things are sorted out, the more power you have, while with regular magic, it is based off of your imagination. The bigger and more powerful the spell is, the more mana is needed to cast the spell."
Alex was still a bit lost. "So…"
"Science applies with magic indeed. The more you know what parts and atomos of an object is manipulated when using magic, plus external forces around it, the less mana you consume. If you use magic out of pure will, commands, and imagination, it will use more mana on how powerful the magic is. This is the base knowledge for Nuclear Alchemy."
Wethersfield takes a deep breath. "Although it is just a theory, it is yet to be made into a theorem or fact, as there is heavy evidence of it, and this young man, Adrian, understands that theory quite well. Most professors of magic, do not know the association of science in magic."
"I think I get it…" Alexander says, trying to remember what he learned in Physical Science back in Earth, about protons, electrons, and neutrons.
"Well, I think I have said more than enough for the tour," Mister Wethersfield says. "I think it is time to move onto the next part of the tour, no?"
"Oh, yeah!" Alex goes to shake the Balance Professor's hand… or paw. "Thank you, professor, for your time."
The tour continues around Bartleby the Grandfather Tree, going from schoolhouse to schoolhouse.
"Come back to my class so we can help you to release your inner thunder!" Halston Balestrom, the Storm School Instructor says.
"I'll look forward to starting your studies, dear!" Lydia Greyrose, the Ice School Professor, would invite.
"I'll fan the flames to cool the classroom so your studies can begin," Dalia Falmea, the Fire School Professor, beckons.
As the two continues, Adrian brings up the subject about the talking trees. Each represented their schools, something Alexander would explain. Alex and Adrian come up to a gaping chasm, near the Fire School. It was as if a school of Ravenwood was ripped away from the others. In its place, was a creepy floating piece of land with three, dark towers. Ghosts and spirits kept appearing and floating up from those towers of grey bricks.
"What used to be here, was the Death School," a dark skinned teenager says, approaching from behind
His age was probably around seventeen. He was dressed in white and black robes with a jester's hat. In his hand, was a staff with a red crystal ball as the top piece. Spiky, black hair was under his jester hat and his pupils and irises were like globes of screaming souls.
Alexander turns to Adrian, showing him to the fellow student. "Adrian, this is-"
"Malorn Ashthorn, right?" Adrian interrupted.
"You're that new guy, the one who summoned a frosty skeletal snake!" Malorn recalled.
"What, he did?" Alex marveled.
"What happened here?" Adrian asked, pointing to the three, evil spirited towers.
"Oh," Malorn sounded.
He watched a lost soul seep out of the burial grounds where the towers are built.
"Every Hallowe'en, those towers appear," Malorn explained. "They're to challenge wizards like us and test our strength in magic duels or battles. People don't know why they appear, but it's happened ever since the Death School disappeared. Ever since the Death School went away, so did the Death School professor our teacher, Malistaire Drake."
"Malistaire Drake?" Adrian questions.
"He… He was a good teacher," Malorn says quietly.
His eyes seemed to open up more to the light, only to show sadness.
"Ever since he left, bad things started to happen to Wizard City. I don't want to acknowledge it, but the evidence is overwhelming. The other students really think he was evil but… I know he's good man."
Alex was a bit surprised by what Malorn said, but quickly realized that he is also a student of Death. Of course he would try to save face for Malistaire, but Alexander decides to listen to his story. The conjurer finds a bench by the Fire School.
"Why don't we sit?" Alex suggested.
The three agree and comes to rest on the said bench.
"Professor Drake had a wife, Sylvia Drake," Malorn Ashthorn explained. "She was the old professor for the life school. I knew Professor Drake loved his wife very much, but then, she died from sickness."
Malorn looks up to the leaves of Bartley. "We thought Professor Drake would take his wife's death like every other necromancer. He was supposed to acknowledge what death does. We were wrong. Professor Drake was devastated at the loss of Mrs. Drake. I don't know if he was mad, or blamed Wizard City for it, but… Even though he did these bad things, I bet it was because it was all too painful for him."
Alexander's eyes widened at Malorn's story, surprised at his theory. Adrian wasn't sure how to feel, as he didn't know much about Malistaire.
"So this Malistaire guy is responsible for Wizard City's problems?" Adrian asks.
"All evidence points to him," Malorn says with a pained face. "But ever since he left, I'm here to teach other necromancers what I know."
The necromancer manages to smile a bit. "I don't mean to brag but, I was one of the best in Professor Drake's eyes. If he isn't around to teach, then at least I will. That would probably be what he would want, as a teacher."
Adrian hears the murmuring of students down the street. He watches wizards dressed in red and yellow, or black and white, walking down the cobblestone.
Adrian smiles to Malorn. "Well, I guess I could say that the Malistaire guy is proud of you, Malorn. Look at those necromancers coming here to learn."
Malorn looks up, finding kids of varying ages, from seven years old, to thirteen years old. He smiles at Adrian. "Thanks, man."
Alexander keeps silent for a while, and then sits up with vigilance. "Well, I guess it's time to move on to the next part of the tour," he suggested.
"Right," Adrian agreed.
The stood up and gave their goodbyes to the young, makeshift Death School teacher, and heads for the Myth School.
"Well they could've at least sent an adept," the wizard dressed in yellow and blue says.
Cyrus Drake sighs, shakes his head, and rolls his eyes, all at the same time, which impressed Adrian.
"Well, if you wish to attempt to learn some Conjuration, come back later and we can get started."
The Myth Professor points sternly out the door. "Now, leave me alone."
The two departed from the Myth School.
"Well, he was nice," Adrian commented.
"I know he can be a grump, but at least he does teach us so well that we understand it well beyond you can expect," Alex says.
"So that guy was Malistaire's brother?" Adrian asks.
"Yep."
The two continue onto the School of Life, where they meet Moolinda Wu, the professor of Theurgy.
"I didn't expect a cow to be teaching here at Wizard City," Adrian says.
"I didn't know Mooshu even knew of Ravenwood's magic, now that you mention it," Alex added.
Alexander led Adrian back to where Arthur Wethersfield taught. The Balance Professor was giving a lecture to his students where they sat on the cobblestone ground. Arthur was pacing back and forth, writing on a blackboard, where the newsboard was. All the posts of the newsboard were probably on the other side. Alex and Adrian settled on the curb, near Blossom, the life tree.
Alex casts his blue eye on the entrance to the Girls' Dormitory. "So how did you wind up in there?"
Adrian glances at the dorms, then back at Alex. "The boys' dorms were full, so I was told I couldn't join Ravenwood, which was stupid. I was really desperate to join this academy so they placed me in the Girls' Dorms."
"You had no problem with them doing that?" Alex asked.
"I don't really see why they have to separate guys and girls," Adrian shrugs.
Alex made a confused look at Adrian.
I think this guy doesn't has any sexual instincts,Alex thought.
Suddenly, a voice pierces into Alex's train of thought. He turns to see a girl of oriental origin. Her hair was brown and short. She had dark, purple lipstick and her eyes of mixed colors.
"Hello, Alexanderu-kun," she would say.
"Oh! Ashley," Alex calls to her, and then turns to Adrian.
"Hey, this is Ashley Breeze, girl prefect of the Green Peregrines, the wizard I told you guys about."
Adrian leans in and looks left, toward where the Life and Myth schools were. He saw a Mooshu girl, dressed in tan slacks. Her upper wear was made for battle, with russet brown, silk robes tucked into her pants. They were trimmed with citrine and green. Ashley also had a leather shoulder guard on her right shoulder, which seemed pretty tough to crack. In her hand, was something like a staff, but with a blade at the top end. Ashley's eyes switched to Adrian, but not exactly. Adrian studied her eyes to see if she was looking behind him. Guess not.
"So is this the talk of Ravenwood?" Ashely asked.
Her voice was sophisticated, but also like a warrior's, or an empress warlord. "This 'Eidorian' person?"
"Actually, it's 'Adrian,'" Alex corrected.
"A-dri-an," she pronounces.
"Anyways," Alex looks back to Adrian. "She's a Sorcerer, like Mister Wethersfield, and best in class. Like, really powerful. Don't be fooled by how other students act around her however, she's kinda friendly."
"What do you mean?" Adrian asks.
Ashley looks at the conjurer and thaumaturge, but not exactly at them, like before. "I am an enforcer of the Ravenwood's code. It is only natural the underclassmen will be … at unease with me."
"Oooh," Adrian sounds. "I see now."
"Yeah, she's one of us elite initiates," Alex says. "Right, Ashe?"
The Mooshu sorcerer keeps silent.
"Eheh," Alex chuckles awkwardly. "Oh and did I also mention that she is blind?"
"Alexu-kun," Ashley says with a warning tone.
"Really?" Adrian asks, looking at Ashley's staff… or spear.
"So what does she do with that?" Adrian points to the spear.
"She casts spells with it, obviously," Alex says, but Adrian could sense a trace of hesitance in his answer.
"I wonder what a polearm has to do with casting spells," Adrian commented.
"This is just a keepsake of my family," Ashley responds. "He is called Kamakari. Sometimes I… tend to miss the land of Mooshu, and so I have this keepsake, as my focal point of magic."
"Alright, I guess," Adrian settles.
Another voice sounds from Alex and Adrian's right. It came out of the tunnel.
"Adrian!" Morgan called.
Morgan ran up with bags hung on her arms, meeting up with the thaumaturge and Alex.
"Hello, Morgan," Adrian says with a smile.
"I hear the rustling of bags." Ashley points a strong finger at Morgan. "You there, conjurer, why were you at the Shopping District at this hour?"
"E-Eh?" Morgan steps back in confusion. "Wh-What?"
"Ah, relax, Ashley," Alexander says, standing up to settle down Ashley's arm. "She has the day off."
Alex blinks between his fellow conjurer and the sorcerer. "Oh yeah! Um, Ashley, this is Morgan. Morgan, Ashley."
"Oh, so this is the Ashley person you were talking-" Morgan notices Ashley's Kamakari. "-about…"
"Where's Nic and Scarlet?" Adrian asks.
The conjurer blinks and recalls the subject. "Oh they were just right behind me," Morgan explains. "They've got a heavy load."
"Why'd you guys come back?" Alex asked.
Morgan settles down her bags of decorations, costumes, and candy.
"We figured we'd just relax back at the dorms before going to Olde Town."
"Well, we were going to continue the tour through the Shopping District then to Olde Town as well," Alex says.
"That's great!" Morgan cheers pepperly. "We can-"
A girl's voice shouts out of the tunnel from the Commons. Everyone's attention turned to the tunnel entrance, even Arthur Wethersfield and his outdoor class.
Scarlet stands there huffing and puffing, with bags on her back and arms. Nicole was by her side, trying to calm the enraged pyromancer down, or just trying to grab at the candy in Scarlet's bags.
Scarlet slams down her merchandise and points toward Morgan, Alex, and Adrian's direction. With determined eyes and a warrior's cry, she calls out.
"ASHLEY BREEZE! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A MAGIC BATTLE!"
