Magic the Gathering: Not Just a Game

Chapter 2: The Test

Diron looked at Nick as if he were a loon. "Her, a wizard?" he asked in amusement. "Don't make me laugh. Her having that card in her hand had to be coincidence."

"We can't just ask whoever else has one 'Hey, did you save that girl's life?'" Nick countered, slipping the girl's Major Teroh into her deck. "Besides, that summon had far too much power in it for that legend." He stopped a second and looked behind him, noticing that the spectators were keeping their distance. His one eyebrow rose in confusion. "Why the hell are they standing all the way back there?" he asked out loud.

"Try big, bad, and baldy near you," Diron said, not even looking away from the girl. Nick looked to his side and noticed his mistake. Kamahl, the Pit Fighter, was standing right next to him with his sword slung over his one shoulder one handed, and he was glaring at the sixteen year old teen.

"Uh oh…" Nick said, realizing why they were still keeping their distance. Kamahl was nothing like that goblin that was smashing everything in respect to his race. However, who in their right mind would approach a girl that is unconscious when there is a big guy with a sword nearby. "I'll send him back now," he said as he concentrated on his mana flow, trying to generate enough to send the legendary warrior back. That is when things got bad.

"Hold it!" a man said, catching Kamahl, Diron, and Nick's attention and eyes. A security guard was standing there with a gun drawn. "Put the sword down and back away from the girl, or I will open fire." Kamahl glared at the guard, sending chills down the man's spine.

Nick moaned. "Ah shit."

"No," the pit fighter said, turning to face the guard and started walking towards the man.

"Put the weapon down!" Kamahl ignored the guard and kept walking towards him. "Put it down or I'll put you down!"

Kamahl smirked. "Try it," he challenged. His pace quickened as he dashed for the guard. The guard, on instinct, fired his pistol at the man three times. Screams erupted from the passer bys that were unaware of what was going on, and those screams started to cause a panic. The guard was shocked when he saw that Kamahl had blocked the shots of the pistol with his sword, and now was in his face. His free left hand grabbed the guard's right arm with the gun. "Useless," Kamahl muttered. "Not even worth my time or an honorable death." With that he tightened his grip on the man's hand and gun, until both the bones in his hand and the handle on the gun were crushed. The guard screamed in pain as Kamahl made to leave, before a red circle appeared under him and sucked him in, leaving only a small scorch mark where he stood a moment ago. Everyone was in so much of a panic, no one noticed Diron and Nick leave the mall, the girl draped over Nick's back.

The girl stirred a little bit before she opened her green eyes slowly. She lazily looked at her surroundings before something clicked. "WHAT THE HELL?" she yelled as she shot up and off the bed. "Where the hell am I?" she asked herself as she looked at her surroundings. She tried to recall what she was doing before she awoke here, when she remembered the card expo she was at. She then remembered the Goblin Raider that had come from nowhere and raised a ruckus. "Wait a minute, I was at the mall and…." She remembered seeing Teroh appear from nowhere to save her, disappearing once the goblin was dead. "…I passed out," she said in shock. She heard someone approaching from behind her, turning to see a young man about her age standing at the door.

"Seem you're awake now," Diron said, rubbing his offended ear. He was relatively surprised when the girl glared at him angrily.

"Where have you taken me?" she asked, but her anger was evident in her voice.

"Someplace safe," Diron replied. "You suffered from an attack by a man that was dressed up as a creature." She didn't stop glaring. "We rescued you from the mall when you passed out from the experience."

"How stupid do you think I am?" she yelled at him, her hands clenched into fists. "That thing wasn't some asshole in a costume, it was REAL!" She stormed towards the young man, determined to get past him. "You also didn't save me, it was another creature that shouldn't exist that helped!"

Diron nodded and chuckled. "Well, seems I can't lie to you and pray you thought it was all a trick from your mind," he said. He then held out a deck of cards. "I believe you dropped this." She looked down at the deck and noticed the deck was upside down, revealing her Major Teroh card.

"My deck?" she asked, taking the deck from his hands and scanned it to make sure all her cards were there. She sighed in mild relief when she saw that all her cards, including her new Darksteel Colossus, were accounted for. "There all here," she said in a soft voice.

"I'm rather surprised," Diron said. "The deck seems effective in theory, but has several flaws. Among them is the fact that you rely only on the Odyssey block cards." She glared at him again.

"I recall you saying 'we rescued you.' Who's the other?"

Nick poked his head out from the door edge. "That would be me," he said matter of factly. "The name's Nick." He then pointed his thumb at the other boy. "Mr. Cold here is better known as Diron."

She frowned again. "I'm outta here," she said in irritation, forcing her way through the two and seeking a route to the door.

Diron merely smirked. "Now's a good time to administer the test," he said, pulling out his own deck and searching for a card. Nick looked at him questionably before turning pale.

"You're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?"

"You were nagging that she saved herself with that Teroh card in her hand," he replied, pulling the card he was looking for out of his deck. "Don't worry, she won't be hurt badly, just enough to test your theory." Before Nick could say anything more, a burst of flames emerged beside Diron as a Paradic Firecat was summoned. The creature moved on four paws with flames all around it, its fiery eyes looking at his master before running off.

The girl had found a door and was in the backyard. It wasn't bad, considering that yard had only three sides. The house itself covered one side, while the fence covered another. The third one was a line of trees, making it an easy place to enter and exit the yard at will. She was about to enter the woods to find her way home before a flash of fire caught her eye.

She barely had time to dodge as the Firecat charged by her and blocked her way. She froze in fear before the cat charged again. She ducked and rolled away as it came charging in again, its one flaming claw getting her arm slightly . She screeched in pain and tried to grab her arm, feeling the head being generated from her wound. 'Not again. This thing is real too!' The cat hissed at her before charging again. She got out of the way, but looked in shock as the cat anticipated the move and moved to get her. She had no way of evading this time, for she was still about to recover from her evasive move. She freaked again, just like last time, when a white circle appeared at her side. Just when the firecat was about to hit her, it was tackled to the side by a mass of feathers. The girl looked in shock at the ball of creatures that was at her side, before both creatures split themselves from the ball. The cat glared menacingly at the bird soldier, the same one that had protected her from the goblin. "What the he…Teroh?" The cat charged at the warrior, who blocked it with his staff. The impact was hard enough for the warrior to fall onto his back, his feathers burning slightly from the flaming paws of the cat while its teeth were kept at bay with the staff mere inched from the major's beak. He then thrusted a taloned foot into the cat, knocking it off of him while burning his talons in the process. He got back onto his feet and prepared to attack again when a voice snapped everyone in the yard away from a battle.

"Firecat, cease attack," Diron said from the backdoor. The cat nodded at him before disappearing in a bright burst of flame. Teroh glared at the newcomer, his singed staff held in front of him. "Congratulations," he said to the girl.

She looked at him in confusion. "Congratulations?" she said. "For what?"

Diron approached her, mindful of Teroh's watchful glare. "You passed the test."

She glared at him as well. "Test? You call sending some weird fiery cat at me a test? A test for what?"

"Why, being a wizard, of course," he replied.

"What?" she said in a long, resounding 'a.'

Nick arrived, grateful that Diron hadn't hurt the girl at all. "What he means is, you are like us," he replied to her. "You are among a few people that have the ability to summon creatures from the dimension where Magic the Gathering is real."

She looked at them both as if they each had grown a new head, then she laughed. "It was all a joke," she said before laughing again. "This whole thing was a joke, wasn't it? That cat of yours, it was only some wild animal dressed like a card creature."

It was Diron's turn to glare at her. "Then explain why one of your cards is standing right next to you." She stopped laughing when she turned to Teroh, who was currently eying her curiously. She walked closer to the creature and touched his arm gently. She turned white in fear when she realized that it really was Major Teroh standing there.

"It isn't a joke…" she said. "I'm one of these…wizards you mentioned?"

"Yes," Diron said, fiddling with his deck. "And Quite frankly, I've never seen a rookie with that kind of power before. Normal people lose control of a Legendary warrior on their first few attempts, and yet Teroh protected you loyally both times when you're life was at stake." She shook her head, trying to absorb the information she was getting from the boy while also ignoring her sudden fatigue. Instead, she fell onto her knees and hands. "….well, you would need some work," he said upon noticing this.

Nick instantly was near her and lifted her up, before the business end of Teroh's staff hovered inches from his face. "Teroh, stop." The soldier blinked in confusion before withdrawing his staff, while Nick suffered from the fact that he would need to change his underwear. She looked at Nick and nodded her thanks at helping her back to her feet, then looked at Diron. "What do you mean, 'I'd need some work?'"

Diron smirked. "Quite simply, I can teach you how to effectively control the mana at your disposal, thus allowing you to summon these creatures and use spells at will. Currently, you only seem to be able to when your life's in danger." He pulled out a card and used it, summoning the firecat back to life. "With training, you could bring them to life as well."

She looked at the two people in shock before looking at Teroh thoughtfully. He looked back at her and bowed before a circle appeared under him and dragged him away, another feather being left behind. She then looked back at the two. "So, how do I train?"

Nick stepped up. "We can teach you how to. Before we begin though, it would be helpful to give us your real name first."

The girl smiles mildly. "My name's Kari."

That is chapter two. I have a few reviews for chapter one, so I'll cover those first.

Vin-the-Mazoku: well, you got your wish. Here's the second chapter for you, and a third will be on its way.

Arrathir: Thanks for the review. The story will continue as long as there are people who wish to read it. I'm keeping an eye on your story as well while I write my own, so as not to stray down an already traveled path.

Magnificent the Destroyer Lord: Thanks for the review and the advice.

Furthermore, LuChao has asked if he could be the proofreader for this fic as well as offering his help with it. I have accepted his request, so everyone thank him for the corrections on both this chapter and the last one, as well as his continued help in completing the story.

Alright. Next chapter, Kari learns how to control mana as well as the revelation of the decks, till then.