The rays of light hitting her eyes forced Mana to get up. Grumbling and yawning, she got up walked into her bathroom. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and put on a white t-shirt and white shorts. As she sat down in front of a vanity mirror, she noticed Kuriboh hopping around. Kuriboh hopped over to her and Mana held out her hand, expecting a note. However, she didn't receive a note. Kuriboh just cooed and somehow, Mana understood what he said.

'Good morning, Mana. Breakfast is just about ready. Would you like me to show you where the dining room is?' Mana was surprised, but quickly got over it.

"Well, I am kind of hungry. Show me where it is." Mana said. Kuriboh cooed.

'Sure thing. Follow me.' Kuriboh hopped off and Mana followed.

'I'm glad you didn't freak out when you heard me talk.' He said.

"I have a feeling I'll have to get used to things like this. By the way, how are you talking?"

'I have telepathic and telekinetic powers. I'm just sending messages to your mind.'

"Cool."

'Very. It comes in handy at times. I can also read minds. Right now you're thinking of what we cook here for breakfast. Well, we have cereal, hot and cold, bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, muff--Mana, you're drooling.' Mana quickly wiped the saliva off of her lip and quickly looked down at the ground.

'No need to be embarrassed, although I can't see why you'd be hungry after that dinner last night.'

"Well…heh…that really wasn't enough to fill me up." Mana blushed.

'What? We gave you twice the amount we usually give the students, and no one ever says they aren't full after one of those meals…except Mahaado and Drake, that is. You must eat as much as that blue eyed dragon.'

"There are dragons here?"

'Of course. We send our students out to battle and catch them as training. Once they're brought back here, the Lord of Dragons tames them, along with his two apprentices, Dragon Warrior and Dragon Piper, to be used for combat or labor.'

"Cool. Hey, what's that sound?"

'It's swords. We're nearing the sword training room. We train swordsman from all over here. Would you like to take a closer look?' Kuriboh asked as they neared the room.

"Sure." Kuriboh tapped the door with his paw and it opened. The two walked inside and looked around at the many people and monsters training. As she looked around, Mana saw what looked like an elf training with someone who's sword was leaving multicolored streaks in midair. Kuriboh informed her that the elf was the Celtic Guardian and the other person was Neo, The Magic Swordsman. Mana looked to the far right of the room and saw Mahaado training with Drake. The siblings furiously swung their wooden bokkens at each other. They countered each other's moves perfectly, neither of them ever hitting the other.

"Hey Mahaado." Drake whispered as they moved closer to each other.

"What?" Mahaado said, countering his brother's vicious downward slash.

"Isn't that Mana over there by the door?" Drake blocked his brother's counter slash. Mahaado back flipped twice, avoiding Drake's sweep kick and sneaking a peek at the door. He immediately charged at Drake once he landed and locked them into a sword struggle.

"Yeah, so?" He said, straining to push Drake back.

"What do you say we give her a little show?" Drake said, matching Mahaado's strength.

"But we haven't practiced it yet. We could burn out our magic."

"But we could increase our speed and strength and impress her."

"I like the way you think." They leaped back from each other and threw their shirts off. Mana nearly fainted when she saw how well built they were.

'Oh Ra, they are so hot! They are so built for magicians. Muscular arms, huge chest, abs of steel. I wonder if…'

'Down, girl.' Kuriboh said telepathically to Mana.

The siblings continued their sparring at an even faster pace. A magical aura built up around the boys so they just looked like purple and crimson blurs colliding for a few seconds, breaking up and repeating. Some of the training pupils stopped their training to watch them.

"Mahado, Drake, halt!" Cried Sage as he walked over to them.

"You both have improved greatly, but now it is time for you test. If you hit me, you both pass and move on to the final course of swordsmanship training. Both of you, come at me!" Mana wondered how an old man could defend himself against two boys who could move as fast as light.

Mahado's and Drake's auras enlarged. They both charged at their father and swung furiously. The old man, moving at an incredibly fast speed, summoned his staff and effortlessly blocked their attacks. After a few seconds, the brothers realized there was no way they would hit their father like this and leapt back.

"Drake, Quintuple After-Image Double Team!" Mahado yelled. The two boys and their auras disappeared and ten images appeared in random places around Sage; five were of Mahado and five were of Drake.

"Ready? Go!" Drake yelled. All ten images charged at Sage. The ancient wizard blocked six of the fake teens, and the last two faded away as they touched him. Sage spun around, hoping to catch his sons in mid-attack, but they weren't behind him. He looked around, but they weren't anywhere in the room.

"Mahado, Drake, stop hiding and face me!"

"We're not hiding." Both boys' voices rang out through the room. "We're right by you." Drake suddenly appeared on the left side of Sage and slashed ferociously. The older wizard blocked the attack, but stumbled back. Mahado appeared behind him and tapped him on his head with his wooden bokken.

"We win." He said.

"Go Mahado! Go Drake!" Mana cheered The spectating students cheered with her. Mahado looked over at the door and saw Mana jumping up and down, cheering for him and his heart leapt into his throat. When the cheering had subsided, Sage looked down at his sons and smiled.

"Congratulations. You both have passed the test. You are finally at the last training level. You will begin training with the Magic Swordsman and the Celtic Guardian.

"You know, you could just call me by my real name; Koric!" The Celtic Guardian yelled.

"And why don't you call me Neo? We're not in a battle right now!"

"You keep forgetting that elves hear very well." Mahaado said.

"Anyway," Sage growled, "You shall begin learning how to utilize your magic in conjunction with your swordsmanship."

"Some reward for passing." Drake said.

"Quit complaining. You want to keep getting hit with bokkens?"

"You know we haven't hit each other in weeks. We've just been repeating the same lessons because you always mess up!"

"I've never messed up a test! You just never attacked in sync with me!"

"Whatever. Anyway, doesn't this mean we can take the rest of this session off?" Drake asked.

"Of course, you may go Drake." Sage said.

"Great, I'm out of here." Drake vanished his bokken, and walked out of the room, pausing only to say hi to Mana.

Mahaado smiled and shook his head as he watched his brother. He vanished his bokken and started toward the door, hoping to get back to his room and soon as possible to take a shower before his next training session when he spotted a brown fuzzy ball jumping up and down.

"Kuriboh's here. That must mean that…" He looked to the side of Kuriboh and saw Mana, who was still cheering for him.

"Mana, what are you doing here?" He said, walking towards her. Mana tried desperately to keep her eyes on Mahaado's face and not his chest.

"Um, I just wanted to see what was going on." Mahaado summoned his shirt to him; it zoomed across the room to his outstretched hand.

"This is the sword training room." He said, pulling his shirt on. Mana frowned a little.

"We have some of the best swordsmen in the world training here. There's Koric," The Celtic Guardian waved at Mana from the other side of the room.

"Neo," The Magic Swordsman waved,

"And Masaki." Mahaado pointed to the southwest corner of the room where Sage was talking to a person that was wearing a kimono.

"This is a physical training room you shall be in if you choose to stay here."

"Looks like a rough class." Mana said, watching Neo and Koric spar against several students at once. It looked as though the two were not having any trouble blocking every attack and counter them with painful-looking attacks of their own.

"It is…I can still feel some of the blows from when I was training earlier. Drake does not go easy on anyone. Well anyway, I'm going down to breakfast now. Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure. You don't mind if I go with him, do you Kuriboh?" Mana asked, looking down to Kuriboh. Kuriboh shook his head and hopped off.

"Let's go." Mahaado walked out of the room, Mana following him.

"You know, you and Drake are really different to be brothers. I thought you two would act the same."

"Yeah, me and Drake are like exact opposites when it comes to our behavior. Drake is more of a no nonsense, straight to the point guy. I'm more laid back and relaxed, I try to enjoy myself as much as I can."

"Funny how that happens sometimes, huh?"

"Yeah…So how are you enjoying the mansion so far?"

"I don't know of a word to describe how cool this mansion is." Mahaado smiled.

"Well, looks like we're getting close to the dining room," Mahaado said as they neared the bottom of a long set of stairs, "You're about to see many strange looking people, but all of them are pretty nice so you don't have to worry."

"I promise I won't freak out or anything."

"That's what they all say." Mahaado and Mana walked into the dining room. Mana froze as she looked around at the many strange looking people and monsters talking and eating like nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Mana saw the two girls that were shooting blue and green sparks off of a balcony sitting together. She noticed that they had blue and green marks on their faces. She looked quickly around the room as she followed Mahaado. She saw a man wearing a necklace of large teeth she quickly guessed were dragon teeth. To his left, the four winged people she had saw the day before were tossing pieces of steak and bacon out of the window where it was caught by a dragon.

"Don't you think we spoil that dragon too much?" She heard one person say. As Mana looked around, she noticed that certain groups of people sat together. People who looked like sorcerers sat at one table. The strong, warrior type people sat at another table.

"Yeah, about that, we have to sit with other people that have the same abilities as us. There are certain exceptions, such as the Amazons and the Dragon Fighters." Mahaado said, gesturing at two smaller tables near a corner of the room.

Mana saw buff, tan women sitting at one table, talking in low, slightly masculine voices. At an adjacent table, she saw a young man with a horn sticking out of the top of his head and another that was wearing all light blue clothes.

"Also some beast people live here." Mahaado gestured at yet another table near the center of the room. Mana saw all sorts of animal-like people sitting at it. There was a short beaver in deep conversation with a tall panther warrior.

"So, where do I sit? With the sorcerers?" Mana said, still looking at all the different people eating, talking and laughing.

"Well normally, my dad would cast a spell that would show us what you are, but I think it would be ok if I did it this time." Mahaado stuck his right arm out and slowly closed his hand. When his hand was almost completely balled up, an emerald green staff appeared in it. The staff had light green rings at the bottom and top of it and at the top of the staff was what looked like a design based on Mahaado's hat, only cut in half. Mana caught a glimpse of a yellow orb, slightly glowing in the middle of the staff.

"Hold out your hands." He said. Mana held both of her hands in front of Mahaado.

"Revelius." Mahaado muttered, tapping both of Mana's hands lightly with his staff. Mana felt a warm surge of power flow from her navel and to her hands. She gave a short shriek as blue, green, and pink sparks shot from her fingertips. The sparks shot up into the air, turned into butterflies, and flew around the room a bit before gliding out of the windows. A few people clapped and laughed at the little light show. Mahaado smiled at her.

"I guess that means you're a sorceress. I hope dad doesn't get mad about that. Anyway, let's go find a seat." Mahaado and Mana found two empty spots near the middle of the mage table. They sat adjacent to each other.

"Dig in." Mahaado said, grabbing a large plate of bacon and eggs. Mana quickly grabbed a plate and piled some of everything on her plate and grabbed a fork. Mahaado stared at her for a few seconds before laughing.

"What's so funny, Mahaado?" Said Drake in his normal cold, low voice, sitting next to Mahaado.

"Check out her plate." Drake glanced at Mana's plate and chuckled.

"You eat more than most of the guys here. How do you stay so slim?" Said Drake, grabbing a plate of bacon and eggs, his voice much warmer.

"I guess I just have high metabolism or something. I don't work out and I don't diet." Said Mana, pouring syrup on her pancakes and sausages.

"Apparently." Said Drake. The brothers laughed.

"Drake, why are you suddenly acting so nice around Mana?" Mahaado said with a slight hint of anger in his voice. He finished off his bacon and eggs and put a stack of pancakes on his plate. Drake blushed as he also stacked pancakes onto his plate.

"Well…we need to be polite to our guests, don't we?" He said, trying to revert to his normal cold voice tone. He and Mahaado simultaneously grabbed three sausage patties and two hash browns. Mana watched them, astonished.

"How are you two doing that?" She asked.

"Doing what? Oh, you mean the in-sync movement?" They said in unison.

"Y-yeah."

"Well, we're close and we have a special bond. We can read each other's minds, feel the other's emotions, and sometimes, we even mentally fuse so our movement and speech is in unison."

"That's--"

"Freaky? Very. Anyway, we can stop it anytime we want, but we've decided to give you a little demo of what we can do. Ready, bro? Let's go." Mahaado and Drake stood up, walked into an open space on the floor and faced Mana.

"Hey, check it out, sis. They're about to do another demo. Go spread the word." Said Hawk.

"If we're going," Said Ginger, grabbing Hawk.

"You're coming with us." Ruby and Diamond grabbed Hawk and flew up above everyone else.

"Ready girls?" Diamond said.

"OK!" Ginger and Ruby said, trying their best to sound like cheerleaders.

"I said ready girls." Diamond said viciously to Hawk.

"Man, the things I do to keep you all happy…OK! Ra, that was gay." The four siblings inhaled for ten seconds, then let out ear piercing screeches. The many people that were dining and talking quickly covered their ears and looked up at the Harpies.

"Now that we have your attention," Said Diamond

"We'd like you all to direct your it to the main entrance where Mahaado and Drake are about to give another performance," Said Ruby

"What will they do this time? Who knows?" Said Ginger

"So pull up a seat, relax your feet, and enjoy the show." Hawk said unenthusiastically.

"You didn't sound very cheerful, dear brother." Said Diamond.

"You need to sound more cheerful if you're going to be a cheerleader." Said Ruby ominously.

"Who said I wanted to be a cheerleader?" Hawk muttered.

"WE DID!" The Harpy Girls shouted. Growling, they summoned whips and began chasing Hawk. Hawk quickly flew out of the window with the girls in hot pursuit. The room was filled with laughter as the many people watched Hawk get chased from the crystal-clear windows.

Once the laughter died down, everyone directed their attention to the front of the room where Mahaado and Drake had just begun their show. They began with a simple 1-2 punch followed by a roundhouse kick. With their legs still in the air, the back flipped and landed upside down on their hands with one leg still out. They spun around five times before partially finishing their back flip, but keeping their legs in the air in sort of a push-up position.

They spun their legs around to their front and held their bodies up with their hands. They spun their legs around, doing a break dancing-like move and vaulted into the air. The brothers somersaulted in midair and landed facing each other.

"There they go again." Said a woman sitting across from Mana. Mana looked over and saw Star looking back at her, smiling.

"When did you get here?" Mana asked.

"We've been here for quite some time now." Said another voice behind Mana. She looked over he shoulder and saw Sage looking down at her with a Mahaado-like smile. Mana smiled back at him and looked back at Mahaado and Drake, who had just acquired staffs and were now moving as if they were in slow motion.

Simultaneously, they spun their staffs over their heads. Mahaado brought his staff down to Drake's head, but Drake brought his up, blocking Mahaado's, and thrust it at him. Mahaado grabbed Drake's staff and pulled it out of his grip. Moving normally now, Drake pointed his palm at Mahaado and shot a green spell at him.

Mahaado made an X with the staves in his hands, hoping to use them alone to block the spell. Once the spell hit the staves, they transformed into large snakes and bit Mahaado in his neck. Everyone watching gasped as his body slumped lifelessly to the ground.

"Mahaado!" Mana yelled as she ran over to Mahaado's body. She knelt down and attempted to turn his body over. As soon as she turned him over, his body melted away, as did the snake.

"What the?" Mana said.

"You should've known that we weren't in any real danger." Mahaado's voice echoed throughout the room. Drake sank into the shadows while everybody's attention was diverted.

"But since you've entered our stage, we've decided to have a little fun with you." Drake said, an ominous tone in his voice.

"Fun? What do you mean, fun?" Mana asked.

"Watch." Mahaado said from the window. Before Mana could even turn her head to look at hi, Mahaado had jumped over to a nearby wall, launched off of it to an adjacent wall, and up to the ceiling directly above Mana. He quickly casted a spell to make his feet stick to the ceiling.

"Mana." Drake and Mahaado said. Mana was so shocked at seeing Mahaado above her that she didn't even notice a certain white-haired figure rising up out of her shadow behind her. Drake tapped Mana on her shoulder and smiled evilly as she looked at him.

"Boo." Mana instinctively elbowed Drake in his gut, grabbed his arm, and threw him over her shoulder into a wall. Everybody laughe as Drake hit the wall head first and glared at Mana angrily.

"Did she just…?" Star said, amazed at what she saw.

"Yes. Sage said happily.

"Impressive, but this is where it ends, Mana." Mahaado ceased his spell so he began falling headfirst toward Mana. Not knowing what she was doing, Mana threw her arms up over her head in an X position.

"Don't hurt me!" She shouted. A large, pink, transparent, glass-like triangular shield formed around her. Mahaado smirked and quickly teleported out of the air. He reappeared behind Mana and attempted to punch her, but the shield stopped his fist. The cocky smirk was replaced by a look of shock as he quickly teleported around her, attempting to hit her everywhere, but none of the attacks breached her shield. He sighed as he ceased his attacks and teleported to her front.

"Well, we surrender. ("Speak for yourself." Grumbled Drake. "I could've broken that shield.")" The roo was filled with cheers as Mana dropped her arms, dispelling the shield and Mahaado and Drake lifted her arms in victory. The boys lifted Mana onto their shoulders and around the room.

"She used an impenetrable shield spell even though she knows no magic." Said Star.

"Yes…this is very interesting. She shall need to be trained vigorously so we can know the full extent of her power." Replied Sage.

"But there is not much time left."

"You forget, there is a way to make more time."

"But that would mean that we would have to awaken it! It's uncontrollable!"

"Uncontrollable with our current power."

"The keyword there is 'current,' my dear. Let us speak no more of this now. Our children are approaching." Mana had high-fived what seemed like everybody in the room before she arrived at her seat again.

"Mana, good show!" Sage said as Mana hopped off of the boys' shoulders and sat down next to Star.

"Very impressive, my dear." Said Star.

"Thanks. Um…you two are very experienced with spells and magic, right?" Mana said to Sage and Star.

"Of course." Said Sage.

"Well, can you tell me something? When Mahaado was falling towards me, I threw my hands up over me and this pink shield appeared around me. I don't know any magic, so how did I do that?"

"That's very simple, my dear. You see," Star waved her hand and a large screen appeared behind her. On the screen was a stick figure covering its head.

"The sorcerer or sorceress has to visualize themselves being protected and if the will is strong enough, a shield will appear. The stronger the will, the stronger the shield." On the screen, a large, spiked ball was moving towards the stick figure. The figure pushed its arms out toward the ball and large words appeared over it saying 'DON'T COME NEAR ME!' A wall erected in front of the stick figure, stopping the spiked ball.

"Will all the spells I'm going to learn be that simple?" Mana asked in between stuffing her face with pancakes.

"That makes it sound like you want to stay here." Sage said. Mana gave an enormous swallow.

"That's because I do." She said as she smiled cutely. Drake and Mahaado blushed lightly.

'YES!' They thought simultaneously.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, here's the second chapter. See if you can figure out the duel monsters I was describing in this chapter. There are quite a few of them. Well, until next time, FF people. R&R!