Clock Tower
...it is the First Branch and Headquarters of Mage's Association. Well, in the west, that is. In the East, it's equivalent is the Spiral Manor in China.
The Clock Tower is the faction belonging to the Association Director, a student of Solomon, who was one of the people to found the Mage's Association during 0AD. The association split into three separate factions as of 20AD, Atlas and the Wandering Sea rejecting the modernization of magecraft and the Director's following deciding to embrace it. The Clock Tower was officially formed as of 500AD. Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg was a founding member of the Clock Tower. It is built atop the Spiritual Tomb of Albion, the corpse of a mountain-sized dragon that did not venture to the Reverse Side of the World with the coming of the Age of Man, and later died trying to dig down to the Reverse Side.
There are only four entrances to the Spiritual Tomb of Albion throughout London, one of which is located in London's Chinatown in Soho. Built like a labyrinth, it is the source of many mystical resources for the magi of the Clock Tower, and also home to magical beasts. The deeper you go the stranger things get, as you grow closer to the Reverse Side of the World.
At the bottom of the Spiritual Tomb of Albion is the Carillon Observatory, the oldest room of the Clock Tower and where Sealing Designations are decided, so called because of the giant bell hanging in the Observatory that rings whenever a Sealing Designation is dealt. The other function of the Carillon Observatory is to ensure the royalties from patented magical formulas are properly charged, by way of the Observatory being able to detect traces of magecraft Clock Tower mages cast on the World. However, the Carillon can't observe the entire world, which is why the Clock Tower has other branches, each with their own observatory, allowing magecraft copyright to be enforced in about 70-80% of the globe.
The Clock Tower is located at the British Museum. Specifically, the museum is where the entrance to it is situated, with the Clock Tower and its facilities being underground, extending from Regent's Park up until Westminster. The Clock Tower was originally only its headquarters in London, but in the hundreds of years since its establishment, and as it expanded, more facilities were added. It is the largest magical fortress in the World of Magecraft, protected by hundreds of defensive contraptions, and wouldn't be destroyed even if the Earth itself was.
Comprising the rest of the Association are eleven of the departments which reconfigured themselves as their own college towns in the districts and suburbs surrounding London. The twelfth one, Mystile, the Faculty of General Fundamentals and the First Department, serves as the main academic building located in the suburbs of London and has a similar appearance to Big Ben. It looks like a normal old university on the outside, due to Bounded Fields mystically and psychologically protecting against people (from physical methods like inspection zones on highways and cartographic erasure to bounded fields obscuring vision), preventing passers-by from carelessly walking in.
The cityscape is a juxtaposition of contemporary and medieval architecture, with some of the buildings dating back as far as the 12th Century but still being well-preserved. The town consists of over 40 student dormitories and over a hundred research buildings and school structures of various purposes, as well as the business districts that supply the residents. At the center of this area, the first school built among the city buildings is what is referred to with reverence by magi everywhere as the Clock Tower proper.
From the outside, the Clock Tower appears to be an appealing and welcoming place, but the truth is not so bright. Actually, the inner workings of the place are ruled by the power struggles between several factions of Magi.
The Clock Tower is currently under the control of a pseudo-aristocratic elite called the Lords. Each Lord holds great political power within the Association just by himself, and there is also those who associate themselves to other talented Magi or an important Magi lineage in a sponsor-sponsored relationship so to increase their influence.
Her parents had sponsored her since adoption that she has a slot in here and can choose any department she wants.
And being from an infant magus lineage worth a few decades that didn't even accomplish anything noteworthy yet, she cannot receive special treatment.
She went through the exams. The most she can do, was have the privilege to skip having to enroll in Fundamentals Course and immediately choose a department she wants to graduate from, as long as she passes her Entrance Exams which was mostly based on Fundamental and Historical Knowledge.
She passed with 100% obviously.
She went through legal process to enroll herself in Modern Magecraft in Slur Street, meeting up with the current Lord El-Melloi 'call me the second, please!', Waver Velvet. A Magus who reached the Rank of Fes for his large amount of students graduating Brand or Pride regardless of Bloodline which was WHY Misora aimed to be here. He was THAT good of a teacher when his ability as an individual would have been Count.
The Faculty's college town is located on Slur Street, with archaic buildings on its western side, and modern looking buildings on its eastern side which is closer to London, all cheap-looking buildings. The Faculty is also comprised of the Norwich Student Dormitory.
'So sensei, can we modify our rooms?' Misora asked Velvet-sensei. She had chosen for herself a large room befitting a rich girl.
'You can, as long as when you graduate, you remove your modifications for the next user. You're responsible for your own belongings as well, classifying as 'not my problem'.' said Velvet-sensei. 'Anything else?'
'Considering how my family earns money, I'll need your help in exchange for a 1/4 cut.' Misora bargained as Velvet-sensei twitched.
The Kurobes earn money by winning lotteries.
1 pound = 163.32 yen.
And the Grand Prize that varies, is often in millions as the value of pounds is big as Waver knows. The last grand prize at around March, was 3,562,243 pounds. In yen as his student is Japanese, that would be 485,604,965 yen. And a 1/4 cut for helping her already big it would be of great help to him in reducing his debts! He HAS to take this offer!
'Lastly uhhh, we have electricity right? I bought my Playstation 1 and 2 with me along with my own TV...'
'Playstation?' Velvet-sensei sounded unfamiliar with the term. 'Yes, we DO have electricity...no student of mine will graduate without knowing how to use modern tech!' he said huffily. 'They cannot be helpless ducks, its also a dead giveaway to our nature as humans outnumber us 1/10 and any human owns a cellphone or any gadget money can buy! And the old fuddy-duddies can't be bothered when not even Rocco Belfaban doesn't even know what E-Mail is!'
Misora sweatdropped.
'Its what came after those Nintendo and Sega Consoles...' Misora pointed out to the man's shock. Actually, Playstation 1 came out in 1997...with 2 just recently in Japan.
'Wait, what?! Its not available in this side of the world yet!' he complained. He couldn't find new things in gaming stores as of yet...
'Well, the games aren't translated into English yet so no export in the west as of yet...'
'Fuck that, I CAN read Japanese! I'm getting myself those consoles and games!'
Misora sweatdropped. Her teacher who survived the Fourth War, is a gaming otaku! And the dorms have electricity no doubt because of him so he can play games...
xxx
Upon enrollment, Misora happily moved in. Students can 'influence' the dorm kitchens on what they'd want made for them at mealtimes at the low-low cost of students paying for the weekly groceries required, and teach how to magically make tamagoyaki and usage of Reinforcement to maximize the nutritional benefits in an ingredient per piece when chopped in various cutting methods, and make it STAY in the ingredient during the cooking process as during cooking, some of the benefits are lost.
And upon serving proportions, the cafeteria must take great care, to avoid overdosing on the goods. But for people who are clearly malnourished...
To avoid paying for extra costs, the students just deal with whatever as long as it's tasty thus comes straight from their faculty's pockets. But not Misora.
It CAN be done, because the El-Melloi Classroom has very few residents in the dorms. Most of whom, from infant lineages like herself. Oh, and one big-name. Reines El-Melloi Archisorte who is currently same age as her.
Due to the Holy Grail War in 1994, the El-Melloi Clan took a big hit, because of the astronomical debt Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald accrued, not because of his death.
When he went out, he took with him a number of borrowed Mystic Codes and Mana Furnaces on-loan, and ahem, pilfering from his father-in-law's collection of Spirits from his department. All of which are lost when his daughter Sola-Ui reported home their losses when their Workshop in Hyatt Tower was blown up by the Magus Killer. The owners of the various items were also annoyed with the El-Melloi Faction so they EXPECT payback!
However, with the death of Kayneth in the Fourth Holy Grail War, there was a conflict on the succession of the El-Melloi faction as it fell into a state of great internal discord. Thus assets such as talents, lands, and Mystic Codes, that were all amassed under the name of El-Melloi and had been passed down since antiquity, were all stolen away by rivals, annoyed owners Kayneth borrowed from, and branch families of the Archibald lineage. As a result, the only things left over for the main family were the title of El-Melloi, and a debt of astronomical proportions. Enough to be comparable to the international gross income of a Hollywood Blockbuster. OUCH.
Yah, that's a lot of money.
However, what saved the El-Melloi Clan was Waver himself.
But the way he did it, made him chained to the family for life for 'knowing too much clan secrets' while aiding the compilation and 'making sense' of Kayneth's unfinished works for Reines to inherit and she's making use of it up to present date.
She was in El-Melloi Classroom because Velvet-sensei is her tutor.
Upon graduating from Junior High, she has a loooong vacation as British Schools start at September, and ending at June. She spent her free time honing her abilities in Clock Tower, and getting Waver's help for the Grand Prizes.
In April alone, they made 84,662,962 pounds. Velvet-sensei's cut is 21,165,740 pounds. Aaaand how much is that in USD if 1 pound = 1.52 dollars? 32,171,924 USD. What's left to Misora in April's earnings was 63,497,222 pounds. How much is that in yen? Mind-boggling. Because she cannot put that money in society's bank as its impossible for a normal person to earn THAT much in just a MONTH, a bank in Clock Tower was opened for her.
He can easily pay off that humongous debt in two months with Misora's help in cheating with the lottery with her parents' technique. In fact, by end of May, his El-Melloi debt is completely goners!
He pawned off the money to Reines who in turn paid the needed parties, so Velvet-sensei's focus now, is paying his friend Melvin Weins, after lining his own pockets with the cuts for the month of June so he could buy stuff he wanted and needed as a man and as a magus...and renovating the Norwich Dorms to make it look respectably magus-y to future visitors.
In truth, the Kurobes would have been filthy rich had they struck at every periodical lottery. But they lack the means to 'clean up after them', thus will draw suspicion towards them as Misora would complain to Velvet-sensei. Thus can only go for 'annual grand prizes' enough to pay for the family's needs. But as Velvet-sensei knows how to clean up, they CAN abuse the system!
Needless to say, they have a good little helper in Misora financially that she has the backing of the El-Melloi Clan till she graduates, since she was their money-spinner. She thus has influence in what everyone eats in the dorms twice a day as during lunch break, everyone eats out. Everyone in Norwich eats healthy with food good for eyes, blood vessels, bones, muscles and skin.
In October...
A new student came. She was just called Gray. No first nor last name, but nobody obviously pointed out questions.
Mages have their own secrets...
Thing is, Svin uh...took a shine to Gray, liking her very existence in an instant to invasive levels that their annoyed professor put a Restraining Order and put Misora in er...'Guardianship of Virtue' position over poor Gray.
Gray wasn't a magus, but born unlucky.
Only he, Reines and Misora knows her cruel secret.
Gray comes from the Blackmore Cemetery in Wales. The clan of the village there aimed to create a being capable of handling the Holy Lance that had been passed down for generations. In other words, their purpose was to revive King Arthur, in flesh and spirit. However, their attempts had thus far been continuous failures, and the ritual had been relegated to folktales and tradition.
Gray was to be the flesh of King Arthur. When she was born, her facial features vaguely resembled those of King Arthur, but ten years ago her body suddenly changed to that of King Arthur's. Losing her true face, she could no longer differentiate her own existence from that of King Arthur. Because of this, she could never fully understand herself.
Due to Gray's situation, the villagers, including her mother Magdalena, believed her to be King Arthur's second coming, and energized the village elders, making them take seriously the plan to bring back King Arthur.
As a result, Gray feared and hated her own face.
The villagers treated Gray as the body of the king, and started regulating her lifestyle to the finest detail to try and increase her compatibility as much as they could.
During this time when Gray was idolized and yet so alone, her only friend was Add who had first awoken when Gray's face changed to match King Arthur's. She also had teachers in the gravekeeper Bersac Blackmore and the village priest Fernando Croze.
Gray left the village when the corpse of someone who looked exactly like her was mysteriously found, which made Bersac tell her to leave. At the time, Velvet-sensei was visiting the village hoping to borrow one of the gravekeepers of Blackmore as a trump card against Heroic Spirits in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Bersac pushed Gray off onto him, entrusting her to be made his apprentice and admitting her to the Clock Tower of London, and told them never to return to the village for her own good.
So now Misora felt Gray could be her very first female friend as she befriended Svin and Flat. They were her first friends in her whole life.
Svin was the eldest being 17, Flat 16, Gray 15 and Misora 14 who'll be 15 in October 10. What a group they made!
They can also freely enter her room IF she's around as her room is no Workshop anyway and its only for 'Playstation Time'. It was their playground in Playstation Games. Two TVs and two each consoles. They also have their own Memory Cards, named by writing their own name on the card with a marker pen.
xxx
'There is correspondence within all matter.' Velvet-sensei spoke in his classroom while observed by Lady Valueleta and Rocco Belfaban. 'Our physical bodies are small universes and they correspond to the greater universe.'
'A mirror is the first tool obtained by humanity to peer into alternate universes,' he said, taking out a mirror with a stand from inside his desk, '-the image shown within the mirror is not genuine, but one can think they correspond to all of your true selves. This is the reason why in ancient times, various ethnic groups have used mirrors to symbolize deities.'
Then Flat Escardos, the local class clown spoke,
'Just as what I'd expect from Sir Great Big Ben London Star!' he exclaimed in praise.
'You mean Lord El-Melloi II.' Svin corrected dryly. 'Not one word of that is correct.'
'It's fine as long as it corresponds to his true nature!' said Flat cheerfully, resting his chin on his entwined fingers after putting his elbows on the shared lecture desk.
Velvet-sensei sighed a pained, exasperated sigh as this tends to happen a lot; Flat being a moron. He was the Bokke to Svin's Tsukkomi as Misora puts it. Thus he would call out kids who disturb class to recite.
'Flat Escardos,' he called out.
'Yes sir?!' Flat enthusiastically answered.
'What does the society call the act of attempting to rewrite someone's true nature by altering someone's name without permission?'
'A curse, sir! Calling the deity of an enemy nation a demon or making fun of a politician you abhor by giving him a silly nickname are considered the most primitive of curses!'
'Now Svin Glascheit,' its now Svin's turn, '-explain the Hogwash spoken just now in light of the concept of correlation.'
'Yes sir.' Svin stood up, loosening his tie for better breathing room for speaking, 'Flat takes every opportunity to give you weird nicknames, sir. By doing so, he's attempting to make you, the existence in correlation with that name a greater existence.' Flat nodded, happily liking Svin's answer...but he wasn't done yet. '...however, this greatness is in correlation with the size of his own brain.'
In other words, Flat is an immature moron who can't do a primitive curse worth a damn.
'Ehhhh?!' even Flat caught on that Svin just called him a moron.
'Correct. My true nature has not changed at all.' said Velvet-sensei blandly. Great teacher he may be, but his abilities don't reflect. He was no better than a human who just awoke to weak supernatural abilities. Magus he may be in mind, but lacks in power. To the point that in video games, he has the MP of a Level 1 game character.
'The shadows projected from me may correlate with my true nature, but it is not that nature itself. In other words, by intervention of the shadows, one can rewrite the true nature itself.' Velvet-sensei continued. 'Indeed, that, is the true nature of curses. One could say that Magecraft is technology to alter this world that is nothing more than a Shadow of the Root.'
xxx
'See? I told you its easy to understand.' Misora told Gray as they headed out for lunch. They would eat out at Giotto Restaurant. Yesterday was at Victoria House Coffee and Food. They change restaurants every day.
There are many restaurants near the British Museum, under influence by the Twelve Lords, so everyone can eat out with food just nearby. And at lunch break, these bearby restaurants, are jam-packed. Take-out is also possible, if one can't find a free table.
'Y-yes...' but Gray felt that today's lecture just summed up her own situation, making her a little queasy on the topic.
'Sir's classroom's been churning out Brands and Prides when they graduate, you'll graduate high level too Gray, just you wait!' said Flat reassuringly. 'You started only now so its normal to feel nervous.'
Upon arrival at the restaurant, they began ordering as their lunchbreak is hour and half.
Svin ordered Gamberoni All' Aglio, Spaghetti Alla Marinara and Bistecca Alla Griglia.
Flat ordered Prosciutto E Funghi, Ravioli Ai Funghi and Pollo Ai Funghi.
Gray ordered Calamari Fritti and Ravioli Ai Funghi.
Misora ordered Tagliatelle Al Salmone, Insalata Di Giotto and Pollo Alla Cacciatora.
Three out of four eats a lot.
As for drinks, its water or coffee. They ain't legal yet for wine and champagne.