"What did Blade do this time?" Palladium and Avalon had rushed off first when the training hall was first mentioned.

"We don't know if it-" Avalon sighed. "No clue… But she can meditate better than any of her classmates by now. There should be no problem whatsoever. Maybe Iolas?" he started.

"No," Ararel simply stated without a doubt. The rest of the adults were right behind him. They all could see the Light magic mist creeping out beneath the floor. "Virion…" The healer nodded. Ararel got an okay from the other high ranks so he opened up the doors, ready for anything.

And there indeed Iolas was collapsed on the ground but the mini circle around him was still active. Blade in her Shadion form and Mercury looking as peaceful as one could be, unmoving. Blade's Dark magic went straight into the bubble but the big blob wasn't tainted blackish at all and everything was stable, it still was pure Light magic. Nothing was out of control. They simply were faced with too much magic that couldn't be drained off. All three of them were completely replenished in their pools so the extra magic from the meditation simply amassed in the middle due to the rune circle.

"Iolas," Virion went straight to his fellow Eques about to scan his body with a spell.

"WAIT." Grandmaster Parcival intervened. He like all the White Jade members stared at the big bubble. "Impossible…"

"What?" Votzaak already had a spell ready to block any magic his focus on Blade.

Faragonda could feel something as well, "It's merged?"

"Stop talking in riddle speech…" Nerrocean and the others pushed in. The hall was big enough for a lot of people it was a training hall after all.

"Curate Avalon you take your ward. Sanari Gwaine the boy, Sanari Cei Eques Iolas," Parcival declared. They all actually enhanced their eyes with magic to not miss something. Parcival was focused on the big blob.

Virion anxiously waited for them to clear him to use his magic, "What are you checking? The spell is stable the meditation circle is in one piece." That much was obvious to everyone.

Gwaine frowned, "Mercury. Hey boy, say something. What happened?" Everyone's eyes were drawn to him.

Mercury had been so focused on meditating. It was like walking on water, what an amazing feeling, but he heard someone call his name in the distance, it wasn't Iolas's voice though. 'What the heck… are you kidding me?… As if I would fall for such an easy trick. We barely started.' He tried hard not to get distracted.

"Mercury, open your eyes," Gwaine sighed he could see it in his aura shift Mercury was awake and conscious and not in some trance like Blade. "It's not a test." No reaction. He looked to his other Order members, who nodded. Gwaine focused some Dark magic on his fingertips and tapped the boy on the back of his neck for just a second.

"CHHHHH," Mercury opened his eyes. Jump-scare of his life, that had felt like static shock. But it was magic, it had kicked him straight out of his meditation. "HEY, what's your problem?!…" He was so confused because like half the grown-ups had come into the training hall and they looked somewhat grim. "What's going-" He spotted Iolas on the ground and Blade in her Shadion. "Ehm…"

"Great, he has no clue…" Itzcali knew that expression all too well.

"Same as before," Cei resounded his eyes fixed on Iolas.

Gwaine squinted his eyes for a second longer, "Mercury's aura is fine. Do you feel okay? Anything tingling, or hurt? Woozy?"

"Noooo, should I?" Mercury felt more than a little bit awkward and couldn't divert his eyes from Blade his heart pounding. 'What happened? Everything was more than fine. I never felt so good while meditating. So, why is Iolas on the ground…and Blade…'

"Still in tra-," Avalon confirmed Blade's state. "Wait."

"Wait." Cei saw it before Iolas even moved.

Iolas instantly was back to normal and pulled himself up. More than surprised to see so many in the training hall. But before he could even say anything Blade's Shadion vanished without any warning signs.

Blade stretched all refreshed, "Holy electron, Iolas that circle is really efficient. That's a-a…mazing?" She blinked confused. "What?"

"Desist!" All the Elves in the room called out and that big magic bubble of excess magic vanished into thin air. No one would take any chances here.

Mercury and Blade flinched, "Gesh…Can't you give us a heads-up?" The boy complained. His hands clutching his blue Paladin leg guards.

Gwaine kneeled and opened his hand, "Sorry, sometimes seconds count. Please give me your hand I need to check your magic flow as well." The boy laid his hand into his.

Virion pressed his hand on Iolas's back, "Sit still." He ordered sternly.

Blade noticed Professor Avalon behind her. He stared at her as his hand settled on her shoulder. He was checking her out as well. "Did I miss something? Is this another test?"

Griffin had no patience, the others might have enough, but there was only one question to be asked here and Blade was fine chipper and ignorant as ever. "ARE YOU STUPID! You can't just use Dark magic in a group battle meditation circle! You can't converge Light and Dark. YOU KNOW THAT. Have you lost your mind?! - To use Shadion of all things!" She grabbed Blade at her shirt and pulled her up to her feet away from Avalon who wasn't happy about that conduct.

Blade's eyebrow twitched, "WHAT?! I simply meditated! Why the heck would I use Shadion?!" She freed her shirt. A well-known sight to some.

"Oh, don't you dare bullshit me," Griffin hissed back and rose her finger.

"Blade, it's a test. Stay calm," Mercury pressed trying to warn her. He wasn't keen on failing another one.

"It's NOT a test." Everyone in the room echoed as one.

Avalon with style and rather gently shoved his arm between the two women and pushed them apart to get some buffer established. "Blade's not lying…" He addressed the Headmistress.

"Pah, your track record with her is-" Griffin was not ready to let this go.

Grandmaster Parcival very calmly addressed the Headmistress, "Avalon's right."

Iolas stood up, "But that would mean… Blade do you not remember activating your Shadion?" Virion's sharp eyes were still on him as well as Cei's, yet for him, it wasn't unsettling. The kids were tense on the other hand.

"I did not activate anything. We wanted to meditate. Why above all would I choose Shadion? I can zap myself whenever I want to. Light and Dark don't even mix within me. I wouldn't do that to a bunch of people." She was so tense she clenched her fists, slightly offended by the notion. "Why am I even defending myself?! I did not use…Why don't you believe me?" She begged Avalon.

"Blade," Mercury shook his head. "You did." His amber eyes fixed on her. "This truly is not some test? For once be straight…" He pleadingly looked to his Headmaster.

"It is NOT," Saladin assured the boy for the third time. 'What was it then? How can she not remember?' He swapped to the psi link.

Out of nowhere, Votzaak dashed through the room and out to the hallway a magic orb at the ready, "YOU SHITTY! – FUCK." He cursed. Nothing.

"What are we hunting?" Nerrocean had pushed past everyone as well and was right by his side. Scythe pulled out back to back but there was only an empty hallway before him as well.

Itzcali's ears twitched, "I don't hear or smell anyone strange - now. Not that I searched before… Do we have an intruder?" She was alarmed by their behaviour eager to go on a hunt and get some action. Her senses gave her nothing though.

"Is it the anonymous gang from the reward ceremony?" Faragonda asked ready to start a war. No one would touch her Fairies or any student for that matter.

"I'll give out an alert… but if you can't pinpoint anyone?" Saladin looked to Parcival and Aithlin who shook their heads. "I doubt anyone else will be able to…"

"Wait. Could it be you detected the fourth aura and misjudged it?" Grandmaster Parcival addressed Votzaak out in the hallway.

"Fourth aura? Everyone has one. What do you mean with fourth?" Votzaak growled before he went inside the training hall with Nerrocean again and with hastily drawn runes created a forcefield around the edges of the room to shield it from intruders or spies.

Mercury had moved closer towards Blade this was giving him the creeps. "You okay?" He whispered to her, while the adults were going crazy.

"I guess…" Blade was as confused as him and redid her ponytail it had loosened a bit. 'Uuurgh.' She stared at her hands once done. 'Shadion without…I would remember…'She felt a hand on her shoulder Professor Avalon's. She breathed out deeply, and let her shoulders relax.

Parcival's eyes laid upon her as well, "Well, the magic bubble had an aura, that looked like a person's one."

"Surely you are mistaken," Master Aithlin shook his head, "Yes, items and magic itself have an aura but they differ from a person's one. They aren't like a living person per se."

Grandmaster Parcival looked to the other three they hadn't concentrated as much on the big bubble but nodded in agreement with him. "As that may be, the bubble had one. Actually, two completely different ones."

"Impossible," Faragonda and Griffin looked at each other. "Even if one creates a new lifeform with magic it ever only has one aura, not to mention you three don't even have enough magic combined for that. AND you need the Dragon flame on top of it all." The Fairy Godmother shook her head. This was nonsense.

"True, but…" Parcival looked at all three meditators. "That bubble had their auras, more precisely a combined one of all three. And a different one once Mercury dropped out of meditation. It then was a blend of yours." He looked forth and back between Iolas and Blade. "And it disappeared when you, Eques Iolas, came about and cut your meditation off."

"Are you sure?" Itzcali was a bit baffled, "I haven't even heard rumours or even legends about such an occurrence." Her tail flicked around. She was riled up by that statement.

Votzaak stared at the rune circle it was intact not one faulty rune, "Well then, that's easy to test."

"Heck no! She doesn't even remember that she did transform!" Mercury protested vehemently and protectively stepped between the Leprechaun and Blade.

Blade looked at him a bit perplexed. She had not thought him to jump to her defence so quickly. But she did agree with his sentiment even if his reaction was a bit much. "Yeah… what he said." A bit confused she gazed at Mercury for a moment longer.

"It's settled then," Faragonda cut this short before any discussion would ensue. "There are other tests to be taken. AND this won't be tested without PRECAUTIONS. She's not a Guinee pig or subordinate, but your student. And she will be TREATED as such. Blade come with me, let's have a walk." She simply slung her arm around her and guided Blade out of the room.

Saladin had a good idea where she was off to, "Mercury join the others outside. The next test will begin in less than half an hour. Please, tell Hagen and Karim that."


Blade looked at her Headmistress as she walked around a thousand corners with her. They ended up in a half-circle room. A giant scale on a podium made out of pure gold was the centrepiece. Pillars with giant swords upon the walls leading to the windows. Tapestries and a marbled floor with a big circle in the middle divided into eighths and a golden circle in the middle.

"Pretty, but what are we doing here?" Blade took it all in it was impressive, not like the castles and palaces but impressive nonetheless.

Faragonda was calm and that helped Blade, "Athena?"

"Yes, yes, coming!" Athena answered as she came from a balcony on the second floor. Blade had missed that one because it only was in the back half where they had entered.

Faragonda was a bit surprised, "Out and about?"

"Well, I do have to stretch my wings. And I am the Pixi of Red Fountain. Not just the Codex Room," She stemmed her hand into her hips.

"Indeed, you are. My Apologies," Faragonda gave a short bow.

"None taken," The Pixi halted before the two. With a white and red layered robe bright green wings and a high hair due, she gazed upon Blade. Athena looked a bit like a Greek queen.

"I- We do have a question," Faragonda put Blade forward. "We had a little hick up with a battle meditation circle. Blade's Shadion activated and she doesn't remember doing so. There also might be the possibility of an intruder. I thought it best to inform you in person." She pushed her glasses back.

"I am sure if there was an intruder they will be found," Athena nodded thankfully. And took a flight around Blade. "So, you did enter a group meditation…" She seemed not surprised about the prior statement but rather intrigued. "How did it feel?" She asked captivated.

"I felt nothing," Blade gave a critical stare at the Pixi. They weren't her favourite beings in the universe, to put it mildly. They had answers about her powers and simply chose not to tell ANYONE ANYTHING because of some shitty old scrolls they signed thousands of years ago.

"Nothing?" Now Athena sounded surprised. "You must have felt something. If one uses magic you always feel something."

Blade rolled her eyes, "She won't tell us anything. If they had any intention of helping, they would have done so by now." Blade was not up for some stupid charade game and turned to leave.

Faragonda held an arm out to stop her student, "Pardon her. It's a stressful day. What she means to say is, that she is confused and wants to know if she put herself or the others in danger. Are there long-term repercussions?"

Blade indeed halted, "Wait. What? Is that a possibility?" She hadn't even thought about that, since everything seemed fine with all of them.

Athena smiled kindly upon her, "It's not a question of willingness, Blade. It's just not the help you want, but the one you need. That the universe needs."

"Fuck the universe and fuck-" Blade growled.

"BLADE! Manners!" Faragonda admonished her harshly. "Pixies were the Fairies' allies forever. We don't agree on this, but that is no reason to be hostile."

Athena chuckled, "It's Fine Headmistress. I surely would react the same in her shoes. You have a lot in common with Votzaak, you know?" The Pixi stayed as calm as she had been from the start. "I ask again, how did it feel, Blade?"

"Fine…" Blade just wanted to smack Athena against one of these giant pillars.

"Well, that sounds like a good thing." Athena sighed, "How did the others feel that meditated with you?"

Faragonda could already see that Blade was in no mood to tell Athena anything. 'Silent treatment to a Pixi older than Votzaak… that won't get us anywhere…' So, she addressed Athena herself. "It was Eques Iolas and a Specialist. They are both fine - now. The Eques did collapse and the generated magic had a… congregated aura." She was analysing the Pixi with a piercing stare.

"Hm, the Elf must have not been paying attention then. If you all feel well, I don't see that there is any reason for concern," Athena answered the Headmistress's question with an unreadable poker face. Normally it was so easy for Fairies to feel and connect to Pixies but this was an ice-cold stone wall.

"And in future?" Faragonda hid her displeasure like two icebergs the Fairy Godmother and Pixi faced off.

"It worked, didn't it? Why shouldn't it work the next time? The Elf should just be more OBSERVANT of what is happening since Mercury was fine. But I hardly think today is a good day to figure this one out in all its feasibility. There are more tests after all. Well then, if that's all?" Athena looked at Blade caringly but the girl didn't even give her a second glance.

Faragonda followed her eyes to Blade, "Yes. For now… Thank you." She had hoped for more, but this was great news. 'How did she know it was Mercury… I didn't mention his name. Hmm, that sneaky, was she? On the other hand, Athena is attuned to this school…'


Athena waited till the two were gone and even searched the place with her magic. Before she used her magic to reconnect with the others, "Isn't that amazing! Can you imagine what this means for Magix?"

"Yeah, how wonderful… means Griffin won't leave me alone for the entire month…" Discordia was already annoyed as her faded image reappeared.

Concordia's image glimmered into existence as well, she was flabbergasted, "Are you saying she wasn't these last moths? How peculiar."

Ninfea, the Pixi Queen of Magix, shook her head, "She means not more than normal. If the Headmasters wouldn't they'd be doing a bad job. I am surprised that Saladin is so quiet." She pointed with her wand at Athena. "Are you not telling us something?"

Athena giggled amused, "Oh, he is. He just doesn't ask questions to which he won't get answers anyway. He simply makes the most random remarks and checks my initial reactions, that sly fox."

Discordia snarled at Athena, "Don't you dare spill the beans. If I can ward off Griffin you better not lose to that grey-haired boy!" Her batwing crown gave her glare an extra ounce of gloom.

"Hmm…Are you sure that she is ready? Maybe we should block it, my Queen?" Concordia still wasn't so certain about this. She pushed back her mini glasses in thought.

Ninfea sighed deeply, "It can't be helped. She will unlock it… one could barely call her a Fairy at the start. To hold Light and Dark is extraordinary these days and it was confusing enough as it was for the poor child. But that's not the case anymore…"

"Ts," Discordia crossed her arms her long sleeves waved in her movement, "Oh please, as if alignment had anything to do with that. She was an insignificant worm. Her powers were blocked by her underwhelming power on its own. And it's a good thing that was the case she would have gotten herself killed, the hot head that she is. And above all, it would have discredited her in the hearing, they would have thought her a lunatic! Just imagine what they would have thought if she had started -" She stopped. Every one of them knew, so why explain?

Athena looked worried to Ninfea, Discordia and Concordia, "I know, it was good fortune at the time but… it's inevitable now. She has become strong enough. She will unlock it for sure it's inevitable. So, what do I say? I can't say nothing."

Ninfea crossed her fingers, her staff floating next to her. This was rather tricky. "Hmm, you are right, Athena. Blade deserves our guidance. She is our ward as well, but if we explain everything. She or the others will put her in unnecessary danger. I'm not so confident that she can protect herself-"

Discordia laughed, "Don't say that nonsense. She is powerful enough. The problem is her will to use everything to its fullest potential. She's a hothead. And easily influenced by her elders. And THAT will get her killed. We can't tell them everything. They'll apply it before they understand what that means for her in the long run. Not to mention she won't be able to control it from the get-go."

"I agree, but what DO I TELL HER – them? Again, she needs guidance, our guidance. Saying nothing is even more dangerous!" Athena got a bit upset.

Concordia tipped on her cheek, "Oh, I know, how about…"


"Mercury, what were you talking about with Predator Karim and Headmaster Hagen?" Julius finally had found his second in command. "Where were you anyways? We wanted to debrief…" He wasn't happy with him and a bit anxiously brushed away his side pony. The students had gathered in bigger groups since the test even if delayed was supposed to start.

"Eh," Mercury wasn't sure how to answer that after all he wasn't allowed to talk about the meditation with Iolas. "Blade was low on magic… we went to find a good spot to meditate." He sounded unconvincing. 'What the heck was that?... Shadion activated on its own and she knocked out Iolas… just how?'

"Right… but if you went together, where is she?" Nebula carded through her lavender hair. "Did you two get into a fight again? We don't have the luxury of constantly fighting each other."

"Says the Fairy who didn't stop yapping for half an hour…" Marble rolled her eyes.

"One could say the same about you…" Tessa gave her a glare as she prompted her hands at her hips, "More importantly, where are all the teachers? They legit vanished into thin air. And the Elves and low ranks stayed behind to babysit…"

And if on cue, all those that had missed the last few minutes came back from the same entrance Mercury had entered. Tasu raised her eyebrows, "There they are… Wanna tell us something?" It hadn't gone unnoticed to her that Mercury was behaving weirdly.

Gilliana was adjusting her blue scarf and pinned it back on her top with her silver brooch, "Yeah, why is she hanging out with Miss Grandma Fairy?" She looked over his shoulder and just caught a glimpse of the two. "Urgh, don't tell me, Blade got another special treatment? Seriously!? This is so unfair!" Gilliana growled and flung her scarf back over her shoulders.

"Boah, chill, will ya. She has less magic than any of us," Birdy hissed back.

"That's not quite true though…" Tyson made the point, serenely before the Sorceresses and Fairies would get into another lengthy argument.

"You know what I mean!" Birdy straight out got defensive.

"You know what I mean, urgh," Gilliana mimicked her condescendingly.

"Shut up," Mercury balled his fists. "Blade has enough problems without you getting all jealous." He just wanted to punch something. He was worried sick.

"Mercury?" Julius knew him all too well, "What happened? Is she alright?"

"Yeah, everything's JUST FINE!" He overreacted so much everyone frowned. He simply turned away and walked back to her.

Lion just joined the group with the rest of the gang, "Did we miss something? What crawled under his skin?"

Nebula eyed the boy, "Not sure…"

"Blade got special treatment," Marble grimaced trying to figure out what might be the reason. The Fairy indeed looked tense and just shook her head as Mercury was talking to her.

"Special treatment?" Michael didn't like the sound of that. "Why are the grownups giving Blade a stare then?" No one had paid attention to them yet.

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE!" Nerrocean called out loud. His voice echoed through the arena and ranks so loud while his red tattoos glowed up to enhance his voice.

Everyone gathered in front of the grownups. White Jade was already preparing something with Iolas's team, while the rest eyed them closely.

Faragonda stepped forward, "Well then, excuse the delay. I hope you used your extra time wisely." She could see and feel the tension in the group. They weren't one front anymore as it had been the case in the start. "We'll begin the next test shortly. This test is meant to evaluate how much control you have over your magic." Her eyes rested on Blade shortly, yet moved on as she pushed back her glasses. "It is an individual assessment."

So many of the students were relieved even eager to get shit done on their own. And it wasn't just the Sorceresses but also the Fairies to her surprise. The Specialists weren't so keen on this particular test at all, which wasn't so surprising.

"It works as follows. Over there you already can see we're setting up crates which will be hidden behind some make-shift curtains in a moment. In those crates, you'll find crystal orbs of varying properties. They are given out in pairs. One is your reference and the other is yours to match whatever you see. It can range from elemental properties to magic intensity or even rhythms. All you have to do is lay a pair down before you. The reference will be activated for you. And you'll have to mimic with the other orb." She paused shortly. "You'll have to choose a different amount from each crate. And don't worry once a person chooses theirs they will be refilled with an identical one. So, everyone has the same chances. Any questions about the procedure?"

"Okay, so it's grab some balls, sit down on those mini carpets on the sand and just fuse magic into the ball till it's the pair looks the same?" Serina asked straight away.

"Yes. You can choose in which order you do the orbs freely. If one isn't working out, you may put it to the side and do another first. This is no race between each other, there still is a time limit though before we have to call the test. It's simply a test to get a grasp on how well you can control your magic. You are at different levels so don't be discouraged if it doesn't pin out." She focused on the Specialists who already threatened this exercise.

"That's going to be easy," Serina chuckled relieved. Ready to finally ace something.

"Well, then," Faragonda looked to the crates where everything was set up, "Form a line and choose your orbs, we'll begin once everyone is ready and seated."


The students were quick to get into a line. The Sorceress were eager to choose first they were confident. Some Fairies were in between simply because they had rushed off faster. There was a bit of shoving and pushing that eventually got sorted out on its own. The Specialists were in no hurry whatsoever.

"Guys, you totally should ask additional questions. They do answer some at least," Blade and Mercury alike tried to inform the others as quickly as possible.

The Sorceresses in front weren't interested so much, the Fairies at least took note of it yet some of them were early in the line-up so they didn't quite understand what was going on. Yet the rest had more time to get organised. All were salty at each other; the arguments weren't forgotten. But they hated even more to lose against the grown-ups and their shenanigans.


Serina was the first in line and didn't give much about the chit-chat in the back whatsoever. She straight waked in. "Alright," Serina walked along the crates. All the White Jade members were behind one of them. "Let the fun begin." A bright grin on her lips.

"Please, choose three orb sets," Sanari Cei pointed to his crate.

"Only three?" Serina actually laughed. There were at least fifty options since the orbs were astonishingly small. She confidently chose three and put them in the pouch they were given and moved on.

Professor Avalon stood in front of the next crate. "Choose ten."

Serina blinked, "Ten? Okay…" She looked at the first crate. "Oh well…" And picked them out quickly as well.

Sanari Gwaine greeted her kindly, "You seem confident, please pick seven orb sets of these."

"Of course, I am. This is easy. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…" Serina quickly selected them and moved to the last crate.

Grandmaster Parcival nodded to greet her, "You may take twenty."

Serina blinked, that was nearly all of those options in that crate, "You guys really want to put the time pressure on, ey? As if that would scare me." She simply picked the upper rows. "See ya!" She waved and left the curtain area and set up all her orbs.

The first batch of Sorceresses and Fairies was mostly picked at random. They were too focused on themselves or were stuck in thought. Some just were still too pissed to be bothered with some team crap yet again. They simply wanted to move on quickly to set up all those orbs and get this done.


Snow breathed in deeply as she stepped up to the crates. She was one of the first people of the alliances that had grown outside. 'Okay, questions, information, come on…'

"Please, choose three orb sets." Sanari Cei pointed to his crate.

Snow was to pick one up, but drew back her hand, "Wait…" She squinted her eyes. She was sure of it. "Those are elemental orbs…" She looked up to Cei but he was unreadable. "Hmm…ah here… and there and this one…" Snow chose hers and moved on. 'GREAT! That'll be helpful.'

Professor Avalon stood in front of the next crate. "Choose ten."

Snow tilted her head, "… no elementals here…" She could feel it but also sounded a bit sad. She couldn't get a read on any of these. So, she simply picked her first one. And halted. "Eh…" She picked up another. Put it down again and picked another up. "Are you sure you replaced them correctly? They kinda seem the same…"

Professor Avalon smiled, "Yes, I am very sure."

"If you say so, Professor…" Snow picked out her ten orb sets. 'Shit…hopefully someone else will figure this out…'

Sanari Gwaine greeted her kindly, "You seem reluctant, please pick seven orb sets of these."

Snow nodded and picked a few up but they all felt weird. She simply couldn't decide. "Hmmmm…" She already got a stomach ache. "Is there even…? Hmm…ahhh…What are-"

"HEY HURRY UP WILL YA! Gesh, what's wrong with you people…" It resounded from outside. It was Breeze she hadn't been interested in working together but was next after Snow.

Snow flinched and nearly dropped the one she had in her hands, "Ahhhh…" Quickly she picked out a bunch and hurried to the last crate. And rushed to Parcival, she didn't want to hold up the line and, in her hurry, she forgot the plan. Once outside though she typed into her bracelet. 'Ahhh, I totally budged this…'


Eventually, it was Tasu's turn. A few others had confirmed that Cei had the elemental orbs. Yet the once before her had not been able to figure the others out.

And the same as before… "Please, choose three orb sets." Sanari Cei pointed to his crate.

Tasu picked one up, to her it also was apparently they were elemental orbs. "Question. She looked up to the White Jade member. "Can I make some notes while choosing?"

"Sure," Cei answered and stared at her. 'They're getting bolder.'

Tasu hurried up picked the orbs up one by one and typed something into her bracelet after each orb. Once done she clicked her tongue as she read over her notes. "I guess these three… Should be the elements I work best with…" She was rather happy now they had a complete list of which orb had which element.


Professor Avalon stood in front of the next crate. "Choose ten."

Alyssa was the next in their little gang once it was her turn. She quickly had picked fitting orbs for her preferred magic and related once for the other two options. Just like the others. They had not any headway with the other crates though. She picked one up, "Argh…" She also could feel something was off, but no idea what. 'We can't waste too many people. If we stay covert… oh fuck this. They probably already know.' She glared at Professor Avalon. "Can you tell me what exactly these are, Professor?" She straight went for it.

"Intensity," He smirked. 'Of course, they're going to ask a million questions now…About time they get their teamwork back on track.'

"Can I pick them up and check, spark them?" Alyssa squinted her eyes. 'Shit…please… what if this is cheating… oh man…'

"Do whatever helps your process," Avalon watched her try out a few. Yet as he predicted. She didn't test all of them, not to waste too much magic. She was rather thorough with her notes though to his surprise. Nonetheless, they kept wondering why everyone only asked one or two questions rather than everything. 'Are they trying to be covert?' It made him chuckle. 'Oh kids… overthinking everything.'


Outside the students eagerly discussed every information. And actually, more joined the efforts as even now no one stopped them. They weren't even hiding it anymore. Especially the Sorceresses that hadn't their turn yet got really invested. They wanted to stick it to all those adults for playing them for fools in the last test.

Dusk was about to choose hers, "Uhm, how many again…?" She had totally lost track cause she tried to figure out what to ask.

"Choose ten," Avalon repeated. 'She gets so sidetracked… it's not that hard…'

Dusk selected hers. She was at her five sets when she suddenly halted, "Wait a second…Ten sets or ten in total? Oh, come on, you…grrrr" Dusk rolled her eyes. "You said three sets, right?" She addressed Cei.

"Indeed, I did," He answered the upset Queen. 'She's good. Too bad, the rest wasted time. They could have every information by now.'

"So, it is just five sets, isn't it?" Dusk glared at Avalon.

"Yes, five sets are the minimum to pick, yes," Avalon replied.

"Hm… one moment…" Dusk nodded. 'They answering truly everything… why did the others wait so long?!' She moved to Gwaine.

Sanari Gwaine greeted her kindly, "You seem quite inquisitive, please pick seven orb sets of these."

"Well, you always try to screw us over," Dusk hissed back and grabbed some. And activated them. "So, rhythm as Sienna said…" Dusk saw it blinking. She checked a few and noted some down the others hadn't tested yet. "Be right back." And she moved on to Parcival.

The Grandmaster nodded to greet her, "You may take twenty."

"I may?" Dusk as a Queen was so acquainted with Court more so than the Princesses. "Oh, you didn't…So, I need none at all, am I correct?" Dusk asked straight forward. "You and your wordplays… How rude." She was annoyed. "Tasu should have noticed it…ahh."

Parcival was a bit amused, "Well, do you want some?"

"No thanks," Dusk rolled her eyes checked the list picked out the missing orb sets and informed the rest about this interesting discovery.


By now most had joined the effort and most of all those orbs had been catalogued. That was when it got more interesting. The Specialists had their first to go. And eventually, it was Michael's turn. He picked up an ice orb. Halted. Stared at it. "No way that is an ice orb…" It felt wrong. He didn't even know why. He tried to activate it, but it wouldn't even glow for him. He picked his nails. Staring, "You changed the damn order… and we only have Blade left. Ahhh…You…" He growled at Cei.

"Please choose three orb sets," Cei had a slight smirk flit over his lips. 'Amazing… and just by touch.' Avalon and the rest were equally impressed by the Specialists. Most had simply gone by the created list. But Michael had instincts on par with a Fairy or Sorceress at least for his own favoured element.

It took him a bit but he found the right orb or at least some that felt right enough. And of course, he informed the other Specialists.


"Fuck, what do we do now?" Seth looked to the others. They had stopped to go inside for a quick huddle.

"Blade has to go now," Alex bit his tongue this was bad.

Keith shook his head, "No, she can't check everything. She won't have enough magic to finish the test."

"Lion sighed, "That's not the only problem, what keeps them from swapping? We don't even know when it started."

"Probably with the last Fairy… Dahlia, would have noticed and then it was your turn," Blade sighed. It had gone so smoothly for them.

"So, what's the plan here?" Dean already has a headache. "We are screwed for intensity, not to mention rhythm anyways. Last box we can luckily skip…"

Mercury opened his eyes, "We can't do anything. So, Blade just go into the back maybe we do come up with something and then you can save us..."

"Right," Blade nodded.


Nevertheless, they had not come up with anything good. The boys had chosen by the old list or well tried to get a feel but no one really did. So, in the end, it was Blade's turn, last to go.

She of course could feel the elements she didn't try everything but those she did try definitely were all in the wrong order. "You just had to counter us, didn't you?"

"Well you were obvious," Professor Avalon sounded a bit scolding.

'Think Blade! Something just something…' Blade sighed as she ruffled through her dreadlocks, "Enemy hits where it hurts…"

"Well, you need to choose," Gwaine stretched this had taken way longer than expected since the kids had indeed figured out how to use the system.

"I can choose whichever I want?" Blade looked at him. 'That's it! Suckers. Loopholes are a bitch.'

"Sure, you can take any of these," Gwaine answered. "You already know that thought."

"Great," Blade grinned, "In that case, I take all of them."

"What?" All four members looked at her confused.

"You just stated that I can pick whichever I want. Not even once you said I couldn't take more. So, I'll take EVERYTHING," Blade grinned. "Try to get out of this one, Professor." A wide grin greeted him.

"…" Avalon stared at her and looked to the others. "That's… a lot of orbs Blade, don't you think? This test was not designed for…"

"Yeah. I want them all. Not to worry I won't use them all myself. There is no rule that is against redistribution after all, either. Only a general time limit. So, I'll take all, you lose and win by the rules. My dear teachers. You're not the smartest ones in the arena it seems." Blade was more than satisfied.

"You wish," Gwaine chuckled, they had not expected such a crazy request. By stating everything so openly, they had left themselves open. "Well then, let's get them to your seat." He picked up his crates. There was no point in discussing this, this win indeed went to the students.

Cei shook his head, "We should make you carry them on your own."

"But I thought, White Jade is renowned for their gentleman manners," Blade remarked cheekily.

"The problem is your attitude though. You're not very Ladylike," Cei rebuked directly and pushed his crates over to her.

"Sore loser," Blade growled back, yet did pick them up.


The faces were priceless when Blade came out with crates of all orbs. The others were restless and eager to start. And she had no better thing to do than come out with boxes worth of orbs.

"What did you do?" Nebula stared at Blade as she settled down next to her.

Blade laughed and proclaimed loudly, "I figured if they switch around I just take them all. So, if anyone has none they can use, just come and search for another one." She grinned satisfied.

"WHAT?!" The whole group of students roared and looked at their orbs.

"HA, nice!" Alyssa laughed out loud. "I still gonna activate more than any of you though!"

"Oh, it's on!" Serina was fired up now.

Grandmaster Parcival stepped out from behind the curtains. "Well, as you might remember the number of orbs in each category still has to be met even if you now have a chance to swap yours out. Just so we are clear on this. You can have more but still have to fulfil the task given."

"AWWWWWW!"


'And there goes the first difficulty level of the test,' Karim laughed in their psi-link.

Itzcali snorted, 'Well bending the rules is helpful at times.'

Griffin shook her head in disbelief, 'Indeed.'

Palladium crossed his arms, 'Rules maybe; LAWS not at all.'

Master Aithlin could only agree, 'Yeah, you better don't teach them how to work around it Apex Predator Itzcali.'

'Me? Never,' She grinned, 'I have Riven for that. Gotta watch my image after all.'

'Say what?!' Riven nearly slipped from his sword he was leaning on. 'Hey, I'm no criminal…'

'True, you just interpret the law rather loosely,' Nabu chuckled as he looked at Fane still enjoying her nap. 'Well then, time to activate some references.' All the wizards nodded to each other and made their way to the kids.


It was actually a funny test for most of the students. Still, chaos though. So many had chosen the wrong orbs for themselves and apparently, Parcival's boxes had been full of duds. The Sorceresses' biggest mistake had been that they hadn't checked from the start since they had been too arrogant now they had to search for better options and lost time. The Specialists had no judgment whatsoever and had been bound to the list yet most crates weren't listed and the girls had no time to check for them. People quickly changed around orbs. It was a bit like a bazaar or production line. They had completely destroyed the factor that if you choose the wrong one you were screwed. There were more than enough options after all.

But even then, it was hard. Some Specialists couldn't even get the elemental orbs to work. They overloaded and turned to ash or they didn't even activate at all. In general, it was devastating for them. Contrary to their elemental weapons they couldn't touch the orbs. Also, weapons had a built-in magic cap limit preventing an overload and a lot of runes to make infusion easier. The orbs didn't have any of that and floated before them in the air or, well, should. The boys were by far the worst.

The Fairies were quick to find the right orbs or had chosen them correctly from the start. There of course were differences in how quickly they could match the rhythms or how accurate it was. Tasu, Blade, Nebula, Tessa, Birdy and Snow took the high spots. Blade in general was able to activate elements of all kinds more or less easily, while the others stuck to their elements and related ones.

The Sorceresses were on par with them once they had found the right orbs. Yet to the surprise of Kitty and Serina, they had trouble with the elemental orbs. Kitty did summon magic and Serina illusion magic, which both were not truly related to elemental magic. Unlike Blade who was used to using elemental weapons, they were not trained in it. They were fast with rhythm and intensity though and very precise.

The boys were simply confused. They destroyed so many orbs. Nonetheless, Keith and Mercury were astonishingly good compared to most of them. Mercury had his fun with elemental orbs and intensity. Rhythm he screwed up and in intensity, he only managed the strong ones. Fine-tuning was not his thing at all. Keith was pretty good across the board, which was less surprising. He was training as a healer after all. The dark horse actually was Michael. He did so well, better than Mercury and nearly as good as Keith. The White Jade members were quite intrigued by his display.