Luck be Damned

14

^^ Dean Adrian Fong, Hero (Sword Saint) ^^

— Alice —

A bit more work on the contract, tightening a few loose ends, and the work was signed and witnessed by a few members of my Guild. It was about noon, now, and I raised an eyebrow when my siblings busted in, panting with effort.

"Did you just run up the infinite stairs?" I asked dryly, talking about the set of stairs that were designed to move as you walked, effectively trapping you for as long as I'd like.

"We've been looking all over for you! We heard you had guests from the academy, but you were giving them a hard time!!!" Lena frowned at me, and leaned against my desk, huffing for breath.

"Greetings, Lena Taurus." Lady Jade chuckled at her, having long-since recovered from being terrified of the dragon, and was now scritching her jaw, to Zara's imminent pleasure.

"Oh!... hello, Teacher? Is everything alright?" She asked, confused, while Buri approached and sat down calmly.

Gillian trotted in after him, and sniffed the Sorcerer, while Lena's Dragon (named Inamoratas, because she was a drama queen,) simply began eating some of the lab equipment, until Zara hissed at her.

"Quite, yes, I think we've just finished up, actually, and are ready to head to the Academy! Only an hour or so to spare, but that's alright, you can give your sister a tour after orientation." Lady Jade nodded calmly, and looked at Victor. "Off we all go?"

"To note, I've not packed anything? And I'm not sure how long it'll be till I return?" I asked.

"It will be about four days before you have an opportunity to return home, until you have a teleportation Sigil and can return whenever you wish. Your laboratory will have a space for one, but you'll need to draw it yourself. I'll be your Mentor, and it is one of my specialities, so don't worry about it for now. As for your packing, your parents have already sent ahead your clothes and belongings from your home; grab what you need from your laboratory, now." Victor nodded.

I placed my research notes, contract templates, and personal journal into a satchel, carefully organized, and then my magical journal, where I recorded all my magical spells, -though not instructions on how to use them, and all of it written in Latin, which I'd been sure was not the language of magic, here, so I'd need to translate it to Greek,- and following it up with my sword. I smiled as it settled, before placing my nonofficial Grimoire into a holster on my hip, for easy access.

"Alright, off we go. Oh!" I snapped my fingers, and the vampires in the deep cells were exposed to the sunlight crystals I'd placed in their cells and implanted behind their hearts, instantly frying and turning to dust. "There, now I'm done." I nodded.

"What was the snap for? I recognized an activation beacon..." Victor narrowed his eyes curiously.

"I was destroying the Udyr that I had been experimenting on; I exposed them to sunlight, turning them to dust. Now off we go!" I smiled, and stepped next to him, while the dragons and my siblings also stepped closer. "Also, Lena, put that vial back, it's full of Ent Semen." I added blandly, and she yelped, replacing it where she'd stolen it from and wiping her hand on Buri's cloak, so he punched her shoulder in retaliation.

Lady Jade laughed heartily, and shook her head as the dragons returned to our shoulders. "This will be a very interesting year..."

The spell lit up on the ground, and we all situated ourselves within it, and then it flashed once, impossibly bright, but I already had a pair of sunglasses on, staring directly into it to see more of its inner workings.