❝DÉVOUEMENT❞ ; twst.

✦ chapter seven.

"hm... i feel like it would be easier to understand if i showed you a demonstration rather than explain using words. oh, ghosts! i have a little job for you!" as if on cue with crowley's call, the ghosts showed up and asked what his little job was.

crowley smiled at the ghosts as he pointed towards the first years, "please help me teach these young ones a small lesson." deuce looked at the headmaster in surprise as he exclaimed, "eh?!" the ghosts understood the assignment as they prepared themselves for a battle.

"come, boys. ready your magical pens. headmaster's special lesson is far from over~

as crowley spoke, f/n moved aside and stood at the side of the room under the portrait of the witch of thorns, maleficent. f/n watched as the battle between the ghosts and the first years took place, casually stealing glances at yuuken as he commanded grim on where and how he should attack.

'he can command monsters and the powerful, self-centered magicians of this academy just as headmaster says... he has a formidable talent of a beast tamer... quite an impressive feat, i must say...' thought f/n.

as the battle ended, grim and the rest panted and glanced at the headmaster. grim let out a breath as he spoke, "hey, headmaster! that training with the ghosts didn’t help me understand blot one bit!"

"grim, take a look at the magic jewel on your collar."

grim glanced at his magic jewel and panicked as he tried to rub off a black stain, "wha–!? my magic jewel’s got some dirt on it! it won’t come off even if i rub it with my paws…!"

"the black ink that taints your magic jewel is blot. you have used excessive magic earlier, resulting to your magic jewels accumulating blot." f/n explained as she glanced at grim's magic jewel, observing the oh so familiar black stain that fogged up his jewel.

"is it a permanent effect?!" asked yuu as he glanced at f/n and the headmaster back and forth.

crowley shook his head, "not exactly. with proper rest and enough time off, the blot will disappear on its own. a magical jewel does not exist simply to be an outlet for one’s magic. one other purpose it has is to accumulate blot that could directly affect the caster. to an extent, it is a wonderful item that can carry such a huge burden."

deuce nodded slowly as he hummed in understanding, "i see… in other words, once our magical jewels have become hazy, it’s a sign for us to rest our bodies, correct?" crowley nodded as he said, "that is correct. blot disappears if you eat, sleep, and rest properly."

grim cheered as he raised his paws up, "that’s good!! then, that means i can rest assured about using my magic when i become a great magician! i mean, i eat and sleep a lot already~"

"magical energy comes in all sorts of varieties. with the exception of a select few, the maximum permissible amount of magical energy is not really that large."

grim hummed in confusion as he looked at the headmaster, "what do you mean?"

"in other words, the more mana or magical energy a person has, the more careful he has to be about accumulation of blot." replied crowley as he turned his head to face f/n who was still standing under the witch of thorns' portrait.

"exactly why i have been advising miss l/n to be careful at all times," added crowley.

f/n blinked as she looked at the headmaster, "i'll be careful... i have experienced defeating and seeing overblots firsthand." crowley hummed as he looked at the other first years, continuing to entertain their questions and statements.

f/n looked up at maleficent's portrait. different thoughts swirled around her mind as she recalled the overblots she had seen long ago, it was quite traumatizing to say the least.

'your highness... i promise to take care of your kingdom alongside malleus...'

f/n shook her head as she tried shake her thoughts away, glancing back at the headmaster as she wanted to leave and thought of an excuse.

"headmaster?"

crowley turned to look at her as he hummed, "yes, miss l/n?"

"may i take my leave? mr. vanrouge is in need of my assistance right now."

the headmaster nodded as he let her off. the first years waved goodbye as she did the same before disappearing from the office and teleporting to the dorm's lounge.

she was greeted by lilia staring at her with a disapproved look, making her raise a brow at him.

"...what's the matter, lil?"

"now, who told you that i am in need of your assistance?"

f/n pouted her lips as she looked at lilia, "i wanted to leave already. i was getting bored, y'know~"

lilia hummed as he narrowed his eyes, "oh? boredom has struck you once again, you say? very well, i shall give you a task."

f/n stayed silent as she awaited for his instructions. lilia smiled as he patted her shoulder, confusing her more.

"fufu, you shall attend the intra-dorm magical shift tournament prefect meeting in a few minutes."

...

...

"...come again?"

lilia smiled as he patted her head, "it is as i said, dear. malleus is nowhere to be found, silver and sebek are out to look for him. i have been getting quite tired doing a lot of errands lately, do have mercy on me, beastie."

f/n looked at lilia with a bored expression as he dramatically explained why he'd rather have her go in malleus' place.

"...uh huh... i am a first year, lilia. it would seem very odd that i stood in mal's place. you're the vice head for seven's sake," retorted f/n.

"you may be a first year, but that's only because this is your first year in attending this academy. come now, you're not that young. i'm sure you can handle it," replied lilia.

before f/n could answer back, lilia gasped as he glanced at his pocket watch. "oh no, i have somewhere to be~ apologies, beastie, but i really must go now. the prefect meeting starts in 5 minutes, tata~"

lilia then disappeared out of thin air to head off to who knows where. f/n grumbled as she stared at where lilia stood before he left, "somewhere to be? yeah, sure..."