Sour Candy Kisses

The Usurper from the Wilds 3-4

I stepped back into a corner and watched as I watched my dumbasses get slapped around by ghosts. It was quite boring actually, at one point Grim ran up and jumped into my arms, cowering away from the ghosts.

The fight came to an end “hey, headmage, what’s the deal? What does fightin’ ghost got to do with blot?” Grim huffed as he jumped out of my arms, pretending as if he wasn’t just hiding. 

“Direct your attention to the magestone on your collar, Mr.Grim.” Crowley gestured to him. 

“Myah?! My magestone looks all grungy now.” Grim went to try whipping it off, he looked up to me as I bent down and tried to clean it with my sleeve, which didn’t work “...MYAH?! It won’t rub off!” Grim turned back to Crowley. 

“Precisely. That inky black stain is the byproduct of spellcasting known as “blot.” Crowley crossed his arms in a ‘wasnt it obvious?’ manor. 

“There’s some grime on my magical pen, too!” Deuce shouted, sticking his pen out so we could see it. 

“Ewww! This is capital-G Gross!” Grim jumped up into my arms and pouted about his collar “is there some way to get rid of it? I mean it has to come off eventually, right?” I looked at Crowley. 

“It will. With sufficient rest, blot will vanish from your magestone. This is why a magestone is so valuable to magic users. Not only does it aid your castin, it also serves as a lighting rod of sorts, to prevent blot from accumulating within the caster.” Crowley stated, looking around at us to make sure we knew exactly what he meant. 

“I see. So when our magestones start to get cloudy, that means it’s time for us to ease off.” Deuce repeated, looking at Crowley to make sure he was right “Correct. Eat well and get plenty of sleep, and most of the blot will clear away.” Crowley nodded. 

“Gotcha. So when I become an even greater mage, I’ll be able to fire off spells left and right! Pa-PEW!” Grim shifted in my arms “after all, I do pleasantly of sleepin’ and eatin’.” Grim grinned widely. 

“People vary greatly in their capacity for magic. However, save for a few key exceptions, there is little variance in most mages’ tolerance for blot. In essence, it means that those who possess a great capacity for magic must be meticulous in their efforts to avoid accumulating blot. Like Mr.Rosehearts, for instance.” Crowley shook his head. 

“So folks who know their way around magic gotta lay off once in a while. Seems simple enough.” Ace shrugged. 

“Correct. That said, it isn’t anything that mages at YOUR level need to worry about. How very fortunate for you!” Crowley smiled brightly at the others around me. 

“I….guess that’s only kind of an insult?” Ace groaned. 

“Anyway, I think I get it. Use magic, get blot. Blot bad. Sleep and food good. But is that really all it took to make Riddle activate berserker mode?” Grim shifted in my arms again, this time he had his paws on my shoulder. 

“The accumulation of blot is significantly affected by the sorcerer’s mental state. Anger, fear, panic, sorrow… harboring those sorts of negative energie hastens the accumulation of blot by a significant degree. This, in turn, leads to the dreadful state known as “overblot.” Crowley added on to his previous statements about blot. 

“Negative energies, huh? Interesting…” Deuce pondered to himself quietly. 

Crowley nodded “do you recall the giant shadow that appeared behind Mr.Rosehearts? Such manifestations are believed to be the result of a fusion between blot and negative energies. I’m afraid that’s the extent of what current studies have revealed to us, however. There remain many mysteries surrounding overblot. After all, there are not many opportunities for study and observation. Let’s hope it stays that way! It is fortunate that we were able to snap Mr.Rosehearts out of it so quickly. If that had been allowed to continue…” Crowley paused. “AAAAH! It is a prospect too terrifying to consider!” Crowley screamed out. 

Grim jolted in my arms “GAH! W-what’s your problem?! Yellin’ outta the blue like that!” he shouted at Crowley. 

Crowley cleared his throat “ahem… forgive me. I lost my composure. In summary, the use of magic is alway accompanied by a certain degree of risk. And I expect you all to keep that in mind.” 

“yes, sir” we all spoke out. 

“Thus concludes your special lesson from the headmage himself! How wonderfully kind of me. Now, back to your classrooms with you.” Crowley beamed and guestered us to the door. 

“Aren’t you forgetting something, sir?” I put my hands on my hips after I put Grim back on the ground, due to the fact that my arms were getting tired. 

“Ahhh, yes….A means to send y/n home. Right, right. I have been diligently searching for one, of course. I have certainly not forgotten! It is merely that I’ve been quite busy of late.” Crowleys eyes shifted around, trying not to make eye contact with me, he began shifting around and ended with a hand on his chin and the other wrapped around his own waist. He made slight eye contact with me before his eyes jolted to Grim, who was jumping back into my arms. 

“Your eyes got all shifty all of a sudden.”  Grim put his paws on his small cat hips “I-I’m certainly not lying! The October interdorm spelldrive tournament is consuming a great deal of my attention at the moment! In fact, I’ve a meeting with the assembled housewardens immediately after this.” Crowley tried to shoo us after crossing his arms. 

“What’s a ‘spelldrive tournament’…?” Grim asked “oh-yeah-what’s a spelldrive tournament?” I smiled at Crowley waiting for him to explain.