PokèDruids [PkmnWattys2016]

What Now?

He swallowed some of the drink before stating, "Excellent! As my first and lone follower for the moment... Er..."

"Eros."

"What a quaint name! Well, Eros, I should name you proud! Exemplary cocktail! I'd enjoy one daily at the morn. Now, for some serious manners... I'm going to have a fly about the fort, surveying this 'academy' of yours. Make sure that when I get back I have some accommodations for the nights. I believe this to be a secure and entertaining abode, correct?"

Eros grasped at the meaning of the words for a few seconds before replying dumbly, "I'll make you a bed or something."

Articuno nodded and took off, flying around the fort with great interest and drawing the eyes of the Mages and Druids throughout the area. Even the soft applause of the few Pokemon who dared venture near the battlefront could be heard just outside the walls, the tiny fearless creatures observing yet another spectacle from the building.

However interesting or not the aforementioned spectacle was, Eros simply let this be an opportunity to get some other business done, considering his plans for accommodations was to do no more than show Articuno to the ice-based barracks located below the fort. He spent this time looking for potential candidates that could take the place of instructor at the school, Druids who could teach all the realms of magic at the academy...

Eros, deciding upon the best place to spy for students and their aptitude, walked over to the courtyard, a location where Cerci loved to teach magic the most. There he found that another session had just begun, one in which the students were lined up and demonstrating their abilities to change into other forms upon command; He also had an understanding that most people could only manage to transform once per day, so this would be a great, if not mandatory, opportunity to observe the true potential of the students here.

At first, Cerci was unaware of Eros, instructing a class of about 15 people lined up in a haphazard mess of filthy clothes and anxious bodies. In her normal, condescending tone of voice, she commanded the Druids forwards one by one, having them state their desired transformations right before shifting their forms in front of everybody else. The beginning few were almost perfect shape-shifters, dictating their powers in ways far beyond even Eros' training. The first examples included a rough looking boy who managed to call out a Charmelion and transform into such with ease; However, as the line went down to about halfway, the powers of the students were much less notable. The students were starting to state less exceptional Pokemon such as a Wurmple or a Sentret, with one puny child failing to even transform. However, as Cerci spotted Eros through the corner of her eye, she took the class and shouted out a few commands that made little sense to Eros; As it turned out, she was rearranging the students once again, changing their positions to what seemed to be according to their magical abilities.

While some of the students remained in their Pokemon forms for their magic, others weren't as capable as holding their shape and reverted back. None the less, Cerci had them show off their specialties and most impressive spells, likely for Eros' benefit when selecting a tutor. The first mages were surely the most impressive, creating wards that deflected and redirected Cerci's magical missiles to fireballs that completely incinerated and annihilated one of the wooden dummies. Surely, the pattern was about power once more, for the mages at the end of the line were barely able to launch a magical missile, save a barrage of them.

As Eros through about who would and wouldn't make a good teacher, Cerci temporarily dismissed class while she was to "go set things up", meaning she headed over to Eros for a chat. As she made her way, she greeted him with, "Not going to make my retirement easy, are you?"

"You're still teaching on your own account. Anyway, I think I know who'd make a good teacher, although I'm not sure how personality affects it..."

"One thing you'll learn, Eros, is that personality doesn't matter much once you're trained. At least, oriented under my wing." A small smile was born from her face, fading quickly. She spoke as if this were some sort of test for Eros, much like a riddle or puzzle. "There are all kinds of students out there from great spellcasters to damn good shapeshifters. As you can see, though, nobody is exceptional at both, although there is a handful of well rounded students as well. If you're testy, you can also pick one of the underdogs. Which one would you pick, Eros?"