*
"It's clear from your vacant expressions. The lights are not all on upstairs. But we're talking kings and successions. Even you can't be caught unawares!"
**
Headmage's Office
"Now, students, ready your magical pens," Crowley commanded the three boys, as Y/n prepared herself to do as headmage had asked of her to do. "Prepare to receive a special lesson from your headmage!"
"Seriously?!" Ace yelped as he quickly whipped out his magical pen with Deuce following afterward. "Wanna run the 'why' by me again?!" he exclaimed before he used his usual wind spell on the ghosts that mixed with Grim's signature blue flames while Deuce did his usual cauldron summoning.
After some time, the warm-up was finished, with the boys heavily panting from exhaustion, with Ace bent down with his hands on his knees. Grim turned to Crowley with a slight snarl as Y/n supported her mates, having Ace and Deuce rest on her shoulders, being sandwiched between. "Hey, Headmage, what's the deal? What does fightin' ghosts got to do with blot?" he asked in a complaining tone.
"Direct your attention to the magestone on your collar, Mr. Grim," Crowley then instructed.
Grim looked down at his collar in confusion. As soon as he did, however, he let out a surprised yelp upon noticing black spots on his magestone that wasn't present before. "Myah?! My magestone looks at grungy now," he says, trying to rub it off with his paws but to no avail. "...MYAH?! It won't rub off!"
"Precisely," Crowley nodded. "That inky black stain is the byproduct of spellcasting known as 'blot,'" he revealed.
"Whoa," Ace yelped in surprise upon noticing black spots on his magical pen.
"There's some grime on my magical pen, too..." Deuce flinched in surprise, looking at his magical pen in shock.
"Ewww! This is capital-G Gross!" Grim whined, gagging a little.
"It will come off eventually, I think," Y/n says, trying to assure them.
"Indeed it will," Crowley nodded in confirmation.
"Phew! Had me worried there," Grim says in relief. "But how do you get rid of it? Like some kinda special soap or somethin'?"
"With sufficient rest, blot will vanish from your magestone," Crowley explained. "This is why a magestone is so valuable to magic users. Not only does it aid your casting, it also serves as a lightning rod of sorts, to prevent blot from accumulating within the caster,"
"I see," Deuce nodded in thought. "So when our magestone start to get cloudy, that means it's time for us to ease off,"
"Correct. Eat well and get plenty of sleep, and most of the blot will clear away," Crowley advised.
"Gotcha. So when I become an even greater mage, I'll be able to fire off spells left and right! Pa-PEW!" Grim grinned, pumping his fists in the air excitedly. "After all, I do plenty of sleepin' and eatin',"
"It's too soon for you to be celebrating, I'm afraid," Crowley says, ruining Grim's moment. "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,"
"What's that mean?" Grim asked.
"In essence, it means that those who possess a great capacity for magic must be meticulous in their efforts to avoid accumulating blot," Crowley elaborated. "Like Mr. Rosehearts, for instance,"
"So folks who know their way around magic gotta lay off once in a while. Seems simple enough," Ace says.
"Correct," Crowley nodded before he shifted his eyes over to Y/n. "However, blot accumulation is very different for her majesty here, for she doesn't accumlate blot at all,"
"Huh?!"
"The headmage...is correct," Y/n nods before she moved her hands over to her dress shirt, unbuttoning it. Upon seeing her do this, Ace and Deuce immediately panicked with a bright blush on their faces.
"R-Rabbit! What are you doing?!" Deuce exclaimed.
"Why are you suddenly unbuttoning your shirt here?!" Ace says, grabbing Y/n hands to stop her but then he saw some sort of mark on her cleavage. "Huh...? What's this?" he asked, staring at the mark. It was beautiful. Like ice gems. A mark of the famous legendary flower that only grows in the most coldest of weather, the Flower of Eternity.
"This is a seal called Heart of Aurora," Y/n revealed, ignoring that flustered states of Ace and Deuce when displaying her seal on her sizable bust. "I don't remember why or how I got it...but I've been told that it acts as a seal to keep away all impurities. Not accumulating any blot at all is merely an effect. Without it...is a whole other matter. Using magic without this seal is extremely dangerous for both me and the others around me..." she says as Ace quickly button up her shirt.
"That said, it isn't anything that mages at YOUR level need to worry about," Crowley beamed. "How very fortunate of you!"
"Gee, thanks...I guess," Ace mumbled, glaring at the headmage.
" Anyway, I think I get it," Grim shuddered in fear. "Use magic, get blot. Blot bad. Sleep and food good. But is that really all it took to make Riddle activate berserker mode?"
"The accumulation of blot is significantly affected by the sorcerer's mental state. Anger, fear, panic, sorrow..." Crowley listed, his head lowering a bit from remembering the events that look place 50 years ago that spread fear all throughout the world. "Harboring those sorts of negative energies hastens the accumulation of blot by a significant degree. This, in turn, leads to the dreadful state known as 'overblot,'"
"Negative energy..." Deuce muttered.
"Do you recall the giant shadow that appeared behind Mr. Rosehearts?" Crowley asked, causing Grim to flinch in fear upon recalling the monster behind Riddle. "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 for the only most resent overblot incident happened only 50 years ago,"
"Let's hope it stays that way!" Ace exclaimed, shuddering slightly upon recalling the stories his grandmother would tell him.
"It is fortunate that we were able to snap Mr. Rosehearts out of it so quickly. If that had been allowed to continue..." Crowley mumbled before he suddenly screamed, causing the boys to flinch.
"AAAH! It is a prospect too terrifying to consider!"
"GAH! W-what's your problem?! Yellin' outta the blue like that!" Grim yelped.
"*Ahem* Forgive me. I lost my composure," Crowley coughed. "In summary, the use of magic is always accompanied by a certain degree of risk. And I expect you all to keep that in mind,"
"Yes, sir," Everyone nodded.
"Thus concludes your special lesson with your ever so-kind headmage," Crowley says, gently pushing Y/n out of the office with the boys following from the front. "How wonderfully kind of me. Now, back to your classrooms with you. The October interdorm Spelldrive tournament is consuming a great deal of my attention, you see. In fact, I've a meeting with the assembled housewardens immediately after this, so I'm going to need you to come with me, your majesty," he says.
"A meeting...? Alright," Y/n nodded.
"What's a 'Spelldrive tournament'...?" Grim asked.
"Huh? Come again?" Y/n asked, tilting her head innocently, just as confused as Grim.
"Lil' Rabbit...You've never heard of Spelldrive?!" Ace asked in surprise with widen eyes.
"Not at all," Y/n innocently answered.
"It's a world-famous sport! There's even a pro league and a world championship tournament," Deuce says.
"I ain't never heard of this either!" Grim shouted.
"Yes. Please explain," Y/n says. "I've only heard the name a few times. But when I do ask about it, my brothers just say it's an irrelevant subject. Lady mother just says to not worry about it," she bluntly says, which kinda hit a nail on the boys head.
Ace let out a gasp in disbelief before he began explaining. "Spelldrive is a sport played by competing teams of seven people. Basically, players battle for control of a disc and earn points by drivin' it into the enemy team's goal. The team with the most points wins!"
"Hmmm...fascinating," Y/n says, looking deep in thought. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't slightly intrigued by the sport for she was curious about the world outside of the palace, which is why she sometimes finds a way to sneak out of the palace barrier that was created to protect it, but that's not all. It was specially created to keep Y/n inside at all cost. Protecting her by imprisonment. "Perhaps I could give it a try. I heard Isfrid would be signing up for his dorm as well,"
"Oh yeah?" Ace asked with a grin. "Perhaps your a sports fan and you might not even know it," he says, knowing how airheaded and forgetful she could be.
"If you're interested, we could go check out the school's Spelldrive league sometime," Deuce suggested before bashfully smiling. "I-It would be like a date..." he mumbled.
"What is this date?" Y/n asked, hearing Deuce. She stepped closer to Deuce, curiously looking at him. "Is it perhaps a type of food?" (Technically, yes)
Deuce immediately burst red upon feeling her chest press against his. "U-Uh...it's uh..." he stuttered bashfully.
"It's nothing you need to worry about," Ace huffed, glaring at Deuce. "But I just realize that Y/n would have a hard time actually playing," he says while pulling Y/n away from a flustered Deuce and pulled her into his chest with puffed cheeks, earning a glare from Deuce.
"Yeah? Why's that?" Grim asked.
"You need magic to play and Y/n avoids the use of magic like the plague unless absolutely necessary," Deuce remembered. "Not only do you move disc with magic, but you use it to attack and defend, too," he says, earning a slightly pout from Y/n.
"The flash the magic, the better - it's how players show off their skills," Ace grinned with grin.
"Yes, quite!" Crowley beamed. "That is why Night Raven College is known throughout the world as a leader in the sport! This school has produced countless pro players! That's why our interdorm Spelldrive tournaments attract attention even from pro league recruiters. Also, those simply looking for up-and-coming magicians use the event to scout hopeful candidates. Yes, the tournament is quite an affair. The campus will be full of visitors and lined with various kiosks. And the main event will be captured by television cameras and broadcast worldwide,"
"Wow...That's incredible..." Y/n slightly awed despite her usual indifferent expression.
"It's broadcast throughout the world?!" Grim exclaimed in excitement. "So you're sayin' that if I were to play in their tournament - and win of course - the world world would see it?!"
"Of course," Crowley nods. "Players who excel at the tournament invariably attract great attention. Both from the pro leagues and the public at large!"
"In your case, the magic would barely even matter. Just having a monster like you there is sure to turn heads," Deuce stated with a grin, greatly encouraging the weasel who was over the moon.
"It's settled, then! I'm gonna train around the clock, join a team, and become a legend!" Grim proclaims.
"Alas, Grim, you cannot enter," Crowley says, interrupted Grim's short-lived joy yet again.
"...Wait, what?" Grim widen his eyes.
"Did you not hear me speak the word 'interdorm' multiple times?" Crowley bluntly asked. "Your dorm doesn't even have seven members. Therefore, you cannot enter the tournament," he says as Ace and Deuce sweatdropped.
"Whaaaaaat?! No faaaaair!" Grim whined.
"But there's plenty else to do, from tending to the grounds to selling drinks in the stands!" Crowley says, trying to assure Grim. "Those who stand upon the field are not the only stars of tournament day,"
"Not. Interested!" Grim hissed. "I wanna be on TV! I want everyone in the world fawning over me! 'Squeee! Grim is sooooo cool!' 'Did you see that play Grim made?" You get what I'm sayin''?" he says.
"Your delusions are oddly specific, dude," Ace mumbled, completely dumbfounded.
"Well, if you can't field a team, I'm afraid that's that," Deuce says. "Maybe next year, Lumikuinen House will get some new members. But it's not happening this year,"
"Anyway, as I believe I've mentioned, I'm a busy man. I and Y/n must be off," Crowley says.
"Okay..." Y/n nodded as she gave Grim over to Deuce. "Please take care of Grim while I'm in the meeting," she says.
"Alright, Y/n!" Ace and Deuce nodded.
"Yeah, thanks for takin' me outta your busy day to build up my dreams and crush 'em!" Grim muttered under his breath. "Myaaah! *sob*" he cried in devastation.
"Lead the way, Headmage," Y/n says, turning toward Crowley.
"Of course. Follow me," Crowley says before he escorted Y/n to the room where the meeting would take place.
~To be Continued~