Proving Oneself [Ari/1st Kodor Test]

Ari sat on her bed, looking around her childhood room. She had grown up in this expansive space. This room was almost larger than the entire Inn she stayed at in Remano and was a hundred times larger than her room at the farmhouse in Kios. It was always nice growing up n luxury, but she had found she preferred smaller, cozier rooms now. She liked having people nearby, at the farmhouse, she was never alone and never had to worry about the darkness. If she were ever attacked there, help was only a small shout away. Here, if someone had decided to try and ambush her in her room, no amount of yelling would do much good. Adius’ room was on the other side of the Manor, and her parents’ room was quite a travel as well. The room Vin occupied was close to Adius’ room, the two had become inseparable since the boy’s arrival. With a soft sigh, Ari tugged her Journey Book free from its drawer, scribbling out a note to Azix.

Dearest,
I shall be returning to Reim soon, I have one last thing to finish up here. Later today, I will be taking my First Kodor test. As much as I did not enjoy my time in the Academy, it will give me access to more information here in Magnostadt. It will also allow me to prove something to myself. If you happen to see my father, please do not tell him. Adius has been sworn to secrecy until the test is complete, just in case I fail. I want to do this for me, not for him or anyone else.

I love and miss you. I will see you soon, hopefully.

Much love,
Ari~

Putting the Journey Book away, she looked up as Adius knocked at her door, a package under his arm.

“Hey sis! Vin and I wanted to give you a good luck present!”

From around Adius’ legs, she saw a head peek out, one eye covered with a patch. Giving the two boys a smile, she waved them in. Vin immediately ran over and hopped on the bed next to her, his feet swinging idly to kick at the edge of the lifted frame. Adius moved over more sedately, holding out a large, heavy roll. Ari gave him a confused look before arching her brow and undoing the horrendously tied ribbon around whatever was inside. When it unraveled, she gasped softly. It was a Flying Magic Carpet. Excitedly setting it on the bed, she jumped up and threw her arms around her brother, squeezing him tightly.

“Just don’t go ruining it, it was not cheap. But, regardless of how the test goes, you have more than earned it.”

“Thank you so much Adius. And you, Vin. I bet this was all your idea, wasn’t it, so I could fly you around Reim?”

Vin giggled and nodded as Ari swept him up off the bed and hugged him tightly. Adius gave her a confident smile before plucking Vin from her arms and heading for the door, turning to toss some words over his shoulder before leaving her alone.

“You will do great, Ella. We will be rooting for you.”

[Item obtained: Flying Magic Carpet]

---

Ari took a deep breath, chanting her meditations in her head as she waited to begin her test. She had her Flying Magic Carpet around her waist as she had seen Azix do on occasion, her new Emerald Jelly Staff held tightly in her hand, her Crimson Bladed Crystal hung around her wrist, both her Household Vessel and her Transcendent Pendant were draped from her neck. Tucked into one of the hidden pockets in the sleeve of her cloak was her Potion of Rejuvenation. She did not think she could be more prepared without strapping Adius to her back and claiming he was just a magic tool. She had left both her chained dagger and throwing daggers behind, only magic-related items allowed on the field.

She could just barely make out Adius and Vin in one of the balconies overlooking the testing area. Similar to the Coliseum, a magical barrier kept the audience safe from wayward spells, a much needed measure, considering how out of hand the Kodor tests often became. She scanned the crowd to see if she recognized any other faces. The turnout was incredible, everyone eager to see what the black sheep of the Negri family was capable of. Distant friends and enemies alike were here, but she blocked it all out, remembering her last Kodor test. She had frozen in front of the crowd and an ice shard had struck through her borg, shattering the barrier before the next shard of ice buried into her shoulder.

She thought back to the fight with her father in the field after her rescue, recalling how she had been too angry to freeze up in fear and settled that memory deep into the core of her gut. If she could hold on to a burning ember of anger, she knew she would be fine. She cumulated all of the bad memories she had of this place, of the judgements and the looks of disappointment because she had not advanced as quickly as her brother, mother, or father. This place had been nothing but a pit of poison and vipers for her, always expected to live up to the standards of her family and play the perfect diplomat’s daughter. None of the friends she had made had been interested in her as a person but rather what her status could bring them. With that anger churning in her gut, she stepped forward and nodded to the Instructor running the test, wondering who her opponents might be.

[Items brought with: Everything aside from Pointy and Chained Death]

Opponents:

The opposition made their appearance, though it was certainly a curious one. Ariella would recognize one of them; Kitana. The other was an unknown; a man from Kou, by the looks of it. The two were already bickering at each other as they made their way out of their side and into the Magician's arena. "Just make sure not to drag us down." The snide remark was thrown Zan Yuen's way, and the man rolled his shoulders backwards beneath his voluminous robes.

"Let's just say I don't expect much from a traitor, girlie. I'm betting you go down first." There was an air of intentional indifference, and bespoke the hostility the man shared for the woman. It seemed the feelings were mutual. The two of them approached Ariella, both with staffs in hand. Zan Yuen sized Ariella up before catching Kitana's actions out of the corner of his eye and scowling.

Kitana smiled and waved towards Ariella. "Ari... It's good to see you doing well. We must catch up after your test today... No hard feelings, no matter the outcome, okay?"

Recently, Zadi had been trying day and night to come up with some answers to what the black rukh were and how they were created within the Library of Merlin. To quite some surprise, Zadi wasn't able to find anything useful. At least nothing that he didn't already know. Opposite of white rukh, brings with it some sort of evil, yada yada yada, yit yit yit, yat yat yat. Seemingly "typical" knowledge from what Zadi could gather. There had to be more though! Magnostadt is said to be at its peak when it comes to magical research, probably due to the appearance of dungeons and the dungeons' magic tools. Zadi felt tired and fatigued so he felt it was time to just relax a little before delving into another information hunt. Therefore, he visited the arena where Zadi participated in his kodor test, though on a less grand scale at the moment. It seemed that a noble or just famous girl was being tested to go into the 1st Kodor. Zadi only ever witnessed one test before and it was rather dazzling. Quick but dazzling nonetheless.

Zadi sat in one of the available seats, brushed aside his now very long and girlish hair, and watched as the three magicians, one of which was familiar to Zadi. It wasn't the test-taker, it was the Kou fellow. Zadi had seen him being tested to go into the 1st Kodor recently. Rather coincidental that he show up during Zadi's second 1st Kodor examination viewing. All the same, the point was the watch and relax. Learning wasn't something that Zadi felt too keen on at the moment for what could he possibly learn that a war hasn't already taught him? Though, perhaps Zadi did feel a little studious today. Magic is fun to watch and even "funner" to learn, not to mention use. Zadi then focused his attention towards the test-taker. Perhaps this famous girl could help Zadi with his research. After all, she looked and felt absolutely normal, he thought sarcastically.

"Wonder what Joa's doing right now..."

Noir rushed herself to the Examination Grounds, cursing herself for spending all night to read books and causing her to got up late. She tried to wear her magician robe properly while running and finally arrived at the venue, the black haired girl could see an available seat and quickly sat on it. While looking around, she could saw her mentor was watching the Kodor Test too, at first she decided to greet him but on the second thought Noir decided to stay since the test would begin soon.

The yellow magician will be watching a Kodor Test for the first time in her life and she was curious how the test will be done, and since it was a 1st Kodor Test, Noir would really had to pay attention so she could set her training goal accurately. The black haired girl could see a slender female entering the Examination Ground and apparently, she was the test-taker. Two other persons entered the Examination Ground and it seemed that one of them was an acquaintance of the test-taker. Noir felt excited already and she couldn't help but to let out a smiling face due to her excitement while waiting patiently for the test.

"This will be interesting..."

Ari watched as her opponents came onto the testing ground, only a flicker crossing her face at seeing Kitana there. The other opponent did not seem familiar in the slightest, but he was definitely of Kou bloodlines. Seeing Kitana only helped the ember of anger in her gut to burn brighter and she gripped her staff as she moved to greet her targets. She would not even think of them as comrades or fellow magicians, labeling them as targets or enemies was the safest route. Glancing at Kitana, she arched her brow, her face devoid of any emotion.

“Kitana, I gave up any feelings for you long ago, hard or otherwise.”

Ari offered both of the Kou natives a small bow before looking to the Instructor officiating the match and nodding to signal she was ready. She did not look into the crowd again, focusing all of her attention to the two magicians before her. If she allowed herself to think of the people watching, she knew she would freeze up, so she blocked out everything else. She was not doing this to perform for the masses, she was doing this to prove to herself that she was capable.

She waited for the other two to move into their chosen starting position.

Opponents:

Kitana raised an eyebrow. "So, you're that stuck up on it, huh? Did the Kou princess ditch you, then?" She sighed as she walked into her position 50 meters away from Ariella. She shook her head as if Ariella were a helpless case. Taking up a simple stance, Kitana allowed her wand to rest at her side, within her hand.

Zan Chang Yuen moved likewise, curious as to the interactions between the two individuals. Besides the mild interest, there was a lack of emotion displayed by the man. As soon as he stood in his spot, forming a triangle with equal distance between the three magicians, a heat spell caused an explosion overhead. It was the signal to the beginning of the match. Zan Chang Yuen was the first to move, running forward. Kitana followed suit, though she walked instead of ran.

Zan Yuen would attempt to make it to 20 meters distance from himself and Ariella, while Kitana would attempt to make it to 27 meters at the same time. They would each cast their own, individual spells. A Wind Cutter from Zan Yuen shot forward as a diagonal blade of air, which would cut into Ariella if she did nothing. At the same time, Kitana sent through the ground a devastating amount of Magoi, creating a force of heat that would cause a Heat Eruption shortly after Zan Yuen's spell passed through the area. It would also strike Zan Yuen, if it were successful, but she was hardly concerned about that...


OOC:
Zan Yuen [270/300]
-Wind Cutter
Kitana [260/300]
-Heat Eruption

Ari watched as the two approached with their wands. They had started out at 50 meters each, but had moved in. Glancing between the two, Ari hummed to herself in thought, watching as they moved. The man was much quicker while Kitana strolled without a care in the world. As they came within 30 meters, Ari loosened her Flying Carpet and took to the air, lifting herself up to 30 meters just as Kitana cast Heat Eruption and responded by moving until she was flying above the two, directly between them, and murmuring to the rukh and casting Lightning Strike atop her first romantic partner. Keeping a height of 30 meters, Kitana and Zan were each about 15 meters on either side of her.

Her height allowed her to also avoid Zan Chang Yuen’s attack and she used the ability linked to her Emerald Jelly Staff to summon a 10 meter slime directly in front of the man, directing it to attack him. Behind the slime about 11 meters, she wasted no time in asking the rukh to form a Swollen Fester, the ball of magoi hidden behind the slime, aimed for Zan.

[Magoi 200/300]

Abilities Used:

Opponents:

Kitana grit her teeth as Ariella had flown and escaped from the destruction of her spell. Losing no time, she immediately responded to Ariella's Lightning Strike with a Flameblast; the ball of fire clashed with the lightning and the two spells broke each other apart, causing electricity-filled flames to fall to the ground in a shower of light. Looking up at Ariella, she knew that there was only one way she would be able to catch her on a Magic Carpet. She shot a narrow gaze towards Zan Chang Yuen, just in time to see him handling his own problems from the female Magician.

Zan Chang Yuen was engulfed in the flames from Kitana. That bitch. The thought came through him as both he and his borg were blown to the side by the strength of the spell. When the rubble went down, he saw Ariella casting a spell, preparing an additional attack against him. Frowning, he gauged the distance between the two while simultaneously casting Gravity Lift, Stage 2. The spell was just in time to send him back by a little more than ten meters away from his position while staying close to the ground, outside of the range of her Jelly. Consequently, he was also outside of the range of the Swollen Fester. Looking up to the woman in the air, he sighed. There was going to have to be some tricks to play, here. A magic carpet was not something that would be easily caught up to.

Kitana was internally relieved as she watched Zan Chang Yuen avoid the two spells by Ariella. Though he likely knew nothing of the second spell, his decision to retreat a few steps was the best one due to its efficiency. She called out to him, though she truly did not wish to. "Zan Yuen! We'll have to work together to get her! Send some of your wind magic my way!"

The second magician snorted, disliking the thought of working together with Kitana, but knowing he had little choice otherwise. He worked his way over to her, attempting to stay outside of Ariella's dome of influence by keeping a 40 meter distance between himself and her. If she attempted to close the distance, he would shoot straight for Kitana; it was better to be closer to a prospective ally when working tandem spells, than further.

OOC:

Zan Chang Yuen: Damage: A-Tier(No borg) Magoi: [240/300]
-Wind Cutter 4 more posts
Kitana: [220/300]
-Heat Eruption 6 more posts
-Flameblast 7 more posts

Zan Chang Yuen starts out 27 meters away from Kitana at the end of this post.

Ari scowled to see the Wind Magician move out of range of her initial onslaught of attacks and moved immediately to focus on Kitana as Zan moved away. Ari flew at an angle until she was 10 meters high and within 5 meters of her ex-lover. Wasting not even a breath, Ari immediately cast Swollen Fester at the Fire Magician to home in on Kitana, immediately following this with Lightning Strike, accounting for any movement on the part of the Fire Magician. Without waiting to see if these abilities would be interrupted, Ariella followed them up with a 5 meter Slime to chase Kitana.



[Magoi 140/300]

Abilities Used:

Kitana's eyes widened as Ariella shot towards her. Quickly bringing to mind her repertoire of spells, she created a Flame Lance which she shot towards Swollen Fester. The spell only seemed to be partially effective, and the woman quickly brought up her 9 Rings of Hell, the rings gyroscoping and burning through the Magoi from the spell. Unfortunately, this left her out of options for the next two incoming attacks. Using Gravity Lift, Stage 2, Kitana attempted to fly away from the incoming attacks, but her speed was nothing to compare against the powerful spells brought to the foreground by Ariella.

The Lightning Strike broke the woman's borg, and the Slime consumed the woman within its gooeyness, dissolving her slowly. A judge quickly intervened before her death, canceling out Ariella's spell, but not before the effects caused the woman's ex-lover to pass out from the pain.

This left Zan Chang Yuen, who cursed under his breath. Though he was still using Gravity Lift, Stage 2, there wasn't much he could do here. He had immediately pursued Ariella as soon as he noticed that she was attacking Kitana. Unfortunately, in the course of one and a half seconds, Ariella had already finished his combat partner. There weren't many combat spells he was prepared to use, especially not many that would catch up to her. He had only one effective choice. Being 25 meters away from Ariella, Zan Chang Yuen immediately cast his Whirlwind spell, creating a tornado of air and sending it forward to strike his opponent.

OOC:

Kitana: Defeated
Zan Chang Yuen: Damage: A-Tier [185/300]
-Wind Cutter 3 more posts
-Whirlwind 7 more posts

As soon as the teacher interfered, Ari spun to look at Zan, cursing when she saw the spell headed for her. Without a thought, she cast Gravity Lock as the spell came close, not fully pushing the other spell down, but weakening it enough that the remaining effects simply licked harmlessly at her borg. As she began to lower herself to within 7 meters of the ground, Ari gulped down her Potion of Rejuvenation, feeling the refreshing effects wash over her. She sped closer to Zan, making sure to never come closer than 9 meters to him if he were to pause. With a quick flick of her wand and a murmur to the rukh, Ari cast Cimej Ball to chase after the man before following it with Dissolving Strike, the crackling field of lightning forming directly around Zan. She did not want to harm Zan, the man was simply performing a task of the Academy. She would if she had to, but her vicious approach to Kitana had been personal.

[Magoi 215/300 : 140 – 15 + 150 – 30 – 30 = 215]
[Cool-downs:
Swollen Fester | 7 Posts
Lightning Strike | 7 Posts
Slime | 7 Posts
Potion of Rejuv | Removed from Inventory]

Abilities Used:

Opponent:

When Zan Chang Yuen knew that Kitana was out for the count was when he knew that he was finished, himself. He had exerted quite a bit of strength in his attempt to keep up with the woman, yet even though he tried his best he was lacking in fast offensive might. While flying with the assistance of his Gravity Lift, Stage 2, Zan Yuen caught sight of Ariella's attacks and brought up a wall of wind through the spell Wind Wall. The wall boxed around him perfectly, and resisted the onslaught of spellcraft that struck it, shredding the foundations of the spells by pushing them away with a superior force.

He would need to wait a while before he was ready to attack again... Yet the woman who he faced was extremely aggressive in her fight. Knowing the difference in ability, the Wind Magician flew to the ground and put his wand away, forfeiting the match. "There is no need to continue this fight. Your victory is assured, as I am unable to continue the fight." The match was over, and Ariella had obtained the right to include herself among those of the first Kodor.

Zan Yuen watched Ariella for her reaction.

OOC:
Kitana: Defeated
Zan Chang Yuen: Damage: Defeated (A-Tier to the Borg) [130/300]
-Wind Cutter 2 more posts
-Whirlwind 5 more posts
-Windwall 7 more posts

Ari allowed the carpet to come to rest on the ground, her heart racing at the words of the other magician. She had been certain when she began that she would lose and yet, by harnessing her anger, she had managed to defeat at least Kitana and scare her other opponent into defeat. While she took no joy in defeating Zan, the man had fought well and had been a worthy opponent, her defeat of Kitana had her nearly overflowing with happy thoughts. She had forgotten just how much anger she had harbored for the heat magician and their past together.

She gave Zan a deep bow of respect, thanking him.

“You move as quickly as your magic type preference, I commend you for avoiding my attacks. You were a worthy opponent. I only hope the next time we meet, it will be on the same side.”

She would wrap the carpet up securely after that, tying it around her waist before making her way off the Examination Grounds. She would see Adius and Vin at home and she had no desire to check on her ex-lover.

The match was over and the purple haired woman won. Easily it seemed, too. Her borg was in tact which was rather amazing to Zadi as she had never had her borg stay intact after a fierce battle, aside from his very first magic battle against Yakuroro in which it was just a spar, to some degree. Anyway, Zadi felt he needed to ask her some questions seeing as she was not only skilled enough to battle two other magicians of the same caliber but also wipe the floor with them. She of all magicians would know something about Magnostadt's absence of information concerning the black rukh. Though, Zadi hoped that she would say something other than "there is nothing that you don't already know" or something similar. Just saying that there was SOMETHING worth reading about would help out Zadi tremendously! Zadi flew out of the arena (Gravity Lift) to greet the kodor champ and attempt to start a conversation;

"WAAAAIT! I want to talk to you!"

260 Magoi/Stamina

Tech(s):

Ari arched a brow as she heard a female voice yell out after her, asking her to wait. Turning to look at the female magician, Ari tugged a friendly smile to her face. She had been eager to get home and cleanse herself, feeling dirty for succumbing to the Academy’s ridiculous expectations but still feeling like she had proven something to herself. She now knew for certain that, while she despised the Academy’s rules, she had accomplished what she had failed at before. Giving the other magician a once-over, she stopped walking and turned to greet her.

“Hello there. How can I help you?”

She would then resume walking, though at a much slower pace as an unspoken invitation for the other magician to follow her.

The purple haired woman kept walking as she agreed to listen to what the crazy blonde had to say. Zadi was rather relieved to know that she was a decent person. After such a match, Zadi would probably end up ignoring a random stranger's cries for attention. Anyway, zadi stopped his Gravity Lift spell after getting next to her and walked with her, slightly in front and looking back towards her;

"Thanks for stopping to talk with a lowly 2nd kodor such as myself, hahaha! Anyway, I'm new here and I was thinking of studying the black rukh. Since you seem to be a rather studious magician, I was wondering if you could tell me what Magnostadt knows of the black rukh. It probably isn't much because I haven't found a lick of pertinent information on the black rukh other than 'they exist' and such. Please, anything, even simply pointing towards somewhere would help me tremendously!"

Hopefully the purple haired magician would take kindly such a request. The only other people that Zadi could go to were the teachers, but since classes haven't been assigned to him just yet, it would be difficult to ask a random instructor for such seemingly feeble information. Could make Zadi look stupid!

Ari listened to the words, brushing off the comment about speaking to a “lowly” Second Kodor student.

“This place focuses too much on Kodors, honestly, but I am happy to help if I can.”

When the woman began asking about black rukh, Ari’s face went completely neutral. It wasn’t that there was not information available, but it was fairly limited. Ari thought back to having to explain to Lagi about the black rukh and how he had been completely clueless. She stopped walking for a moment before moving over to a small park with not many people nearby. The topic certainly wasn’t taboo, but it also was not common. Ari wondered about the other magician’s interest in the darker side of the gift but pulled a smile back to her face.

“You will not likely find anything in the Library about it, mostly due to the fact that, while they have somewhat isolated a tentative cause for it, they don’t understand the actual source of it.”

She tapped her fingers on the head of her staff, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the woman.

“I don’t mind sharing what I know, but I am curious as to why you are asking. My entire family, aside from me, has been a teacher here at some point and have connections to things the students do not have access to. There are typically two types of people inquiring about black rukh, those who want to eliminate it or those who wish to experiment with or exploit it. Which category do you fall under, it may help me point you in the right direction.”

Ari knew there were at least two Instructors that had been looking into ways to exploit black rukh, the Chancellor had demanded they refrain from publicly airing any information they found until they were able to prove something, hence the lack of literature on the topic. There were also several Instructors that found the idea of black rukh repulsive and vile, against the flow of Fate and thus worthy of extermination. Their own studies had been about as revealing as the two that wanted to exploit it, though neither group had come close to identifying the actual source of the tiny black birds that were generated when one rejected and cursed their Fate. Ariella had come across her own experiences with the black rukh, cursing the life she had been born into often enough to at least spark the generation of the darkness. Luckily, she had found a sense of purpose and direction in her life and it had been almost a year since she had last witnessed the flutter of black birds around herself. She wondered if the blonde woman was hoping to identify and eliminate black rukh or if she was wanting to further the study of the origin of the darkness.

Exploit!? The black rukh can be manipulated!? Such thoughts never occurred to Zadi as his sole goal was to eradicate the black rukh! However, knowing that they cannot currently be exploited relieved Zadi a little. Perhaps someone was keeping a secret though, but for the now, if the public didn't know about the exploitation of black rukh, Zadi felt that nobody else did. It is preposterous to think like that, but Zadi needed to relax his mind. Anyway, Zadi felt answering truthfully to someone she just met could cause her trouble in the future. Therefore, she would half tell a truth and half tell a lie;

"Exploit it? Hahaha! I didn't even know such a thing was possible! Erhm, excuse my laughter. All the same, know that doesn't deter me from my original thought process. I've been attempting to find the source of the rukh and go even further by finding the source of the source. And yes, that sounds rather silly, but if one were to find the source of the black rukh, then why not the creator, too? Could be possible that he, she, or it also created the white rukh!"

Complete bullshit, but it sounded plausible enough. Zadi just needed to real in the catch;

"I admit that it would be safer to study the white rukh seeing as black rukh, from what I have already gathered, cause trouble in the long run. But the existence of the black rukh is rather new and therefore the source would be easier to pinpoint. Oops, enough rambling on my part. In case you forgot from all my rambling, my answer is simply to experiment with the black rukh. What can you tell me if you don't' mind my asking?"

Ari frowned at the rambling, giggling tone of the woman. The blonde magician was not being very subtle in her avoidance of Ariella’s question, everything about her behavior seemed… off. Ari sighed, and shook her head. The woman’s explanation sounded like a story concocted by a toddler to hide who broke the family vase.

“I’m sorry, but I refuse to risk the trust of these Instructors by sending them some disingenuous student. You haven’t even given me your name, not that I expect you would give me anything close to your real one at this point. Experimentation tends to lead to things like the disaster in Heliohapt, so no, I won’t help you if that is your intention. I had a friend see first-hand exactly what destroyed half of my grandmother’s homeland and the man responsible and I won’t help anyone that, in their foolishness, might recreate such a horrendous thing. Perhaps once you have studied enough to understand the force you wish to ‘experiment’ with…”

She keenly remembered Lexiara telling her about what had happened in Heliohapt with the Contractor using a combination of black and white rukh to create a monstrosity out of an innocent child. She also remembered meeting the result of that experiment in the mountains north of Reim, the conglomeration of a Djinn, an artificial life form and a child creating some unfortunate combination that was rarely sane.

She idly wondered if Yakuroro had made any headway in capturing more of the Torran relics that would help to undo the damage done by the Contractor. Perhaps she could send this woman on a quest to find the pieces that would help turn the abomination back into a human boy. No, the woman already seemed evasive and secretive, if Ari could not get a straight answer out of the other magician, she certainly wouldn’t be putting her in contact with arguably one of the most powerful but unstable creations to ever walk this world.

It seemed that Zadi's indirectness at the beginning made things that much more difficult in search for Zadi's quest for knowledge and inevitable destruction of the black rukh. However, Zadi didn't let it bother him. Not like he took steps backwards. There were answers after all! Not from the purple haired woman but from the instructors. Zadi would just have to take her time and become an exemplary student in order to get the answers she desires. For the time being, Zadi would just push aside the negativity and study more magic skills in order to impress the instructors for the purple haired woman most likely wouldn't budge anymore. Rather surprising that she was still talking to Zadi, much less in her presence.

"Hahaha! No problem! I guess I should just ask the instructors directly once I make a name for myself. Apologies for bothering you after such an intense and rather lucky match- oh! Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. I'll be going noooow~"

Zadi accidentally slipped his subconscious opinion into the mix of words. Zadi knew that the match was fair and that luck wasn't something that existed within a magician's thought process, but something in Zadi's subconscious was bothered by the purple haired woman for not answering her question. Granted, the purple haired woman sounded hostile for a second there, but no the kind of threatening hostility that Zadi felt put him in danger. Anyway, Zadi left in hopes of getting in good with the instructors. Perhaps she would get stronger, too!

"Bye bye~"

[exit]

The abrupt change of attitude from the other magician made Ariella even more suspicious. When the word ‘luck’ was mentioned, Ari, grabbed the other woman’s arm with an arched brow.

“The only thing lucky about that match was the luck Zan showed in being able to scarcely avoid my attacks. A luck that quickly ran out. If you want to be a brat because I won’t give out sensitive information to a complete stranger that won’t even give me her name, then I doubt you will ever manage to get the information you are looking for from an Instructor. I would wish you ‘luck’ but I dislike lying.”

Ari released the woman’s arm before walking off, a smile tugging to her face when Adius and Vin approached her with happy shouts.

---

“What did that woman want?”

“Information on black rukh, I guess. But, she wasn’t very forthcoming with her reason for wanting it, would not even give her name, so I refused.”

Adius arched a brow, glancing back at the woman as they walked away. Ari seemed perturbed by the female magician’s request and he could understand why. While he was on the fence about his feelings towards black rukh, he had helped one other Instructor in their studies of the darkness. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the curious student, along with warning other Instructors. It could be potentially horrendous if the student fell in with the wrong crowd. Shaking away the thoughts, he smiled at his sister, gossiping with her.

“I think that was the student that opted for ‘dummies’ in their Kodor test. They did not even come close to impressing any students, let alone any instructors. They were… underwhelming.”

Ari snorted and shook her head. Instructors were difficult to impress, she knew that from personal experience. At least she could be comforted by the idea that if the random magician was always so awkward and obviously dishonest in all of her dealings, then she would not get far in her investigations. All of the Instructors studying black rukh were paranoid by necessity, the Chancellor attempting to restrict as much information as possible, to ensure that only factual information on the sensitive subject was available.

Shaking out her flying carpet, Ari waiting for Adius and Vin to climb aboard before pointing it for hime. Smiling broadly at her brother, she chuckled.

“Hey, this carpet saved my life in the Exam, brother. Many thanks. I kind of froze up and got stupid at first. Luckily, the venom of my x was readily available to piss me off and smarten me up.”

Adius chuckled as they flew towards the estate, Vin clinging to the side of the carpet, watching things zoom by beneath them.

[exit]