*COMPLETED* Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“I know you will... Thank you.” Kurui was relived to see that Colt seemed to have some idea what she was going through right now and wasn't going to fight her one this right now. She had had no intentions of going with him right now, and had he chosen to keep making her, they might have drawn some attention with their argument and had the whole thing blow up in both their faces.
“I'm... I'm sorry there's not more I can do to help... I'm protecting someone too right now...” It was as close as she could muster up of an apology or goodbye, but the another idea hit her.
“Wait! If... if the others don't make it... take this.” she tore off a piece of her notes she had soaked in the goblins blood earlier, being careful to avoid any parts with her own writing on it that might prove she had helped him “It's not much, but if there's anyone you trust, a commander, a noble, whatever... if they don't believe your story this might help just a little. I mean... it doesn't prove Black was here or that this is Syndicate territory... but it's obviously not human or animal blood. It might get them curious enough to check it out. The Academy might look anyway after their students go missing, but whoever they send will probably be in Black's pocket already. Please... get some help though, don't try to take these people on by yourself.”
With that she let him go, staying in her cell for a few moments longer until he had time to slip away, and she time to wipe away the signs that she had been crying, before coming out herself and waiting outside near the door... waiting for someone she would be far less happy to see this time...

As she waited for Black to come back, a group of soldiers passed by her in the meantime, having probably been only seconds away from catching her and Colt earlier. Part of her mind registered them as a threat... but part of her didn't care. If Black was even halfway honest about her being some kind of equal to him, then they were in no position to be questioning her freedom right now. Besides, in comparison to Black, they didn't even scare her all that much now. It was only when one of them started speaking with lewd intent that her eyes sharpened in on them and she started to chant a spell in case they tried anything. Before she had gotten through even the first word though, another in the group had stopped the “eager” one with the threat of Black finding out. As much as Kurui hated Black right now, this act impressed her. There was even a feeling of “security” almost to be under the “mantle of protection” his mere mention and reputation brought her. For just a moment she saw in one of the soldier's eyes the kind of nervousness nobles had always been able to get out of her... and it felt ever so slightly satisfying to see them back down and continue on their way without so much as a word from her. “At least Black doesn't like to share. A shame he's a rapist bastard or I might actually like that in him...”

There would be no other interruptions and Black would return soon afterwards. Kurui would find her escape would get a slight reaction from Black, but not enough to make him question it too much beyond a quick comment. “Good, keep being impressed with me. No need to check it out and see the hilt marks. Nobody was helping me... at all.” She would steel her voice to complete the illusion, sounding not so much defiant as she would matter-of-fact'ish about the whole thing.
“Sorry to ruin your chains... you didn't exactly leave me in the most comfortable position though. These burns aren't going to heal if I don't get good blood back in my arms. Besides... you're right. I didn't run, even though I had the perfect chance. Consider this an early “test” for at a cheap tradeoff.”
She would make no further attempts at anything that might be considered defiant, and would follow his commands to leave with him afterwards. She would make her best efforts to hide her fear, although she WOULD tense up a little at the feeling of his hand on her shoulder. As they got closer and closer to the surface though, she would gradually calm, her breathing betraying a sense of relief at FINALLY being closer and closer to being out of the mine. The fresh air, sunlight, and even sense that she had somewhere to run all putting her at ease on the most subconscious of levels in addition to the most surface ones. Soon they would be out completely and at Black's coach for the ride back.

The carriage was quite impressive and luxurious, and Kurui actually felt someone weird to be riding in something usually reserved only for nobles... but such wasn't enough to make Kurui comment yet. She was still very much under the effect or Black's “aura” again, although less so than before now that she had seen the other... more “base” side of him. She would wait for him to speak first though, which wouldn't happen until they were already inside and well on their way back.
Kurui would find herself listening intently to Blacks explanation of how her new “lessons” would be handled. The terms wern't actually too bad sounding. She almost wondered how effectively she would learn with just two hours a day -maybe three- but was relieved to learn it wasn't an amount of time that might look suspicious or be hard to explain away. His part at the end though though, about her having to “surprise” him felt like a challenge... a comment she needed to address right now to keep up the appearance of resolve.
“Ok... you want a surprise?”
The coach they were in was large enough that there was actually a “table” of sorts in the middle that sat in front of them now. Wordlessly she reached into her satchel and pulled out the Falenium, setting it down for him to examine for a moment before speaking.
“Maybe I'm not as content with mediocrity as we thought.”
It was an impressive sample and she knew it. Cut and polished it would possibly be one of the most valuable items in that shop her and Rythe had visited earlier.... and she already knew Black was aware she hadn't even had the full planned 5 hours to find it.
“I hope you're planning on letting me keep it. I don't exactly have the resources of a noble to get another one like this the way you do.”
Whatever she was saying, the crystal was the one part of this trip, besides her survival, that had become a point of pride to her. Although she feared Black might take it if he knew as much. She would stay quiet for a few moments again, giving him more time to examine it if he wished, before working up the nerve to speak again.
“So what's the story when we get back? I do imagine you have a plan to explain so many of us going missing. It's not exactly something nobody is going to care about. Or did you maybe leave the two groups with Academy Monitor escorts untouched so your whole class besides me isn't gone?”
She was fishing for information about Rythe and the others, but kept her voice as businesslike as possible the whole time, even a little submissive and deferred, despite the fact that she wasn't using honorifics to address Black either out of hate for him or a seriousness about the “equals” thing.
“Don't get me wrong. I'm not calling your plan bad and I'm not making threats. I'm not foolish enough to think you wouldn't catch any of my attempts to cause trouble and make good on your promise before disappearing from the Academy even if I did somehow succeed... but if I'm going to play along and be “obedient” I think I should have something to say if I'm asked about it besides an awkward silence. Your first “lesson” has no point if you don't teach me what I need to know to use it...”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"I... I got it," Colt said in response when Kurui handed him the blood-soaked sheet of paper, which he promptly put away before turning towards the doorway. "I won't try to take them all on, I promise. I'll find someone that'll help us for sure. Just... stay safe. We won't leave you alone for long," he promised in his most serious tone yet. With that, he was gone.

~~~~~​

After Black had laid down the terms and conditions of their new 'contract', he left it at that, his body language illustrating that he didn't even require an answer from his new pupil, but the man got one anyway when Kurui set her prized find down on the table in front of them, making quite a statement with that simple presentation alone. His cold eyes settled on it for a moment before returning to meet the girl's.

Mr. Black raised an eyebrow at this, with a half-smirk forming upon his face, though it was difficult to gauge whether this was a form of mockery or a communication of how impressed he was. "Oh? Quite a sample of elemental crystal, that is. But even the most unremarkable of students would surely notice this and want it for themselves, if they were to only spot it. So, if you weren't aiming high, you were probably fast... if nothing else." Reaching forward to pick it up, he examined the shard carefully, noting the intricacies of the swirling patterns within.

Though his voice carried a rather flat tone at first, he did lighten up on it before Kurui had the chance to exhibit any strong reactions to his words. "Still... I suppose that does say something about your level of ambition, considering how rich that mine is, as most would have settled for practically anything embedded in the rock. If you were simply looking to impress me with this find before understanding the true nature of the field trip, then I'd say you certainly would have." Taking a deep breath, he set it back down on the table for her to retrieve if she wished.

"While the primary composition of this shard is indeed Falenium, it has trace amounts of Sarelium deep within--a relatively young mineral, as far as the textbooks are concerned, which has connections to ice magic. If you are to have any hope at all of one day being my successor, you will learn to work with this. It is yours," he explained in his usual serious tone. "But don't take this as a gesture of my generosity. Just remember, you are mine now, and in extension, all that you own. I am merely providing the tools by which you can better learn and thus be further ahead of the countless drones in my class." He set a hand upon her lap, bringing about a most unsettling feeling that had the girl feeling as if he would 'make use' of her a second time, perhaps bending her over the table and having his way while the carriage was in motion. At this point, it wouldn't be beyond his capabilities, after all, and even the slightest touch from the dark-haired scholar served as some kind of terrible reminder to such a fact.

However, he did no such thing, merely being content to sit there beside her for now, though he responded after her next inquiry. "During the next class session, which is tomorrow of course, you will see a large amount of your classmates present. The cave-ins didn't take all of the students, but rather, just enough. You see, even just ten remotely competent Academy mages can harvest quite the amount of crystal over a day, given enough... 'motivation'. It will be written off as an unfortunate accident, as those who weren't trapped immediately were ushered to the outside with no interference from those idiotic goblins. Naturally, I'd be under some suspicion for a strange occurrence, so the Royal Constables will arrive to do an investigation of the case, part of that involving a brief questioning of the class as a whole." His explanation came matter-of-factly, showing that he wasn't bothered in the slightest by the notion of this inevitable outcome.

"Of course, no piece of evidence presented nor any amount of witness testimony from anyone in your class will do much, given who the detectives are in this case. While I'm sure some will have their suspicions, it won't do them any good without leverage. It goes to show that if you have the right connections, you can get away with quite a few things. But we already know that from the case of some of your classmates, didn't we? You know who I speak of. The ones that shouldn't be in the Academy in the first place, and yet are... thanks to their connections. The only difference is, I earned mine." He appeared rather smug about this, even forming a small grin just by mentioning it. "And yes, the Monitors' groups are completely untouched. Though, if anyone asks you, including your little friend Sienna... then this little agreement between us doesn't exist... at all. You managed to escape and return to Elynsor on one of the miners' coaches--worry not, their stories will match up with yours."

Finally, the vehicle slowed to a stop, and the gentle whinnies of the horses pulling it could be heard outside. The coach driver could be heard stepping onto the ground, moving around to the door to open it for Mr. Black and Kurui, allowing the Water Major to step out first due to their seating arrangements. Her stoic tutor followed, and the two of them arrived in Elynsor's inner district, where numerous manors and fancy houses lined the streets, showing the lifestyle here to be a far cry from how the vast majority of the city's inhabitants lived. Not far from them, past several well-guarded gates, was the Royal Magic Academy, where Kurui's dormitory waited for her, as well as a soft, cozy bed whose touch was likely missed now, despite it having only been a day--after all, it had been quite a long day indeed.

"I'm sure you know where to go from here," said Black. "But I will see you no later than the specified time tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Even without taking her crystal, Black, through luck or on purpose, still knew exactly what to say to belittle Kurui's accomplishment in the crystal she had found. The sad part was that this time she couldn't even argue if she wanted to. Even though her crystal WAS kind of hard to find and felt like it was pretty hard for her to free from the stone, she knew he still could have been right... anyone could have found one like this if they were lucky, and even though it FELT hard to pulse her magic through and release without damaging it, that may have only been because she was nervous and had never done anything like that before.
What felt like kind of a harsh blow would be lessened though by Black's mention of Sarelium traces in the crystal. Whether it was something of a compliment or whether the mention just piqued Kurui's curiosity, it made her retrieve the crystal and take a second look. “Tch... I still don't see it...” She hadn't been looking specifically for anything like that, in fact she barely recognized the word “Sarelium”, having only seen it a few times in books, and NOT the textbook for the class. She never exactly had the chance to get a “feel” for how the element reacted to magic either, having nowhere near the money to go to any of the good crystal shops and just experiment around with whatever looked interesting. All she knew when she was mining out this one was that it felt special. To Black's credit he did seem to know his stuff... although his final comments and creepy touch had to ruin the atmosphere and drive her back into silence again until she worked up the nerve for her next question.

“Understood.”
This was the only word she would initially say in response to Black's version of events she was to play along with, in addition to a small nod. To so easily fake that her classmates were dead felt weird, knowing they wern't and the story would mean nobody would bother to get help for them. “At least Rythe's group was fine... I don't have to worry about explaining to Sienna why she's not coming back.” Although this thought she just had stirred up slight ember of anger again. Some of it directed at Black, some of it jealously directed at someone else she would mention.
“The monitor groups were fine? All the effort I put into your class and you had to put me in the group where I almost died? I know you didn't have this whole set up with me planned from the start or else your soldiers wouldn't wouldn't have been so reckless with us... Yeah... I'm sure that spoiled bitch Odetta deserved one of the safe groups so much more.”
She coughed a bit and brought her voice back down to a more level tone. The part about Odetta had been viscous for her, she was even a bit surprised at herself for saying it out loud.
“Anyway, I hope you're as sure of this plan as you sound. I'm not pretending to like it, but there are a lot of people involved and if something goes wrong I'd rather you not assume it was my fault right away. After all, you're right about me having no leverage...” she was unsure of her leverage, she did still have what was left of her bloodstained notes, but the reaction Black had towards her crystal showed he hadn't looked through her stuff while she was out. Even if he had, he must not have considered them important to not immediately take them and destroy them. “... however I know I make the easiest target right now. I'm probably years away from asking you for assurances of any kind, but if you do anything to Sienna when I kept my end of the deal I'm going to be too hurt to care what else you can do to me.”
No matter his answer, she would initiate no further conversation for the rest of the ride back. The comment and following silence had not been meant as a threat though. In fact when they finally got back into city, even though she was closer to the door and let out of the coach first, she would stand aside and leave Black room to go ahead of her as soon as she was out. It was only when Black had officially “dismissed” her that she stopped staying behind him. It seemed for the moment, her dropped habit of using honorifics when addressing him was the ONLY signs of her fear, defiance, or hate to manifest itself noticeably.

~~~~~~~​

The walk back to the academy from where they had stopped would be a blur in Kurui's mind. Although Black didn't follow her per say, she still felt he might somehow know if she tried anything funny, and she made a straight line back, feeding the lie Black had told her to any of the gate monitors to ask with a passable amount of acting. She wanted to go see Sienna as soon as possible, but acting around her would be a lot harder and she needed some time to both take care of a few things first, and calm herself down. Her first act would be to head straight to her room and avoid everyone she could on the way there. It wouldn't be hard, after all, to the rest of the Academy it had just been a normal day and Black did a passable job cleaning her up earlier that she wouldn't draw too much suspicion.

Once up at her room she would immediately take the goblin blood sample, mining chisel, and one of the Siffulum crystals and hide them in a small box under one of the rooms floorboards. “Evidence... in case Black breaks his promise or Colt and the others start to bring him down... we'll see how much leverage I have with things that prove I was there and Void creatures were there.” Next she would set an old clockwork alarm she had to go off hours from now early enough that she wouldn't miss tomorrows “lesson. She never slept in particularly late anyway, but it was a precaution anyway. This finished, she would dig around in one of her bedroom drawers and find a panacea to help her burn, although the salve and bandages that had started it healing already and the sheer amount of time that had passed since getting the burn might make it less effective. That was OK, she just needed it numb the pain, her next next stop would be the bath hall.

Even though Black had her cleaned earlier, bits of dirt and dust clung to her, not to mention smells of sex she might have ceased to notice anymore. Not even counting this though, a good warm soak and hair pampering would ease her mind. She would have preferred it be like her late night sneak in here, where the bath hall was empty, but she new there might still be a few people around at this hour. That was was fine, she could still find a small pool away from everyone. It wouldn't be as bad as in the mornings.
Once she found one she would slip in. The water was kept warm during the day, but she would find herself opening a fire gate in the water anyway, heating it up to almost unbearable levels, the panacea numbing the feeling of the hot water on her burned wrists. She didn't even know her own reasons for this. Black had been “inside” her, she could only guess on some level that she wanted to sweat it all out like some kind of horrible impurity. Whatever the reason, she would be able to take less than 20 minutes of this, but that was fine, by the time she was done there would be no detectable signs left of the horrible day she had went through... except the red marks of her burns still. She would bandage these back up as soon as soon as she was dressed again. Her next stop would be Sienna. Even if she couldn't talk about what really happened... she could mask the truth... get some of it out that way. She needed to make sure Sienna was still there anyway.

“I wonder if Rythe is back yet... if Rythe told her about the cave in...” As she walked towards Sienna's room she started to feel the weight of just how difficult this would be. If Sienna thought she had died... started getting teary when she saw her... Kurui knew she might start crying too. She might start crying anyway when she was trying to get out how little she could without breaking Black's story and putting the Wind Major in danger. Already the memories of Dinn and Colt and Reius were already making her eyes water. “You'll get out of there safe... I know you will...”
She stopped back at her room on the way to retrieve her Falenium crystal and one of the Siffulum ones just in case. “Something positive... things I can impress Sienna with and talk about if everything starts to be too much for me... Siffulum is wind... that's her element... And my Falenium one is an achievement too...”
Seconds later she would be knocking on the Wind Major's door...

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

The dark-haired scholar didn't show any signs of distress at Kurui's questions while they road in the carriage, nor was he afraid of explaining his story in detail to her. "You would be correct. For the most part, the monitors' groups were the only ones guaranteed to be spared. Unfortunately, part of this operation was outsourced to the Military Division, of which they only had some of the lower-tier recruits available, so it wasn't run with the degree of precision that I'd have otherwise hoped for, in light of some of the Syndicate's... other operations. Thus, those who were actually captured in the confusion weren't necessarily on a list, per se, as even the worst of mages can at least do enough to harvest crystals. To be honest, I was content to sell off a fair portion of this awful class, and had no such intent of collecting a pupil to be my successor at some point. However, since you did so well to surprise me, it looks like I won't be returning empty-handed after all." He sounded rather smug upon finishing the explanation, keeping a hand on her nonetheless.

Her mention of Sienna only brought a sly look in his eyes, and he shook his head slowly. "No... in fact, consider your friend especially safe while you are under my wing, and obeying my commands properly. This is more dependent on your willingness to stick to your word. So long as you do... I think you'll eventually find our arrangement quite beneficial, in the end." For once, it was as if Black meant to sound somewhat reassuring, and that he was sincere, rather than disdainful or mocking. Either way, it wasn't exactly an easy thing to read, not in the way that the man's more 'primal' moments showed. This odd air didn't seem to last too long, quickly dissipating when the coach arrived at their destination.

~~~~~​

Kurui was able to pass by the gate monitors without little argument or even questions; after all, they did recognize her by the uniform she wore, and it wasn't so late that curfew would be enforced. The trip to her dormitory went without incident, and was rather quiet, given this time of the evening was often when students were either studying or having supper in the mess halls. Several other students only gave her looks in passing, though their eyes didn't linger for too long, hinting that there wasn't anything terribly wrong with her appearance, save for the missing muffler. Upon arriving at her room, she would find it to be the same as ever; peaceful, and yet stifling in its own way, the silence being the most unnerving part of it all. Though she knew there were others just next door, from the lights that could be seen when approaching the building, they weren't being particularly rowdy tonight. After the bits of evidence from her waist satchel were safely stashed away, she would then be free to visit the girls' bathing rooms.

At this time, they were mostly empty, save for a pool near the center with three chatty girls in them that Kurui didn't recognize. They paused their rather lively conversation as she entered, only to give her a semi-discreet glance, then resumed giggling and talking amongst themselves after seeing that the newcomer was only there to keep to herself for the most part. Whatever the topic was, it certainly didn't involve her, and this left the Water Major free to soak in a pool of her specialized element, which would soon be heated thanks to her conjured fire gate. This in turn helped ease her aching muscles and at least a portion of the accumulated tension from the undoubtedly stressful day. All in all, it proved to be very much a big part of what Kurui needed in order to shed the terrible thoughts of her recent experiences. While she cleansed herself in the water's nearly unbearable heat, any traces of her violator felt as if they left her, slowly floating off and away from her body. Perhaps it wouldn't wash the memories away completely, but at the very least, it would leave her feeling much 'fresher' physically, if nothing else.

After stopping by her dormitory to retrieve the crystals, the Water Major was cleared to make the trek to Sienna's dorm. There was an odd pause of several seconds after the first few knocks were made, and at first, it looked as if no one was there, but the door creaked open slowly, with the familiar blonde's face peeking from behind it. Only a second or two later, it swung open, almost violently, and there was Sienna, in her lounge clothes, who almost literally jumped with excitement. The cheerfulness upon her face was almost infectious, as was the tone she quickly took. "Oh, by Erion! KURUI! Hey, girlie! Welcome back!" She dove forward to grant the other girl a friendly hug before rambling on.

"Soooo? How'd the trip go? Get anything cool? I bet if you found a -really- nice crystal then Black would be pretty impressed, huh?! He'd have no choice but to give you a perfect score! Not that I'd expect any less from you, but just saying... I'm sure it'd be kinda nice to have some kinda future recommendations or something from such an esteemed guy! And not a bad-looking one, either; my teacher's just... balding. And he kinda stares at me sometimes without saying anything. Super creepy... ugh. So anyway, yeah, what's up?" After catching a break in her little run-on, Sienna finally went quiet for once, looking at Kurui expectantly, as if awaiting a most awe-inspiring tale.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Although Kurui never suspected Black of lying, she still smiled a bit when Sienna opened the door. Just the sense that something was going right for once was a small payoff for all her efforts, but enough to make her happy even after everything else today. When Sienna moved in for a hug, the feeling only intensified and she returned it, once again intoxicated by the feeling of someone who wasn't trying to hurt her. The warmth, the pulse, the breathing and voice of another human who cared about her was a comfort she had a weakness for right now... and right now there would be nothing threatening to ruin it. She wondered earlier if Black was trying to make her feel spite towards Sienna with his earlier comments... but she wasn't feeling it at all.

“I'm so glad you're my friend. I wish we had been born sisters.” Her voice was a little shakey, but was still... happy. Half of it was a mask... but half of it was real. “I guess Rythe hasn't been by yet, has she? I've... I've had a scary day. I think we all did. But I'm OK, come on. Lets go sit down.” she would move towards the bed and find a spot for herself, Sienna's room feeling oddly calming, despite the usual clutter. “This is the second time you've seen me all shaken like this, isn't it? My answer might make not so jealous of my class anymore. Black has some unbelievable... bad luck... he rubbed off on us.”
Her voice shook a little at her last comment, and she knew it might again as she tried to hide the truth. Kurui knew Sienna wasn't the best judge of people... but she had been wrong about the Wind Major before and there was always a chance she might notice something off in her story. She couldn't afford to tell the truth though, not now, she took a deep breath and prepared to get out what she could.
“There... there was a cave in at the mine, Sienna. Like an hour after we got there... there were tremors and stuff. The first one sealed our exit and it was too much for us to dig through... then when we looking for another exit another tremor happened... and... I got separated from everyone else.” her voice finally started to noticeably crack from the happier tone she was trying to keep up earlier. Even she didn't know she would react this badly to be retelling it like this, even though this version was a mask. “I... I don't know if the others got hit by the rocks. I think they were still alive... but they were trapped in there. All I could do was try to find another way out. I was lost for hours and so scared I was doing stupid stuff to get myself hurt and I swear I was seeing things that shouldn't even exist and... like the things in children's scare stories. I eventually found a way out and one of the miners gave me a ride back. God... I don't even know how many other groups got hit. I overheard the miners saying that the section Rythe's group and the other monitor group were in was fine... but thats all I know. They said they were trying to get help and tell Black and the Academy... but if people are hurt down there...” Her eyes were getting a little teary again, when she next spoke, though her question was masked, it would be genuine in it's own way. “Am... Am I bad person Sienna? I... I left them... the others in my group. We were supposed to get out together... but... I... I don't think there's anything I could have done... right? There was nothing I could do and if I stayed in there I might have died!”
She calmed her voice down and pulled herself back from the verge of fully crying.
“Sorry... I tried to calm myself down before I came up here. I took a nice warm soak and everything and hoped Rythe would be back and had already told you. I... I didn't mean to get like this.”
Now that it was finally out, even in this disguised form, Kurui felt as if a weight was at least partially gone now. Not completely gone, but enough that she could hold herself together now.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Sienna's eyes widened in surprise a bit at the first line her friend delivered upon parting from the hug. "W-Wow, hey! Are you...feeling okay, hon? Just saying, I haven't seen you this shaken up since that last time the whole thing with you-know-who went down... but hey, I'm always here if you wanna talk. And for the record, I think you'd make a way cooler sister than the ones I have now! Okay, hehe... I'm... prooobably a really terrible person for saying that. But still, I mean it." Gently placing a concerned hand on Kurui's upper back, Sienna ushered her inside, making sure to close the door afterwards. The usual clutter was, as always, still there, but there was enough room for the Water Major to walk and sit comfortably. "Mmmnope! Rythe hasn't stopped by or anything, but I mean, she doesn't always go out of her way to see me, what with her boyfriend and all that. So what the heck happened?!"

The Wind Major listened to Kurui's story intently, though, being who she was, couldn't help but to wear her immediate reactions on her sleeve. In sharp, perhaps refreshing contrast to Black's stoic, barely discernible expressions, Sienna's face changed with practically each turning point of the story. "What?! Ohmygods, did that..." Visible concern showed itself upon her visage, and she stared in tense anticipation, soon changing to a more solemn look as the story continued. But when Kurui appealed to Sienna with a more vulnerable expression, moreso than she had witnessed before, the girl from Aelwyck shook her head and hugged her tightly. "No! Gods, you're not... Kurui, listen to me. There's no harm in just watching out for you, y'know? Anyone woulda done the same thing in your place! I get why you feel that way, though, but really, don't... don't feel bad. I mean... all that stuff you did for me after the whole... you-know-who, thing... no one's ever done that for me before. And you didn't even have to. H-Heck, not even the guys I was with did a whole lot other than feed me those same old lines, without ever actually doing anything for me. Kinda silly, huh... You know, ya might not look it, but you're way too nice, I think... o-or maybe just to me. Either way, I'm just glad you made it back safe." She offered a genuine smile, at least for a few seconds, before a more muted expression of concern showed itself.

"But... you're okay, though, right? You're not hurt or anything? Gosh, I can only hope Rythe isn't, too. A-As messed up as it is for me to say, I didn't really know the people in your class too well, but I hope they get anyone who's trapped outta there soon." After a few moments, her voice went low, to a near-whisper. "I mean it though. It's pretty scary to think that kinda stuff can happen so easily, or something, so... just be safe. Okay? You know... my family... they still don't know about what happened to me, with... with all those boys. I feel like if I tell them, they won't believe me or will blame me for being so stupid, or flip out, or... -something-. I know I should be telling them, but... ah, it's kinda hard to explain. Eheh... god, I'm bad. Look at me, all talking about myself again when you're this shaken up. Anyway... sounds like you had a pretty long day. Poor thing." She patted Kurui on the back lightly, her touch proving to be one charged with genuine concern, despite her rambling.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Sienna had a strange way of being almost too forward and easy to read. In a weird way it bothered Kurui on the smallest of levels because she knew she herself was lying and hiding things right now... But then again, after Black and the soldiers and everything else from today, it also felt good to have somebody who was exactly as they seemed. This feeling overwhelmingly drowned out the others.

“I'll be Ok... I'm hurt, but it's just a little bit... I'll be OK.” She cast a quick glance towards her bandaged hands, although they wern't what she was actually talking about. “The others will be OK too. I'm sure Rythe's group just isn't back yet... but the last dozen or so days haven't been that great for us have they? ...maybe I'm the one with bad luck. Things did just happen so easily... but maybe there were so many things I should have been able to notice...” she was speaking more to herself than Sienna for a moment, but caught herself. “It's OK if you want to have secrets... I'm still sorry I saw what was on Teague's crystal. I wouldn't hate you if you had never told me though. I'll never blame you for any of it... even if your family sounds exactly like my parents. You're the only one I can really talk to right now... that makes me sound pretty sad, huh? I'm not going to let anything happen to you though... not as long as I can help it.
Sorry... I'm being creepy right now, aren't I? I'll stop in a minute... I promise. But... just let me sit here for a little bit. Sometimes... sometimes I need to feel sad and be weak for a little bit and it helps to not be alone for it. Just hearing someone breathe... feeling another person near me... You're doing a lot for me right now... but I promise I won't make a habit of this...”
Kurui would just stay like this for a few minutes. She wouldn't be crying, but it was obvious that the presence of her friend was immeasurably meaningful right now. Sienna's physical contact helping to heal mental wounds that almost betrayed that there was more to Kurui's story than she let on... but it was OK. Everything about it was OK and after a few minutes she would even look happy again.

“Hey... it's not all bad, I did get a few things before everything went bad? It's probably horrible of me to say this after everything that's happened, but want to see?”
Kurui would then pull out the crystals she had brought with her.
“Heh, this is the one I got for me. I think it might possibly be the best one of my element in the mine. But this other one is Siffulum, it focuses wind magic which is your element. None of the rest of us were wind majors so I started trying to gather few. I wish I had gotten one as good as my element's crystal... but things went badly before I had time... but hey, if you like it I'll let you keep it, as a thank you for dealing with me and my random breakdowns.”
She smiled and was serious about the offer. While she had originally wanted to sell the Siffulum, she still had the other one to sell if she REALLY needed to. Even if she didn't, a bit of spending money wasn't as good as this would be, Black might even give her what she needed to make a nice staff out of her Falenium like she had wanted anyway. She felt no regret at allowing Sienna to take the Siffulum and experiment around with it or do whatever else she wanted.
“There... this helped after all.... now she won't worry about me too much tonight and this meeting won't end with both of us being depressed. One less thing keeping me from sleeping well after this... tomorrow is going to be a busy day...”
She would stay with Sienna for awhile more, a bit more than an hour maybe, to wait and see if Rythe would eventually come back, but had plans to get too sleep early after that. She would be waking up a bit earlier than usual for her meeting with Black... but also she needed all the sleep she could get after this day and didn't care one bit if the sun had barely just gone down yet...

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Y-Yeah... tell me about it. It's kinda like all the bad things that could happen in a whole year just decided to set up shop in this week alone, huh? But if that meant that the rest of our school year goes by without a hitch, then I'd feel much better about it all... man. If only I had some kind of wish-granting charm, or something! I'd SO use it. We'd never have to deal with anything like this again."

When the topic about the crystal came up, Sienna closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. "N-No... it's no big. Even though I do feel kinda awkward that you had to see me like that, a... aheh. Never thought I'd have another girl witnessing my uh... y-y'know. Anyway." While she looked rather uncomfortable on the outside, a slight blush upon her face, it was just like the bubbly blonde to try and lighten the mood, a somewhat predictable habit of hers. "And no! Ehehe... I mean, you did catch me off-guard back then, like, I didn't expect you to really open up to me and stuff, but I think you've been through a lot. Sometimes I wasn't sure if I was annoying you or not, before... but to have you tell me all of this now means so much to me, Kurui. I'm really happy you did."

Sienna gave her a light nudge. "And gosh, don't make it sound like you're so uncool or whatever! Kinda why I started bugging you way back when. You just had this very 'cool' aura about you, and I think everyone else knows it, so they were probably just too intimidated to try and approach you. But I just thought wow, what a waste it'd be if I didn't at least try to take the opportunity to meet someone like that, y'know? And I mean yeesh... look where we are now! ...Ehehe." She put a hand behind her head, wearing a slightly embarrassed look.

When Kurui presented her rather impressive findings, the Wind Major could only gawk, her eyes sparkling with awe. "Oh, WOW! Look at you! That's awesome! Geez, I mean... I've never even seen anything close to this in the shops!" She could only stare at the deep-blue shard, squinting a bit to take in the details of what seemed to be moving within. "Luckyyy! I mean... well not... you know what I mean! That's so cool..." Sienna would keep her most impressed look when the other two crystals were displayed for her. Her eyes widened when Kurui hinted that she could keep one, and naturally, she had to ask. "Are... are you sure? I mean... if you're okay with it. Oh, by Erion, thank you sooo much! You're the best!" She held it close to her chest before embracing the other girl in a most friendly hug, just in time for a couple of knocks to interrupt their moment.

"...Huh. I wonder who it is. I mean, it's getting pretty late, isn't it?" Slowly, she uncoiled her arms from around Kurui to stand up, carefully making her way towards the door and opening it in her usual, cautious manner--one that she had adopted since the Teague incident.

"Hey... you there?" came a familiar voice. It was none other than Rythe, who was welcomed in with a brief hug from Sienna. "Heeeeeeey! We were just... I mean, come on in!"

Rythe looked nervous as she walked in, a hand clasped to her own chest, and when she saw Kurui she almost froze. "K... Kurui! Oh god, are you alright?!" She rushed to the Water Major, making no attempt to hide her genuine concern. "When everything went down, I... I thought you were in one of the groups that was trapped by the cave-in... but thank Erion you're okay!" Rythe looked incredibly relieved afterwards, managing an almost tired-looking smile, though her eyebrows were still creased somewhat, perhaps from the lingering stress.

However, she did pause and blink a few times, with her eyes moving down to Kurui's bandages. "Um... what happened to your wrists?"

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui had an idea who was at the door before Sienna even opened it, not even counting the Wind Major's cautious manner about it. The caution at all struck her as a weird quirk. “I'm right here... nobody could really do anything even if they wanted too... and Teague is gone now.” Kurui found it difficult to think anything too badly though, after having just neared a point of crying only a few minutes ago herself.
"Looks like I was right, it IS Rythe. That makes sense though, in another half hour news of this thing is going to be all over the Academy. She wouldn't have left Sienna as one of the last ones to hear it.”

Kurui offered a smile and small wave upon seeing the Brunette.... somewhat surprised at the amount of concern the lightning major so visibly seemed to have had for her. She expected this level of worry from Sienna for sure, but not from Rythe whom she had only known a few days. It was nice though, she still remembered how indifferent they had been towards eachother when they first met, this right now was proof they had become real friends now.

“Oh this?” Kurui made a quick glance at her wrists, having been caught off guard by the Lightning Major's concern now that it had turned into a specific question. “Um it's nothing, don't worry about. I'm fine.” she answered hastily, followed by a short pause as she got herself back on script and spoke more normally. “When... everything happened, I got separated from my group and couldn't dig back through. I was in the mine by myself for a few hours trying to find my way out. It sounds stupid, but I got a little panicky and did stupid stuff that got me hurt a little, thats all. Some of those sections were dark and stuff and I could swear I thought stuff was stalking me and everything, but I was just freaking out...
Anyway, I eventually found my way out and told some of the miners what I could. They insisted I go back though and one of them gave me a ride back here. I guess they thought I'd just get in the way.”
She paused for a second again, as if struggling how to gracefully get out of this conversation. Her voice also dropped to the appropriate level of “depressed” next time she spoke.
“I... I'm not sure if anyone else made it or if they're even alive. I was trying to forget about it all right now actually. I'm sure they're fine though, they're going to get everyone out and us worrying about it isn't going to help. Sorry... if that sounds like I don't care. I really do... but it's been a bad day, I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, I promise.” She changed her expression ever so subtly to a glare at the last part, if Rythe suspected anything, it was Kurui's way of saying this wasn't the time a place for it. In a fraction of a second though the expression was gone and Kurui was putting effort into sounding more optimistic again.
“I heard your part of the mine was OK, but you look like you've had it pretty rough? Was Odetta that bad? Nah, I'm sure you still got something good anyway. Well, hopefully anyway, if they didn't rush you out of there as soon as the tremors happened. Heh, I bet the “princess” was freaking out worse than I was and wasn't even in danger. Seriously though, you don't have to tell us about if you don't want to, it's just good to see you here and know you made it out for sure.”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Oh... hmm. Alright..." Rythe responded somewhat slowly to Kurui's story regarding her wrists, a pinch of skepticism evident in her tone, though she didn't seem to want to dig too much further, at least for now. "But no, I mean, as silly as it may sound, when that section of the mines caved in, the first thing I thought about was your group, but our monitor was pretty quick to get us out of there once some of the miners started talking about how there could potentially be more tremors on the way, and what not... it was pretty awful." She took a deep breath, choosing a seat next to the Water Major while the blonde one remained standing.

"Whew... anyway, I didn't mean to dig too much, as I'm sure going on about this is probably just depressing everyone, but to be honest, I've never experienced anything THAT frightening, you know...? I just... uuuu... I'm mildly terrified of being trapped in places like those, so, even just the thought of being stuck there is enough to give me the creeps for a good while." The brunette hugged herself, shivering slightly at the thought.

"Either way, I'm just really glad you're here with us, and yeah, I'm sure they'll get everyone out at some point. I mean, there are tons of miners there, s-so... it'll be alright, I know it..." Rythe's uneasiness wasn't terribly easy for her to hide, despite her attempts at optimism. "But yeah, sounds good, we can always talk about things later if needbe, especially since you must be shaken up." She turned to Sienna with a somewhat apologetic look. "Sorry about that, Sienna... I'm sure I made things kinda heavy in a hurry, huh? Didn't mean to."

Sienna shook her head, waving her hands. "Nonono! You're fine! I mean, you two were the ones who went through all of that, so... eheh... I get it."

Rythe adjusted her outfit before continuing. "On a brighter note, however, I did find the appropriate mineral for the project! Not the biggest shard of Eronium, but whatever... I'm sure it'll keep Black satisfied for now. He can't really expect much when all of that happened, so." Reaching into her pack, she produced a small piece of a sparkling, yellowish mineral, its size comparable to the piece of Falenium that Reius had acquired at one point. "And there it is. I also got some tiny shards of other stuff like Netaldum, not really useful for me specifically but, it is money I don't have to spend. So I'm at least a little happy about that."

"Wow! Well, I mean, at least you two got SOMETHING out of it all," commented Sienna, who couldn't help but smile, keeping the crystal Kurui gave to her held tight against her bosom.

"That's true," said Rythe. "As for Odetta, she was... as bitchy as usual, like anyone would expect, and the boys still gawked over her regardless. I'll never understand it. But on the other hand, she did have to leave the cave empty-handed, and was huffing and puffing all about it the whole ride home. I won't lie--it did make me feel a little warm inside."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“Black better have been serious about letting us keep these. I got pretty lucky with my "something" from this trip.” she made a small nod towards her Falenium still on the bed, even though she knew the answer to her own question already, before dropping her voice just a touch. “It wasn't worth the tradeoff though. I'd trade us having all made it out in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even have found it if Dinn hadn't helped me and made me some platforms. I was actually starting to like everyone in my group...”
She paused for a second and then put some more energy in her voice again.
“I bet that bit with Odetta was hilarious though. I would've killed to see that. I guess none of the idiot guys had any time to find her something nice. Oh the horrible disappointment they must be feeling for letting get sad like this. It's OK though, they kind of deserve it. I understand that she's a noble and all rich and influential and all that... and maybe some of them would see getting her as a “conquest”... but what THEY need to understand is that when she ever does choose a guy, it probably wont be her choice. Her parents will probably arrange something for her for political reasons. I'd almost say I feel sorry for her... but living like a spoiled princess all her life makes it hard for me to feel TOO bad. Oh well... A shame Lanie wasn't in our class, I think I'd have loved to see her and her “fanclub” freak out even more.”
She finished up her statement with a joking tone before gathering up her things and heading back.
“Sorry, I think I'm going to try and get to sleep early tonight so I'll leave you and Sienna be. The caves took a lot out of me, you're not the only one afraid of them anymore after this. I swear I'm never going in a mine ever again. I don't think my body is used to this much fear and adrenaline, because now that it's over I feel like I've been through a war. I'll find you sometime after Black's class tomorrow though if nothing comes up and they don't question me for an hour or something.”

~~~~~​

When Kurui got back to her room, just threw her things down wherever and collapsed into her bed as soon as she had changed out of her uniform. She wasn't lying about how bad she felt, even if she had lied about everything she went through. Despite how bad her body felt though, sleep wouldn't come easy. She kept trying to remember Sienna's words about her not being a bad person... but it wasn't working.
“Look at me... here in my nice soft bed all warm and safe and unhurt. The others are still in that horrible mine right now... nothing but the hard stone... Reius and Dinn hurt and anything could happen to them at any minute. Anisse too... because of me. Colt comes back to save me and I tell him to go away... what the fuck is wrong with me? I'm a fucking whore, I abandoned them because I was too weak and scared and fucking stupid to do anything else!”
She would realize at this point she had started crying again, she desperately wished Sienna was still here... or even that she had a pet or something, something to just hold and help diffuse her stress right now.
“No... I didn't do this for me. I did it for Sienna. If... if I hadn't I would probably be dead right now. If I went back to the others, Black would just put more effort into finding me and find them too. I HAD to do this... for everyone. It's not fair... but damnit why am I worrying about this so much? What am I even going to do? It's not like I can load up on potions, buy a bunch of stuff from the enchanters shop, and go shutdown the whole mine myself! I'm just a student... none of us are that good... we're not members of the royal guard... I'm not some amazing royal paladin or sword master... I'd just get myself killed.
Damnit... Erion... if you're real, please get Colt, Dinn, Reius, and Anisse... out of there safely.”

Kurui was never the religious type. Although her parents had made her go to church with them every week as a child, she considered most of what they said to be children's stories and superstition. Although nobody could argue the effectiveness of their light magic and healers... the fact that they were so heavily shrouded in tradition and close-minded always made her skeptical of most of what they tried to “teach”. However right now, in the face of her overwhelming lack of control of the situation, all she could do was pray to SOMETHING and hope it helped.
“This whole thing with Black... maybe it was a mistake... thinking I can learn everything and use it against him some day... I should be a stronger person... take the risk and tell somebody... but I CAN'T! I can't because of Sienna. She's one person and Black probably has a dozen trapped right now... but I CAN'T do it! Please Erion... don't punish them because of me... at least grant me that much. Give me some kind of light to grasp onto...”

~~~~~​

Kurui would be unsure how long her mind played this desperate tug of war. But she would eventually fall into something that could be called sleep. It would be a dreamless unconsciousness... in a way worse than the nightmares that had woke her up the previous night. She would wake up early the next morning as she had planned, but she would have no memory or sense of time passing when it happened. Even though her body had desperately needed the sleep, and she would feel better than when she had fallen asleep, there would still be a lingering feeling of “sickness” and negativity that was worse than her usual morning grogginess. She would go through her morning routine feeling half-dead, the night's sleep being far more bare and “spartan” in terms of what her body needed than the actual refreshing sleep she wished she had gotten.

“At this rate I'll be about 15 minutes early even to Black's early "lessons". Resolve or not, this is ALL the extra time that bastard is getting out of me. Maybe if I'm lucky the Royal Constables will be questioning him and I can just slip away and say I thought it was unwise to be around for that. Maybe it will get me out of whatever extra “after class” stuff he might have planned too... maybe they'll already have arrested him... but somehow I doubt THAT.”
She would begrudgingly be sure to keep to her planned schedule and head out some short time later... hoping that her continued “playing along” might at least yield something interesting if it went according to plan.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

When Kurui stepped outside, far earlier than her usual routine, she would find the sky to be rather dark, as the sun still hid far beyond the horizon. Lanterns lining the paths to the Academy's various facilities would provide some degree of comfort from the darkness, as well as a marginal amount of heat, so as not to make the campus feel extremely hostile. Additionally, it was still wide open, at least compared to the claustrophobic caves that the Water major had spent the other day in. It was still somewhat chilly, however, and every exhale she took came out in the form of a visible cloud, making the entrance to Kurui's classroom building seem even more enticing than normal.

As she entered, she would find a sharp change in the air around her, from cold and slightly breezy to warm and stagnant, albeit a tad stale. However, physical comfort was still quite different than emotional security, and Kurui would be reminded of this upon seeing the door to her classroom, which was no doubt occupied by a man whose intents were just as lecherous as they were devious. Opening the door would reveal the fairly well-lit room, with only rows of empty desks and Mr. Black sitting at the largest one. He was busy jotting a few notes down in a small ledger, and would continue to do so for a few more seconds after his pupil entered. Finally, he turned his head to look at her, holding his usual expression for once, and motioned for her to come closer before standing up, walking to the door, and locking it.

"Good to see you here and ready to learn. It's time for your first lesson."
With that, he directed her to take a seat, at his own, large desk of all places, closed up his own personal notes, and stooped over her for a more direct personal, direct tutoring session. The lecturer retrieved a rather thick tome, one not recognized by Kurui in the slightest, that she could only guess came from his personal collection. He opened it to a bookmarked page before beginning. "Now, if you're to have any hope of one day exceeding even those at the top of your class, it'll take a great degree of diligence... and that much, I know you have. So I've decided to start you off with something relatively basic that even your peers don't care to learn. You see, the way graduation requirements work in this Academy is like so; applicants must demonstrate a degree of competence in channeling energy, then creating gates of five different elements in various sizes, with a minimum of a 'large' gate for their chosen Major. On top of that, they should be able to do cantrips in good time, degrees of control for their major, and so on... things I'm sure you're already familiar with. But I do find it rather unsettling that even many Monitors, alumni of this very Academy, fail to find the need to push the envelope in terms of their level of gate control. It's... such a basic thing, a foundation upon which this entire school is built, and yet so overlooked."

He turned to the next page, which showed various arcane diagrams, similar to maps. Some of it was incomplete, but it still appeared comprehensive nonetheless. "And your element should be... here. This is the Water Plane, as I'm sure you're familiar with. Mages such as yourself cast spells by 'opening' your mind to the realm beyond this one with a degree of focus and an incantation, and by doing so create a bridge, a tunnel through which the elements can flow into this world. In the planes themselves, or at least those that we study here, the 'pressure' is notoriously high, making it easy for elements to enter our world, and yet difficult for elements here to go in the reverse direction. Hence the maps you see here, and why they are so incomplete. Navigating them is extremely dangerous, likely not even meant to be traversed by simple human beings like ourselves, even in a spiritual sense. Just like with a gate, one can only 'feel' their way around a plane for so long. And yet quite a few intrepid mages have done it anyway, pushing that limit... though few have survived, unsurprisingly."

"At any rate, each plane has a most 'common' area, a portion easier to understand, memorize, and grasp, by which even the most inexperienced mage can create portals to. That is... all we require of our students, by our Academy's current curriculum. With access to, say, the common area of the Fire Plane, a mage can find great success in battle, helping win wars and such, or providing instruction to others, or even power an entire village in a place like Grem. They can go through an entire lifespan without knowing anything other than that area of the plane, and our institution is fine with that, because it is all they need to be considered 'practical'. And I suppose it is. But knowing that there is so much more to it, while doing absolutely nothing about it, is quite unsettling to me. Surely, one should strive for even greater achievement, don't you think?"

He turned the page to show another map, similar to the first, but with differences. "And as you might know, this is... well, also the Water Plane. Another layer of it, that is. The planes are not quite like our world, where there is just one ground. There are many, and the deeper you go, or rather, exactly where in the realm you go, can affect the very nature of what you pull through your gate. Especially in the Water Plane, which is, well... mostly composed of particularly cold water, there is much to explore in three directions. But the second layers and on are largely removed from our required studies, simply shoved away into the corners of the library, where only particularly studious ones, like yourself, have bothered to learn of them. Isn't that a shame..."

He released a lamenting sigh before continuing. "It is a subject with its own degree of controversy, however, since ice, which is mainly drawn from the Water Plane's 'second layer', requires far more focus, and the returns are arguable; better to flood out a situation with cold water than to saturate it with frost, or so many of the 'practical' scholars argue. I personally disagree. The more you familiarize yourself with the these layers, the easier it gets to open gates to them, with repeated, incessant practice. Time that many refuse to take, since being a mage in itself is considered quite a feat. But while the others obsess over the capability to increase the size of their gates to the common areas, truly skilled mages, such as myself, are aware that there are intricacies beyond sheer portal size that make an effective spell. This... I'm sure you're familiar with." The man raised his fingers to the Water major's shoulder, hovering them but an inch or two away as tiny arcs of lightning flashed between them. A tingling sensation could be felt upon Kurui's nerves, just beneath the skin. Soon, she began to feel flashes of various sensations, a puppet to the control exerted over her nerves; first pain, then pleasure. Finally, he stopped.

"This is possible for you, too, with enough practice. Most basic gates start off around the size of one's hand, and only increase from there. People tend to go by the old adage that 'more is better', but I would argue differently, at least in this case. For a Water Major like yourself, think of it this way. The same amount of water forced through a narrower opening can be even more potent, in its own way, when applied properly. So first, you open a small-sized gate... try it." Standing up, he fetched a large, thick wooden basin from one of the classroom's closets, setting it in front of her, so as to catch what might escape from her summoned rift. "Now... focus a bit more, and instead of widening it, close it. But maintain the same pressure--if you don't do so consciously, you may just end up with something utterly weak. It requires a bit of mental multi-tasking, so to speak, but I'm sure you can do it."

Instead of merely awaiting her performance, Black demonstrated himself first, mumbling a small incantation, then opening a small Water gate, letting it run for a moment before focusing further and closing it. Soon enough it narrowed to the size of a needle, and the sheer force of the stream began to actually bore through the wood of the bucket. He stopped before it went all the way, however, and closed the gate not long afterwards. The professor repeated this, except with five fingers now, forming a tiny gate at the end of each, holding it for a few seconds before stopping.

"Now, you try it. I'm not expecting utter perfection at first, mind you. Despite how impractical it may seem, at first glance, this is necessary. You'll need a high degree of 'gate control' to even comprehend some of my more advanced lessons."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“All that power and position and that creeper still wakes up this early. Geeze, the sun isn't even out yet, this is just unnatural. If I were in his position I'd sleep until it was too hot to sleep every day, not wake up when I can see my breath in the air.”
Kurui hurried across the empty campus on her way to Black's early lesson, the early morning darkness making it kind of creepy, but the nipping cold at least helping to wake her up some. It was too early in the year for heavier winter uniforms, but Kurui's regular one did little to protect from the cold and the best she could do was wrap her muffler's cloak around herself as she hurried along, eager to get out of the cold. However when she finally got to her destination, she would trade the discomfort of the cold for a new uneasiness that saturated the warm inside air.

Black didn't even have to do anything to start unnerving Kurui. Simply by ignoring her for a few seconds he made her nervous, however she suppressed the feeling and stood silently until he finished whatever business he was taking care of. Luckily this didn't take the whole 15 minutes of her early arrival time at least.
When Black did acknowledge Kurui, she was surprised to find herself invited to his own desk of all places. It was... in a strange way, a bit flattering almost. However what he did next would ruin the mood. She could only sit motionless as Black got up and locked the door, the whole time her gut telling to her to run while she had the chance but her brain telling her not to look alarmed. “It had to be the big desk, didn't it? You just HAD to make me remember the last time I was in a room alone with someone like this, Teague wanted to tie me down to a desk like this...” she bit her lip a little bit “Except that time I wasn't locked in and he couldn't have paralyzed me in a single spell. This had better not be what I think it is... even if there's nothing to stop you...”
For once, Kurui's paranoia would prove to be unfounded. When Black returned it seemed he would be true in his intentions to spend this time “educationally”, and not the same way as the mine trip.
At first, most of what he would explain to her was things she actually already knew. However, she listened intently anyway, focusing on the maps Black showed her even though she could already use Ice and had already seen ones like it to the point of memorization. She was unsure if Black knew this much about her already and was just setting up to rant about the “other” students in his class, or if he really thought she would learn something from this, but either way she followed with her eyes and nodded when appropriate. She would soon suspect it was the first one though, as the lightning mage then moved onto things that WERE kind of new to her... with another of his creepy demonstrations to start it off.

“H-haaahhh...”
Kurui would be caught off guard by manipulations of his lightning magic on her nerves once again. It started off painful this time, not enough to make her scream... but she was unsure what she had done to earn it. She had even tried to pull away, but the tingling she felt made her body somewhat... unresponsive. She could still hold herself upright and breathe, and wasn't stiff as a board, but the effort it took for even small movements was enough that she couldn't do it very well without fully showing some kind of panic or strain... things she didn't want to show in front of the puppet master toying with her right now. It wouldn't last long however, and it WOULD have a point of proving what he would say next about gate control. She would give a small relieved sigh when it was over, but she was well aware the spell was't simple “gate size” on it's own.
Although Kurui wouldn't know the specifics exactly, she did know gates were more than just “portals” into another plane. They were “tuned” to their element, even once it existed in this world, and able to exert small amounts of influence on it. Black's lightning had not simply gone into her body like regular electricity, he had ever so subtly nudged it where it needed to go to target her nerves, subtly “changed” it to have the effect she desired. Kurui could even do stuff like this herself with her own element, on a much lesser level. She could use her gates to keep a mist cloak around her, ever so slightly “bend” a jet of water to keep it on target, use the gate's influence to keep the stream held together, ect. Greater feats were possible. If one so desired, they could freeze water with their gate without ever summoning any, throw existing water in a jet with only their magical energy... however these were more taxing on the caster's body and energy... there was no point to making ice and throwing it when it already existed and a plane's natural pressure could help throw it for you... at any force you needed depending on the “shape” and “permeability” of the gate. It was easier to learn this for each element than learn the subtleties needed to “tune” to each one individually anyway. Kurui herself used lightning as a mental example, she currently had no feel for it's “tune” and control over it, not even on the small level she could do it with water, and found it too unwieldy for cantrips and other things like that, even though she could summon it and roughly aim it.
To further drive in this point, any “large scale” manipulations were more than most mages could handle physically. A fire mage couldn't deflect a fireball with a fire gate without the impact throwing him across the room. A lightning mage couldn't redirect thunderheads to protect themselves without collapsing... although Kurui HAD heard stories of warriors across the sea in a land called Honrai who could do such things despite not knowing how to summon their elements the way Elynsor mages did... who's bodies had been trained to the peak of physical perfection and who perfected techniques of mind and body to allowed them the fortitude for their bodies to do such things. If the stories were true, they could rip the fire from a torch and throw it at someone and other such feats. It was possible they were using spell gates of a sort, but Kurui knew it was pointless to ask Black, even anything HE would know would probably just be theory, as they were an ocean away and their culture so different it's not like ANY native of Elynsor would have any real understanding of it... and the stories could all be fake.
There were many ways to use the inner energy some called “magic” anyway... even swordsmen in Elynsor, who knew nothing about magic or gates, could perform feats that defied logic... striking with blades as hot as fire or seeming to cut the very air itself. No chanting, no visible gates, sometimes not even an element already existing to start with. Just amazing feats of focus and technique and mastery who's secrets were guarded by the great traditional schools of the sword. Of this she knew little, other than the prestige that came with mastering one, as she remebered Colt's comments about it the day before. She knew there were less than a dozen such schools considered “Great” though.

All of this was over Kurui's head right now. Fortunately, Black would not expect her to work with any of this just yet. As a “beginners lesson” what he showed her next and expected her to practice WOULD be simple gate control... although in a way she had never seen.
“That's... amazing.” Kurui would watch with a morbid fascination strong enough that she would actually compliment Black without realizing it. “Lightning is your element, right? ...and you can still do THAT. If it were water... you could probably do that strong enough to pierce thin metal... even if not... parts of a body aren't as strong as that wood and you were disintegrating it...”
Kurui wouldn't find it “impractical” looking at all, and was actually eager to try it for herself. However it would be nowhere near as easy for her as it had been for Black. She had no problem opening a needle-thick point in her spell gates... she did that earlier when she had made ice spikes. When she had made ice spikes earlier, she had allowed the pressure to push the gate open farther when it wanted, thus thickening the spikes in a tapering shape till the got thicker. Closing the gate would then taper the other end in the opposite direction. But HOLDING that point was like trying to thread the same needle in a howling blizzard. Too much force applied to a gates opening and she risked pinching it shut, too little and the pressure of the plane would push it open, and if she didn't keep up the energy to allow it to expand the magic would get spread too thin and the gate would collapse. As she started her own practice she would soon find everything had to be EXACT, and keeping that up for more than a fraction of a second wasn't something that would be anything short of extremely difficult without practice.

“I know it's not impossible, I just saw it... Tch...” she would occasionally let the frustrated expression out as she practiced. Her first few gates would either close shut or collapse in her hands as she tried. For nearly an hour and a half the only other words spoken would be her chanting a basic incantation for Aqua Blast... over and over again, with the occasional ice spell thrown in just to see if she could feel a difference. She would come nowhere near what Black had been able to do, but she wouldn't be a complete failure either. When she had first started, anything smaller than the center of her hand, the normal "size" of the gate for those spells, would either collapse after a few seconds or have it's shape quiver rapidly when she tried to squeeze it through a smaller gate at the same power. However, by the end of an hour and a half she had managed to focus the regular-sized spell into a stream the radius of a large'ish coin and hold it there for several seconds without too much “quivering” of it's size or gate collapse. She would finally decide this would be all her practice would gain her right now though, needing a short break before practice fatigue set in and made her start getting WORSE.
“Sorry... I'll practice more after class.” she would look to Black for a reaction, silent for a few moments before another question entered her mind. If he didn't shut her down with a dissapointed of angry reaction, she would brave asking it, in a voice more cautious and deferent than the one she had been using with him since the mine and low enough nobody outside of the door could hear.

“Hey... earlier you said you wanted me as a “successor”... why did you choose that word? I already asked why you chose me once, but back then I meant instead of the other students. This time... I want to know why you'd choose me instead of your own flesh and blood... I mean you don't look anywhere near old age or anything... and I know it's not beyond your capability to just take practically... anyone you wanted actually, willing or not. I guess I've never really put much thought into children, but I though someone like you would value your own blood for some reason. Maybe... maybe because I don't know enough about you and still see you kind of as a noble... but why force me into it when you could mold someone from birth to do the job and KNOW them capable of it because they're... "you" basically.”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Well... yes," replied Black flatly to Kurui's unintentional compliments. "I'm not so ignorant as to limit myself to any one study, so while Lightning is indeed my primary element, the basics of each are still within my capability. But this is less a demonstration of my abilities with the Water element, so much as it is a show of how useful and versatile a comptent degree of gate control can be. Once you grasp the more advanced aspects of it, you will unlock the full potential of each element's utility, particularly your own. Fire is no longer mainly offensive, nor is Earth necessarily limited to defensive strategy, with properly applied and shaped gates."

He then proceeded to watch the Water Major attempt to mirror his actions, remaining silent at first, with a hand cupping his chin. Though his demeanor was as cold as ever, just a glance back would tell Kurui that her personal tutor didn't actually look disappointed or annoyed at her repeated attempts to emulate his skill. If anything, he seemed distantly amused, even carrying the beginnings of a slight smile, though he didn't allow his expression to advance any further than that. After half an hour or so, he reached forward and grabbed her casting hand, as if to stop her from attempting it any longer. Finally, he decided to speak, lending a voice other than Kurui's frustrated mutterings to the situation.

"That's enough for now. Impressive, I must say... it seems like you have the right idea. I'd offer advice if you didn't already appear to grasp the basic concept, but this is something you can only truly get better at from hammering the routine into both your mind and body repeatedly, day in and day out. No amount of theorycraft will replace the daily grind required for cultivating such a skill. So, yes... actually, I am expecting that you practice this out of class on a regular basis. While you do have some talent for this, even the most gifted prodigy will not be able to manage these techniques without honest practice." Slowly, he lowered Kurui's hand to her side and released it.

He then produced several pages' worth of 'maps', copies of the Water Plane he showed to her earlier, then handed them to the student. "I'd also like you to study these thoroughly, as a deeper understanding of the plane you are aligned with is a must. Take them home, and look at them whenever you have the free time."

The next question she asked him elicited a one-sided raise of his brow, and even a faint smirk, but he answered nonetheless. "...Heh. The time and energy necessary to raise a child, properly at that, is not something I find myself particularly interested in. And by nature, I am not prone to doing things half-heartedly--doing that with my own flesh and blood, no less, would be a mistake on my end. Not to mention the inevitably immense expectations I would have of them would easily crush even the most stable child under all its emotional weight before they could even get started."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he then slid it down along her side, allowing it to settle on her hip. "But with you, perhaps I see it as more of a challenge. You see, I'm still not convinced that you can even come close to my level of genius... it is on -you- to prove me wrong, just as you said you would. I acquired my skills through a desire to show others what I'm made of, despite a relatively slow start in my youth, and so should you--that is, if you are to become my true successor. While I am indeed a noble, I feel such titles should be earned through achievement, not blood. Creating a dynasty only to pamper each following generation cumulatively tends to create the sort of incompetence you see in our government, as well as the Academy itself, as I've explained before."

"Heh... unless, that is an offer on your end to bear me a successor." Slipping his hand down along her outer thigh, he brought it back up and under her skirt, then inserted a finger beneath the waistline of her panties. Tugging at them suggestively, he added, "Either way, I'd like you to pull these down, and bend over the desk." He was firm in his command, taking a somewhat callous tone. "If not, I can always make you."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui would feel a pang of nervousness as Black stopped her from her practice. For a moment she thought she had been messing up too badly... that this interruption was due to some kind of disappointment or disapproval... something she absolutely couldn't afford right now. “I NEED to stay useful. With everything I know about Black and his plan... there's no way he's just going to be “yeah, sorry you're not good enough to learn stuff from me, go back to your life now and I'll leave you alone forever.” No... he knows I might tell someone and cause him trouble. It would be safer for him to just kill me... and not all that difficult for him.”
Luckily it was NOT dissaproval Black was expressing. Kurui let out a relieved sigh when she found out she had actually IMPRESSED him. She took no pleasure from the idea itself, as she had on the first days of class, but instead got all of her positive reaction from the fact it meant she was still living up to his expectations and still proving... useful. His “gift” of the plane maps a moment later was proof enough of this.

“I'll do that. Most of my free at night is reading anyway. I mean... I already know enough of the plane to draw out ice and various temperatures of water... but the maps I needed to learn that were always in older books, not the ones the Academy usually uses. They would always be in poor condition or incomplete. These ones are nothing like that though, they must have been hard to get. I'll take good care of them.”
She would carefully fold up the maps he gave her along the crease lines that already existed before she put them away, showing great respect to the item even if she hated him. Then she would brave her question about him and a “successor”.

It would prove to be a risky question to ask, as Black's suggestion of using her for the purpose came as a surprise she probably should have expected. Even if she didn't think he was serious, it was still bad to put him on this train of thought. But even before the suggestion and command at the end, he DID give her an answer... one that she found quite depressing for some reason.
She could never imagine having a child just to crush it with expectations and uncaring. It all felt so wrong. Kurui's own parents had high expectations of her as a child and wern't exactly the most emotional or touchy-feely, even when she sometimes wanted them to, but they had never come anywhere close to the level of abuse or negligence Black was so casually admitting he would. It was disturbing to hear such alien things she could barely imagine spoken of so matter-of-factly. The fact that the story ended with a reminder that Kurui herself was different in that she had to want this for herself was also disturbing, calling back the fears of what failing to show this might bring like she had just had in her practice moments ago.
Of course, jumping back to the present, the devious ideas she thought the question may have put in his head were the most disturbing of all. It shook her visibly, but she still tried to stabilize her voice when she answered.

“I don't doubt that you could make me... but is that really a good idea? So soon after this whole thing with the mine? If other students come to you early for whatever reason, or Erion forbid, the Royal Constables, I don't think the sounds that will be coming from this room will be... the safest. That is, unless you think you can use that lightning puppetry thing to keep me quiet... but I already know you don't like doing extra work.
Besides, we've got what? Less than an hour right now in the best scenario? It's probably not the best idea to have me running to the bathhouse and back in whatever time I'd have left after you were done, and if you get rough and there are any marks on me or just the smells of sex, I'm going to have to explain those too. I'm already going to have to make up a story about these burns because I didn't get a proper Panacea quickly enough to heal them completely. I'm not trying to be disobedient, but I'm in this too, and if I'm going to have any idea of being you're successor I need to be able to recognize a bad idea. I can't bribe them off or whatever like you can, and I'm no good to you in a royal dungeon when they suspect me of lying. I already took a risk even coming here for today's lesson so soon after everything...”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

The lecturer could only raise a brow at Kurui's long-winded protest, giving her another one of those odd looks as she went on. After she finished, he simply sighed and shook his head before yanking her underwear down with one hand, then slowly, but forcefully, pushing her over the desk. "Don't get so excited. It would be wise for you not to assume such things so quickly with me. Besides, the only Royal Constables scheduled to head here anytime soon won't be around until a bit later, and even then, they're Syndicate, so anything I do, goes. And that holds true for our private sessions, as well."

After having said as much, Black proceeded to kneel down, and it wasn't long before Kurui could feel the familiar touch of his wet, warm tongue upon her exposed petals. Several more firm, even strokes would follow, and before long the professor built up a steady pace with his rather sudden, forced session of cunnilingus, lapping away at the Water Major's womanhood as one hand remained on the pupil's lower back to encourage her to stay down. Luckily for Kurui, it didn't last too long, only a few minutes at most, just enough to get her womanhood sufficiently lubricated for what she might suspect to be another violation at the hands of her lecherous tutor. She would then feel the rounded tip of something hard and long prodding between her lower lips, but... it wasn't Mr. Black. It was much smaller, and lukewarm, maybe even a little cold; perhaps a stone of sorts, a very smoothly polished one, from the texture of it. "Hold still." Slowly, but surely, the professor pushed the object into her, relying on the mixture of his saliva and Kurui's own juices to help facilitate its entry. After it was all the way in, the girl would feel the strange item's tip to be slightly curved, just enough to touch her most receptive of spots within. A small portion of the stone stuck out even then, enough for the item to be removed if needbe, but Black worked on cleaning Kurui up briefly before pulling her underwear back on.

"This is merely a trial, one of focus, that I felt you could use as a supplement to your gate control practice. As you might know, the key is to remain calm, but not too lax, and to be intense, but not too stressed. It's a fine line, acquired through practice, but having the ability to block out... worldly distractions, will certainly help. This enchanted item is but a tool for conditioning such a skill." Standing up and releasing her, Black smirked just a little, slipping a hand into his coat pocket. Then, while the man looked upon his student with cold eyes and the mildly amused expression still upon his lips, Kurui would feel a deep, thorough vibration originating from within. Needless to say, it was more than just mildly distracting. The toy's oscillations only grew stronger from there, imposing undeniable stimulation between the student's legs, even taking her towards the beginnings of an orgasm. However, before Kurui was able to get worked up too badly, it stopped, as suddenly as it began.

"I won't have it on all the time, of course. But you'll keep this inside for the entirety of the class session, and can remove it afterwards. Perhaps later, I can teach you a thing or two about enchanting, since you seemed quite interested in taking that as a future profession. Just know that you'll be even better than a mere enchanter, provided you follow my directions properly." For how lewd his 'lessons' were, the stern-looking noble certainly appeared to take them very seriously. Fortunately, he did take it easy on Kurui for the next hour, ushering her back to her desk and teaching her there, and more importantly, not having activated the stone at all while he simply ran her through some surface lessons and review regarding gate theory. However, this was also mildly unsettling in its own way, as the unspoken implication that he would activate the enchanted item during class suddenly seemed very prominent.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui didn't offer much resistance in any significant way when Black moved in on her. She was at a loss for anything to say after her previous argument was so easily dismissed. Physical resistance still brought on thoughts of lightning dancing on her nerves. Even when such sensations wern't painful, she still hated feeling of being “trapped” losing control of her own body made her feel. The combination of these left her scared to act, like a frightened animal frozen in place when it sees an arrow inexorably flying towards it.

“H-hahhh-aaahhh!” Despite Kurui's lack of actual conscious resistance, her body would still react in a predictable, “carnal” manner when Black began his oral teasings. While she would try to keep from showing any reactions like panic or anything, there would be no denying others like small gasps and and a growing wetness. There was no electric “stimulation” this time though, and she was able to keep a better grip on her senses than last time. Unfortunately it only made the whole situation that much worse.
“This was stupid of me... I want to die right now... it's only been a day since last time. I can't do this every day... I can't. I'm not gaining anything. The water needle thing was probably a trick he showed me just to string me along. Look at me now... too scared to move and playing rape puppet. He might as well have tortured me back in the mine until I lost a grip on everythin-”
“-eep!”
Kurui was interrupted from her train of thought by the feeling of penetration to which she made only a small pitiful sound and grasped the desk harder. For the moment though, she would sort out that it wasn't Black about ready to pound her. No... this was something else... a “toy” of sorts. Nothing exactly rare or that out of the ordinary... but something that wasn't sold in most “respectable” enchanter's shops. It was slightly less humiliating and vile than the actual article... but still pretty degrading in own right. She wondered if that was the point, or if Black was just preparing her for what was to come. She considered asking as much, asking why he wouldn't be getting his own share right now, but feared the ideas she might give him. Unlike last time, this time she would make the smart choice. Some short line about “focus” later and an example of how he could now elicit a reaction without even touching her later, and the “lesson” was over... for now. Kurui had a feel for Black's mentality now... and knew the most opportune moment for... humiliation would be later, when others were around. She recalled how he wanted things loud enough for an audience back in the mines. For NOW it was over though, however no matter his tone or expression, Kurui considered his explanation that this was part of the “lessons” to be complete crap and lies and it would show in the time following.

In the time following, she would find it incredibly hard to focus on any more of Black's lessons. The attentiveness she had shown earlier was gone. Whether intentional or not, he had pushed Kurui past some kind of limit and her mind was wandering elsewhere now. The places it was wandering now were angry places... perhaps due to Kurui's inability to see things getting much worse than this, especially with Black making out like EVERYONE was an evil conspirator with him, she had hit a point where the anger of someone with nothing to lose started to leak through in small amounts. She knew of course she did have things to lose... “There's Sienna still... but at this rate I'm not even going to be able to protect her because I can't keep this up and stay myself. I can't even protect her right now and I'm just SOMEHOW hoping this bastard keeps his word. This isn't working, and it's probably not GOING to work if I keep along this way.” ...but humiliation and emotional pain was starting to wear away how much she cared and logic was more than happy to support this change. When she next spoke, her voice would drip with the kind of anger it hadn't had since she was blindfolded in the mine, Black's air of influence having finally broken and having no effect on her anymore... for the moment.

“Don't sit here and lie to me like I'm stupid! This isn't about teaching me to focus, this is because you want to get a reaction out of me when everyone gets here... just. to. see. what. fucking. happens!
If it were really about teaching you'd have started me off slow when we were alone. You're a good liar, but you're not THAT good. If you're just going to string me along for amusement, then I quit. Either teach me or don't, but don't waste my time with these sadistic games just to get yourself off and try to pass it off as lessons! Go waste someone else's potential on that and save me the time!” She didn't flinch once during the entire speech, and even her eyes didn't waver when they met his this time.
“I'm going to get up right now, take this thing out, and come back without having to worry about being made a free smut-show for today's class. If you have a problem with it, then by all means shoot me in the back with lightning right now and try to throw me back in the mines or whatever! At this point it's a coin-flip's chance you were just going to do that anyway. You prove ME wrong... cause if you don't, then I'm just doing now what weeks from now I'd have wished I'd done earlier.”
She got up and turned to leave towards the door, expecting a lightning spell any second instead of any actual conversation. The Academy was supposed to be safe... but she knew from had happened to Teague that wasn't always true, even if this wasn't the most isolated area like that one was. This was a stupid choice and she knew it, but reason and calculation had little voice right now. “Fuck him... I was going to play along, I was even going to suffer whatever he wanted to do to me when we were alone, but I'm NOT going be remembered by everyone else this way, I won't even be able to face Sienna if that happens. This is his fault anyway, what the fuck did he think was going to happen if he kept trying to push my limits just for amusement?! This is it, either he really wants to teach me and he'll say something to keep from losing me and I'll have some leverage, or he never wanted to teach me and I'm just finding out now rather than later...” The flare of anger and fear-immunity wouldn't last last though, she would be turned away and her face wouldn't be visible now, but a moment later she would stop in her tracks and another thought would take over her expression.
“Holy Erion... what the fuck did I just do!?”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

A look of surprise came over the normally stoic professor for once upon witnessing his pupil's tremendous outburst, and he remained silent for a few seconds, one brow raised. Then, his expression slowly flattened once again, this time taking on a more disdainful undertone. "...Don't get any illusions about what I see you as. Of course it excites me to see such an esteemed student like yourself brought down a notch or two, but you are far from my equal at this point. One must first be broken down to be built back up again with the necessary traits for achieving what I have. Can't handle a little pressure from the eyes of others?"

He paused, if only to hear the angered girl continue, listening to her heated rant with stone-cold eyes, then watching her storm off... at least, for a few feet, before an arc of lightning hit Kurui right in the back, effectively paralyzing her. The spell wasn't enough to knock her down, but at the very least, bring the girl to her knees. Taking a deep breath, the noble fixed his jacket, casually walking over to where she was, and kneeling down behind her, leaned forward to speak in her ear.

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea of what would happen. This was more about your ambition, as well as the conviction you showed in the mines when you agreed to my terms. Ambition that seems to be fading already, hence my skepticism. You'll learn, regardless, but I have no tolerance for disobedient pupils, particularly ones that would even have a chance of one day calling themselves my successor."

He continued, his tone sharp, even angry. As he spoke, jolts of electricity ran through Kurui's frame, sending the expected tinges of pain. "You should realize that of all the possible outcomes, you're actually quite the lucky one. I could have you in my very own house as my personal fuck toy, strapped to a wall as nothing more than a piece of furniture and kept in good enough condition for my own relief at a moment's notice. Needless to say, I could very well have Sienna in that position as well. But I didn't. A little distraction for you, a fairly discreet method at that, and all of a sudden you have the nerve to defy me? Now, of all times? You're doing a terrible job at convincing me that you truly possess the patience necessary for this kind of training. It hasn't been a day, and already your level of obedience is proving to be less than stellar. Do you know how many students I have even bothered to share these mere basics with? None. None at all. So for someone such as yourself to be complaining this early... well. Let's just say you're not the only one disappointed."

Eventually, his shock treatment stopped, and when it did, Black seemed... calmer, as if the Water Major's suffering eased his ire somehow. Taking a deep breath, he stood up, pulling Kurui to her feet as well. His tone was decidedly less harsh from before. "...If you are truly willing to learn, then you will. You have the capability to get this, and I, to teach you. Just understand who holds all of the cards here, so to speak. If you trust me not to activate that during classtime, then I will not humiliate you. Well... not in public, anyway. I suppose if it matters that much to you, you can keep your 'reputation' in front of all of your classmates... it's fine. After all, no one else has to know about our little deal. If this is not acceptable, then simply leave. You'll learn nothing more from me, and perhaps I'll have myself a new toy for tonight."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“-!!!!”
Although Kurui had been expecting Black to attack her, or at least put the chances of it at 50/50, she was in no way physically prepared the lightning spell hit her right in the back. It was painful to a point of mind-numbing, but she wasn't even sure if she screamed. The impact had knocked the wind out of her and when the lightning spread she quickly lost control of her breathing along with the rest of her body as the electricity shut everything down. All other sensations were drown out as she went down to her knees and thought she would lose consciousness.
“Oh god I messed up again... I'm going to wake up back in that mine... or worse.”

…Before Kurui could pass out though, it came to an abrupt stop. For a few seconds her head swam as she tried to get ahold of everything again. Her body was still numb beyond feeling, but sight and sound rushed back with a vividness that threatened sensory overload, but only for moment. As feeling came back she was aware she she had managed to stay upright even on knees, however she didn't have the strength to move beyond that right now. She could only sit in place as Black approached her from behind, none too happy with her outburst.

More shocks would follow as he kneeled behind her and and continued to express his dissatisfaction. His voice would be angrier than she had ever remembered hearing it or imagined him capable of. The surprise of it was scary in it's own way, like the side of him she had seen at the mine. She had no time or ability to react to the fear though, as every sentence came with more jolts of lightning, as if to command her attention... ironic considering their painful nature made it harder to do. They wouldn't be as strong as the first one to hit her and put her on her knees, but their repeated nature was quickly getting to her. She bit her lip as each one happened until she tasted blood trying to keep herself from crying or screaming, and by the time the last one had finished she was doubled over, needing one of her arms to support herself. Whether Black had simply had his fill or whether he could see she wouldn't be able to take anymore, he stopped after this, his tone dropping back to something more normal as if the pain he inflicted had been a worrisomely effective way of diffusing his anger.

As he started to speak more normally again, Black helped Kurui to her feet. Her attempts to move after all the shock were awkward at best though, and she had to cling to him pathetically to keep herself upright. It would be a few seconds of heavy breathing and listening to her own heart pounding before she would feel like she was going to be OK and could work up the energy to reply, although her voice would sound expectedly rattled and unstable she did.
“...Dissapointed? ...How many other students do you think would have even come back.... If I were disobedient I would have never come back to the academy... or come to class today. I'd have just run off... and tried to tell someone about this... but I didn't. I wasn't disobeying... but if I were a sniveling crying fear stricken mess who never said anything... you'd probably be even less impressed with me than you are right now. I would be... no better than the others in your class. Them being the way they are is what makes the thought of what you were going to do to me in front of them... than much more unbearable.”
"I don't actually hate any of them... but whatever keeps me safe right now."
She regained enough of her strength now to pull away from him and stand on her own, as well as stabilizing her voice a little.
“You have all the cards, but I do trust you... you've been playing fair so far. These last few days have been a bit overwhelming... and I've still got a lot to learn. I... apologize for the outburst.”
She then walked over to her desk, a difficult task in itself right now, and sat while her body recovered. Whether Black realized it or not, she thought he had been a little too intense with her. While there were no visible burns on her uniform and she hadn't passed out or anything, Her whole body still ached. The repeated lightning had been too much for her small frame and unconditioned body. “...sometimes I wish I had been born a boy... someone like Colt with some actual mass and bulk probably could have probably could have taken that a lot better than me... that's who it felt like he had it tuned for anyway.”
Despite the lingering feelings of pain and exhaustion, they would fade and dull quickly, and while not gone completely, she would at least be able to move normally and not look “suspicious” by the time real class started.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Despite his cold demeanor, Black did lend his body to Kurui when she leaned on him and made it obvious that she could not yet stand on her own. "Focus on your breathing. It only gets worse the more you tense and try to struggle." While the dark-haired professor didn't apologize explicitly, the Water Major could at least tell that he was somewhat regretting going that hard on her now. "Heh... I suppose you are correct in that much. Either I can take it as some sort of initial resolve, or a sign of heartfelt loyalty to your dear friend Sienna. I might have overestimated your willingness without considering your current degree of experience in more... worldly matters. It looks as though I'll have to ease you into the less conventional sides of training." Of course, both Kurui and Black knew what 'less conventional' meant in this instance, which no doubt involved the more sexual aspects forced alongside their teacher-student relationship. "My standards are still quite high, as you will see, if you haven't already, hence my explanation about children before. It's not something I can always help, nor am I willing to change, for without that quality, I wouldn't be where I am today. Hopefully one day they will ultimately lead to your success, as they did mine." The last few sentences he spoke before returning to his desk, made in just a slightly calmer tone, were perhaps the closest Kurui might ever get to an apology from him.

The next several minutes would be spent in complete silence. Before the other students began to filter in, however, Black would open a drawer at his desk, retrieve a small, orange vial, and set it down at the far edge of his workspace for Kurui to retrieve. She would recognize it as a Panacea. "Get yourself cleaned up... and of course, I expect you to stay after class for just a few minutes so that I can retrieve the 'item' I lent you." He made it a point to stay relatively discreet in his choice of words, for at this time in the morning, there were other students who were known to arrive early. Roughly ten minutes later, they did, along with several others. Rythe was amongst them. The ones who entered the class seemed a bit down, and for good reason, as several of their peers were known to be stuck in the mines still. Regardless, some of them began to chat amongst themselves, speaking of who they hoped to see return. Reius and Dinn's names were mentioned, albeit briefly. However, Kurui wouldn't get much time before her own friend approached her.

"Hey, Kurui... you're here early, although I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Did you... sleep okay last night? I couldn't, for some reason... it was weird. Anyway, uh..." She stopped to look up at Black, who was busy looking over what some might guess to be lesson plans, then back to the Water Major. "You alright? This class session seems like it'll be just a little depressing."

She brought her voice to a near whisper. "Hopefully Black chose his words well for this one. And to think that today is Red Day, of all days, to boot... what terrible timing, really. Might want to check your locker after class to claim your prizes. Or clear out all the trash, depending on who it's from." Kurui knew Red Day as an Elynsorian holiday, observed by boys and men alike giving gifts of confections, as well as letters of romantic confession, to girls they admired; it was an answer to Blue Day, where things would go the other way around. Rythe herself seemed pretty indifferent about it, other than the mention, and of course, she had good reason to, with a boyfriend of her own. Still, she at least had some social finesse, enough to keep her from tastelessly mentioning that in front of her 'single' friend.