Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sage Weslan pressed the brand into the leather of the scroll. He held it for a moment as a wisp of smoke rose and a whiff of the scent of burnt leather rose from the scroll then removed it.
"There you are, Xander." Weslan said. "That mark is officially recognized by the Imperial Council and will count toward your total for admittance into the Annual Tournament. Now, I'm sure you can find your way back out. I think after all this excitement I'm going to retire for the day. So, off you go. I'm sure your friends are waiting for you."

Lathavendier look at Raolain, “Sir.” He gave another bow befitting a gentleman, “M’lady.” He adopted his soldierly stance again and addressed the four of them. “We will be leaving presently.” He bent his body to look around the four back toward the academy. “Ah, I do believe our other pair is arriving now.” Lathavendier stood, waiting for the two to arrive and when they did he bowed to them. “I am Lathavendier, my master is expecting you. Let us proceed.” With that he rose and inch or two off the ground and began floating in the direction of Achaz camp at the pace of a swift walk.

((Countdown to three weeks. 2 more days to go. Yay....?))

((Time Roulette Goooooooooo!))

A week had passed since Leonard and Kazal, and their companions, had met with the strange Mage Achez. It had been... odd. Since then the mysterious Mage Raolain and his partner Cookie had been traveling with them. Since they had left the previous village they had traveled through the open wilderness and had finally arrived at the next small town on their tour of The Empire.
The town was called Vorog and seemed to have a moderate population, so far as small towns went anyways. Leonard had once heard that the Sage of this particular town was especially tough, though he had not caught the Sage's name, or what sort of partner he had.
"Well, guys, we're here." Leonard said. "What should we do first? Find a place to stay, and maybe get something to eat? Or head for the Academy right away?"

Raolain could hardly believe he was still stuck with these two buffoons. The week before when they had all met the fool wizard, he had been ready and willing to abandon them at the first opportunity. The moment that his intentions became known to Cookie however...
"NonononononoNOOOOOOOOIwantthekittywecan'tleavethekittythenicesoftkittyIwantitwantitwantit!!!!!"
Cookie's shrill piping voice and blared out loud for all to hear and drew stares until Raolain's teeth nearly broke from grinding them too hard until he siezed her in his fast and screamed at her,"ALRIIIIGHT! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUUUUP!" which drew even more stares. So here he was, in this dinky town with two rather pathetic pretenders to the Art, and here was his little partner Cookie buzzing around his head lazily. She hummed tunelessly and smiled like a cat in the creamery whenever their eyes met.
"Let's just get this over with. We can eat later," Raolain said through clenched teeth.

Raolain had seated himself at the table as well, and was picking at his food. Cookie had perched herself on the rim of his winecup and was noisily helping herself to a large sip, her tiny feet kicking at the air as she bent lower in the cup.
Raolain quirked a brow at Leanord's question, and gave a small hint of a smile,"Compete? Not as such. I intend to crush and humiliate him." Cookie flew away giving off high pitched peals of laughter.

"Well we could just get it over with and go when we're done eating. Personally though I'd like to wait til tomorrow. We've been on the road for a week straight and I'd like to get in some research, a little last minute training, and some real rest tonight." Leonard said. "If one of you wants to go today though I'll come and watch."