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Derrick shot through the arms and blasted his way through."καταστρέφω."He screamed as pieces of shrapnel hit his face and arms. Once he was on the other side of the wall he sat and cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry." His pentagram glowed and started to bleed. He shuddered. He got up and once again went out to the gardens. Where he went to sleep his around the pentagram skin slowly rotting and blackening.

[huh? i wasn't godmodding! lol i'm dying! geez! i cut myself up!]]

[[Then your godmodding it is physically impossible to escape a black hole! It theoretically takes two atoms to split simultaeneously while both traveling at the same speed at almost the speed of light to create a black whole that lasts even for a portion of a millesecond outside of it's dimension. And it could take even more than that (it hasn't been comepletely proven yet.)]]

Zoll was speechless as the antics occurred. From the ice encasing the girl's hands, to fire spreading onto the troublemaker, following with a black portal of sorts, the guy had to admit, things were a bit interesting for the moment. To him, he didn't know really how to react. So instead, he'll just watch the events play out before his eyes.

With a few well-placed research grants Colin was finally access to a very old book detailing the mystic fountain. Many pages were missing--the scholars studying it guessed someone had tried once to destroy it. Fortunately it was still usable for his purposes. So these peices of the fountain are magical items that grant their possessors powerful abilities. Setsuka has at least three. Damn, she's going to be a handful. I'll need one just to survive. The book appeared to have once listed all of the items and their properties, but now only information on two of them remained. Colin smiled. Two sounds acceptable.

The book only gave the location of one of the objects, so he went to retrieve the Air's Cloak first. According to the book, the cloak allowed the wearer to instantly teleport anywhere he could see and it was last in the possession of an air elemental named Jabezrien. After some more research in a private library in Zurich Colin discovered Jabezrien was the name of an ancient local nature deity. He trekked to a site that was believed to have once been a temple to the spirit.

"Nochd!" Colin cast, and a being faded into sight. It couldn't have been more than four feet tall, but its pale pointy limbs were still very long. It had wild bright red hair and large pale blue eyes. It wore an unfortunate choice of attire, namely an orange tunic with layers of some gauzy material tacked on haphazardly. It was floating ten or so feet in the air and looked down at him in surprise. "Oh! What are you doing down there? People don't usually come to see me anymore," it said in a puzzled tone.

"I have come to challenge you for the Air's Cloak," Colin told it confidently. Pretty confidently. The book said creatures like elementals could be fought for their possessions, which was why Jabezrien had not been intrusted with some of the more powerful items. I wish the book had said what those items were. I also hope the guy who wrote it knew what he was talking about concerning elementals. Jabezrian didn't look like it'd put up much of a fight, but Colin was in no mood for surprises.

"Oh! The cloak? That old thing? Take it, I don't want it anymore. It's over there on that rock." It gestured towards a nearby rock in a bored fashion. "I'd rather hoped maybe you'd come to offer me grain or something. The neighbors used to be so friendly, and now none of them will even say hello."

He approached the rock suspiciously. Sure enough, there was a sheer cloak that looked a lot like the picture in the book. Still... the book had been pretty specific about the challenge. He threw a sidelong look at the creature. "Take it, take it!" it insisted amiably. That decided him.

"No, the book said I had to fight you for it." "But I don't want it, why should we fight?" "I'm supposed to fight you for it," he insisted stubbornly. "Oh! I don't want to fight. Just take it and go away." "Look, people don't just give things like this away, and you know that perfectly well! What are you trying to pull?" he demanded angrily.

"Oh! Nothing. I just don't want you around. So if you could take your thing and go..." it hinted coldly.

Colin had had enough of this. "Tilg teine!" A jet of flame shot towards the vexing creature.

((To be continued later))

((Yay! Magic History gloves!))

((And, can't we just destroy the magic fountain? Actually, that would be pretty anti-climatic.))

((Also, can I bring in another character? I honestly think that Mrs. Enlil would make a great teacher. She's probably teach battle strategies and defense/evasion. And she would like Colin. Probably favor him over her own son. You stole that car and you didn't get caught, so it's now rightfully yours! She'd probably insist on having her own room though. One dragon hoard is bad enough, but too?))

((So, can I?))

Swindle watched the situation play out in front of him, raising an eyebrow.

I've stumbled into a madhouse, they're all insane I tell you! Okay, not all, but...

This world, and its mysteries, are too complicated for sanity alone to grasp. We all desire power here, you would have to be crazy not to be insane...

Swindle suddenly felt a drowsiness crawl over him. Ar... Archaedin... Whats come over you... You.... You don't sound like your normal s... Sel...

He collapsed on the ground, his light camouflage spell disappearing. He was fast asleep.

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Swindle's eyes snapped open. He was already standing, wearing his normal white suit. He looked around at the area he was in, and suddenly realized he couldn't place if he WAS anywhere. His feet were firmly on the "Ground", but he felt no pressure from standing. Nothing was floating, but he did not feel gravity.

A table and two stools appeared. The table was extraordinary, but the two stools were very simple, not even polished. A figure stepped out and waved.

The figure looked scholarly, a few silver hairs in his otherwise black mane. He also sported a goatee. He looked fairly plain. The figure spoke with a bizarre, but eloquent purr to his voice. "Salutations, Zakirin. I know you wish to know who I am, and other things, which is why you are here, and you are probably also wondering where 'here' is. Welcome to your own lower cranium, the place I choose to host our... Duel. I am the Librarian. Although, my charge is but one book, which I offer to you should you prove sufficient...."

He sat down, motioning to the other stool. "Have a seat."

Swindle paused, and slowly sat down. He figured if there were any traps, he was pretty much at this man's mercy as it was, best to play into the Librarian's good side. "I am not much of a fighter... But you don't look like one either, Librarian... Why me? I didn't summon you."

"Clearly, it was I who summoned you. But I am not going to answer your questions, you will know if you prove sufficient. You are wrong, I am a fighter, and so are you. I of course refer to the art of deception. Of course we will not engage in physical combat, such is... Unbecoming of our... Caste. In other words, this is a battle of wits. You cannot defeat me, but you can prove to me you merit my reward..." He took out a book, which appeared to be solid gold, with silver pages, and dropped it on the desk. Instead of the expected loud clang of gold, it hardly made a sound.

Swindle's eyes gleamed with greed, and he couldn't help but smile a bit as he eyed the book. "Go on, Mr. Librarian!"

The stool he was sitting on suddenly turned into a chair. Still average in appearance, but with a slight polish.

"Your chair will improve in appearance as you further along our trial. First, the test of wordplay."


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Meanwhile, Swindle lay motionless on the grass in front of the school, where he was spying on the others. A small smile escaped his otherwise lifeless body, aside from his chest slowly rising up and down with breath.

((As with Desert Necromancer, to be continued!))