After a very long and hard journey, having taken many, many days for all of them. A group of five people emerge from a mountain pass seeing a large valley before them from their raised elevation they would have a great line of sight to the spectical before them. It would be late afternoon around three o'clock. Within this huge Valley there would be a lake to the north near the base of a mountain surrounded by overgrown ruins of what appears to of been a town and thick hills, to the south a very unnatural looking swamp as if it was artificially created, to the far west there would be towering walls surrounding a castle like structure that has slight vines and moss growing on the outside as if the place has not been maintained at all in hundreds of years, it would be sitting on the edge of a large cliff that skirts the ocean, a small beach at the bottom, and to just north of this would be a gorgeous waterfall flowing down from the mountains.

These five people who have came to this hidden away valley, are a miss match bunch who have came to this location to become the future apprentices of a mysterious wizard simply known as The Dragon, and that his is one of the eldest of the wizards in existence from anything that is found written about him. Before they would have much to even speak about their view a gigantic Shadow passes over them, a Giant red dragon high in the sky, big enough it could pick up two of them at once in one of it's big hand like feet. It would simply pass over them flying towards the castle before taking a turn towards the mountains towards the south, towards a bunch of caverns in-bedded in the mountain where their nests are.

The future apprentices are fairly worn out from the journey and have options of trying to find a place to camp for the evening and possible greet each other since they meet only a short moment ago, or to push on towards the castle, which the distance would still be a two day travel on foot from the pass, judged by eyeing the distance, so rushing the journey could cause the group to run into trouble.

Despite his exhaustion, Callum was happy to be back on land. If the seas had been kind, Callum couldn't say. All he knew is that he still felt a rocking sensation even when standing on flat ground. He hadn't been afforded the luxury of a bath since he departed, so his hair was unkempt, his skin was greasy, and he was pretty sure he smelled like salt. At least his fingers weren't pruned anymore. His feet on the other hand... His boots squished with every step. Despite draining them before coming back on land, his work as a cabin boy had left them rather soaked. Hopefully, he'd have time to let them dry when it came time to let them dry. He glanced at his crude map, and then looked at the scene that spread out before his eyes. A big grin spread across his face; it was real.

The Dragon's name had popped up in various books, but all Callum knew thus far was his reputation. Greatest mage in the world, apparently. Part of him wondered if he would be turned away before he even met the man himself. After all, what would the world's most powerful magic user want with a disowned peasant urchin? He shook those thoughts away. He didn't come this far for nothing. Then, he noticed that his path was converging with four other travelers. It seemed like quite a coincidence for several people to be meeting up at once. Before he could get a good look at the other travelers though, a huge dragon swooshed overhead. Callum instinctively flinched and stared at the beast as it soared off to the mountains. "They're real..." Callum muttered, mouth agape.

The trip to the mystic dragon had been an exhausting one, with her traveling to the other side of the continent to reach her destination, she had to rely on her initial rations, the goodwill of the people she met along the way and doing certain odd jobs to be where she is now. Still, her initial enthusiasm had remained strong, she was a few days from meeting the mysterious "Dragon". Hilda knew almost nothing about him, but some of the people she met along the way told her he was one of the most ancient and powerful mages, so that meant that he must know at least one or two ways to keep monsters out of her small village, if that wandering mage could easily do it, it was obvious that one of the greatest mages would be more powerful than him.

Noticing other people coming her way, Hilda waved at them, they didn't seem to come together and the arrival of all of them seemed a giant coincidence. Where all of them going to meet the dragon? and if so would the dragon accept that many students?. Her thoughts were interrupted by a giant dragon, Hilda immediately and almost subconsciously ducked and covered her head. She couldn't comprehend the incredible amounts of bad luck of almost arriving at the destination just to be turned to ashes by a wandering dragon. Closing her eyes for a few moments she waited for the inevitable doom for a few seconds before opening her eyes and realizing everything was still there and the dragon had just flown off. Nervously pretending that the moments before didn't happen she stood up and slowly walked towards the others.

How many weeks had passed since he left his home? The short-statured youth once again wiped his sweat with his hands. He expected the journey to be hard, but certainly not to the degree he had anticipated. Leonardo's plans of travel while selling his paintings to cover the costs fell apart rather quickly once he realized that not only he had no easy way to restock on canvases and such in the neutral continent, but there's barely anyone with the gold to spare on paintings except landlord and the flourishing merchants, who could simply hire a better artist to draw whatever they wanted. As a result, Leonardo adapted to doing small odd jobs from town to town, which gave him just enough money to travel on a half-empty stomach. As he travelled deeper and deeper into the continent the towns got smaller and eventually disappear. The boy possessed a great appreciation for nature, but only now did he learn how harsh it is.

His confidence and map carried him through, and now he was finally here, on the entrance of the valley where the Dragon resides. The first thing that caught his eye was the giant castle by the sea. The second thing was figures—travellers, judging from their state. Leonardo wondered whether they seek the Dragon as well. He noticed one of them waving their hands, and was about to wave back, when, all of a sudden a gigantic shadow was cast on the ground he stood on. Leonardo looked up to an enormous, mighty dragon flying overhead. He had heard of dragons, naturally—the powerful, majestic creature, a choice favorite of young children everywhere. He was quite literally frozen in awe as it flew past him into the valley, foregrounding the late afternoon sun to form a spectacle like none other. Leonardo knew right then exactly what he would draw once he got his hands on a canvas.

Of course, he also knew that before a canvas, he needed to find himself food and shelter. The castle—his destination is certainly visible, but still a few day's worth of travelling away, and a pittance of random fruits and nuts he gathered would not last him that long. He figured it would be really nice if one of the travellers could share some food with him. He noticed one of them approaching, "Good afternoon, are you searching for the dragon as well?" Leonardo asked, his voice slightly dry.

Sophia felt an undeniable sense of achievement at having made it here. The picture-esque valley beneath her and the castle that lay within in it revealed that this was it. The home of The Dragon. Getting her was perhaps the only real achievement she had to her name right now, not that it hadn't been an achievement in its own right. She'd used the money she'd stolen very carefully, partly to avoid looking like she had a lot to spend, and partly because she didn't want to risk running out. For now however she was here.

Of course she was not the only one. There was a small group standing upon this vantage point, having arrived at relatively the same time. Before anybody could say something to break the silence, nothing short of a massive dragon coasted overhead, putting them under its shadow and causing a rush of wind as it flew past. Sophia, like most of them, stared at it with eyes the size of saucers. Perhaps more so than the others, her eyes were filled with envy. That sort of power. That was what she came here for.

A quick glance around showed her reaction was mostly shared by the others, although the girl with the horns seemed more scared than in awe, quickly recovering with only trace amounts of embarrassment. A beast-kin. Conflicting thoughts ran through Sophia's head. Obviously everyone around her since birth though beast-kin were simply to be killed on sight. That being said Sophia had never actually interacted with one before. She shook her head and moved to other thoughts, just treat her like a person if they had to talk. Thinking about it that dragon could've simply killed them all where they stood. A frightening thought, but it only increased Sophia's sense of amazement with the dragon. For the moment the group were all standing next to each other in wake of the legendary creature passing over them. One of them spoke up.

"I think I'd be more impressed if someone came here without looking for the dragon." Sophia said with a somewhat mocking tone. She adjusted the knapsack that lay over her shoulders, causing the plain cloak that covered most of her body to shift momentarily. Sophia had made good use of the sleeping bag that lay within and she had enough food to easily last her until she made it to the castle. "Of course if you aren't... this is where you turn back." Sophia said confidently before striding forward. She would try to find somewhere somewhat protected to sleep before it got too dark. Pressing ahead in the night in a place where dragons and who knows whats roamed would be foolish. One might argue this entire plan of following rumor to get here to find a master wizard who may not even help her was foolish, but she was well past that point.

So she was right in her assumption that all of them were trying to meet the dragon, some of them looked to be in a more rough state than she was, which made her wonder from where did they come from, from the looks of it, it wouldn't be too long before dark and with things like dragons flying around as they pleased who knew what other kinds of things would be hiding around and like her father taught her long ago, true strength is in numbers. "I don't want to be monster food or at least not till I meet the dragon," she thought, Most of them looked friendly so it couldn't hurt to try to persuade them to join forces till they reached the dragon's castle or at least until the night was over.

"I-I too are looking for the dragon and assuming all of us are going to his castle, would it be a s-safer option to go altogether, who knows what things lurk in the d-darkness, and besides I have plenty of food to share if you are hungry!" She said clearly nervous to speak with these new strangers, showing her small bag filled with apples, that some villager had gifted her not too long ago. Now she only had to wait and see if the other aspiring mages would accept the option of working together, even if only one or none of them might get selected to study under the dragon.

As the blonde-haired woman began walking away Leonardo was left standing with a slightly incredulous look, his friendly smile frozen. Ice magic, the power to kill conversations, he thought jokingly. "Well, figures, of course we are looking for the dragon." Leonardo dryly quipped. Since that was the case, it might do him good to know about what these people want from the Dragon. His left hand reflexively found its way to the back of his own head, tugging lightly on his ponytail as he thought what to say at the woman, but no words successfully escaped his mouth.

In the end his wits failed him, forcing Leonardo to let out a sigh. Let alone gathering information, with how things are right now, his chances at survival doesn't look good if he didn't stick with at least one other person. He was about to silently follow the woman when another person, the one who waved earlier, came up and gave a late answer to his question. The first thing that caught his attention, of course, was the horns. A deer beast-kin. A really unusual sight for Leonardo. His sight was fixated at those asymmetrical features, nearly missing what she said until a certain word entered his ears.

Food! Assaulted by the sweet fragrance of fresh apples, Leonardo's mouth opened without him even noticing. After a mighty gulp, Leonardo corrected his expression, "You are absolutely right. Sticking together is the best thing to do right now, no question about it." Leonardo said, loud enough for the woman earlier to hear. The ripe, delicious-looking, fragrant-smelling apples totally, absolutely had no influence on his position in the matter. "My name's Leonardo Armund, an artist," he stuck his chest out proudly, which made for a slightly dorky pose given his modest height, "since we're both searching for the Dragon, let's help each other out!"

Double post, ignore this.

Callum took a moment to survey the people whose paths now converged. His attention was immediately drawn to the beast-kin, some kind of moose lady, or something like that. He instinctively took a step back from her. The soldiers on both sides would always warn the villagers to keep their distance when they walked a prisoner through the streets. Apparently they were supposed to be dangerous and could turn violent in an instant, just like a wild animal. It was the one thing both sides agreed on. Of course the only beast-kin he'd ever seen were battered into submission and dragged along in chains, so he'd never seen them do anything violent. And, judging by this girl's timid demeanor, he didn't think she looked anywhere close to snapping. Then again, maybe it'd be best to keep his distance for now. "Uh, thanks, but I'm fine," he said, turning down her offer of apples. In truth, all he had left was some soggy bread, but he was no worse off now than he was some winter nights at home. He knew hunger, and he knew he'd be fine until he reached the castle.

He gave the artist a nod, but decided to follow the blond. Even if they decided to stop, there was no reason to dawdle on the road until they found suitable shelter. His boots squished and squashed as he fell in with the blond. "Gotta say, I'm kinda glad some others are looking for The Dragon too," he said, offering her a friendly smile. "I'd feel like a real jackass if I was the only one knocking on his door and got turned away." He gave a small chuckle. Being turned down was a grim thought, as he'd gambled quite literally everything he had on this, but it was beyond his control, and all he could do at this point was laugh at the prospect. "My name's Callum. I'm from Cedarburg, a village in Voston... or Stairia... Whatever they're calling it now. Kinda goes back and forth."

Sophia listened to the conversation behind her, the three of them introducing themselves and seemingly having the intent to move together, at least if the somewhat painfully pointed words of the somewhat short boy who'd first starting talking. Nevertheless, Sophia felt no real inclination to wait for them or move back so she simply continued onwards, to her surprise the plain brown-haired boy elected to follow her instead, informing her his name was Callum. Sophia spoke in return, "Ah, my name is Sophia, I also come from Stairia, much to my regret. Your fear is realistic, but I for one will not be taking no for an answer, one way or another." She knew that several towns laid on the border between countries and thus were constantly a source of conflict, only making the mostly small villages resentful of both sides.

With that she continued walking downward into the valley, her long legs eating ground at a respectable rate, not quite a jog but not a relaxed walk either. "It seems I'm going to have to spend at least a night here, so it would be best to cover as much ground as possible and find somewhere to spend it. I don't know if anything lives here other than dragons, but I'd rather not find out at all, much less in the middle of the night yes?" Sophia seemed unused to the concept of travelling with another person and thus only referred to herself. After-all, for most of her travels company was something to be avoided as a young girl travelling alone, rather than sought out. Further-more her interactions with people had been primarily limited to servants, total strangers, and innkeepers, so some awkwardness was to be expected.

@Eklispe @Junkojuro @Ether @Ixa
Behind Leonardo and Hilda who still stand at the entrance to the valley, they would hear the clip-clop of horse hooves, and the wooden sounds of a carriage. It would first be echoing slightly around them thanks to the pass before a carriage appears from behind, at first it would just be a simple shape of a carriage. When it gets close it would appear to be very much like the carriage of a noble, very extravagant, though it is very worn down like it hasn't been taken care of well. The most shocking thing though would be whats pulling the carriage, they look like clockwork horses. For those with some slight magical knowledge they would be a type of Golem with many moving parts.
The rider would be wearing a full body black cloak making it impossible to tell who or what they are from a distance. The carriage would pull up to the side of the two, the upwards angle giving them the means to glance under the hood revealing a wooden face. It was another type of golem, but this one could speak as it spoke "Why hello there" it's voice would sound similir to a very old butler who's been around for some time. "Why would there be two....." he would stop his words and look forward "Make that four... children running around such a dangerous place?" he would ask, even though the two walking would probably be out of sight by how he noticed them. Before continuing "I do hope you aren't here to become magic users... to become wizards... the master hasn't taken any disciples for such a very long time" he stated in a very sad sounding voice. "Ever send he went into his depression.." the golem would sigh very much seeming sad even though his face was emotionless. It was simply the way his body moved, it would be around this moment that they would also notice a small mist that was seeming to follow the carriage.

As the blonde girl continue moving without acknowledging her, she thought to herself “Well three people are still have better chances of survival”, then the brown haired boy decided to follow the blonde, with Hilda sensing some distrust in him as he rejected her offer. Thinking as to why she remembered the many stories and rumors that were told in her village, where her kind were thought to be some sort of violent animals and those lucky enough to not be killed would be taken as slaves.

Hilda's spine shivered in fear as she imagined ending up in that situation, as far as she knew apart from her horns and ears she was no different from a normal human, but it's not like she could convince someone she just met about that. She guessed the remaining guy would leave too, but to her surprise he was looking at her, her horns more specifically, had he never seen a beast-kin before? She wondered. Hilda would forget about that after the boy, who had introduced himself as Leonardo accepted her offer.

A sheepish smile formed on her lips, while she was still nervous about what might lurk in the dark since neither of them were really combat cable, at least she didn't have to go alone through it and two heads work better than one. She hadn't even notice the extreme hunger Leonardo had in her excitement “T-Thank you for deciding to help me out, my name's Hilda!, H-Hilda Raleigh”

While she wanted to go as soon as possible after introducing herself, she heard the sounds of a horse and a carriage nearby, soon enough the carriage and the horse could be seen from far enough, eventually stopping in their position. Neither the horses nor the rider seemed normal, this had surely been the works of magic, capable of bringing inanimate things to life, if she wasn't trembling she would have been standing dumbfounded from seeing the wooden golem and the strange horses. She took a sudden step back when it began to talk, not only could it move on its own, but it could also talk!.

Questioning their motives for being there, the golem advised against trying to become wizards since the Dragon wasn't taking disciples. But she and the probably the others had come to far to back down, if she had to be rejected it would have to be by the Dragon himself, and besides the sudden appearance of the golem gave her an idea. Gathering all of her courage she spoke to the golem “Yes sir we are looking to become wizards, and we have c-come from a long way to look for him…..so even if he tells us to go away please give us a ride to meet him!” Hilda said her legs trembling from what the Golem could say.

"Callum, Huh? Nice to meet you too." Leonardo didn't recognize the name of the village, but he did know of Stairia and Voston, two countries embroiled in conflict with each other. He idly wondered if that conflict had anything to do with Callum's reason to pay the Dragon a visit. Before Leonardo could say anything further Callum broke off and began to follow the blonde, whose name Leonardo barely caught with his ear, Sophia, not a bad name, he thought.

Callum seemed to react oddly to the apple girl whom, speaking of which, seemed cheery that Leonardo had accepted her offer. "Nice to meet you, Hilda." Leonardo replied. Now that the short-term future of his stomach was secure, Leonardo gazed down the valley. Once they set off down this valley, it was unlikely that they would find a vantage spot as good as this, so there was no better time to plan the route to that picturesque castle by the sea. He raised his finger and pointed to the valley, "There, we'll probably walk there before setting up camp." Leonardo spotted a clearing amongst the forest, half a day's walk away. Seemed like an ideal camping spot. Amongst his current possessions is a barely serviceable piece of thick textile that Leonardo had been using as a makeshift tent, which should to for tonight.

Suddenly Leonardo heard the carriage, and was stunned to see the mechanical horses and the wooden talking doll. Once again he felt a rush to draw, and immediately following, frustration of being unable to do so. He quickly realized that if he kept feeling this way for every magical thing he'll see from now on, he'll grow into a very bitter person, and just heaved a big sigh. It mentioned something about the Dragon not taking disciples, Well, it's not like I'm trying to become one anyw—, Leonardo's thoughts came to a halt. He had planned to meet the Dragon and ask a (admittedly big) favor of him, but, supposing it was granted, or even denied, what would become of Leonardo? Would he simply return to his home? Suddenly this idea of becoming the a disciple of the greatest mage in the world, which seem to be the goal of the other three, doesn't sound that bad to Leonardo.

Hilda seemed to want a ride to the castle, Leonardo quickly chimed in, "Agreed, please give us a lift, if possible"

@Ether @Ixa
The golem would stare at the two who asked him for a ride even after what he told them. It would be at this time the golem noticed Hilda's horns and he would lean in towards her looking closely. He would mumble under his breath "yes... you might just do..." almost inaudible. He would lean back and look towards the castle as if in thought then suddenly turns back towards the two "..alright, but don't blame me for what happens" he simply states "Climb on in" as he says those words the carriage door would open by itself, a small staircase like ladder would fold out from the edge as well to give a foot hold. The inside of the carriage would be much larger than the outside would appear. It would be big enough it could fit 10 people comfortably with some even laying down and resting.

The carriage even had a cooking area, with various magical cooking utensils powered by magic crystals, and even a table to eat at, this was undoubtedly not a regular carriage. One could live in this carriage very easily for years from the look of it. There was even a food container off tho the side with icy blue crystals attached to it. Ice magic crystals to keep whats inside from rotting. After waiting for them to climb in, the ladder would retract on it's own and the door would close before the carriage started to move again, which you couldn't even feel from the inside. You could see the outside moving through the windows but not feel it.

@Eklispe @Junkojuro
The Carriage would catch up to the other two in matter of seconds somehow, the trees seeming to bend as the carriage came close moving out of it's way. The golem would greet Sophia and Callum, "Hello there, I take it you two are here to see the master as well.... if so hop on in, I'll take you there" he would simply state, "The way is covered in magical beasts so going by foot is usually a death sentence" he decides to tell them, his voice slightly echoing into the carriage, as the door opens and the ladder pops out. Waiting on them before he continues.

@Eklispe
"Sounds like a good idea," Callum said, certainly eager to cover as much ground as possible. "I'm running kinda low on supplies anyway, so getting there sooner rather than later is good for me." Running low was an understatement. His flask had about a swig and a half of water left in it, and if they didn't run into some fresh water, he'd probably pass out from dehydration. But, for now he was still standing, so it was all good. He also noticed that Sophia seemed to speak in a more refined fashion. Perhaps she was from the city and actually got a proper education. The prospect was interesting and he wanted to question her about it, but before he could, a carriage pulled up to them.

Callum stared at the golem, mouth agape. Was that wooden man talking? "Uhh..." He was to bewildered by what he was seeing to give an intelligible response at first, but he snapped back to reality when he realized he was about to let a free ride to the castle get away from him. "Y-yes! The Dragon, yeah, we're going to see him." Then came the warning of all the magical beasts. Callum swallowed hard. He and Sophia were just about to march into their own graves. Without another moment's hesitation, he clambered onto the carriage, only to see the two people he had just met a couple of moments ago. "Looks like we lucked out," Callum said to no one in particular, though he did seem to be avoiding looking at Hilda. Sharing a ride with a beast-kin? This would certainly be an awkward next couple of hours...

Good to see they were in agreement. However before conversation could progress further a horse drawn carriage pulled up to them. Though horse drawn was perhaps a bit of a misnomer, as those were not horses. Instead they were some sort of strange magical construction that was distinctly un-natural. They were warned that the path ahead was certain death due to the magical beasts that lived in the forest. Her companion promptly entered the carriage and joined the other two. Sophia hesitated for a moment. There was really no knowing that this person was telling the truth and she was reluctant to accept help from someone else at the final stretch when she'd gotten this far on her own.

Still, she came her to get help and if the carriage driver was telling the truth she wouldn't be able to make it on her own. Sophia frowned for just a moment before giving up, "Very well, I'll ride along as well." she said and carefully entered. To her surprise it wasn't cramped, instead it was incredibly spacious. There seemed to be some sort of kitchen and when Sophia sat down, waiting for the carriage to move, it was only when she saw the trees passing by that she realized the carriage was already in motion. Truly marvelous, surely this was the result of The Dragon's magic. Having the ability to use magic let you change the rules, so much different from the mundane world. "Funny, I was always told not to take rides from strangers..."

With little hesitation, Leonardo climbed into the carriage, carrying his backpack in with him. There was no sense in refusing a ride offered as an alternative to a harsh, and most likely doomed journey. The interior of the carriage was nicer than anything Leonardo imagined, he spent quite a few seconds taking in the spacious room. Being the impulsive lad he was, Leonardo's attention was promptly drawn to the blue crystals and the containers they decorated, as he tried to touch it he spotted movement at the edge of his vision, and he was surprised to see, but not feel, the carriage moving. Magic sure is convenient, huh? , he thought. he spotted Callum and Sophia entering the carriage as well, "Talk about a fine ride, this is even better than my place back home!"

His attention returned to the container. Carefully, he tried to open it. Leonardo was surprised to find that the container wasn't locked, "Ooh, what do we have here... Hope you don't mind us having a little drink!" Leo recognized the bottles of water inside, but there's also a lot of stuff that he couldn't make heads or tails of. Leonardo wasn't feeling adventurous after his recent travel, and he grabbed a bottle of clear colorless liquid that, hopefully, is just water. Leonardo was quickly able to locate some unused wooden cups from the cooking area of the carriage, and poured a glass of water for himself.

There was a slight moment of hesitation before Leonardo took a mighty gulp from the glass. It was water. He let out a slight sigh of relief before turning to the three, "You guys want some, too?"

Despite being the one that suggested the Golem to give her and Leonardo a ride, she couldn't believe what she heard when the Golem accepted and was a bit hesitant to get on the carriage, but followed suit after Leonardo entered it, after all it was better to go on a stranger's carriage than to be left alone in the wild. Slowly climbing up the stairs of the carriage she expected it to be fairly small, and was taken aback at the size of the real size of the carriage, truly magic was capable of very useful and wonderful things, hopefully the dragon would be kind enough to accept them. Sitting down, Hilda eyed around some of the food, while she wasn't hungry, she could pocket some of the food in there for an emergency, but she didn't even know if the food was safe to eat, while deciding if she should grab some of the food she saw two familiar faces entering the carriage.

“G-Good to see we will be arriving at the same time” Hilda told both Callum and Sophia as she waved her hand at them, the comment that the Golem had made had made her a little glad that they managed to come across them, and that the Golem had decided to take them in the first place. A curious thing is that Hilda noticed was that Callum for some reason was looking away from her, was a beast-kin really such a strange thing to see for him? She would find out in the way to the castle, meanwhile it seemed that Leonardo had already taken some water(or that was what Hilda hoped it was) from the kitchen. “I-I'm fine for now, thanks for the offer” Hilda responded to Leonardo's offer,not knowing if that was water or some strange liquied and preferring not to take a risk.

Callum's jaw dropped once he got a good look at the inside of the carriage. It was disorientating at first, and he poked his head outside to look at the carriage, then back in to make sure he wasn't crazy. "How the... right. Magic." He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, then leaned back on the seat. It was the first time since he left home that he actually had time to relax, and he finally felt the exhaustion take over him. He sank into his seat, rubbing his shoulder and stretching his neck. "Ah, so this is what sitting is like," he said to no one in particular. "I almost forgot what it feels like." He laughed a little then turned his attention to Leonardo. "Some water sounds great."

He took his cup of water and chugged the whole thing in a single gulp, then smacked the cup down with a satisfied "Ahhh..." Thus refreshed, he gave another look at his companions. They were all seeking training from The Dragon, so they would be his classmates... or colleagues... or whatever they would be called. He should try to get to know them at least a little bit, even the beast-kin. "So," he began, "what made you all decide to seek out a castle in the middle of nowhere to study something you might or might not be good at?" Was it a bit cynical? sure. But it wasn't like being overly optimistic was going to change the results.

Sophia, like Hilda, waved her hand dismissively. "Ah no thank you, wouldn't feel right." Without knowing the owner, or exactly what was in here she didn't feel comfortable taking anything from it, much less drinks. As for Callum's question... "I think it should be clear all of us are looking for power one way or another. Power to change either our own situation or that of our home. At least that's my reason. As for whether or not I'm any good at it, it doesn't really matter. 'No' isn't acceptable and I'll do whatever I need to to succeed so there shouldn't be a problem." Sophia was self-assured, one might even say arrogant, but it was an front for herself more than anything else. After all, if dropping her entire life and committing everything she had to this task wasn't enough... Well she would have to accept that was powerless and would continue to be so, something she was unwilling to do.

Of course combined with this was that Sophia had naturally taken to anything she'd tried to learn so it was hard for her to imagine something that she couldn't learn given sufficient time and effort put into it. Callum seemed to be slightly scared of Hilda, while Leonardo seemed almost the opposite, although perhaps that was just because he was friendly in general. Well, if these were to be her fellow apprentices, they weren't the worst group. Sophia yawned and leaned back with her eyes closed. Wow these seats really were quite comfortable, she'd slept in beds worse than these. It was nice to be off her feet and be able to relax a bit, even if it was in a mysterious magic carriage powered by mysterious magic horses.