Power. The word passed by his mind as he drank down the rest of the glass. Magic is power. Leonardo understood that it was so great a power that the whole world could bow to it. A part of him felt that desiring such power is a common, pretty everyday wish. If I have that kind of power... His thoughts began to drift in directions random and avaricious. Even though the water was refreshing, the long travel has took its toll on him, and aware of this, he concentrated on Callum's question to keep his thoughts from wandering even further. "I guess I have a favor to ask of the Dragon." Leonardo stated, slight uncertainty present in his words, "I guess it'd be nice if he can at least listen to it." with a slightly uncharacteristic calm tone, Leonardo said, looking down at now-empty glass. "The apprentice thing is more of a bonus."

He walked to the seats and sat down, a comfortable distance away from the resting Sophia; suppressing the contagious desire to yawn. Having ran out of things to say, Leonardo's sight drifted across the room, and landed once again on Hilda's horns. He found them very curious things indeed; there are quite a few Beastkin of the bear or the cat tribe in the town he was raised in, but deer he had never seen before. "I guess I'll take a rest as well." Leonardo exhaled a long sigh, relaxing his body, "The first thing I do with magic will be to conjure a bed wherever I want."

As everyone began to make themselves comfortable in the carriage, Callum asked everyone about their reasons for their reasons for seeking out the dragon. Hearing Sophia´s answer she thought about her motive, learning magic to find a way to protect her village and the people living in it. In essence that could be called power, to find power to do things a normal person, either beast-kin or human couldn't even dream of. "What situation would she need power for?" Hilda wondered, she didn't know much about the politics and kingdoms of other countries so she could only make vague guesses. Leonardos answer made her tilt her head, was Leonardo not planning to study magic? Asking the Dragon a favor seemed rather boldfaced, more than asking him to accept apprentices. "I-I'd just like to protect my village, and training in magic is one way I could do it"

Seeing as how Sophia and Leonardo had already started to rest, she decided to get some sleep too, while she wanted to know what they needed power for, she decided to wait till they knew each other better. When Hilda was just a few moments away from peaceful sleep, she noticed that nobody had asked Callum his reasons and know that she knew it was rude not to ask him, even if he seemed to be scared of her or something. "S-So what are your reasons for coming with the Dragon C-Callum?" giving the first step was important if Hilda wanted for Callum to stop being scared of her.

Callum thought that his companions' reasons were all rather interesting. Sophia wanted power. Power for what, she didn't quite say. By the way she spoke, she didn't sound like she came from a poor family. If anything, her speech reminded him of the various books that he read, where everything sounded formal and manufactured. Perhaps she was well off enough to get a proper education, and perhaps she just wanted more. He supposed it didn't matter how much you had; so long as there was something you didn't have, there would be want. Leonardo's answer was very interesting. Just what kind of favor did he want to ask of The Dragon? Callum was insatiably curious, and was about to ask him, when the beast-kin spoke up.

He cocked his head slightly and gave her an odd look. Protect her village? Were there really no soldiers where she was from? Or were they what she was trying to protect it from? She was a beast-kin after all; maybe it was a territorial thing. Either way, he couldn't blame her if she wanted soldiers gone, especially with the way he'd seen them treat her kind. Then she turned his own question on him. Funnily enough, he hadn't given it much thought.

"Hmm..." he said, leaning back in his seat with his hands folded behind his head. "Well, I read this book one time. There was this story... or poem, or something -- it was in a book -- and it was about a guy walking down a misty path. As long as he stayed on the path, he was safe, but there were monsters in the mist that would devour him if he strayed. Anyway, he could just barely make out a path in the mist branching off of the one he was on. However, the man decided to keep going straight, fearing that the path would take him deeper into the mist. He died knowing nothing but the mist, and on his death bed he wondered if that path would have lead him out of it. I'm going left." Callum nodded, thinking that it was a satisfactory answer, though really he probably made the least sense out of all of them.

@Junkojuro @Ixa @Eklispe @Ether


The golem would raise a wooden brow at what he was hearing from inside the carriage. Some of them had obvious thoughts of why they wanted to become wizards but he started to feel they was very naive in this situation. believing if they simply wasn't good at magic they would be able to keep trying over and over until they succeed. While this is true after they become apprentices aslong as they don't kill themselves, it is not true for becoming one. This would cause the golem to speak out towards the children, "I believe some of you are under false assumptions, you see if you are accepted as an apprentice, you go through your first test and if your not good you die, for the magic that will pass through your veins will rip you apart from the inside" he states clearly for them to hear and allows them to contemplate his words.

After a couple of minutes the golem would speak again "I will warn you all now, when you meet the master don't let his appearance fool you. Don't judge by what you see" he would sigh before continuing "Most wizards within the first thirty years of mastering magic, they find some way to stop their aging, while this method can vary like giving up your humanity and becoming a monster.. most still do it, the master is no different he but his magic affect his appearance, it caused his phyiscal appearance to change for many reasons including his emotions, so don't judging him when you see him. Be respectful and truthful in his presence"

It would be a couple hours before they arrived at the somewhat ruined down castle, the outer walls covered in moss and vines, even the castle itself had them, flowers as well. Going past the gatehouse into the courtyard, which was big enough for 3 dragons to lay side by side in any direction, there would be the castle directly ahead with three towers raising up into the sky from it. To the left would be a barn like stables where some strange creature sounds was coming from. There would be a stone path through the middle of the courtyard connecting the buildings, and a big fountain in the middle of it all, but the path would be in rough shape as well with peices cracked and missing.

The rest of the courtyard besides being overgrown in various plants, some probably never seen before, there would be statues laying everywhere, some looking brand new. While others broken and overgrown, there would be a statue for pretty much every species that exists besides humans and undead. This includes a couple of beastkin statues, finally there was also torn and shredded banners laying over the place that use to have some kind of symbol but is undecipherable now.

The carriage would come to a stop shortly before the castle, the doors and steps opening out on their own again as the golem jumps off the carriage to await for the others.

Sophia thought about the other's answers. Leo's didn't really surprise her, Hilda's response made sense since she was a Beast-kin it wasn't surprising she would face danger. Callum simply didn't want to fear the unknown. Then the coachmen spoke. Rip her apart from the inside? Maintaining her composure Sophia still felt a shiver run down her spine at hearing that. The rest of the ride Sophia simply rested as best she could, thinking about The Dragon and... The Test. If she wasn't good enough she would die? Well then she'd simply have to be good enough and that was that. It wasn't like she had anything to lose. She'd spent pretty much everything she'd stolen on the way here, she had no relations to lose, no accomplishments to be forgotten. The only thing Sophia had left was her life and she was willing to gamble that for the power she sought.

The carriage came to a halt, though it was hard to tell, and Sophia stepped out quickly and looked around where they had arrived. She was rather surprised. The castle they were at seemed as though it had once been majestic beyond belief but now it was run down and broken. Even with that it was still beautiful and incredibly massive. Sophia shot a glance at the source of the strange noises, remembering what had been said about dangerous magical beasts. "Well, what now coachmen?" Sophia wasn't sure that she wanted to walk into the castle of a all-powerful wizard just like that.

Mere moments after he sat, Leonardo completely drifted off to his own land of dreams, he barely caught fragments of Hilda and Callum's conversation, as well as the Golem's warning. The Dragon is inhuman, all powerful magic users probably are. Does becoming his apprentice mean Leonardo, too, will someday abandon his mortal human shell? Yeah, right. Leonardo quickly realized he was getting ahead of himself, even becoming his apprentice carried a risk of death, who was he to talk about becoming immortal? He did wonder what form did the Dragon take, but if it's anything like the impression Leonardo saw in his book, it's definitely going to be quite the sight.

Leonardo was woken a couple of hours later by the sounds of the carriage doors throwing themselves open. Have we arrived? Leonardo quickly regained his bearings and briefly stretched his arms wide, before following Sophia out of the carriage. His eyes was greeted by the expanse of the castle's run-down courtyard, "Is he actually living here?" a slight disbelief coated Leonardo's voice. He then turned to the golem, pretty much seconding Sophia's question. Carefree as he was Leonardo definitely had enough sense to not recklessly enter the residence of the world'd most powerful wizard. He definitely wouldn't want to be the first to step in.

"I believe some of you are under false assumptions, you see if you are accepted as an apprentice, you go through your first test and if your not good you die, for the magic that will pass through your veins will rip you apart from the inside"

A cold sweat came over Callum. He'd be torn apart from the inside if it didn't work? He'd never read anything about that. Why didn't any of the books talking about mages and their apprentices mention that some of them would be torn apart. Was this just a ploy to scare them off? To see who was really committed to learning? He took one look at the golem's stoic face, though, and could immediately tell that this was not the face of deception. The creature almost seemed incapable of lying, compassionate and apathetic at the same time. "Whelp, guess we'd better get it right the first time," he said with a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of the head.

The courtyard they arrived at was a true wonderland. Upon exiting the carriage, he simply stood dumbfounded, unsure where to look first. Exotic plants that he had never seen before, strange creatures he hadn't even read about. In an instant, it became apparent just how little he knew of the world. The journey here had been a learning experience. He had seen places and met people he never knew existed before, but never were things this... alien. He was pulled out of his reverie when Sophia spoke up. "Umm, I guess we go up and knock," Callum replied. He was pretty sure they wouldn't become apprentices by loitering on castle grounds.

A feeling of dread came over her as her skin turned pale from fear when she heard the Golem. Sure Hilda expected that there was a chance she didn't have the potential to learn magic, but at worst she expected to have to make a return trip not being "Ripped apart from the inside" she quickly pushed the thought of magic destroying her from the inside. She had already completed around half the steps of being an apprentice and backing out would be a waste of time and effort, she either tried and failed or she would be closer to her objective becoming more closer. Another thing that made her curious is that wizards were powerful enough to stop aging and live many years and even change their appearance, being capable of turning themselves into whatever they liked and being immune to the passage of time may affect how they see people who can't do magic, she thought and hoped that she wouldn't forget her reason for learning magic when she became a capable wizard, if she even had the potential to do it.

Exiting the carriage Hilda noticed the strange beast-kin statues alongside other races, where they just decorations or perhaps previous familiars of the Dragon, seeing that there wasn't any human statues. Or perhaps they were prettified creatures, which could explain why some of them looked brand new and wizard were clearly capable of that power. Shrugging of that thought, seeing that all of them where already out of the carriage Hilda spoke up too “L-Let's go right away, we aren't doing anything by waiting and n-night could fall in if we take too long”

@Eklispe @Ether @Junkojuro @Ixa



Seeing all of them holding their resolve the golem would sigh "Alright.. don't blame me, and be sure to be respectful" he states before turning towards the door and walking up to them. He'd open the doors revealing an entrance hall, lobby like, room. It had coat and hat hangers for guests. The floor would have red carpet coming from the door ahead that goes through the middle of the room. Inside the stone walls would look like they was brand new instead of destroyed. The actual floor seeming to be made out of some mysterious dark wood.

The golem would glance at them "Please place any coats, cloaks, and such on the stands if you are accepted and survive then they can be moved to your rooms later" he states before waiting a second and continuing through the two wooden doors reinforced with metal that had the red carpet from under it. The next room would be a grand hall with the red carpet getting bigger leading to the opposite end of the huge room, there would be pillars on either side of the carpet along with some statues inlayed into the walls. The ceiling would have a strange painting covering it that looks similar to the valley, except there was more buildings, and the castle looked as if it was brand new.
At the far end of the room up a small set of steps would be a throne, it's material would be unknown from this distance. there would be doors at various points on either side. Before taking even a second to gander at the surroundings the golem would take a door that was immediately to their right after entering the new room it would appear to be a huge library study. the ceiling would raise over four stories above them, except in the middle of the room where it seems to extend up into one of the towers they saw on the outside. There would be book cases lining the walls, and in various clusters throughout the room. a circular book case would be in the center of the room raising up into the unknown tower. There wouldn't be any ladders or anything so makes one wonder how their suppose to reach the books.

The Golem would speak as he walks "Please keep up, this place can be confusing.... people have gotten lost in this room before and died of starvation for it is much bigger than it appears and can become very much a maze for those inexperienced" he states to them as he walks through a couple sets of book cases, after a fifteen minute walk they would come to the other side where it's clear of book shelves, instead there is pedestals lining the wall each with one book on them, a huge grand fire place directly in front of them. between them and the grand fire place would be a very comfortable looking seat, and a table next to it. A tray of food sitting on the table, and they can see the hint of an arm laying on the seat's arm rest.

The golem would walk up to the seat and speak "Master we have guests" a low voice would reply, "I said I don't want to be disturbed". Which the golem would speak "You have been this way for the past couple of thousand years, it's time to get out and do things" he would state. Which the other voice would grumble, much like a child.



As the person than rose from the seat and walked around into view, his appearance was a strange one, especially for him to have pointed ears. But physically he also looked much younger than the four who have arrived. his clothes would be like that of royality, his skin seeming to slightly change color as they looked at him from a dark blue-ish purple to getting a reddish tint and his face would be that of slight annoyance he opened his mouth to speak but then he glanced over Hilda he stopped and closed his mouth taking a deep breath the red tint vanishing from his skin, and his skin seeming to become slightly more younger for some reason "..what do you four want from me, why do you disturb my isolation?" he would state the question to them.

Sophia somewhat reluctantly took off her heavy travel cloak, revealing the more elaborate clothing underneath that spoke of her more noble birth and continued following the Coachmen. Even for her, the castle was an amazing place of splendor and wonder. It was massive and the inside bewildering in both size and appearance. Sophia made sure to keep up with the Golem, she didn't want to get lost in a castle full of magic in the middle of a forest full of danger. After quite a bit of walking that made Sophia feel the urge to ask where exactly they were going, they arrived at a rather grand looking room. She stood back as the Golem went up to the seat and talked to whoever was sitting in it. The person who could surely only be The Dragon himself rose from the seat and looked at them. Even though the Golem had warned them she was still surprised to see him looking so young and strange, furthermore he changed even as they watched. Sophia knelt on the ground with her eyes on the floor and spoke carefully, "I am here because I wish to become your apprentice and learn how to use magic!"

Callum quietly followed the golem as he glanced here and there around the castle. It was so fascinating and there was so much to take in, and he was almost upset that he was rushing them through the castle instead of giving them a chance to look around, but he figured that once he was an apprentice he'd have nothing but time to explore. But then they arrived in the library, and Callum could no longer keep his emotions contained. "Holy... Look at all these books!" He frantically scanned the spines of the books within sight, trying to discern their contents in the fleeting moments he had to spend with him. "Are they all different? I didn't know this many books even existed! Has The Dragon read all of them? How could he? There's so many!"

His excitement only abated when they finally arrived at the dragon's quarters. He remembered that the golem had told them to show respect, so he figured it wouldn't do to be rambling on about books. However, for someone that was supposed to be thousands of years old, he didn't look like much. Hell, he didn't even look like a dragon. He mimicked Sophia's means of kneeling, figuring that someone who seemed as highborn as her would know the proper manners for situations like this. "Y-yes," Callum said, his nervousness apparent. "Please accept us as your students Mr. Dragon... master... sir?" He had no idea which honorific to use, so he figured it couldn't hurt to use them all.

Leonardo quietly walked into the interiors of the castle, trailed the rest of the party. "It's surprisingly well-kept inside, is this magic, too?" Leonardo couldn't help but ask this time, as the contrast with the worn-down exterior caught him by surpise. As instructed, he took off his travelling robe and put it on the hanger, revealing a slightly worn light-brown cloth tunic underneath. There was signs of wear here and there, it had seen its share of the rough travels as well. That, and Leonardo's occasional clumsiness. With the elaborate clothing Sophia wore Leonardo couldn't help but feel a bit out of place in such a grand entrance. In the next room Leonardo's sights are drawn to the painting on the ceiling, a good use of colors, he thought. Leonardo had trouble imagining how hard it would be to paint on a ceiling, and as far as paintings go, the sheer area this one covered was huge. He couldn't help but have his doubts whether magic had been involved in its making. Leonardo noticed he was falling behind the party and hastened his pace, being lost there was the last thing he'd risk himself doing.

The golem led the party to its destination: a huge library of books, beyond that, the Dragon. Leonardo was slightly conflicted. It was, frankly, quite a difference from how he was depicted in the book Leo had seen, and yet, he couldn't shake that it was the case that the artist, his ancestor, simply couldn't help themselves from portraying the Dragon with such grand splendor, so much that the figure in front of him somewhat pales to in comparison. That alone should speak volumes about how powerful the Dragon truly was. As his heartbeats began to quicken, Leonardo braced himself, "I, similarly, would hope to be granted the chance of being your apprentice." A tone of respect, "But before that, I have also come with a request," Leonardo took another pause, this time taking a deep breath, "With the utmost respect, I wish for the restoration of the southwestern continent." His could barely keep his voice from breaking; Leonardo was aware how one-sided this request was, but he had to do it. "To the way it was, before it became the wasteland that it is now."

Hilda trembled as the golem opened the door, a whole new different world could be inside those castle walls given the power of the Dragon. Upon entering, the castle seemed a bit more normal than she expected, as far as her idea of a mage`s castle was, she quickly took her coat, trying to ignore the "Your coat will be moved into your rooms if you survive" nothing good would come up if she started thinking about if she was gonna survive or not. Unsurprisingly the Dragon had books upon books upon books, probably more books than her small village had or what an average person would read in their entire life, "has the Dragon read them all?" Hilda thought as she continued walking. The Golem talking about how people got lost in the castle, made her a little nervous, they would be living there for a while so it wasn't exactly reassuring that getting lost was very easy, if she was accepted it would be a good idea to ask if the master had any map or guide to the castle as they get accustomed to it. Finally, they had reached the Dragon`s chambers, Hilda didn't know if her heart was jumping from fear, excitement or both.

Seeing the master itself Hilda's eyes opened wide for a moment, he didn't exactly look much like a dragon to her or a thousand-year-old mage, more like a kid with a strange skin color. Nonetheless saying such things would be a sure way to anger him and get kicked out of the castle or turned into one of those statues outside, so she pushed the thoughts back. Hilda noticed him giving her a glance and her heart stopped for a second. Reading minds didn't seem to be much of a stretch considering what mages were already capable, so comprehensively she began to panic internally, her skin getting pale she hoped he wasn't as cruel as his namesake would imply. "Calm down, calm down, maybe you are just imagining things," She told herself, he had asked them a question so it would be wise to answer him. Legs trembling and sweat running down her forehead she spoke: "I-I want-t to b-become your appprentice too!"

@Eklispe @Ixa @Ether @Junkojuro


The man would sigh at their responses, all wanting to be apprentices and one wanting a huge request to be accepted, he would rub the side of his head and look at the golem fairly annoyed, and suddenly starts speaking another language, which the golem responds in the same language and they go back and forth for a couple of seconds before he turns towards the four "..so a beastkin, a refugee, an exile, and one who appears to be of nobility or great wealth" he says shaking his head "fine I will take you as my apprentices... your lives are now forfeit until you graduate with my blessing" he states clearly for all them to hear before looking at Leonardo "if you want your home land back exile then take it back yourself if you survive it's not my problem" he clearly states. It would be confusing why his specifically calling him an exile but now wasn't the time to stay on that train of thought.



The Dragon would place his hand out and suddenly a huge magic circle appeared bellow their feet and bright light fills the room, a slight falling sensation would be felt before the light clears and they all find themselves outside in the courtyard again, the man who is to be their master there with them this time, he would hold his palm up as another magic circle appears above his hand, these circles have been very elaborate in appearance, This circle would start to spin rapidly as suddenly magic energy started to surge from their surroundings into the air between them and the dragon, the magic would be taking all kind of shapes of creatures as it moves as it converges onto four separate spots turning into what nearly seems to be eggs. Once the magic finished gathering there would be the four eggs made up entirely of magical energy floating there in the air.

"Take the magic within yourself by your own hands by pressing it against your body and allowing it to enter you" The Dragon would tell all of them. He would seem to appear older now as he spoke, only slightly older than them he would appear now. The Magic eggs would be solid and very warm to the touch. "Once they enter your bodies it will, for lack of better words, hatch and remold your body from the inside to allow magic to exist inside" he tells them "This process as you can imagine is why many die, for it is not a painless process, and not everyone is compatible with these changes" He explains. "After words if you survive then your bodies will require great deal of rest to recover, luckily it should only take a night here because this land is filled with magical energy which will help you recover" he tells them. "Tomorrow I will begin your lessons if you survive.. now take the magic in and lets see what fate has decided for the four of you" the dragon states with an almost evil grin.

Sophia nervously waited as the two conversed in some foreign tongue, before he finally spoke to them, allowing her to breath a sigh of relief. Not to say his acceptance of them hadn't been rather ominous in it of itself. Your lives are now forfeit. Light filled the room as magic circles suddenly appeared, Sophia remained still for risk of interrupting the process and watched as an awe-inspiring flurry of color and shapes ran through the room, eventually leaving four eggs of what she could only assume was pure magic. The Dragon proceeded to explain how they would work once touched and of course that it would likely kill them. Sophia nodded to herself and rose to her feet, "Thank you master." she said simply, and walked over to the closest one. Deep breath. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Sophia thrust her arms against the surprisingly solid 'egg' and let out a gasp at the strange sensation that coursed through her arms and now her entire body. She immediately fell to her knees, eyes staring without seeing in front of her as the alien energy ran through her body. Suffice to say it was the most painful thing she had even known and she could not say how long she remained there staring blindly forward, all she knew was that at some point she truly saw nothing as she lost consciousness.