The Courtyard
Aster had never liked being summoned to partake in the
Annual Magus Games. Each and every time he would protest against his involvement in them but the Director seemed only to gain pleasure from his lack of enjoyment.
'Sadistic bastard.' He thought to himself as he stood towards the back of the crowd of students, leaning against one of the many constructs that decorated the courtyard of the Academy. His arms remained crossed against his chest, allowing his long, black coat to drape evenly over his shoulders as it always did. He watched in silence as the Director prattled on about the Games. He then began checking the pockets of his jeans for the hint the crowd had just been informed of before the Headmaster made his grand exit. His hand fumbled on something thin and paper-like; A piece of parchment. It was
pink in colour and contained a passage etched onto it in the most ornate of handwriting.
'Unmistakably the handiwork of the Director.'Aster skimmed over the words quickly. It was a riddle.
'I hate riddles...' By now, he could hear the murmurs of of the students as they, too, came to the same realization. He flipped over the piece of parchment, noticing some writing that hadn't been there before.
Lyssa, Iravis, Arata, Shino, Arthur and Alucard. The names of the others who had been assigned to this treasure no less; Two Students, Three Familiars & a Teacher.
Arthur Wick he was already fairly acquainted with; The Pyromaster. Though he held nothing in particular against the Human, Aster was somewhat weary of his tendency to
literally explode when angry. On more than one occasion during their time teaching at the Academy has he had to spontaneously shield himself from Wick's flames during a fit of anger. Not something he ever particularly looked forward to when dealing with the man.
The students, Lyssa and Alucard, he knew of rather well.
Alucard was versed in Neutra-magic, something he respected since it matched his own. However, his permanent air of arrogance let him down in Aster's books. The boy could go far, but only once he'd taken his head out of his own ass first.
Lyssa was a fellow Demon, though she remained widely different to any other Demon he'd ever met. She came across to him as eccentric and only manageable in small doses. He was intrigued by her Deconstruction magic though. Maybe a close up view of it would aid him in his study of Mana? He made a mental note to inquire about it at a later date.
The familiars remained somewhat of a mystery to him. The Phoenix, The Oni & The Neko. Aster had never really understood the need to have a slave/master relationship.
'Except...erotically, maybe?' He shook his head, quickly dispelling his perverted thoughts as his cheeks began to flush the slightest shade of pink. Surely if you focused on strengthening your own magic, others would naturally gravitate towards you. But still, it would be a refreshing experience to see how they interacted without their masters and how their magic compared to his own.
When he'd finished mentally scrutinizing the piece of parchment, Aster considered scrunching up and disposing of it. Though, thinking better of it, he stuffed the riddle back into the pocket of his jeans. The Director would have been delighted. He'd decided then that he was going to take part, though not on
his terms. Aster wanted exercise some theories he'd been quickly working on whilst going over the names on the paper. His mind jumped back to Lyssa's Deconstruction magic. It was beginning to seem far too intriguing not to try out for himself. Although, he was going to have to work against the others in order to suit his needs. Meaning he would have to find the location of the treasure first, or at least prevent the others from doing so.
'How troublesome.' He thought, before sauntering off in the direction of his study.