[Hime]

Okay....I believe some of you have read SAGE....and I guess I am going to repost on this server as well....

I have some other ones involving SAGE characters....so I am going to post them later...here goes

First Encounter… By shadowmoon
1
It was a bright sunny day. It was too bad that it was a week day; and it just had to be Monday out of all days. The matter got even worse when the weather was so nice that it was suitable for doing all kinds of outdoor activities. That explained why most of the people were carrying a face that looked anything but happy. Then again, no one could do much about it anyways, therefore, life goes on.
A boy who was holding a piece of paper with some sort of address written on it and his left hand carrying his backpack was walking towards a school. He stopped, read what was on the paper once more, and then he let out a sign of relief.
“So, this is the place” the boy said, then he put the piece of paper into his pocket. The school looked rather huge; and very populated as well. The school’s location is on top on a mountain. The lower side of the mountain is the junior high; while the senior high located on the top side of the mountain. The middle part located the dorms for students. The boy had to take a mountain train to get to the school office which located on the top of the mountain. It took awhile before reaching the building. The boy got off the mountain train looked around the school. The school building itself is pretty tall as well. The boy cannot help it but keep backing up to see just how tall the school is when he bumps into something. It turns out that he bumped into a girl. She has short blond hair. She is wearing dark blue jean jacket and blue jeans. Her left hand carries her bag while her right hand carries a long object. Even though the long object is wrapped around by a cloth or some sort; it is like a staff. The boy quickly stretched his hands and offered to pull her up; and to apologize for what happened. The girl just ran away without even looked at his face.
“Weird, oh well ….great way to start the morning”
He then went into the school and head straight to the office. He found the office after searching high and low in the school without realizing the fact that the office is just right next to the entrance. He grunted for a short while then headed inside the office. The first thing the office staff did is to escort him to the principle office. The boy was thinking that the principle must be some really old or mature looking adult. This time, he is not going to believe his eyes; it is because the principle who is sitting right in front of him is a young lady. She looks a bit older than normal teenagers; it is like she is in her early twenties. He then introduces himself right away.
“Good morning! I am the new transfer student Ling Wang Fung. I am please to meet you and I will do best while I am here!”
“So you are the new transfer student. Welcome! I am the acting-principle here. You can address me as Ms. Solomon. Oh, by the way, you don’t have to be so up-tight in front of me” she gave out a smile while saying this. Then she adds on to her statement earlier:
“After all, I am just the acting-principle around here. The principle himself has some business to take care of at somewhere else. That is why you don’t have to be so up-tight around me. It makes me feel uncomfortable”
Ling became speechless and embarrassed while hearing this. He never expected that the principle (even though she is just an acting one at the moment) would be such a knock out. Ms. Solomon looked at Ling and gave him a series look with her two blue eyes and said
“Remember, you entered this academy under special conditions. You know this very well. There are others like you in this place. I just hope that you can get along with everyone, including those people as well. I will not tell you who they are; you have to find that out yourself. Is that clear?”
“Yes madam!” Ling answered in a firm voice.
“How many times do I have to tell you to just call be by my last name. Those “madam” or “Miss Principle” makes me sounded old!!! You room in the dorm should be ready.” Ms, Soromon gave Ling a grunt while saying this. Ling got nothing to reply except a whole bunch of “sorry”. He then took the time table from the acting-principle and began his first day at his new school.
2
Ling was thinking what kind of people he is going to meet in this place. Today he had to repeat his self introduction for many times than he can remember; nevertheless the day went on just fine. Then it is lunch time, Ling quickly went to the café to buy his lunch only to find out that the food at school is rather bad. That finally answered why there weren’t any line up at the kitchen. Ling took every bit of his strength to finish his “lunch” and ran to get a drink. On the way getting there, he bumped into an angle of a table. When he looked, he saw a water bottle was knocked over and the water spilled through out the whole table and the books on it. The girl who was currently working on her homework looked very frustrated. Ling apologized for his mistake and then rush off to get paper towels even though the girl waved at him and tried to tell him that the situation was under control. By the time Ling got back, the table appeared completely dry and the soaked homework and books also appeared to be all dried as well. It was like as if they weren’t wet to begin with.
“I told you that you don’t have to worry about it.”
“How did you do that? You didn’t even leave your sit!”
“Well….I do not know.”
Then the girl just went back to her task. Ling started to realize she looked like the girl he bumped into this morning. He confirmed that was her because that long staff looking object was right beside her; not to mention that short blonde hair and the dark blue jean jacket. She also got that embarrassing expression all over her face.
“I am Ling Wang Fung, you can call be Ling. Nice to meet you”
“It is nice to meet you too! You can call me Serenity”
She said it in a very soft voice. Ling then told her that he just got transferred here. The two started talking. Serenity seemed to not the talkative personality type; but she seemed to be the listener type. Then, an announcement came in.
“Would Ling Wang Fung come to the office please. Would Ling Wang Fung come to the office please. Ms. Solomon needs to see you.”
3
Ling was totally clueless the announcement. It was only his first day and there was yet any trouble; so what was Ms Solomon thinking? When Ling reached the principle’s office, he saw Ms, Solomon with a student standing right beside her desk.
“Come on in Ling. I am aware the fact that you are still not familiar with the school grounds. I think it is a good idea to introduce a friend to you. Let me introduce you to this young lady, Arcana. She is the captain of the school’s basketball team and an active member in the student council.” The girl who was standing beside Ms. Solomon’s desk came up to Ling and exchange greetings with him.
“Hello, my name is Arcana, please to meet you.”
“Hello, my name is Ling Wang Fung. You can call me Ling.”
Arcana had long dark color hair. She looked like the athlete type person. Her fashion looked similar to Serenity’s except the color is black and she wore an orange-red color T-Shirt inside. She smiled to Ling. However, Ling felt something is really wrong in this situation. He just felt it even though he did not know what it was that gave him that chill up his spine. Ms. Solomon stood up from her chair and walked up to them and said
“Arcana, I hope you can help Ling in school matters at any way you can. Ling, I hope you two can get along. She is one of our best students here after all. Now, off you go.”
Then the two left the office. Ling tried to speak to Arcana, however Arcana turned around and grabbed Ling by the collar. Her face was smiling but her voice was anything but friendly.
“Remember, I only do this because is Ms. Solomon’s request. You just stay out of my way! Or else, you will regret crossing my path.” Then she let go.
“It looks like my feeling about her was right, such shadow within her.” Ling spoke to his inter self. In the office, Ms. Solomon was still in her seat and signing papers, then a shadow appeared behind the wall and a voice came.
“Are you sure about putting these two together? You know she is going to give him Hell. You know as well as I do.”
“I think those two will make an interesting pair.” Ms. Solomon answered without looking at the shadowy figure.
“Oh? Well, you judgment is always as surprising as ever. We shall see.” The figure replied.
“You don’t trust me? Why don’t we test them a bit? I am sure it is going to be fun.” Ms. Solomon winked at the figure. The figure gave out a laugh.
“Alright, just do as you like. I am looking forward to the play, Magister-Solomon.” Then the figure vanished. Ms. Solomon leaned back on her chair, looked to the ceiling and smiled.
“This is going to be one hell of a year.”
Ling felt another chill up his spine at that moment.

[GRYPHON]

i havent read it.. >.>

[Kakashi.Archive]

i dont understand..hime did u right this or did it come from a book...either way it is really good...

[Hime]

Kakashi...I wrote this myself....if you can ask others

[Hime]

4
The school was as lively as usual the day after. Ling started off his day with Mathematics. The class was bigger than Ling thought it would be. The class itself was nothing special; it’s just the person who sat beside him. He had long wavy hair; he did not seem to cut or comb his hair. He could surely win the messy hair contest with that. The other strange element about him was that he always slept in class, never paid any attention in class. The teacher did not bother to ask him anything. Ling was fine sitting with this sleeping person; at least that person was not doing anything that bothered him from listening in class. Plus, Ling was able to handle course material without breaking a sweat. When it was lunch time, Ling met up with Serenity and they started to chat. Ling did not asked Serenity about Arcana. Serenity was talking about how much work she had to do and something about how demanding her home-ed instructor was. Then, she noticed Ling was not listening. He was staring into nowhere.
“Ling!! Ling!!” Serenity then tapped Ling on the shoulder. That tap-on-the-shoulder startled Ling quite a bit.
“Ling! Is something bothering you? You looked dazed. Is everything alright?”
“I am fine. Don’t worry about it.” Ling replied. All of a sudden Ling raised his hand toward Serenity’s face, she was shocked. Then, she found out Ling’s hand that was in front of her face caught an object. They both looked at it; it was a basketball. A voice came in.
“I guess you are not a dump as you look. That was a nice catch by the way. Actually, I was looking all over for you, Serenity, didn’t know you already befriend with him.”
“Arcana, what is it this time?” Serenity asked.
“Nothing, I just come here to inform you that Ms. Solomon wants to see you, right now.” Arcana answered with a serious look on her face.
“I guess this cannot be helped.” Serenity took her staff, got up from her seat and walked away with Arcana. Ling could only sit there and puzzled about it. The two reached the principle’s office. They saw the door was already opened for them. They went in and Ms. Solomon asked them to sit down. Then Ms. Solomon said.
“I am going to keep this short, so listen well. Okay, there is a problem within the school which only you two can handle. I cannot tell what the exactly the problem is, that’s why I am sending you two to find out.”
“So, you are saying we are going to be cannon fodder? You have to be joking.” Arcana asked. Serenity did not reply. Ms. Solomon added on.
“Don’t worry about it. I think you two are enough to handle this matter. I will have everyone leaves the school at 4:45pm. Then you two can begin. Please be careful, if anything goes wrong, you get out of there at once, okay?”
“Yes, we got it. Life is just never easy with you around. After all, there is no one in this world can understand what I have been going through. ” Arcana said with a sad expression on her face. Then she went back to her usual composed look. Serenity still hadn’t said anything. Ms. Solomon looked at her and asked.
“Is something bothering you? You have been quiet for sometime now. Please us if something is wrong.”
“Okay. It is about the new student named Ling. He seems different.”
“You mean that useless guy? Now you have got to me kidding me. He looks so weak, like he can do anything we can do in a million years, right?” Arcana laughed out when she looked at Ms. Solomon. However, Ms. Solomon did not reply.
“I just have a strange feeling about him. It is like he is hiding something. Can we really trust him?” Serenity said.
“Okay, that’s enough!! Now, you two may go. Please be careful tonight.” Ms. Solomon said. After the two left the office, she looked to the window and smiled.
“The stage is set. Let the Magister go to work now.”
5
Serenity and Arcana met up at 4:45pm and started their “mission”. Serenity just took nothing but her staff, while Arcana carried a metallic case behind her back. Even though they could cover more ground by splitting up, the two thought it would be safer if they were together. They started from the first floor. Everything seemed to look fine there. When they turned to another corner, they saw a shadow flashed back in front of them and went to the stairway. They couldn’t see clearly because the shadow was too fast. Arcana and Serenity gave chase to the stairway and followed their target to the second floor. Just when they reached the second floor, they felt something was not right. There was a purple light coming out from the ground.
“This is a magical seal! It’s a trap!” Arcana said. Before they could move, two pieces of yellow paper with red ink on it were flying towards them. The two pieces of paper flew and stick on the two sides of the hallway, put Arcana and Serenity in between of them. The two papers then released s series of electrical shock. The two received quite a load and fell on to the ground. Serenity managed to see a person walking towards the before she faint. She saw someone in some sort of long clothing and holding a line of blue light. Then everything went into darkness.
When Arcana and Serenity came to, they found themselves inside the nurse office. It’s located right next to the principle office. They saw Ms. Zolomon came into the room. Arcana jumped up from her bed and started to explain.
“I am sorry. That guy’s attack was not strong enough to kill us. I will get him next time. Please do not worry. I will get him.”
“It’s okay. That was something out of my expectation. One more thing, about the attacker, whoever the person is, he or she actually toned down the attack at the last moment, or else you two would be crisped by now. Consider you two are lucky this time. That attack was very strong and the way I judged it. It was some elite attacking magic that person was casting.” Ms. Solomon explained to them. Arcana gave out a hiss when she heard that. Serenity sunk herself into deep thoughts. Ms. Solomon took out two yellow papers with some red ink written on it.
“Do you two know what those are? These two are responsible for attacking you two.”
“I remember….they packed quite a punch.” Serenity looked at them.
“By themselves these are merely papers…but if someone with enough training with ‘chi’ ….it is something else?”
“So, what is this ‘chi’? What kind of people will be able to use them? I haven’t met anyone in the school who has this kind of skill.” Arcana asked. Ms. Solomon smiled.
“This ‘chi’ is similar to what magic users called mana. It is like an energy source for eastern magic. It is not something to be look down upon. It can be used to heal or to burn people into crisp.”
“Are you saying these two yellow papers were just used for transferring this energy into another type of energy? Just like that lighting bolt which knocked us out cold?”
“Very clever Arcana, but there is something else to it; there are different kinds of ‘chi’ magic in regions of Asia. I do not know which one this one is just by looking at these two yellow papers. The good thing is the person left us a calling card by leaving these two papers here.”
Arcana and Serenity left after a little while. Ms. Solomon went back to her office and sat down. A shadow came out from the dark corner of the room.
“So, what do you think of this kid?”
“More then I can expect? Wait! Did I say that? I mean just a little more. He is pretty good. He still got some way to go.”
“Admit it already! You are impressed! But I do admit that he still got a long way to go.”

[Nintendo]

yeah she wrote this herself. Yes by now you are saying she is a genious and rightfully so.

SAGE is back and I love it Such a great read.

[GRYPHON]

>.< i made nintendos siggy ^_^

[Hime]

6
“Just who is that guy? Just thinking of that is making me….grrr” Arcana grunted all over when Serenity still into her deep thoughts. She was thinking that person looked familiar. She felt that she met this person before.
“Hey!! Are you listening to me? This is outrageous!! It is against school rules!!”
“Don’t get too worked up with it. It hurts your head. We don’t want that now do we? You still have a student council meeting in three days. You prepared?”
“Err…..nope. Please don’t remind me about that. My head is spinning quite fast right now.” Arcana grunted.
“I say we go back and get some rest. We will deal with it next time. You look exhausted already, don’t over work yourself.”
“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!! So act like you know everything just because we got teamed up!!”
Serenity was stunted by Arcana’s reaction. Arcana stopped as if she noticed what she did. She walked away very quickly without saying another word. Serenity just stood there and sighed. It was not like she could do anything anyways. She then returned to the dorm. She met Ling the next day. Arcana came between them when they were talking. Ling greeted her but she didn’t reply. Serenity was feeling a bit sorry for Ling. Arcana dragged Ling away by the collar from Serenity to the hall way.
“Hey! What’s the big idea? What’s going on?”
“Listen up and listen good, like I said before do not get in my way. That means you are going to listen to what I have to say quietly, got it?”
“Sure, no need for threats though. It is not like you.” Ling replied with a smile on his face. Arcana brushed a bit. Then returned to her normal self and threw a punch at Ling’s face. Ling couldn’t do anything except used his hands to cover his face in pain. It was a good thing Arcana didn’t punch that hard.
“How dare you make fun of me! Okay…here is the deal. I have some business to take care of. That means you are entirely on your own for a couple of days. I am sure you can take it, can’t you? You are a decent guy. That’s it, see you later!” then she walked away, leaving Ling alone in the hall way. He returned to the table and Serenity was still waiting for him.
“What happened to your face? Did Arcana do something to you? What happened?”
“I guess that’s for being too concern about how people feels. I am fine, please don’t worry.” Ling replied. Ling went to English class after lunch. The class didn’t seem any special. The one person caught Ling’s attention is a boy who didn’t sit too far away from Ling. He rarely speaks, when he spoke, he always chose his words very carefully. His name is Sakar according to other people. He is a very good speaker. It’s just normally he would like to keep his mouth shut except when he’s needed to speak. It’s his policy, something about if one kept on running one’s mouth, there is bound to be trouble coming along. Math class was next. This time the person who sat beside Ling was wide awake. He spoke to Ling for the first time.
7
“Hey man, sorry for all the trouble these pass few days. I guess I don’t have much manners when it comes to introducing new students to their new surroundings huh? My name is Lucious by the way. You look like an all right person. You can ask me for help if you need it. So, what’s your name?”
“Ling…you can call me Ling.” Ling answered. Luscious then fell back to sleep right away without saying anything else, Ling saw there was no point talking to him anymore.
“Don’t worry, I am still with you.” Lucious sounded like he was talking in his sleep. Then the snoring starts. Ling couldn’t help but sighed. The day passed by as usual. Ling was ready to go back to his dorm, but he felt like he was being watched for some reason. He looked around, but there was no one.
“May be they are finally on to me….better be careful.” He thought to himself. Then a voice came, he looked and he saw Lucious coming towards him.
“Hey Ling! You are going that way? Awesome! I can go with you!!”
“Oh..okay” Ling thought to himself that was it Lucious who was following him? The chances were very small. Lucious started talking.
“So, you meet any people besides me? The school is big after all.”
“Well I do, there is Serenity and Arcana.”
“ARCANA? Wow, you got to be something to meet Arcana in such as short perios of time. Did you manage to talk to her?”
“Yea I did…it didn’t go too well” Ling recalled that time when Arcana threaten Ling by grabbing him by the collar.
“You know, Arcana is the basket ball team Captain. The team won many tournaments because of her. She is also a very active member of the student council. Her popularity rated number one at school. Lots of boys are after her, but she heartlessly rejected them all. Not to mention she is smart. She is total insider of the school.”
“For a person who sleeps in class all time, you sure know a lot of things.” Ling answered.
“Well, I am not asleep all the time…besides Arcana’s popularity is not much of a secret. You can see it in the hallways. The moment she walks by, you can basically see the reaction.”
“So, are you a fan as well?” Ling asked
“I am nobody’s fan…trust me…I would rather go my own way. Think of me as a student body that is just there in the school. Seriously, if you did get a good start with Arcana, you better watch out. There is something about her that we all do not know. I guess that’s why she always said no one knows anything about her.”
“Hey, it’s not like I said anything to provoke her…she just grab me by the collar and started her threats.” Ling thought. He started to wonder why so many people would adore a girl like Arcana.
“Yes, thanks for your advice. So, what’s your story Lucious?”
“What is there for me to tell about myself? I never comb or cut my hair. I like to do things my own way but get things right at the very least. I am just another person, like you. Plus, I like to know the people around me better, such as you.”
“Okay, so you are scheming all the time.”
“IT IS NOT SCHEMING….it’s call get to know the people around me. So, I know what do if anything happen.”
“Another dangerous fellow….oh mine” Ling thought to himself once again. Lucious and Ling parted ways when they almost reached the dorm. Lucious said he had some business to look into. Ling ended up going back to the dorm alone. Just as he was walking, a fire ball about the size of a basket ball was flying towards Ling. Ling then jumped backwards a few step into safety distance and the fire ball. The fire ball impacted on the ground and created a small explosion. Ling’s face was very calm; he scanned the surrounding area to search for the shooter. There was no one around, and it was difficult to see because of the smoke. Then, a voice came.
“I am right here. You are not getting away this time.”
Ling saw a person came out from the smoke. He couldn’t see too well. However, he could see that the person was carrying some sort of projectile weapon judging by the way the person was holding it. Ling could see more of the person as the smoke became clear.
It was Arcana! Just as Ling predicted, she was holding some sort of metallic equipment which shaped like a dragon’s head. The mouth of the dragon was wide open and Ling guessed that was where the fire ball came from.
“You are not getting away. It is pay back time from last time.”

[Hime]

8
“What are you talking about? More importantly, what are you doing with that thing? Is this some sort of magic trick to scare me? If it is, you could have done better.” Ling asked.
“Does THIS look like a joke to you?” Arcana smiled as she fired another fire ball from her weapon. Ling dodged another incoming fire ball.
“Hey! Arcana, what are you doing? You are trying to kill me or something?”
Arcana did not say a word but she took out a long projectile weapon from the dragon head and pointed it at Ling. Then, a stream of fire came out and took shape of a dragon.
“Fight me or turn into ash! Take your pick.”
“Calm down Arcana, what are you doing? This is not funny you know.”
Arcana slowly walked towards Ling. The fire dragon was more than ready to devour Ling in one bite. Ling was on the ground, he was backing up away from Arcana but she just kept on chasing him.
“Why are you doing this? What is wrong with you?”
“No more talk…now fight me or die”
“I don’t want to die yet. Killing me won’t help you solve anything!”
Arcana kept firing and the fire dragon kept attacking, Ling was jumping here and there and evading attacks from many sides. Arcana kept on pressing the attack. Ling then saw the dragon coming from the front, and there were fire balls coming from all sides. He had no where to go. Just then, a huge blast of water came out from no where and blocked all the fire balls, a voice came in.
“Stop it Arcana! What are you doing? Are you trying to kill him?”
“Get out of the way Serenity! He is not what you think he is! I am taking him down!”
“I know who he is. Please stop! It was a misunderstanding!”
Then Arcana’s dragon attacked. A huge wave of water came up behind Serenity and fanned out on to the dragon. The dragon was put out at that instant.
“So, this how it’s going to be huh? Fine! I have always wanted to have a show down with you anyways.” Arcana then took the dragon head and opened its mouth wide and then fired a hug fire ball with a size of a van. Serenity pointed her staff towards the fire ball and a thick ice wall came up from the ground and took the shot.
“Clever, but this no ordinary fire ball. You better watch out.” Arcana smiled. The fire ball exploded upon impact on the ice wall. Arcana could see clearly because there was so much smoke going around. She managed to see some ice flew out, she laughed.
“Novices…think you can take on me like that? Try again ten years later.” She then waited for the smoke to clear and then clam her prize. To her very much surprise, no one was harmed. What in front of Arcana was not an ice wall anymore; a wall that make out of water, liquid water. Serenity managed to change the state of the wall from ice to water fast enough. The water took the blast, therefore no one was harmed plus the wall stood.
“How? That’s impossible!!!”
“I don’t know either. I was born with this. I just managed to control this a few days ago. I just use my thoughts and my own imagination. I did not think this will be put to use that fast. I am glad that it worked. ”She looked back to Ling, smiled. Ling was a bout to praise Serenity on her skill, but then she almost collapsed at that instant. It seemed that little move took a lot out of her. Arcana was in shock that she accidentally pressed the trigger. Ling grabbed Serenity and got out of the way. Then again, due the change of position the fire ball will head straight for the dorm. A metal poll flew by and hit the dragon head upwards and the fire ball went up to the sky and disappeared.
“Good thing I was around. I suppose you guys are not filming a movie here are you?” a person came out from the shadows. Arcana, Ling and Serenity looked, it was Lucious.
9
“Hey Ling! You alright? What’s going on?” Lucious picked up the metal poll he flew and stood beside Ling. He posted a stance towards Arcana.
“You there! Get out, this does not concern you!”
“Hey, miss popular, the name is Lucious. I suggest you better put down that big dragon head of yours before you hurt someone else with this.”
“Lucious, get out while you still can. You are no match for such fire power.” Ling said to Lucious. Lucious just smiled to Ling.
“Come on, you better drop the act. You do have couple tricks in your bag now do you? You can take her. Not to mention you have to get the other girl to safety; she has done quite enough for you.” Lucious stared at Ling’s bag and at Serenity. Ling nodded; give Serenity into Lucious’s care. He stood up and turned around to face Arcana.
“I guess I do have some business with you. Please feel free to come at me at any way or direction as you please.”
“That is some very big talk for a new guy. I do ask you to be careful what you asked for.’ Arcana then fired a few fire balls towards Ling. Ling seemed to just stand there without doing anything.
“Ling what are you doing? Look out!!” Lucious yelled. Then, there was a blue line flashed in front of link and the fire balls are disappeared. Lucious and Arcana both had their jaw dropped.
“What was that blue line? What happened to my attack?” Arcana asked herself.
“You know, you have made three mistakes: 1. you attacked me without asking what was going on. 2. you got people like Serenity into this state. 3. you have made me quite angry.” Ling said with a glare in his eyes. It seemed that the situation was fired up pretty badly. Arcana switch her attack to a bigger one. She then fired a huge fire ball to Ling. The size of this one was as bug as a house. Ling jumped up in the air, and dashed down towards the fire ball.
“That’s suicide! Ling what are you doing?” Serenity yelled. Lucious remain silent, it seemed like he knew that Ling was up to something. All they saw was a blue line appeared in front of Ling and it went through the fire ball and the fire ball just disappeared. Arcana was so shocked that her attacked for diminished by such a person and at such speed.
“It seems that you have no idea how magic works. Even though Alchemy is not exactly magic, the nature of Alchemy is half science and half magic. That’s why I can disburse your attacks. As long as there is magic in your attack, I can disburse it.” Ling said as he starting to walk towards Arcana. Arcana then turned her bracelet that was on her left arm and there was electricity coming off the bracelet. Lucious saw Arcana’s entire left arm was surrounded by electricity. The ground was wet due to Serenity’s interference. Lucious looked at the ground and at Arcana and knew something was wrong. Arcana jumped up into the air and punched her fist intot he ground and the current of electric shock flew towards where Ling was standing. It was so fast that the moment Arcana punched the ground, the ground where Ling was standing exploded.
“Ling!!” Serenity and Lucious screamed out, and Arcana was shock with her attack because she was thinking if she overdid it. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left except some ash on the ground. Serenity screamed in terror. Then all went in silence. A blue line suddenly appeared in front of Arcana’s neck and a voice came.

[DarkLink]

omg yay sage is back

[Hime]

10
“That was a bit of surprise, I almost got hit. Nice try though, but try harder next time.” Ling seem to appear beside Arcana. He was holding an object against Arcana’s neck. Serenity and Lucious couldn’t bring themselves to belief what they just saw. It looked like Ling was fired and gone to the here after.
“Meet my good buddy, the Violent Thunder Sword. Your attack seemed like nothing to me because I have my buddy was beside me.” Ling said as he put his sword against Arcana’s throat.
“What? How did you….I thought you were…” Serenity couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Dead? I was almost there…that attack was quite something. Okay, let’s say we out down our weapons and we will go on from there…what do you say?” Ling asked Arcana with a smile on his face.
“Do I look like I have a choice? Sure….”
Ling was about to put down his sword like a gentleman; it seemed like Arcana was about to honor her end of the bargain as well. Arcana stretched her hand and grab Ling’s sword all of a sudden. She laughed as she successfully in taking Ling’s sword.
“You are not the only one who can use speed! Not so tough now are you? This sword of yours…I will keep it as a reminder of this defeat of yours. You are too naïve.”
“That’s a bad idea. I suggest you give it back to me before you hurt yourself.” Ling asked gently.
“Hey! That’s not very lady like! That’s dirty!” Lucious yelled out. Ling took no action; he just stood there and smile at Arcana.
“Silence!! You people have no idea who I am and what I have to….what’s happening?” Arcana felt her strength was slipping away. It was like something was sucking her energy dry like a leech. She started to have problems standing up. The harder she tried to support herself the more energy was being drained away. She dropped the dragon blast on the ground, and her body felt incredibly heavy. The last thing she saw Ling and the others rushing towards her, then everything went black.
11
When Arcana came to, she found herself in bed. She looked around and found herself in a room. The room was in medium tidy rate. She saw a picture on desk beside her bed. The picture has Ling and some other people standing beside him. She concluded that she is in Ling’s room. Then she heard Ling and the other’s voice. She tried to get up, but she couldn’t. There wasn’t much of a choice other than just sit there and listen. Then, she heard Lucious’s voice.
“So….why did she….you know…did you hit her with some kind of beam of something?” Lucious asked.
“No, actually I didn’t do anything. It was the sword’s doing?”
“So, the sword can recognize its own master?” Serenity asked.
“Well, to be truthful, in order to master Violent Thunder, you have to go through intense training to build up your physical and spiritual energy. In Chinese, this spiritual energy is called “chi”; in western magic terms, this would called “mania”. Since this sword was in the hands of many powerful or even legendary mystic swordsmen who went through high levels of “chi” training. That is why the “chi” level in this sword is horribly high and tense.” Ling explained.
“So, you mean, if a person who has level of whatever-that-thing-you-called, or even none of it. That person would not possibly able to able this bad boy?” Lucious asked.
“Yes! For some people like that, when they touched the sword, the sword’s own “chi” will rush into the wielder’s body so fast and strong that the wielder cannot stand the force. The feeling is like as if something is draining out your energy dry; in truth, the body cannot withstand the energy that was pouring into you.”
“You mean if anyone who is not as tough as you will faint when they touch the sword? Wow, some alarm system your sword has there. That’s explains why Arcana fainted all of a sudden.” Lucious sounded impressed.
“She was able to stand for that amount of time because of her mania from studying Alchemy. It seems her mania was not very strong; that also explains why she relied so much on weapons power.” Ling said, Lucious nodded in response.
“Poor Arcana….at least her life is not in danger.” Serenity said. The other two nodded.
“So…you went through harsh training in order to master this sword of yours? Goodness…seems like we get to learn something new about you now.” Lucious said. Then there was a “thud” sound from inside the room. Ling and the other knew Arcana’s awake. They saw Arcana was on the floor, struggling to get up. Ling tried to help her up but she knocked Ling’s hand away.
“What are you looking at? You haven’t seen a person trying to get up before in your entire mystical life? I can do it myself. Plus, I don’t need your pity!” Arcana grunted at Ling.
“Well, I haven’t seen anyone trying to get up and cursing people at the same time through my entire mystical life. Still, be careful and do not overdo yourself, you are still recovering from all the energy you lost awhile ago.”
“Now you do; but yea…I haven’t seen anyone acted like that through my normal life.” Lucious said.
Serenity helped Arcana up and got her seated on a chair. Arcana looked rather pale and still very weak. The only thing still lit was her sharp tongue towards Ling and Lucious. Arcana knew she couldn’t stand yet, let along walking. To her very surprise, Ling had already made preparations for the three to spend the night.
“You know, we are facing one great problem.” Lucious said.
“Well, I already prepared places….you and me are going to sleep in the living…Serenity and Arcana can take my bedroom for tonight.”
“That’s not what I am talking about. You see….” Lucious was about to explain when there was a growling sound come from somewhere in the room. They looked around and saw the faces of Arcana and Serenity was as red as an apple. Lucious then stared at Ling.
“Oh…that is a big problem.” Ling said.
“No kidding”

[Hime]

12
“So, that’s my story. I am an Alchemist. That’s all you need to know.”
“Okay, let me get this straight. You are an Alchemist. Ling is a Mystic. What is Serenity? What can she do?”
“Well, I just happened to know how to control water.” Serenity said. She then pointed her finger at a glass of water. The water flowed out on its own and went on the table; then the water formed into a sphere and then back into the glass. Serenity stared into the glass of water and the water turned into ice at the instant. Then the ice turned into in two seconds. Lucious could only try to bring himself to believe what he just witnessed.
“Okay…..remind me to stay away from you when you are in a bad mood. Well, what kind of training did you go through to get this kind of skill?”
“To be honest…I do not know…It’s like I was born with it.” Serenity said as water form into different sizes of bubbles and float around her. It seemed as the water was protecting her, and dancing gracefully around her.
“She had it lucky. I had to go through a lot of training and study to get to where I am right now. That’s why no one can understand what I have been through, let alone knowing me.” Arcana said. She looked as if she was proud of the effort she spent training herself. She saw Lucious pointed at Ling. An uneasy feeling came up within Arcana. She knew she went through many years of training in order to become a great Alchemist. Then what about Ling? How many years he had to go through in order to reach the skill level that he is now? In truth, the phrase “You do not know anything about me” should be use on Ling instead of her. He hid that power of his in front of her perfectly. He was acting like some sort of weakling. Arcana felt she’s the only person here, in this room, can relate to Ling.
“I know, I know….you can stop now.” Arcana said to Lucious. Ling and Arcana were busying making dinner. Arcana wanted to help but she was too weak to even do that; she had to rest in bed. Lucious seemed to be too lazy to do anything. He decided to watch over Arcana before she tried to overdo herself. That seemed like the easiest thing to do at this time.
“So, what’s your story? You were pretty good with that poll of yours. Lucious right? Your name was on the list on honor rolls. It’s funny that you never showed up at any of the picture taking of the honor rolls. Other people would have died for this. I take it as you are keeping a low profile I suppose?” Arcana asked.
“I am not like other people now am I? Plus, I have my reasons. Low profile can be one of them.”
“Hair issue I suppose? You are not going to keep that low profile of yours with that kind of hair style. It still amazes me that no one ever met you even though your name is in the student list; you are like a fictional character in the school.”
“Speak for yourself, isn’t Alchemist such as yourself as suppose to be fictional as well? I still trying to bring myself to believe there are people like Ling and Serenity.” Lucious said.
“I guess you have seen nothing yet.” Arcana smiled and said.
13
“Okay, I think you have some questions that needs to answered Ling.”
“So, why did you come and attack me all of a sudden? You told me you got business to take care of for a few days. I was puzzled; then I found myself used as target practice. I should mention that I almost got turned into a crisp. Now, can you explain yourself?”
“I have been spending the past few days looking for a “chi” user. No one came up from my research since there many types of “chi” users. With your sudden appearance in the school linked with the unknown attack that Serenity and I experienced….”
“Hold up…what’s this all about?” Lucious asked.
“Okay…as you know this school has two types of students. There are the regulars, and the special admissions. Ling, Serenity and I are special admissions. We are here because we have our own talents on certain fields.”
“No wonder this school is one of the highest ranking in many fields. It is still a wonder why this school did not make it into the top rankings of schools in the nation.” Lucious said.
“That’s because of all the special admission students. The school cannot give the outside world any hint on any special abilities people. The outer world must not know about the center-world as we called it.” Acrana explained.
“What’s the center-world? Why not use the name underworld or something?” Ling asked.
“That’s because that name is rather unoriginal and the mafia people took it before our people did. Besides, the center-world is the world where most of magic users, alchemy users, special abilities people lived. It is realm of the impossible. It is also the source of magic for mages ,alchemists, and mystics. This world is the center of them all. Most of the special admission students’ grandparents are living happy in the realm while this realm have already pronounced them dead already. You are from a magic user bloodline. You don’t know about this.”
“That’s because we all live in the mountains. We train in the shadows, behind people’s back. My clan remained hidden for generations. We find living in this world is enough trouble for us.” Ling said.
“That’s true, not many people can actually gain passage to the center-world. Once you gain massage into the center-world, it is not an easy task to come back. Unless, your powers are ranked as one of those legendary kinds; you may have gain passage freely.”
“That does not sound like a vacation spot at all. So, what’s there?” Ling asked.
“I don’t know. I only read about it. ” Arcana said.
“Okay, history 101 is over. Can we get back to why you want to turn Ling into a crisp?” Lucious said.
“I targeted you not just because of your sudden appearance. It’s because of your aura that reeks out from you. You seem to suppress it to the lowest level as you can but like a certain someone said once alchemy is half tech and magic. It is not a hard task to sense that aura of yours. The other thing is that, judging Ling’s aura. He had to go through many intensive training to get to this level. So I concluded that Ling is the attacker.”
“Then why are you turning me to a crisp before asking me anything?” Ling said.
“Like I said before, it is called payback. I didn’t think Serenity will come out like this though, let alone that guy over there.” Arcana said as she pointed to Lucious.
“So? Unlike a certain someone, I am not one of those shot first, ask questions later type. Plus, all those center-world thing and magic kind of makes me want to pull my hair off now.” Lucious said while Arcana tried at her very best effort to get up with a think book in her hand. Ling and Serenity sort of laughed at the situation.
“Look, you are not off the hook yet Ling. I just need to know were you the one attack us on that night? I just need a yes or a no. An explanation will be good you if you can come up with one.” Arcana said. Ling was about to talk when Serenity stood up and cut in the conversation.
“I will do the explanation for Ling from here. It was all Ms. Solomon’s doings.”
Arcana and Lucsious both grasped when they heard that and all fell into silence.