[center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/L4JY57Ms/Leon-Banner.jpg[/img] Interacting with: Carmilla [@Animus] Luna and Ikon [@Force and Fury][/center] [hr] [hider=Summary] Part 1: Leon asks the group about the abberrations in their rooms. Carmilla admits she found one too. Jomurr hides that he absorbed his too. Luna intends to remove the remaining abberrations. Part 2: Leon is bored in his first classes then chills out under a tree. Part 3: Leon moves into the Castle with his unusually large room. He then starts a party at dinner that lasts until midnight. He then goes to bed, he puts out the offer for some to join him. [/hider] [hr] Leon sat at breakfast with the rest of his team and Zeno Luna. On the surface, he seemed happy and content. Eating in a blissful manner as if nothing was wrong. As if an abberation wasn't found on a night stand this morning. Put who placed it? His first suspect was Luna, of course. After her display of dark magic, perhaps she saw fit to provide him with a morning abberation snack. Equally, Leon found the possibility quite likely that the others in his group would have received the same 'gift'. Outside of that, it was possible someone had snuck into the home. But first he had to confirm how the others had reacted to it; and there was a simple way to find out. [color=fff200][b]"Ah, I almost forgot."[/b][/color] Leon said in a cheerful voice as he gave a flick of the wrist. A replica image of the apple sized abberation appeared in the middle of the breakfast table. [color=fff200][b]"Anyone else see an abberation in their room this morning?"[/b][/color] His expression a more serious focus as he went to analyse how the three would react to this sudden placement. In truth, Jomurr had seen an aberration on his nightstand. It had been the size of a small firemelon and he had absorbed before a servant or lesser magic user like Carmillia might've. It was both his privilege and solemn duty as a member of the nobility, after all. he had to protect them. Of course, he wished he hadn't. That was only the second one he'd seen in his life, and the first had been much larger - the size of a man - so he and his brother had wisely avoided it. Truly, he wished he'd done so with this one too. His head pounded and it was an effort not look at Leon's poor approximation of an aberration with some eagerness. He shook his head innocently. [b][color=800080]"I... an aberration?"[/color][/b] he responded, concern in his voice. [b][color=800080]"Certainly not."[/color][/b] He stared at it, face equal parts wonder and worry, or so he hoped it appeared. [b][color=800080]"There's one in your room right now?"[/color][/b] he continued. Quickly, he turned to Carmillia, [b][color=800080]"This is ill news,"[/color][/b] he declared. [b][color=800080]"Did you, too, encounter one?"[/color][/b] For her part, Luna placed her utensils back on her plate, glanced at Leon uneasily, and then at Carmillia. [b]"I'm gonna second that question and then, regardless of the answer, we're going upstairs and checking this out."[/b] [b][color=881515]"I did encounter one,"[/color][/b] Carmillia responded. [b][color=881515]"It's still there upon my nightstand. I was planning on bringing it up once we were done with the meal."[/color][/b] [i][color=881515]Of course he gets in the way again[/color][/i], she thought. Carmillia had briefly contemplated absorbing the abberation when she saw it but had quickly waived away the thought. She knew of abberations and that they've been known to appear everywhere. That said, it was far too much of a coincidence for it to appear on her nightstand. The memory manipulation on their first day had wounded her pride. She was a player, not a pawn. Given that none of the townhome's residents tended to violate the privacy of the others, she had planned on leaving the abberation there till she had more information. That plan was now ruined thanks to Leon. The only silver lining was that her suspicions were now confirmed. The abberation had not occured naturally. [b][color=881515]"I'll lead the way,"[/color][/b] she said. Carmillia started heading towards her room. Leon assessed the developing situation as he sipped his drink. He could conclude that Luna was not the one responsible. Her response would be out of place for someone trying to lie about it. As for the other two, Carmilla also saw an abberation and didn't touch it where Jomurr 'certainly did not'. On the assumption the Traveller was responsible for this, it would make sense that Jomurr was left out given his noble blood. But on the other hand, Jomurr could have absorbed his abberation and lied about it. That conclusion left up the question of who is responsible for the small abberations. For now, Leon could not be certain of it one way or the other. Leon could at least take comfort that Carmilla had equally ignored the temptation of abberant power. She was the only one here he felt comfortable trusting. [color=fff200][b]"And I will follow."[/b][/color] Leon left his seat taking his last bit of bread from breakfast with him to follow Carmilla. When they reached Leon's room, it took Jomurr only moments before realizing that the aberration before him was noticeably smaller than the one that had occupied his nightstand this morning. The alarm on the Zeno's face was palpable but, at this point, he scarcely trusted her. In fact, he did not even trust that she wasn't involved in the spreading of these aberrations. Already, she had sought to turn him and his fellow apprentices against the academy. She had used what she claimed was Dark Magic. She had lied through her teeth about the nature of Anna's disappearance. He did not have any proof, but he sensed it on a gut level. Perhaps she was with the Traveler and perhaps she was not, but Moonlight had her own agenda, hidden beneath a mask of casual, disarming, and nonthreatening disregard for protocol. [b]"This is... strange,"[/b] she said, examining the thing for a moment. [b]"I suppose you don't have any idea when it appeared, do you?"[/b] Presently, they moved to Carmillia's room, and Jomurr noted that her aberration was smaller still, almost as if each person's aberration had been tailored for them. And if you put them there, he thought, you know that I absorbed mine. You know that I did my duty as a noble. Was this some sort of test? [b]"In any any event,"[/b] Moonlight announced, [b]"It was good that you didn't touch these. As a greyborn, they're no bother for me, but they can do horrible things to some people, I'm afraid."[/b] She regarded each of them, in turn, and lingered on Jomurr for perhaps a half-second longer. She shifted uncomfotably and stalked to the doorway. [b]"For now, the hour is less early than it was. You should be off to your classes. It's your first day. Enjoy yourselves. I have people to talk to and questions to ask. I will handle this."[/b] There was something almost... earnest about her tone, and for the dozenth time since he had known her, Jomurr wondered if he had not misjudged her. He shook his head slightly to clear it. [b][color=800080]"Yes,"[/color][/b] he replied, [b][color=800080]"you are correct and I bow to your wisdom. It will do us no good to linger on such grim matters, though I am curious to see what comes of your research and I remember your promise to be 'an open book' with us."[/color][/b] Without anything further to say, he prepared to return downstairs, ready to head out the door and begin his day in earnest. Leon left the house satisfied with the exchange. There were still plenty of questions left open about his companions, but he wouldn't get much more answers for the time being. It was off to classes now. [hr] The school day was rather bland for Leon. Starting off with Mozaru’s test in sensing and drawing. Leon had taken a window seat and was currently as shirtless as he was every morning. This made displaying his drawing capability easy as he was doing it throughout the entire class. Equally, Serra’s Avincian class was another breeze. Pick an adjective to describe himself in Revidian and Avincian? Well, Leon knew how to say magnificent in ten different languages. So for the majority of the class, Leon spent at a window seat absorbing the sun’s rays. The way Giarrone ran his class had piqued Leon’s interest. Hearing others’ reasons for exploring a specific type of magic had illuminated him to all the different desires that draw someone to magic in the first place. His interest was held the whole time as he listened to the others describe their reasons for learning Binding magic. Unfortunately, Leon had little to say when it came around to him. Binding magic was not his primary interest when it came to magic and he had hardly seen all it had to offer. When asked to share, Leon answered honestly that Binding was an extension of Arcane magic to him. Allowing him to extend his abilities in another school further rather than using binding for its commonly intended purposes. Leon had been looking forward to learning Arcane from a master. So he was hit with an overwhelming sense of disappointment when he attended Kedd’s class. Magic is absolutely not a science, it is an art form. Clearly, this teacher could comprehend the true beauty of magic if he were to say silly things like that. At least the Zeno was right about one thing, reading and effort were the best ways to master it. Finished with orientation, Leon spent the rest of the afternoon sitting under a tree in the Arboretum. He snacked on an apple while practising his lute. It was oddly quiet compared to Leon’s recent endeavours. Perhaps he was getting some alone time in while he could. The nighttime was approaching and it would be anything but serene. Once Leon felt inclined to begin moving into his dormitory, he left the park. [hr] Leon was happy to have received such a big room for himself at the castle. He certainly didn’t mind having to stay in the commoner's district, especially when his friends in high places could arrange something like this. Leon got to work moving into his room. First were the large closet and drawers where he began packing in his clothes. Neatly folded pants and shirts were placed in the drawers while particularly extravagant garments were hung up with the capes, which were ordered intently by colour. Next was the bookshelf, which left something to be desired. Frankly, it was too large. While Leon had a reasonable collection of books, the unused space made Leon look… uneducated. Perhaps he could pick up various tomes just to fill it up. Third, setting up the large mirror, squeaky clean and without a smudge. A table to the side held jewellery and valuables. Next to that was another larger table with arcane trinkets and tools for magical practice and applications. Finally, a large double bed which Leon took meticulous effort to make nicely. By the time Leon had finished moving in it was already dinner time. With an excited grin and lute in hand, the boy descended the stairs to the mess hall to meet his company for the night. It was to be the first night in the dormitories and Leon wasn’t wasting the opportunity to make a strong first impression. During dinner, he encouraged other students to enjoy the wine with their meal while he played a tune. One drink, two drink, three drink, four. Leon plays his lute and they ask for more. Dinner had come and passed, but few had gone. Most of the students were still around drinking, the party was on. It wasn’t long before the drinks had hit the crowd and Leon had little need to maintain his lute performance. Instead, the tempo of the night was held up by the rhythmic clapping of the crowd. Leon danced on the floor, the tables, with girl, with guy. He danced until his legs hurt then he danced some more. But this behaviour wasn’t brought on by the alcohol, no, it was from Leon’s passion for the art itself. Which was being displayed for all to see. At one point, Leon pulled his now-famous trick. He lit his cape on fire and danced while it burnt up the fabric to his neck, drawing upon the power of the flame the whole way. It was risky. Given that he was fully sober the last time he performed it, there was a decent risk of Leon burning himself. But hey, he was a lucky guy. The finale came with a flash, but then he continued. It was the early hours of Ipte when Leon finally finished. The dance had become more reminiscent of tired mass hysteria at this point and he was fine with throwing in the towel. He was more than impressed at those still standing and invited some to his room if they felt so inclined. [hr]