"Headmaster, pardon the intrusion." Deuce called out as he and the others entered the room after knocking on the door.
"Pardon us." Ace called out bluntly.
"Good afternoon, headmaster." Yuu gave a slight bow in greeting.
"You're all here, I see." Crowley nodded in approval upon seeing them and remained seated in his chair behind his desk of papers, "Let's get right tot he matter at hand..."
Not that things have calmed down after the Heartslybyul incident the other day." Crowley began, "There is a matter I must discuss with you."
"Yes, sir?" Lotus looked to him curiously.
"You all need to know about the berserk state Mister Rosehearts fell into if you are to become wizards." Crowley explained.
"It was overblot?" Deuce clarified in question.
"Yes, that's correct." Crowley nodded in confirmation.
"I've heard about it from my bro before, but..." Ace noted curiously, "seeing someone build up blot to become that was something else. He really went full 'eveil berserker mode'."
"Hey," Grim spoke up, "what is 'blot' anyway?"
Lotus spoke up, "I recall hearing that once somewhere, but it was only mentioned. I'm afraid I don't know it too well either."
"That's right." Crowley folded his arms and said firmly, "You three need that explained as well."
Crowly smiled easily as he continued, "Then, I shall fill you all in. For I am gracious."
He cleared his throat, "Ahem, blot is a type of waste created after one uses magic. In the same way a vehicle creates exhaust as it burns fuel to run. Spells burns magic to manifest, and create blot at the same time... That should be easy enough to understand."
"So blot is the exhaust of magic..." Lotus nodded her head, "that doesn't leave the body?"
"That doesn't sound healthy..." Yuu commented when he heard her words.
"That is correct." Crowley nodded in satisfaction, "Blot has been researched since the dawn of recorded history, but there are still many mysteries to unravel. One this that is known for sure is that blot is a toxin and building up too much can cause great harm to the mind and body."
"Oh yeah." Ace spoke up upon recalling something, "my grandma used to always say, 'You'll build up blot so don't use magic willy nilly. She went on and on about it."
"Magic is powered by the imagination of the mind and the magic in the body." Lotus concluded, "When a wizard begins to overuse their limit of magic, they are in danger of overblotting. If you add negative emotions into the mix such as Dorm leader Rosehearts did, the mind becomes unstable and there would be a reckless use of magic. More magic and negativity is more blot. The stronger their magic is, the more likely and more dangerous it would be for them overblotting. I believe this is even more so for those who have only reached a certain stage during their body growth, especially of their teenage years. Hence why most schools don't teach magic till after middle school, then? Because it would be the best time to keep a closer eye on those with magic for everyone's safety."
Hearing her words, Crowley nodded, "With great power comes risk. No matter how great the wizard, they cannot infinitely use magic."
"So you're saying the more we use magic the unhealthier it becomes?!" Grim froze in horror yet Lotus shook her head.
"No, that's not exactly right." Crowley shook his head as well before he thought for a bit, "Hmm. It might be faster to just show you rather than just explain. My dear ghosts, it's time for work!"
Suddenly a few white plump ghosts dropped into the room from the ceiling.
"Yo, yo! You call, headmaster?" The smaller one spoke up with a wide smile.
Surprised, Ace stepped back a little startled, "Eh? W-what now?"
"First, please lend a hand in helping temper these young ones." Crowley instructed the ghosts.
"Eh?!" Deuce looked up in bewilderment.
"Here we go." A plump ghost called out with a sneer, "Let's go a round!"
"Ready your magical pens, everyone. Your special lesson with the headmaster isn't over yet." Crowley instructed as he readied his staff with a wide smile.
Lotus nodded her head and turned to Grim and Ace, "You two, be careful. We're not here to burn down the office."
"I know that!!!"
The two glared at her in unison. As she watched the group fight off the ghost as she keeps an eye on Yuu curiously.
In the library, Riddle was looking through the book shelves before picking out the book that caught his eye. Trey and Cater weren't very far as the latter continued looking through the books stacked next to him on the desk. Cater, on the other hand, had finally fallen face first on the table with a grumble, "We've searched on and on and there's still no mention of a kirin. Is that creature really a kirin?"
Riddle nodded, "It should be..."
He returned to the table and continued searching, "Peony said that it was a kirin and a fairly young one at that."
"Eh?" Cater thought back on that creature in his arms, "I guess it was rather young like a horse..."
Riddle nodded his head, "His presence was enough to agitate all the animals to drag me out of bed..."
Trey nodded as well and glanced over, "If it's because the creature is as big as she said, then it would make a lot more sense. It's not often that people come into contact with a symbol of power. Because Riddle has always taken care of the flamingoes and hedghogs, they know to come find you right away when there's trouble."
Cater smirked, "But the fact that Riddle came across one totally makes sense with what that girl called Peony called you. Haha..."
"Cater..." Riddle grumbled with a slight blush, "Now isn't the time for jokes..."
"Yes yes..." Cater nodded with a sigh as he picked up another book from the pile, "But we've gone through so many books and still didn't find a clue about it..."
Hearing this, Riddle put his book down in deep thoughts before speaking again, "Maybe... it went by a different name?"
"Huh?"
Trey looked to Riddle with a nod as he concured, "That sounds plausible..."
"What do you mean?" Cater looked to them in confusion.
Riddle thought for a bit before responding, "We should try to ask Lotus again."
"Ah, that student with the prefect?" Cater spoke up curiously.
Trey nodded, "That's right. He seems to know alot about these things."
Riddle nodded slowly with narrowed eyes, "He does... doesn't he?"
"What do you mean?" Cater looked to them in confusion.
Trey sighed and began to recount the incident back after Riddle's overbloat.
Cater's jaw dropped, "Eh-?! I-I mean..."
"Cater..." Riddle glared but sighed when he remembered how the guy quickly corrected himself using a quieter voice, "Nevermind. I'll let this go for now."
"Th-Thanks..." Cater wore a small smile, "I'll be more careful, but forget that. Is our dorm leader really all right after having consumed something so dubious?"
"He is fine." Trey responded with a sigh of relief, "It was thanks to that pill that he was released from the infirmary on the same day."
"That's good..." Cater sighed in relief, "But, I'm surprised that guy had such a past... I wonder who it was that recommended him here?"
Riddle shook his head, "Either way, we need to ask him if he knows anything about the species Little Jun is."
Trey frowned, "You can focus on the dorm, Riddle. If things are that risky right now, we shouldn't delve further into this so openly."
In an unusual seriousness, Cater nodded, "Trey is right. If those types of guys are around, it'd be dangerous if they know we've figured out what they're doing and looking into it. Just leave the errands to the other me. You know how my magic works."
Trey didn't try to remind his friend of his sudden change in character as his main focus was to keep the younger one safe. So, he nodded, "I'll stay with you and make sure everyone, at least, obeys your new rule."
Riddle wanted to argue back but, after some thoughts, he nodded with a sigh in defeat, "Fine. but make sure you two follow it especially..."
Understanding the meaning behind his words, the two senior students nodded with a confidents smile, "Of course."
As they began putting away the books, Riddle can't help but think back on the young creature. It was small and frail when Riddle had first met it just outside of the rose maze. Had the flamingoes and hedgehogs not guided him, he was sure that the dorm would become the school's next big thing in the morning if the girl had died. However, what struck his interest was the gold crimson hair of the girl. After that incident, he decided to check the dorms for a white ribbon despite knowing that there's no students with a ribbon like that. Was it the girl's way of trying to keep the dorms out of trouble?
But their uniform still gave it a dead giveaway that it was someone from the school. So, he tried to look for the studeny by their hair color. However, there was no positive response with those he knew. The next board meeting had also been rather awkward as some started to catch on that he was being unusual quiet. However, what can he say?
Certainly not, there's been a death battle in my dorm!
He bit back a sigh and proceeded to walk away from the library when he recalled something, "That's right..."
"Hm?"
Trey and Cater looked back to him as he continued, "The girl's outfit... was a little out of date..."
Their eyes widen in surprise when they heard this.
"What do you mean?" Trey questioned.
"Trey," Cater called out firmly, "Not right now, let's talk about this back in the dorm."
The other two were reluctant, but they weren't fools so they agreed with it and began walking back to the dorm in silence.
"A Kirin... huh?"
When she walked out of the headmaster's office, Lotus have learned a lot more about blot. what helps a wizard cast magic isn't just their imagination, but the mana that are in them. The mentality of the wizard is also critcal when casting magic and to avoid blot. Negative emotions can also make blot appear more easily and casting powerful magic can also excelerate the process of blot. only by resting well and eating well can the blot disappear.
The appearance of negative energy and being swathed by it could create a shadow figure that is said to be the incarnation of negative energy fused with blot, yet no one knows for sure. There was no another thing to worry about. If they hadn't snapped Riddle out of it, he would've died under all of it.
Also...
It seems the headmaster have really forgotten to look up on finding a way to send Yuu back to his home. The thing about Yuu was that he wasn't from this world, much like Lotus. Instead, he somehow appeared in this world on the day of the ceremony where Grim tried to steal his uniform and qualification as a student for himself. When they discovered that he wasn't from this world, the headmaster promised to help him find a way back home as he stayed here as the handyman, which later became student.
However, due to the Inter-Dorm Magical Shift Tournament in October, the headmaster was too busy to continue looking into it and had actually forgotten, despite his denial not having so.
As for the Magical Shift Tournament...