[X] Stay at the manor and work on his mind arts in the morning. Work on casting in the Cast a-spell kit for the rest of the day.
"Oh? You want to study today?" Amber echoed, blinking as her hand twitched, as if she wanted to rest it on the pommel of a rapier that wasn't hanging at her waist. The girl sighed. "You know, all work and no play makes Matou Shinji a very dull boy."
Matou Shinji, having fallen asleep while reading from Digging Two Graves again, couldn't really argue with that.
"Mister Matou, its the winter holidays. Whyever are you spending so much time reading from that book?" she questioned, noting that it was in fact, the same book he'd been reading yesterday morning. "Is it so much more interesting than me?"
"I, uh, no. Not at all!" Shinji insisted, his face reddening in embarrassment that she had asked him so...directly. "I...just...I was just...I got caught up in reading it," he whispered, looking down.
"I suppose I can understand that," the copper-haired girl allowed. "So, what's the book about?" She raised an eyebrow. "It isn't pictures of naked girls or something like that is--"
"NO!" Shinji exclaimed, desperation and horror writ large across his features as he looked at Amber, almost begging her to believe him. "I'm...I'm not--"
"Then what is it?" she asked, more gently this time.
"...curses..." he mumbled, almost too softly for the girl to hear.
Almost.
"Say that again, Mister Matou?"
"...curses..." he repeated. Surely she'd find something like this...unsightly. Think poorly of him, since in Magical Britain, the emphasis was on defending against the Dark Arts, rejecting the very nature of witchcraft.
"Again, please?"
"...cur--you're making fun of me, aren't you?" the boy growled.
"Maybe a little. You're somewhat cute when you're angry," the girl commented, a warm smile gracing her features. "Curses, then? Why those? And why to hide it?"
"...my family used to specialize in something like them," Shinji admitted, shaking his head. "Well. Until my grandfather's generation, anyway."
"Oh?"
"If its all the same to you, I don't really want to talk about my family," the boy replied, his lips tight. "And...I'm sorry, but after yesterday, running into that Magician...I've been feeling a bit strange."
"Well, yes, I suppose," Amber allowed. "After all, you're a boy and you were staring at her chest for quite a while. Of course it would make you feel strange."
"T-that's not it at all!" Shinji denied, waving his hands frantically. "Please I, I don't, I'm...I was..."
"...you were frightened of her."
Shinji swallowed. "...you noticed?"
"I notice a great many things, Mister Matou. Like the fact that you never really answered my question about who she was," she noted quietly. "You just said that she was more of a monster than you, which frankly speaking, isn't that difficult."
"So you say..." the boy trailed off, wondering what to tell her. "...do you really want to know?"
"It would be nice to know something about the boy I invited into my home," Amber replied sardonically. "Especially if it explains why he's secluded himself in his guest room and isn't being very social."
There was silence for a minute. Two minutes. Five.
And then...
"If what we can do through mere thaumaturgy replicates what science can do with enough time and effort, those called Magicians wield a power that transcends the limits of science. They are monsters whose existence breaks the very rules of the world," Shinji whispered at last. "There are only Five Magics in the world today, and only two Magicians. Even if I were to become the greatest practitioner of witchcraft in the world, beings like them could crush me as easily as a titan idly stepping on an ant. Compared to them...I may as well be nothing."
"A titan on..." Amber looked somewhat uneasy at this. "...people like that exist in this world?"
"...what is the saying? 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy,'" the boy offered weakly. "They exist, though I'm not sure I'd call them people. Not after becoming what they are."
"...you're afraid you'll see one of them again," Amber realized, her eyes widening. "That's why you don't want to go outside. But--"
"I know. I know we probably won't. Not if there are only two of them in the world. I know that up here," he said, tapping his temple. "But not here," he whispered, clutching his chest.
"I see," Amber murmured, walking up to him and resting her arms on his shoulders.
'Eh. Eh? Eh?!' Shinji thought to himself, his face reddening by the second at how close she was to him. At the fact that she was t-t-touching him. "Wa...wawawaw..."
"I guess there's no helping it. We'll spend today at the house with you," the copper-haired girl offered. "I presume there's something ou want to do besides reading?"
"Well, um...practicing magic?"
"Oh?" Amber asked. "But doesn't that break a Ministry edict or something? Something about underage use of magic?"
Shinji shiverred as he felt her breath on his skin - against his lips.
"Ahhh...I...P-p-professor Quirrell gave me a Cast-A-Spell Kit," he stammered, swallowing as he saw how close her l-l-lips were to his. How moist. How... "We should be able to." He swallowed. "Do what. We want. Without anyone seeing."
"...without anyone seeing, hm? Did you wish to do naughty things that others shouldn't see?" she teased, leaning closer to him. "Did you...?"
"I..." Shinji's brain shut down, with the boy closing his eyes as it seemed he was going to be kissed once more.
Only, the kiss never came.
Instead, he felt cold all of the sudden as the girl pulled away, straightening her hair.
"Well, I'll leave you to get ready then," the girl answered, with a small smile. "I'm looking forward to whatever you have in mind, Mister Matou."
With that, she left the room, and Matou Shinji collapsed to his hands and knees, panting.
'I...she...we...uh...'
His face was completely red - and so too the rest of his skin. He felt...hot, as if something strange had woken up. Thirsty. So very thirsty. He needed...a tall drink of water, at least.
Or a shower. A cold, cold shower.
Yes. That might work.
But what to do after?
The Cast-A-Spell Kit functions much like the Book of Spells in that it fully immerses the user into a different scenario, allowing the user to practice their spells in private (since it is mostly mental). Unlike the Book of Spells, however, one cannot program in new scenarios, with the user only able to visit the "practice room", a training area with mannequins, books and a small study area.
The objects are movable, and due to the principles under which the book functioned, there would be reports going out to anywhere about usage of spells.
With that in mind, what kind of spell-casting would Shinji like to focus on?
[ ] Dueling
[ ] Enchanting (curses)
[ ] Defense Spells
[ ] Transfiguration
And what will he do on New Years Eve?
[ ] Visit Nottingham - the home of the legend of Robin Hood
[ ] Visit Leicester - home of many roman relics, and close to where Boudica fell (in legend)
[ ] Visit Stratford-upon-Avon - popular tourist town due to being the birthplace of Shakespeare
[ ] Stay local - enjoy the water reserve, see the birds and the gardens
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Originally Posted by skulkidcachi90
