The old demon succumbed into what could be described as the paroxysms of inter-dimensional travel. It was a curse to be had when using this form, that he had to almost double-over and gag at the technique which he had no foreseeable weakness to when he was in his demonized form. He, however, maneuvered himself into a spot where he would be able to expel his lunch without being noticed by the girl.

Soon after, though, pretending to have only dusted himself, he tried to recollect his thoughts at the sight and the experience of coming out from that tunnel.

The young girl, in her innocent form, and clad in that equally innocent uniform of hers, had been clinging to his old human form like a scared pup. If he really had wanted this to be done and over with, he'd have transformed right there and then and proceeded to take her again and again without any thought as to decency and form. However, she was a rare find and he would plan to benefit from this encounter, a potential beginning of many such encounters between him and the girl.

" Not so brave, are we?" he said, fixing his spectacles in the familiar manner she'd seen at the library. " Well, now that we're outside the school, I would very much appreciate it if you'd steel your resolve."

And his, as well. Lessons were about to begin, and he expected both of them not to chicken out.

Nell frowned, practically bristling when the old man accused her of lacking courage. If he knew the kind of things she'd seen on this island he wouldn't say such things. His rudeness helped put her at ease though. Enough that she felt comfortable being rude back. "My resolve is just fine, sir. My reaction was perfectly appropriate given that I'd suddenly lost track of the floor beneath my feet. I'd appreciate a little more warning next time you plan to do something like that."

Actually, she'd prefer he didn't do it again at all. Her experience told her that being teleported to a secluded location was usually a prelude to something far worst. She still wasn't certain that that was not the old man's intention. Still, if it was he certainly wasn't going to charm her into lowering her guard at this rate. "Is that the sort of thing you plan to teach me? I would prefer to learn combat spells but I suppose the ability to transport myself out of danger might be more effective..."

" Well, if you're planning to dabble into magic, I'd suggest you better get used to things like that." the old man quipped," Magic doesn't do warnings well. It's sort of a 'spring the trap' kind of thing."

He walked around and looked at the surroundings. This was perfect. It was one of those spots in the school which looked as dark as dusk even though the sun shone bright and high in the noontime sky. It was also in the shadow of the large mountain on the island. She could scream and shout for all she cared here, and no one would even hear her or notice that she was missing.

She asked him if that was the lone thing he was planning on teaching her.

" Oh no, it's fine if that's the only thing you need to learn." he said. " But there are a lot of things you could learn. Combat spells. Like this."

He then silently uttered some words in his mind and closed his eyes. He formed a semi-circle with his hands. The inside of his hands glowed an angry red, and then a bright orange, as a big ball of swirling fire started to form inside of them. He then opened his eyes to reveal that they were completely black, and then, releasing the fireball, directed it to a spot high up on the looming mountain. It formed a medium fire plume where it hit, and caused a few rocks to come tumbling down.

" Pretty cool, eh?"

Nell gaped off in the direction the fireball had flown off in. "Cool doesn't cover it." She whirled back to look at the old man, excitement evident her her eyes. "And you could truly teach me how to do that?! How long will it take to learn? Is it complicated??"

He was silent and calculating in the way he gauged the girl's reaction. Like a teacher observing a pupil he was getting ready to teach, he took note of her reactions.

Her gleaming eyes and glazed expression was an indication of what she was about to blurt out. For any human, what he had just shown the girl was real complicated, and yet, fascinating. That the girl wanted to learn about spells of that magnitude was enough of a give away for him to consider teaching her. However, he wouldn't, and shouldn't, teach her all of the spells that he knows of. Maybe a few medium grade ones that she would consider 'elite'.

He then readied himself for the barrage of questions he had quite an inkling was coming.



She really was impressed, wasn't she? Quite a human-like response, she wanted to learn all of the spells at a quick time and pace. She was impatient. While it was not good to be impatient at times, her impatience might work in the favour of luring her somewhere he could collect her...'payment'.

" Well, I could teach you that...and more." he said, stoking her excitement even further. " It is hard to learn, and you're correct, it is complicated. But I trust that a..."

He silently glanced at her. He was feeding in what a delightful morsel she would be later on, but appeared as if he was truly studying what kind of learner she would be.

"...brilliant mind such as yours could cope to keep up."

Nell smiled at the flattery. She wasn't flattered often and she got the feeling praise from this man was rare and thus that much more desirable. "I will do my best." She said with a polite bow. Seeing evidence of this man's power made her that much more eager to stay in his good graces. She wanted him to teach her so she would try not to piss him off in the meantime. "Where do we begin?"

He paced around in the clearing. He liked the area he chose...it was well-concealed, as the peak of a mountain covered it, and it was secluded. He thought that the school was still a few paces here and there and was a long way off from here. They were well lost, and he loved it. The thought of distractions only annoyed him greatly, and he would have no impediments in doing what he wanted to do to the girl here.

Slowly, he looked back to the girl. He'd gotten a few paces far away from her, and she was excited, obviously. No more of the girl which he had seen in the library. He knew she was going to be a good student, from the looks of her. What she attempted in the library was no joke. She would truly be a progeny...at least if he was a true teacher, which he wasn't. Still, it would challenge him greatly if he was to arm her. The demon liked a challenge, and a disadvantage was the least of the things he wanted in a victim.

Silently he closed his eyes.

The demon's form began to glow dark red, still, he retained his old human form. It would be much if he were to turn 'demon' right away. He still had to win her trust before he started to do anything else, and that would start now.

He started to draw something in the air. Around them, the grass in the clearing glowed red, as if they were aflame. Then, on the ground, signs and symbols started to appear. They were a combination of ley lines and runes that seemed to make no sense. In the middle was a large pentagram with an eye in the middle, and it glowed angry red as well.

" We begin now." he spoke. " This circle would make your inherent mana abundant, as well as keep other people from finding this clearing."

It was taxing, though, while he was in his human form. The human frame he had chosen to masquerade as frequently was so full of limitations.

Nell had enough good sense to feel a little nervous when the ground around the began to glow red with mysterious marking, as well as some not so mysterious ones. She didn't like the pentagram with its ominous glowing eyes in the center of the clearing. "This isn't black magic, is it?" She asked uneasily. Black magic tended to come with a higher price tag and she highly doubted it would help her fend of the monsters on this island. Many of whom were demons themselves and far more apt at the dark arts than she could ever hope to be.

She edged away from the sinister looking star and regarded the old man warily.

The old man looked surprised.

" Why, my dear, the most skilled magicians do not fear any form of magic." he said. " Strengthening or replenishing your mana stores can be considered unnatural by some circles, at best, that is why I would say yes, this circle is 'black magic'."

He observed her shying away from the center of the circle with the ominous pentagram and the evil-looking eye in the center. Of course it had to be black magic--how the heck could someone like him use white magic? He could, but only to a certain extent. The most powerful forms of this magic had the tendency to cause him discomfort, and by any rate, he wouldn't risk blowing himself up just to get the girl's trust.

He would have to make do with some of his most potent magic, at least the ones that this infernal island allowed him to perform. Just like that fireball he conjured moments ago, or the teleportation that wiped out nearly half of his mana stores. The circle would have a little effect on him, being in human form, but he needed something more to restore his mana. Which was why he bought the girl here.

He paced around the area.

" So? Are you going to be afraid of learning?" he said, looking at the girl's still scared expression. " If it's going to be this way, I have no problem dismissing you and bringing you back to the library to learn by yourself."

Nell frowned at the implication that she was a coward. "I am not afraid!" She replied indignantly. "Nor am I a fool. I am merely being cautious. There are demons on this island, some of which I have already become far too intimately acquainted, I do not wish to attract any more of that kind of attention. But you're the expert, if you tell me that it is safe then I'll trust your judgment. Still, I thought it best if I warn you about my situation."

Ah, demons.

She was definitely right. There is an honest-to-goodness demon standing here in the clearing with her, although she was none-the-wiser because he was keeping up a charade that no one looked past through...not even her. He stayed quite as she related the stories of demons and other creatures that this particular set-up had the tendency to attract.

" Demons, huh?" the old teacher said, looking pensive.

He stayed quiet, the thought being that she needed to convince this girl about his intentions, and that his magic was demon-proof. But how?

A sudden thought arose, and he slowly form a triangle with his hand. He didn't do anything else, but he tried to make it look like he did. He summoned one of his minions...although this would have an effect. They didn't know his human forms. Somehow, a stupid minion would attack him soon as he saw him in this form.

" You mean, something like this?" he said, as a pretend gateway opened and out hopped a burly demon, about half the size of the old man. It was a midget, though for all intents and purposes, it looked menacing. It sniffed the air with stupid determination: then when it saw him, without any hesitation, it attacked.

He chanted a few more words before he threw a fireball at it baseball-pitch style. It hit the demon square in the chest, a fiery doorway seemed to open, and the demon slowly disintegrated while it was sucked in. A smoldering ash was left on the floor.

Nell gasped and stepped back again when the diminutive demon suddenly appeared in the circle before them. It lunged at the old sorcerer and was quickly dispatched with a fireball. She stood there gaping at the piled of ash the spell had left behind. "Wow..." She finally managed to say. She had never seen anyone kill a monster like that before, not even a tiny one. "Is that as effective on the big ones." Her demons were significantly bigger than that one had been.

She was certainly inquisitive, this one, and proof of it was when she asked if there were spells he knew that could ward off bigger demons, ones actually a lot more tougher to dispatch than that diminutive one. He knew of one particular demon who was hard to dispatch...and he smiled at the thought, though he kept it to himself.

" Eh?" he asked, though he remained pensive. " Well, that was just for show. Of course there are a lot of other spells I can teach you, though it really requires you to have an open mind."

The circle glowed a malevolent purple as the old man closed his eyes, and glowed the same purple as the circle. Something seemed to rise from the ground and encase him. It was only for a short while; the glow dissipated, and everything went back to normal. The circle glared an angry red at the girl again.

" I guess we can start, if you have no more questions?" he said, smiling.

Nell watched the old man speculatively. She still didn't like playing with black magic but the effectiveness of his spell-casting was winning her over. Even if the spell couldn't take out a full sized demon it would probably take care of any minions they might have with them. She couldn't be ambushed by lessor creatures while fighting to escape their masters.

"No, no more question. I'm ready to start."

" Then, please step inside the circle." said the old man in an authoritative tone.

He then closed his eyes and rolled up his sleeves. With a few more words uttered, he lifted a balled-up fist to his mouth, and blew through it. The circle glowed red as power coursed through the old man once again. However, the circle was filled with a swirling dust cloud, and when it lifted, in the middle of the circle were what looked like three scarred training dummies. All three of them looked similar, except for one thing: One looked to be made of ice, one of wood, and the other made of stone.

The old man breathed as the circle replenished his mana again, turning purple.

" Now you may ask what you need these for." he said. " The purpose is to control you spells for each specific dummy. Your fire should be strong enough to melt ice; your blast strong enough to break rock; and your projectile sharp enough to cut wood." he explained. " Before anything else, you should...maybe change into something else?" he looked at the girl, and at what she was wearing. " I have some extra clothes over in that bag, maybe you should go ahead and take a look."

It was rigged, however. The bag would contain not a shred of clothing with decency, but clothes that seemed to suggest something else other than a scholarly pursuit of arcane knowledge. It was all part of the old demon's plan, of which he was definitely becoming more and more pleased.