Climbing to the Top

Author: Avalon29

Description: A pair of apprentices recently accepted by a powerful mage. Anyone who completes their apprenticeship is almost guaranteed to reach a high-ranking position. There's only one issue. There is only one position available and one will be selected at the end based upon their master's decision. Thus begins a friendly competition between two apprentices to be selected for the position.

The Tower, a black stone obelisk with a reputation for knowledge and power. It was the home for the council of mages, the leaders of the world of magic. Those who studied under them and completed their apprenticeships were promised a position working for the council and were practically guaranteed a path to wealth and prestige. Competition between apprentices for these positions are fierce and only the top or at least those who are able to impress a council member ever get one these prized spots. The mages of the council rarely take one student but this year two were taken by the same council member, one boy and one girl. At the end of the apprenticeship the one who impressed their master the most would receive the promised position for there was only one waiting for the pair at the end. The other would have to find one on their own. It was more than enough to inspire rivalries.

In one of the rooms on the exterior of the tower was a relatively simple one, a bedroom with pair of beds and all the other necessities for two people, very different people at that. Half the room was covered in books, scrolls, spilled ink stains, and scattered papers while the other half was organized neatly at first glance but a second look showed snacks hidden behind books or in drawers, and bags filled with useless knickknacks that did little more than look interesting, from a bear's paw to a collection of quartz crystals of all different shades. On the wall between the two hung a simple clock, one that was about to go off in the most obnoxious way possible.

From the organized but snack laden side of the room a lump of blankets moved about and a mass of long red hair popped out from underneath the covers while on the other side of the room the only movement was the covers moving steadily up and down. The red head shimmied out of bed. A pair of bright orange eyes, just a few shades darker than the red head's hair opened up. The person that came out of it was on the small side, slim, and with unblemished porcelain skin. Pulling out a simple pair of pants and a black sweater with the shoulders cut out the apprentice dressed quickly. Once dressed, she looked like she could be any other girl. There was only one small issue with that was that she was a he. Even if he was frequently mistaken for a girl much to his embarrassment. It wasn't his fault that he was a bit, curvier than the usual male or had a cute face. At least he could get up on time though. Unlike his fellow apprentice who seemed to be needing a little help.

In the bed across the room from the red head lay his fellow apprentice who had slept right through the alarms. With a sigh he approached and drew back the covers to reveal the face of his fellow apprentice. She could be described as handsome or cool compared to himself. Reaching out he shook her awake. "Come on Kei, it's time to get up." He called out in his soft voice as he tried to get her to wake up.

"I'm up already." Came the reply moments later as she just rolled over instead. He grumbled a bit as he was left with little choice but to throw the rest of the covers off of her.

"Keiii, come on. You know how the master gets if we're late." He protested even as Kei reached out to grab the covers which he did his best to keep away from her.

"Fine Sasha. I'm up, I'm up." She retorted as she pulled herself out of bed and opened her bright emerald eyes exposed the rest of her body for a moment. She was tall, or at least taller than Sasha was and fairly fit with a modest bust and a hit of abs as she lifted up her arms over her head, exposing a bit of her midriff as she slid out of bed to change without thinking about the fact that Sasha was still in the room. He sputtered a bit and blushed as he turned about to let her change without him staring.

"You could be a little more modest you know."

A shrug and a reply of "Just don't look then" was all he got for his protest. After a few moments he turned back around to face when it sounded like she had finished.

Kei had while he looked away swapped into a skirt and tight fitting shorts underneath with a dark blue top and jacket that left her midriff exposed. She liked being comfortable that she could move about in during the day instead of wearing something a bit more traditional and more importantly it had been fast and the two still had plenty of time to head down to the dining room to meet with their master before they ended up late or at least not late enough for it to matter. The thought of what happened last time they had been late sent shivers down both of their spines. Neither one of them wanted to have to deal with that kind of punishment again. Both hurried to grab their things and stow them away to carry. "Come on Kei. We don't want to be late again. I'm still coughing up fur balls from when she transformed us into cats last time we were late." He scrunched up his face a bit at the thought before shaking his head and hurrying along to clean up and finish getting ready. At the very least he wasn't going to be the one who ended up late.

Hurrying out of the room and down the spiral staircase, well, Sasha hurried and Kei walked went down at a more normal pace. Soon the two arrived at the dining room where their master, the sorceress Iris Belmont, one of the more renown members of the council and the one who had decided to take them both under her wing after she found them during their studies of the basics of magic was waiting. The dark haired older woman who stood above her students was watching the clock as she waited for them. She sat dressed in a simple black robe but with a bit of pink thread making up the linings that stood out against the dark cloth and hid the curves underneath. "5, 4, 3, 2, and 1." Sasha managed to arrive at the count of 3 while Kei managed to slip in at the count of 1. No punishments this time it seemed.

Looking away from the clock to her apprentices she smiled, her bright icy blue eyes that matched the dyed tips of the long hair that cascaded down her back held a playful glint as she watched her students. "Ah good morning I see you're here on time today, although you were cutting it rather close. I guess I'll just have to save the penalty for being tardy another day." She teased as she looked at her students and made them both stiffen up a bit at the reminder of what had happened last time. Neither wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those again. Although with Kei's difficulty in getting up in the morning there was always a risk of it happening again.

With a wave of her hand she gestured towards the kitchen and within a few moments a couple platters of food began to float in from down the hall with scrambled eggs, some sausage, toast, a typical breakfast and some pitchers of juice as well, As they began to settle in and eat their breakfast after piling on a bit of food, the sorceress began to explain just what it was that would be expected from them for the day's lesson. "Today, I'm going to be sending you out to gather supplies for your future lessons. You'll need to be able to harvest everything yourself and identify the ingredients. I'll give you a list and some pictures to make sure that you're able to get it all yourself. You'll have all day to do it and you'll be splitting whatever is picked. However, if you're missing an ingredient, well, you're going to have to do without, figure out a substitute, or figure out how to get the ingredient another way." She finished and made another gesture to cause a nearby quill and parchment to float and make the list of ingredients while she ate. "Oh and by the way make sure to follow the instructions precisely. Some of these plants can cause side effects when picked incorrectly or you're not careful. Nothing dangerous but they can be powerful."

With the task for the day given Iris resumed eating her meal while Kei and Sasha glance at each for a moment with a look of determination. There might not be any written rules about there being a reward for who brought the most stuff back but that wouldn't stop them from competing either. They were friends and fellow apprentices but both wanted to have the guaranteed position at the end and neither was going to give an inch if they could help it. Turning back to their food the pair scarfed it down eager to get out and start performing the task. The more time they had to get everything the better. They knew their master well enough to know that if they didn't get all the proper ingredients they were going to regret it come next lesson when they needed to have it.

As breakfast came to an end it was time for the pair to prepare and gather their supplies for the trip. Separating the two split up to get what they needed for the trip. Kei grabbed a map for a good description of where they were going, ink and parchment for notes, gloves just in case, and various vials and containers to hold the samples. Meanwhile Sasha had, like Kei, grabbed a bunch of containers and gloves. He also grabbed snacks for the trip, a sweet roll or two, tea to drink, and managed to stuff gloves down into the bag as well. Once they were both ready for the trip to gather supplies they met back up at the front door, ready to go on their first assignment of the week.

Their master was waiting for the pair as they were departing the Tower on a pair of horses. Kei had mounted the horse easily enough and Sasha having to jump a bit to get up into the saddle. Their teacher passed them both the list of ingredients they would need and the amount of each that was required. "Be careful you two. Make sure to follow the directions and warnings when getting the ingredients unless you want to enjoy finding out the side effects." She teased as she waved to the two before they went off.

It was a little bit of a ride to where they were going and it gave them a bit of a time to talk. Humming softly now that they were on the road Sasha looked about. He was pretty relaxed despite the fact that he'd had a bit of difficulty getting on to the horse. Kei however seemed a little tense.

"Hey Kei, are you having trouble?" He teased as he rode about in a circle around Kei.

"Just fine" She replied coolly as she reached into her bag and fished out the map she brought. "At least unlike somebody I know where I'm going." She replied as she looked at the map. It had mentions of what plants grew in what area. Combined with the list that they had gotten from their master they were off to a good start on the hunt for supplies. Curious Sasha rode over to try to peek over her shoulder and get a good look at her map. "Ehhh so that's where all the stuff." He exclaimed although this only made Kei pull the map away.

"Look at your own map." She insisted even if she knew that Sasha never really prepared for this kind of thing.

"Eh, we should just share. We have to get the same ingredients anyway and we'll both pay for it if we're missing some and it'll go by faster if we split up the list anyway!" He explained cheerily with a smile on his face as Kei just snorted.

"We'll see."

Sasha stuck out his tongue at Kei's response as they rode on. Unwilling to go at a steady pace he rode ahead and then back, enjoying the bit of exercise that he got. "Bet I can get to that big oak faster than you. Besides just riding silently is boring we should have some fun since we're out." He called out to her after one of his many sprints ahead to which Kei just rolled her eyes. She'd lose, she knew she would. The small red head had a way with animals and her own skills lay elsewhere. Of course, saying no would be admitting her weakness and she just couldn't do that.

"Fine, let's go then. If you think you can you'll have to show me." She replied to the challenge as she took off immediately and hoped that the head start would give her enough of a lead to possibly win this but Tasha was laughing as he sped forward. In the end, it wasn't enough as Sasha seemed to know just where to step and when to let the horse run loose or hold back. It was close for a bit but as Sasha reached the point of neck and neck with Kei he grinned.

"Kei, you okay? You seem to be having a rough time?" He teased as he watched Kei cling to her horse's neck. She was able to ride yes but well it wasn't her favorite pastime and it wasn't enough to keep him from passing her. Laughing as he did Sasha built some distance ahead and then trotted to victory on the horse as he went around it to wait for Kei who arrived a short time later panting.

"Why are you so good at this?"

"Don't know! Animals just like me I guess." He replied with a big grin. "But it doesn't matter because I won!" He cheered as Kei let out a soft groan.

"Maybe but it still took you six hours to find a book!" She retorted although all she got for a reply was him sticking his tongue out at her before he rode on ahead until he disappeared into the forest. He was gone for a few moments before he returned and pulled up next to her and rubbed the back of his head. "Which way are we going again?"

"That way." She directed with a point of her finger and he took off again. She sighed. She knew it would be futile to try to slow him down whenever Sasha reveled in his high spirits. She was going to be hearing about losing the race to the end of their ride. She was sure of it.

After about another hour of riding they came to the forest and the area where they would mainly find the various plants, berries, and fungi that they needed for their upcoming lesson. Kei had conceded in at least bringing Sasha to where they were supposed to be searching although she kept the exact positions of the ingredients to herself. "There, I brought you to the starting point you're on your own from here." She announced with a frustrated sigh. She really wished that Sasha would actually prepare for these trips instead of thinking with his stomach.

"Thanks Kei!" He called out as he rummaged through his bag and after a moment, decided to give Kei one of his sweet rolls. "You can have this to eat later!" Okay, maybe having him bring snacks wasn't the worst thing in the world she supposed. He had really just given it because he hated the idea of being indebted and wouldn't be fair if he didn't at least give something to Kei for her assistance. For the rest of the day though they had mutually agreed they would be on their own. They just had to divide up the list first. Speaking of which what did it say? Sasha quickly pulled out his list and shared it before reading aloud so they both knew what they were after. The note read as follows.

Ingredients for Magic Lessons

·6 whole Foxtail weeds. Just take these from the base. Make sure that you get all the flowers. They look exactly like what they're called

·1 bag of cloudberries. Be careful not to smoosh these or you'll have to go back and be careful of the brambles. They can be sharp.

·1 bag of whisker moss. This is extremely soft moss. You'll know it when you see it.

·10 pieces of Dragon leaf. They're large leaves with scale-like patterns on them. Keep as much as the scales on them as possible for higher quality ingredients

·4 lunar snowdrops, these are delicate. Be careful.

·8 fire belly toadstools. Be very careful of the spores. Make sure your mouth is covered and you don't breathe any in and if you do stay away from people for a while.

The two looked it over for a moment. "Okay, let's just cut it in half. One gets the top half with the brambles and the other has to get the bottom half with the toadstools and the rest." Kei decided before they both got into an argument about how to divide and Sasha agreed, not seeing any point in arguing over it. Of course how were they to decide?

"Let's do rock paper scissors. Winner decides which half they get!" Sasha proposed and with no better alternative they got started. "Ready, 3, 2, 1, shoot!" Sasha exclaimed going quickly to prevent his silver haired partner from thinking too much. Which unfortunately backfired as Kei used scissors and the small red head went with well paper.

"Alright, I win. You get the brambles. I'll take the mushrooms." She decided, not really in the mood for crawling through the thorny bushes. With the decision of what each were getting was made they separated.

Kei, with map in hand found two ingredients pretty easily both the dragon leaf and the snowdrops. The white bell like snowdrops which seemed to glow just a little, had been growing at the edge of the river and the dragon leaf from a giant tree a little deeper in. Sealing the snowdrops in a container so they wouldn't get damaged and the dragon leaves in a bag to make sure all the scales on the giant blue scaled maple like leaves could be collected even if they fell off in transit. She still had plenty of time left before she had to go find the toadstools and she wanted to check on Sasha. Maybe lord her quick harvesting over him a little bit before offering to help.

Sasha was having a bit more trouble without a map. But he didn't mind at all and had no problem just wandering about the forest as he searched, humming a little to himself as he explored the forest and looking for the ingredients on his half of the list. The first he found was the whisker moss that grew on the sides of tree near a pond. It really was quite soft and surprisingly moldable. After playing with it a bit by creating ears and whiskers to put on himself he rolled the moss back into a ball and slid it into the bag. The cloudberries were the next thing to find and that's where things got a little difficult. The brambles were pretty thick so he had to be careful. In the end though it didn't matter however.

Hiding nearby Kei had come across Sasha as he started to pick the berries. Deciding to have a little fun and that she still owed him for the last time she had played a trick on her she hid on a hill overlooking the cloudberry bush and took cover behind a nearby bush. Taking a piece of the bush she whispered quietly and did her best to keep the magic subtle. The piece of branch she had grew and tunneled under the ground near the cloudberry bush and made contact with its roots. Now in control of the brambles. She began to move them just so. She only teased him a little at first, moving the berries just a little bit out of reach when he moved to get them but then, getting an idea she kept going. The brambles began to shift. The thorns just barely caught her fellow apprentice, not actually breaking skin but instead ripping the clothing. His pants were soon ripped up, exposing some of his plump thighs and snow white flesh, the top was much the same, exposing midriff and a bit of his chest so that some of his bright pink nipple could be seen before she finally stopped.

"Keiiiii!" Sasha shouted and promptly pouted as it was obvious now that the bush was being controlled. You jerk!" He protested and sniffled for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm going to get you back for this!"

Stepping out of her hiding place Kei approached the red head and patted him gently on the head. "There there, not my fault you get cute when you're flustered." She teased. "I'll help you with the rest of the berries come on." She replied as she used the magic to have the berries drop into the sack. There, now they both had one ingredient left to fetch even if Sasha was a bit worse for wear and without a change of clothes.

Sasha for understandable reasons was not very happy with Kei right then. Not that it was too far from normal for the two of them as they messed with each other often but she didn't have to ruin his clothes either. He'd have to pay to get them fixed. Just using magic on them wouldn't be the same. Still he couldn't be too mad as it was all in good fun but still. "I'm going to get you back for this Kei." He challenged with a pout. Kei just grinned and patted him on the head again.

"Okay okay, and I'll pay for your clothes okay?" She offered before he got a chance to ask.

"Thank you." Came Sasha's reply with a grumble. "This doesn't change that I'm going to get you back and it's going to be good." Just like always, the two were falling back into their normal routines even after Kei's little joke. "And I'm going to start by getting all of my ingredients first and then I'll be getting you back, you dunderhead!" Okay, maybe he was still a little irritated about his clothes being torn. Still he wouldn't hold a grudge either or at least not one that lasted beyond finding a suitable prank to get her back.

The white-haired woman smiled. "We'll just see who finishes first."

Splitting up again Sasha grumbled a bit and did his best to try to patch up the damage to his clothing and cover up a little as he continued his search for the ingredients. He was still irritated by what had happened and he was determined to get Kei back one way or another. Right now however he had to focus on getting his last ingredient, the fox tail weeds. These were actually the easiest of all for him to find. The weeds were pretty obvious to spot with a thick furry bud on one end that made it look like its namesake. He had managed to finish even faster than Kei. Taking a swig of the tea he brought with him, he went to try to find her before she finished collecting her plants. After a little bit of searching, he managed to do just that.

Kei, proud of her earlier joke and laughing at the memory of it wasn't paying attention to her surroundings at all as she arrived at the harvest point for the fire belly toadstools. Bending over as she finally found a patch of the elusive ingredient she grinned and began to harvest the mushrooms without bothering to keep a look out. Meanwhile Sasha was getting closer by the second, sneaking up on her quietly as he approached her and determined to get his revenge for her joke. Taking a bit of the foxtail weed he had in each hand Sasha drew close and struck. Using the weeds as impromptu feathers to tickle Kei's side. The white haired tomboy burst into laughter as the soft fuzzy things made contact and caught off guard. She lost her balance and fell straight into the pile of red mushrooms that she had been gathering just seconds ago.

Putting away the weeds after she fell Sasha hurried over to make his presence known. "Hehe, I said I would get you back and I did." He cheered as Kei pushed herself up and looked a little different. "Hey Kei you okay? It wasn't that surprising was it?" He asked as he offered his partner a hand to pull her up. He was unaware that she had just gotten a full dose of the heat causing spores of the mushrooms. She was staring at him differently with her bright green eyes. Rather than seeing him it was more like she was judging a piece of meat up for sale. Unused to seeing Kei like that he grew nervous and he grew more nervous by the second, fidgeting under her intense gaze.

When Kei had fallen into that pile of mushrooms, she had done exactly what the instructions had told her not to do, breathed in the spores. The mushrooms were soon proving just why they were called fire belly toadstools. She felt a heat building up in her belly that slowly spread throughout her body. It soon felt like her whole body was on fire. It was so hard to think and the fire inside her seemed to focus in her belly and just above her crotch. She needed to cool herself down. She glanced up at Sasha and licked her lips as she looked him over with his clothes just barely hanging on. "I'm perfectly fine Sasha. Haven't felt better." She strode forward, standing above him and he gulped audibly. She was acting differently. He could tell and it made him nervous.

"You sure?" He questioned as he scratched the side of his cheek.

"I'm sure." She insisted as she pressed up against him, her soft breasts press just over his shoulders and made him take a step away until his back was placed up against a tree behind him. "Your little prank has made quite the mess. Mistress Iris told us to be careful with them or deal with the side effects and now, you'll have to deal with them Sasha and if I remember my reading right, there's only one way to fix this."

Kei's inhibitions were shot from the spoors and her thinking was confused to say the least. All she could think about was the heat in her belly and she didn't care about the consequences. The red head stared up at her with that rough bark pressing up against his back and shivered. "Kei, hold on a second. We can mmph." His offer to try to come up with some other way to take care of the side effects to the mushrooms as cut off as she kissed him, pushing her tongue deep into his mouth as she pinned him to the tree. He let out a groan as he tried to protest as her tongue wrapped around his own and pinned it down as she explored his mouth. With him pinned to the tree, she grinned and a hand trailed down his chest and she traced a small circle around one of his nipples with a finger as he let out a surprisingly girly moan in response while his shaft was left twitching in his pants. As the kiss finally ended a hand had gone to the top of his waistband.

"Now then, you're going to help me take care of this and just like Mistress Iris said, We'll be dealing with this ourselves."

Sasha grew nervous at Kei's promise of making him help out the mess he had caused with his prank and opened his mouth to speak but before he could protest further, the white haired tomboy's wandering hand had made it to his pants. With a lusty grin, she pulled down pants and underwear with a single movement, leaving him in nothing but that tattered shirt and his shoes. "Kei we really should..." He started only to be silenced by another long kiss, keeping him quiet while she stripped off her bottoms as well as her soaking black panties. She stepped back for a moment, relieving Sasha of the pressure that had been keeping him standing up. He stumbled and fell on his rump, leaving Kei towering above him. "Well, first things first. You should take care of me first before we do anything mutual. Come on Sasha, you wouldn't leave me suffering would you?" She questioned with a small smile as she stroked his long red hair gently with her right hand, before tightening her grip and pulling his face against her crotch.

He stared up at her with his face pressed against her and after a moment, he shivered as for some reason he was starting to feel hot. A few spores had remained on Kei's lips, delivered by the kiss. Slowly finding it hard to think, he did the only thing he could think of, he gave her a long lick across her outer lips as she looked down at him and grinned. "Good boy." She said with a smile as she relaxed her grip and ran her long fingers through his hair. His mouth was filled with the taste of her, tongue gently flicking against the outside of her neatly trimmed pussy, before his tongue slid inside, thrusting slowly and curling upwards for a moment before it pulled back. Kei let out a low moan and taking it as encouragement Sasha wrapped his lips lightly around her clit and sucked on it gently while his tongue circled the outer rim. She shuddered, in pleasure and right as she was on the cusp of going over she stopped and pulled the boy's head away. "I think that's enough for our first lesson. Let's move onto to the second." She instructed as Sasha panted and caught his breath, pink lips glistening with her juices and his shaft fully hard and twitching. "Someone seems to be enjoying himself." She teased.

"Kei, what's going on?" He questioned. "I feel hot." She chuckled a little bit.

"Looks like you got some of the spores too." She explained with a chuckle as she kissed his neck, nibbling on the crook of his neck and biting down hard enough to leave a hickey. He gasped at the bite. "And like I said there's only one cure." She grinned.

"You mean?"

"Yes, now let's go and cool ourselves down." She teased as she straddled his hips and lowered herself down so she was just above that erect shaft and he could feel the heat of her pussy just above him. The fire in his belly was becoming unbearable and he whimpered just a bit.

"Come on Kei, stop with the teasing. Please." He pleaded, hard enough now for it to hurt.

"Well if you insist." She continued as she dropped down once more, taking in just the tip before stopping. He gasped and bit his lower lip while she laughed again. "Oh, sorry you probably wanted me to go a bit farther huh? Let me try again." She chuckled coolly as he gripped at the ground beneath him, his fingers curling into the dirt as she rose up and lowered herself back down, only taking a little bit more of his shaft this time as the first third slid into her warm pussy. He whined again before she rose up once more and this time slammed down all the way to the base, taking the entirety of his shaft inside of her.

He gasped as he felt her warm depths squeezing tight around his shaft. Placing her hands on his shoulders to use as a balance she began to ride him, raising up completely off of his shaft for a moment, just long enough for a breeze to hit that sensitive shaft, a drop of pre hanging on the tip before she slammed home again. This time both moaned with Sasha's feminine cries mixing with Kei's own. She ground her hips against his own, moving in a slow circular motion for a moment, to stir his cock around inside of her. Grinning she kissed Sasha as he desperate for more contact began to buck his hips upwards, meeting her bounces with thrusts of his own. He was unable to help himself, the pleasure compelled him to buck and push upwards. It was hard to think now as both surrendered to the wave of ecstasy that ran through them both, driven onwards by the heat surging in their bellies.

Kei bit down on his neck once more while Sasha buried his head against her neck and nuzzled the spot gently as he placed small kisses there, trying to muffle his tries of pleasure as she rode him. They both sped up, Kei grinding down on him with Sasha grasp at the roots beneath him to try to keep himself centered through the wave of lust, until finally they fully lost control. With a cry Sasha came first, shooting rope after rope of his seed deep inside of the silver haired beauty above him, his shaft twitching and pulsing inside of her. It spurred her on to her climax. Her warm folds tightening down and relaxing as she shuddered in pleasure, as if trying to get every last ounce of pleasure she could from him before finally her own climax came to an end.

Reaching out to balance herself against the tree, she looked down at the cute boy beneath her and grinned as the heat inside of her slowly dissipated as did Sasha's own. "Well that wasn't too bad." She panted. "More intense than I thought." Slowly sliding off of his shaft and standing back. She reached out to offer him a hand and he took it, pulling himself up. "I guess we should get cleaned up now." He laughed a little his face flushed from both embarrassment and the recent bout of lust. "Come on, let's head to the river. We've got everything anyhow. We can clean up there." Turning around she headed towards the river and looked over her shoulder.

"You coming?"

"Yeah I'm coming!" He replied quickly as he hurried off after her to clean up, grabbing what was left of his damaged clothing. "I'm still going to beat you though in whatever lesson we have next!" He called after her.

"In your dreams!" Came the snorted reply as she slung her clothing over her shoulder, and disappeared into the trees with Sasha hurrying to catch up to her.

After their little escapade in the forest the pair both cleaned themselves up at the river, taking the time to make sure that every sign of their lack of caution was scrubbed clean with a little help from magic to clean up and dry off their clothing. Once that was done they gathered the remaining mushrooms without incident and headed back to the Tower where their master was waiting for them. After passing her the ingredients they waited nervously for her response. "Well everything seems to be in order. Although you seemed to have some difficulties getting the ingredients Sasha." She teased lightly as she eyed his ruined clothing. "I'll get one of the servants to fix that tonight. But everything seems to be in order. Well done both of you. No winners today but you better be prepared for the next lesson. We'll see how you handle some more complicated magic tomorrow. Now go on, whatever is left of the day is yours to do as you please." Hurrying off the pair spent the rest of the day relaxing and preparing for the next lesson.