The other side of a glass tank - Octavinelle (& Twisted Wonderland) X Reader

Chapter 45 - Black stains

"Ah. Thank you all for coming. I'll get right to the point."

You and the group of freshmen were currently at the headmaster's office out of Crowley's request.

"Now that the Heartslabyul incident is behind us... I wanted to give you a proper debriefing on the matter." The masked man said with crossed arms, wearing a solemn expression, from what you could see under the mask that is.

"If you're to become mages, you need to fully understand the malady that befell Mr. Rosehearts." He added seriously, then moving his hands to his hips.

"You called it "overblot," right? The professor explained us some basic things about it." Deuce asked while holding hi elbows in his palms. You nodded but quickly interjected.

"I'm not from somewhere where magic is much of use, so I only know very little of it." You pointed out and the headmage nodded calmly while looking at you.

"That is understandable. Also, yes. The name is indeed overblot." The older adult confirmed before the ginger freshman spoke up.

"My brother told me a little about that, some time aback. He said that it could happen to anyone who builds up too much blot." Ace said while bringing an hand to his nape before sighing slightly and shaking his head.

"Sounds like Cater was pretty much on the nose with "berserker mode"." He then added, sticking his hip a bit to the side while shrugging.

"Yeah, but what really is "blot," anyway?" Grim inquired while crossing his stubby arms over his chest.

"Ah, indeed. For your sake and young Yuu's, it would behoove us to start with the basics." The masked man nodded to himself before clearing his throat and switching his serious look into a delighted smile.

"I shall teach you all you need to know. Charity, thy name is Crowley!"

~~~~~//$\\~~~~~

The headmaster proceeded with explaining all that is known about blot and its effects on mages.

"Blot" is actually a kind of waste created by the utilization of a certain amount of magical energy, a bit like cars would expel polluting gases following the usage of gasoline.

Casting many and powerful spells will cause the increase of blot, which could be further worsened by lack of emotional stability from the mage involved.

Despite it being object of research for the longest time, both blot and overblots are far from being fully understood.

That is also because in the last centuries there have only been a small handful of overblot cases.

From what little knowledge there is, blot is known to be terrifically toxic, able to wreak havoc on a mage's mind and body once reaching an excessive amount...

"I guess that's why Grandma was always naggin' me to not overdo it with the magic, huh?" The red eyed freshman commented with an hand to his hip.

"Here I thought she just didn't want me to break stuff." He also mumbled under his breath and Yuu glanced at him.

"Can't deny that's a plus." They said quietly with a casual shrug.

"Power and peril are two sides of the same coin. Even the greatest of mages cannot cast spell after spell without consequence." Crowley spoke solemnly while crossing his arms over his chest.

"So you're tellin' me I'm gonna get sick if I keep usin' magic whenever I want?!" The fiery creature asked with wide eyes and a bit of sweat running down.

"Not really, it isn't so drastic." You chuckled quietly while shaking your head.

"True indeed!" The headmage promptly agreed with you before bringing his hand under his chin, assuming a pondering position.