After some fighting, Cryzuko was just cuddling with her lion plushie as she felt full. Grim huffed, "Hey, Headmage, what's the deal? What does fightin' ghosts got to do with blot?" Crowley says, "Direct your attention to the magestone on your collar, Mr. Grim." Grim looks and was surprised, "Myah?! My magestone looks all grungy now." He then tried to rub it off, "...MYAH?! It won't rub off!" Crowley nods, "Precisely." He explained, "That inky black stain is the byproduct of spellcasting known as "blot."" Deuce looked to his pen, "There's some grime on my magical pen, too!" Moonlight hums in interest, 'Interesting...' Grim sticks his tongue out, "Ewww! This is capital-G Gross!"
Cryzuko asked, "Will it come off eventually?" Crowley nods, "It will." Grim let's out a noise of relief, "Phew! Had me worried there." Then Crowley says, "With sufficient rest, blot will vanish from your magestone. This is why a magestone is so valuable to magic users. Not only does it aid your casting, it also serves as a lightning rod of sorts, to prevent blot from accumulating within the caster." Deuce crossed his arms, "I see. So when our magestones start to get cloudy, that means it's time for us to ease off." Crowley reponds, "Correct. Eat well and get plenty of sleep, and most of the blot will clear away." Grim nods, "Gotcha." He then grins, "So when I become an even greater mage, I'll be able to fire off spells left and right! Pa-PEW! After all, I do plenty of sleepin' and eatin'."
Crowley continued, "People vary greatly in their capacity for magic. However, save for a few key exceptions, there is little variance in most mages' tolerance for blot." Moonlight questioned, "What does that mean, Crowley?" Crowley responds, "In essence, it means that those who possess a great capacity for magic must be meticulous in their efforts to avoid accumulating blot. Like Mr. Rosehearts, for instance." Ace shrugged, "So folks who know their way around magic gotta lay off once in a while. Seems simple enough." Crowley grins, "Correct." But then he retorts, "That said, it isn't anything that mages at YOUR level need to worry about. How very fortunate for you!" Ace crossed his arms, "I...guess that's only kind of an insult?" Grim then says, "Anyway, I think I get it. Use magic, get blot. Blot bad. Sleep and food good. But is that really all it took to make Riddle activate berserker mode?" Crowley answered, "The accumulation of blot is significantly affected by the sorcerer's mental state. Anger, fear, panic, sorrow... Harboring those sorts of negative energies hastens the accumulation of blot by a significant degree. This, in turn, leads to the dreadful state known as "overblot.""
Moonlight and Cryzuko just nod. Deuce says to himself, ""Negative energies," huh? Interesting..." Then Crowley questioned, "Do you recall the giant shadow that appeared behind Mr. Rosehearts?" The group nods and Crowley says, "Such manifestations are believed to be the result of a fusion between blot and negative energies. I'm afraid that's the extent of what current studies have revealed to us, however. There remain many mysteries surrounding overblot. After all, there are not many opportunities for study and observation." Ace sweatdrops, "Let's hope it stays that way!" Crowley softly sighs, "It is fortunate that we were able to snap Mr. Rosehearts out of it so quickly. If that had been allowed to continue..." He then shouts dramatically, "It is a prospect too terrifying to consider!" The group flinched from surprise as Grim shouts, "W-what's your problem?! Yellin' outta the blue like that!" Then Crowley cleared his thoat, "Forgive me. I lost my composure. In summary, the use of magic is always accompanied by a certain degree of risk. And I expect you all to keep that in mind."
The group nod and Crowley smiled, "Thus concludes your special lesson from the headmage himself! How wonderfully kind of me. Now, back to your classrooms with you." Then Moonlight questioned, "Aren't you forgetting something, sir?" Crowley quickly looked down, "Ahhh, yes... A means to send both Cryzuko and Moonlight home. Right, right." His eyes shifted a bit before he quickly closed his eyes, "I have been diligently searching for one, of course. I have certainly not forgotten! It is merely that I've been quite busy of late." Moonlight raised a brow and frowned, '...Uh huh...' Grim questioned, "Your eyes got all shifty all of a sudden." Crowley retorts, "I-I'm certainly not lying! The October interdorm Spelldrive tournament is consuming a great deal of my attention at the moment!" Moonlight crossed her arms, 'How interesting.... very convenient' Crowley continued, "In fact, I've a meeting with the assembled housewardens immediately after this." Cryzuko asked, "Eh? What's a "Spelldrive tournament"?"
