"See?" Genma said to his son. "I told you! That means you're not going to the university, and that's it!"
"Jabber, jabber," Ranma shouted back. "You only want to have it your way. You allowed Ranko to attend the bard's academy. Why don't you allow me to go to the university?"
"Why pay them money if I can teach you myself?" Genma shot back. "And now stop this silly bickering."
"You're a tyrant, that's all," Ranma yelled.
Suddenly, someone next to them cleared his throat.
They turned around and saw High Chancellor Cologne standing next to them, accompanied by Happosai, King Endymion, High Priest Tofu and some young man they didn't know.
In respect, they bowed their heads.
Genma looked over the assembled group. "My, my, fancy meeting you all out here. That's some surprise. Is there a reason you decided not to cast a frost spell?"
Cologne slapped herself on the forehead. "Dammit," she sighed. "I almost forgot about that. The warmer it is, the more comfortable I am."
Happosai smiled. "You know elemental magic isn't exactly my specialty. How are you doing?"
Genma smiled back. "Fine, Master Happosai, fine. Ranma, would you please...?"
Ranma nodded and murmured something in the tongue of magic. Almost immediately, soothing coolness surrounded them.
Tofu sighed. "A remarkable talent, indeed," he murmured.
"Excuse me," Ranma said. "Does anyone of you know a wizard called Herb, by the way?"
They all shook their heads. "Some other magic user called Herb, perhaps?" Ranma asked in a hopeful voice. Again, they shook their heads.
"Why do you ask, boy?" Happosai wanted to know.
Ranma sighed. "Well, it's just... I just asked the oracle and... it told me that someone called Herb would instruct me in the ways of magic."
"Well, there is no wizard at the university called Herb, that's for sure," his father said.
"Well," Cologne spoke up. "As luck would have it, we also consulted the oracles. And they told us to promote you, Genma Saotome, to the Dark Lord of this year's tours."
"I beg your pardon?" Genma asked in a confused voice. Cologne looked at Ranma. "And you, Ranma, will be one of the mages that act as guides to the tour members."
Ranma was as surprised as his father. "Hey, you can't just..."
"No complaints, young man," the High Chancellor scolded. "The oracle's decisions are to be obeyed."
Genma looked at her in what he believed to be a dignified pose. "I don't believe you can do that," he simply said.
"Oh yes, I can," Cologne replied. "And before you think of objecting, Saotome, may I remind you that you still are in debts with the university?"
"I mailed you a griffin egg," Genma said.
"It was rotten, and I believe you knew that," Cologne said. "No, no, Saotome, this time there's no way around it. The day after tomorrow, Mr. Kuno and a delegation of wizards will visit your home in Nerima to talk about your duties on this year's tour."
Genma knew he couldn't win this argument, so he sighed and simply said: "Very well..."
Ranma was taking a hold of his father's arm. "Come on, Pops," he said. "I'll take us home."
"One thing before you go, Genma," Happosai called. "Please do me a favor and do not try to summon a demon that will assist you on your duties. I clearly remember the disaster when you were still my pupil."
Genma nodded, and Ranma teleported them away with a spell.
Cologne shuddered. She also remembered that event. Genma summoned that blue demon by pure accident, but almost every wizard at the university was needed to send it away.
----
Genma could be called many things. Lazy, eccentric, and also a little greedy. But he was an excellent mage, no doubt about it. The university's wizards just believed his methods to be... kinda unusual.
Genma was a master in illusional and transformative magic - different from his wife and son, who are specialized in elemental magic and space manipulation. Genma was successfully breeding one extraordinary animal after another, every time with the help of his magic.
He managed to create pigs, horses and cats with wings, invisible dogs, intelligent cows, giant chickens and carnivorous sheep (the last being the result of a slight miscalculation).
But his true masterpiece was the breeding of griffins by combining eagle blood with lion blood. He also added some human blood from himself and his wife Nodoka, so the griffins would be intelligent creatures, capable of human speech. But for some unknown reason, he only managed to create female griffins.
Five of them were living at his home by now. They all see him and Nodoka as their parents, and Ranma and his big sister Ranko as their siblings.
Rei was the oldest. She had black fur and always seemed a little grumpy. She's trying hard to be seen as the leader of the little pack and doesn't like if someone tells her what to do.
Ami was born on the same day as Ranko. She had, curiously, blue fur and was the smartest of the griffins. She was also unusually shy and mostly hid in her own little hut next to the house, where she was tinkering with various inventions she was coming up with.
Unlike the others who preferred raw meat, Makoto (the brown griffin) loved to cook. It was a little tricky for her to use the human cooking tools, but after a while, she became a master chef. She also loved to eat, and only her hard training prevented her from becoming as round as her 'father'.
Minako had blonde fur and was very energetic. She was Ranma's favorite 'sibling', as she always came up with interesting games. Sometimes, she acted a little ditzy, but that was just the way she was.
Hotaru was the youngest member of their family. She was almost as shy as Ami and preferred staying around her 'mother'. She still was very unsure about what her place in this world was. As she was the only one with cat's blood instead of lion's, she was noticeable smaller than the other griffins. Her fur was a deep purple.
And they all were slightly surprised when Ranma and their 'father' returned from the oracles and told them that Genma was being elected as this year's Dark Lord.
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(Posted Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:16)
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