There was a great white void as shadowy figures moved around. The groups of shadows were unrecognizable, moving around as a blur and all looking the same. One figure however could be made out, a vulpine looking figure with three tails, as it conversed with another sitting beside him that was blurred and not distinguishable from the rest of the blurry figures.

"Don't worry, I will always watch your back and keep you safe" the three tailed figure commented

"No way, I can hold my own, you on the other hand, well don't worry I will watch your back" The mysterious figure replied

The blurred figure turned and looked at the other with a beaming smile, as the shadowed figure of a three tailed fox smiled back and held the other in a hug.

"No matter what happens, I'll be there for you" The three tailed shadow spoke

Soon both figures became enveloped in light as a lone voice could be heard echoing in a void.

"Get back!" Came a voice from an unknown source

Joey soon burst awake looking around his dorm room trying to get a sense of where he was at.

"You all right?" Came a voice from a blue ethereal two tailed fox

"Yeah....yeah I think so, just a weird dream is all" Joey replied laying back down on his bed as Amy looked at him and nuzzled into his side

Joey began to pet her head to let her know he was fine, causing her to curl on on up next to him and lay her chin on his chest.

"Well care to share? I might be soul bound to you but that doesnt mean I can see into your dreams what goes on that head of yours is basically a mystery. If you don't fill me in on things I can't exactly help" Ryuchi commented

"Well it was sort of hard to say, it was like being in a white void where I could only see shadowy figures and I could only hear what two of them were saying" Joey began to explain, "I don't remember everything, just that they were saying how they would protect each other"

"Any features of them stand out?" Ryuchi asked

"Only thing I can recall is that one of them had three tails" Joey answered

"Anything else?" Ryuchi asked

"No, It's all really hazy" Joey responded rubbing his head unable to remember anything else

"Well don't let it bother you" Ryuchi replied

"Does it mean anything?" Joey asked

"Does it mean anything?" Ryuchi asked with a raised eyebrow "Unlikely, I mean dreams are dreams, could be a dream from when you and Char were younger, he has three tails right?"

"Well yes, I guess it could be something like that" Joey replied "But it seemed like it was so much more than a dream"

"Joey, I have had dreams of pipes growing out of walls, exploding sharks, giant wasps, and several dreams of falling to my doom" Ryuchi began to explain "Obviously falling was the least of my worries" He commented jokingly "But seriously though, dreams tend to be dreams, there's rarely a rhyme or reason to them" He explained

"I guess so, it just seemed like it was something that happened, less of a dream and more of a memory" Joey explained "But if it was a memory, than I guess it could be something with me and Char"

"Well we can talk about your dreams another time, for now get your lazy butt out of bed and out the door" Ryuchi commanded

"You aren't my mom I can stay in bed if I want" Joey argued covering his face with a pillow

"Yes, but if you don't your butt moving you will miss your little sword lesson with that ninetails girl" Ryuchi replied

"Oh crap I almost forgot about that!" Joey exclaimed loudly causing Amy to leap off his bed. "Thats right now?" Joey asked

"Well your schedule has updated to show your training with Nina" Ryuchi replied

"It did? How?" Joey asked

"Do you forget you are in a magical school? Enchanting everyone's schedules to change as needed isn't a difficult task, now get up or you will be late and will make a bad impression" Ryuchi replied

The otter jumped out of bed and fumbled to get dressed as he tripped and fell to the floor as his feet and legs were wrapped up in his blankets.

"You would be a lost cause without me giving you reminders wouldn't you?" Ryuchi asked with a smirk

"Oh hush, it just slipped my mind is all" Joey huffed as he got himself free from his bedsheets

He quickly threw on some clothes and ran towards Amy.

"Sorry for the scare, promise we can play some later on when I get back" He replied, leaning on down and hugged her tightly

Amy smiled happily, emoting with her tail to show her love, as Joey rubbed and pet her head before walking out the door.

"Okay, where do I go?" Joey asked himself trying to remember

"Well your schedule said it was in the gym" Ryuchi answered

"The gym?" Joey asked

"Yes, if it's anything like when I attended this school, the gym is where they do a lot of their battle training to test the fighting and magic potential of those who fight in there. Basically little sparring matches to measure progress." Ryuchi explained

"Why might she be in there? Sounds like its might be busy in there to have a learning session" Joey questioned

"Well normally yes, but if she has any teaching authority here, which is likely, she can basically hold private sessions in there" Ryuchi answered

"Well if you are sure" Joey replied rushing off to the gym

Joey rushed down the halls as other furs crowded the corridors as everyone was either heading to their dorm or their other classes. Joey grunted some as he squeezed through any openings he could find as he did his best to fight his way on through trying to find the signs on the walls that pointed to the various buildings, following the ones pointing to the gym. With some maneuvering and skillful dodging, the otter soon found his way to a long glass bridge that lead to large building.

"I take it, that's the gym" Joey commented

"Yes, they hold some sporting events in there, but its large size is also to accomodate for magical duals. Some offense magic can require a lot of room to make proper use of so the gym helps allow that. plus it can be altered some by the headmaster to give various challenges for those who spar in there" ryuchi explained

"Wow, wish I could see a fight like that" Joey commented walking down the bridge

"You will, the fights are public, and students are encouraged to to watch so they can learn how others fight, but be warned, it's not all entertainment" Ryuchi began to warn

"What do you mean?" Joey asked

"If you attend you will be expected to write a report of the fight, who did what wrong, who did what right and how each fighter could have improved their game. This is still a school after all" Ryuchi explained

"Well that's one way to make something exciting a chore" Joey commented as he walked inside and saw Nina standing in the middle of the empty arena.

"Ah good, I was wondering when you would show up. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about my little tutoring session" Nina said looking at Joey

"Of course not, how could I forget about this?" Joey asked

"It's easier than you think to forget things" She explained "Now get on over here, I got some things to explain" She instructed

Joey nodded his head and hurried on down and approached her as she handed him back his sword.

"From what I have learned, your sword isn't intended for cutting, that's not to say it can't cut, but its intended to help you focus your magic in different ways" Nina began to explain

"What do you mean?" Joey asked

"What I mean is that, your blade is imbued with magic to amplify your water magic. You can use it to do things you might not be able to do otherwise without it, like for example, creating a a slashing wave of water with the slicing power of a sword" Nina began to explain

"That's crazy but also neat" Joey commented looking at his sword

"Yes but that is one example and even then the power of the magic used by that blade will depend on your skill. That blade can create a slice of water that can slice through rock, but if you aren't experienced it will have the cutting power of a plastic knife against steel" Nina continued her explanation

"So I take it thats what our training will be about?" Joey asked

"Correct, we will be learning what you can currently do then see how we can improve from there" Nina replied

"How will we do that?" Joey asked

"First I need to see a demonstration of your water magic" Nina instructed

"Right now?" Joey asked

"Yes, right now" Nina answered

Joey sighed some feeling nervous, hoping he could do a good job. He held out his right arm and hand in front of him as his water kanji began to glow. His hand began to glowing with a blue aura, as he swung his arm around back with his arm still outstretched, his hand facing inward. His hand and arm soon stopped as if hitting a wall, as a crack seemed to form in midair, with water shooting out from the cracks.

"Interesting dear boy, trying to use your magic to open a gateway to conjure up water. Impressive but you need to work on that, you basically just performed the equivalent of smashing a window, we will work on this ourselves after" Ryuchi commented watching Joey "For now relax, if you smash it open like you are doing now you might not be able to close the hole on your own, don't force it, use your magic to open it like a door, just use your mana to gently push it open" Ryuchi began instructing to try and help the otter

Joey nodded his head and took a deep breath relaxing his hand and arm some, as the cracks began to fade as a magic circle began to form in its place.

"Better, now gently push the door open, let the water flow out as needed and close the door, I'm sure the staff here don't want to deal with a flooded gym" Ryuchi continued instructing

Joey focused the mana in his hand to push on the circle as a wall of water appeared in the circle before pouring on out onto the floor.

"Wow, not going to lie, that is a useful skill to have especially considering you just started here. This can easily be used to your advantage you know, you can change a battlefield to your element with this" Nina commented observing the otter

Joey nodded his head, as he held the door open as long as he could before closing it shut, as him and Nina stood in a small shallow pool of water.

"This should suffice for the time being" Nina replied "Now then can you manipulate water with your hands?" She asked

"Yes" Joey simply responded

"Show me" Nina ordered

Joey focused a bit and swung his hand and arm upwards, creating a small spire of water before it collapsed back down to the ground.

"Good, now do the same thing with your sword, but i want that spire to be as thin as your blade" Nina ordered

Joey tried to do the same thing except this time while swinging his blade upwards but nothing happens. Joey tried it again and again as Nina rubber her forehead and temples.

"Stop stop stop! You're going to swing your arm out of its socket if you keep this up" Nina began exclaiming "Are you channeling your magic into the blade when you swing?" She asks

"Trying to, but I never really used my magic on something like this before. A plush toy or a door sure, but not a sword to wield like a magic wand or something" Joey responded

"Okay well a sword is basically an extension of yourself and the same is going to be true here, it is an extension of you and your magic, rather than using magic with your hands you will use the sword, don;'t think of the blade as a separate entity think of it as part of you, allow your magic to flow on into it and through it. The sword was forged and carved to basically allow for mana to flow in and out of it" Nina explained

"I think I get it" Joey replied pondering on it

"Try not to overthink it, it's easier than it sounds, I mean if you can use your magic to make a crack in space and time to basically summon up enough water to flood this place then channeling your magic into a sword should be easy" She pointed out

"Well yes that's true" Joey admitted

"Now try again" She instructed

Joey nodded his head and began to focus some feeling his mana flow through his arm and hand. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he began to let the mana begin flowing into the blade, it began to glow a blue aura as it began to fill with magic power. With a swift swing of the blade up into the air, the water rose up into a tall thin spire of water before it came splashing down.

"Impressive, I think you might have what it takes to use that sword after all" Nine commented with a grin "But this is a mere example of what you can do, with more training you will find you can do amazing things that could give me and my sisters a run for their money, someday at least" She replied

"Really?" Joey asked

She nodded her head, "Do you really think we were born with the knowledge of how to use our powers?" She asks

"Well no I mean not born with it" Joey answered

"We were just as clueless as you are now. We barely knew what our powers were, but we learned and began to figure out how to make them our own. It will take time and practice and lots and lots of training, but that hard work will pay for itself" She continued

Joey nodded with a determined look, "I will give it my all then, I may not know much with sword magic or even light magic" He replied looking at his left hand, "But I will learn one way or another"

"Good, now just use your sword to make a spire of water another forty nine times" Nina instructed

"Wait what!?" Joey asked in alarm

"You took a lot of time to do that just once, in a real fight I would of kicked your fuzzy butt from here to Timbuktu" She pointed out

"She has a point, if you are going to take to an offensive you have to be able to do your magic faster than you are now, you can't leave yourself open like that unless you want to be curb stomped" Ryuchi said with a chuckle watching everything "But worry not, I will help you with light magic when we have some one on one time together" He added

Joey just sighed as the realization of his free time being eaten up by all this training began to sink in.

"Come on, if you pull off your training before the bell rings I'll buy you lunch, deal?" She offered

"Deal" Joey replied as he resumed his training with Nina as Ryuchi watched on observingly