The Azure Continent. A testament to the limitless possibilities magic presents us with. Located five-thousand kilometres west of non-magical Ecuador, one degree north of the equator, the Azure Continent is shaped as a perfect heptagon with sides exactly five-hundred and fifty-seven kilometres in length. The continent was created 10,020 years ago by Merlin and Morgana themselves and was arguably their most impressive, if not greatest, achievement. The creation of the continent and its many surrounding islands required the two Emperors to transmute over 11 quadrillion tonnes of water into earth, a feat which took over seven years to complete, and was only possible due to the Emperors tapping into the exceedingly powerful magic of the land below the continent.

The purpose of the continent's creation was two-fold. Firstly, it was to be a holy land for the Warlocks and Warbells of Gaia. The magic of the continent is unlike any other location on the planet, and its existence has undoubtedly contributed to the many advancements in magical attainment and research we have achieved these past ten millennia.

Secondly, and rather more dismally, the Continent was to be a safe haven. If all the nexuses were to flood, or the non-magical members of society to revolt, the Continent would be a refuge for the magical population to regroup, and combat the situation they had been presented with. Although our beloved Emperors undoubtedly hoped this was merely a precaution on their part, we thank them for their foresight. For such a situation was indeed faced by our ancestors some three millennia ago, when our beloved Emperor Jormungandr lost his mind and wiped out over ninety percent of the Sorcerers, Monarchs and Paragons of the time.

~ Ley Lines and Geography, by Edwardo Ball

======================= ZS =======================

The contents of the vial swirled as the glass rod stirred the thin liquid rapidly. Several such vials and beakers could be seen strewn across the table, along with pieces of paper full of messy notes, scratched out sentences and detailed analyses of the various reactions taking place.

As the potioneer lifted the vial to eye level to observe the colour change, he was rudely interrupted by the swinging of the large door to his lab.

“My lord, you asked to see me?” the tall spectacle man asked.

"Godfrey, how many times must I tell you to refer to me as professor" the middle aged man chidied gently.

“Apologies Sir, I mean professor, I was just apprehensive regarding the reason I was summoned”.

“We all make mistakes” he continued as he gently added the contents of one vial to another. “As for why you have been summoned, I seem to remember that a lower level sorcerer but the name of Stor was under your command” he inquired.

“That is of course correct Professor,” the man answered nervously.

“Hmm, I take it you haven't read this morning's paper then” he said as he lazily indicated the tabloid at the edge of the desk.

As Godfrey hastily skimmed over the article his already pale complexion whitened even further. "Lord Amaris, I had no idea, forgive my incompetence” he whimpered.

“Hmm” pondered Amaris as he gently placed the vial into its stand, before suddenly lashing out, swiping his hand violently across the room and sending Godfrey crashing into a wall via a violent wave of magic. Pages of the tabloid he had been holding scattered about the lab floor, but one headline stood out amongst the articles.

‘Six Newbloods Rescued From the Shadow Order!

First Case of Newblood Triplets in Recorded History!

Salador Solaris and Granddaughter of Queen Sophia Razvan at Helm of Rescue!’

“SIX NEWBLOODS” Amaris roared, his usually brown irised flashing crimson. “You had six newbloods under your control, whether directly or indirectly, and your men tried to sacrifice them in some stupid ritual” he hissed venemously.

“My Lord, I’m sorry my lord” weeped Godfrey from his position on the floor.

“I said call me professor” whispered Amaris menacingly, before once again throwing Godfrey across the room, this time resulting in a sickening crack as Godfrey’s head snapped to one side.

“I expect better of my followers, Godfrey. Disappoint me again and your punishment will be much more severe than just a little pain” Amaris warned as he threw one of his potion vials at Godfrey’s head.

As the vial shattered the amber liquid within coated the injured man's neck, while the errant shards of glass cut into his cheek and surrounding skin. With another sickening crack the bespectacled man's neck snapped back into place, and his misty eyes regained their clarity.

“I understand Professor,” Godfrey whispered timidly. “It won’t happen again” he promised as he swiftly fled the lab.

“We’re doomed” Amaris muttered as he pinched and massaged his brows. He returned to his work, but not before glancing at the offending article, which featured all six newbloods fresh from their rescue, but seemed to centre around Zak and his two ‘siblings’.

“I wonder” murmured Amaris as his gaze fell on the identical scars that could be seen on all three boys' injured torso.

======================= ZS =======================

West Sussex, England, June 1 2021, 03:23 (GMT+1)

Zakia waded through the busy terminal at Gatwick, thankful once again that he didn’t have to lug around a heavy suitcase like the many families around him. His amazing backpack was layered with so many expansion charms and enchantments that the many items of clothes, books, trinkets and equipment - that Solaris had insisted on purchasing for him - were able to fit with space to spare.

He pondered again how unusual it seemed to be travelling to a magical school via such a mundane method as plane, but who was he to argue. He looked down at his ticket one last time. Bell Airlines, Flight EC173, Seat 7C he memorised.

As he checked into his flight and boarded the plane Zak noticed how empty and spacious the cabin seemed to be. Despite being on the rather large side of the scale in terms of size, the plane contained only twenty aisles, split into two seats either side of the wide central corridor.

As Zak settled into his spacious seat, he noticed that the boy in the window seat beside him was hypnotically twirling a thin elegant dagger on the pad of his thumb and finger.

The boy was disarmingly average in appearance and size, with soft oriental features on a thin long face and long light brown hair tied up in a neat ponytail, yet Zak's instincts screamed that the boy's somewhat thin frame contained a fiery energy that was currently at rest. Despite his body's lax positioning, his wiry muscles seemed to still be tense and his expression was troubled. In fact, he looked to be giving the twirling dagger a death stare, as if the innocuous thin piece of metal had greatly wronged him in some mysterious way.

“You okay mate” ventured Zak, hoping that he wouldn’t be stuck next to a grump for the long flight ahead.

The strangers brow immediately unfurrowed at being addressed. As he turned to respond, Zak noticed his companions eyes widening in recognition for a moment, before a calm mask settled on the boy's face.

“I’m good” smiled the boy, "I'm just tired and hungry to be honest. I had to take a LIFT here from Honshu, only for this ship to take me back to basically the same place. Stupid first year rules” he grumbled.

“Cheese and coleslaw sandwich” offered Zak as he reached into his backpack. He’d honestly only understood half of what the boy had said. Ship? LIFT? First year rules?

“Many thanks” said the boy as he accepted a sandwich. “I’m Tatsuya Tsume Loong by the way. I must say I'm surprised to see you hear Mr Sol” he casually uttered.

Zak stared at him confusedly for a moment. "How'd you know my name?" He demanded.

Tatsuya looked surprised at the question, before reaching into the sleeve of his robe - which was designed more like a kimono as opposed to Zak's own trench coat like robe - before pulling out a newspaper. "Here you go"

As Zak took the paper - Warlock Weekly - he noticed the picture on the front-page was of his three bodies, Mamuru, Jairo and Marim just as they had been rescued from the ritual circle.

"You've been in every major publication over the past few days my friend" explained Tatsuya as he bit into the crust of his sandwich. "Identical triplets are rare in our world, and the connection between them means they almost always achieve great things for the family they hail from. So Newblood triplets? The rumours say all three of you have already reached sorcerer level. Others say we can expect three Emperors within the next 50 years. As you can tell, it's a big deal"

"This is ridiculous" exclaimed Zak as he finished skimming the article. "Are there no privacy rights in the wizarding world. Especially seeing as I’m a minor!”

“Anyone who has signed up to attend secondary education is considered a minor adult,” explained Tatsuya. “Seeing as only you have decided to attend right away, yours was the only name published and hence no laws have technically been violated here. Although this information should have been vaulted away in the Councils archives, so there definitely was some insider who leaked the information,” the youngster hypothesised.

“Ridiculous” repeated Zak as he slumped back in his chair. “Well, thanks for the heads up at least.”

“Not a problem” smiled Tatsuya as he accepted the paper back from Zak. “Although, only one name was published. Zakaria. Is that you?”

“No, that's my brother,” lied Zak easily. “He’s attending at Avalon. My name's Zakia by the way, but you can call me Zak. A pleasure to meet you”

“I would have thought you’d all attend the same place” mused Tatsuya as he shook Zak’s outstretched hand.

“There's too much to explore and learn for us all attend the same place”

“That’s fair” conceded Tatsuya as he suddenly looked out the window. “Seems we’re almost high enough” he speculated.

“What! When did we take off?” Questioned Zak as he looked at the pillowy clouds that surrounded their vessel. There had been no loud noise of the engine starting, no increase in the experienced g-force and inertia one felt when a plane accelerates to take off. Nothing! He hadn’t even fastened his seatbelt.

“Ah, spending time with you is going to be so much fun Zak,” Tatsuya grinned.

“Dear passengers, the ship's cloaking formation will be coming down imminently. Please feel free to visit the deck once this has happened, and thank you for flying with Bell Airlines” came a young man's voice through the cabin.

Zak couldn’t help but gawk as the aluminium walls of the cabin glowed briefly before revealing themselves to be constructed of planks of sleek dark wood. The entrance that Zak had boarded the plane from was now a set of stairs leading up.

“Come on” encouraged Tatsuya as he led Zak through the cabin.

When they reached the apex of the steps Zak emerged to an otherworldly scene. He was standing on the deck of a great ship, with three masts each holding several sails. The ship was made of the same sleek black wood as the cabin, but Zak noticed that some of the planks had intricate carving designs and runes along their length. The ship itself was impressive, but the scenery was beyond words. There was no barrier between them and the vast skies before them. Clouds billowed past as the first rays of sunlight could be seen over the horizon, bathing the ship in a warm golden glow as it lit the sky in a spectrum of colour.

The airship was travelling so fast that it seemed to carve through the clouds like a hot knife through butter, yet only a mild gust of wind could be felt by the ship's inhabitants, rather than the gale it should have been.

“Well I guess this trip was worth it for a sight like that” remarked Tatsuya as he let his gaze wander, his long hair billowing in the wind, almost as if it were trying to escape the ponytail he had it tied into.

Zak could only grunt in response, his gaze hungry as he tried to take in every detail of the beautiful scene before him. They stood in silence for a while until Zak noticed something rather odd. With Tatsuya’s hair now no longer neat, two horns could be seen atop his head. They seemed to lie flat starting at the crown of his head with the sharp points sticking out only slightly near his frontal region.

“I see you noticed my horns” Tatsuya smirked as he noticed Zak’s rather obvious peek. “I’m a dragon by the way”

“Say what now!?”

======================= ZS =======================

London, England, June 1 2021, 11:41 (GMT+1)

Zak stood in the crowd gathered in front of the digital billboards of Euston Station. His ticket clearly stated that his train was set to leave at noon, yet the billboards showed no train between the 11:53 to Birmingham New Street and the 12:12 to Manchester Piccadilly. Just as Zak was about to ask one of the staff if he knew what platform his train - Pendragon Transit - was to leave from, his ticket glowed a mild orange before showing platform 4. No longer impressed with the meger magical display, Zak swiftly made his way down the corridor to the platform.

Fascinating he mused as he observed the long streamlined body of the serpentine vehicle before him. The trains head resembled that of the bullet trains found in japan. It was twice the size of the average carriage it was pulling and was littered with runes that were definitely not of the same language. The carriages themselves were each quite small compared to the other trains that Zak could observe around the station, but each was beautiful in that they were decorated with their own runes and calligraphic patterns.

Zak was starting to pick up on a pattern. His robes, the robes of his fellow students on the airship, the airship itself, the train. It seemed that calligraphy and pattern design was very important to the wizarding world. Instead of leaving surfaces of all kinds bare, which seemed to be the style of modern day countries, warlocks and warbells seemed to favour filling them with artistic creations that were elegant rather than overbearing. Zak had to admit that it gave everything a more rich and cultured feel, rather than the boring practicality that modern day man seemed more inclined towards.

Zak walked the length of the platform wanting to observe the various flowing patterns of the carriages. He noticed that the non-magical train goers couldn’t notice the train at all. In fact, some individuals were standing mere metres away from the machine and yet seemed to be staring through the train instead of noticing the object itself.

Zak boarded one of the empty carriages and claimed one of the four booths for himself. As a fan of travelling he was looking forward to seeing more epic views of the scenery like his other body had from the airship.

“The train will depart in one minute, toilets are located at either end of the carriages. If you need any assistance, members of staff are located in carriage C and will be happy to assist you. Our next stop is, Paris Gare du Nord, Gaul”