"Ah, looking at the Mage's Fountain, I see," an unknown voice came from behind Allen.

Allen turned around to not find Thomas or Cecily, but a taller figure. He looked to be in his early years of adulthood, perhaps just a little over the age of twenty. He had very dark brown hair, almost looking black. Allen's hair was actually black, but you could mistake the guy in front of him for black hair if you don't look carefully enough. He seemed to have a natural smile on his face, but Allen wasn't entirely sure.

"I'm sorry, who are you?," Allen asked, confused.

"Ah, sorry for surprising you like that. My name's Philip Lycott, and I am a magical knight. Nice to meet you," he gave Allen a warm smile as he put out his hand for a handshake.

Allen had just noticed his outfit. It was one of the magical knight outfits he saw the other magical knights wearing as he entered the town. His was an earthly brown color, which meant he was an earth mage.

"N-nice to meet you," Allen shook his hand, a bit nervous.

"You must be one of the academy's students, aren't you?," Philip asked. "An air mage, I see".

"That's correct," Allen responded. "I'm a first year at the academy. I'm training to become a magical knight".

"Well, good on you. May I ask you what your current rank is? Just curious," he nicely asked.

Despite a magical knight, the figures that Allen looked up to were in front of him, he got a bit nervous when he spoke with him. He was even more nervous to tell him his current rank, but he decided to tell him anyways.

"I-, I'm an F rank…," Allen managed to get out.

For a moment, Philip looked at him very confused. He must have not expected to hear such a thing from Allen. Then he led out an unexpected laugh. Allen just stood at him in confusion and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry for laughing like that, I'm not laughing at you," Philip apologized. "It's just, I honestly wasn't expecting an air mage like yourself to be such a rank, nor was I expecting to meet someone of F rank".

"It's alright. I've gotten used to being an F rank," Allen awkwardly explained.

"Oh, don't say things like that. Judging by your character, I'd say you can reach D rank in no time!," he encouraged him.

"Thank you, but do you really think it's possible to rank up quickly?," Allen asked, curious.

"Ah, a great question. Just keep training hard and you can get there in no time. Believe it or not, I started off as D rank when I attended the academy. In just 4 months I reached C rank, despite my magic basically being D rank," he explained.

"Really? You can rank up from D to C in just 4 months?," Allen asked, curious.

"Oh believe me, there were students that went from C to B in just under a few months. It just takes dedication!," he smiled.

"Thank you. Mind if I ask you what your rank is?," Allen looked at his uniform, but there didn't seem to be any pin or indicator of what rank he was.

"Division II, Rank C. Or just IIC for short," Philip said proudly as if he worked hard to get where he is now.

"Divisions?," Allen asked.

"Ah, you probably haven't learned about that yet. Division rank is based on your work as a magical knight, which is separate from your letter rank, which is based on your magical ability," Philip explained.

"Ah, that makes sense," Allen said as he thought.

"Don't worry too much about it, you're only in your first year. You still have this one and 2 more to go," Philip smiled reassuringly.

"That's if I even pass my first year," Allen sighed.

"What do you mean by that? I'm sure if you work hard you can get out of F rank in no time," Philip said, confused.

Allen explained to him the predicament he was in. The conditions he was given to be accepted into the academy.

"Oh, I see…," Philip said, lost in thought. "Never before in my years at the academy and the few as a magical knight have I heard of a student getting conditions such as those. You must be very lucky, or very unlucky," he laughed.

"Probably both," Allen nervously laughed.

"Well, back to the reason I originally walked up to talk to you. Curious about this pillar, eh?," he motioned towards the broken pillar on the fountain.

"The broken pillar…," Allen put his hand on top of it. "It's, or at least it was-".

"Shhh," Philip moved to whisper in Allen's ear. "Yes, it was the fire pillar. But unfortunately it's gone now, and it's considered a forbidden topic here".

Philip moved back away from him as Allen was inspecting the pillar.

"This fountain is said to have been built in this city a long time ago, back when the Mage's Guild was prevalent in the mid 1300's," Philip explained while examining the fountain like Allen was doing. "It is a historical symbol of us mages and our accomplishments. But due to events in the early 1500's, there has been an unfortunate divide between mages since then…".

Allen continued to look at the fountain. Despite it being old as Philip said it was, it somehow had a polished new feel to it, as if it never aged. He thought about the other magic he had - his fire magic. Just because he was born with something he had no control over, he would be considered an enemy to all of England. One tiny slip of his magic, and Allen would be killed. He thought of the rest of the fire mages that must have lost their lives simply because they were born with fire magic.

"While this fountain provides us with a feeling of accomplishment and pride, it also serves us the feelings of regret and misfortune. Perhaps one day we may all reunite under one common principal - to study and grow our magic together," Philip spoke with a sad, but determined tone. Allen's admiration for him rose even higher.

"Sorry if I got a bit… serious sounding there," Philip apologized.

"No, it's alright. It's great to hear there are other mages out there who aren't the stuck up kind I've seen a lot lately," Allen laughed.

"Yeah, that's true. There's too many arrogant mages that care nothing but to better themselves and weaken others," Philip agreed.

"You sound a lot like William when you talk like that though," Allen laughed.

For a moment, Philip looked very confused.

"Wait, are you referring to William Windblade? The newly appointed director of the Academy right? You know him?," Philip asked, very curious.

"Uh, yeah I know him a little," Allen said realizing he just let it slip he personally knows the director.

"Wow that's amazing, he's such an inspiration for me," Philip smiled.

"Williams… an inspiration for you?," Allen asked, curious.

"Yeah of course. And along many others in the Magical Knights Divisions. He's somewhat of a beacon of hope for us that things can change soon. He's helped many of us so much over the past few years before he became the head director at the academy," Philip grinned.

Just what exactly has William been up to since he trained me those years ago, Allen thought. He was confused yet curious as to what William has done where he's so well known like that. Then again, he is a Windblade.

"Wow I had no idea," Allen said, surprised.

While Allen was once again lost in thought, he realized the amount of time he had been talking to the magical knight. He remembered that he was here in London to be hanging out with Thomas and Cecily.

"Well, I believe we've talked enough. I'm sure you have plenty you need to do today anyways," Philip said, almost like he knew that Allen had somewhere to be.

"Yeah, I'm here hanging out with a few of my friends from the academy. Question is, where did they go?," Allen said, realizing he lost track of them as well.

"Ah, could it be them over there? Those two are wearing the academy uniforms," he pointed towards a crowd of people near one of the food shops. Allen noticed Thomas and Cecily in the mix. It looked like they were talking while looking over what appeared to be a menu posted outside the shop.

"That is them, thank you!," Allen said as he began to walk over. Both of them waved goodbye to each other as Allen started to rush over.

He just reached where Cecily and Thomas were, and sure enough they were ogling over the menu. Or, at least Thomas was.

"-does it have to be so expensive!," Thomas cried as Allen just got behind them.

"Well, it is one of the most famous food shops here in London," Cecily commented.

"Why does my hunger have to be so high yet my money amount is so low!," Thomas complained.

"Maybe if you stopped whining so much they may give you a discount," Cecily teased him followed by her laughter.

"A discount? It better be a 90% discount or the only thing I can get is a child sized noodle cup!," Thomas fell down in defeat as Cecily proceeded to giggle. "Come to think of it, where'd Allen go?".

"Right behind you," Cecily looked right at Allen and pointed over at him.

Thomas turned around in pure shock of Allen just standing over him.

"I- wh-, Allen when did you get here!?," Thomas managed to stutter as he started to get up.

"I've been here since you were complaining about the food being expensive," Allen laughed.

"I-, wait you were here when I fell down in defeat!?!," Thomas started to freak out in fear.

"Yep, almost the whole time," Allen said as both him and Cecily began to laugh again.

"Oh no…," Thomas had a look like he was about to die on his face.

"Oh you don't have to be so freaked out about it, I might've done the same if I couldn't get my 'child sized noodle cup'!," Allen teased him.

"I-, you're still teasing me!," Thomas put his hands on his forehead as he began to fall into the pit of despair once more.

Allen and Cecily proceeded to laugh once more, and once Thomas gained his composure he laughed as well.  "Come to think of it, where'd you even go Allen?," Thomas asked, curious.

"Umm, long story…," Allen didn't know where to begin.

"Well, you can tell us later. We haven't even started our tour yet, have we?," Thomas grinned.

"Maybe if Thomas didn't whine about child size noodle cups the whole time we could've been on that tour already," Cecily giggled.

"Why is it always me?," Thomas asked in embarrassment. He was in the middle of tease central, after all.

"Alright, I think that's enough teasing Thomas for now. Why don't we officially start this tour?," Allen asked, excited in anticipation of seeing the rest of the city he always wanted to see.

"Of course! Lily and I will lead the way!"