Qwaek felt the soreness in his face as his anger grew. He had been frowning since his last interaction with that damnable human. As a powerful warrior, he deserved respect from an inferior being, but instead, he was shown such contempt.

It angered him, but he couldn't help hold a sliver of respect for the rat. The bravery, no matter how idiotic, was commendable. Not once did the man cower.

Though, that wasn't exactly unique to him. Not entirely at least. Qwaek knew of humans that had stood up to the warriors and apostles of the faction. They puffed their chests out and stood tall, all the way up to the point that they were humbled.

Once a blade came their way, they bowed down like the peasants they were. Of course, he had learned the reason for their arrogance. They had backers. Someone more important that gave them the courage to strut around like their shit didn't stink. Unfortunately for them, no human nor organization was strong enough to protect them.

So, when they returned with some chump in a suit, they were swiftly dealt with. The consequences being death or a ban from further cooperation with the faction they offended.

Qwaek felt Kade was slightly different. Even as his axe had descended, the human showed no fear. Even though Graakas hadn't even received word of the humans' arrival yet and wouldn't show up in time, the human still dared to fight him.

Even though Kade offended him, Qwaek still had a modicum of respect for him. At least the puny human had a warrior's heart.

So, when he saw the man returning bright and early, he was conflicted. Even so when the human approached him instead of another guard.

Kade pulled out the silver medal "May I pass?"

Qwaek grabbed the medal and inspected it briefly. He had seen Graakas give this medal the day before, but rules were rules. Of course, he could bend them without issues most of the time, but guards only did so for their friends.

"You may." Qwaek said as he returned the medal.

"Thanks." Kade said as he walked around the guard. He didn't have many negative feelings about the day before. It made sense that those with strength demanded respect, and he couldn't claim that he would be different when the time came.

He wouldn't have escalated things as he had if they had just sent word to Graakas. Now that the issue had been settled, he had no intention of causing the guards any more trouble.

He stepped through the portal and experienced the disorienting effect that came with teleportation. It was only as he fell on his face that he understood how Graakas had protected him from the after-effects the day before.

He stayed on the ground without worry about his image while allowing the dizziness and nausea to fade. In only a few minutes he returned to his feet, albeit with shaky legs.

He turned his gaze to the portal with anticipation. He hadn't given it much thought the day before, but he actually teleported! Every kid would think about what superpower they would want if they were given a choice. Most would choose flying, maybe invisibility, or perhaps an energy blast.

Kade's choice? Teleportation! Why fly when you can reach your destination instantly? Teleportation was hands down the best skill he could think of if for nothing else than its versatility.

He spun around and briskly walked toward Graakas's place. The portal had added to the fire in his heart and he was more excited than ever to get on the grind.

His enthusiasm was evident as he slammed his fist into the large door, only stopping when it was opened by Graakas. His appearance was disheveled and annoyance was displayed in his expression.

"What?" Kade asked as he raised a brow "You told me to come as early as possible."

"Hmph." Graakas began mumbling as he pulled his robe up and straightened it out. "Yes, well. I didn't expect you quite this early. Give me a moment." He quickly closed the door.

Kade's confusion grew. This was the first time he had seen Graakas flustered. though, it shouldn't be surprising. Graakas was a person just like anyone else, with emotions and such.

Only a few minutes later he realized just how similar they were as the door opened and a tall woman walked out.

Clearly, she was a different species than Graakas. Surprisingly, she seemed like a warrior from her physique rather than a scholarly mage that he expected.

She glanced at Kade momentarily before turning to Graakas and speaking in a language Kade couldn't understand. Then, she disappeared down the street.

"What?" Graakas asked grumpily when he noticed Kade's expression.

"Graakas you stud!" Kade chuckled as he slapped the huge alien's shoulder "Didn't expect you to be into buff chicks."

Graakas recoiled slightly "That's what surprises you about this situation?"

"Yeah. I expected you to like the scholarly type. Glasses, book, you know the shtick." Kade replied.

"Oh, yes. I believe you humans call them nerds." Graakas said as he shut the door and began walking down the street "Though, the Vitam factions labels tend to be a bit less offensive."

"Bah." Kade waved his hand as he followed "It was considered offensive a long time ago, but not so much anymore. It's actually a bit endearing nowadays."

"Is that so?" Graakas asked as a smirk donned his lips "You're somewhat of a nerd yourself. Such a lifestyle is somewhat mandatory for mages."

"No, no-no." Kade shook his head "I do have some nerdish tendencies, but that doesn't make me a nerd. My people would call me a troublemaker, delinquent, hooligan, even a criminal."

Graakas scoffed "See, even you don't like being called a nerd. So how can it not be offensive?"

"Trust me, I'd much rather be called a nerd than the four I mentioned. Though, I do admit the word is a bit crass and definitely created for insulting others. I just don't see it as an insult in today's times." Kade replied with mixed emotions.

"If you ask me, only two labels matter." Graakas said in a pompous tone "Strong, and weak."

"Here we go again." Kade said while rolling his eyes "Is power your answer to everything?"

Graakas didn't seem bothered as he spoke "Everything that matters. Power means freedom to do what you want. Like yesterday, if you were stronger than the guards, could they have stopped you?"

Kade understood his point. He didn't disagree, it just seemed cliche sometimes. Was that level of freedom worth the hardship that accompanied cultivation? Well, probably.

If not, it didn't matter much. He liked the challenge and progression of it all enough to continue.

"We are here." Graakas said as they stopped in front of a large building.

Kade assessed the building. It was square and the walls seemed to be made of slabs of stone. The door being a huge chunk of wood seemingly made for giants. Simple and oversized would be the perfect description.

"Why did we come here?"

Graakas twisted the door handle and strained to push the door open "To see my master."

Kade's laughter at the comical sight of a huge alien struggling to push open a wooden door was stifled by his surprise. What should he expect? A little green geezer speaking in metaphors? Or maybe a young man in a long flowing robe?

He followed Graakas inside and down the hall before they went through another oversized door to find an old man sprawled out on the ground with his head buried in a book.

"Master." Graakas said, his tone filled with reverence as he bowed deeply. "I've brought my friend to discuss an oddity in a spell trace that he modified."

The old man peeked over the edge of his book and his eyes darted between the two. With something akin to the mix of a grunt and a sigh, he slammed the covers of the book together before tossing it aside.

after a moment of mumbling, the man spoke "Let's see the spell first." His voice was deep like that of a radio host.

Kade nodded and created the fireball before looking around the room "Uh, what do you want me to hit?"

"Ah!" The man sprung up from the ground and looked around frantically "Not my bookcases! not my rugs either! Just hit me with it."

Kade shrugged and sent the fireball flying at the old man and watched as he caught it in his hand before the fire wrapped around and clung to the man's arm.

"Ooooh, hot, hot, hot!" The man screamed as he shook his arm and bounced around in a panic.

'His master is a coot.' Kade thought as his impression of the old man plummeted. Though, at least it was funny.

Even so, the old man soon managed to collect the flames into a ball that hovered over his hand, completely encased in energy.

"Sticky." He rotated the ball as he observed it closely "How interesting. It's like tar or sap." He snapped his fingers before the ball of fire was extinguished.

"Show me the trace." He said as he held out his hand.

Kade quickly presented the trace he had drawn the day before with a hint of anticipation. The old man might be a bit odd, but he was able to extinguish the fireball with ease. Even more, he did so without a spell trace!

The old man motioned them to follow as he left the room with his eyes glued to the trace. He led them across the hall and into a large stone room with eleven mats and a bunch of training dummies. He plopped down on one of the mats before waving his hand, causing two more to slide in front of him.

Kade quickly sat down and gave the old man his full attention. His previous opinion had been shattered completely in two actions.

"Good idea. I understand why you wanted to add this partition, but you messed up." The old man used his finger to draw in the air, leaving behind a sharp purple line in its wake "Some think that the glyph has to be perfect, and it does in a manner of speaking. However, I can draw a fire glyph like this."

"And this."

"Like this too."

Each time he spoke, he created another glyph design in the air.

"All three of these will create fire. Why? Because I understand all three of these to mean 'Fire' and when I create them, I do so with the intent to create fire." As he spoke, he created a spell trace in the air. "Tell me what spell this trace will create."

Kade studied it for a moment before realizing that he didn't recognize any of the glyphs. "I don't recognize any of the glyphs."

"Inferior fireball." The old man said as he slowly built the spell trace and a small fireball came to life in his hand. "See, it's the same function as the one you use, but the glyphs are completely different."

Kade knit his brows "So the shape of the glyphs don't matter? I can make them look however I want as long as I understand them?"

"That's an overly simplified example, but yes." The old man waved his hand dismissing the altaris drawings "I can't just draw a glyph and tell myself 'This means water', that won't work. I have to believe that the glyph means water. This can be accomplished by mentally linking the glyph to my perception of water."

He drew a raindrop in the air "This one is simple for you humans. A raindrop. It's just water falling from the sky, but you perceive it as a raindrop. It's an incredibly minute difference, but it matters."

"Oh, I get it." Kade nodded.

"Do you really?" The old man asked with a grin. "It seems simple. Creating a glyph that you perceive solely as one thing is actually very difficult. Of course, you can have a glyph that means multiple things but they cannot conflict."

He drew another glyph "This one means fire and ball. Fire is shapeless on its own, so it won't conflict if you add a shape as you must know. So, we can condense both functions into a single glyph."

Kade raised his brow "Then, wouldn't it be possible to create the entire fireball spell in a single glyph?"

"Haha, indeed!" The old man slapped his knee with a large grin on his face "Though, doing so would be worse than just using the trace. You see, trying to pack too many meanings in a single glyph means having to spend more effort in understanding and infusing intent. In other words, it requires more mental strength to use."

"Wait, why?" Kade asked with a frown. He didn't doubt the man, but it didn't make any sense.

"The glyph can't just mean fireball. It has to mean everything that composes a fireball. The fire, shape, temperature, etcetera. Surely you understand how difficult that would be to condense into a single glyph, not to mention how difficult it would be to think of all of that when imagining a single glyph." The old man explained.

Kade scratched his head sheepishly. It was stupid to think that there would be such a simple shortcut. "All glyphs need intent too, right? So I'd also have to learn to merge all of the intent into a single entity too?"

"You catch on quick." The old man gave a thumbs-up before returning his gaze to the glyph "Now, you understand how difficult it can be to decrypt spell traces. Luckily, you are the creator."

He pointed to the partition "The change is here. Tell me, what was your intent when you cast the fireball the first time you achieved this effect?"

Kade narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his facial hair. This was the first time he was pondering his process and soon came to a conclusion. "I was frustrated at repeated failures and just wanted it to stick at least."

"Aha." The old man tapped on the trace rapidly "That is the purpose of these glyphs. Your perception and intent warped, giving a new meaning to these glyphs."

Kade raised a brow. It seemed simple, but also ephemeral. He understood the concept but could barely wrap his head around how it was possible. While fighting on Detrius, he had believed that altaris was systematic. Now, he was learning that it was far less structured than he originally believed.

It was as if the old man was telling him 'this happened because you wanted it to happen.'. But if so, why was casting spells so difficult?

"Seems oxymoronic, right?" The old man rested his chin in his palm "We all felt that way at first. Actually, it becomes simple once you learn that spell traces aren't what creates the spell."

He continued before Kade could voice his confusion "Spell traces are nothing more than training wheels." He instantaneously spawned a fireball "Think of it like tracing over a picture. You don't have the skill to draw something on your own, so you use a tool to assist you."

"Haha!" Kade couldn't contain his excitement "I knew it! It's the same with chanting. Which means that altaris doesn't need any medium to be transformed, right?"

The old man's eyes shined as he snapped his fingers and pointed at Kade "That's right. Bingo! You're the first I've met that grasped this so quickly. Altaris is the truth. That is where all mages should focus. The understanding and manipulation of altaris!"

"I thought it would be important." Kade replied as he lifted his hand and shrouded it in altaris. "I finished the manual I had and learned to control it a bit easier. Unfortunately, the progress has been slow since that point." He made the altaris swirl and wave around his fingers to show his progress.

"Good, good. Well done. You're on the right track, boy." The old man nodded approvingly "Understand that this path is long. While your current control and understanding are impressive, it is nowhere near enough to cast without a guide."

Graakas finally chimed in "Master, you seem impressed with Kade. How about taking him on as a disciple?"

Kade recoiled as his gaze shot to Graakas who was looking at the old man expectantly. Was this his plan from the beginning?

"Kade, is it?" The old man asked with a thoughtful expression "Have you joined the Yonkel faction yet?"

Kade shook his head "No. I don't plan to become subordinate to any faction, at least, not right now."

"Haa, what a pity." The old man said slightly downcast "A deal with Tetron prevents me from taking a disciple that isn't a part of the faction." A sly grin crossed his face "However, Nothing is stopping you, little Graakas, from taking a disciple."

Graakas sighed and shook his head "How could I compare to you in teaching? Besides, I'm still learning myself."

"Everyone is still learning, you dolt. That doesn't mean you can't give another your current insights!" The old man chided as he motioned to knock the large alien on his head "Besides, it's about time that you give me a grand disciple!"

"Ah, I understand, Master!" Graakas said fervently as he turned to Kade "Kade, would you accept me as your teacher?"

Kade had an awkward expression plastered on his face. Grand disciple? Why did that sound so... Weird?

"Kade... Do you?"

"Huh?" Kade snapped out of his thoughts "Oh. Sure, but I'm not calling you master."

Graakas looked at him with a complicated expression before sighing "I'm guessing you won't bow either? What did I do to deserve such a disciple?"

"I don't bow." Kade replied without hesitation.

Graakas waved his worries off "Oh well. I didn't expect such formality from you in the first place. Luckily for you, I'm not quite that vain yet."

"That's right. Unfortunately, I am." The old man said with a malicious grin "Since it's settled, come bow before your grandmaster, the great Wompus!"

Kade couldn't contain his laughter as his body scrunched. The name fit the old man so well. When he calmed down he finally replied "That's not happening, O great Wompus."

Wompus shot to his feet, spry as a young man, with a fierce expression "You dare disrespect your senior? Good, this shall be your first lesson!"