After that long and awkward conversation with Flynn and Mary, the team met up the next day in the Order, with Kira being given special privileges for the moment. We stood before the doors of the councilmen’s room.

“Eric, before we enter, there’s something I wish to confirm. Something we wish to confirm.”

They all shot me a weird look, except Kira of course, she couldn’t care less. “Alright, ask it then.”

Meagan took front, “Why did the witch say you put us in danger for your own personal desire?”

Man, what a hard question that was. They remembered that little detail. I scratched my cheek, originally wanting to avoid such a situation but my back was against the wall. Even my students paid attention, intending to hang onto every word I was about to speak. “After I brought Donna back, I felt like I lost my sense of direction. The Order’s library is becoming more and more useless, and I wanted something to help me focus and possibly help me grow. I’m sorry I held this from you, but Ashfur was just training to me. That’s why the witch was angry, because I looked at Ashfur as just training and not a worthy opponent. My overconfidence caused Keagan to lose an arm, and it also put my own life in danger, meaning Donna would’ve died if I did. At first, I intended to go alone but I couldn’t accept the quest without more members. Sorry again, that I held this from you.”

A snigger escaped from Keagan, a rare sight, and even rarer when he continued laughing. He entered the room ahead of us. Meagan looked at the rest of the team, sighed and shrugged before following her brother. Am I missing something?

Pyro, Volt, and Kira did the same. Definitely missing something. Dawn pulled me along too, entering the room where I first got suspended. Leaders of towns and cities that participated in pooling the gold reward were present and they sang our praises for vanquishing the magical beast, Ashfur.

Halfway in, the Garran siblings sat at their usual seats, addressing us from their position as councilmen. “Eric Archibald,” Meagan caught my wavering attention, “yesterday we discussed the events from the quest with the rest of the councilmen and with the other members of the quest. Because of what occurred, we agreed to give five thousand gold coins to each member in the quest and forward the rest to you. Further to this, the Order has found it fitting to promote you from rank two Member to rank three Veteran. You may be promoted to rank four Officer if you share your understanding of Division with us.”

It’s a no-go, right?

“Yup. If you were just getting to spirit lord level and was like a dead body after you casted Clone, then there’s no way they can do it. And honestly, it’s not something I feel comfortable with sharing.”

Same.

“I can show you the benefits of Division, but I cannot teach you how to gain it. Also, I’m not okay with how you decided to hand out the reward. Distribute it evenly.” Tempting, but I wasn’t trying to look greedy. And I also didn’t have such a big need for gold. “Lastly, I can’t guarantee I’ll really be a part of the Order anymore.”

“Wha-and why is that?!” one of them inquired, almost losing grip on the papers in his hand.

“The Order is becoming a lot less useful to me,” I explained.

“So, you believe that drivel about being the strongest mage in Aquan? You believe some witch?” another jumped in.

“I don’t know. I might’ve been the strongest at the time she said it. I could be wrong about the Order being useless too, but it doesn’t feel like I’m wrong.”

“What is it you’re looking for then?” Keagan inquired, in a calming tone.

“Don’t know… Knowledge? Strength? Power? Riches? I don’t know. I just know that I can’t continue doing what I’ve been doing. Anyway,” I stood up and tucked my seat neatly under the table, “I’m out. Call me if there’s a fun quest, eh?” I said and glided out the room.

I found a quiet corner of the Order and sat down. So, what was that spell you were teaching me?

“Ah, the better version of Hand of God? It’s Arm of God, but you kind of already got it down. That evolved Hand of God you used on Ashfur is basically Arm of God. Level three Divergence is needed before one can cast it because whenever it strikes, Divergence occurs, you just haven’t perfected it yet.”

Well, you’ll teach me that, I told her, then warped myself into the spirit world. My focus was on three things, climbing to the summit of the mountain that the spirit lord of wind lived. With Levitate, it was no problem. My next goal, somehow or the other was to form a contract with not only the spirit lord of wind, but of lightning too, despite its elusive nature. After taming, I wanted to become versed in light magic, then solve the mystery of the codices that Donna left here and there.

After gliding at full speed for, what seemed like hours, I finally made it atop the stupidly ridiculous mountain. The air was thin, frigid and unwelcoming. At the summit was a roost of birds that lived together in a kaleidoscopic range of varying species. Though, there was one that casted the largest shadow. One that had its predatory eyes set on me from the moment I breached her visual. The features were snow white, absolutely no deviation whatsoever. Even its talons and skin were a white only a little darker than its feathers. The only rebels were its carmine eyes sinking into my presence. It seemed like an albino, but no other bird was remotely close to its size, so I wasn’t sure if there were more of its kind. It spread its wings, perhaps in a show of territory, and it looked to have at least thirty metres wingspan.

“State your business,” it said, its voice having a hollow, echoing sound to it. The beak didn’t open once even when it spoke.

Straight to the point, huh?

“I want to form a contract with you!” I yelled, trying to top the turbulence of the howling winds. It tilted its head at that statement, to a frightening degree.

“Why?” it asked, not mincing words at all.

“You’re strong! It would be a great boon to me if you joined my side! I also hope to learn wind magic from you! And,” I paused, “maybe make a friend?” I added, saying it a little softer than the other things.

“Aww!”

Shut up…

“I may consider, if you gain the support of the avatar of fire.”

Avatar of fire? You think she mea–

“Phoenix? Yeah, probably Phoenix. I think she intended it to be an impossible task. I mean, who in their right mind would form a contract with Phoenix?”

“Are you talking about the spirit lord of fire, Phoenix?”

“Yes,” it replied.

“I already made a contract with him,” I said, a little softer after walking closer to the towering giant. One peck from it and I’d be toast.

“Summon him then. Prove your claims.”

So, I summoned the guy, in all his frolicsome glory. “Am I in the wind faction?!” Phoenix roared, looking a little frightened. The white owl ran towards him before he could even look around and began rubbing herself on him. It became a little obvious why she asked for him now. The anger in his eyes as he glared at me could kill.

“Didn’t know you were in a relationship, buddy!” I joked, hardly holding my laughter in check.

She was a little bigger than him, and appeared to be completely enamoured with the fiery bird. She, Gale her name be, formed the contract with no qualms.

Next on my list was the most hit-and-miss spirit lord ever, the lightning lord. I was pretty hesitant to try again, after the dozens of attempts to get his attention. All he did was stare at me, a long and almost pitiful look, then run off if I got close. He was quite timid, yet quite striking. A tiger, black with white strips, and small multitudinous crackles of bluish-white lightning running through his fur.

Despite the contracts making me the one wielding the commanding powers, Kor’zha and Hydra–especially Hydra–forbade me from ever coming in contact with the spirit lord of lightning without their presence. Phoenix backed out, saying that tiger was the one opponent he was not willing to face.

After some hours scouring the jungle in the lightning faction, I found tracks and followed the lone beast until I found it laying near a waterfall. It picked up on my presence in no time and stood up, just like every other time. I chose not to use Muffle because I didn’t want to surprise it, yet somehow, it always seemed startled. Kor’zha assumed his real form, diving underground me and Hydra placed me in a water sphere before I approached him.

“So, can we talk now? I’m not going to attack you or anything, I just want to ta–” it ran off, right then, even earlier than it usually does.

“You must have balls of steel, boy,” Emily suddenly appeared, sitting comfortably on the branch of a nearby tree.

That’s why it ran away. “Well, thanks for scaring it,” I said sarcastically.

She teleported next to me, and proceeded to make a couple circles around me, as if examining my aura. “Your spirit lord friends get very defensive when you try to talk to this tiger. Don’t you find that the least bit strange?” she asked, “Isn’t it, Donna?” she said, speaking through me, to Donna.

“What’s the point of cowering? I’ve got to try,” I said, supporting my decision.

“Cowards tend to live longer,” she pointed out. She kept circling me, and it made me quite unsure what she meant by it. Her randomness made me want to shrug it off as nothing, but despite that, it always felt like every move she made, every word escaping the back of her throat were all intended, planned and had a very specific purpose. Honestly, whenever I talked to her, my mind felt trapped in a spiderweb and every time I reacted to her in anyway, the web would only entangle me more. Something kept telling me I was playing right into her hands, no matter what I chose to say or do, yet, confliction segregated my carefree self and my wary self. Maybe the hands I was playing into were good hands anyway, right?

“Hey, who are you? And what do you want?” I asked bluntly. Dancing around a subject so much and attempting to decipher reason behind something just wasn’t my style.

“Me?” she said, stopping to face me directly, “I’m Emily Crescent. I’m not sure what I want. I’ve lived so long that I’ve forgotten what it feels like to truly desire something.”

“How long is that? Are you really from another world?”

She looked at me and smiled, like a child, “Since the conception of this realm. And yes, I’m from another realm. I can’t tell you the who’s and how’s behind it though.” She held my cheeks with both hands and brought my head to face her. “I must be an idiot,” the witch muttered and buried her lips into mine, suddenly teleporting away afterward.

I froze, my hands still halfway up, “What, the hell!”

“Are you angry?”

“Am I angry?” I repeated Donna’s question out loud, “I don’t know! Am I?! What the hell’s going on?! So, what, she likes me now? None of this makes sense!”

Donna shrivelled a little, “That kiss wasn’t for you. It, was for me.”

Donna. Donna, c’mon. We’ve known each other too long for stuff like this to be a surprise. Okay, you and the witch had a thing for each other. Big deal. I’m not judging you for it. But maybe next time you should come out and let her kiss you instead.

“I know, you’re right. I just, when I saw her make that face, I just tensed up,” she finally came out, “sorry.”

Like the mystifying witch, I circled around the queen, arms held haughtily together behind my back, “So, the witch, huh?” her face went a little askew with my question.

“What? I thought you weren’t going to judge me?” she folded her arms in disappointment.

“I’m not, it’s just–”

“That you’re jealous?” a simper adorned the edge of her lips.

I looked her in the eye, “Perhaps.” We shared a lengthy, almost intense stare, and she ended up bursting out in laughter, with me following closely behind.

“I thought you had Dawn?” Hydra’s ireful voice smashed through our little conversation, “I let you roam for one second and you pick up another one?!” she screamed, “Am I not enough?” then suddenly welled up with tears.

What a drama queen she was. “It’s hard to take you serious when you’re stark naked,” I pointed out her voluptuousness. She had it in the right places, a lot of it, and she knew damn well.

“Wow, total womaniser, huh? Me, Hydra, Dawn, maybe even my master and May,” Donna counted, adding fuel to the fire. I pointed at her, winked, and clicked my tongue in agreement.

My job was more or less done here. The witch was right, but my blinding greed that pushed me to gain as much magical fortitude inched me towards forming a contract with the spirit lord, despite Hydra, Kor’zha and Phoenix pointing out how dangerous he is, even to their standards. Instead, I worked on Arm of God combined with level three Divergence, a draining combination, but a frighteningly powerful one. After getting the hang of the spell, which Donna dubbed Wrath of God, I returned to the normal world, back into the dark corner of the Order.

That night I ventured into my backyard after a hearty dinner with my parents and Donna. There I picked up a dead leaf from a flowering tree. I sat onto the dirt and began treading into lands unknown–light magic. In no way was I good at healing magic, or rather, I refrained from practising in order to opt for more grandiose and flashy spells of destruction, but after witnessing Keagan’s arm flying through the air, I realised I was a horribly balanced mage. Sure, I could probably raze a town or small city, but I was quite the amateur in supportive spells, and even more so with a magic type that none but the witch could use. The deadened brown of the fallen leaf didn’t change a bit to the vibrant green I’d expected it to, but I felt as if some life flowed through it for a couple seconds.

Into the night I practised, over and over, constantly feeding it with light magic, yet the same result was all that was had. And so, the coming weeks were a bore, a monotonous cycle of light magic training, teaching my class of about eighty students, and spending time with Dawn. Word of our triumph over Ashfur got out before the actual announcement. Although it wasn’t something that we tried to keep secret.

I had a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out how light magic worked and would make small baby steps here and there, but the promising visual cue of the leaf turning green didn’t come to pass even after weeks went by.

The providences and towns that had a part in incentivising the Ashfur quest threw a huge celebration in honour of the team that took down the beast, and that celebration was in a few days. Damn, she attached his arm so easy. It was effortless, I thought, thinking back on that fight. Light magic would make doctors and healers fawn over its power to an almost unhealthy degree.

I took a break from it, deciding to visit the trickster from Gassity. “Hey, Bad Ankle, is my suit ready?”

“You little shit,” she peered over her counter, “I have a name.”

“Psh, yeah, I know – Bad Ankle.”

She snarled and flung the bagged suit, shooing me away.

“You know, that was probably her attempt to get closer to you. This is why you’re horrible at socialising. How did you even get a girlfriend?”

I have suave women can’t resist. And why are you still in my mind? You can literally be anywhere in the world right now!

She popped out beside me, “Yeah, but the craziest stuff happens around you,” she shrugged. “Shit’s exciting, yo!”

The big evening soon came, and folk from near and far attended. In fact, it was so crowded that they eventually opened the courtyard up. It started off with a grand speech from a councilman and our eventual appearance, instilling a posh vibe to the party, but eventually that got turned upside down when August and his self-proclaimed fiancé, Shyla, came into my sights. I quickly offered him a glass of wine – I wasn’t a connoisseur on distinguishing which one it was though – looked him in the eyes and told him I loved him.

He looked around suspiciously, then looked down at his glass, “Did you spike this?”

“Yes,” I answered flatly.

“I love you too, buddy!” he said then gulped it down in one go. I laughed out, turning a few heads, “Man you’re a barbarian!” I insulted, then guzzled mine as well, “But so am I!”

Pyro saw the action, and took initiative, “Whatever this is, I want in!”

In just about half hour, it was no longer a suits and gown ball but a grand feast of drunken revelry, which was well received might I add. Dozens of people I don’t even know was now intoxicated like us, thanks to a little amplification spell on the wine.

Breaking midnight, the party was booming more than ever. Some old folks went home, unable to stand their ground against ebullient youngsters, some on the other hand joined in the fun. The place reeked of wine.

“My dudes, gonna take a leak, be back,” August left to go outside, nowhere close to where the washrooms were. I would’ve told him, but I was in the middle of a dance and having way too much fun.

A few minutes later he returned, “Man, so I was walking in some bushes right,” he caught my attention, “and I swear there was an army of orcs just standing there just waiting!” he laughed out, unable to contain it.

“But did you piss?” Pyro asked.

“Hell yeah, I did!”

Some minutes passed again and someone flew through the window, bloody and barely breathing. A mage began attending to him, but the spotlight was quickly stolen from him when orc invaders swarmed the room, surrounding the partygoers.

There were tons of mages here, yet no one made a move; it made me a little cautious. No one’s moving a muscle, I thought, casting quick glances to those around me. Indeed, the party was littered with civilians, that must’ve been why the rank fours and fives present thought twice about doing anything and relied on a much more reactionary disposition to handle the situation. But, judging on how armed these orcs were, I’d say they didn’t come for talks. How could a large group of orcs, armed to the teeth, just bypass the city walls without raising alarms?

Aldis spoke, breaking the notes of silence played by the heavying tension in the atmosphere, asking simply their reason for being present. It was answered not with words, but with the bolts from crossbows instead.