“Arch-Mage Leoric!” a young voice ecstatically cried out.

Looking upwards from a book, Leoric looked outwards to see who was approaching his study. To his joy, it was a young boy, who couldn’t have been any older than eight. Dressed in purple robes, signifying nobility, his curly blonde hair bounced up and down with every excited step. His hands were clasped together, as if holding something precious between them.

“Yes, young master?” Leoric questioned, placing a bookmark between the pages before placing it on the small wooden table beside him.

“Look! Look!” The young master cried out, raising his closed hands towards the Ice Elf.

The small and soft hands slowly opened upwards, and between them was a small orb. Glowing a dim green, the orb floated away from the youth’s hands, drifted upwards slowly like a balloon. And as it had reached around a foot away from the child’s hands, it began to fade and dissipate.

The child frantically reached for the dying light, and as if trying to catch an insect, snatched at the air around it. It seemed to have worked at first, before he opened his hand once more to reveal emptiness.

Quiet sniffles could be heard petering out while his eyes began to tear up. Quickly, Leoric lunged down from his chair and got onto one knee.

“Don’t worry young master,” He took the child’s hands in his own, before giving a gentle smile. “That was beautiful Emission magic, it just takes some time to get used to. You’ll be a Mage before you know it.”

“Re-really?” The boy sniffled.

Leoric nodded. “Yes, young master. You have the aptitude, and can draw from the ambient magic. But now you just need to focus. Emission magic can be very creative, but the more you create and the further it is away from you, the more you need to focus.”

Below the child’s hands, Leoric began to raise the smaller set of hands. “And the more ambience and focus…” The child’s hands began to glow a light green once more, as the orb reformed itself. This time it shined brightly, much like a campfire. The glowing orb then departed from the child’s hands and bounced around the multitude of bookshelves. “The more you can do.”

The young blonde watched in awe at the light, but then quickly began to focus on his hands once more. And again, this time more dimly, another orb of green light was formed. This time, the young boy willed the orb to go flying about the room as well. It didn’t go as fast, and the movements were akin to a butterfly with a broken wing.

“Excellent use of Conveyance magic as well.” Leoric admired, focusing on the orb his student had made.

“Conveyance?” The boy questioned, looking up with confused eyes.

“Even with Emission, you can’t move it to even this degree without Conveyance magic. I wanted you to perform an Emission before moving on to your next aptitude, but with this, we can start your new lesson tomorrow.”

“No we won’t.” The kid muttered coldy.

“Excuse me?” Leoric asked, with somewhat of a surprised look. The young master’s never denied training, he’d even wake Leoric up at dawn for some lessons.

“You left. You left and we never got to have a lesson.” The scenery began to shift around Leoric, with the room melting into darkness, leaving behind only him and the young master.

“No, you don’t understand.” Leoric pleaded, reaching out to the body of the young boy. But as he tried to grasp the shoulders, they passed right through.

Leoric tried to grab on a few more times, but they all felt like grasping mist. He tried one more time, but noticed that his body was being dragged away from him. With no control of his body, he tried to call out, to scream that he’d be back one day, but no words escaped his mouth. And as he watched the young boy fade into nothingness, his eyes opened.

Leoric leaped upwards from his bed, breathing heavily with beads of sweat dripping down his face. He scanned his surroundings to see if anyone else was there, but nothing. All he saw was the small room containing a bed and desk.

“Damn it!” He spat, realizing the cost he had to pay to come back to Earth. He exchanged one family for another.

After sitting up in his panicked state, he began to take a few deep breaths.

No, it won’t happen again. He thought. I refuse to choose between families.

But before he could find a way to traverse the two, he had to focus on what he could do. And what he could do was meet the family he hasn’t seen in 300 years, and nothing would stand in his way of that.

His stomach growled sharply.

Well, maybe that could wait until he ate something first.

After grabbing the lanyard, and placing it over his neck, he began to make his way down to the cafeteria. Upon reaching the outside of the eating area, he could smell the sweet aroma of bacon. He salivated at the thought of it, but before he could go enjoy himself, Marcus had caught him in the front area. He sighed a little when he saw him, because it most likely meant that it was time for the assessment. Leoric hoped that it wouldn’t take long, since he hated how all these kids kept telling him to do stuff. All he wanted to do was acclimate and then go see his family. But no, once again he was roped in on the plans of greedy children.

“Hey, buddy, hope the food wasn’t as crappy as usual. Ready for the assessment?” Marcus called out, giving a wave to the incoming Leoric.

“Haven’t gotten the chance yet. Will this take long, I really do want to eat something” Leoric questioned, following Marcus close behind.

Marcus waved away the question, insisting that it shouldn’t take a few hours or so, depending on injury. That last part sent a chill down his spine, especially if he had to do combat against someone his equal or greater.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine. You do look pretty strong. At least I think I kinda have a sense for things like that. Anyways, what do you want to do if they give you clearance to leave?” Marcus probed, leaning in closer and nudging Leoric with his reptilian elbow.

“Of course, I’m going to see my family. No matter what it takes.” Leoric responded, while slowly walking away towards the elbow nudging, unfortunately, Marcus walked alongside, and refused to let him escape the nudging.

“I don’t think you’ll have to be that intense. The world kinda knows about us anyways.” he blurted out, before pulling out a phone and looking something up.

Leoric was confused at that knowledge. How had the world learned magic was real without imploding, how were they able to still be here secretly, and what kind of disaster had to take place for it to not be covered up. Marcus opened his Reddit app and showed him a certain post with a simple twelve word title: I’m the Hero that Kinda Blew Up New York, Ask Me Anything.

“They blew up New York!?” Leoric shouted, “How are they not arrested? Or dead?”

Marcus shook his phone a few times before putting it away, “She kinda blew it up. As in when she was transported back to Earth, so was the villain they were fighting for their Heroic Mission. Guess whatever brought us back was a day early for her. Sadly, the city didn’t survive the battle, but the seven headed dragon she was facing didn’t either.”

Marcus explained a bit more along the way, such as how various live streams and news channels released footage before the government could intervene. And also how some of the Heroes with high enough clearance went back to their lives, or even became celebrities. Leoric sighed, even though a few years passed here, things were really different.

Inside the building Leoric was in the day before, the two Heroes went to an elevator off to the side. After Marcus swiped his code, he selected a button to take them four stories underground. It was odd to Leoric that they needed to go down so deeply, but once those steel doors opened, he knew exactly why it was cut off from the rest.

Like a gentle gust blowing his light blue hair, a rush of ambient magic came towards him. It didn’t reach the same density, but it was very close to the amount of his home. Looking outwards, he saw a glass hallway that led to what seemed like training rooms. Inside were some Heroes facing off against one another, while others just had a single Hero practicing deadly skills.

Too focused on feeling the thicker magic, Leoric was herded by Marcus, much like a drugged sheep, into one of the practice arenas. When Leoric realized what had happened, he was already in the room, with Marcus standing on the outside portion of the glass. He was holding two thumbs up before pointing to the other side of the room, and the giving thumbs up once more. Leoric looked over to where he was pointing to see a figure wielding a weapon approaching him.

Leoric was able to tell right away that this figure was an Orc. A dark green complexion with two broken tusks protruding outwards. In one hand was a spear, being spun with ease, and in the other was an incredible tower shield. He seemed to be wearing exercise clothes, but a faint glimmer could show that it was covered by a set of armor.

He looked at the approaching figure’s gear and immediately thought of how flawed his strategy was. The fact that he revealed that he uses Emission before combat was even decided was enough for him to chastise one of his students, and the fact that this was a fellow Hero seemed like an insult.

“Hey there, New Blood!” The Orc cheered out happily, “It’s nice to see a new face around here, been a few weeks since we got one. Anyways, you can call me Thomas. What’s your name?”

Leoric’s posture slacked at the goodwill of his opponent and smiled. “The name’s Leoric. And do we really have to fight?”

Thomas chuckled with a deep voice that seemed to boom through the chamber. “Afraid so friend, everyone needs to test, that’s how they evaluate privileges, specifically ones that let you leave here.”

Leoric’s eyes flashed at that, “And how well do I have to do to leave here?” He questioned, as he got into a defensive stance.

Thomas shifted his body forward, so that the side with the shield was facing forwards. “That’ll depend on how well you do. If you can hold a fight against me, then you can contact the outside. But if you wanna leave, it’ll need to be an overwhelming victory.” He cracked his neck without any hassle and looked back at the Ice Elf. “Shall we begin then?”

The Ice Elf shrugged, and motioned for the Orc to make the first move. Thomas gave a light shrug back, before throwing the spear with all his might. As the spear left his grip, a clear and purple chain was formed on its bottom, attaching to the orc’s sturdy wrist. Much like a hunter, the spear went flying towards the prey’s head.

Without even activating any magic, Leoric took a swift yet gentle step to the right, much like an expert dancer, barely missing the spear. The created steel wooshed passed his head, with speed akin to a high ballista. Luckily it didn’t hit him, or it would’ve ended poorly for his head. Before he could return a strike however, the now empty right hand twitched sideways, sending out a command to the spear. And in a fluid motion, the spear changed course towards the Elf once again.

Not suspecting the Conveyance magic, the spear shot passed his leg and circled around him once more. Then with a slight tug, the chains tightened around his legs, yanking him onto the floor. The shock flooded through his body, but swiftly left before Leoric felt his body being quickly dragged towards his opponent. The Orc now knelt down, with his tower shield raised, and Emission magic layering numerous spikes atop of it. And if his eyes saw correctly, they were electrified.

Cursing in his head at his fault while fearing for the spiked death ahead, he reached out a hand towards his feet and clenched downwards. The ambient magic flooded towards his legs and began altering them. They grew paler and paler before becoming somewhat ethereal, and liquid in appearance. And then, like an amorphous gel, his lower body slipped out from the chains before getting any closer.

As the spear returned to Thomas’ hand, Leoric pushed himself upwards with his upper body, giving his legs time to return to their solid state. “Impressive.” Thomas bellowed, “Now, let’s try something a bit more difficult.” With a tightening of the spear, it and the chains became entirely covered in electricity. And with another stance change, the spear was sent hunting once more.

Ambient magic flooded towards Leoric once more, as he used Emission to block the incoming spear. A thin blue shield was sent directly in front of the spear, interrupting its deadly momentum before even reaching the halfway point.

Thomas seemed surprised for a moment, before raising his empty hand and creating another spear. With a reduced voltage of electricity, it was flung much like its counterpart. Much like the first, it didn’t go far as the thin shield halted its movements, though showing cracks this time. The two chained spears were raised up from the ground and shot at the weakened shield, this time cracking it for good.

The spears began their assault once more on Leoric, but instead of acting as ballistas, they were elegantly thrusted, much like rapiers. Their strikes are more precise and the chains did not once get caught between themselves. Leoric would’ve taken the time to admire the skill if he wasn’t being assaulted, so instead he would dodge what he could and create shields for the rest.

Over the course of the onslaught, Leoric could feel the ambient magic begin to thin once more. It made sense though, his opponent was doing various Conveyance spells along with a multitude of Emissions. To add to the thinning, he found himself having to create shields more and more often. He had to admit, his opponent was skilled, even if they did show off an aptitude before combat.

As Leoric used more and more magic to defend himself, Thomas smirked and threw his tower shield to the side. Then, with his other hand, created two more chained spears to join in on the dueling. He seemed to wince at the strain it was causing, but paid it no heed as he threw the others outward. His hands ceased to be those of a hunter’s, and more like a puppeteer’s. Every minute movement of the fingertips caused the four strings to give motion to their respective spears. The swerving of each now had the intention of not only attack, but preparation for the field. Chains now surrounded the Elf, and much like how one pulls the string to seal the knot, Thomas reeled back his hands.

Instantly, the chains converged towards Leoric, wrapping the area much like a Christmas present. The created steel clanged against each other violently, until silence remained. All that was left was a chained ball, suspended in mid air.

Panic was the first thing to cross Thomas’ mind. Did he actually end up killing the Elf? Which was especially strange since The Hammer had reason to suspect he was strong, and even asked him to perform the combat. Still, it shouldn’t have been that easy, he didn’t even attack once. Then again, besides the first attack, he wasn’t even hit. At least it was over, his head’s been killing him since creating those extra spears.

His panic had quickly halted, however, as he felt the presence of something. Soft yet firm hands found themselves on both of his wrists. Thomas could feel it, but couldn’t see anything there. As the grips on his wrists tightened, he saw them fade from invisibility, revealing Leoric in front of him.

Leoric’s hands shifted once more, as magic coalesced into them, causing them to grow massive, and into the shape of green draconic claws. The somewhat weak grip then became a vice to Thomas, as he tried to pull out of it. He attempted to will electricity through his hands, but the mental strain from that control earlier was too much for him to bear.

“You did an excellent job with keeping me pinned, but sadly you got cocky with those extra chains.” Leoric applauded, sending ambience towards his hands once more, “With your mind broken, it makes it really easy to do this.”

With a slight addition to the grip, the claws pierced where the chains were wrapped around the hands. Like glass, all of Thomas’ Emissions shattered, as the anchor to them was overwhelmed. Even his slight armor was ripped away by those claws, and all they even did was grip down.

“Also, I really hate to do this to you, but you said it yourself, it has to be overwhelming.” Leoric smirked slightly before dismissing his polymorphed hands. And as they returned to normal, one reached out and lunged towards Thomas’ head with two elongated fingers. Leoric’s stance was akin to a duelist, thrusting a rapier towards the head. There was a moment that Thomas even thought he would die, flinching away at the last possible instance.

As the pale fingers made contact with the Orc, the remainder of the ambient magic whirlpooled at the point of convergence. The magic spread throughout Thomas’ body, but he had no willpower to resist the spell. His body contorted in various ways, but evidently began to shrink. He couldn’t take the feeling anymore, and even passed out.

Silence swirled through the combat arena once more, but this time the only one standing was Leoric. And in his hands, the visage of a sleeping beagle puppy.