Leoric smiled as he looked at the three people sitting on the floor. The first was the Orc, Thomas. He looked a little exhausted as he emptied a plastic water bottle, placing it with two other empty ones. The second figure was Alex. In his large, lupine form, he gave off an irritated glare down towards the last person: Rhys. Glaring back at the wolf, the blonde teen tapped a finger on his leg impatiently.

“Okay, that’s enough you two.” Thomas chuckled, interrupting the stand off between the teenagers.

They both gave the Orc a look, before turning towards Leoric expectantly. The Elf saw them arguing again last night about wasting the ambient magic, so Leoric told them that if they wanted a proper lesson, to come with him to the practice rooms the next day. Of course he’d already been working with Thomas on his Dissociative Dismissal, so he decided to do a joint class. It had only been a little under a week, but he’s missed being a teacher.

“Well, I’m glad everyone could make it today.” Leoric smiled, looking out at the three once more. “I guess to start, Alex and Rhys, could you both stand up and show me some Emission?”

The two nodded, standing up and walking to opposite ends of the glass room. The one they were in was on the smaller side, only reaching the size of a squash room. Upon getting into position, they began to draw ambient magic into them, while also gaining control of the magic around them. Blue flames began to wisp around the pitch black form of Alex, and a sword and shield made of golden light appeared in Rhys’ grip.

“Perfect, now go ahead and hold onto it.” Leoric instructed.

They seemed confused, but began to maintain their current spells, replenishing their magic from time to time from their surrounding field. They continued to hold the magic for a minute. Then five. And as it got to around the seventh minute, their heads were pounding and their Emissions faded into ambience once more.

As their magic faded, they both collapsed to the ground, holding their heads while breathing haggardly. Leoric approached the two, handing each of them a water bottle, which they eagerly took and chugged in a matter of seconds.

“Excellent work. Now take a five minute break before we start again.” Leoric explained.

Alex choked on water at the mention of that. “Again!? I won’t be able to recover after five minutes, and we have to do it again!?”

“Yeah, I’m with Wolfie on this.” Rhys chimed in. “What are we getting from just holding our magic? It shouldn’t matter how long we can hold a simple spell for when a fight with someone else will take way less than that time.”

Leoric shrugged. “I can’t tell you. You need to figure it out on your own. Now enjoy your rest, because you’ll need to hold it for ten minutes.”

Leoric walked away from them, before starting to focus on Dissociative Dismissal with Thomas. At this point, Thomas had been successfully able to remove the shaft of the spear after launch, but still needed to find a way to stop the Emission from weakening. And as the two worked on that, the kids sat down for a few more minutes before starting again.

The cycle happened for another hour.

Alex and Rhys would keep their spell active, collapse, then repeat the process once more. They could both barely stand, but Leoric would continue to press them, even going so far as to create a barrier around the door, preventing them from leaving.

Alex’s vision began to tunnel and darken, and from what he could tell, so was Rhys’. They both desperately reached for ambient magic, like it was an oasis in the searing desert. Unfortunately, their grasp was fading, as it became too strenuous to pull it inwards. Even all of the ambient magic they claimed before usage had once again returned to usage by everyone, they even felt some of their old saved power be dragged over to Thomas’ practice. It made no sense to them. Thomas had been training with much more complex skills for the same length of time as them, but had only broken a sweat.

Alex gritted his fangs in frustration as the blue flames began to fade, and it didn’t help his confidence when he noticed Rhys collapse to the ground. If only he had chosen Transmutation to hold. Due to an Absolution, his ability to change into a humanoid put little to no strain on his body. Mostly due to the fact that… Alex’s eyes widened in realization: it flowed into him differently.

Absolutions were special abilities and magic, usually granted by higher powers, so he never even thought of controlling Emission in the fashion of his Absolution. Thinking back to it, Alex began to change his grasp towards the ambient magic. What was once a forceful sweep and grab towards it now became akin to an open drain in a bathtub. From all sides, a little bit of magic began to enter his body, before igniting into flames around him.

He smiled at his success, but couldn’t take the pressure anymore. And as the blue flames fell from the room, so did his body as he was knocked out cold.

“Looks like those two finally got tuckered out, gramps.” Thomas motioned, dismissing the spear in his hand.

“I guess so. I think Alex made a breakthrough though.” Leoric looked over to the two, heading towards the sleeping body of Rhys. “Could you grab Alex’s body? I don’t think I could lift it.”

Thomas gave a nod before heading over to the Greater Hellhound. They were around the same size and weight, but he seemed to be carrying the kid just fine.

Leoric beamed with satisfaction at the two, specifically Alex. Normally it takes a few sessions before the exercise is not just about durability. But Alex was able to understand on the first day, which probably said something about the growth rate of Heroes. He was alright with leaving the training in the hands of Thomas before his departure, but it did really set his mind at ease that at least one of them got it.

“Do you have some time to grab some breakfast after we drop them off at their rooms?” Thomas asked, opening the door for Leoric.

Leoric shook his head slowly. “Sorry, I’m leaving soon. And I really don’t want to be late for the flight.”

After he had been cleared to leave, they had to start the arduous journey of errands before he could leave the base. Declaring Caden Mitchelle alive after he was declared dead, new identification, and his favorite part: being given some actual clothes, and even a cellphone. Marcus and Thomas had already added their numbers into his phone, which helped especially since Marcus and Connor left the base already. Apparently, there were gonna be a few Heroes arriving in the upcoming weeks, so they and some other teams went out to greet them.

Leoric had some ideas on how they knew about someone’s arrival ahead of time, but he didn’t really care about that right now. Since training was over, all he wanted to do was grab his packed bag and go with whoever’s escorting him to California.

After dropping the unconscious Heroes in their rooms, Thomas and Leoric exchanged their goodbyes, as Leoric didn’t know when he’d be required to be back.

“Just message me if you or the others are confused about anything, and I’ll try to send you a response quickly.”

“Don’t you worry about it gramps, just enjoy your family.” Thomas extended his hand for a fist bump, which Leoric reciprocated after a short pause. And with that, he headed towards one of the back areas of the base, with a black suitcase being pulled behind him.

Leoric arrived at a landing strip on the base, with a small private jet being the lone vehicle out there. As he approached, he saw three human figures standing by the plane. Two of them, a middle aged man and woman, were wearing pilot’s uniforms. They seemed to be having a conversation amongst themselves. And the other person, standing off to the side on her phone, was a young Korean woman. She had short black hair and dark brown eyes, sporting loose jeans and a tank top with an open jacket around it.

“Hello there.” Leoric called out, getting the attention of all three. The two pilots walked on over and immediately introduced themselves . One even took his bag and began to bring it onto the plane. He followed them over and stopped at the young woman before him.

“Hello, I’m Leoric. It's nice to meet you.” He extended his hand for a shake.

“Nice to meet you too, my name is Aera.” She replied respectfully, gripping his hand in a firm shake. “I will be your escort for this trip.”

“I am in your care then.” Leoric chuckled. He tried to match her grip in the handshake, but his physical strength left much to be desired, especially in comparison to a martial artist.

The two entered up the staircase and into the small plane. As the two Heroes entered the plane, luxurious was the first word to come to mind. Only a few white leather seats were inside, with polished wooden tables in front of each. Leoric has rarely flown in the past, but Aera was definitely caught off guard when comparing it to public flights.

Leoric sat down in one of the seats, placing on his seatbelt earnestly. He wasn’t really showing it, just giving a calm smile once in a while, but he was focused entirely on the destination, and not the journey. He was usually the kind of person who loved to take his time, but not when it came to his family. If it wasn’t for the supreme lack of information and possibly risking their lives, he would’ve busted out of the base on day one and travelled to California himself.

Around an hour and a half. Just under two hours and I’ll be back. I’ll finally be back.

And with that final thought, the plane began its journey to the golden state.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby paced around outside, rubbing one of her ears from time to time. She walked past her family, who also showed signs of impatience. Her husband would check his phone for the time twice in a row, before messing with his hair and checking the time a few minutes later. Her oldest son, Dylan, was on his phone, scrolling through various posts on social media, just to close it and reopen it seconds later. His right foot was tapping rapidly in an erratic pattern. The lack of tempo of the tapping actually seemed to bother her husband further.

Gabby’s youngest child, Kelly, wasn’t with them on this remote landing strip. She desperately wanted to be here, but it was the last day before winter break, so she couldn’t reschedule a different time for her final. It broke Gabby’s heart, seeing her daughter cry that morning, before heading to school. She only had one final left, and it was during the start of the day, so they were going to pick her up afterwards. She was still devastated that she wouldn’t be there as the plane landed.

A few others joined them on the strip, some being people to escort the plane properly after landing, and two men in suits that escorted the Mitchelle’s here, and stood guard beside them. They were a tad intimidating, but Gabby was too focused on what was to come in the next few minutes. Her second son would be landing soon.

The pacing and silence continued for a while, before they heard a loud sound from above. A private jet began to descend slightly far out, landing a distance away. Their hearts fluttered in anticipation as the plane began to approach. Thoughts erupted through all of their minds.

He’s just in there. I hope he’s okay.

They said on the phone that he came back different. How different?

I heard rumors that some Heroes suffer from memory loss? Will he even remember us?

The stairs to the plane lowered down, and their breaths were ripped away. The frantic movements of the three were replaced with a coating of stone as none of them moved an inch. The first to exit was a young woman, which confused the family for a second. They even feared that they were by the wrong plane until another figure stepped out.

In black jeans and a grey hoodie, a tall, pale figure stepped out. They had lightish blue hair and pointed ears with piercings on each one. As the figure looked over to them, the three had no doubts in their minds: this was him. This was Caden.

Rushing down the stairs, Leoric ran towards the three. With each step he took, ambient magic swirled around him, changing his appearance with Transmutation in seconds. They all sprinted towards him, but the one to take the lead was the woman with brunette hair. Tears were flooding down both his and hers faces, as they gripped each other in a tight hug.

At that moment, everything began to fade for them. Gabby was no longer the woman who cried by an empty bed for months on end, and Leoric’s age and title of Arch-Mage was stripped away. All that was left was a mother and her son, holding each other in their arms once more.