The next morning, Wander experienced a belated panic attack. He freaked out thinking about what would happen if his family or his friend noticed just one drop of his blood. Death was a foregone conclusion. He thought of Hiatus and Aria and dared not imagine how they would react if they knew. He pictured the pain, the disappointment, the anger he would put them through and suddenly became resentful of himself.

" This is stupid. Why did I not think of that before I decided to turn? Yesterday I was so calm, and now it's a mess inside"

He stayed in bed half an hour more than usual. After he had gather enough mental strength to leave it, he found himself unable to do things with as much ease as before. He was in a constant state of cautiousness, distancing himself from all objects he deemed too pointy, and eventually a ball soon reached his standard of what was pointy. Brushing teeth, dressing up, cooking, all was tiring. His parents did not notice his sudden growth spurt, but they had never really noticed him that much, and even though he enjoyed the freedom their negligence granted, recently the loneliness made his heart ache.

After breakfast, Wander headed for Mirilad. His transformation had fortified his love for the forest. His enhanced senses now enabled him to observe the forest more thoroughly. He was sure he could see the colors of animals and trees vibrate and change. Wander looked up at the crowns of trees. For the first time, he bothered to look beyond the "green" of leaves: Wander could see each shade and tint of the color mixed together and construct the wholeness of leaves, losing their distinctiveness in the process. Bases of leaves were actually dots of parakeets scattering across the emerald background and their veins consisted of chartreuse and lime threads tangling with each other. And these were only the most ordinary types of leaves he saw. The others were nothing short of masterpieces of color mixing. Some leaves had changed color with the arrival of autumn. Patches of marigold and tangerine colors lied side by side like tiny suns drawn together through the forces of apricot gravity, while yam stars tried to outshone one another nearby. Wander was overwhelmed by his new optical perception of reality, and he closed his eyes, but the sound of the forest would not grant him piece. The sound of wind was a song itself, with all the whispers, the whooshes, the hisses in all degrees of tone and pitch combating for dominance. Breezes of wind caressed flowers and grasses, and came a wave of psithurism along with the aromas of the forest. Wander inhaled deeply, and he underwent the most incredible olfactory pleasure in his life. All that fragile and transient, nameless fragrances phased in then out of unison and division. One second they were one, the next hundreds. The soaked fur of squirrels and birds, the mosses on wet rocks, the flourishing dianthus and gardenia, the lingering moisture, the delicate dews, the scabrous tree barks and hundreds more, truly a symphony of aromas. Wander was awestruck, and he let out a sigh of satisfaction.

After minutes of drowning himself in the sea of sensual euphoria, Wander decided to continue his visitation to Nito. The path he usually took seem longer and stranger today. That was when he heard a sound, a sound that came to him very naturally, but its presence was unnatural , for it was the sound of the humming waves, the sound of oceans amidst the domain of a forest. Wander listened attentively to the sound, and was sure he did not mistake it for anything else. His curiosity was piqued by the out of place phenomenon; he could feel his heart thumping in his chest as a nameless feeling overflowed his soul. He let the sound draw him to a part of the forest he had never known. It lied behind layers of bushes, and with his enhanced ears, he could pinpoint exactly the direction in which the sound originated from. As he traveled further and further after the sound and into darkness , Wander felt like he had left the whole world behind him. With the most gentle gesture possible, he brushed aside layers of drooping odd-pinnate leaves, and the dazzling light emerged from the other side made him squint, but still in the blurriness he could see the ghostly figure standing there.

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To Wander, that moment when he saw the girl was somehow surreal. She looked detached and otherworldly with a pensive, yet calm expression on her face. Her eyes were fixed on the unnatural waves she raised from the pond nearby; their rhythmic movements had captivated her. Surrounding the girl was specks of dust illuminating brilliantly due to the pillars of light showering upon the forest. Time seemingly stood still in her presence.

For minutes, Wander refrained from making any sound or movement for fear of disrupting the serene atmosphere. He stared at her, waiting for her to notice his presence. Only in a brief moment of thoughtlessness did he call out to her by saying hi with the silliest tone.

She was unnerved by the sudden greeting; instead, she leisurely turned to look at Wander as she slightly tilted her head. She smiled at him before saying hi in return with a voice resembling the faintest breeze, and immediately the pond water froze into pointy spears, charging at Wander at frightening speed.

" What the?" Wander yelled as he jumped backwards to dodge the spears.

The girl's projectiles chased him with the stubbornness of heat-seeking missiles. Had it not been for Wander's enhanced physical strength, they would have hit him in less than 3 seconds. Wander's reflex had become significantly faster, and his body at times moved faster than his thought. He became so focused on evasion that the surrounding got blurred in his perception. Despite the enhancement, dodging the girl's attack quickly became nearly impossible for Wander. She spawned even more spears without ,literally, breaking a sweat and made them into a convoluted web that closed in on Wander. He gradually ran out of space for his maneuvering. With no intention of being reduced to minced meat, he sought a breach in the constantly changing web. As the web got closer and closer, he decided to take risk by plunging himself at a random place on the web. Wander got through the web but failed to escape the spears. Before he could recovered from the plunge, they already made their way to him. Wander closed his eyes , anticipating his painful end.

To his surprise and delight, none of the spear pierced his body. He only heard a plash then shuddered at the ice cold water pouring all over him. The spears, pointy as they were, dissolved the moment they came into contact with Wander. His racing heart slowly settled down; he could hear other sounds again.

The girl walked towards Wander with her crossed hands behind her back. Her graceful steps created the impression that she was gliding on the ground. She stopped her march a few meters away from Wander and gave him half a smile.

" Can you stand up on your own?" asked the girl in a modulated voice.

" Yeah, I just..." Wander clumsily lifted himself off the ground." You aren't hiding a knife behind your back or something, right?"

" No, not a knife." The girl said, chuckling." Just my hands."

" That is not very assuring coming from you," Wander said, grinning." You didn't even move your hands while trying to chop me up. I dare not think what they are capable of."

" Sorry about the sudden attack," The girl glanced at the water puddle." I was just trying to ...break the ice."

" Oh, I see." Wander scratched his head." It was quite a warming welcome. You can say that I'm melted."

The girl shook her head, smiling.

" Okay, let's be serious now. That attack was necessary, since I don't want us to get stuck in that overly dramatic encounter. Trust me, I've been there. It was super awkward, saying hi then staring at each other while figuring out what to say next. Lesson learned: put them in a life or death situation, talking will be real smooth later on."

" I'm pretty sure that's not the lesson, but we're talking quite naturally right now so I guess it does work." Wander frowned as his eyes rolled up.

As the two walked towards the pond, the girl drew some water from it and froze the water into a small cup. She filled it with more water, took a vial out of her belt and dropped some white liquid into the cup.

" Here, a gift." she handed it to Wander." Water, with vanilla flavor."

" Err, is it clean?" Wander frowned.

" It is. I was filtering the pond before you came. You followed the noise, didn't you? "

" Wow! I thought you were creating waves!" Wander raised his voice." And yes, I did."

" Waves?" The girl said, brow furrowed." Why would I even create waves in a forest?"

"Well, I think it's a more effective method of greeting. You know, you can wave at somebody instead of scaring them to death with your cool magic."

" Please stop ."The girl said, making the stop sign with her hand." And would you take the gift? My hand is giving out."

" Thank you for the...water." Wander took the cup.

He took a sip of the water, instantly feeling a chill breeze in his mouth, down to his stomach then all over his body as if someone injected ice directly into him.

" This is mind-blowing! Really, thank you, uh..."

" Maria, Maria Gwendolyn," said the girl, smiling at the awestruck look on Wander's face." And you?"

" Call me Wander," he gulped down all of the drink.

" Wander what?"

" That's unnecessary, isn't it?" Wander closed his eyes to fully enjoy the sensation.

" That's your name, Wander."

" Well," Wander cleared his throat, his eyes still closed." My name is Wander, that's that."

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Maria did not bother asking for Wander's full name after that and returned to her filtering work. This time, she created a whirlpool in the pond, compelling the water to move towards the center then outwards. After a few minutes, a tiny solid sphere, size of a marble, rose above the pond. Maria threw it at the base of a close-by tree before returning the pond to its usual calm state.

" You're really good at magic, aren't you?" asked Wander.

" I'm good at water school of magic." said Maria.

" Yeah, good is an understatement here. The spears were frightening. That was no low-level spell, right?"

" Maybe," Maria said, creating another spear." Wander, you're a hunter?"

Wander nodded.

" You are one of those genius kids?" Maria glanced at him.

" What? No!" Wander said, shaking his head hard." I'm actually a below standard hunter."

" Then the standard bar must have been raised a lot. You successfully evaded my spears. That's no mere feat."

" Haha," Wander scratched his head." I'm flattered, but I bet everyone could have done that."

" Your humbleness is an insult to me, boy. The spears had a velocity of 170 meters per second-half the speed of sound. You evaded it by instinct. Those moves and skills belong to either an extremely experienced warrior or an incredibly blessed young one. Which are you?"

" I just.." Wander cleared his throat, evading Maria's glace. "You know..."

" Another unspeakable fact?" Maria said, raising her eyebrows." Well, no matter. Keep it to yourself. I'm hardly interested."

" Sorry. It's just...I can't tell you much about me." Wander fidgeted.

" Sorry?" Maria said, chuckling." We've just met. Why must you tell me anything? And I'm pretty sure we'll part ways soon. Self-revelation is unnecessary here."

" You're not staying?

Maria did not reply right away. She looked at the sky, pouting.

" No, I'm not here to stay."

" Too bad. I was expecting to get a new friend."

" There are still a few days left. You still have a chance. I've just arrived here."

" Oh, you are from that school right? Hamilton school, isn't it? You came here for that contest! Weird, I didn't expect you guys to be here this early."

Maria glanced at Wander, frowning.

" Hamilton school? What's that?" she asked.

" That school for summoner?"

" What makes you think I'm a summoner?" asked Maria.

" Well, you—"

It dawned on Wander that Summoners were not the only beings capable of casting spells.

" Then you're not a summoner from Hamilton school?"

Maria shook her head.

"I've never even heard of that school." said the girl.

This chapter is the one of my personal favorite. The meeting between Wander and Maria is what I have in mind for years.