Wander underwent endless mood swings for several days after that. He went to the extreme of panic and fell back to a state of indifference in mere minutes. Fortunately, the intervals between the two grew longer as days passed; the panic he felt was no longer intense. It became a stinging sensation that poked at his heart at times. Wander realized his transformation had somehow seriously altered his emotions and memories. On several occasions, he was aware that he could no longer recall some events from his past. Wander asked Nito if he had experienced the same thing, to which he replied in the negative.

More than a week had passed since Wander encountered Nito. He had cut off his contact with Aria and Hiatus. He needed someone to talk to other than the two and Maria came to his mind. After breakfast, he quickly left home and headed for Mirilad.

That day, the path he usually took had a surprise in store for him. Jonathan was waiting for him right outside the edge of the forest. Wander knew his bully must have wanted to meet him. There was no reason for him to take the path that led away from the institution. More so, he was all alone.

Jonathan was glaring at Wander as usual, but his arms not crossed nor his lips curved into a smirk. He looked so serious Wander did not believe it was him at first.

" Hi, Jonathan." Wander said, smiling.

Jonathan frowned, clenching his fist.

" How's the wound?" he asked with grave voice.

" It's healed."

" I see. I should have used more force."

" And forever giving up whatever chances you have of making up with Aria and Hiatus?" Wander said, chuckling.

Wander saw Jonathan's fists tremble.

" You are a disgusting demon, Wander."

" Well." Wander smiled." You are more correct than you think. You came here all alone. What do you want to talk about?"

" I will tell Aria and Hiatus the truth."

" What truth?"

" I will tell them about what happened 6 years ago."

" Oh," Wander raised his eyebrows." Then why don't you go ahead and do so? Why bother telling me this? Are you fishing for my reaction?

Wander knew he got Jonathan, seeing the flares in his eyes.

" Jonathan, they will not believe you. "

" You can't lie to them forever. It's only a matter of time before they know you are a psychopath." Jonathan pointed at Wander.

"It's been 6 years since that happened. You are too obsessed with them."

" No, you are. You are the one who hurt himself to keep others away from those two. I..only want them to know I'm not what they think."

" By bullying me? You have good reasoning, my friend."

" Why did you do it, Wander? Why pushed me away from them? We were friends, all four of us!" Jonathan asked, frowning.

Wander just stared at Jonathan with a smile on his face. When Jonathan got emotional, it always got to Wander.

" If that's what you want, then so be it, dink-head. I will make you pay for what you did. I will make sure your sick intention is known. You will not keep that smile forever."

" Are you sure it will not end up like last time? You run back home crying and that brother of yours will devise new ways of torturing me for that pathetic revenge of his?

" Poisonous mutt!" Jonathan charged at Wander.

Jonathan's fist clashed against an invisible wall. Before he knew what happened, his body was blown away from Wander and slid on the ground.

" You are late for school, boy." Maria said as she walked towards Wander. "I suggest you run fast."

Jonathan stared at the girl, eyes widened. A few seconds passed, he stood up, brushed the dusts off his clothes.

" You get a new friend, huh?" Jonathan smirked." Did you cut you arm to get her?"

With a grudging expression, Jonathan turned his back on the two and walked away.

After Jonathan's back could no longer be seen, Wander turned to Maria.

" Thank you for what you did."

" You are not the one to thank me, Wander. That Jonathan boy is. If I had let him attack you, that would have gone according to your plan. He would further distance himself from Aria and Hiatus."

" So you heard everything."

" Yeah. You are not exactly the innocent boy I thought you were. Hearing that conversation made me torn between letting him punch you and saving him."

" Don't worry. Even if he had punched me, I would not tell Aria and Hiatus about that. I just wanted him to punch me."

" Whaat?" Maria raised her eyebrows.

" Not what you think, Maria. I wanted him to feel better. Punching me would have soothed his anger a bit. I did not try to incriminate him."

"That's hard to believe considering what you said to him."

" I can't just straight up apologize to him. I can't even really explain to him why I did what I did."

" Why?"

" I have forgot exactly what I did to him 6 years ago. "

" Maybe you just don't care enough. That's why you forgot."

" It's not a matter of caring, Maria. I have never forgot a single thing before. Now my memories is slipping away from my mind. What I did to Jonathan, what I said to Aria and Hiatus, and many things more, I'm starting to forget a lot of them."

" Since when?"

" Since last week."

" Did you do anything that might have caused this?"

" I don't. Not that I remember." Wander scratched his head." But enough about this, I need the forest. I've been behind with my study."

" Your study? In the forest?"

" Runes. Wanna see?"

______________________________________________________________________________

Wander took Maria to the far north of Mirilad where redwoods, pines and firs grew in abundance. She could immediately tell something was off with this part of the forest. The trees stood too close to each other and their crowns blocked most of the sunlight, yet vegetation still thrived under their shadow. Animals and birds stayed away from this place, even though food was plentiful. Not to mention the abnormal height of the trees.

" What have you done to this place, Wander?" Maria squinted at the redwoods.

" I use runes to accelerate their growth."

" Wander, those trees are nearly 100 meters high. That is nearly the height of Hyperion. Even with runes, you cannot force them to grow that much. They have their limits."

" That's what I thought too. Watch!"

Wander took out his knife. He scribed runes on a redwood sapling.

" Grow."

The sapling slightly quivered as if it was a cat sprayed with water. Its branches started to reach further, its leaves proliferated, its base widened and its trunk grew eerily larger. The process stopped after a few seconds.

" It's just 10 meters tall"

" I know" said Wander as he scribed on another redwood." Now watch this. Grandio!"

Like its counterpart, the redwood also grew at an abnormal rate, but this time the process lasted half a minute, enabling the tree to attain a height of 50 meters.

" Wow!" Mari's eyes widened" You change the language to Latin and the effects intensify."

" Amazing right?"

" What language did you use to make them twice as tall?

" Hebrew. Litsmo'ach."

The redwood spurted like a geyser burst through the ground. Before long it reached the height of its neighbors.

" The older the language, the stronger the effect. Cool, huh?"

" This is...impressive." Maria said in a faint voice." How long have you been experimenting with runes?"

" Since I was 12. I read about them in a book and was mesmerized by their complexity. At first it was just a hobby, but soon runes turned out be my ticket to life."

" How come?"

" I'm not physically strong." Wander glanced up. " I've thought about that a lot. Aria and Hiatus will not be there for me forever, and most of all, I don't want to be a burden to them. That's why I did a crazy thing: I sent my paper on runes to Natsuki Moore, the captain of the demon capture team, proposing how runes can be implanted to improve the success of capture campaigns. My research is kind of an apply letter. I ask her to let me join her team when I turn 18. If she agrees, I will have a proper job, and Aria and Hiatus won't have to deal with me anymore."

Maria stared at Wander with her brow raised.

"Good plan." She said.

" Sometimes I like to plan too far ahead and talk like a middle age man. Sorry for that." Wander grinned

" No, don't be. It's...fun. " Maria said, smiling.

" It is?"

" Yep," Maria nodded."I would love to hear more about your experiments with runes. Tell me."

Wander's eyes lighted up. He had never had anyone to talk to about runes. That day, he spent hours with Maria telling her all he knew about the ancient letters. He shared with her one of his most prized creation: the double effect of runes. She listened with a steady smile on her face, her chin pressed against her hand. She asked a lot of questions, and Wander enthusiastically answered her. At times he would make a joke, she would shake her head and smile in disapproval, only to chuckle when she saw he pouted in disappointment.

"The area a rune covers, if great enough, will allow for the addition of more runes. The activation of the bigger runes will lead to the activation of smaller runes. This can be repeated, in theory, infinitely?"asked Maria.

"Just seemingly infinitely. Provided there exists a pen small enough to inscribe runes upon atoms, the process can be repeated for a number of times most being will not be able to conceptualize."

Maria stared at Wander till he awkwardly scratched his head."You are close."

"To what?"

The girl gave no answer. She just told Wander to carry on.

Maria also helped Wander with his study. After that day, she brought him lots of books on runes and spells. The two would read some lines before stopping to discuss the information. Maria knew significantly more than Wander, yet to him she seemed genuinely interested in all the knowledge she must have grasped long ago, as if she had just been aware of it for the first time. Wander did not complain, for he enjoyed the time he spent with her. He knew Maria felt that way too, seeing that she did not question him at all about the affairs with Jonathan. A normal individual would have been freaked out by what Wander had done to his supposed bully.

______________________________________________________________________________

Nito had taken notice of the improvement in his fellow Exsomnis' mood. Wander had no intention of telling him about Maria, still Nito found out. " Is it a girl?"- he asked just one question and Wander's bashfulness gave him away. Nito laughed, saying things Wander did not understand like " So you are a boy after all". The mysterious teacher opened up more with Wander after that, talking with him about things other than Exsomnis, like his favourite movies, books, his parents, his siblings. Those things were all insignificant, but for Wander they sufficed.

Nito did not teach Wander how to use magic, much to Wander's frustration. He made Wander stick with sword training, which Wander unfailingly hated. At times, Wander felt like Nito did not want to teach him anything.

"I know sword training is a must for every hero whatsoever, but can we move on to spells now? They are a must too, for every hero whatsover."

"Be patient." said Nito.

The Exsomnis killed every conversation with just those two words.

The 3rd week after his transformation, it dawned on Wander that the days he spent with those two in Mirilad would soon come to an end. Maria started talking about leaving New York; Nito's smoke was slowly but surely dissipating. Wander started to forget more and more of his childhood, even though the process had slowed down. He planned to call Hiatus and Aria, but the fear of them finding out his transformation still gnawed on him. Confused and lost, he could only tell himself it would be okay.

______________________________________________________________________________

One of those days, Wander caught Maria sitting on the branch of a pine. She was swinging her legs back and forth with a mischievous smile on her countenance.

" Hey!" Wander shouted at her." What are you doing way up there?"

" Why don't you join me and see for yourself?" Maria shouted back.

Wander hesitated but eventually decided to join her. It took him a minute to reach Maria. He carefully positioned himself next to her, directing his eyes at what she was watching. It was his institution.

" What do you think?" asked Wander." Beautiful, right?"

" It is a poorly constructed school" said Maria" One bishop at the center is enough to kill the rook."

" What?" Wander smiled awkwardly.

" Ah, sorry. I mean, one wide-range unit with a 90-degree attack positioned at the, let me see, about 50 meters away from all the buildings can destroy all three in minutes. I wonder who designed the campus. Probably an over-the -top, extravagant person."

" Hah." Wander chuckled." You got that right. Principal Xixin is like that."

" Xixin Howard Nate?" Maria said, raising her eyebrows.

" Yes. You know him?"

" That boy..So he did become a principle after all. Ah, I see, Hamilton school. That Hamilton. It makes sense now."

" What makes sense? I am losing you here."

" The dynamic couple. The bright stars of cold decades. I like them. Two of the few tried to conciliate the relationship between Hunter and Summoner. Wonder how they are now. Say, are they still dating?" said Maria with her tongue in cheek.

" What? The heck are you talking about? Dating? They?"

" So they are not. Political reasons I suppose. Anyhow, the contest you talk about must be another attempt from their side to pacify the hate. I hope it goes well. "

" You don't talk like a 15-year-old girl, you know that?"

" Don't be ageist. Well, I wasn't interested in this city before, but talking about your school changes my mind. Mind showing me around?"

Without waiting for Wander's reply, Maria jumped off the branch. Just a second before hitting the ground, her body stopped falling and started floating instead, her toe touched the ground gracefully.

" Jump down!" Maria shouted." I'll catch you, my prince!"

" Are you sure you can do it, Juliet?" Wander grinned.

" Yeah, at worse my clothes will be dirtied, but I don't mind."

Wander shrugged and did what Maria said. After jumping he felt like he had been an idiot.

" Strawberry jam incoming!" Maria shouted.

" Maria!"

The girl laughed as she slowed down Wander's momentum. She held out her arms then quickly let them down along with Wander's body.

" You could have let me face up you know" Wander spitted out some dusts.

" Don't talk, Wander. You may accidentally bite the dust." Maria chuckled.

______________________________________________________________________________

While showing Maria his city, Wander wondered how Maria could stop herself from yawning out of boredom. Halcyon New York had only 3 outstanding areas: Xixin's institution, Swordgrave, and CyTech Complex- one of which Maria had seen, one was a barren land void of sceneries, one was off-limit to almost everybody. Aside from those three, New York was a just a mass of disorganized trees and houses. Fortunately, unlike Earth New York, this place was free of traffic, its citizens chose to walk over driving. Although there was plenty of good food, food could not exactly be considered a place to visit.

Maria walked next to Wander with her hands behind her back. Wander noticed that was her favorite gesture. Her face was as calm and pensive as the first time he saw her. After spending time with the girl, he knew that expression did not mean she was thinking hard, but rather enjoying her time. She did not complain about his poor representation, only chuckling from time to time.

Wander walked the girl to the base of Hunter Hill. He showed her the River Road, which ran from the base of the hill to the other side of the city. Wander was afraid of running into Aria and Hiatus, but luckily he did not. And despite the obvious blandness of the tour, which worried Wander, Maria still kept a genuine smile of satisfaction on her face just by observing people passing by and never complained.

When Wander guided her to the edge of the city, a group of five summoners were hanging around near a souvenir shop. They waved at Maria when they saw her.

" Maria!" A boy in white t-shirt called out to her. "Over here!"

Wander glanced at Maria. She was expressionless. After a few seconds, she walked past them.

" I told you so." A girl sucking lollipop said." We are too low for the queen. Where are you going, Victor? Victor!"

Victor ran up to Maria and caught her by the wrist.

" Maria, come with us." said Victor, his eyes lightening.

" I don't think so." Mara glanced at the boy, shaking off his hand.

" Are you going with this guy?" Victor said, glaring at Wander." Wait, isn't he the famous loser ? Don't mingle yourself with his like, Maria."

Wander rolled his eyes.

" Victor, isn't it?" Maria frowned." Drop that attitude. It will not get you far in life. Now, forgive me, but I have to go."

Maria turned her back on Victor and nodded at Wander. The two was about to go when Victor hurled a spell at Wander. He avoided it effortlessly. The spell landed on the ground and started a small fire.

"Wow," Wander raised his voice."That could have hurt a lot."

Victor smirked, his friends standing behind his back. The souvenir shop owner quickly moved all of his goods inside.

"Maria, if you care about your little friend, we suggest you leave him."

"Jeez." Wander rolled his eyes.

Before Victor and his group could do anything else, the ground under their legs turned to mud and their feet sank deep into it.

" What the..." all the five summoners simultaneously shouted.

" Let's go Wander." Maria went ahead without looking back." Before this turns into a real drama."

Leaving the angry summoners behind shouting and cussing, the two quickly made their way back to Mirilad.

" You said you didn't go to that school" Wander glanced at Maria.

" I did," Maria replied in a cold voice.

" Then what happened back there? They know you!"

The girl stopped moving. She turned to Wander, smiling.

" Whoever it is that they know, it isn't me.

" You mean..."

" I wonder what the chances of a girl named Maria looking exactly like me go to that school are. You know what, I think I will stay a bit longer. It seems my long lost twin who I have never known about is here."

Sorry for the late update! If you have any question feel free to comment!