With a nostalgic look on his face, Mito thought about how he met Ewu and the others. ‘A fair bit of time has passed since then. I have learned a lot, but I still have no clue what happened to me on that day. It is time to see more of this world and search for clues in the Estarian Kingdom. Let's go!’

With these thoughts they advanced along the path in the direction of Walresa city, the Estarian capital.

Close to the border Usplar and Ecivos stopped. Mito jumped down and they transformed back to their human form. Ecivos raised his voice “This is as far as we can go. If any Estara sees us on the other side of the border a huge commotion will break out. Therefore this is farewell for us, we hope to see you soon again. Maybe visit us from time to time? And I think with your strength you should go on a low profile. If you attract too much attention you will have a hard time over there.”

“I think I won't be able to do that. I prefer to ignore any nuisance, but if people pester me too much and piss me off I definitely won’t hold back.” “All right I get where you come from, but just don’t go overboard and destroy the capital or something.” Usplar jokingly said.

They said goodbye to each other and Mito made his way towards the capital. If he enhances his body with magic he could make it in one hour.

After about half an hour he saw a broken chariot on the right side of the road. A few people were gathered and two of them tried to repair the wheels. Mito slowed down and thought ‘I am not really the kind hearted person who helps everyone everywhere, but it could be good to offer my help. Since I have zero connections here it could be beneficial to help people and make some acquaintances.“ Also the advice from the mysterious old man was still fresh in his mind.

He stopped in front of the chariot and asked “Hello there, do you need any help?” Two people drew their swords and walked up to him “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Woah, keep calm. I am a traveler on my way to the capital. I saw your broken chariot and wanted to offer my help.”

“And what can a young boy like you even help us with?”

“I am pretty good with technical stuff and I may be able to help repair the wheels.”

The two guards looked at each other and one of them said “Allright, but we will keep a close eye on you so don't make any wrong moves.” On the way to the chariot Mito noticed a young woman and a child lying on the grass. It looked like they were injured.

“Are those two injured?” Mito asked. The guard who talked to him before said “Yes they were injured when the chariot fell over. That is why we need to repair it as fast as we can and bring them to a doctor.” Mito thought quickly about it and then said “I have profound knowledge in healing magic, if you want I can take a look at them” Both guards looked at him in shock. “Healing magic? The rarest form of magic which is said to be able to cure any wound and illness. There are only four people in the whole empire who can use healing magic. But you are not one of those four. Don’t go around spouting nonsense, kid!” Mito stopped and took an overdramatic thoughtful pose. Then he flicked his finger and said “I can prove it!” He then pulled out a knife and made a cut on his arm. Afterwards he healed the wound with magic.

The two guards looked completely dumbfounded at the healed wound. They couldn't believe that a healing mage was in front of them. But after they witnessed it with their own eyes they had no choice and guided Mito to the woman and the child. Mito then proceeded to examine the injuries. Both were unconscious, the child only had a laceration and the woman a broken leg. He quickly healed both injuries and afterwards made his way to the chariot. After half an hour the chariot was repaired and ready to move again. As Mito was about to continue on his way to the capital, an old man who looked like a butler, walked up to him, gave him a small pouch and said “From the depths of my heart I thank you. We probably wouldn’t have made it back in time to save the mistress' life if it weren’t for you. Out in the wilderness a broken leg can be fatal. Sadly, we can only offer a few gold coins as thanks. If we ever meet again we will definitely repay the favor.” “No worries, I offered my help without wanting anything in return so a few gold coins is already too much. But I appreciate it and take your gift with me, goodbye .” Both bowed, Mito then infused his body with magic and took off.

Later in the chariot. The young woman woke up and looked confused at her surroundings. When she saw her sister unconscious, to her left, she started to panic: “What is going on? Is she alright? What happened, I thought we had an accident and were injured but it seems we are healthy.”

The butler to her right answered in a calm voice “Miss, don't worry, let me explain what happened: The chariot went astray and fell over. In this accident you and your little sister were injured, fell unconscious and the chariot broke. The only choice we had was to repair it and get you as fast as we could to a doctor. But we probably wouldn’t have made it without the help of this stranger. He suddenly appeared right in front of us. He was a traveling mage, that is probably why we didn’t notice him at first. And he was able to cast healing magic. So it seems there is now a fifth one who is able to do that.

He was the one who healed you and your sisters wounds and even helped to repair the chariot.”

He then continued with a smirk “I don’t know his name but I am sure you regret that you were unconscious.”

“A fifth healing mage that is great news. But what is with this smirk? Yes I regret that I could not thank him in person. But that is nothing to smirk about?”

“Haha that is true, but that person was about your age, maybe a little bit younger. And he was truly handsome; he would be outstanding even among the nobles in our city”

The young woman was stunned. A healing mage that is about her age, she couldn’t believe it.

“I need to meet him again, could you please describe him?” she said.

“He was an Estara, but somehow looked different. He had medium-length, deep black hair and was pretty tall. He was muscular but more the athletic type. He had narrow eyebrows, a slim mouth and deep brown, almost black eyes. But what really stood out was his skin. It was really smooth, like that of a noble, something you don't expect from a traveler. His clothing was also rather well made. He wore a gray shirt, black trousers, black steel plated shoes and a black coat. He had a weapon holster with two swords crossed on his back. That is about everything I can tell you about him.”

While the chariot drew closer to Walresa city, the young woman thought about what happened and what the butler told her.

Mito on the other hand had already arrived at Walresa city; he was at the entrance in a queue to get access to the city. The guard shouted “Neeext. Who are you and what is your purpose here in Walresa city?” Mito who had invented a story together with Ecivos answered “My name is Mito Sirova, I come from the village Ekapas, close to the border. I am here to apply for the Arthur Snow Academy.”

“Ah, so you are a soon-to-be student. Go to the right and fill out the form. We keep track of the new applicants in our city. After that go to the main road and follow it until you end up in front of the academy, you can't miss it.”

“Thank you very much.” Mito said and went to fill out the form.

Mito strolled through the main street. It was a beautiful city, which reminded him of Paris in the nineteenth century. Everywhere were clothing shops, cafes, bakeries and restaurants. It was really lively, almost like a modern city he was used to. It made him feel a bit homesick. As he wandered along the street, he felt many glances on him and wondered if he looked so different from a normal Estara.

In front of the academy were two guards. Mito approached the one on the left side and asked where he could apply for the school. The guard told him to go into the academy grounds and to the first building on the left. From there on are signposts for new applicants. Mito made his way to the mentioned building. Inside, a worker gave him a questionnaire which he filled out. After the paperwork was done, one of the workers guided him to one of the training grounds. A lot of applicants were gathered around there. Everyone waited to take their practical tests. Mito sat on the ground near the edge of the field and eagerly watched the applicants.

There were three tests: The first two were similar to his exam he had in the arena a few days ago. The third one was different, he couldn't figure out what exactly he needed to do. It looked like the magic capacity test he already took, but it was quite different. There was an orb floating in the air and the applicants shot spells at it. He was quite sure that the device measured the magic power, but how was quite mysterious. After every spell it glowed in a color which seemed random. Mito couldn’t figure out any pattern.

After a while it was Mito’s turn. He decided to show a little bit of his abilities, but not too much. He cleared the first two tests quite easily, which piqued the interest of the applicants around. They began to watch him closely. On the third test the instructor said “Now fire any spell on the orb, the resulting color determines your magic strength, so don't hold back.” Mito, who got kinda bored, asked him “What happens if I break it while not holding back?”

“Ah again this question, you kids shouldn’t be so full of yourself. This device is unbreakable. Any energy directed at it will be instantly absorbed and nullified. Now go!”

Mito, who knew that energy can’t be nullified only converted, observed earlier that the device converts it into thermal energy. On that observation he wanted to test the device. He didn’t hold back on his spell. He encased the device in a burning heat, fueled by his overwhelming magic power, it didn’t even last a second. In a huge explosion the device shattered into a thousand pieces. Mito, a little bit disappointed in the device, but still slightly amused, turned to the instructor and said in a surprised voice “It seems it is not indestructible!” Then walked back to his original position and sat down. No one else moved, everyone was stunned and couldn’t believe what just happened. The instructor hadn’t even realized that Mito just mocked him. It took quite a few minutes until the instructor regained his composure and said “You all wait here, I will be back.” And then ran off in the direction of the main building.

The applicants, waiting for the return of the instructor, made some movements in Mito’s direction but didn’t dare to approach him.

About half an hour later the instructor came back with two women in tow.

The smaller one of the two women walked up to him and said “Hello, my name is Aurelia Luna the principal of the Arthur Snow Academy. You are Mito, correct?”

“You are correct, my name is Mito Sirova from the village Ekapas. A pleasure to meet you and a pleasant surprise that the director of this renowned institute is such a beautiful young lady.”

“Oh, what a charmer, but I need to disappoint you, you are a little bit too young for me.”

“Maybe, or maybe not.” Mito replied mysteriously with a smile on his lips.

Then the other women interrupted, “That's quite enough. Let me introduce myself. I am the vice principal Inertis Gaella. Would you please follow us? We need to discuss what we are going to do with you.”

Mito, who wanted to tease the principal a bit more, was a tad disappointed but still followed them to the main building.