"No", was Cale's curt reply before William could even finish his question. They were all six standing in front of the man who was recruiting people for today's arena matches. William wanted to join Philippa and Ben in the tournament as a group of three, but Cale wasn't particularly convinced.

"You weren't so strongly against it this morning", William noted, probing Cale's motives. When Philippa had told him about the arena, he had been eager to visit it himself.

"It wasn't certain this morning that Edward would accompany us, either. Besides, it was never said that you would be joining as well, Will."

"This is just a little duel, we've had quite a few of those with Sir Nolan."

"Why do you think I let you compete against him in the first place? Sir Nolan is also an experienced swordsman who has studied for years under Madam Perendan. He showed consideration for you", the High-Magician replied flippantly, causing Edward to look at him in surprise. Had he just heard that correctly? Madam Perendan? As in An Perendan, the squad leader of Sylve's 1st Company? Edward was aware that Cale and An knew each other, but how did his brother know that woman? And what did Cale ment by dueling with Sir Nolan? Who was Sir Nolan?

"And his pupils? You yourself said they were on our level and we did well against them?", poked William further. Annoyed, Cale rubbed his head and was silent for some time.

"Come on Cale. There are three of us and this isn't the first time we've fought", Philippa replied, which surprised Cale since she of all people didn't like shooting people with her arrows.

"It's just a little duel", Ben threw after her, which made Cale groan loudly. Why were they all three working against him now? Why were they so eager to fight in the arena?

"Whether it's a small duel or a war. A Fight is a fight and this one is not legal. Besides, you will in all likelihood be fighting mages. The mages will not limit themselves to weapons, as you are used to. They fight with their magic, which is a completely different fighting style."

"All the better! Then we'll have new opponents and something to learn", William replied, literally begging Cale with his big blue eyes. Cale could still understand why Ben or Philippa wanted to join. But why did William suddenly have so much interest? He hadn't been so excited this morning when he'd heard the group was going to practice again.

"Will, I'm serious about this."

"So am I! If there's an emergency, you'll be around to intervene, right? And besides...", William raised, but became quieter at his last words. Demonstratively, he stretched out his left arm, in which Cale had immortalized his Igrikum. Immediately, Cale put his hand over William's mouth to prevent him from sharing his secret with everyone, closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.

"One single round."

Enthusiastically, the three of them jumped to their feet.

"One round. We'll go in there, you guys fight one round and leave right after. No 'can we please have another round?' or 'mimimi watching isn't dangerous after all'. We'll stay until your round and immediately leave after that. No more discussions!"

Happily, the three thanked the man and signed in under fake names, while Cale stayed behind with Aletta and Edward.

"What exactly are you really worried about, Cale?", Aletta chimed in after a few minutes. "The fight itself probably isn't. Knowing you, you wouldn't care much, would you?"

Cale hesitated.

Why was he so against it? They were right... it's not the first time the three of them have dueled, but today Cale had a bad feeling. Was it because the second wave was coming? Or because he was worried about what would happen if William was recognized?

"I just have a bad feeling", he finally admitted. Automatically, his eyes wandered to Edward, who looked down at the ground in dismay.

The reason he wasn't thrilled about letting the three of them participate in the tournament was because of Crown Prince Edward, he realized. Cale knew that neither Phillipa, Ben, or William would have any problems, but he was less concerned with the fight itself and more concerned with the spectators. They would be sitting in one spot for quite a while, the risk of Crown Prince Edward being recognized was significantly higher than if they moved unobtrusively through the streets.

Aletta uttered something that Cale didn't really notice. Shortly after, she followed the Anuxers, leaving Cale alone with Edward. Both were silent as they watched the small group of four at a distance.

Inevitably, Cale had to think of their dead faces, which he had already seen so many times. He remembered their bodies burned by the dragon in his first life, or their lifeless, bloodied faces in his second life. That was when he had first started learning magic and had stayed in the city with the group for the second wave, which had turned out to be a disastrous mistake. Unwittingly, he had condemned the four to an untimely death, while he himself had survived with fatal burns. Cale remembered vividly the regrets that followed him his entire 51 years until his death.

Cale was afraid.

Afraid of the safety of his friends. Afraid for the future of Mage City. Afraid for all the inevitable deaths, but most of all, he was afraid of having to relive it all. He had sworn to himself not to waste his sixth attempt. For nothing seemed worse to him than repeating the same life to the infinity.

"Caleb?", an unassuming voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Crown Prince Edward touched him on the arm and looked at him with worried eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, sorry. I was just thinking", the mage replied in a polite voice.

Together with his protégé, he followed the four of them through the alleys, half-absentmindedly following the events. It would be several hours before the arena opened. For the first time, Cale wondered what he had changed in this life that an arena had been built. It had never existed in the times before, and yet it had come out of nowhere a few years ago. Was it because mages had developed a greater interest in fighting? Could High-Mage Sefra Risztus have something to do with it, after all, she was something like the principal of the Mage School and had been concentrating on making sure the students were able to fight for quite a few years. Had Cale unintentionally awakened sleeping beasts who liked to go into battle? Was he... was he doing the right thing? Sending all these people off to war? To their possible deaths?

Immediately, Cale shook that thought from his mind. He didn't want to start that again. He had sworn to himself not to worry about other people and to give his attention to those who really mattered to him.

Most of all he would like to talk to Grischa about this topic, but then he would inevitably have to mention the time loop. Even if Grischa had become one of his closest friends... he simply wouldn't believe him. Cale did not want to and could not jeopardize this bond; he absolutely needed Grischa for the future. The Elder and all the High-Magicians, except Grischa and Sefra, hadn't survived the 2nd Wave so far. That day was not far off, which is why Cale constantly lived in the hope that his intervention would finally create a different future for Exarion and the entire country. Because that was exactly what he had been working toward for decades.

Grischa Vonstetten, Miguel Heriog, Sefra Risztus, Katarina Ursus and Theorik were the five personalities who would become known in the future as the strongest people beyond all borders. But some of them were currently very young or too inexperienced for Cale to contact them now. He knew that the disaster three years from now would be the abrupt trigger for many to want to become stronger. Inevitably, to avoid putting his plan in jeopardy, he had to wait until the attack. While they would get into quite a bit of trouble with the creatures in the coming months and years, the really dangerous ones would only show up after that. Currently, many of the creatures were hiding in the deeper levels, information about them was limited and Cale deliberately concealed this fact.

Cale watched Aletta surreptitiously buy something from one of the stalls and hide it under her jacket before turning back to the others. Edward had caught up with them and was talking to William, while Ben and Philippa were taking a closer look at the area.

The mage had to grin.

So far, none of the five had survived long enough, including Crown Prince Edward. In his longest life, Cale had watched Sylve perish. King Leonhardt and Crown Prince Edward had both been killed at the time, only Prince Marion of Sylve and William had survived the 3rd Wave attack. The worst part was that this wave appeared a few years after the death of the Elder, so Sylve had no help. Hundreds of refugees had previously nested in Sylve from Altona and were allowed to wait there for their deaths. Frignez could not even be entered at that point and had itself been pushed far back into the north. Winstest seemed to be the only one able to breathe a little, but they were only conditionally better off. It was a miracle that the people had lasted so long at all. The 21 islands of Sylve had been spared from the creatures almost to the end due to their good location, one of the reasons Grischa had set up headquarters there at the time. Cale planned to buy one of the private islands at auction in the next few months; he had been saving up the money for it for years. This way he would be able to stop a dispute between the mages and the Sylvern, which had unnecessarily cost time at that time. The time would be quite favorable and he had good contacts in the meantime.

Suddenly, Cale felt someone leap over the rooftops and come toward them. Instantly, he grabbed Edward's arm and jerked him toward him before making a barrier appear around himself and his friends. Startled, the crown prince cried out softly as he grabbed Cale's arm to gain his footing before the unknown person crashed to the ground beside them. Now the townspeople also cried out in surprise, staring at the young girl who had landed in the street. Panicked, she reached for her hood and pulled it over before disappearing between the houses.

"What was that, please?", uttered Philippa in wonder as she looked after the young woman. She was wearing the Magistrat's uniform, which made Cale realize that she must be one of the students. He kept his guess to himself, however, as he slowly dropped his barrier and let go of Edward. "As fast as that girl was going, she probably was stealing from someone."

Aletta laughed at the statement, while Cale just rolled his eyes. Somehow, he suspected that wouldn't be entirely true. He had spent years stealing from people and knew the tricks of getting away unnoticed. The girl, however, did the complete opposite and drew everyone's attention, so Cale didn't assume she was stealing from anyone.

Cale rather suspected that she was running away from someone.