The next morning had dawned and William, together with Miguel, squatted on a small wall outside the city, while Theorik and Ben fought a small duel. As usual, the four warriors met and were taught by Miguel. However, the performance that William could see from his friend left him pensive.

"How are you?", he cautiously asked his friend's fiancé, who was watching the two younger warriors with interest.

"I can't complain. Aletta's healing skills are pretty good, even for her age. I barely notice anything from yesterday's fight, and I can hear normally again", the blond-haired man replied calmly as he slumped his head on the sword.

"Are you... at peace with the result?"

"I would have liked to win, of course, but I knew from day one that Caleb was not an opponent to be underestimated. Still, I can't believe with how much ease he beat me and all that without his barriers."

"Weren't Cale's barriers the main reason you wanted to do the whole thing in the first place?", William retorted, before a shiver came over him. He couldn't help but think of last night and the powerful tremor that had felt all of Altona shake, followed by the massive wave like Cale had triggered. The mere thought that this barrier was the size of Exarion was frightening in itself, but the consequences were far more devastating. Half the city was in ruins, and from what William had overheard, similar things had been reported in the other cities of Altona.

"Originally, yes. I was annoyed by the fact that he claimed, for no apparent reason, that Zurakekama couldn't harm the barrier. It was only when he then said that he was far stronger than me that I got really angry."

A loud, metallic sound made William turn his attention back to what was happening before he spoke up with a soft laugh.

"I can understand you, at first it was incomprehensible to us too that a mage would want to teach us about sword fighting", he finally explained. The two were silent for a moment before Miguel shook his head in irritation.

"I can't believe he's also a student of Master Paseru. Even after seeing him fight, quite obviously."

"Who exactly was your master?"

"Jonat Paseru, the last Paseru and the swordmaster who used Zurakekama before me. He was a friend of my father and had been teaching me since I was little. The good man was already relatively old when I met him and ultimately passed away two years ago."

"My condolences, you must have liked him very much."

"Quite, he was a loving but also demanding man. Sometimes when I train alone, I hear his voice and how he complains about my messy form", Miguel confessed. "I can't understand why he had never told me about Caleb. In my opinion, we were very close."

William, who made no reply to this statement at first, observed wordlessly the difficulties Theorik was causing his friend. Ben was not used to fighting against a spear and therefore often tended to underestimate the distance. His advantage, however, was that he had good reflexes and therefore could dodge well after some time.

"Cale is... not a normal person."

"That should be obvious by now, after the quake that felt like it shook all of Altona", Miguel threw back with amusement. "But what's the deal with that? Who by the Holy Mana is Caleb, anyway?"

"I don't really know myself. He's hiding a lot of things from me about his past. The only logical thought I've had so far is that Cale is many times older than we assume."

"What makes you come to this conclusion?", Miguel spoke up.

"Something both Cale and High-Magician Aaron Thopas once said to me. Please don't ask me what exactly, I don't understand it myself sometimes."

"It's okay, I won't ask", the swordmaster replied calmly. Gratefully, William nodded before leaning back and crashing his arms. "He just scared me a little yesterday."

"I knew he was powerful, but even I didn't expect that", he finally replied, as his eyes scanned the sky. "Have you and Aletta thought about what you're going to do in the coming year?"

"Yes, we will both stay in Altona. Chiefs Merensen may not be convinced about letting his daughter live so close to the danger line, but he trusts that I can protect her. What about you two, are you going back to Sylve?"

"Yes, unfortunately. My father wants me back in Bellator... in his opinion, there is no need for us to stay here in the mage city. Ben and I will leave the country a few days after the New Year", William explained in a sad voice. He did not want to return home, the feeling of not being able to even begin to meet his father's standards made him angry. But at the same time, he didn't want to leave behind the life he had built here. Just the thought of no longer being able to live freely drove him crazy.

"Do you know what Philippa is going to do? Aletta said to me that the two of them want to stay together."

"That's how I understood it, too. Philippa has no place to call home, and besides, she's grown quite fond of Aletta. I think she would follow her anywhere, even to Frignez."

"Understandable", Miguel admitted, straightening up a bit as if to stretch his back.

"To think that we have to leave and you all get to stay makes me quite envious", William interjected.

"It's not the end of the world, you'll all see each other again, and besides, you've all been given a communication crystal, right?"

"It's not the same", William replied dryly, his expression turning somber. "Rumor say that the creature will attack again."

"Those are just rumors, nothing to really worry about."

"I'm pretty worried about it. You weren't there for the attack back then... that was overwhelming. I highly doubt the city would have survived the whole thing without the aid of Cale's barrier."

"You're about to imagine the worst things. Altona is home to thousands of mages, they wouldn't have given up so easily. And I also understand that the city has done many things to protect its residents in recent years."

"Maybe so, but it still makes me nervous. So many things are happening and no one is talking about it openly. It's quite obvious that the government is hiding something, both the Magistrat and the Royal House of Sylve."

"When do the leaders of our countries ever not have secrets? It's something quite commonplace. If they shared all their experiences and concerns with the outside world, it would probably just cause unnecessary panic."

"They do so already. Everyone knows that Altona is preparing its people for war, and there's something similar going on in Sylve", William explained, rubbing his forehead with one hand as he looked back at Ben and Theorik.

"I know, but can you blame them? You can't dump all the work on a few people and expect them to protect the population on their own. It's similar with Caleb, isn't it? Even he will reach his physical limits too if he's permanently forced to fight."

Suddenly William recalled the High-Magician's face and couldn't help but worry. Cale had always been a relatively quiet and friendly person, who could hardly be more inconspicuous. But the power he plays with and the influence he possesses were like different worlds. The fact that yesterday... he had cut the sea in half and caused a huge flood, which is why today the whole city... no... the whole country is talking about it, was frightening. Instinctively, William knew there had to be a reason why he was the way he was. He was careful and considered his every move carefully, as if the fate of humanity rested on his shoulders.

And William possessed no way to even begin to help him. Instead, he left the man behind, who quite obviously had a problem realizing how much he could put himself through.

"He probably already has", William muttered to himself.

"I think so, too, he had a reaction time in the fight yesterday that was out of this world. He must have had quite a few fights to the death, that's for sure. You don't learn that the easy way", Miguel replied as they came back to the same topic they started at.

"Have you ever heard the term Wrath of the Gods?", William asked cautiously, causing Miguel to give him a surprised look.

"Yes, it's another name for the Holy Mana."

"Do you know anything more about it than just the name?"

"Only a little, the information is quite withheld and I also only stumbled upon it by accident when I unintentionally overheard my father. As far as I know, it used to be the dragons who killed people in the name of the gods, and according to the story, that's how they justified the murders. Whether that's true and how this gift came to humans is another question entirely."

"If you ask me, the story is merely there to scare people."

"In what way?", William replied curiously.

"Well, why all the drama about that old name. I can't imagine Aletta's abilities being a bad thing. She's freeing us from the creatures, after all. And the belief that the dragons should have handed this gift to us humans is also pretty unrealistic, I mean, why would they? The dragons wouldn't voluntarily pass on such a power, would they? I rather think it was told that way so that humans wouldn't question the Holy Mana, nothing more."

"I see, that's a good point. Do you know how exactly Holy Mana works?"

"Och, you're asking me things today. I don't know, no. Aletta learned her mana control from her father, long before she was trained as a healer. She was really little then, I doubt she could walk properly back then", Miguel explained with an amused undertone.

"Why was that so important to Chiefs Merensen?"

"I can't tell you. All I know is that Holy Mana is hard to use."

"I see", William finally interjected, ending his line of questioning. He couldn't help but remember how Aletta had broken down when she had given Cale her mana. That Holy Mana was precious and difficult to control, he had had to learn painfully that day.

A shudder came over him as he thought of how Cale had cauterized his wounds with the metal. Memories he would rather not have had, his leg had been in such pain the rest of the day that he couldn't walk properly. This was probably the first moment he was grateful that Aletta and Cale were in his group.

"I think we should start and physical activity too", Miguel's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The blond-haired man had stood up and was straightening his sword before turning to William. "Shall we start where we left off yesterday?"

"You mean.. have the mana come out not just on the blade and hands, but all over the body?", William replied quickly, jumping up with a small hop before patting his pants clean and following his teacher.

"That's right. That allows for a variety of different attacks and defenses if you're able to wear the mana like a second skin", Miguel explained, brushing his hand aside as if he were giving a speech. "Funnily enough, even for me, there are things I didn't know. You can solidify your footing on the ground with this kind of mana control, which is just as possible on slanted walls and ceiling. We use it a lot in combat to keep from losing our footing."

"And on the water?", William gave a curious word, which caused Miguel to turn to him.

"That's what's new to me. I didn't know you could walk on water with this method."