"I think I understand you a lot better by now", Grischa murmured, shortly after Cale had thanked the dragons and ended the connection. The other High-Magicians sat comparatively quietly in the circle, one more exhausted than the other. One would almost think the Magistrat had been through an exhausting battle, so quiet was it among them.

With mixed feelings, Cale let his eyes fall over his colleagues, lingering in between on Luc and Sefra, until he finally came to Aaron. The man held his forehead with one hand, processing the information he had seen. As if Aaron had sensed his gaze, he straightened his gaze and stared wordlessly at Cale for a few moments. Aaron wanted to say something, but didn't manage to formulate his words.

Cale had shown everyone his last life, in which he had already become a High-Magician once, shortly before the end, and for the other High-Magicians this seemed to have been disconcertingly unpleasant. Comments kept coming from them saying that they would never behave like that, but Cale proved them wrong. Even if he couldn't relate to their thought processes, he knew the past was true to reality.

"When I was little, my mother always told me to never go near the dragons. She always said the dragons were our natural enemies, and I didn't question that. Looking back, a pretty outdated view, I don't even know where all the drama started", Joshua spoke up surprisingly calmly, before Fengari turned in his direction.

"You humans have always been the ones to get in your own way", Fengari interjected, leaping gracefully over Cale's shoulder to the back of the couch. Gracefully, she strode along the backrest without taking her eyes off Joshua. "Definitely dumber than we dragons are."

"How nice of you", Cale interjected wryly, trying to defuse the tense situation somewhat.

"I'm just telling it like it is. Although I have to admit that it was exactly this uncoordinated behavior that piqued my curiosity", Fengari muttered, remaining perched at the end of the backrest, a good stone's throw away from Aaron.

"It's hard to believe, even now I wonder if I'm not dreaming all this", Nora added with the help of the crystal in the center of the table.

"It's paying off that Yusuf Mirai introduced us to his view of the world", Rangar mumbled. Nods of agreement arose after Sefra's statement, while Cale frowned in irritation. All too well, Cale could understand the behavior. They had grown up all their lives believing that dragons were the enemies of mankind. Now to learn that it was all a lie and there was someone among them who knew their future had to be a tremendous shock.

"After I learned about all this, I spent my time in the library reading old stories. It's a surprise to see how much of the knowledge we now possess was hinted at in them. In the Three Gods Faith, for example, there is a tradition that the gods had bequeathed gifts to powerful beings, which were henceforth passed on to humans. There was a lot of talk about this, from shapeshifting to mind control of humans. Never thought that this was reality, which can be interpreted like history books", Aaron finally reported, before Fengari elegantly promoted himself onto his lap. Surprised, Aaron winced and nervously watched the black cat, who was having fun provoking him. "From what I've read, it may well be that behind the use of special magic forms, a mage's ancestry is relevant."

"You mean like zero magic?", Odin spoke up. He was one of the High-Magicians, along with Cale and Nora, who had mastered this type of magic.

"I think so, yes. Zero magic, the omniscient eyes, teleportation, shapeshifting... these are all abilities of the gods themselves that have mingled with us humans via the dragons. From what I've read, the purity of the bloodline determines how clearly the gift manifests in a mage's mana", Aaron discusses without relaxing his muscles for even a second.

"So you think that's why Cale got the gift of rebirth?", Grischa interjected.

"I think that you were not a coincidence, Caleb. Considering the circumstances, I would argue that you were chosen because of the abilities that were already dormant in you at that time. Therefore, one question arises for me: who exactly are your parents?"

, Cale pondered for a moment before speaking up. "I don't know for sure. From what I could learn, my father grew up in Groka and had been a soldier all his life. He had very rarely left Sylve. My mother moved here a few years before I was born, where she originally came from I'm not sure. Finding out something about her was pretty hard, I don't know the family tribe from her side at all."

"Well, that's where we have a problem. From what we could see, your mother seems to have been a mage as well. There must be something we can find out, what was her name again?"

"Olivia. Olivia Leuen", Cale answered the question from the 3rd seat, who nodded in confirmation. To Cale, that was a pretty clear indication that Aaron would be looking into finding out more about Cale's ancestry in the near future.

"Is that perhaps the reason why you kept ending up in Groka when you attacked, and why Grischa had the insight from your mother?", Joshua noted a few moments later, causing the two mages to look at each other questioningly.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility. Your mother might have a greater significance than you've been aware of", Grischa quietly stated, which is why Cale could only nod. It made perfect sense to follow the trail, Cale realized by now. Grischa's insight suddenly seemed to have a completely different meaning than Cale had imagined at the time.

"You know what I've been wondering for a while? Why was Groka attacked in the first place? After all this, I find it hard to believe that it was just a coincidence", Rosalie interjected, which is why the High-Magicians all looked at her in surprise. She was quite right in her comment. Cale had asked himself the same question, but had never been able to find a satisfactory answer.

What if Groka was a planned target from the beginning and not just a test run, as Cale had assumed so far? What if he had overlooked the obvious from the beginning? What if he had been so focused on survival that he had disregarded the important things?

"Admitted... I wouldn't rule it out, but why? What was so interesting about Groka to the creatures, or rather to the Thormods?", Aaron commented, before Cale spoke up.

"The same question applies to Kutam, the village that was attacked in the summer of 19. 1160, albeit on a much smaller scale. What was so interesting about that village?"

"Maybe you yourself were the reason?", Malte interjected, but Cale shook his head.

"I can't imagine that. I have no connection to the village, and I wasn't even present the first few times. Perhaps my mother is from Kutum, who knows. However, it doesn't seem logical to me in the least."

"Isn't Kutam pretty close to Bellator itself?", Odin reported, visibly irritated.

"Yes, a good 30 minutes outside, but very far east", Aaron explained calmly as he turned his gaze to the Eldest with his hands clasped.

"Does Groka or Kutam have any significance to you dragons, Fengari?", Grischa spoke up, causing the black cat to turn her gaze to the mage.

"Not that I'm aware of. I will ask the others later, but the only place that is truly important to us is the Island of the Gods itself. Solely because the gods appear here."

"Kutam is very far from the mountains in Sylve. Personally, I find it strange that no human had seen the horde of creatures before the attack. Don't you think so?", Odin spoke up thoughtfully, as if he hadn't even gotten to the actual point of his statement. "Has anyone ever taken a closer look at the ground south of the mountains?"

Instantly, the High-Magicians went into shock. The 5th Seat had made a statement that scared everyone. What if the Thormods are eating through the underground like worms? What if you are just using the villages as a kind of entrance to their tunnels. Were you capable of something like that, or had they found another way?

"We should check that out", the Eldest quietly spoke up as he turned his gaze to Cale. It was almost as if the mage wanted to check whether Cale would become afraid for the capital of Exarion. If their theory proved to be true, the creatures would have been on the walls of the city long ago without anyone knowing about it. "I will speak with King Leonhardt of Sylve later, we can't do any research on his land without telling them what the reason is."

"I would like to participate, if I may", Odin unceremoniously spoke up again, prompting the Eldest to give him an approving nod.

"Are you at all okay with all of this, Caleb?", Rosalie spoke up, causing the mage to give her a confused look.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"I mean all of this. You've been acting alone for a century, why this change? Why didn't you tell anyone about the time travel until now?"

Cale was silent as he felt the eyes of his colleagues on him. Was this the kind of distrust he had been so afraid of all along? Or why was Cale so uncomfortable with the question? Was he blaming himself for the years he had given away, now that he had suddenly received so much information?

"Because of Grischa", he finally spoke up, resting his head against his arm as he continued with the explanation. "I always had a clear plan in mind, but after I was exposed as a shape-shifter by him back then, I was forced to act differently than I thought. Then, when it had to happen with the marking of the Thormods, my whole plan unraveled. I never wanted the entire thing, I myself don't know exactly why I told Grischa in the first place. Probably it was the stress and fear for his life that had forced me to do things I would never have done otherwise. Not that it was a bad thing, but something in my head just knew that I couldn't do it alone anymore. And I had to accept that at some point."

Cale himself was surprised at how honest his statement was. He didn't really mean to go into such detail, but subconsciously did. The way he had trained himself to be a lone wolf over the past few years, he was no good; no man alone could prevent the downfall of the world. And yet, Cale hesitated to guarantee other people free rein. It was no longer in his power to estimate what the future of this world would hold for him.

A feeling he absolutely did not like.

"Kid, if this life doesn't turn out as desired, please come back to us", Aaron reported with a serious look. Fengari, perched on his legs, gave the dark-haired High-Magician a surprised look at the comment, as did Cale.

"I'm not much of a person who keeps any promises."

"Just do it, even though you may not like it", Grischa interjected.

"It's not like I don't want to, but 18 years ago even you were a completely different person, Grin. You can't say you'd believe a crazy kid if he claimed he was from the future."

"True enough, I was quite a pain in the ass back then", Grischa commented. "Wasn't I, Aaron?"

"I'll refrain from commenting now", Aaron merely countered, with several other High-Magicians nodding. Cale could understand this reaction, as Grischa had been a simple child at the time, given power for no reason, and had only learned over time how much responsibility he actually had. This youthful recklessness, which he had never lost, he now rarely showed in front of others. But since Cale had been following his developments for years, he knew exactly how antisocial Grischa could behave.

"Still, Caleb. Don't start keeping it all bottled up again", Grischa calmly replied, causing Cale to turn to him. For a few moments, the two mages stared at each other in silence, while a slight smile appeared on Grischa's face. Cale had to recall the conversations he had had with the other versions of Grischa, before suddenly the face of his wife Ibellina and son Fabio came to mind.

"Well, help me not to get into this situation in the first place. I'm so sick of all these rebirths by now, I don't even want to think about the 'when' or 'if'. I just want my sixth life to be my last."