For a moment nobody raises their hand, then I hesitantly raise mine.

"Yes?" she says turning to look at me.

I understand most of what she taught, but there is something she said at the beginning of the class that piqued my attention. "You said at the beginning of the class that magic can be cast with the force of one's will, how exactly does that work?"

"We do not know why for now, despite numerous studies our understanding of magic has only scratched the surface, but using one's will does work, the only problem with it is that if you are using a spell you are not overly familiar with, there is a high chance of something going wrong. For instance, you could try to use telekinesis and end up creating flames instead."

I remember my first experiment with magic when I'd almost burnt my house down. "What happens if you are familiar with the spell?" I ask.

"Then everything will go as you plan. That's why we encourage constant practice, only when you can cast a spell without using noers can you be considered a true master of it. Obviously, none of you have reached that stage yet."

A girl raises her hand. "How do we know when we have reached it?"

"The moment you notice that you are casting a spell without noers, you have reached it. Now, if there are no more questions, let's bring the class to a close." Since no one else has any questions she brought the class to an end and gave us our textbooks. After that, she leaves the class.

Most of the students gather to talk to each other, not eager to leave the classroom. Most gather around the 'genius' Keldin. As I have nothing else to do here I decide to leave the classroom. Just as I am about to leave the classroom Keldin shouts. "Hey grandpa, if you need any help understanding what they taught today you can always come to me."

I ignore him and leave the class. Outside the ATC my stomach growls softly as I feel a pang of hunger, it doesn't surprise me as I knew this ould happen once I saw Master Shawn at the dojo. I look around, remembering that Drew and his friends had said something about a restaurant yesterday, I wonder where it is.

"Hey, Ian." I hear someone say. I turn around and see Lathia. Surprisingly she is alone.

"Hey. Where's Drew?"

"He's with his Master."

"I thought you guys had the same Master."

She shakes her head. "We don't."

My stomach growls again, reminding me of something I had almost forgotten. "Hey, that restaurant you guys were talking about yesterday, where is it?"

"You're hungry?" She asks.

I nod. "I had Master Shawn today."

She lets out a soft laugh. "Let me guess, he game you some 'warm up' exercises to do."

I snort, a small smile on my lips. "Warm up my ass, that man was trying to murder our muscles."

"He does that every year. Always complaining that 'we're not fit enough and 'no one exercises'."

"I kinda noticed."

We talk as she leads me to the restaurant, which has a medieval-ish feel to it. I quickly order some food and find a place to sit, surprisingly she does the same. Our food comes quickly and I rapidly devour mine, much to her surprise. She jokingly calls me 'a consumer'. She finishes her food just as Drew walks in looking worn out. He looks around and seems surprised to see Lathia and me together. He walks over to our table and orders some food.

He lets out a deep sigh as he slouches in his seat.

"You look tired," I say.

He snorts. "Of course I'm tired, captain obvious."

I frown at the tone he uses, for as long as I have known him he has never spoken to me like that. Lathia notices my look and reassures me. "Don't mind him, he gets grouchy whenever he is tired. Apologize," she says as she pokes his cheek.

He doesn't say anything, choosing to close his eyes instead. She does not stop either as she continues to poke his cheek repeating, "Apologize."

"Will you stop?" Drew snaps after some time.

"Only if you apologize."

He snorts again. She tries to poke his cheek again but this time his hand shoots out, attempting to grab her finger. She quickly pulls back her finger, before attempting to poke him again. I watch both of them, slightly amused. Soon Drew gets his meal and he wolfs it down, slightly faster than I did. Lathia gives him a look before turning to look at me. "I think I understand why you two became friends."

He finishes eating quickly and we leave the restaurant after that.

"So what are you going to do now?" Lathia asks me.

"I think I going to go home," I reply. I did not know what else to do in the Metorium, besides, I am eager to begin reading the Basic Noer Studies textbook we had been given. "What about you?" I ask her.

"I'm going back to my master, I only came out because he gave me a little break."

We both turn to Drew who sighs. "I'm going home."

When we get to the arch containing the portal that leads to the In-between, we wave Lathia goodbye and leave the Metorium. As we walk side by side in the In-between, I realize something. How do I explain to my mom why I leave the house every day in the morning only to return late in the afternoon.

Drew notices my expression and asks. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just wondering how to explain to my mom why I have to leave the house every day and come back late in the afternoon."

"Why? She doesn't like you leaving the house?"

I shake my head. "No. It's just I usually spend all my time at home so she'll be curious about what has me going outside every day, plus I can't lie because she'll probably try to verify whatever I tell her. Emily may believe you're teaching me martial arts but I doubt she will."

"Oh," Drew says before returning to being quiet.

We leave the In-between and get to the bookshop where Hugo is alone. We greet him and he grunts in reply. Outside the bookshop, I say bye to Drew and head on home, on my way I try to think of what I could tell my mum but I can't come up with anything. In the end, I give up, when the time comes I'll think of something.

When I get home I discover the door is locked, and Emily isn't back home yet. This isn't a bad thing as it gives me the chance to go through the Basic Noer Studies textbook. I plop down on my bed and begin to read the textbook in front of me. Before long I am caught up in it, even though it does not go as deep as I would like in the description of noers, it is still enough for me to be hooked as I imagine what I'll be able to do with magic once I have mastered everything in the textbook. First of all, all noers are formed from any number of combinations of forty-seven different symbols the textbook calls the Alphabets. Different combinations of the alphabets produce noers each with different effects, different noers can then still be combined to produce more complex 'Sentences' -as the textbook calls them- which have a more magical effect.

The textbook then goes on to describe the function of each Alphabet, and then goes on to explain that when certain Alphabets are combined they can form something akin to an entirely new Alphabet with its own unique effect, the textbook then states that the total combinations possible have yet to be found, especially since some particular combinations can have devastating effects, some on the user, and some on the environment itself.

At some point, while reading the textbook, I bring out my notebook and begin to jot down some things I deemed worthy of notice, going so far as to try out the different effects of the Alphabets, soon my notebook is covered in what seems like arcane glyphs. I even make a few out of Uua and cause them to float around my head while I try to study them. I am staring at a particular combination of Alphabets floating in front of me when suddenly I hear a knock and my room door opens. I quickly disperse the Alphabets and hide the textbook as Emily walks in, she catches a brief glimpse of my notebook before I manage to close it.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" I shout at her as my heart pounds at the thought that she had almost caught me using magic. "Why didn't you wait for me to answer before walking in, what if I had been dressing up or something?"