Hiatus is over! I just passed, got my degree and have time to write again.

Enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It's a common beginner's mistake to use armour, which doesn't suit the user. Using equipment, which is meant for people of higher levels just because it's stronger, is foolish. It's an erroneous belief to think, the stronger, the better. A stronger armour needs more of your aura to be completely infused. If you fail to infuse it completely with your aura, the armour looses almost all of its effectiveness. Even if you manage this part there won't be enough aura left for your aura-shield, your last line of defence, which protects in contrast to armour your whole body. Much less is there left to strengthen your muscles. That's also the reason why mages don't wear heavy armour. They train in mana and simply don't have much aura.”

-Beginners Guide, by Nicholas Novi.

***Aeron***

“Phew!”

Falling back into my bed, all I want is to sleep. No experimenting with magic, no practising aura, just sleeping. Although it's just late in the afternoon or early in the evening.

After meeting with Lily and Mia, we went shopping. It was Mia's first real shopping tour, making her excited and energetic. I had to smile, seeing her behaving like an ordinary girl. It doesn't took long for my smile to fade away, though. Even without an arduous fight, it wouldn't be easy to accompany them in their frenzy.

For myself I got a few sets of the school uniform. Lily persisted on getting a few of them, saying that there will be some sort of attrition and that I look handsome in them. Taken aback by her unnaturally sweet words, I couldn't retort in time and Mia's confirmation settled it.

The boy's uniform has a white shirt and khaki coloured trousers. Furthermore a navy blue blazer with the academy's white emblem, a three tailed fox on a burning shield, on the left side and a red golden, diagonal striped tie. All in all it looks formal, but it's still easy to move in them. To a certain degree it's even possible to do stretching with it. Additionally for colder days I got a dark blue cloak with the academy's emblem on the left side again. It reminds me of the cape worn by a fictitious void magician named Louise.

Asking Mia about her uniform, she just blushed and said that her mother has already ordered it. In contrast to her I couldn't use gear from the Kingsley, which were mostly marked. Hence another strenuous part was looking for dungeon gear. Though the real issue, that made it tiring, had four letters: L i l y. But with the help of a few pleading looks, I swayed Mia to my side, helping me. Together we managed to acquire decent gear.

I have to admit, though, that Lily wasn't only counterproductive, her knowledge was really helpful, too. Mia wanted me to choose strong, protective gear, which wasn't even made for rookies. Just the price of them was alarming. It would be fatal to wear gear which doesn't suit your level or fighting style. The fight with Steve showed me the importance of mobility and as a magician, lighter gear is more beneficial. In the end Lily proposed gear and I decided eventually with a little help of Mia. Sounds easy, but we are talking about Lily! You wouldn't believe what kind of armours you can find in Altos! And don't ask me how I know about certain stuff, but I'm pretty sure that gear from at least one of the shops Lily visited wasn't meant for fighting, at least not in dungeons!

In the end I got a convenient belt pouch with magically enchanted bags on both sides and a bigger one at the back. It was really expensive and has to be recharged with ether by a professional, depending on the rate of usage. My bags are magically enlarged, though the weight of the stored object stays for the most part. The more I fill the bags, the faster the ether will be consumed, hence I should empty them as soon as I don't need the extra space anymore. There are also bags, which cancel out more weight, but those consume much more ether and are of course more expensive.

Most of the money Lord Kingsley gave Lily to spend on my gear was used for the pouch. According to Lily it's is more important than armour, as I will quickly outgrow any armour I can handle now. With her charm, she even managed to get a great discount and an aura flask as a bonus, which fits perfectly in one of the straps of the belt pouch. Although I can't completely deny that she may seem charming, if you don't know her, she still doesn't look much older than fourteen! That salesman... To be charmed by a girl who could be his daughter or even granddaughter! But I shouldn't complain as it benefited us.

As armour I got a light one for beginners - hardened leather with a metal-reinforced chest part, which went down to the upper thighs. The arm and shin guards are also reinforced with metal. Looks like some kind of iron, I hope it doesn't rust. A pair of leather gloves and boots with reinforced caps complemented my gear. Not flashy, not ugly and above all, not cute! I liked that rapier from the fight I had, but in the dungeon I need something stronger, which can deal more damage with a hit. At least that's what Lily said. I ended up with a simple but sturdy broadsword and a shield. Both are "Level 2 advised". The shield was her idea, using the argument, “Are you going to let a girl tank vicious monsters?”, completely ignoring that Mia is our melee expert. As Mia and I looked confused, she explained that we will spend the day tomorrow in Altos Dungeon. Lily, however, used an euphemism. She called it “going on a picnic-trip”, even though she just used the words 'vicious monsters'...

The money was almost completely spent, but there was still enough for a few supplies like vials. I can attach up to four vials to the straps of the belt. Of course I could place more inside the bags, but those straps allowed me to quickly grab them in case of emergency. There are three main types of vials. The red ones are aura vials, which surprisingly restore aura. The blue ones are mana vials, which of course restore mana. The most expensive vials are purple and are called life vials. They can mend wounds directly. You can choose the quality of aura and mana vials according to your aura or mana pool. There are just very few different types of life vials, though. Life vials are meant to be strong, and it doesn't matter if a level one or a level hundred is wounded, the same vial is needed for the same kind of wound. Lily was really insistent regarding those life vials. We shouldn't be stingy with their quality and always carry at least one of them with us, even if we are together with a healer.

I placed two red, one blue and one purple vial into the quick-access straps. Mia bought also some for her gear. The expensive purple vial was a gift from Mia and Lily. Together with a water bottle we bought some necessary things for a “picnic” like food and a blanket. Are we really going to have a picnic in a dungeon? It was really a strenuous day and tomorrow won't be better. Time to get my well-earned sleep. Although I feel my whole body aching, I slowly drift asleep...

*knock* *knock*

***Mia***

Today was a great day! First the enrolment and then the shopping afterwards, it was really exciting. Despite our watchdog Lily, it was almost like a date. Or rather this is how I imagine a date must feel like. Of course not a L-lover's date! I mean, how meeting friends must feel like... I never got much time besides training and the rest of the time I spent with my family. Like big brother always took time to care for me, I tried to spent as much time as possible with my little sister. I hope I don't spoil her too much... That my parents are overprotective and try to keep us in our estate doesn't help either, but that suits me. I have to focus on getting stronger and can't spent my time with toying around with friends. I don't have much time left. My sister won't stay a child forever and eventually they will target her, too. Failing isn't an option!

That's why my bond with Aeron is so precious to me. He is the only friend I have. Of course there is also Lily, but it feels more like being her smaller sister. Now that Aeron is here in my world, trying his best to help me out, staying by my side and I am able to see him face to face, it's like my dreams come true. I should feel happy now, but I am not.

Pulling Aeron out of his world isn't something we should have done. I know how much he loves his mum, who raised him all on her own. My memory of the summoning is still hazy, but I know for sure, that we never intended to do a permanent summoning. However, it's still our fault that he has to stay here until we find a way to send him back. Will our bond in mind re-establish, if he gets back to his world? Even now, without his thoughts in my mind I can't help and feel lonely from time to time and that's while seeing him daily!

He never mentioned his home since coming to this world, albeit he must miss it. Is he keeping it to himself in order to not worry us? I will respect his decision, but I want to be there for him. As soon as school starts, I won't be able to see him often.

Suddenly I find myself standing in front of a door. Surprised I look around. This should be Aerons room? Taking another look around, just to be sure, my hand rises on its own into a knocking position. Am I really going to knock? What should I say? I can't say I'm feeling lonely, can I? No, there is no way I can do something this embarrassing and I can't just walk alone into a boy's room.

I force myself to lower my hand and to step back from the door.

I'm despicable... He's alone in a foreign world. I know him, there is no way he's not missing his home or our bond and all I can think of are trivial things like how embarrassing it would be... Without any further thoughts my body moves.

*knock* *knock*