After a few hours of clearing his head, Will finally felt some clarity. He was William Ragnos II, yet that didn't change who he was, who he was raised to be. Coming to this conclusion, he stood up from the tree and stretched. Though it was only a few hours of meditating, he also had a few sores and bruises from the previous battles.

Looking at one of the welts he had received, he was reminded of the total loss and humiliation in which he had received, and the loss he had suffered. More than anything, he remembered the sound of Mayas screams.

Knowing the truth of his origins, he now knew why the black cloaks had been after him, at least to an extent. Being a royal blood was like putting a sign on his back saying “Hey, I'm important capture me!” Maya died because she had been with him when they came. Will couldn't stop himself from thinking how completely helpless he was after four months of training. If they were that strong, could he ever hope to defeat them?

Will shuddered at the thought of how badly he was beaten, in both body and spirit by the time the wraiths had him. What could be done? They were too strong for him to handle, compared to them, he looked like a traveling act. He needed someone who had experience in the flame to teach him. It was no longer something he could do on his own. The books in which he read couldn't compare to the power Crystallia had in reality.

As he stood under the tall pine, Will looked at his hands. Replaying the death of his friend Maya over and over in his head, he no longer felt grief, no longer took pity on himself. He instead felt an intense anger and a thirst to right the wrongs that had befallen her. I need to get stronger, he thought as he clenched his hands into fists.

Steeling himself for what he knew he had to do, Will walked back to the small cottage. Sitting at the small table in the center of the cottage, his uncle had a bowl of stew and a cup of tea steaming at the other side with a welcoming chair awaiting his nephew.

“I need to get stronger,” Will said plainly, repeating the words he had just confirmed in his mind. Michael saw the determination that shown in his nephew's eyes. “Maya died at the hands of those freaks because she was with me, and I was too inexperienced to fight back,” he looked down at his clenched fists. “I have to put things right.”

Michael took a sip from his own tea, his gaze never leaving his nephew's. “It will be long and difficult, there will be times in which you will wish to give in,” he said as he placed his tea in front of him. “Never lose your resolve, your reason for getting stronger, and I promise you I will make you a force Crystallia has never seen before.” Will saw a look of success within Michael's eyes as if he had planned the whole thing.

“You allowed yourself to be captured by my flame, didn't you?” He asked his uncle. It didn't add up that Michael could stay on par with the wraiths, but he fell for a cage trap, and he couldn't get out with Will's help. Will was almost certain that he had been holding back the entire time. The fight was more like a bit of fun toward his uncle. Will remembered the time Michael had his sword to him, he could have struck him, but instead, he used the flat of his blade to smack Will.

“If I didn't, would we even be having this conversation?” Will thought about it for a moment. How defeated he was before, it would have been easier for Michael to make him angry other than try to cheer him up. If he had just broken out of the cage, Will wouldn't have trusted him. Michael had to be sure Will felt he had all the power in the situation in order to get his resolve back. Without that, the training Michael could put him through wouldn't make any difference if he wasn't willing to fight.

Nodding, Will waited for his uncle to continue. He would take on any challenge to right his wrong, to avenge Maya, and not involve himself with anyone else from Crystallia. Knowing who he was now, Will knew the risks of having someone close to him.

“I'll not train you without incentive though,” Michael said with a thoughtful expression, “if you master your training, I'll show you the teleportation spell I used to bring you here.”

Will's serious expression turned to one of astonishment. “You would trust me not to leave for good and go back home?”

His eyes widened when his uncle broke into laughter. Staring at the fully grown business looking man who had always been serious and held together thrown into a laughing fit, Will didn't know whether he was more astonished by what his uncle said or the reaction to his response.

Within a few minutes, the calm and collected uncle finished his comedy and returned to his natural seriousness besides a small twinkle in his eyes. “Sorry, William, but I couldn't help myself,” he said with a light heart. “What would going home accomplish? If you stayed long enough, the wraiths would be on your trail once more, and you've experienced what that would do to your loved ones.”

Will instantly thought of Maya. Was he willing to put Leo through the same thing? What if he visited Bianca and the wraiths happened upon him? He shuddered inwardly. He wasn't willing to risk it, and Michael knew it.

Seeing Will's resignation before him, Michael cleared his throat. “I'm not worried about you staying there, William, I know you care too deeply about Jonathan and your friends,” he started. “I give you the opportunity for two reasons. First is because it's the easiest way of transportation within all worlds, and secondly is you will be an adult this coming month, and I see no reason why you shouldn't have a choice.”

Since Will got to Crystallia, he had no sense of time or day since his phone finally died a few days back, so it was a surprise to hear that a half a year had passed since he had left home.

“Before we begin our training, is there any way for me to see my family? Just to know they are all right?” Will asked hopeful. He hadn't heard from Jonathan in such a long time, and he was worried how he was doing.

With an understanding smile, Michael nodded. Raising the palm of his hand, a tiny orange flame erupted forth. Moving it up to his pointer finger, he flicked it to one of his pictures. Will was confused why he would deface one of his pictures. He looked toward what he thought would be a ruined frame, instead he saw his dad.

Walking over to the picture, Will stared deeply into the frame. Jonathan was sitting at the dining room table, drinking a cup of coffee. In the chair next to him sat a familiar object. It was the bag in which Will brought with him to Crystallia!

Will looked questioningly at the frame as well as searching around him. “The bag was spelled to return to its owner upon being lost,” Michael explained as he came up behind Will. “You lost it during your fight with the wraiths.”

Will thought back to the last time he used the bag, the time when he setup a camp the last night with Maya. Yet again a sharp pang of regret welled up inside him. The bag had gotten him through many rough times.

“How did you make your flame do that? I've only been able to use it in fights, I had no idea it was used for anything else,” Will asked, never looking away from the picture.

“I suppose that's an easy enough lesson to start with,” Michael said as he turned to the door, waving his nephew to follow him.

Once outside, they took position facing each other with a few feet apart. “Summon a flame, and we will begin,” Michael said in a voice that could only be considered as a voice of a teacher. Will nodded as he felt for the aura around him. Circulating it to his upturned hand, he waited for the next instruction. “Good, now hit me with it,” he said with a smirk.

Will gave him a questioning look. He didn't want to hurt his uncle, but he did get clear instructions. He learned the hard way from Jonathan to listen when he was told to do something. He let loose the ball of ruby gold flame toward his uncle with a halfhearted thought.

Michael stood his ground while the ball closed the space between them. Within the second the ball left his hand, Will worried about hurting his uncle though when it hit him, it did absolutely nothing more than disappear on his suit without even a scorch mark.

“Your flame acts on your intent,” Michael said while brushing off his tie, “so if you have no intent to harm me, you won't.” His uncle let out a sigh as if he just confirmed Will was no longer looking at him in a menacing manner.

“Flames in this world are not just fire to destroy. They are our will made visible. If it is your intent to destroy, you will lay waste to anything in your path. If you wish to heal, your flame will knit any wound.” Will listened intently to his uncle while thinking of the many possibilities in which the revelation held.

“So you can also use it to search for someone?” Will asked.

“Anyone not blocked by their own or someone else's flame can be found. There are ways to block tracking, for instance, the dog tags Jonathan gave you before you left have my flame within.”

“Take out your phone for a second,” Michael said as he closed the distance between himself and Will. His nephew did what he asked and opened up his inside pocket and withdrew his smartphone. “Good, now think of someone who you wish to see within the reflection of the phone.”

Will could only think of one person he would like to see. Ever since his phone lost the last percent of its life, he had missed seeing Bianca. Not needing any more instruction, Will summoned a pin sized flame and cast it off his finger to his phone. Within seconds, he was staring at his girlfriend.

At the moment, Bianca was laying on her bed, looking through her phone at pictures of her and Will. Wearing her pink almost too short shorts and blue t shirt, Will felt a pang of longing, he wanted desperately to speak with her. “We will see each other again,” he said as quietly as he could. Suddenly, her full length of brown hair was out of her eyes as she looked around her room.

“Will?” He heard her ask surprisingly. As soon as he heard her, he looked at his uncle in surprise. “How do I turn this off?” Not wanting his girlfriend to hear him any longer, it was odd enough to have a voice come out of nowhere, even worse for it to be one who had not talked to her in so long.

“WILL, WHERE ARE YOU?” Bianca yelled around her room, trying to follow her boyfriend’s voice.

Will looked hopelessly at his phone screen while she was obviously having a panic attack. “I will see you soon, Bianca, just wait for me,” he said before putting his phone in his pocket and cleared his mind. Will instantly knew the connection was severed.

Now completely finished with his request, Will turned his attention to Michael.

His uncle was busy chuckling once again, obviously amused by Will's earlier problem. Knowing it was time, he put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. “Shall we begin your basic training then?”