Rai wasn’t sure why he was frustrated. At first, he thought it was to do with the bullies who refused to just leave without fighting. But after thinking about it further, he found that he was more annoyed at himself.

Why couldn’t I see that I was just pitying that boy? I didn’t consider how he would’ve felt after getting bailed out... he’ll probably still have to go through bullying like that and I won’t be around to stop it every time, so his reaction makes sense. Maybe I’d be the same if I was in his shoes. Rai sighed.

He’d come to realise that not every situation could be solved by a single fight.

After walking around aimlessly, his frustration didn’t disappear.

Rai thought about finding somewhere nice to sit, rest, and relax before his next lesson. Maybe that way, he wouldn’t be so annoyed. The Academy was set up to allow rest and relaxation for students in between their lessons or during their free periods since the curriculum was so stressful for most. Rai was grateful that they considered the overall student body’s wellbeing.

After a while, Rai found a nice spot to sit outdoors in one of the pagodas on the Academy grounds. The seats were comfortable, with lots of cushions. The weather was great, with not a raindrop in sight. Rai allowed himself to relax. He was still in school, but since there was still a solid hour until lunch. There wasn’t much else he could do right now.

Unsurprisingly, Rai dozed off.

He started dreaming...

Evolve

Balance

Transcend

The voices kept squirming among themselves. The only constant was those three words.

Boom!

A human? A galaxy. Rai saw the celestial figure. The one made up of entire galaxies.

Boom!

Red hair. Red eyes. Rai saw Sin. Though, she was older. She had black glowing runes circling her wrists, and lining her face below her eyes. She looked... powerful.

Boom!

A mirror. Himself. Rai saw a grown up version of himself in the mirror. His eyes were inverted in colour. Glowing blue runes lined up around both of his eyes. His aura was entirely visible, and it almost reminded him of... a dragon? Where his seals were supposed to be, was a pair of tattoos that resembled what they looked like.

Boom!

Rai saw nothing. But he heard everything.

The key. Where is the key?

Can you read it?

I can read it.

WE NEED THE KEY!

I’m too weak.

Save them... Rai... Save them please!

Save yourself! Rai, you have to save yourself!

KILL THEM ALL! WIPE THEM OUT!

Elly! Where are you?!

Where’s Jin! Where is he?!

Mum! Sin!

Rai... I... I love...

DON’T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!

They’re fine! You have to go!

Find the truth.

The secret of the world.

Boom!

Rai flew up. He was breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down his forehead. “What just...” He whispered under his breath. A trio of shadows formed on the ground in front of Rai. He looked up.

Three figures stood in front of him. A man with wheat coloured hair. A black bear with white glowing tattoos all over its body. And a man who felt familiar yet distant. He had blue eyes and long black hair, just like Rai.

They were lined up in an order from left to right. The bear was first, then the man with black hair who was familiar yet unfamiliar to Rai, then the wheat-haired man.

“You have”

“To find”

“Me.”

The man who felt familiar to Rai opened his mouth. A thunderous voice boomed in his mind.

“Open the gate.”

Boom!

Rai woke up.

He screamed.

Rodrick held his hand over Rai’s forehead. It was glowing a cool blue.

“It’s okay... It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re awake now... Breeeeaathe.”

Rai panted. Rodrick saw only panic on the boy’s face. Rai's eyes darted all over the place, and his breathing was ragged.

“I felt a disturbance in mana fluctuations in this area and I came to see you squirming in your sleep. Take a minute, have some water.” Rodrick said. He snapped his fingers, conjuring a cup with water in it.

Rai snatched it, and drank. He drank large gulps for a few seconds. Even after he’d finished, the cup was still full to the brim.

Rodrick waited for Rai to take some long breaths before continuing. After a few minutes, Rai entered a calmer state. Rodrick tapped the cup.

“... It’s called a premonition. What you just went through is something that those blessed by mana end up experiencing at least once in their lifetimes.” Rodrick said. "It's as much a curse as it is a blessing." He whispered under his breath.

Rai was still panting, but his breath was less ragged now.

“It was... so real... and terrifying.” He still had the mental room to be suspicious of Rodrick’s uncannily relevant knowledge. “How... do you know?”

“I’ve seen it twice before.”

Rai was shocked. There are others like me? Others who have lived like I do? I have to know more.

“Can... can you tell me about them?” Rai asked.

Rodrick nodded. He solemnly looked up at the twin suns' silhouette behind the clouds in the sky.

“The first was a little girl called Diana... She died not too long after her premonition.”

Rai took another sip of water.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Her blessing was too much for her to handle. Her premonition was about her own death. I took her under my wing, but in the end I... couldn’t protect her from herself.”

Rai noticed a hint of regret in Rodrick’s voice. He must have felt responsible for her death...

“The other one though... I bet you’d never expect it. Since it’s someone you know. Go on, take a guess, who do you think it is?”

Rai closed his eyes for a moment. He thought about it long and hard.

“Is it Joey, the vice-principal?”

Rodrick stared at him, then broke out into laughter.

“Pfft! That guy?! I can’t believe that was your guess!” He broke into a fit of giggles.

Rai was somewhat embarrassed, but he didn’t understand why Rodrick reacted the way he did.

“What? Why can’t it be Joey?”

“Woooh. That boy has hardly any mana at all. His strength comes from his physical techniques. Joey may be my subordinate, but he’s every bit as powerful as I am through pursuing the growth of his own body. It's just that he has hardly any defensive techniques by virtue of pursuing explosive power. That's not to say that he cannot use spells, it's just that he's limited in what he can cast."

Rai never knew Joey to be as great as the headmaster had just praised him to be.

“Okay, tell me who it is then because I have no clue.”

“It’s your teacher, Lillia. Her premonition still hasn’t come to fruition.”

Rai stared blankly at him. He was so exasperated that he’d forgotten how to speak.

“I figured. You couldn’t tell, right?” Rodrick asked.

Rai shook his head.

“It’s because her mana’s sealed. Her necklace isn’t only beautiful, but it also functions as a seal. Like your bands.”

“You... knew?” Rai instinctively readied himself for defence.

“Only because I had to save Lillia’s life with her own seal. Yours are clearly far more advanced, so I can only assume your mana reserves are much deeper.” Rodrick alleviated Rai’s immediate concerns. “Your secret is safe with me. The council will never hear of it. I promise you that, with my life as the guarantee.” He winked.

Rai rolled his eyes. If the headmaster had already broken the law by sealing Lillia’s mana, then there was no way that he'd tell the council about Rai’s.

Rai lowered his defences.

“Your blessing is also a curse. If you were to ever unseal all of your mana, the world around you would fold in on itself. It’s far too dangerous.” Rodrick said.

“Yeah... I always felt like something bad would happen if I released all of it. It will only get worse when I get older, right?”

“Aye... It doesn’t get easier.”

“Well, at least I’ve got Sin! She makes things easier whenever she’s around.”

“You should let her know that. It’s not often that one’s so blessed to have such a reliable friend by their side.”

“I will! She has to know how much she...” Rai paused. “means to me.” He whispered.

Rodrick sat with Rai for a few more minutes, just to make sure that Rai was actually fine. As he left, Rodrick reminded Rai not to be late for lunch, which was starting in a few minutes.

Rai smiled and waved him goodbye. After Rodrick left, Rai thought back on the premonition. He'd forgotten most of it by now, but the things that he could remember were disturbing. The image of a man, that Rai thought could’ve been his father, telling Rai to find him implanted itself in Rai’s head. Then saying to 'open the gate'. What could that possibly mean? The phrase 'secret of the world' also lingered.

Rai didn't know just how much of this premonition he could trust, but since Diana's premonition came true then at least some of his would probably hold true.

Rai sighed.

There's too much to worry about. I'm just going to go to lunch and try to forget about it.

Rai made his way to the cafeteria. His premonition was weighing on his mind. Somehow, Rai felt physically heavier as well. In fact, it was the weight of a tall boy with slicked back brown hair.

His excitable voice boomed in the hallway.

“Good to see you bro!”

Bro?

“How was your recovery? Sin said that we weren’t allowed to come and see you until you were all good.” Tullian said.

A shiver ran down Rai’s back. Sin’s militant nature when she took care of Rai had clearly left an imprint on him.

“It was mostly fine. Sin helped me through all of it.” His smile curled into a frown, “I still can’t use lightning right now though...”

The last words came at a surprise to Tullian.

“... It’s my fault. If you didn’t fight me and Amy, maybe the headmaster wouldn’t have taken you to that other society. I’m sorry!”

Rai stared at him, deadpan.

“Are you stupid?” Rai asked.

“A little.”

“...”

“...”

“It wasn’t your fault. I was stuck in my own head and the headmaster helped me out of it. You guys did nothing wrong!”

“Really? Alright then.”

What? That’s it? Is he dumber than I am?

Rai was slapped on his back, nearly causing him to fall forward.

“Hey! You're that first year, Rai, was it?” A group of students wearing black uniforms came up behind him.

Rai and Tullian were in the cafeteria by this point, and were attracting attention from people near the entrance. Noisy conversations surrounded them.

Rai turned around to see them all.

“Hey, you guys are from the adventurer’s society! How are you all doing?”

“We’re all well. We’re also glad to see you’re well too! It might be too soon but... do you want to spar with us after school today?”

The noise around them stopped. Students sat at the lunch tables wondered if they heard that right. A group of second years asked a first year if they wanted to spar?

“Oh! That sounds like...” He deflated, “fun. I can’t today, but maybe at a future session?”

“Yeah, that'd be great! See you around!” He waved bye to Rai. The other second years did the same as they walked past Rai and Tullian into the cafeteria.

Rai waved them all goodbye.

The students who watched the exchange practically lost their jaws. The first year actually declined the invitation, and the second years were fine with it?!

Tullian was confused, but he almost always felt confused, so he didn’t think much of it. The two of them looked around the cafeteria to try and find their friends. Rai thought the only bad thing about the cafeteria was that it was so big. It was like one huge hall with tons of tables and chairs. There were always so many students spread all around it. Finding their friends here was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

If Rai had access to Stormflow then he could have found them instantly.

He shook his head. I can’t think like that! Stormflow isn’t the only thing in my arsenal. Everything else is just as important.

Tullian looked around for a bit before returning to Rai.

“Do you think we should get our food first, then try and find them after? Even if it’s a hot meal, we can just heat it up with magic if it gets cold.” He asked.

“... So you’re not stupid.”

“Hahaha! Not always!”

“Alright, let’s get our food first then.”

They went to the front of the cafeteria and lined up in the queue to get their food. Fortunately the queue moved relatively quickly. In a few minutes, they arrived at the serving area.

The food itself looked delicious. Today’s serving was rice alongside lizard tail soup.

Lizard tail soup.

Rai completely lost himself to the memory of Dorothy’s lizard tail soup. There was no way that the school’s chefs could make it as good as she could.

He was right.

Rai tried a spoon of it as they walked, and it just wasn’t the same. Still, he was glad that he could enjoy a familiar dish while at the Academy. Dorothy would be glad to hear that her lizard tail soup really was the best he's ever had.

After a few minutes, Rai and Tullian found their friends. True to his request, Sin saved a seat next to her for Rai. Sin looked up and somehow found Rai’s eyes instantly.

She wasn’t blushing.

Eh? I thought I teased her... Did she already get over it?