"I'M SENDING Irlan here. You should be grateful for it."

Mathilda left with an abrupt swish of her fan. She didn't roll her eyes like Adarmus expected her to. It looks like she had matured over the years. 'Sending a student will only burden my son more. I should have said no to that.'


But he knew that Mathilda would not listen to him. If there's something about the woman that made her distinct and notorious against men, it is the level of her stubbornness. Adarmus thought she'd probably anger the Fates if she tried hard enough.

"Lance, wake up. The ward has been set." Adarmus sighed. He comforted the kid. "Come on, you didn't miss anything. What's with that frown?"

"Nothing. I just don't like old people being stern and secretive around me." The thin veil of white gently evaporated from his eyes. It was now clear and angry. "I felt stupid for a moment. What magic did that woman use? I can't almost think properly whenever she's near."


Adarmus chuckled. "She's Mathilda Roan. She came from a famous mage clan. Their family train gifted kids to their full potential. Be a mage with a sword. What you experienced earlier must be their new spell. She loves showing off in front of people. Did it amaze you?"

'Amaze me?' Lance nodded but his expression was in denial. "I was just not prepared for it. I didn't know we'd be ambushed. Should've heightened my senses."


"You won't still be able to block it. Like what I've said, their family is specialized in magic. Their clan won't spend building a school just to teach students a spell that someone as weak as you can escape." Adarmus put back his hood. "That will miss the purpose of creating the spell."

Lance held his chest. "That Mathilda was right. You really have the audacity."

"She's just showing off. I've done my part searching for after-effects on your body. There's nothing amiss. It looks like the spell crafting is on its final level. They haven't completed it but it will, soon."

"How did you know that?"

"That woman has no limits. If she's capable of pulling me inside that spell, she would definitely do that just to spite me. I'm fortunate she couldn't."

Lance pretended to know about their past. He's curious but he know that asking will only lead to another bout of insults from Adarmus. The old man is not on the right mood ever since that woman came.

He was almost convinced that she was Joaquin's mother. The only thing that strays him further from the idea is Joaquin and Mathilda's physical description.

Joaquin's face bear no resemblance to Mathilda. The hair were all wrong and the skin is not a match. When Adarmus casually said, 'no, she's not', Lance knew that he was not lying.

He was able to sigh in relief. If that woman became Joaquin's mother, he would volunteer to pack his own things and move to Murdoc by feet.

'We won't get along with each other.' She called him names within only seconds that he met her.

"Anyway, I don't know when but a student named Irlan will come here and introduce himself as Joaquin's guardian. He will be your associate. Treat him nicely. He's a young boy. Probably at the age of 15."

"Joaquin's new guardian? A fifteen year old!" Lance exclaimed, "And you agreed to that? That's too young. What can he possibly contribute to me as an associate?"

Adarmus hummed a low tone. "You're underestimating Mathilda's prided student. Irlan was her most outstanding junior apprentice mage. Show some respect."

"Wow..." Lance complained, "You even revere him with more respect than I, yeah?"

"I've come across him a few times on the way. He was able to meet and talk to the Fates by the age of ten. He's bestowed a flaming sword by a great ghost general. Looks younger and frigid but definitely more mature than most of you."

Lance felt totally invisible by the end of Adarmus' speech. He knew about the ghost general. He heard that somewhere across this land, a kid that once been brought to the world of the dead has come back alive with the sword of the gate keeper.

When someone dies, their soul crosses the river of wailing souls to the gates of the underworld. There stood the great ghost general, who hangs a sword by his waist. No one is able to escape once reaching the gate. The ghost general forcefully drags the souls inside the world below. But somehow, one kid manage to cheat his supposed death. And he was able to bring the ghost general's sword with him as if it was a gift.

Lance thought that the tale was all crap told by old people to their kids to force them on doing better. Now that Adarmus is the one talking about it with proud eyes, he felt scared just by thinking the name of this child.

'Irlan.' He thought, 'It shouldn't be that bad being friends with him right?'

Speaking his name was like breaking the law's order. Lance couldn't understand why this kid gives him this uncomfortable feeling.

LANCE WOKE up with his eyes swollen black and lifeless. He lost sleep even though he spent the midnight face-planted on the earth because of Mathilda. The feeling of numbness resides almost permanently inside his head. He met several people every year. But this lot? It never happened before.

He couldn't help but worry if was there someone out there pushing all these people inside their circle so they would have no choice but to expand it. And because of that, it will be too easy for the villains to get past the barrier unnoticed by using one of them.

Lance and Joaquin decided to lock the Old Sy up in the guest room.

Massaging his head, he mumbled relentlessly about how his headache is getting stronger than the usual.

'Locking him up would be too much.' The old man didn't even want to see them. He refused to go out or eat. 'There's no need to lock him up. He's doing that all to himself.'

"Damn. This is ridiculous." Lance sighed.

Penelope tsk-ed. "Missing your mate?"

"Missing my ass, that is." Lance answered almost as if it's a reflex reaction.

"Is your migraine acting up again?" Joaquin stood. "I'll get you some pain killers."

"No need. You know it will be gone after a while."

"Joaquin, why is he like this?" Penelope sat beside Lance. Joaquin didn't move and instead reached out his hand to caress her hair. "He looks terrible."

"Uh, I'm still listening?" Lance blinked. People these days tend to ignore his feeling. "I can hear you calling me terrible?"

"Too much power in his body that was originally not his own." Joaquin stated, "Lance is my guardian. He's half a magic user and an elf hence why he can transform in his blue-haired form. But there are certain levels of spell craft which he could not do. He could not advance easily because he lacked on certain aspects. But since he's only half a mage, he can be a vessel. The things that his current magic couldn't do can be temporarily achieved by borrowing some magic from a high-rank mage."

"This is not normally possible but Lance is a special case. He can be a vessel. This doesn't mean he's invincible though. We don't know the limit of the magic that he can get from someone but we took notice how every time that the power were all used up, he will experience body pain, a migraine or the worse case, he'd be paralyzed. The greater power that he borrowed, the setback will be huge."

"I only go to Adarmus to absorb some of his magic whenever I'm going on a high-risk mission." Lance chirped, "That's why Joaquin always tells me to train, and train, and train everyday. So I would advance faster. That way, I won't have to use his father's power. The setbacks can last for days."

Every mage has a different aura and magic trail on them. Like how werewolves scents each other, mages have their own way of knowing. Some magic trail felt hot and nasty, and some are soft as a pillow and comforting. And there are few who's magic trail felt intrusive and threatening. It's different for every magic user.

Lance had been told that his magic felt cold and searing at the same time.

He launched on a clear description about how everything works for him. Penelope listened with apt expression. Lance loved talking to her. It was the first time that someone had tried to listen to him and understand how his body works.

"That's awful." Penelope concluded, "So last time, when you were killed... was it because of the setback?"

"Hmn... no." Lance bit his lips. "Those are the things that my current level can do. Transforming and attacks. That's what I'm used to. Well, years ago, people don't fight with spells and curses. Lance was right. I was too careless and had a large lapse of training."

"You should take care of yourself, you know." Penelope furrowed her brows. "There's so much in the future that we should look forward to. Is there anything I can do to ease your headache?"

"No. I'm fine." Lance heaved a breath. "I just need to go out and sleep for a while. I'll be fine."

"Be back when the pain gets too much to handle, okay?" Joaquin called him, "Answer me!"

"Yes, cousin!" Lance's forehead had formed a thin patches if sweat on his forehead. He dabbed it with a clean handkerchief.

He walked aimlessly for a great deal of minutes. Lance thought that the fresh air will help him but it didn't. His chest still feel stuffy.

Walking a few more steps, he came across a cliff. It wasn't as high but the view is more than satisfying.

He bended his knees and sigh.

Lance wanted to clear his mind of matters that doesn't concern him.

Like what Adarmus always taught him, he thought about the most memorable moment of his life to distract himself.

He traced back his memories and smiled at a particular scene. It was when he first met his friend, his cousin and his boss, Joaquin de Villa.