Sol opened his eyes to find himself back in the kitchen, his sister had just run after him.

“Sol-”

“I don’t want to argue, just sit down so we can speak as a family,” Sol said.

June sat down on a chair while Summer leaned against the back wall.

Sol took a deep breath in, “Tell me exactly what you’ve been doing,” he said, “I won’t get angry.”

Summer and June looked at each other for a minute.

“I-”

“I-”

“It started a month ago,” June continued, “In the library, we received a vintage affinity tester and decided to see if it still worked. I thought it would be interesting to find out mine,” June explained.

“Ok, seems fair. What did the reading say?” Sol asked.

“89% Arcane, other affinities were small and I had a 72% mana control score.”

Sol’s eyes popped out of his socket. Above 80% was unheard of, along with a mana control score of 72%, Sol’s control was only 20% when he first joined the Unwanted.

“89% Arcane affinity! That’s- That’s”

“Extremely high, everyone was shocked at the library. Mr Demy found out too and said I should experiment further with it, of course following all the safety procedures.”

“Go on,” Sol said.

“And I’ve been practising Rune Writing, Enchanting and Mana Control since.”

“Show me,” Sol said.

“What? Here, in the dining room.”

“Of course, a 72% control score means you are highly proficient,” Sol said.

He felt as if he was going crazy, his sister could have got picked up by nobles when they were younger. She still could now.

June brought a book up and flicked through a few of the first couple pages. Each page was filled with her own sketches and writing.

She gave it a final glance then outstretched her hands. Her right index finger began to glow and she started to write out a rune in mid air. With her left hand she held the mana perfectly.

The rune was fairly simple, Sol was no expert but even he could say that she was already amazing at it. Summer seemed more impressed than himself.

“Wow,” was all Sol could say.

“Have you received any skills yet or a class?” Sol asked.

“Not yet, but the statistics books say I’m close to receiving a class,” June explained.

Sol sat back in his chair, “Have you had any injuries?”

“Not major ones, I’ve gotten a few burns as you can see.”

“Ok… Alright, Summer?”

“June told me to do the test thingy too. I think I got 64% fire, 41% mana control and I have strong mana veins.”

“So body enhancer,” Sol stated, “And what have you been getting up to?”

“I don’t know much but I’ve gotten a skill already. June’s been teaching me in my free time.”

“Show me,” Sol said.

“Ok, June can you get the water rune ready.”

June nodded and she started casting it as Summer moved into the center of the room. She took a deep breath and activated the skill. A heat mirage appeared around her body and purple flames licked off it.

“Woah,” Sol said, “The colour of the flames. Void? How old was that tester?”

“Void? What’s void?” she asked in a panic.

“Like Spacetime magic,” Sol answered, “I’ve never seen a flame variant. June have you been researching this?”

June was staring into space with her rune still in the air, “That’s what it is,” She mumbled.

“June,” Sol said, interrupting her daydream.

“I wondered what it was, it’s in none of the books at the library.”

‘Oh fuck’ Sol thought, void magic was not known to the masses.

“It’s basically spacetime magic but more advanced,” Sol explained.

“Is it bad? Is it rare?” Summer asked as she deactivated the buff in excitement.

“No, no. Just don’t go around telling people you have it, it can be dangerous,” Sol said.

“How do you know about her magic?” June asked.

Sol paused, “From work, I’ve met a lot of magicians.”

“Can you get a book on it?” June asked.

Sol screwed up his eyebrows, “I shouldn’t have told you about it. It’s dangerous, far more than any other type of magic. I experienced it first hand in June.”

“Wait,” Summer said, “It’s powerful, like strong. Flames are common but I have a second affinity too?”

Sol sighed, “Yes Summer, what you have is extremely rare, equal to June’s.”

“What affinities did mama and papa have?” June asked.

“I uhh, I don’t know,” Sol said.

“What’s yours?” Summer asked.

“I suffer from affinitious remember? I couldn’t anyway,” Sol half lied.

“So how are you the one killing monsters without skills?” She asked.

Sol brought out a dagger in his hand and twiddled it between his fingers.

“I make up for it,” Sol said.

He thought for a moment, whether he should see if his affinity was strong for Euclid, he had it but didn’t know his percentage.

“Can you teach us?” Summer asked.

“What? No, absolutely not,” Sol stated.

“Pwease bwother, what if we need to defend ourselves?” Summer questioned.

“Yeah,” June said, “They always say that it comes down to weapons training.”

“No,” Sol stated again.

June opened her eyes wide and so did Summer.

Sol rolled his own, “How serious are you guys?” he asked.

“Very,” they both said in sync.

Sol hadn’t thought about it but they shared the same blood. When he first started training and fighting he fell in love with it. They would be sure to follow in his footsteps too.

“Fine, I’ll teach you hand to hand and with weapons. But I will be useless with magic. I can hire tutors for the both of you, but you must make me a promise.”

The two sisters nodded eagerly.

“You will only use it to defend yourself, no going out and looking for trouble. And most importantly, you will not become adventurers. Clear?”

“Deal,” they both said.

“How are you going to find tutors?” June asked, “They’re really expensive too, can we even afford it?”

“Money is not an issue, hasn’t been for 2 years now,” Sol said.

“You two go into the training room, we’ll start today. I’ll go make some phone calls.”

Two grins spread on his sisters faces.

“Yes, Sir!” Summer said, performing a salute.

PTSD kicked in from the thousands of ones he had done before.

“I’m not an officer or a leader, call me anything else.”

Summer and June hugged their brother, the two were really excited about starting to train. It reminded him from when he started, he just hoped they wouldn’t get addicted.

“It’s late, so we’ll do some basics. Get changed into something tight but comfortable.”

June kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you Sol, for understanding. I know you want to protect us.”

Sol smiled back, “I do, but I also want to see you happy.”

He cursed Thanatos internally, he could already see her ‘I told you so’ look.

After his sisters had left to go change, Sol went back into his bedroom and called Sharp.

“Sol. You alright?” Sharp asked.

“Yeah-yeah fine. How do I say this?.. June told me that she’s been practising magic.”

“That’s great, I saw through those new glasses I got.”

“Thing is, she needs a tutor.”

Sharp happily laughed through the other side, “Of course she does. You want me to?”

“Yeah, of course I can pay you. I couldn’t think of anyone else actually, how much do you know about Rune Writing?” Sol asked.

“I actually read up on it the next time I saw her as a topic of conversation, do you know just how rare it is? I’ve been going through data logs from the adventuring society and only 4 have been pronounced true ones in the past 9 years.”

“I haven’t actually seen one before,” Sol mused, “You free tomorrow?”

“Yes, we can set up a schedule if you like. I know we don’t have one for our jobs but I can come round whenever. I’m not exactly one with plans.”

“That’s great, thanks. How much did you want per session?” Sol asked.

“Ah, it’s ok. More interested to see it in person actually. I should be paying you.”

“A few rules though,” Sol said, “No prying into our past and no killing monsters.”

“Absolutely, where would you like June to meet me?” Sharp asked.

“Here is fine, I don’t want scouts approaching her in a gym or something.”

“Sure, and don’t worry. It will be strictly tutoring, I will leave any flirtatious literature for the dates.”

Sol rubbed his forehead, “Why do you have to say it like that?”

“I can do 11 tomorrow? I’ll be bringing equipment in too.”

“That’s fine for me,” Sol said.

“Brilliant, I’ll see you tomorrow at 11.”

Sol ended the call and lied on his bed. June was sorted, now he just needed a tutor for Summer. Sharp could teach her too but Sol felt as if they wouldn’t get on, they weren’t on the same wavelength.

He also didn’t know any fire mages himself.

“Ah, shit,” Sol said as he thought about Elora.

He scrolled down to her number in his phone but paused on it. He hadn’t spoken to her after that night and he left in the morning before she had woken up. He hesitated for a moment but it wasn’t about him; it was for his sister. Plus, it would be nice to see her again.

He clicked on her profile and pressed the number. He waited as it rang but no one picked up.

“Wrong number?” Sol questioned, she didn’t seem like the type.

He threw the phone next to him but it rang a second later, it was the same number. He hurriedly answered it.

“This is Elora Evergrand’s personal, who is this?”

“It’s Sol,” he said.

“You actually called?” Elora responded.

“Yeah… About that night-”

“Sol, I know you didn’t want anything serious. It was just a fun night we had, I’m not gonna hold anything against you,” Elora said.

Sol couldn’t tell if this was a trap or if she was being honest.

“So why are you ringing me if you don’t mind me asking?” she asked.

“My sister, she recently found out she has a high affinity for fire and void.”

“Void, really? That’s impressive,” Elora stated.

“And I don’t know or trust any other fire mages that could tutor her, so I was wondering if you could? I’ll pay you however much you want.”

“So that’s why you’re calling me,” Elora pondered.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I know you’re really bus-”

“It’s ok Sol, I’ll do it. The high temple gave me a week off for that mission and my family doesn’t need me for anything.”

Sol breathed in deeply, “Thank you Elora. Anything you want, I’ll try my best to get it for you.”

“Well you gave me your number, I think that’s good enough,” she said,

Sol laughed, “I could take you out somewhere? Strictly as friends of course.”

“Hmmm,” Elora said, she was obviously smiling on the other end, “I like movies, we could go see one.”

“Deal,” Sol agreed.

“What type of fire mage is she?” Elora asked.

“It’s strange,” Sol said, “It’s uhh, a Void-Fire enhancer, I’ve never seen anything as unique.”

“I can bring a void mage with me if you want? She’s one of my actual best friends,” Elora said, “Andddddd I might have told her I slept with the Immortal…”

Sol sterned his voice, “That’s fine, I don’t mind. As long as she takes an oath to not reveal our house, my or my sister's faces then I’m ok with it.”

“Phew, I know how serious you guys are.”

“My sisters don’t know what I do, so please do not talk about it and make up about what I do for a living.”

“Yes, Sir. I like how serious you are,” she said.

“When are you free?” Sol asked.

“For movies or tutoring?”

“Both,” Sol replied.

“I’m free all week, I need to ask my friend if she’s free. I’ll text you when I find out.”

“What’s her name?” Sol asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Elora joked, “Her name is Kara, I think you’ll get on with her. She’s a little bit intimate sometimes but she’s a great person, I trust her. You gonna look her up or something?”

“Maybe,” Sol said.

“Oh, by the way, you have got yourself a fan page. Mainly for the-” she coughed, “But there’s a bunch of footage of you on there.”

“Can you send me the link?” Sol asked.

“Sure, you don’t have socials do you?”

“Odin no, I’m old school,” Sol said.

“Ok! If I can, I'll come by with Kara at 12?”

“Sounds good, I’ll have a look at movie theatres.”

“Sure, and Sol, thanks for calling- even if you only wanted my help.”

“I should have called earlier, been a bit preoccupied with missions and the Adventurer Games,” he said.

“I saw that recent mission, Mute stood out, she even got herself a fan page of thirsty boys.”

“I’ll check them all out, so see you at 12?”

“Twelve it is.” Elora replied.

Sol ended the call and laid back down on the bed, his heart was thumping. Did he like Elora? He got a few texts from Elora a minute later, all of them links to different social media pages.

He clicked on the first one to see a page called Immortal_01. It had 574k followers. There were hundreds of videos of him fighting, the most popular one was with his dick flopping about in the dungeon.

“Holy shit,” Sol said. He was shocked at how many people were following it.

He went to Elora's page next to see she had 126m followers, the number didn’t even make sense to him. Next was her friend Kara who only had 13m which was a huge number but nothing close to Elora. She was a Bunny-kin, a human face with huge white bunny ears that flopped over her head. She had a tail too which often freaked him out and she wore thick glasses like June.