I grabbed Steven’s outstretched hand, letting myself be lifted. Before he could ask I said, “Don’t worry I am fine. I have no broken bones but I’ll be left with a couple of bruises. Also, thanks for the save but how did you find me?”

Glancing at Klay who had his eyes closed, he said, “I came here to see if you got accepted and on the way, I met your therapist friend waiting outside. I went to the gate you were assigned to but you were nowhere to be found. I called your phone multiple times and when you didn’t pick up I asked around. Realizing what probably happened I came here as soon as possible. Couple things I need to ask, first, where did you learn how to fight and two, don’t you have any friends?”

“Hah,” I gave a short laugh. “I have some anger issues so I was taught fighting so I won’t suddenly attack stuff when angry. In the beginning it was more a way to learn how to control my anger and use it in a supervised fashion than actually learning how to fight. Also, I lost hard. If you can recall I was the one on the ground.”

Steven gave me a disparaging look. “Really? I was surprised you could put up that much of a fight. Although you might have trained for a couple years, did you really think you could defeat someone who was at least twenty years older than you and has a lot more experience? Not to mention the use of magic has been shown to slow down aging so humans stay fit and strong for a lot longer. At least this guy was one of the lower level personnel, only having an Entry II level of magic.”

As he said that two more men in uniform entered the room. Wearing the same grey blazer and black pants as Klay, they came and escorted him outside. I sighed. I felt exhausted. The alertness and heightened senses disappeared only leaving pain and a splitting headache. I gently brought my hand to my left side. As I pressed down, I winced.

"Also, what does me not having any friends have to do with this?"

"So you don't have any friends. Was making sure because you seem to be prone to making really bad descisions, and I was hoping you knew someone to keep you in check."

Before I got swept up in my thoughts Steven motioned for me to follow him. Following him out into the corridor, he said, “So how do you feel being accepted into the most prestigious academy in the world?”

Steven laughed at my reaction. “By your expression of joy and the subsequent confusion, I’m pretty sure I know what you are thinking. Come with me and someone will explain it to you.”

I was led to a meeting room. On the giant oval table was a manila folder, the chairs were pushed off to the side, and there was a man with his back to us. Who was currently staring at the wall.

The man spoke. “Close the door behind you please.” Closing the door, Steven wheeled over two chairs and motioned me to sit down. The man turned around. I involuntary drew in a breath. His eyes. As if he was possessed, his black irises seemed to have completely took over his eyes, a black hole of nothingness. I felt myself being sucked in. I stared at those dark pupils, losing myself, forgetting to think, forgetting to breathe.

I found myself sitting down. I was centered in a white washed room with a single incandescent lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. I was seated in an uncomfortable wooden chair which creaked ever so often. In front of me was a small wooden table and on the table, was a stack of old books and a small knife.

The knife was very curious. The handle glowed with amber light, curved and engraved with flames. The books had old and tattered covers. Stacked on top of each other, I could see nine books in total, with the top having a picture of a fish on it. Suddenly, the lightbulb went out. Plunged into darkness, I stiffened up. After a couple of seconds, I could make out a mirror. It stood where the table had been previously.

CHOOSE…

The light flared back on. While blinded, I could barely see a shadow in the mirror. It held the books in one hand and the knife in the other. It appeared before me. The twisted abomination held the dagger to my face and thrusted.

Waking up from a nightmare, I became aware of myself. Sweat collected on my forehead, beaded up and rolled down my face.

“Impressive. You woke up earlier than most.” The man nodded.

My mind went blank. I had no words to express my feelings on what happened. Suddenly, I was hit with it. The anger, the despair, the powerlessness. Never again.

“What the fuck was that about!” I stood up and slammed my hands on the desk.

Steven jumped up and grabbed me. Securing my hands behind my back like I was some criminal, he forced me to sit back down in the chair. “Solare, don’t be child.”

“FUCK YOU STEVEN. I’m acting my age. Like any sane eighteen-year-old, I’ll punch him so hard he won’t stand up for a week.”

The mystery man threw his head back and laughed so hard I could see tears at the tips of his eyes. A little puzzled and worried if the man went insane, I just sat there.

“No no no, don’t worry about me. It’s just very refreshing to have someone threaten me like that. You made me feel like a kid again.” The man bent over and seemed to have lost his mind. He balled up his fists and started banging on the table, still laughing. Concerned, I looked at Steven. His hands still clamped me down to the chair.

“Can you let me go? I don’t want to be in a room with this madman.”

Steven shook his head. “I’ll let you go for now if you promise if you won’t run.”

I looked at the door. It was open. I turned back to Steven. “Sure.”

He let go.

I immediately took off. Like I had lightning on my soles, I bolted as fast as I can outside. Before I could make it to the doorway, the door automatically slammed shut, causing me to bang my head into it. I turned back. The man had a smile on his face. “We can’t have you leaving just yet. Here sit down.” He lifted his hand up and made a grabbing motion. I was pulled towards him and forced down into the chair. “Now, I believe I have yet to introduce myself. Hello, my name is William Chen.”

I scrutinized the man in front of me. He looked around thirty, and looked as white as Steven besides me. He even had chestnut brown hair, not the characteristic black hair that most people from Asia had. Myself included. William gave me smile. “I am not Asian but back around 2018 just before the awakening, my parents, who converted to Buddhism, decided to go to China to visit temples and live like monks. They settled there, changed their last names, and had me.”

“No Solare, they didn’t have me in their sixties. I was born in 2021.”

Steven sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. “I guess some background info is needed. Solare, this is William Chen, the ICM admissions representative in the US. He famous for his soul and force magic. After seeing your application, he wanted to meet you personally and reached out to me. I knew him from before and it was a pure coincidence that we knew each other. He is a prime example on how use of magic slows down aging. Currently 59 and still going strong. Due to his specialties, his moniker is, The Psychic. Also I feel so hurt. You said you wouldn't run.”

Mr. Chen magicked over a chair and sat down. “Sorry for scaring you fella. It’s a little involuntary. Most people who wake up from their dream tell me they experienced something which showed them a truth of some kind. Most don’t attack me soon after waking up. Also, the benefit of using force magic is being able to act as if I was right out of a George Lucas movie. That closing the door thing comes really handy sometimes.”

I gave him a puzzled look. “Who is George Lucas?”

He trained his weird looking eyes over me. “ I can't believe it. Young people these days don’t know anything about true art. Does Star Wars ring a bell?” He shook his head sadly. “Steven, at least tell me you know who he is?”

Steven shrugged. “Vaguely.”

Chen glared at him. “Typical. Genius student dropout who decided to become a police officer because of some promise yadayadayada but still doesn’t know anything useful. Fine. Someone needs to educate you kids. Nevermind. Back to why you were invited here by me, it’s because your latent mana level of Novice II made me excited for your prospects.”

I was really confused. “While I am flattered, but like just doing some digging on some of the more famous applicants to the college, most are already at Novice V when they first apply. They also have a big backgrounds, so I don’t see why I should be immediately accepted. The only reason why I was confident in getting in was because of my affinities.”

“You hit the point on the head there Solare. Big backgrounds. While you know people aren’t allowed to practice any magical techniques till they turn 18 due their brain development being too immature before this point. Even now your brains are still being molded but at least the risk of going crazy is very low. Anyways while the rich kids can’t practice magic, their parents give them many mana infused materials and food that increase the beginning level of magic. The fact you even came close to their level is very impressive to say the least.”

Chen visibly winced. It seems he heard my thoughts. He cleared his throat. “Anyways, take a look at the file in the envelope when you get home. It has some forms and info on the college and it also contains some entries on basic knowledge needed in the magical world. I was told you lacked some of the basic knowledge which simply can’t do.”

I grabbed the file. “Why paper?”

Steven answered me this time. “It’s way more secure than anything online. Most things could be hacked into.”

Perusing some of the forms inside, I saw some risk forms and non-disclosure agreements. I also saw a sheaf of paper which had MAGIC 101 FOR DUMMIES on the top. Chen giggled. “I couldn’t resist.” I just sighed and closed the folder.

“You know this is all assuming that I agree to go to your college, right?”

Both Steven and Chen froze. Steven looked at me with a panicked gaze. “You aren’t going?”

I laughed. “Of course I am. I just didn’t like how you assumed I would go along with whatever you told me to do.”

Steven let out a breath I didn’t know he was holding. Chen stood up. “I think that will be all for this meeting. Steven, can you get Solare here back home so he can look over those documents?”

“Sure thing.”

I was pulled outside. Steven grabbed me by both my shoulders and shook me. “YOU IDIOT. Do you not realize how worried I was? That man could legitimately kill us without either of us realizing. You got lucky he was just an easygoing old man.”

I paused. The gravity of what just happened flattened me. Just by looking at someone made me fall into a nightmare. I was pulled and pushed like a doll.

“Don’t worry about it now. I’ll drop you off with that Anna lady still waiting outside the office. I assume that you probably won’t speak of what happened today?”

“I understand.”

“Good.”

Anna had dropped me off at my apartment. I looked at the clock. I got home at 10:15 but there was no way in hell I was going to fall asleep. I sighed. I needed some time to wind down and process everything that just happened. It was way to hectic today. First, I beat up a prick, then a worker who was on the prick's payroll, got accepted to college, almost killed by a legitimate Psychic, and had to explain it all to my therapist/sister/former gaurdian. I glared at the manilla folder and looked back at my clock.

I opened up the file I got. Time to see what was in here.