I sat on the bank of this lake with the book in my hand. It was plain white, there was no text, title, engraving, or marking. Even the pages were all blank, despite the book’s thickness.

Donna, what the hell is your story? Like really, where did you come from? This book looks exactly like the one I picked up when you flew into me that day.

She recoiled a little, because she’d told me many times that her memories were in pieces after she took refuge in my mind. “I can’t remember, Eric. There are just images in my head of people bowing down to someone.”

It was the same old story as before then. I didn’t know if to take this as people worshipping a deity or a tyrannical leader abusing his power. “For now, let’s just give it to Hydra for safekeeping.”

I agreed, and we made the exchange. Hydra returned with the others and I gave the book to her. Ever since I came to Silverport, I’ve been feeling something tugging at my magic, and I’m certain it was this mysterious white book. But, why? Sure, at this point it’s obvious it concerns Donna, but what the hell happened to her?

“Alright, enough has happened here. What do you say we head back?”

“What? No way!” Pyro complained, “Killing those things was pretty fun!” He claimed, shadowboxing like he was some sort of fighter.

My eyebrows raised in surprise. I knew they killed some of the lesser wraiths whilst I was busy tracking down the source. “They were creepy,” Dawn commented, “but it was fun fighting them, right Volt?” she tapped his side with her elbow.

“I, won’t deny it,” he said, knowing he was probably against it at first and only got roped in because of his brother’s recklessness but probably began enjoying it.

These were good signs to me. Discovering the thrill in using magic for anything was a pivotal sign of any good mage seeking to advance their knowledge. They had just about mastered the lesser elemental spells too, or at least how to use them.

After we informed the town that they were safe, and the magic anomalies were taken care of, we journeyed back to Aquan.

A couple days after we returned, I was summoned by the council. My mind immediately flashed on the events in Silverport. Flynn and his demon-wife woke me up that morning. I was groggy and grumpy as usual, but straightened up in no time. Mary’s eyes alone said enough.

About an hour later, the three of us entered the council’s room, a building sealed off even from the Order of Mages. It seemed only few people with clearance and rank could enter, and dad wasn’t one of them. Today though, they made an exception.

Pyro and Volt were already there. I sat next to them, around a table, and my parents, next to me. Dawn came in soon after with her parents. Mr Pendulum looked as perplexed as could be.

“Greetings, ladies, gentlemen,” a council member spoke from the other side of the table. “Firstly, we apologise for summoning on such short notice and thank you for meeting the request positively. Now, as most of you already know, Eric Archibald is a special instructor of sorts, here at the Order.” Their spokesman, turned to me, “Do you know what this meeting is about?”

Isn’t it obvious? I said to myself. “Yeah. Weird occurrences in Silverport a few days ago. But, why are mine and Dawn’s parents here?”

“Eric Archibald, Dawn Pendulum, your parents are here because you are minors. It would be unethical to sanction this meeting without their approval and presence.”

“Fair enough.”

Another council member stood up and slid a letter towards the centre of the table, “This is a letter of thanks from Silverport for saving them from those creatures.”

The spokesman spoke again, “This meeting is to give you our thanks as well. As mages of the Order, you all took the initiative and destroyed the threat even without being on official business there. Your ranks are hereby increased by one.”

If I remember correctly, there were five ranks, the fifth being council members. I was a bit unsettled by this. I mean, there was no need for a meeting with all these people to tell us something as trivial as this, albeit, a rank-up in the Order was a big deal. “So, why are we really here?” I asked, out of the blue, sounding a bit tired by their talks. Mom mashed my foot so hard I let out a soft squeal.

A woman smiled from the council. “To inform you, Eric Archibald, that you are now suspended from the Order for six months.”

Everyone was appalled, especially after hearing of good news like a rank-up. It boggled their minds, but not mine. “Yeah, I figured.” I stood up, “Well, later,” and began walking out.

“Wait! Don’t you wish to know why?” she asked, tilting her head in suspicion.

“I already know why. Reckless endangerment. But I don’t give a damn anyway,” I replied.

“So then, why did you–”

“Go ahead with it?” I continued her question, then turned to face her, “Because they weren’t recklessly endangered, oh sweet impetuous council. You all made an educated guess about what happened, yes, but a guess is a guess any way you look at it. There is margin for error in a guess and in this case, there was an error in your guess.”

“Are you saying we were wrong, Eric Archibald?” another council member stood up and asked, slightly irritated by my words.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “that’s exactly what I’m saying. From your perspectives, you felt the magic disturbances, which were the wraiths that appeared around the lake. Shortly afterwards you felt the release of some strong spells. Of course, you didn’t sit idle. You checked the request counter to see if there were any requests sending mages of the Order to Silverport, but there wasn’t any. So, I’m assuming you asked around, and someone told you that the only mages in Silverport were us, rookies, doing training exercises of all things. No doubt, at this point you were thinking we caused the magic anomalies in the first place.” As I was explaining this, their faces went from calm to aghast with every sentence. “That’s when the strong spells came, spells you felt as clear as you felt the magical anomalies. At this point, you’re thinking we not only practised forbidden magic and messed up, summoning the anomalies by mistake, but we used dangerous high-ranked spells we weren’t ready to use and in turn, put the people in even more danger. And the cherry on top was that we had the gall to pretend it wasn’t our fault.

“Yeah, well, firstly, we didn’t summon the anomalies. Secondly, every spell used was controlled and contained. Did you think we’d use explosive spells in a village? Thirdly, you didn’t hear the villagers complaining about death, injury, or anything of the like, now did you?”

They were at a loss for words, and the atmosphere in the room was the heaviest I’ve ever felt in my life. Mom was glaring daggers at me when I began talking back to them, but as I really broke down what happened, she calmed, and was instead anticipating an answer from the council; everyone was.

“S-still, you should’ve called for help from senior mages first.”

“That’s indeed a good idea, councilwoman, if I were a novice. With all due respect, your eyes for magical prowess has been blinded by the past generations of mages who learned slowly and only had strength and experience under their belt with old age. You have grossly underestimated my abilities because of my age. Well, no matter, we all make mistakes. Well, anyway, if we’re done here, I’d like to leave.”

A wheezing laughter came from the eldest councilman, “Hold on there, young man.”

Ugh, I wanna go!

“You’re right, on all accounts. It’s amazing you thought of this all on your own. I apologise, for our hasty conclusion. We will reconsider your suspension.”

“No, no, it’s okay! I should’ve called for help, you were right!” Goddammit! I just had to open my mouth!

Mary the demon rose from her seat and placed an arm behind my back, pinching and wringing the life out of my flesh, “Dear council, given light of the situation, please do reconsider his suspension. He’s just a kid, after all.”

This demon! I could feel the life being sucked out of me from that pinch. It was brutal, and trying not to show the pain was downright torture. She finally stopped, and I was sure there was a gaping hole in my back after she finished pulling my flesh and muscle off the bone.

We finally parted ways with the council. They took a few minutes to discuss it amongst themselves, then came to a compromise; three months’ suspension. Halved. Eh, well, it’s not so bad.

“You wanted six, didn’t you?”

Of course, I did. Anyway, young lady, don’t let all this drama make you forget your third spell. I got the utilisation and cooldown spells. Now I’m waiting for this ‘powerful’ spell you promised me.

“Yeah,” she said, a little gloomy, “you might need it.”

Yeah? Why’s that?

“I just, have a feeling. Anyway, to learn it, you’ll have to go to the desert.”

I didn’t ask why, I just rolled along with it. I could read and practise all I wanted for three months in the comfort of the vast nothingness. There’d be no one to pester me, or nothing I could possibly get distracted over. Well, that’s what I thought.

The next morning, someone woke me up. At first, I thought it was mom, but realised this style was way too gentle to be that witch, so I opened my eyes with some haste. “Dawn?” I asked, wondering why she was at my bedside, waking me. I wiped my eyes, looked at her, then at my window. Somehow, I could tell the exact time by the light coming through and the day by the smell of breakfast. Nine o’clock, Saturday morning. As I was collecting my shattered mind from my measly three-hour sleep, Dawn picked up the books littered across my bed and helped me out like I was an old man. My hair was a mess, I was bareback, with the bare minimum of clothing on, yet embarrassment couldn’t even set in at such an early rising. After all, she did see me naked when Aldis summoned that water elemental to test me. Mom and dad were having breakfast with Volt and Pyro. I could see mine and Dawn’s share already plated. I sat down, my head hanging loosely, then leaned back and took a couple minutes to really come to.

“It’s really, bothering me, that no one is questioning my attire,” I sipped the steaming black coffee.

“Nothing you do really surprises us anymore,” Volt commented, laughingly.

“I’m going to Inferno Desert for three months,” I replied snappily.

Volt froze, his fork midway to his mouth, “Well, I could be wrong.”

Dawn had the greatest look of disappointment I’d ever seen. Mom and dad were pretty apathetic, I guess they became used to my random journeys. Pyro on the other hand had a gleam in his eyes. We shared a stare for a couple seconds. “No! Nope!” I shook my head, “Not gonna happen!”

“Yeah, yup. It’s happening.”

Dawn and Volt knew exactly what Pyro was up to, and they latched onto the idea of tagging along with me.

“Are you guys crazy? You know why they call it Inferno Desert, right?”

“Yeah, and we don’t care,” Pyro said.

“Well, it’s still not happening. I’m suspended, remember?”

Flynn, that bastard rubbed his chin, “Well, I particularly remember the guidelines stating that even a suspended teacher can teach. What you’re really barred from are things that benefit you, like books, tomes, materials. For you, it just means you can’t access our library.”

I tilted my head at him, then looked to mom, “Mom, what do you see in this man? He has no tact at all, he can’t read situations well either.”

“That’s his charm, honey,” she replied, in such composure.

“I’m right here, goddammit!” the man in question exclaimed.

At this point the weight of the conversation shifted to mother. She patted her lips gently with her napkin, “Inferno Desert is a very dangerous place. In that regard, I agree with Eric that you three should sit this out. However, I’m quite fine with Eric going wherever he wants, even to very dangerous places, which makes me hypocritical. But please understand that Eric’s skill in magic is great, which is why I trust him to go alone.”

Dawn pouted a little, “C’mon Mrs Archibald, is his skill as a mage really a reason why he can go but not us?”

“Yes. If the environment doesn’t kill you, then the coyotes will. If the animals don’t get you, the remnants of failed magical experiments will.”

Pyro leaned back, bummed out a little.

“And Eric can survive that?” Dawn asked, a little concerned, whilst I focused on stuffing myself.

“Easily,” Mary replied.

“His age really does make it hard to believe,” Volt said. “Just how strong is he?”

“How strong?” mom repeated his words, somewhat at a loss of how to answer the question.

Dad placed his empty glass back onto the table after he poured the last of his orange juice down the hatch, “The Order has five ranks of mages. Initiate, Member, Veteran, Officer, and Councilman, in that order. What determines your rank isn’t exactly your abilities, but how much you do for the Order. But it’s not like you can achieve big milestones without having good abilities as a mage. In this regard, every rank is filled with people of a certain power, rank one usually being the weakest. Anyway, what I’m getting at is, if Eric had to be ranked based on magical power alone, he would be either an officer or councilman.”

They stopped chewing, then simultaneously turned their heads at me.

Dawn got up, paced over to me and grabbed me by the cheeks, forcing my eyes to meet with hers, “Why didn’t you tell me?!” she argued. I couldn’t understand where all her excitement was coming from.

“Tell you what?” I asked, a bit muffled by the food in my mouth.

She furrowed her brows and squeezed my cheeks even harder, “That you were that powerful! You heard the professor! You could be rank four or five if you wanted!”

I pulled her hands down, “Slow down,” I said laughingly. “First off, I’m lazy. I don’t want to rank up. Even if I do, I already have access to their library, so ranking up means nothing to me.”

“I’m going,” Volt said, firmly. I looked at him, we all did. He was the least likely to rush any decision or take any risk. Out of the blue, he exclaimed he’d come with me to Inferno Desert. His eyes alone screamed just how serious a resolve he made to himself. Where did that fiery inclination come from?

This is surprising. What do you think, Donna? I asked.

“Hmm,” she groaned a bit, in shallow thought, “let them come.” It was a rather quick answer for such a touchy subject. Did she think about it at all? “You won’t take more than a few days to learn the spell. Meaning you’ll have more or less around eighty-five days to practise Division non-stop. However, bringing them along would be quite pointless if you don’t see to them. They’re your students after all.”

I see. Thinking about it rationally, the time I’d expected to get from this would really be slashed. Dawn’s an early sleeper, so the day would be dedicated to those three. Which meant I had to practise more or less in the night. Also, seeing that I had to go to an open space like the desert, the spell was something that demanded I be on my lonesome, away from them. We couldn’t just eat simple mage-conjured foods throughout those months, so we’d have to hunt from time to time. We’d also have to include interferences like whatever dangers the desert may have to offer.

Thinking of all this, I sighed and covered my face. My real practise time dwindled from a cascading waterfall to a few meagre droplets.

“Alright, Volt. You’ll come with me.” I agreed, looked at Pyro and Dawn, “You all will. But know that I will bypass a few spirits and teach you a more advanced one. I will hold you to near-impossible standards, and you’d better adhere to it.”

With that warning, they left, a little bittersweet.