With his arms folded in front of his chest, William stood at the stern of the ship and watched the coast of Altona, including the trading town of Persiven, grow smaller and smaller. As planned, they had taken the very first ferry to Winstest, but they were not alone in this decision. The whole boat was swarming with travelers, especially Anuxers, who were on their way to Winstest for commissions. Some of them seemed to travel often with the ferry, because they talked calmly with the mages who were responsible for the ferry - almost as if they were old acquaintances.

For William, it had been quite a while since he had taken the ferry out to sea. The last time was probably when he went out to the private island of the royal family in the summer of his 18th birthday. Only a comparatively short distance, but that was the only place he had reached like that so far. In his entire life he had never been so far from home and amused, he had to think of his teacher Julius Venlan, who in all probability would scold him for this decision.

"Nervous?", Philippa's voice rang out, causing William to turn in her direction. The young, dark-skinned woman came toward him with long strides and seemed to have no problem at all with the fact that the ship was moving. Ben, on the other hand, was nauseous barely 20 minutes after departure and had to lie down, though it didn't seem like it was really helping.

"A little bit, yeah. I've never been this far from home before."

"Birds have to fall out of the nest sometime", the archer replied with amusement, leaning against the railing so that she was directly in William's field of vision.

"I guess that's true. Weren't you nervous the first time you crossed the sea?"

"More curious than nervous. I've lived half my life in my village and in the death region of Winstest that the journey to Sylve was a real adventure then. By now, I've been back and forth so many times that it's become the norm."

"It shows in your face", William interjected, gesturing with his hand at her posture. "You don't seem at all afraid of falling into the water."

"The ferry isn't made out of paper, and in an emergency I can swim, after all. Besides, if I really did go overboard, a mage would fish me out of the water. I've witnessed that twice, you must know. Both times it was a Sylver and both times it was a child."

"The poor parents. They must have been terrified."

"They were. Was a real drama", Philippa explained with a grin on her lips as her gaze broke away from William and fell on something behind him. Irritated, William turned around to the back, but took a moment to spot High-Magician Aaron Thopas in the crowds. "He's not very talkative, I must say. His silence this morning was really awkward."

"A little bit, yeah. Sir Thopas looks so disinterested the whole time, so that I couldn't bring myself to say anything at all. Almost as if he was annoyed that we were accompanying him."

"Wouldn't surprise me if he would have preferred that, too. Considering he's a High-Magician and we're just regular people, that pretty much slows him down. I had also wondered a bit about Cale seeking me out as a guide. Sir Thopas seems like someone who would do very well on his own, in my opinion."

"Maybe he just didn't want him to go alone?", cautiously voiced William's conjecture, watching the High-Magician exchange a few words with two other mages and then look around. Reflexively, he turned backwards and Philippa also immediately moved aside when Sir Thopas looked in their direction.

"Do you know if Sir Thopas is good friends with Cale?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't. Cale had only told me about High-Magician Vonstetten and Yusuf Mirai, but never said a word about High-Magician Thopas. I suspect they know each other pretty well, though, considering their work."

"Which doesn't necessarily mean anything", Philippa muttered, watching the High-Magician unobtrusively. "I don't know, he scares me a little. Just because he looks so stern and I know for a fact that he must be pretty strong. Did you see him fight during the attack of the creatures?"

"Not much, but I've seen High-Magician Ander."

"Ah, yes! Me too, and his blood magic. That was really fascinating. Didn't know he was capable of that."

"Neither did I, had me a little scared when a blood spear shot past me out of nowhere", William confessed sheepishly. "Was quite a mess."

"That's right. And I still think about that sea of flames today."

"So do I."

"Would be interested to see if Sir Thopas would be able to do something like that. Or Cale."

"It certainly wouldn't surprise me. I regret a little having seen so little of Cale's magic."

"Considering how much he held back during our trip.... yeah, me too. I do regret it a little, and I would have liked to have seen more. You don't see such powerful magic every day", Philippa murmured, brushing some hair out of her face. "Is it just my imagination, or do you think Sir Thopas also seems like the water makes him nervous?"

"The water makes him nervous?", William repeated, turning unobtrusively, only to find the High-Magician watching the gentle swell with a skeptical look. "I don't know... maybe he can't swim?"

"He's a High-Magician who knows water magic and can fly. So he shouldn't care if he couldn't swim."

"Good point, it was just a guess."

"Strange man", Philippa muttered as William turned back to her and sighed softly, "He's totally different from Cale and Sir Vonstetten."

"Those two are like night and day, yes. But we shouldn't be so prejudiced, who knows... maybe he's tense too and trying not to show it."

"That would be a good reason", Philippa confirmed, nodding. "It's a bit of a shame it's just the three of us, isn't it? I miss Aletta's whining and Cale's lessons. Had something, I must say."

"It kind of did, yeah. At first, I thought we were walking for ages, but now in retrospect it was way too short. If it wasn't for all the drama with the creatures, I'd just be wandering the world like this for the next few years."

"It gives you a certain sense of freedom", Philippa confirmed. "I know exactly what you mean. When you have the opportunity to do anything you want, it really is the best feeling ever."

"Until you eventually starve or freeze to death."

"Then you have to prepare properly!", Philippa admonished indignantly, which made William giggle. For a moment, neither of them said anything and just smiled as William saw in the corner of his eye that the High-Magician was approaching their viewpoint. At first William deliberately ignored him, but when Philippa turned in his direction, so did William. Sir Thopas, however, stopped a good six feet from them, gave them a silent look, and then propped his arms on the railing.

William watched the High-Magician for a while, thinking back to the evening when Cale had told him why they were going to Winstest. In a way, therefore, he could understand Sir Thopas' behavior. Grischa had told him a few days ago that Aaron Thopas had taught him just about everything there was to know about mana and magic. For quite a few years he had been High-Magician Thopas' first and only student, because according to Grischa, he had never come into contact with these subjects before his ascension to 3rd stage magician. Something William could not comprehend at all.

If one's diligence and knowledge were not the deciding factors in becoming a High-Magician, then what was? How did Cale become a High-Magician back then, and did he have a similar experience as Grischa? Did Cale already know magic before that and if so, who taught it to him? Who... who had taught him swordsmanship?

At the thought, William sighed softly and let his gaze wander back to the coast, which was by now too far away to see with the naked eye. Instead, the land mass seemed like a dark blue film reflected on the surface of the water. It was a strange feeling to know that something so tiny was actually gigantic.

"Have you ever seen a dragon, Philippa?", William inquired, taking a few steps forward to lean over the railing as well.

"Once, yes. That was back when I was still living in the Death Region. The dragon was traveling above the cloud cover and merely made a circuit of the peak before disappearing."

"Must have been scary."

"Not really", Philippa announced. "He was very far away."

"Don't dragons scare you?"

"Yes, of course they scare me. After all, they're the closest thing we have to a god - in my opinion, at least. But you can't deny that they're beautiful. What about you? Have you ever seen a dragon?"

"Never, not once. Which I'd also rather avoid if I can. Knowing how tiny and insignificant we are in their eyes is a little.... uncomfortable. Do you think it's true that the dragons are intelligent?"

"Possibly, yes. I often used to hear our tribal leaders tell us that the dragons are able to speak our language."

"I see", William murmured thoughtfully, thinking of Cale's story. If the dragons really did possess the universal tongue, what had led to the conflict between the Dragon Queen and Cale?

"Which I'd be a little careful about", Philippa interrupted William's train of thought seconds later. "The people of the Faith talk a lot of nonsense, and most of the testimony is based on a man who claims to be an Apostle of the gods."

"He's got some nerve", William interjected. "Have you ever seen this Apostle?"

"Never have. Doubt he really exists."

"Apostle?", the High-Magician spoke up almost simultaneously, causing both Philippa and William to turn in his direction in surprise. With the loud waves and all the surrounding voices, neither of them had expected High-Magician Aaron Thopas to be able to understand them the whole time.

"Just a fairy tale, nothing more. I am aware that neither the Apostles exist, nor the gods", Philippa tried to explain herself, while Aaron stared at her silently and turned away without another comment. Irritated, Philippa turned to William, but he couldn't do anything with the reaction either.

"So much for that", he muttered instead. Secretly, he was afraid that the High-Magician's distant, almost snide behavior would take some more nerve from him, and from the looks of it, Philippa felt the same way. Even Ben felt that the High-Magician was acting a bit strangely, where Ben was still the one of them who felt he had every sense.

"I think I'll go downstairs and see how Ben is doing."

"I'll follow you", Philippa immediately interjected, holding onto the saving rope that was thrown to her. Together the two fled down the next best steps, aiming for the entrance to the inside of the ship, when a shiver ran down Philippa's body and she held on with both hands. "That was kind of creepy."

"A little bit."

"Do you think he realized we left because of him?"

"Probably, yes", William confirmed, stepping aside to let Philippa go first. It was a habit he had unconsciously picked up from Sylve. "I hope he doesn't hold that against us."

"We probably shouldn't do that so often. It'll end up reflecting negatively on Cale and we'll cause him problems", Philippa announced quietly, as if she feared the High-Magician might still hear her. Determinedly, the two aimed for the room in which the four of them would stay for the next week and in which Ben was currently trying to get some sleep.