I don’t know why I still bothered going to school, half of my friends didn’t want to see me and I since my mental stats got enhanced, I had needed about 10 minutes per subject to read what I hadn’t yet seen in class and understand it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it would become par for the course to just study at home and take the exams at your leisure. This was already an option in Belgium for those who had dropped out when they were eighteen but had decided to go to college or university later on in their lives.

I tried to talk to my friends but Ella simply wouldn’t say anything to me and Charlotte didn’t know what to say. I could tell she didn’t quite know how she felt about what had happened. I didn’t blame her for it either.

During lunch, the thing I hated most happened, Marie’s boyfriend joined us. That despicable, hateful creature that would get what he deserved. I would make sure of it.

He would get a happy life with someone he loved because he was genuinely a decent man. And I hated him for it. Yes, I know, it’s paradoxical. I hated him because he was so damn nice and hard to hate.

So when I said Jean would get his just desserts, I was being honest in wanting that for him. Just not with Marie, not with her. I started playing around with the mana in the air, trying not to have to join in a conversation with him. And this was my first true foray into magic.

You see, magic is all about intent. Yes, there are certain ways to bind magic to certain laws, allowing for a sure outcome. These ways, however, weakened the overall effect.

True magic, magic that did not conform to our perception of reality in any way, could only be cast by truly wanting it. By truly intending for the effect to happen.

And as I so desperately yearned to not have to talk to Jean, I cast an illusion on myself. Kind of like a perception filter in Doctor Who. If you knew what you were looking for, then you would notice me, but if not, you would only register that I was there in your subconscious. In the moment, you kinda, sorta realised that I was in fact sitting there, but your mind found my presence so insignificant a detail that you would simply not think about me.

It’s still strange to think about it now, I had cast magic almost subconsciously, and it hadn’t been that tiring, simply because I truly wasn’t focusing on casting the spell in the first place.

My need, my want, was simply so impossibly strong that it had bent nature to its will. It was something I would start studying later on, but for now, I just sat there, content to not have to talk to one so infuriatingly likeable.

As the day ended, I talked to Marie. A talk that would shape my life for a long, long time.

“How are you feeling … since, well … Sigh … since Simon?” I asked, trying to be as cautious as possible.

“What do you think Oscar? I feel like shit, like one of my best friends has simply been snuffed out of existence, like my friends will never be able to look at each other normally, like the world’s gone to shit and nobody seems to care. I. Feel. Like. Shit.” She answered, anger prominent in her voice.

“Can I help in any …” I tried.

She silenced me before I could finish and tried not to shout. “No, you can’t because, frankly, it is your fault. Simon died because of your stupid idea, because you thought us invincible. So, no you can not help. Because you are the reason everything is falling apart at the seams, and I don’t know how to fix that.”

I nodded, and turned. “Wait, Oscar, what are you doing?” I looked towards her, one last time before I steeled myself, {Conviction of the Dragons}, helping me not cry. “I’m ripping this group apart, so I’ll go. It was good being your friend.” Then I ran.

Seeing me was hurting them, and I didn’t want to do that, so I would grow stronger, not for my sake, but for theirs. I would make sure that they didn’t have to deal with seeing one of our best friends die ever again. If they died, it would be after having lived a long and happy life.