《Morlock》


 Prologue

    ¡°Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.¡±


    Words uttered by Sir Arthur C. Clarke sometime in the 1900s. While the saying may be sagacious, I happen to disagree with it on a fundamental level.


    Technology, is accessible to everyone who has enough funds and can be manipulated with relative ease. Magic, on the other hand, is an internal skill achieved by only the select few gifted asshats.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Put in enough effort and anyone could learn how to use a computer, learn how to code, create AI programs, and perform other technological marvels. You must be a special sort of touched to enjoy the gift of magic.


    Magicians are the reason for inequality in this modern age; their power only enhanced by technology, and their thirst for authority is unmatched. They are loved, hated, revered, despised. They are the embodiment of evil, objects of my hatred.


    And now.


    It seems.


    I have become one of them.

 Chapter 1 - Bloody Knuckles

    ¡°FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!¡± I screamed as I battered the wall with my fists.


    Unleashing my rage, my knuckles struck the red brick countless times, becoming more and more bloody after each hit.


    Life was unfair. Why was it that when you¡¯ve moved on from past experiences and have a bright future, life always had to intervene?


    My voice became hoarse as I deteriorated from screaming expletives to a guttural roar akin to a beast. My hands were wasted, my knuckles cracked and broken, my blood splattered everywhere.


    Drawn by the screaming, a figure dressed in a dark blue approached me.


    ¡°YOUNG MAN!! Stop that this instant! You are defacing public property with your blood!¡±


    Shocked, I turned to face him.


    <In what world does a police officer see a person bleeding everywhere and blame him for defacing public property?>


    ¡°That got your attention, didn¡¯t it?¡± cackled the officer. ¡°Now, come with me down to the station; I¡¯ll get you fixed up.¡± His tone brooked no argument and he grabbed me by my arm.


    However, I preferred to argue.


    ¡°Let go of me. I don¡¯t need your help.¡± I attempted to pull away my arm as the officer gripped it strongly; his hand was like an iron vice, rooting me in place.


    ¡°You have no right to take me away!¡± I yelped, my voice rising an octave due to the pain.


    The officer sent me a glare, my words obviously angering him.


    ¡°Now look here, boy.¡± He drew closer to me, his face stopping mere inches away from mine. ¡°While I may be in a good mood, you will listen to what I say. You are standing here in a back alley punching a fucking wall. Now be a good boy and come with me before I arrest you for causing a public disturbance. This is for your own good, trust me.¡±


    I stared into his eyes, black and like a void. He meant every single word he said. Sighing, I accepted my fate.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Citizen


    Name: Solare King


    Sex: Male


    Race: Asian Descent, Indian Subcontinent


    Age: 18 yearsLove this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Height: 6 feet 1 inch


    Education: High School Graduate


    Rank: Novice II


    Comments: N/A


    Those were the words written on my citizen card. As a citizen of the United States of America and a resident of the nation¡¯s capital, the card proved that I could legally be here. Other cards would have the word citizen replaced with immigration notices, positions of legal office, and other identifiers.


    Currently, that card was laid on a mahogany table in the office of a detective in the local precinct. I was seated in a very comfy leather chair opposite to the detective. The plaque on his desk identified him as a Steven Black and he just so happened to be the man who found me in the alley. His black hair and black eyes hinted of a mixed ancestry, but he was as white as vanilla ice cream. He had a well-defined jawline and his mouth was set in a constant smirk.


    <He must be popular with the ladies.>


    Black leaned forward and studied me curiously. He glanced at my hands, which were bandaged as if I was mummified.


    ¡°You know that was quite a sight,¡± he remarked. ¡°Never in my 13 years in the police force have I come across someone punching a wall until their fists bled. Hell, you even kept on punching. Now, what I want to know is, why you were attacking that wall like it stole your girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°Why would that matter? Why were you so adamant that I come the police station anyway? I was just punching a wall.¡±


    Black leaned back, raised an eyebrow, and gave me a long, hard, look.


    ¡°Did you just hear what came out of your mouth?¡±


    I gave a wry smile. ¡°I guess it was kinda odd. I just feel like there was no need to coerce me into coming with you.¡±


    The detective sighed and looked out the window in the office.


    ¡°I believe that not only is the role of the police to keep the public safe by catching criminals, but we should actively try to make the country a better place for people. While you were not doing anything illegal per se, you obviously were in some sort of pain, and I felt it was my duty to help you. No matter if you wanted the help or not.¡±


    He moved his gaze back onto my face.


    ¡°I truly don¡¯t understand why you would do what you did. While you were getting bandaged up I took the liberty of looking up your details.¡±


    He typed something into the keyboard of his computer and turned the monitor to face me.


    ¡°Solare, a straight A student, acquired multiple internships at the Worldwide Center for Health, got accepted early into the prestigious John Hopkins University to study medical science, and no records of mental illness. Although your parents were killed in car accident when you were twelve, records show that you moved on from that experience stronger than before. To top it all off, in the mandatory examination during high school graduation you managed to become a second rank Novice through natural mana accumulation as you aged. You sir, are a bona fide genius in magic and almost no organization would refuse you if you wanted to join.¡±


    I sat up straight.


    <He can find that much information about me in the span of fifteen minutes and access to his computer? What. The. Hell. Is. This. I know that technology monitors us in this day and age but how does he know my entire life already?!>


    Black stroked his beard and inspected me. ¡°Actually, don¡¯t tell me your reason just yet, I want to see if I can figure out what your problem is.¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t wait to show off your great detective skills?¡±


    He gave me a giant grin. ¡°Exactly! Don¡¯t get much of chance to impress the public after all.¡±


    He examined me even more closely than he was before.


    ¡°Well I can immediately remove the chance you got had a break up or got rejected, that week old thing you call a beard would not have existed, and no girl who is sane would reject someone handsome, smart, and has good future prospects.¡±


    Laughing a little bit, ¡°Thank you!¡± I replied. ¡°Tell me more.¡±


    ¡°Gladly. Judging by your complexion and the lack of bags under your eyes signify there hasn¡¯t been something very stressful recently causing sleeplessness. The fact that you had a backpack with you when I brought you here is slightly suspicious and the computer tells me that you graduated high school around 2 hours ago, leading me to only one conclusion. For some reason, you hate the fact you have a gift that many people dream of and would give anything to have. Now¡­ Why is that?¡±


    <Fuck.>

 Chapter 2 - Future Choices

    I opened my eyes. 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. I could reach my hand to barely grab the objects but I couldn¡¯t move any other section of my body.


    <What is this shit?! Why can¡¯t I move?>


    The light bulb flickered out. I was left in absolute darkness, only the sound of my heartbeat keeping me company. Gradually, I heard a voice. First, it was a figment of imagination however it grew stronger and stronger. After about fifteen heart beats I could make out what it said.


    Choose¡­


    <What am I supposed to do? Am I deciding between the books and the knife? I feel like I¡¯m in a two-bit horror flick.>


    Choose¡­


    ¡°Choose what?¡± I asked out loud. I waited for a response. Eerily, the voice stopped. I was once again left alone with my now elevated heart rate. I felt my heart beating in my chest, the longer the silence the more anxious I became. I started struggling to get out. It was futile. No matter what I did, some form of pressure kept me seated. Gradually, I calmed down. All I had to do was wait and I would figure out what was going on.


    Suddenly, my throat contracted. The light blazed back on. Completely blinded I shut my eyes. Footsteps resounded around me. I opened my eyes to the tip of the knife.


    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHH! FUCKING SHIT!¡±


    I looked around me. I was in bed, my covers strewn about and my pillow flung into the corner. Beads of sweat trickled down my face. ¡°Just a dream,¡± I whispered, ¡°Just a dream.¡± It was 5:00 AM but there was no way I was going to go back to sleep. I sighed and got up, casting a look over my apartment.


    I had gotten a great deal from the landlord because apparently the building was said to be haunted, so the rent was only $1500 a month. The one bedroom, one bathroom apartment was small, but it was more than enough for my current lifestyle. There were a couple pieces of furniture but it was mostly simplistic. I walked towards the kitchen area and started making myself a cup of coffee.


    I thought back to what had transpired yesterday evening at the police station.


    <hr>


    ¡°I guess I was spot on,¡± remarked Black.


    I stared at the detective. ¡°Mr. Black, you were right, but I don¡¯t feel the need to share my personal problems.¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Steven. Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t pry, I just want to give you some advice. Solare, you know about the laws that are imposed upon you once your magical talent is discovered, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Once a person is discovered to be talented in magic, they are required to either enlist in the military, apply for an academy, or join one of the big family clans or businesses.¡±


    Steven smiled. ¡°Exactly, it is required for promising young magicians because they have to learn to control their dangerous abilities so they don¡¯t become a danger toward everyone around them.¡±


    I scoffed at his reply. <Yes¡­ to learn how to control my powers. That¡¯s one hundred percent the reason for this law. It is definitely not because the big corporations and families want to control talented assets to improve their power and standing.>


    Steven continued talking as if he didn¡¯t notice my reaction.


    ¡°For a young man like you, self-made and independent, these restrictions and loss of freedom may be shocking and disconcerting. Believe me, I know how it feels to have no control over your future but I have some things I want you to consider which might help you. First, choose where you want to go wisely. If you want to go to the army, you can easily rise in rank but will be severely restricted in anything you do. For someone with your talent it would be relatively simple to amass a great deal of power and influence.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    <Nope.>


    ¡°Considering what I can infer from your personality the army is a poor choice. The next thing I can think of is joining a family or business. Most families and businesses would automatically try to marry you into their household and raise you to be their personal defender or attack dog. I highly disapprove of this decision.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, no. I would join the army before being absorbed into those cult-like organizations.¡± Steven raised an eyebrow at the vehement response.


    I gave him a wry smile. ¡°That only leaves one option.¡±


    He leaned over and pat me on my shoulder. ¡°I know you feel stifled, but this is for the best of everyone involved.¡± He turned back to his computer and asked me, ¡°Give me your phone number, I¡¯ll send you a list of colleges which I recommend you attend.¡±


    ¡°Hey Mr. Detective Steven, don¡¯t you already have all my information on your computer? Why ask me for my number?¡± He gave me an annoyed look, ¡°There is something in this world called courtesy. It would also be really creepy if you suddenly got a message saying, ¡®Yo this is Detective Steven, here¡¯s a list of colleges you should attend. Peace.¡¯ Probably not a good idea.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Yeah that would be creepy.¡± I gave him an earnest look, ¡°Thank you so much for helping me I appreciate it.¡±


    The detective gave me a beaming smile. ¡°No problem kid, this is what I do for a living. Now come on, I¡¯ll give you a ride home.¡±


    <hr>


    After finishing the delicious coffee, I decided to look at what Steven had sent me. I opened the file. There were about a list of seven different colleges with a small description attached with each one.


    TEMPEST ACADEMY ¨C one of the biggest academies in the eastern United States, located Alexandria, Virginia, a couple miles from the nation¡¯s capital, this academy focuses on battle magic with their specialty in weather related magic.


    NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ¨C located in New York City, this university focuses more on research and the uses of magic in everyday life. For example, some of the alumni of this school have gone on to invent magical technology such as the Isolation Sphere, a bubble of magical energy which allows humans to live in almost any environment. The most famous applications include the creation of the city of Atlantis under the Atlantic Ocean and the city of Vulcan inside Mt. Vesuvius.


    MAGE¡¯S TOWER ¨C this magical university is located Seattle Washington. Modelled after the legendary Tower of Babel, this academy provides the most comprehensive program of studies available. Almost every single facet of magic can be explored in this University.


    SIR RICHARD¡¯S COLLEGE ¨C created by Sir Richard Kent of England in 2055, this relatively young college is closely associated with the royal families of various countries and is one of the richest colleges in the world.


    AMERICAN ACADEMY ¨C located in Washington D.C, this college has very close ties with the American government, with many of its graduates joining either the military or the police force. Many American officials send their children to this school.


    HATORA ACADEMY ¨C a mostly obscure academy which specializes on the arcane and more mystical magical arts. Things like divination and fortune are big study areas, as is the study of fate and choices. The location of this academy is obscure and not released to the public. Personally, I think the academy tried to mimic the academy of Hogwarts from the classical Harry Potter series back in the day.


    INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF MAGIC - the biggest and smallest academy in the world. With the academy situated in Atlantis, the designated neutral ground for international relations, students of this academy are the best of the best and represent their nation¡¯s honor and interest. This academy doesn¡¯t focus on one main topic and provides a more general education. However due to the influence of the academy and its repertoire of specialized teachers, basically anything can be studied here.


    He also ended the list with a note. ¡°These are the colleges that I feel are the best of the best but they differ from one another in many ways. For example, American University has a more rigid rules and regulations than Hatora. It is up to you to get more information and decide on where you want to attend. Also, be expecting in the next few days a couple of mages from the government to pop by and visit you. The purpose of their visit is to conduct more detailed testing on your mana and figure out the different properties of the magic you may be able to wield.¡±


    Going over the list of colleges in my head, I closed my phone and set it face down on counter top. <This is really happening. Although I was angry beforehand¡­ this is inevitable.> Also I knew that deep down inside of me that I was looking forward to this. No matter what had happened, magic was magic, and it¡¯s really cool. I glanced towards the clock. An hour had passed. In the corner of my eye I noticed a picture that I had hung, far, far away from everything else. In the picture was two adults and a small boy.


    *Knock knock*


    There was a knock at my door. I went up and looked through the keyhole, spotting two people in flowing robes. After opening the door, they sized me up. ¡°Hello,¡± they said. ¡°We are representatives from the government of the United States, here to see Solare King.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Blame the Individual

    The representatives showed off their badges. One was a tall Caucasian male with a narrow face and the other was an African American female with bright blue eyes. I tried so see if the badges were legit, but I had no idea.


    <Steven said that I would be visited by people, but this this soon?> Without any other option I let the two inside. ¡°Have a seat. Would you like something to drink? I just made some coffee and I could get you some.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the offer, but no thanks. We will try to finish our business as soon as possible,¡± replied the woman. I took a seat across from them. ¡°My name is Veronica and this is my colleague Chase. We were dispatched by the government to give a brief overview of your new prospects.¡±


    ¡°I figured as much. I was told of your visit by a friend but I thought it would take longer than a day for someone to visit.¡±


    Veronica smiled sweetly. ¡°We put much emphasis on individuals with higher priority. While you may know some of the general points we must discuss today, some things are required by law. We are legally required to inform you that as per the 31<sup>st</sup> amendment to the United States Constitution all individuals with significant magical ability and potential must apply to any organization authorized by the country to control their magical ability. We have a list of some of the better organizations for your convenience.¡± She reached into her robes and pulled out a flash drive. ¡°Inside this drive also contains a method to release your mana and identify your affinity. This drive contains sensitive information which may not be released to the public so the first time you open it you will be required to go through a retinal scan, fingerprint analysis, and voice activation.¡± She stood up and gave me a weird smile. ¡°Please make sure this drive does not fall into the wrong hands. I wouldn¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡±


    <This bitch¡­ Did she just threaten me?>


    I smiled in response. ¡°No worries. If that is all, thank you for the visit. I hope you can show yourselves out.¡±


    Veronica gave me that shitty fake smile she wore the entire time she spoke. ¡°Thank you for your time. Come on Chase.¡± As she was striding out the door, Chase came up to me.


    ¡°I apologize for the actions of my partner. She has certain personal opinions which sometimes compromise her work. I hope your relationship with us does not sour after this visit.¡± Without waiting for me reply he quickly ran after his partner. I walked up and closed the door after him.


    <The US government. No wonder most of the world still hates us¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s time for me to take a look at that drive.>


    Going back to my couch, I opened up my laptop and plugged in the drive. The drive flashed blue and a screen with the seal of the US popped up. There was a drop-down menu with the security requirements. With a resigned sigh, I put my finger to the scanner on my laptop.


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± It was half an hour later and I finally finished my registration. Finally, the stupid security procedures were over. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was even worth the wait. I had also gotten a little curious during my wait. <Does the list of colleges they gave match up with the list Steven gave me?> I opened the file.


    AMERICAN UNIVERSITY


    WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY


    HOOKE COLLEGE


    ANGEL ACADEMY


    INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF MAGIC


    REDDARN UNIVERSITY


    <Hmmm. Amazing. The only ones that matched up were American Uni and the International College. I wonder what the others do.>


    Accessing Vortex, the new and improved Google search engine which was exactly the same as the previous one, I looked up each of the names. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly I came up with no real information on what each of the schools did. I decided to call up my new friend.


    <hr>


    ¡°Hey Steven.¡±


    ¡°Hey kid, what do you need.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ you know how you told me about those people from the Government are gonna visit?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Well they already found me. They gave me this flash-drive with a list of colleges and apparently a technique which lets me figure out stuff about my mana.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°That was fast. Also¡­ stuff? I guess they changed the protocol. Before, they had state mages walk you through the process and register publicly. Probably some idiot yelling freedom convinced them to change the process to make it private. That seems ok. Why did you call?¡±


    ¡°Well I compared the lists and the only ones that matched were American University and the International College of Magic.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do. Sit tight for ten minutes. I¡¯ll be at your place.¡±


    ¡°What! Why? Also, how do you know where I live?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother always knows. I¡¯ll see you in ten.¡±


    <hr>


    <He hung up on me. Why is he in such a hurry? I guess I¡¯ll know in a bit.>


    I sat there thinking. What does my future have in store? I had my entire life planned out. Go to med school, become a doctor, and leave everything else behind me. Get married at like thirty, maybe have a couple kids. As I was pondering the intricacies of my fate, I heard an increasingly severe knocking sound.


    ¡°SOLARE OPEN UP THE DOOR!¡±


    Recoiling from the sound, I replied, ¡°Jeez ok. The neighbors probably hate me because of you.¡±


    I could tell that he was getting angrier. ¡°Just open up the door Solare.¡± I relented and let him in. He strode in and sat at the couch without any shame. ¡°Ok now show me the list you got from the government,¡± ordered Steven. I showed him the screen. After a few seconds of him reading the document he looked at me. ¡°Thank god you called to me. The only legitimate university here is American University. Even the International University was a trick. The list I sent you had the International School of Magic while this has the International College of Magic.¡± He raked his hand through his hair. ¡°What I need for you to do,¡± said Black, ¡°Is to describe the individual who gave you this list.¡±


    I described as best I could how Veronica looked and acted. I even told him about Chase, and how he talked to me in the end. Steven smiled and said, ¡°The two who visited you are most likely a part of a mage family. As you know, most of the time, magical prowess is inherited, which means they probably wanted to make you attend a University which made you underneath their family. They probably did the good cop, bad cop routine, with Chase putting up a trustworthy front. And funny enough, besides American, these colleges are all private schools with exorbitant tuitions. They all have ties to the Napeters Pact.¡±


    Curious, I asked, ¡°What is the Napeters Pact?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing much,¡± shrugged Steven. ¡°It¡¯s only an agreement between three mage families, the Peters, the Johnsons, and the Marshalls to work together. It¡¯s only the third biggest organization in the East Coast, trailing behind the US government and the International Coalition of Magic. They probably wanted to secure your bloodline.¡±


    I shuddered at the prospect at being at the mercy of the wizard families.


    As Steven was opening more files he asked, ¡°Did you look at the mana technique they sent you?¡±


    Shaking my head, I said, ¡°No. I figured if there were inconsistencies among the college list there might be problems with the other info they gave me.¡±


    Raising his head, Steven looked at me. ¡°Good news here everything else seems to be standard government issue. All together you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    <What do you mean it¡¯ll be fine? They tried to enslave me. They casually gave me a death warrant.>


    Steven stood up and glared at me. ¡°Now don¡¯t give me that look. I bet you were thinking all fire, brimstone, and revenge. Calm down.¡±


    ¡°I am calm.¡± Like the calm person I was, I clenched my fists and cracked my neck.


    ¡°Please Solare, don¡¯t lie. I can tell. Look at this incident in a bigger perspective, they just gave you a college list. You could have, and easily, found out the truth. Most mage families try not to offend the talented ones because it somehow always hurts them if they do. If I am not mistaken, it was probably something the individual Victoria who you met did personally.¡±


    ¡±Steven, if just one person of this family is like this, what is the rest of the family like? They probably are all screwed up.¡±


    ¡°Kid¡­ I guess while you are smart you don¡¯t have enough experience. Do you really believe that an entire family of over one hundred people are all bad? Just because you got offended by one person? When you become powerful enough will you annihilate the entire family because one person did something bad? Blame the individual, not the organization. You need to realize the environment most mages are raised. Why are you more mature than your peers? It¡¯s because you have experienced hardship from a young age and had to fend for yourself.¡±


    <He does have a point. Why should I let the extremists skew my view of the group? For hundreds of years, people judged people by the most outspoken. All southern white Christians were racist, all middle easterners hate America, all Asians are thrifty, and all guys named Chad are assholes. Although¡­ not sure about the last one. All these were stereotypes before the awakening and unlike those stereotypes, I shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover.>


    Steven smiled. ¡°Well I am happy I got through to you. You became a lot more relaxed overall and your posture became a lot more relaxed. You didn¡¯t act like a typical teen and immediately reject whatever I said. Control your anger young one and you will succeed in life. This wise one will now take his leave.¡±


    ¡°Ha! What wise one? You¡¯re kinda missing the long beard, the white hair, and the mountain,¡± I retorted. I walked him to the bottom of the apartment complex. We stayed silent as we walked down the three flights of stairs. He brought his car to the front of the entrance. After getting inside, he opened the window and leaned out.


    ¡°Hey Solare, I appreciate you calling me. Not many people act on a hunch and I respect that. I¡¯ll see you around.¡± He sped off. Trudging back up the stairs I slammed my door. <I guess it¡¯s that time again.> Picking up my phone I dialed a contact. The long ringtone played in my ear, it¡¯s sound repeating over and over again.


    ¡°Hello?¡± asked a female voice.


    ¡°Hi Anna¡­¡± I replied.


    ¡°There is probably only one reason you would call me.¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯m free tonight at eight. You can come over then.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll see you then.¡± I hung up and laid the phone gently onto the table.


    <It¡¯s gonna be a looong day.>

 Chapter 4 - Habituation

    I felt uncomfortable. I was being stared at by a beautiful woman. While in most cases that would be something to be lauded, right now, her gaze threatened to strip me of all my secrets and leave me bare.


    <Why in the world did I come here again?>


    I was sitting in a really comfy black leather recliner, most of the lights in the room were dim, and next to me sat Anna. Standing at six feet three inches, one of the tallest women I have ever met, she stared at me with her piercing blue eyes. Her slightly pale hands were holding on to a legal pad and a pencil, her reddish-brown hair stopping just below her shoulders. As she continued to examine me, she said, ¡°You know if you didn¡¯t want to come you shouldn¡¯t have called. The fact is that you called your therapist, so you¡¯re never getting out of this one. Now tell your big sister what¡¯s wrong or I¡¯ll beat it out of you.¡±


    ¡°See! I¡¯m regretting this already. Why in the world did I have to choose you ten years ago? I was just eight. Did I really have to choose the college graduate as my therapist? I should have gotten an old man.¡±


    ¡°Solare stop deflecting my question and answer me.¡±


    I sighed. I put myself in this position. Lamenting that I acted responsible for once, I answered, ¡°I got an excellent result in the talent test so now I have to learn magic.¡±


    She put both her hands together and tilted her head back. ¡°Thank the lord. We can finally make some progress.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I think we made excellent progress. I no longer want to attack everything I can see.¡±


    Anna stopped smiling and became solemn. ¡°Solare, I know that you have come to terms with the accident and you no longer attack anything magical, you can¡¯t be in denial. As your therapist and more importantly, someone who truly loves you, I need to make sure you get this straight. You put up a logical and unemotional front, and you are very smart, you are just repressing your emotions. As evidenced by those bindings I see, you still have problems managing your anger. You react in extremes, extreme logic and extreme emotion. We talked about this before so while I won¡¯t necessarily call it bipolar disorder, it¡¯s extremely similar. Not only that but you have been ignoring and repressing any magical knowledge which you don¡¯t expressly need. You don¡¯t know and don¡¯t care about magical history, mana theory, and any of the other classes you have taken. I get your quarter grades you know. How someone has a 97% and above in all nonmagical classes and a 0% in the rest can¡¯t be explained besides a lack of effort. You need to stop isolating yourself. I would try to do this less directly but you don¡¯t have much time. Even in the reports you send me about the people you meet, you describe their looks and personality but not once do you talk about their abilities. You can talk about magic, but anything personal or any real progress and you break down. Let me ask you this¡­ what is my affinity?¡±


    I sat there silently. Eventually, I replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°DAMN IT SOLARE. We have known each other for ten years, you met me when I was twenty-six, and it was one of the first things I told you. I have used it on multiple occasions in front of you and you sure as hell have seen it.¡±


    ¡°I DON¡¯T KNOW.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know. TELL ME NOW SOLARE.¡±


    Jumping up I grabbed the reclining chair and threw it across the room. Panting heavily, I stood there in front of Anna. Slowly, I calmed down and sat on the floor. Putting my head through my knees I sat there, ashamed.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Anna got up and put her arms around me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. None of the other methods have worked. You say that you¡¯re cured but you just keep it bottled up. I feel guilty making you lose your temper, but this is the only way I can get through to you. Now tell me. What is my affinity.¡±


    Looking up I said softly, ¡°Fire. Your affinity is fire.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Good, now why is fire easy for me to manipulate? Tell me.¡±


    ¡°You can manipulate and control fire very easily. While you can¡¯t make big explosions and you don¡¯t have that much power, you can easily bend it to your will. Your personality is like a flame in the hearth, warm to be around and you provide a sense of safety. You never get angry and you are like a constant, ever burning candle in the darkness. It¡¯s why you make such a good therapist and such a good big sister.¡±


    Anna stood back up, helping me to my feet. ¡°Bring back my chair. You best hope you didn¡¯t damage it.¡± I walked over and dragged the chair back to its initial position. I sat back down and lied back as if nothing happened. ¡°Now Solare, this is my assignment for you. You no longer need to send me reports on what you do every-day and some of the methods you use to control your anger. I should have done this type of exposure therapy sooner but I didn¡¯t want to hurt you. These next two months, you are now required to send me a report on every magical phenomenon you see every night. Also, you have to see me every two days so I can help you cultivate your mana.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± I quickly packed my things. I wanted out as soon as possible. I put on my coat and picked up my backpack. Just as I was rushing out the door Anna called out to me.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Payment. I¡¯m not free remember.¡±


    I reluctantly walked towards Anna. She closed her eyes as if waiting for something. As fast as possible I gave her a peck on the cheek and ran out. She called out from inside the office, ¡°You¡¯re just as shy as when I first met you. Grow up a little!¡±


    <I¡¯ll grow up when you treat me like someone grown up.>


    <hr>


    LOG 1:


    I noticed a mugging happening on the street. Speaking of the street, some magic was used to clean it. Downtown is still poorer than the rest of D.C, but it looks just as clean.


    <hr>


    LOG 6:


    I hailed a taxi today to go eat lunch outside. The magic core provided energy to the entire vehicle. No more are the fuel exhausts and the loud engine sounds. Although, at times you can hear enthusiasts roaring in the streets. You need a special permit to use gas and its super expensive to refuel at private stations.


    <hr>


    LOG 25:


    Just came back from a session with you. I still don¡¯t get the point of this. I get exposure, but like, you can see if there is improvement without making me do all this work. Anyway, today I saw a weather balloon floating up in the air. You could see some mages flying up with the balloon, releasing some sort of substance from a machine. After further research it turns out that it was one of the routine ozone fixes by the government. A scientist from the EPA would go up and release a synthesized magical mixture of mana and the gas. It repairs the damage done by pollutants. Finally, I told my superior I can no longer continue my internship due to my unfortunate circumstances. On the other hand, he was very delighted. Since the Worldwide Center for Health falls under the purview of the omnipresent ICM. He talked about finally having someone on the inside so his experiments could get more funding.


    <hr>


    LOG 51:


    As evidenced by yourself, in today¡¯s session I finally made progress. Before, as I tried to draw in the mana from the outside I had always failed because I rejected the mana instinctively. However now, I made some progress. While I still abhor the magic, I recognize its use as a tool. I also have no longer continued ignoring the world around me. While there is still the old-world brick, steel, and cement structures on the ground, there is a new layer to the city. While the masses walked underneath, above are shiny new mana powered trams that run across the city, the ICM embassy replacing the Washington Monument as the tower to visit in D.C, and the overall adaptation to a more magical way of living. It seems you are right sometimes. However, I recognize there is no way that my trauma will easily go away. As an aspiring doctor myself I know that I probably accepted the way things are on the surface but one day I might erupt. Hopefully I can control myself then.


    <hr>


    Log 64:


    This is my last log for the summer. Tomorrow, I finally apply to college, although I wonder why the admissions are so delayed. The school year starts in a week. Tomorrow is also my last session of therapy with you, the almighty Anna, where you will 100% with no doubt help me determine my elemental affinity. Right? Please don''t fizz out on me.

 Chapter 5 - Affinity

    I once again sat in the comfy therapist chair. Today was the day of my examination and the day my affinity was supposed to be revealed. <I really hope that everything works. Anna helped me a lot to get used to the idea of using magic and hopefully my affinity can be revealed. I don¡¯t want to go to my exam blind about my capabilities. If I know more about myself I can squeeze out more scholarship money. Being an orphan does have its benefits I suppose. You can do it me!!! You will always pull through!!!! Fuck. I will never break out of character ever again. That was way too weird of a feeling.>


    Anna walked out from her kitchen and gave me a glass of water. ¡°Why was your face contorting as I was walking in? You usually don¡¯t make strange upbeat expressions.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I was just talking to myself.¡± Her eyes widened and she put her hands on my head.


    ¡°Did you finally break? Shit. I knew I shouldn¡¯t have pushed you so hard.¡± After calmly removing her hands I shook my head.


    ¡°While I¡¯m not broken, it is your fault. As I finished more of those logs I got used to narrating everything that happens inside my head. It became a habit.¡±


    She scowled. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t say anything out loud. Anyway, besides the question of your sanity we have some business to attend to. Now there are only a few ways to determine your affinity, one of which is a natural awakening, another is having a senior mage guide your mana, while the last one is the most famous one." She gave a small drumroll. "It is... testing your reactions to different substances. As she said that she took out a long mahogany box. She removed a couple different spherical balls with a substance inside. <Let me guess. I infuse my magical energy into these balls and if they light up they tell me what my affinity is.>


    Anna closed the box. Curiously there were still some objects left inside. Noticing my gaze, Anna remarked, ¡°Those are for later. Right now, I need to explain something to you. So¡­ How do I explain this? Screw it. I am no teacher so this is the best explanation you are going to get. You know how you have been using that technique to gather mana? Don¡¯t you wonder how that works?¡±


    ¡°No not particularly.¡±


    She reached over and chopped me on my head. ¡°Dumbass. Get your head out of your ass and learn about the world around you. Aren¡¯t you a scientist?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I am curious but I never felt motivated enough to find out. My future is no longer in my control so why should I care?¡±


    Anna crossed her arms and looked at me with dissapointment. ¡°Solare¡­ you might not realize it but you have more power than you thought.¡±


    ¡°How is that? I am forced to attend magical school and become a good overpowered fireball-slinging tool for everyone else. What part of my life is in my control?¡±


    ¡°Everything. Don¡¯t you realize that with your talent you could become powerful enough that no one can control you. Yes you will be used, but you can use others in turn. Don¡¯t you realize you can theoretically become invincible? This is magic.¡±


    <Wait, Anna might have a point. All those guys I saw on TV, that Phoenix person and that Poseidon guy all are amazingly strong.The world is inherently unequal. Before magic, money made the world turn. Now, it has changed. Of course others use me for benefits, but I use them for resources. Instead of trading money for stocks, hoping the business will grow, then cashing in for even more money, it¡¯s talent everyone is looking for.>


    Anna tilted her head back slightly and looked down at me. ¡°It seems you have realized the truth of the world. Congrats on learning from my words of wisdom.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Thank you for ruining the magnificent image I just had in my mind. Can we go back to what you were saying before the lecture on morality?¡±


    ¡°Ok getting back on topic, I¡¯m going to tell you how your mana technique works. You know how you can breathe and swallow and have all those reflexes without thinking about it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the involuntary processes are regulated in the brain stem, your hormones are secreted by your glands based off stimulus, and your reflexes are simply due to¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes yes thank you Dr. King,¡± Anna cut me off. ¡°Back to magic, we didn¡¯t realize this, but some people absorb mana passively. It''s regulated without your knowledge similar to those described beforehand. A common phenomenon is that the more attractive, talented, or smart a person is the better their talent for magic. The mana absorbed disperses and changes your very person. Remember how I said life is unfair? Not only do people get more powerful, they become more attractive.¡±


    <This surprisingly makes sense. Natural selection always chooses the individuals more likely to survive. This means the better magical talent is selected for in nature.>


    ¡°The method that was given to you in the document simply is a method where you can control yourself. It¡¯s similar to how you can learn how to control your breathing. After mastering this you can move on to more advanced techniques. You don¡¯t know it but right now all your mana is dispersed throughout your body. You need to concentrate and absorb it to one part of your body to advance futher, however more people will tell you about this in college. Right now, the reason why I am telling you this is because I want you to try focusing your mana to your hand. Hold these balls while doing so and if they have some reaction you have talent in absorbing that type of element.¡±


    <Honestly this seems primitive. Elements and things are straight out of novels.>


    ¡°Hey Anna. Why are elements a thing. If mana is energy, how are there elements to an energy?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°It seems the inner scientist is finally breaking out. Honestly people don¡¯t know why mana has different elements. Some liken it to different properties that energy has but it still doesn¡¯t answer the question why people can use this energy. Some people are saying that God let humans find mana, and this proves why evolution and everything is false, that this is all God¡¯s plan. But just like energy, we humans classify the elements people can use into two categories. Kinetic Elements and Potential Elements. The kinetic elements are the classic fireball, lightning mages while potential elements focus less on might, but are still insanely powerful. Each person is shown to have a kinetic element and potential element. There are also some outliers because this classification system is obviously imperfect.¡± She re-opened the box and took out a sheet of paper. ¡°This has the list of known elements. Like most science, there is many things we don¡¯t know about.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Taking it from her, I saw the list.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Kinetic


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Potential


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Special


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Fire


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Fortification


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Life/Nature*


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Water


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Spirit/Soul/Consciousness/Illusion*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Death/Animation*


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Earth


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Magnetism


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Summoning*


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Air


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Force*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Time**


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Plasma**


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Aura*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Creation**


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Space*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Light/Darkness*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Destruction **


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Atomic*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Healing*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Dark Matter/Dark Energy**


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Electricity


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Sound


    </td>


    <td width="208"></td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Null*


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Null**


    </td>


    <td width="208"></td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <It seems that kinetic elements deal with the manipulation of particles and the potential elements deal with the manipulation of waves. It seems mana might be like light, it must have same particle-wave duality. Before when sensing mana, I just sensed particles. Maybe I was missing the energy portion? Is it possible all the forces and things we have been observing and modeling, like in physics, is all just an extension of mana? How the hell did we discover mana in the first place? All I remember learning is that the government had found the possibility and released it to the populace after confirming that mana and magic existed.>


    I gave the list back to Anna. She looked at the list herself. ¡°As you see there are a multitude of elements you need to be tested for. Like I said every single person has a kinetic and potential element with no exceptions. See at the end of the list we have a null element? Before, there was a girl who didn¡¯t have a kinetic element and she was mistreated by everyone around her. She was recruited by a terrorist organization and it turns out she had the ability to cancel out the other elements. We now call it null element. It has no attacking power of its own but that terrorist organization turned that girl into the greatest assassin ever, letting her kill mages left and right. Anyways that was twenty years ago and doesn¡¯t matter now. Most people also have some affinity with a couple other elements, although not as strong as the main elements. Usually even if you have an affinity with every single element, as there have been people in the past, you can only focus on a few because each element is mysterious and you can¡¯t possible study all in your lifetime. You can see there are asterisks besides some of the elements. The elements with a single asterisk are ones which we have seen before at least once yet don¡¯t know much about them. The ones with a double asterisk are ones that are theorized to exist yet we have no actual evidence of them existing. You¡¯ll get an actual description of each element in college. There are also people who are better at manipulating different states of an element. Some can easily manipulate ice yet don''t have much of an affinity for water. Now, in front of you are each of the kinetic elements. Do what I said earlier.¡±


    Following her instructions, I got 4 spheres in my right hand and the other four in my left hand. I slowed down my breathing and concentrated. I sensed the energy around me, small particles I could collect and I noticed some small disturbances in the air. <Are those waves? I have never felt those before.> I directed the particles inside and outside to my hands. As more and more gathered, two of the small balls shined. One had a small flame, and the other had a mini tornado inside it. Smiling , Anna took the balls back. ¡°It seems your main affinity is air and also have an affinity with fire with average talent in both. Honestly this is below average but it might be a blessing. You don¡¯t have to worry about too many choices in the future. Here, let¡¯s see what potential elements you resonate with.¡±


    <Well that was disappointing. I thought I would have like all air, water, earth, and fire, becoming an elemental god or something. Or even a null type would be sick.>


    This time, hoping for a better result, I held the potential spheres in both hands together. I went through the same tedious process as the first time, sensing the energy and guiding it. Just like last time some of the spheres had a reaction. This time however, three spheres reacted instead of two. One glowed with a brilliant emerald shine, another had a clear brightness that was like glass, and the last one had turned completely opaque.


    With a shocked expression, Anna grabbed the objects from my hand. ¡°Wonderful! You should know Solare that the bigger the reaction the greater the talent! You have amazing talent in healing magic and in fortification, with an average talent in aura. You must realize one important fact. Most people have above average talent in one element and average talent in one or two more. You somehow have superior talent in two elements. You also have an amazing talent in gathering mana, with you unconsciously levelling to novice II. You would help greatly in¡­¡± She stood up abruptly. ¡°I need to change! I''ll drive you to the Coalition office so you can apply to your colleges.¡± She ran out of the room.


    <In what? Why does it feel like she is hiding things from me? There are so many things happening at once. At least I know I have a superior rank in healing and fortification. Wait¡­ healing!! Does this mean I can still be a doctor? I don¡¯t have to give up everything I worked for these past few years. Taking jobs in school, traveling to internships, sleeping 3 hours day, and now I can still follow my dream.>


    Anna came back, with new clothes and her hair tied up in a ponytail. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist as she pulled me out of my chair. ¡°We should go immediately.¡± She led me out of the therapy room and out of the house. Her car was in her driveway and she shoved me into the backseat. She stepped into the driver seat and started the engine. While backing out of the driveway she said, ¡°I just realized that I didn¡¯t ask what universities you are applying to. I was so worried of just making you able to cope with magic that I didn¡¯t bother with other stuff. What is your first choice?¡±


    I put my legs up on the dash and leaned the seat back. Smirking, I said, ¡°Why dear big sister, it¡¯s the InternationalSchool of Magic.¡±

 Chapter 6 - Marshall

    I was sitting in a giant terminal with over one hundred other youths. The building used to be Reagan National Airport but was repurposed when airplanes became obsolete. Similar to diesel and gas cars, flights these days consist of the old-world planes superimposed with various new-world tech, such as spells to insure speed and safety. While I don¡¯t know the details, the planes are now launched like rockets, straight up. This conserves space and apparently leads to a faster travel time due to planes being further up in the atmosphere. Just a bunch of physics and math mumbo jumbo which I don¡¯t really care about. The lady at the counter of gate 3B gave me a tablet full of forms to fill out.


    <You know when I got here I didn¡¯t expect more paperwork. Although I can¡¯t imagine having to finish all these with real paper. That must have been a true hassle for both parties involved.>


    Double checking I answered all the fields, I walked back to the counter. The lady scanned the pad to her computer, and raised her left eyebrow. She was a fat, and what I can assume sassy, black woman who disagreed with my choices.


    ¡°Look hon. I know that youth like taking risks but only applying to three colleges is no good for your future. The admissions process is very selective and you shouldn¡¯t overestimate your capabilities.¡±


    <I know that she wants the best and is giving this advice in my best interest, but I¡¯m not actually being arrogant. I just know my strength.>


    I smiled at the lady, just noticing that her tag read Deborah. ¡°Thank you, Ms. Deborah, for the concern however I am confident in my choices and my abilities.¡± She gave me a measured look. After a couple of seconds, she turned back to the computer and entered in a few things.


    ¡°Alright, I entered your registration and you better know what you are doing. NEXT!¡±


    I moved back out of the gate entrance and sat back down again. The results should come in about an thirty minutes as most of the selection is automated.


    <It would be really embarrassing if I didn¡¯t get into either the ISOM, the Tower, or Northwestern at this rate. Maybe I should have applied earlier. Today is only September 2<sup>nd</sup> and registration started yesterday. It might have made a better impression and I cou¡­>


    ¡°Hey! Get out of that seat!¡±


    Someone had thrust their face right in front of mine. I could see one-day old stubble, a few pimple scars, brown hair, and an otherwise normal face. The only defining characteristic was his eyes. They reeked of disdain and had overwhelming arrogance.


    ¡°Excuse me? Why should I do that?¡±


    He grabbed me by my shirt. ¡°I was looking for a seat and I decided yours looked the best.¡±


    <That makes sense¡­ not. Why the fuck is this happening to me? Can¡¯t you leave a guy alone?>


    Grabbing his wrist with my left hand, I chopped down at his bent elbow. He bent down, eyes wide. It seems he didn¡¯t expect me to retaliate. I twisted downwards with my left hand, still attached to his wrist, causing his arm to bend awkwardly. I proceeded to clamp down on his neck. With his hand locked by mine and my other one on his neck I squeezed, almost choking the guy. I leaned forward, my head stopping next to his ear, I whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking touch me you piece of shit.¡± Bringing my leg up, I kicked him away from me.


    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!¡± Expecting a Coalition officer, I was surprised when a man around my age strode up towards me. His face was a mask of anger, the bright red mane of hair on his head contrasted with his pale skin. His black pants and maroon t-shirt looked high-quality and very expensive. ¡°You imbecile what did I tell you? Look for an open seat I said, and you had to get into trouble again.¡± Stopping next to the guy I kicked down, red-hair pulled him off the ground. ¡°And you.¡± He turned to me. ¡°My name is Ethan Cinder and I apologize for the trouble this idiot brought you, however I can¡¯t help but look down upon the way you handled things. You could have calmly deescalated the situation but instead you had to fight him. Please apologize.¡±


    <Why the fuck do I need to apologize. He fucking started it. If the that trashy human right there hadn¡¯t touched me and instead politely asked me to get up I probably would have. Who does he think he is? Just by the way he acts it¡¯s obvious he¡¯s from a mage family. Filth breeds filth. I should¡­ no. Stop. Control yourself. This Ethan person did nothing wrong, it was the other man acting on his own. He even apologized himself. Control.>Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    I smiled coldly. ¡°While he is the one who started it, I did indeed overreact. I am sorry for that.¡±


    Mr. Cinder over there smiled gratefully. ¡°I hope you won¡¯t hold a grudge, I¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t be rude again.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that.¡± The loser finally realized what was going on. ¡°He just took me by surprise that¡¯s all. Coward can''t take me in a real fight.¡±


    This drew the ire of Ethan again. ¡°Tanner are you stupid? You already got one strike and this is your second one. The only reason why I accepted you into our team was because your aunt Veronica asked me to. Any more incidents like this one and you are out.¡±


    <Veronica? Is this the same bitch who tried to trick me? Come to think of it he does look a bit similar to the Chase guy that was with her. Another one from the Napeters families? I told Steven they were all corrupted. Although this does seem interesting. This Cinder guy should have quite a bit of influence to have the Napeters request to join whatever this team is.>


    ¡°Fuck you I don¡¯t need to be in that shitty team. You might be royalty but my family owns the East Coast. I have the power here.¡±


    Suprised I inspected the royal. <Well this is intersting. Did not expect to meet a royal highness so quickly. He doesn''t seem all that spoiled though.>


    ¡°Excuse me, what is all this ruckus about?¡± Suddenly, standing next to us was a man in a black and grey uniform. He was a shorter than me by a few inches and he had an obscenely self-important aura. Swiping his dirty blonde hair behind his ears he pointed his long nose towards Ethan. Before he could answer Tanner patted the officer¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°My name is Tanner Marshall and this man assaulted me.¡± He pointed at me, and made some exaggerated gestures. ¡°I simply wanted to ask that man to leave his seat yet he beat me up. Look at these injuries.¡± He held up his left hand and you could see an inkling of a bruise on his wrist. ¡°I hope you can help me here.¡± Taking something from the pocket of his jeans he handed it to the officer. ¡°Now excuse me I need to attend to some business.¡± He started walking away. Before he walked away completely he turned his head, ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t bother Ethan, you don¡¯t have to kick me out. I quit.¡±


    The officer turned to me and gave me a crooked smile. Turning to show off the gun in his holster, he said to me, ¡°Excuse me sir. Can you please come with me? You caused quite the ruckus and unfortunately you have to answer to your actions today.¡±


    Ethan stood in front of him. ¡°Excuse me, I am Ethan Cinder and this man did nothing wrong. Please don¡¯t make trouble for him.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Lord Cinder, I still have to take him in for questioning. If you continue to obstruct me I¡¯ll have to restrain you. Just doing my job.¡±


    <I fucking knew it. These families, they have the police and the government in their pockets. No one can speak otherwise.>


    I stood up. It was better to go along with what he said. I had long become the center of attention, everyone, including that receptionist, had their eyes on the racket. ¡°Thank you, Ethan, but I¡¯ll go ahead with the officer here.¡±


    He nodded his head and moved out of the way. The blondie turned his gaze back on me. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    As I looked back, I saw Ethan was shaking his head. After a few seconds, he sighed and walked away.


    <Well isn¡¯t this just fantastic?>


    <hr>


    It was an interrogation room. The d¨¦cor was somewhat tasteless as it was really just a repurposed storage closet. Two chairs, one table, one camera, and a staring contest. Police on one side, the criminal on the other. In this case the policeman was Officer Klay, at least according to his nametag, and the criminal was me. He looked at me with pity.


    ¡°I truly sympathize, you happened to annoy a Marshall and you had to run in to me. See, I don¡¯t pretend to be moral, it doesn¡¯t pay as well. I was told, and I quote, ''Beat that brown-skinned monkey until he wishes he was dead.'' And that is exactly what I intend to do.¡± He nodded towards the wall camera. It turned off.


    <Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Think Solare. He hasn¡¯t restrained you so that¡¯s good, but he has a gun. What can I use. This is a solid chair. The table is fake wood but still has some weight. Both his hands are on the table but he might be ready for whatever I do. At least he turned off the camera so there is no proof if anything happens, but that might not be a good thing.>


    He took something out of his pocket. It was a white handkerchief. Throwing it to me, he said, ¡°Hold it. You aren¡¯t getting out of this room until this turns entirely red.¡± Holding the piece of white cloth I sat there. He pushed the table out of the way. ¡°This could be easy or hard, your choice.¡±


    He took one step towards me. Another step. On the third step I acted. I threw the cloth at his face obstructing his vision. As he brought his hands up to his face, I sprung up and kneeled down. Grabbing the back of his knees, I pulled as I headbutted his chest. He fell backward and hit the ground. Grabbing the chair behind me, I smashed it towards his face. As the pieces broke apart I tried to grab his gun. He turned his body and kicked me on my side. I crashed down, bumping into the table. Officer Klay stood up. Breaking off the back of the chair from the seat, he held it up. ¡°The hard way then.¡±


    The door burst open. ¡°Solare!¡±


    I turned to look. There was Steven, in all his glory. My fairy godmother had arrived. He took in the posture of my assailant and the block of wood in his hands.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you. You are assaulting a Class 2 Citizen.¡±


    The officer paused. ¡°Class 2? How is he a class 2, he had just applied to college.¡±


    Steven looked at him coldly. ¡°And he got accepted. Mr. Solare King here is now a part of the ISOM Class of 2084.¡±


    Blondie Klay dropped his chair fragment. ¡°Well fuck.¡±

 Chapter 7 - The Psychic

    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.


    <Fuck that¡¯s going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow morning. You know it feels liberating, fighting someone for real. Damn. I felt like one of those genius novel characters, all analyzing the situation and reacting.>


    "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."


    <Who needs friends. Of course I had friends before, but once they got to know me, they left. Once they saw the person angry with the world, they just dissappeared. Of course the fact that every single popular, cultural activity is tied to magic probably doesn''t help.>


    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?¡±


    <Huh? Wait¡­ RIGHT! I WAS ACCEPTED! HAHAHAHAHAHA YES!!! I knew I could do it. Although don¡¯t results come out in a couple of days? They only let you know if you got accepted into the preliminary selection today.>


    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. <Hello? That isn¡¯t a window. You can¡¯t just glare at a wall and expect to look cool.>


    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.


    <hr>


    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.


    <I¡­ I think I¡¯ve been here before¡­>


    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.


    <hr>


    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.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    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.¡±


    <2018? That was like¡­ ages ago. When did his parents have him, in their sixties?>


    ¡°No Solare, they didn¡¯t have me in their sixties. I was born in 2021.¡±


    <How? Wait did he read my mind? How does he look 30? I¡¯m so confused.>


    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.¡±


    <Woah. This guy could legit be my grandpa. I feel so exposed. He knows everything I am thinking of. Isn¡¯t that too overpowered?>


    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.¡±


    <No. I did not know that you could go crazy doing magic. Thank you, whatever god is out there, for giving me this gift. Of course, my already prevalent mental issues aren¡¯t enough. You had to throw that twist in as well.>


    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.¡±


    Stevenlet out a breath I didn¡¯t knowhe 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. < What am I getting into?>


    ¡°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.¡±


    <hr>


    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.


    <No time like the present.>


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

 Chapter 8 - Magic 101

    <u>Magic 101 for Dummies</u>


    <u>By Magister William Chen</u>


    The Magician Ranking System ¨C


    Regulars: People with no magical abilities


    Entry I ¨C V: People who can diffuse loose magical particles throughout their body


    Novice I ¨C V: People who can focus and manipulate some of the particles within their body, some can perform initial energy sensing


    Apprentice I ¨C V: People who can store and manipulate mana outside their bodies. Requires forming a condensed mana locus at an unspecified location in the body. It is recommended highly by amazing, supreme, and the best magister William Chen to form the locus around a specific organ.


    Mage I ¨C V: People who are proficient in manipulating mana in certain ways pertaining to their field and area of study. These are more subjective as a kinetic combat mage is differs highly from a potential mage. Mages add more and more loci where mana is gathered in the body, while also undergoing tests by their superiors in the field to determine advancements.


    **From now on the line gets kinda blurred. After the mage ranks are higher ranking individuals who end up replacing body parts entirely with mana. For example, my eyes have been replaced entirely with mana. Usually, there is no real difference on the outside but because I focus on more mental and soul powers, my eyes became a conduit which visibly changed. After a certain point the mages are ranked via power and awarded titles. Most are named after certain myths and legends, and most titles can be inherited. After a certain level a select few can also manipulate ambient mana but that is a conversation for another day.**


    Classifications:


    Wizard ¨C classifications associated with research and applications of mana and magical theory. They are the backbone of the entire system because without wizards and their research, many of the advancements made today won¡¯t exist.


    Elementalist ¨C the classic fantasy magical maniac with giant AOE spells and flashy bang bangs. They are mostly from the kinetic tree.


    Magisters ¨C the epitome of perfection and the greatest of all classifications. These amazing individuals take the abilities from the potential magic tree and explore it to its full extent. The magisters are very highly respected because everyone recognizes their importance to the entire Coalition of Magic. The Psychic, William Chen, is an exemplary example of the individuals found under the magister classification.


    Warlocks ¨C these are unique mages who exist in the folds of other classifications. They almost always have unique abilities and are very annoying. They have the smallest number of members yet the classification still holds a sizable amount power. An example of a warlock is Mohini, the illusionist. While she doesn¡¯t have the same combat power as Agni, the illusions she produces terrifies even me.


    Details into Elements ¨C


    Fire ¨C this type of element uses the combustion of mana particles and manipulation of thermal energies to wield explosive powers. Some fire mages could use infrared radiation to be walking thermal goggles. Mostly I just use them for heating up cold rooms in the winter. Avatar element one of four.


    Water ¨C this element basically uses the properties of water such as surface tension and the hydrogen bonds between water molecules to manipulate this element. One disadvantage is that it requires water in the air and in the surroundings. It is theorized that someone with sufficient mastery can manipulate atoms to form water but it has yet to happen. Kinda useless.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Earth ¨C the usage of mana to manipulate natural substances like dirt and rock. This element is incompatible with man-made substances and anything alive like plants. Avatar element three out of four. They could have called this something else but the guy who theorized this element is a prick.


    Air ¨C the use of mana to manipulate air currents and the atmosphere. The last of the Avatar elements, this element is kinda useful. A certain mage used her knowledge of air magic to compress pockets of air which she could step on. It was a sight to see someone actually walking on air.


    Plasma ¨C this element is theorized to exist. Scientifically, plasma is ionized gas which exists at low pressures and very high temperatures. Strong enough fire and lightning magic has been shown to create plasma, but that was simply as a residue and a side effect. Actual manipulation of plasma has yet to be seen.


    Space ¨C this element basically obeys yet destroys the laws of physics at the same time. Much of the processes of the element could be explained via physics but much can¡¯t. Space mages mostly operate on feeling and there is much left to understand about this element.


    Atomic ¨C similar to earth, this element is basically the manipulation of atoms of man-made objects. Basically metal-bending.


    Electricity ¨C mages of this element manipulate the passage of electrons with their mana. They are very useful because you no longer need chargers, just give something to an electric mage and BAM. Fully charged phone. Paired with magnetism mages and certain mages specialized in creating storms, this magic can be very powerful.


    Null ¨C basically a specific type of wave and particle that cancels out magic casted out into the air. While it is somewhat overpowered, this type of cancellation can¡¯t be used over big distances and can¡¯t neutralize potential magic. While it is theorized a null element for potential magic exists, there has been no evidence towards that claim.


    Fortification ¨C the magic of the hand to hand fighters. This magic is the manipulation of mana to parts of your body in unique ways to cause changes. Many people usually love fortification mages because most can supercharge certain parts of their body ??.


    Soul ¨C the most mysterious of all elements¡­ besides the special and theorized elements. This element is the Psychic powers of old. Literally a manifestation of the mind, this is the best it gets.


    Magnetism ¨C basically the manipulation of magnetic fields. Really op with electric mages who create magnetic fields by just performing their magic.


    Force ¨C Star Wars


    Aura ¨C honestly, we have no idea. This magic is basically a manifestation of a field and pressure thingy which ties into emotions and personality. Figure it out yourself.


    Light/Dark ¨C manipulations of photons and wavelengths of light. Very useful for research purpose, not that practical so far. This magic takes too long to manipulate and at too small a scale.


    Healing ¨C a mysterious way of using mana to re-form connections and mend injuries. Experiments show that it doesn¡¯t simply increase the natural regeneration of cells because the telomeres in the new cells are not shortened as they should be. It seems that it creates completely new cells. Much is unknown, but this magic is loved by everyone.


    Sound ¨C manipulation of sound. Music becomes really annoying. Like REALLY ANNOYING. Imagine shitty songs blasting into your ear and actually killing you inside.


    Life/Nature ¨C element that lets people use plants. Basically, earth with plants. Most nature mages get really good at making poisons.


    Death/Animation ¨C really creepy. This element uses mana to manipulate inanimate objects like puppets. Different from atomic magic although we aren¡¯t really sure how. Those so-called necromancers just manipulate corpses instead of like puppets. They don¡¯t actually come back to life.


    Summoning ¨C WTF. Like wtf world how does someone summon something from another dimension. We gave up on this a while ago.


    Time ¨C theorized to exist because it¡¯s the anthesis of space.


    Creation ¨C God?


    Destruction ¨C Entropy?


    Dark Matter/Dark Energy ¨C we don¡¯t know what they were before but now people think they are just really solidified bits of mana. Although that¡¯s just a theory. A game mana theory.


    <hr>


    I rubbed my eyes. Just reading the document gave me a headache. This was useful, but it was also a pain to read.


    <Yeah¡­ maybe I¡¯ll get information from a not that biased source next time. Although this raises so many questions about mana. Especially healing. Also, this guy had mana for eyes. MANA FOR EYES. How do you replace an entire body part with mana? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s just MAAAGIC. This is way too complicated for me to understand right now.>


    Finally sorting through some of the information I got from this massive info-dump, I looked at the clock. It was pushing 11:00 and there was a bunch of legal documents still in the folder. Instead of reading through the night, I went to bed.


    <I can read the rest tomorrow.>

 Chapter 9 - Panic

    I opened my eyes. It was a white washed room. In the room were a couple of bookshelves, some chock full of books, some empty. I was standing on a tattered Persian rug. In the corner stood an oak table containing a pen and a microscope. Groaning, I exclaimed, ¡°Not this again.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been here before? Hmmm, I see why you wanted to hit me before. This is one of the most boring rooms I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    Hearing the voice behind me, I whirled around to see the smiling face of William Chen. He was sitting in a regal throne, adorned with purple cushions and studded with gems. His head was resting lazily on one hand. He waved his hand. An unwrapped burger appeared. Grabbing his burger, he took a bite. Savoring the taste, he chewed for a minute. ¡°Mhm. You know, nothing beats the taste of meat. Being raised a vegetarian was one of my greatest regrets.¡±


    <Ok. As dreams go this is one of the weirder ones. I don¡¯t know how I feel dreaming about a guy I just met. Especially since the guy is old enough to be my grandpa.>


    William laughed. ¡°This is no dream, yet it is a dream. This, is a manifestation of your consciousness.¡±


    Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the old man. ¡°If this is my consciousness, why are you here?¡±


    Dematerializing the burger and wiping his mouth, he stood up. Behind him, the throne melted slowly into nothingness. Walking towards me with an upturned mouth, he said one word. ¡°Guess.¡±


    <Hm. The Psychic. The guy who can read minds. Of course he can barge into my dreams. That also explains the vision I saw when I first met him. It was the same setting, yet different circumstances. It was all in my mind.>


    Stopping in front of me, the old man pulled out a sheet of paper. ¡°I figured that you wouldn¡¯t have read the documents in the folder I gave, or realized one important detail which prevented you from signing them.¡±


    <Important detail? It seems this visit isn¡¯t just to mess around with the new guy.>


    After receiving the sheet of paper, I perused its contents.


    <Weird. Today¡¯s visit must not be revealed to anyone else unless they have had a similar experience. The information I receive must not be revealed to any outsider under threat of my consciousness being sealed. This seems like one of those soul binding oaths in those fantasy novels. ¡°Follow the contract or die a horrible death.¡± How the hell did we manage to make these? We definitely shouldn¡¯t have the knowledge required to create something like this. Unless this is something personal that the old man created, after all his nickname can¡¯t be for show.>


    He gave me a regretful look. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t explain your questions until you mark the contract. You would have to trust me.¡±


    <Screw that. As if I am going to trust someone I met today. I wasn¡¯t born yesterday. Old man, I know you are reading my thoughts but I mean this with no disrespect. Are you stupid? You met me yesterday. You also lauded the talent I had for reaching Novice II without any family background. What you have there is a soul contract, something I have no information about, and you are a magician who uses the soul. What if inadvertently I promise to be your slave or subordinate. While you might have important information, I would have the same chance of learning that information in college or at some point in the future. I¡¯m also not naive enough to believe the kind old man act. Truthfully, there is a chance you have pure intentions approaching me, and that means you are a better person than I am, but I can¡¯t take the chance to trust you. I cherish my freedom, and I am not going to throw it away.>


    The old man narrowed his eyes. He stared at my outstretched hand. Reaching over and grabbing the writ of paper, it burned up in his hand. The flames started from the tip of the paper and crossed down, engulfing the entire sheet. The black specks and ashes disintegrated into the wind. ¡°Well Solare. I guess that means farewell.¡±


    The world shook. Originating from his feet, a spiderweb pattern of cracks permeated throughout the room. From each crack oozed a black miasma. William put his hand out and grabbed mine. Shaking my hand, he said, ¡°Without my support your awareness will collapse and you will go back to sleep. If you had agreed you would most likely have remembered this interaction, but due to your refusal, you will wake up with no knowledge of this meeting.¡± His eyes twinkled with an amusing light. ¡°Contrary to what you might believe, I am very happy that you refused my offer. Now I know you won¡¯t just throw your life away when I recruit you in the future.¡± The miasma filled the entire room like smoke. It got denser and denser. Soon, all I could see was black.


    <hr>


    I opened my eyes. <Uahh. Holy shit I feel like I got my brain busted.> I sat up on my bed, head pounding. <That old man really did a number on me huh. Wait¡­ TAKE THAT. Stupid old man underestimated me. You won¡¯t remember anything my ass. It seems my soul is stronger than he thought it would be. Makes sense considering all the crap I¡¯ve had to deal with my life.>A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The pounding got worse and worse. I went to grab a pitcher of water on the ground. I didn¡¯t have a nightstand or anything similar so I got used to setting everything on the floor. Big mistake. As I grasped the handle and started lifting it up, my clammy fingers slipped off and spilled everything on the hardwood floor. ¡°Damn it.¡± My bare feet coated with water, I walked to my kitchen to grab a few towels. While carrying the towels, my phone emitted a high-pitched tone and started buzzing. Curious as to what caused the debacle, I unlocked my phone. I stared at the alert present on my screen.


    Washington D.C, AMBER Alert: LIC/SSEA389 (VA) 2072 Tan Dirkow Aether S Class Sedan CHILD: 17 Whit F 1SUSP: 25 Whit M 5¡¯10¡¯¡¯ 170LB **


    Reading the description, I sighed. After the discovery of mana came the influx of obviously less than savory individuals willing to explain the discovery in any way possible. This includes kidnapping children who seem to have lots of potential. Putting the phone down, I started mopped up the mess I made. Interrupting my hard work was knock of the door. I opened my phone and looked through the camera on my front door. Standing there was a pale blond man in a blue suit. His hands were crossed behind his back and he was leaning forward into the camera.


    ¡°Mr. Solare King, I am a representative sent by the D.C admission¡¯s office here to explain more about your acceptance into college.¡±


    Sighing I opened the door. ¡°Didn¡¯t Mr. Chen already go over my admissions process? I don¡¯t think I need an explanation.¡±


    He smiled. Alarm bells went off in my head. Something didn¡¯t seem quite right. The man hadn¡¯t given me any specifics about who he was and which college he represented. I was admitted into the ISM; the guy representing the school was inside my head when I slept. No way was there a random representative just coming to my school. I slammed the door shut. The representative banged his right hand against the door. ¡°Mr. King, this is a very important matter. The information is very important for your future in the college.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes. ¡°If that¡¯s the case. What¡¯s in your left hand?¡± When the man was knocking on the door, I noticed he had kept his left hand behind his back. The man froze.


    ¡°Ok you got me.¡± He put his hands up in the air. In his left hand was a tazer. ¡°Look, this was something that had to be done. Unfortunately, it seems you just made the whole process more complicated. The reason why I did this is because someone in a big family hired me to kidnap you. I don¡¯t know why but it seems they¡­¡±


    I tuned the guy out. I could tell everything he was saying was bullshit. If someone really wanted to kidnap me, they would have done it earlier. Even if it was that stupid guy back at the airport, he would have done it later. The timing was too quick for that. No, he was after me for a specific reason. I ran back into the bedroom. Frantically looking around, I looked for a glass box mounted on the wall.


    After the awakening, the crime rate skyrocketed. Organized crime profited greatly from all the individuals with magical abilities and staying true to form, the government was too slow to cope. It took a good fifteen years for people with magical abilities to get truly integrated in the police force. The changes in society led to many safety features being designed to help the populace. Now, most buildings had a camera instead of a peephole like the one at my apartment door to prevent a magical assault through the door. Another added feature was a panic button. They were installed in houses to alert the police and the one in my apartment also sent a signal to the other apartments in the complex. The problem is I couldn¡¯t find it.


    <Ok where is it? Where where where. Damn it! Is it in my closet? Come on, why did I ignore this! Great job me. I¡¯m in an apartment complex on the third floor for crying out loud. I thought if anything was to happen, the people downstairs would have taken care of it.>


    Then, I remembered. Pushing my bed out of the way, I saw the box. There was a key which unlocked the case to the button. Taking my key ring, I tried to insert it. My hands were trembling, making impossible to get the key into the hole.


    <Great fucking time to be nervous eh? This is how people in horror movies get themselves killed. Can¡¯t start the car cause they dropped the keys. AHHHH this piece of shit thing. Fuck it.>


    Deciding to give up on the proper way of opening up the case, I picked up my alarm clock. Holding it above my head, I smashed it down. The case shattered along with my alarm clock.


    <Good riddance.>


    I slammed my hand into the button repeatedly. Expecting to hear the alarm go off I hear nothing. <Are you kidding me? The system doesn¡¯t work anymore? Just my luck.> I hear a crash. From the sound of it, it was my door breaking down.


    The man walked into the room. His footsteps thudded down, my breath quickening the closer he got. As soon as I heard the door break, I made a beeline to my closet and shut the door. Piling my clothes on top of me, I tried my best to make as little sound as possible.


    ¡°I see you hit the panic button. Thanks for that. The sound barrier I erected around your room is useless now. Guess this job is a messy one. Now let¡¯s flush this mouse out of his little hole.¡±


    The closet door burst open. Figuring my hiding place was blown, I had prepared myself for this moment. I jumped on to the guy. Pushing him down, I did the one thing that brings any guy down. I kneed the guy in the balls and booked it. Sprinting towards the hallway outside my apartment, I noticed my door. The bottom and the top half lay separated on the ground. Jumping over the debris, I made it to the hallway. Looking to the left and right I took a step.


    Someone appeared to my left. Completely blindsided, I took a hit to the face. I crashed down and started blacking out. Just before I passed out, I heard two people talking.


    ¡°You¡¯re such an idiot. All you had to do was taze him as soon as he opened the door and knock him out. We even had a fake ambulance prepared so you could tell everyone he had fainted. Because of your stupid pride, you had to pause and be all dramatic. You screwed this up big time.¡±


    ¡°We got him in the end, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and now the police will be here in 5 minutes. Let¡¯s load him up.¡±


    I felt myself being lifted. I tried struggling. ¡°It seems he isn¡¯t completely out yet. Let¡¯s make sure of that shall we?¡±


    Something got injected into my arm. The world went black.

 Chapter 10 - In Trouble... Kinda?

    The chill permeated through my bones. Spluttering awake, I raised my head to see a bucket with a small amount of water at the bottom. The rest was on me. My wet hair was strung down on my face, reaching the tips of my eyes. My hands were bound behind my back and by legs were roped to a plastic folding chair. Before my eyes was an empty water bucket held by a brawny man. I struggled to get loose. The man put the bucket down and stood in front of me. ¡°It¡¯s not going to work. The rope¡¯s been fortified.¡± He walked behind me and put his hands on my chair. Panicking I looked around.


    <Where am I?>


    I looked around. All around me were giant shelves filled with packaged goods. Looking closely, some of the labels read, Crispy Crunch, Mana Stones, Magical Loops. <All part of a balanced breakfast¡­> Behind me was a big black van. A Dirkow. The giant car frame hinted at its Russian origin.


    I felt myself being pulled backwards as the man dragged my chair backwards. ¡°Hey idiot? Who are you guys? Serial killers? Want to feed me some Wheaties before you kill me is that right?¡±


    The dragging stopped. The man walked in front of me. I took greater note of his impressive physique. His biceps tugged at the shirt he was wearing and I could swear there were veins popping out. <Good job me. Nice job antagonizing the guy who can palm your head and squeeze it like a walnut.>


    ¡°Heh heh heh. I like you kid. Not many can joke when they think they about to die.¡± The Russian bodybuilder, oh did I mention he was Russian, patted my cheek and walked behind me again. He pulled me through those flappy double doors you see in warehouses and placed me in what could guess as a storage room. <Man what is up with me and storage closets. First the corrupt cop and now the weirdly friendly kidnappers.>


    There was movement. I seems I wasn¡¯t alone inside the closet. To my left sat a man who looked either Chinese or Korean, wasn¡¯t sure which. He had his head down. To my right was a woman, she was white with platinum blonde hair. Her head was leaned back with her eyes closed and for some reason, she had tape over her mouth.


    ¡°Hey.¡± I called out the people tied up beside me. Unlike my current plight, they only had their hands tied together and weren¡¯t strapped to a chair. ¡°A little help here?¡± The Asian lifted his head first.


    ¡°It¡¯s no use. We tried to loosen the ropes of each other. After every attempt they kept getting tighter and tighter. The people outside are the only ones that can completely untie you.¡±


    <Well that¡¯s fantastic. I guess the Russian bear has to come back and get me.>


    Right on schedule, the door opened. There stood the man I saw yesterday. <Yesterday? How long has it been since I was taken?> There stood the man I meet earlier. It was the same guy who stood at the front of my apartment and failed the simple job of shooting me with a stun gun. He gave me a feral grin. <This isn¡¯t good. Not at all.> He strode forward and punched me in the face. My head snapped back and my nose felt weird. He took out a baton from nowhere and smashed it against my head. The chair crashed down sideways and brought me down with it. He pulled me back up. Before he could do anything, a hand grabbed his shoulder.


    ¡°Stop it Chad, we can¡¯t break him. We assured that the people won¡¯t be damaged. Just because the kid busted your balls doesn¡¯t mean you should bust him.¡±


    It was the person who had actually knocked me out. The man looked like exactly like Morpheus from the matrix. He looked me up and down and glanced at the other two in the room. ¡°Also, the boss wants the three of them out for the screens.¡±


    Chad gave him a disappointed look. ¡°No more fun?¡±


    ¡°No more fun. Now, inject them and bring them out.¡± The man brought out a case with 3 syringes in it. Chad grudgingly took them. He lunged forward and stabbed it in my neck. <Gah! That shit hurts you know?>


    My head rolled back. In my peripheries, Chad walked past me and injected the Asian man. He tried to struggle, but it was useless. Before I could see what happened next, I blacked out.


    <hr>


    I woke up gradually. I tried opening my eyes, but as soon as I did I got blinded. My neck was on fire and I could barely move it. The light dimmed a bit. As soon as my eyes adjusted, I could make out a monitor and a camera. To my right sat both the girl and the Asian, both tied a chair this time. <You know, I¡¯m kinda sick and tired of trying to figure out what¡¯s going on. Where are my answers? Where is that one character that provides exposition to whatever scenario?> There was a projector on the wall behind the camera that pointed at us. It seemed we were relocated into another closet, although this one a bit bigger than the ones before. A thin looking man walked inside the room. His brown hair waved above his head and he had a white lab coat on. We walked over to the camera and opened it up. Without pause, he turned to us and said, ¡°You might be wondering why I brought you all here today¡±


    <And there he is. Mr. Exposition. He even looks like a mad scientist.>


    ¡°For two of you the reason for why I had you kidnapped was obvious. Ms. Einhorn and Mr. Chen, both of you are from very influential families, and I will get a very handsome ransom from both of you.¡± The monitor pinged with a notification. ¡°Ah! Right on time.¡± By clicking a few keys, he brought up a projection. Surprised, I saw two faces. One was a random white man, but the other was someone I had just met the day before. Magister William Chen.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    <It does make sense though. How many influential Chen families are there in the US? Although aren¡¯t these villains too stupid? Chen is a psychic and just assuming, the white man is probably someone super powerful.>


    Chen squinted his eyes. ¡°Let go of my grandson you crazy idiot.¡±


    The white guy sighed and put his palm against his head. ¡°Tanny, can we please talk about this?¡±


    The mad scientist jumped up and screamed. ¡°NO. WE WILL NOT TALK. YOU WILL GIVE ME THE MONEY I WANT OR SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN TO THESE PRECIOUS OFFSPRING OF YOURS. ALSO, I TOLD YOU TO NEVER CALL ME TANNY. MY NAME IS TANNERAIN.¡±


    <Wait¡­ the fuck?>


    I looked over to the two other individuals tied up. The Asian man had his eyes closed and was shaking his head. The white girl rolled her eyes. The Asian spoke up. ¡°Uncle Tanner, can you please let us go? It¡¯s been the third time this year you did this. Won¡¯t you get your funding in a couple of months?¡±


    The crazy man looked at the kid. ¡°You don¡¯t understand! They¡¯ve been cancelling the funding over the past six months. I need more!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you kidnapped us six months ago!¡± retorted the kid. ¡°Can¡¯t you at least take the duct tape off Lucine¡¯s mouth?¡± Judging by the conversation, I assumed Lucine was the girl. ¡°Also, why did you kidnap a random?¡±


    Tanner crossed his arms. ¡°No way kiddo. I just got chewed out fifteen minutes ago because I kidnapped you guys again. I can¡¯t handle another lecture right now. Also, I got some mercs to pick up the random because he has talent and will be joining you at school next year. I looked and your grandfather has already spoken to him. Speaking of which,¡± the kooky scientist scanned me. ¡°Why are you beat up? I only told them stun you and knock you out via the serum.¡±


    I spat in the man¡¯s face. ¡°That¡¯s because the mercs you hired have an anger problem. Much like the one I have, so why don¡¯t you untie me so I can strangle you to death?¡± In the background I heard some laughter. It was William Chen, the dirty old man.


    ¡°It seems you got your hands full there Tanny. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll send you the money. The reason for delaying it in the first place was you to think about what you did. We can¡¯t have you be kidnapping people at random, can we?¡± After getting his laughs out, the man put on a serious face. ¡°Although, I will talk to you in person. How dare you involve someone who has no knowledge of anything happening.¡± The white man nodded in assent to William¡¯s statement.


    ¡°Heed my words Tanny, this time we will not protect you in front of the council. You need to answer for what you just did. We had to cancel the Amber alert out for my Lucine. Do you realize how much trouble you caused grabbing her from the entrance to a shopping mall?¡±


    Tanny looked peeved. He started twisting the already messy hair on his head. Under his breath, he muttered, ¡°I only wanted him to bond with little Lucine and William Jr. They will be schoolmates after all, and with his talent it would be great if they became friends.¡±


    I looked at the man as if he was crazy. Actually, scratch that. I confirmed he was crazy. ¡°Are you an idiot. If you wanted me to friends with these two, there is a million better ways than kidnapping me. In fact, I don¡¯t want anything to do with both of them and their families anymore.¡± I looked at the camera and spoke directly to the men watching. As coldly as possible I said, ¡°Thank you Mr. Chen for all the help you provided me, but I think it¡¯s best for me to cease all contact from now on. I can¡¯t trust you people anymore.¡±


    The man on the screen closed his eyes. ¡°I deeply apologize for what my friend here did to you. I will provide appropriate compensation but I hope this won¡¯t sour our interactions in the future.¡±


    I smiled at him. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t spoil our future interactions at all. That¡¯s because there will be no more future interactions. Mr. Chen, I am sorry.¡±


    His face scrunched up. ¡°Tanny, untie all three right now. Where are you?¡±


    Tanny pouted. ¡°I was just helping the two of them make a new friend. Fine.¡± He walked over and untied William Jr. ¡°We are currently located at a warehouse in Virginia. It¡¯s a local storage area and the goods were set to be shipped in about three days, so you see I was going to let them go. Here¡¯s the actual address.¡± He went to the computer and sent an address via the video chat function. Walking over to the woman named Lucine, he ripped off the duct tape. Without a millisecond going by, she started berating the man.


    ¡°How could you! Uncle, we know that you are crazy but I didn¡¯t expect you to be this much of a lunatic. If it is as you said you wanted me to make friends with the other person you KIDNAPPED, it doesn¡¯t help that we know each other. You just made him hate us. Don¡¯t you ever think with your brain while making decisions? I know you have this massive IQ and developing all sorts of things for the government but you overstepped your boundaries.¡± The man¡¯s face grew sadder and sadder with each passing sentence, but that wasn¡¯t the end. ¡°You better believe aunt will hear of this. We had kept it a secret from her because there was no real harm done, but not this time.¡± As if someone shot him, Tanny had a look of horror.


    ¡°Please please PLEASE, anything but that,¡± the man pleaded. Lucine only gave him a cold look in response. With a dead expression, he meandered over to me. Stopping in front of me, he asked, ¡°Won¡¯t you forgive me? I know this must have been traumatic and I¡¯m sorry, but can you look past this.¡±


    I gave him the brightest smile I could muster. ¡°Sure! I realize your viewpoint and I won¡¯t hold a grudge.¡±


    He smiled back. ¡°Thank god, with you being understanding it makes everything better.¡± He looked towards the two other teenagers staring at him. ¡°This makes it fine, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Waving his hands, he undid whatever spell was on the ropes. They fell down loosely to the ground. Turning around, he started walking towards the camera setup.


    ¡°Wait!¡± In a hurry, I got up and put my hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°What?¡± Tanny turned around to face me. Without any notice, I punched him in the face.


    <Did you really think I would forgive you that easily? What a fool.>


    He crumpled to the ground unconscious. There was movement again on the projector screen where the white guy placed both his hands on his forehead. Looking behind me, the two teenagers started walking towards me. Glancing for a moment at the body on the ground, they disregarded it and held out their hands. ¡°Hi, sorry for the unfortunate circumstances my name is Lucine and this is my friend William. Nice to meet you.¡±


    <This day keeps getting better and better.>

 Chapter 11 - Departure

    I stared at the outstretched hands. <Why not.> Grabbing their hands, I shook them. <They seem ok. At least they spoke up for me.> Lucine went over to computer and started talking to the men on the big screen. William Jr. squatted down and tried to revive the knocked-out maniac. I winced. My neck was still killing me. I ran a self-check. Shaking around each of my appendages, it seems I wasn¡¯t hurt anywhere. The bruises from the past few days still stung and I couldn¡¯t turn my head, but I was fine. Hearing a sound behind me, I turned around. It was Morpheus.


    ¡°Hey what happened here?¡±


    ¡°Nothing to see here. Move along.¡± Startled, I looked back. It seems William succeeded with his endeavor.


    ¡°Sir, the captives are loose. You hired us to capture them but now they are moving freely. Didn¡¯t you want to ransom them?¡±


    The mad scientist laughed and said, ¡°No I just said that to hire you. I told you to not damage them. That¡¯s because I know them and was just giving their relatives a show.¡± I narrowed my eyes.


    <That dirty, filthy, hypocritical liar. He did want to ransom us for money but since things didn¡¯t go his way, he is cleaning his reputation so even if the mercenaries were brought to testify nothing would happen.> The scientist stood up and approached the merc.


    ¡°That also makes me question.¡± He pointed at my face. ¡°What happened here? I told you to bring them unharmed. Look at that face. Does that seem unharmed?¡±


    <Hey! I don¡¯t look that bad, do I?> Looking at the two others in the room, I raised my eyebrow. They averted their eyes. <Well that¡¯s fantastic. Whatever. I want to go home.> Ignoring the debating kidnappers, I walked out the door. Before I could completely extricate myself from the situation, Tanny called out to me.


    ¡°Hey, I know you¡¯re pissed and I get that, but you have to understand the importance of what I was doing. I am almost at an important breakthrough in my research. Have you ever heard of Gaussian weaponry?¡±


    Hearing his question, I stood in place. Turning back, I said, ¡°Yes I¡¯ve heard of it. Isn¡¯t it an electromagnetic gun?¡±


    With a pleased expression the scientist started rambling. ¡°Yes exactly! A Gauss rifle, or coilgun, is a weapon which uses a sequential magnetic field being turned on and off along the barrel of the gun to fire a bullet. The bullet itself is magnetized and the sequential activations of the magnetic field causes the bullet to accelerate. The main problem that scientists faced beforehand was the implementation of a power source and the overall development made it more affordable to use normal firearms. It was the same with railguns because they need an overwhelming amount of power and the materials quickly wear down. We managed to overcome some of the limitations yet we haven¡¯t done the same with the Gauss rifle. With magic as our aid, there is no way we can¡¯t achieve this level of sophistication. The stuff of science fiction is becoming reality through the usage of magic.¡±


    I stood there and stared at the man. <Wonderful speech. 10/10, perfect execution. Especially that last bit, ¡°the stuff of science fiction is becoming reality through the usage of magic.¡± How long did it take for him to memorize that line?> I turned back.


    In a hopeful tone he said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you also a fellow scientist? Surely you can sympathize with my plight.¡±


    I felt my eyes turn red. The rage seeped through my veins. I took a deep breath because I knew I had to control my emotions. <Come on Solare, be calm and cool. Exude that aloof fa?ade. Don¡¯t let them know your actual feelings.> After successfully hiding my emotions, I turned around, raised one eyebrow, and strode to the brown-haired maniac. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel ashamed comparing us? You do realize why I¡¯m a scientist? While yes knowledge is great and scientific advancement is fantastic, you should think of the consequences of your actions. I want to be a doctor because I want to help people. While I won¡¯t act like a messiah, after all the profession also pays well and garners a lot of respect, but I could have easily been a researcher. After all, my internships and experience has more to do with biomedical research than actual medicine, but the reason why I am pursuing this career path is assurance that I do something to help people. People like you who talk about advancement of science, do you realize what you are doing? You are making weapons. Sure, weapons out of science fiction that are admittedly very cool, but in the end, they are weapons. Things used to kill, hurt, and take away family members of individuals.¡±


    Everyone in the room just looked at me with a weird expression. Tanny¡¯s face adopted a look of disdain. ¡°Don¡¯t you realize how foolish you sound.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not totally against weapons. I think that these types of weapons must be developed in due time. I also believe that people like you shouldn¡¯t be in charge of projects like these. You obviously prescribe by the philosophy; the ends justify the means. I abhor the notion that an individual such as yourself can impact millions of people.¡±


    Before anyone could respond, I decided to ignore whatever else they could ask. I walked all the way down the hallway and found the gigantic double doors which the Russian macho man pulled me through. Pushing through, I saw Chad and Russia talking to a cluster of men in black suits. Surveying the location, I noticed an especially angry man in a black suit.


    ¡°Steven!¡±


    ¡°Solare!¡± And the bromance commenced as I ran forward into his open embrace. Nope. He did however come over and inspect my face. ¡°Nice, a new one. What did you do this time?¡±


    ¡°Nothing much. I just tried to resist my kidnapping and it didn¡¯t turn out too well. You should see the other guy. Oh, wait¡­¡± I looked towards Chad. ¡°He¡¯s fine.¡± Picking up on what I was saying, Steven gave me an arrogant grin. He walked towards the asshole. I lurked behind him, hoping to see a show.


    He interrupted the conversation Chad was having with another suit and started talking. ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s your name?¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    The prick crossed his arms. ¡°I never give my name to anyone else if I can¡¯t help it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Chad.¡± He gave me a dirty look while Steven shook his head.


    ¡°Well, Chad, honestly it doesn¡¯t matter what your name is.¡± Steven scanned him up and down. ¡°Looking by your outfit, it hasn¡¯t been dry cleaned and pressed in a while. Not that into cleanliness, are you? It¡¯s obvious you¡¯re a mercenary but I can also see a tattoo peaking up over your collar, and I¡¯m willing to bet by the look of you might have more. Some of them might have been even done in prison.¡±


    <Really? I mean, I can kinda see an ink stain but how is that conducive to a tattoo? When I first saw him before at my door, he looked reliable. Speaking of¡­ my DOOR. The douche kicked it in and my stuff is trashed. Who¡¯s gonna pay for that? I was just moving out in two days because living in the college dorm in mandatory.>


    I saw Steven¡¯s grin grow wider. ¡°And by the way you reacted you definitely have some prison tats. Your suit is also one of the cheaper versions probably priced at a hundred dollars. You need to get that stitching looked at. The faded food stains on your shirt shows that either you suck at using a washing machine or you¡¯ve been using that for a while. Now it doesn¡¯t take a genius to put this all together and figure out you might not be that well off. While criminal prosecution is a no go because of the various influential players in this incident, we can definitely go to civilian court. Mr. King over there has a very nice redhead friend and myself who would be more than happy to help him get some remuneration.¡±


    Chad¡¯s face got grimmer with each sentence spoken. ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing. Just threatening you so you won¡¯t retaliate when I hurt you.¡± Confusion Appeared on Chad¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll understand.¡± Without any interruption, Steven reached out with his right hand and placed it on Chad¡¯s neck.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Chad lifted his arms and tried to remove Steven¡¯s arms.


    ¡°This.¡± Reaching out with his right leg, he hooked Chad¡¯s legs to provide a pivot and slammed Chad¡¯s head into the ground. Unconscious and probably concussed, Chad was down for the count.


    As Steven walked towards me, I gave him two thumbs up. ¡°Violent. I like it.¡± He stopped for a second and took out his phone. He touched the screen and picked up a call.


    <Old fashioned. It seems he disabled he motion capture application.>


    After talking for a few minutes, he handed the phone over to me. ¡°It¡¯s your favorite red headed female.¡±


    ¡°The president?¡±


    ¡°No Solare Anna. Also, I thought you hated the president.¡±


    Putting the phone up to my ear, I heard the screams of a banshee.


    ¡°Solare!! Are you alright?!? Once I got a call from the police I contacted Steven. I¡¯m happy you put me as your immediate contact but still do you realize how panicked I was? How dare you. Steven filled me in and I heard there was a complicated backstory to all this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well so this mad scientist guy¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it,¡± interrupted Anna. ¡°What I want to do is to get you shipped off to college so you can learn how to defend yourself.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯m learning how to use magic. Oh. You want me to learn how to attack? I though with my affinities I would be a support mage.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll learn more about it when you get there. Now give the phone back to Steven.¡±


    Begrudgingly, I gave the phone back to its rightful owner. He turned away and talked a bit more. After what seemed like ages but in reality was like two minutes, he came back and guided me towards his car. It was parked near the entrance to the warehouse. <Wait I still don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been.>


    ¡°Hey Steven, so how long was I kidnapped because I was unconscious most of the time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a day. Mr. Chen was contacted very early on. As soon as I found out, I asked him and he told me he was contacted by his associate. He told me you won¡¯t be hurt and you would be back home in about two days.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Mr. Chen. Never gonna talk to that guy again. You know it was because of him that I got kidnapped, right?¡±


    Getting into the car, Steven sighed. He waited for me to get in before speaking. ¡°You know you would have had to face something like this sometime.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°With your talent people would be gunning after you. You already experienced it once with that Coalition incident. If you didn¡¯t get accepted early due to Mr. Chen¡¯s help, who know what might have happened.¡±


    <Yeah don¡¯t think I don¡¯t notice what you said about that Psychic. You casually slipped in the information that he helped me. Trying to drum up a positive impression huh? Not working Steven.>


    ¡°Look Solare all I¡¯m saying is give the old man a chance. He didn¡¯t mean for you to get kidnapped or hurt, so don¡¯t go cutting ties. You aren¡¯t some chosen person with amazing plot armor to get you through every incident. You are a human like the rest of us, and sometimes acting on your feelings like this is the worst thing to do. Think about it. Without his support in the ISM, who are you going to rely upon? That place is chocked full of influential people and someone like you, an orphan with no background, would be a lamb for the slaughter. You don¡¯t to respond right away. Just dwell on this.¡±


    He started up the car and we pulled out of the lot.


    <hr>


    I stood in the doorway of my ruined apartment. On the ground was a bright yellow line which had the black words, CAUTION, printed on it. The phosphorous paint was a magical invention which combined something and another thing to create a paint which blocks unapproved personnel. Usually a police officer with some skill in magic erects a barrier but after a couple of days, the barrier falls down. It was just my luck. The barrier wasn¡¯t down yet. I slammed the barrier a couple of times with my fists. Soon afterwards, an officer came towards me.


    ¡°Hey! Get away from there! It¡¯s a crime scene.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also my house,¡± I retorted. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m the resident of this fine apartment so can I please get in my house?¡±


    The officer cocked his head sideways and looked a bit puzzled. ¡°Ok¡­ can I see your ID?¡± With a sigh, I brought out my driver¡¯s license and waited until the guy stopped inspecting it. ¡°Ok. This seems legit. I¡¯ll go get the barrier mage to approve you so just come with me.¡±


    <This guy wasn¡¯t even the barrier guy? Was he just an intern or something, someone to do the menial work.>


    I was brought down to the first floor of the complex where another officer was sipping on some coffee. ¡°Sir, the resident of the apartment wants to get in to his house.¡± The coffee sipper raised an eyebrow and waved his hand.


    ¡°The barrier¡¯s down. He can go.¡± He went back to minding his own business. The intern faced me and said, ¡°You can now enter your apartment.¡±


    <Thanks Captain Obvious. That was a complete waste of time.>


    I trudged back up the stairs and walked over the police paint. The broken down remains of my door greeted me. Stepping over the debris I walked in. Most of the things were intact but my bedroom and the front of the apartment were a mess.


    <Time to pack all this stuff up and get the hell out of here.>


    <hr>


    Two days later, I was at the Coalition office once again. With me stood Anna and Steven. <Kinda sad that my only two friends are my psychiatrist/guardian/sister and the other is a cop. Both of them are at least 10 years older than me. I guess college is a new start. Who am I kidding, it¡¯s probably gonna be hell.> The transport shuttle came over. It had a giant ISM label on it. Anna came and gave me a big hug. ¡°You better call or I¡¯m going to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Bye Anna. Bye Steven.¡± Holding my medium sized suitcase and a backpack, I moved towards the shuttle. I could see other people coming my way as well. A girl with three gigantic suitcases, a guy wearing shades and a fedora, another person who had basically the equipment I did, and a couple more people. The shuttle doors opened. <Well, bye bye D.C. Been basically my entire life. Guess it¡¯s time to move on.> Getting on the shuttle, I waited to see what my future had in store for me.