“Hi, my name is Martin Banes, a druid apprentice and a student at Summit Valley. I need assistance with a level two supernatural incident,” Martin said.

  “Alright, may I have your ID number, please?”

  “**** **** **** 3111.”

  “Very well, Mr. Martin. Please provide the details and location of the incident.”

  “The address is 1942 Lapalco Drive, Elmhurst district, Queens, New York. A family living there …” Martin began explaining the situation in detail.

  After a brief exchange, the woman on the line said:

  “We will send support as soon as possible, but I’m afraid the earliest will be tomorrow night.”

  “What? Tomorrow might be their last night! Can’t you get here any sooner?” Martin shouted in frustration.

  “I’m so sorry. At the moment, all operatives from the Mariana Department of Ether Security are on active missions. The recent Blood Moon event has sparked a surge in supernatural occurrences worldwide. I’ll monitor the operatives and send help the moment someone is available.”

  “Please make it as soon as you can,” he pleaded.

  Hanging up, Martin gathered all the anti-darkness items he had collected over time and gave them to Tony.

  He stood outside the house and could do nothing but pray with all his heart. He held his breath as the clock’s hands reached midnight. The temperature outside had dropped to thirty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, yet sweat dotted his forehead.

  Moments later, Martin’s eyes widened as he watched a massive hand made of darkness stretch out from inside the house and then set Tony, Derek, and Vivian down beside him.

  The raw magic radiating from it made his body tremble.

  “Mr. Tony … what … what was that?” Martin asked, his voice unsteady.

  “Must be the ability of those kids,” Tony replied, his face no less dazed than Martin’s.

  The answer only made Martin even more confused than before. He asked:

  “What kids?”.

  “About over half an hour ago, after we’d been awake for a little while, two boys around your age came knocking at the door …” Tony began to explain.

  “Around my age? And you’re telling me he killed that monster with just a single swing? Are you sure you didn’t see an illusion?”

  “I just saw it happen less than five minutes ago.”

  “If I told anyone at school about that, they’d say I was making it up for sure,” Martin said.

  On Earth, most of the magic academies trained students until they reached the level of an adept mage or a high knight. Once a student attained that level and passed the graduation exam, they were considered ready to leave the academy.

  For families with supernatural heritage, if a child showed the ability to sense magic, they would be sent to a magical school as soon as they turned eight.

  After enrollment, it usually took children anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to become aware of the surrounding magical energy, then another year or two to establish a permanent Ether Focal Point, and several more years to advance to the rank of high knight or adept mage.

  For those from ordinary, non-magical families like Martin, even if they were lucky enough to be discovered and admitted into a magic academy, missing that optimal starting age of eight meant they would start later and fall behind their peers.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Martin had been born into a mortal household, and his talent as a druid was only discovered when one of his mother’s friends, Aunt May, came to visit. She noticed the plants in the house, especially those around Martin’s room, were healthy and thriving in an unusual way.

  She sneaked into his room that night.

  When Martin was still wondering how to act so he wouldn’t show his excitement, Aunt May told him she was a teacher at Summit Valley Academy of Arcane Arts, and that he was a natural-born plant mage.

  Martin felt both joy and a faint twinge of loss (Just a little.)

  Even though he had entered the academy at fifteen, he grasped how to sense magic in just over two weeks. And now, after just about ten months, he was already close to establishing a permanent Ether Focal Point.

  He was gifted, everyone said so, and they also lamented that he hadn’t been enrolled as early as other children. If he had, Summit Valley might have had a novice druid of only nine or ten years old, and perhaps an adept druid younger than fifteen.

  Even with his slightly arrogant personality, Martin still understood very well what it meant for someone to kill a fierce-class monster with a single strike. Maybe Professor Dennis, the instructor for self-defense and offensive spellcasting at Summit Valley, could do it, but he was a seasoned high knight with years of experience.

  “A kid around my age who’s on the same level as Professor Dennis? That’s just ridiculous,” Martin muttered to himself. “Or maybe I got it wrong, maybe that monster was just a common rank. Or maybe it was one of those weaker types of fierce monsters.”

  He climbed up, peeking through a gap in the windows, and saw Aaron fighting against five longnight spiders. The sheer magic radiating from the battle was enough to make Martin’s legs feel weak. He rushed back and stood beside Tony’s family, waiting.

  Good grief, those things look even scarier than Merum (The two-headed lion pet of the principal of Summit Valley.) And he’s going one-on-five? Is he a high knight??? Martin felt his mind go blank.

  A few years earlier, news that young master Matthew of the prestigious Gutierrez family had become a high knight at the age of twelve had stirred up the press for a long time.

  That kid in there, even if he’s not on Matthew’s level, he’s for sure not far behind, Martin thought. He’s got to be from some noble family.

  With the current level of magic energy on Earth, rank advancement was much slower and more difficult than it had been in the past.

  And while a high knight at that age was rare, it wasn’t the most shocking thing he had heard. Just last month, there had been news about a ten-year-old duchess from Anois who had reached the level of adept mage, and her potential was said to be ranked epic tier.

  “Man … the Flow is just unfair,” he muttered.

  After Aaron and Luther left Tony’s house, Martin finally snapped out of his daze. He hurried after them and called out:

  “Wait!”

  The two boys turned to look at him.

  “Hello, Arthur and Lucian, right? I’m Martin Barnes. Nice to meet you.” He extended his hand.

  “Yes, we are. And you must be Martin? Nice to meet you too.” Aaron shook Martin’s hand.

  “It’s such a relief to have you guys helping Tony’s family. Honestly, I’m not sure they could have held out until the officers of Mariana Market arrived.”

  And truth be told, he wasn’t sure the officers could have handled those spiders either. When he reported the incident, he had described it as a level two case, which meant the people sent might just be one or two novice mages, or at most some experienced official knight. The more likely scenario was that the spiders would add them to their main course.

  Martin’s heart began pounding in his chest; he had almost caused a disaster by accident.

  Oh? Mariana Market? Aaron made an effort to keep any hint of surprise from showing on his face.

  “It’s nothing, really! In fact, we were late.” He gave a small shake of his head. “Poor family, only if we had known their situations a few days earlier.”

  Martin stayed silent. The lifeless eyes of Vivian still haunted him. Since stepping into the world of magic, he had never faced anything as brutal as this. The few incidents he had handled before were either wandering spirits or small creatures that couldn’t do much harm.

  “You’re right, poor them indeed. Being targeted by a group of fierce-class monsters is just plain bad luck,” he said.

  Then a flicker of curiosity passed over Martin’s face. He asked:

  “So, you’re a high knight, aren’t you? That’s so amazing! How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Seventeen. What about you?” Aaron replied, his expression unchanged.

  “Seventeen? Wow! I’m almost sixteen and I’m still struggling as an apprentice druid,” Martin said with a hint of frustration. “You two must be from somewhere else, right? I’ve never heard of someone so young being that strong around New York, or even in all of North America. Or … could you be from the Sacred Fire Academy?”

  The question made Aaron hesitate for a moment.

  Hmm … what the heck is the Sacred Fire Academy? How should I answer this? Well, I’ve already started lying, might as well keep going all the way.

  “No, we’re not from here, we’re from Lumenos. My family allowed us to visit The Origin for a vacation after I reached the rank of high knight,” Aaron said.

  “Oh my god! Lumenos! Are you serious??” Martin’s eyes lit up in an instant.