<As much as I’d love to, no. But I could try proving it to you. Whisper ‘Fireball’,> the voice said.

“Fireball,” Evin whispered and then immediately felt the Fire energy inside him becoming more active.

<I first order the energies to create a spark of fire in the air through the combustion of an imaginary fuel.>

As the voice explained the process, Evin felt the Fire energy piling towards a certain spot in the air and then a spark of fire burst into existence.

<Then, I order the Fire energies to pull the oxygen inside this room towards the fire, which prevents the fire from dying out.>

Just like the voice said, Evin could feel the Fire energies pulling a certain part of the air towards the fire, which seemed to help it burn continuously. The ball of fire floated in the air for about a minute before dying out.

But after it was gone, Evin noticed that something about his body was very off. His head felt sluggish, his breath became short and ragged, and he could feel his chest beating faster and faster. Before he could understand what was happening, the voice’s orders came in.

<Go open the window.>

Evin did as it ordered and as he opened the window, he felt a draft of fresh air hitting him all at once. He stood near the window for a few moments, savoring his breaths as the voice explained what happened.

<Oxygen, on top of its ability to burn things, is also what keeps your body functioning normally. So, since I deprived the air here of its oxygen, your brain started shutting off, your body started becoming disoriented; and if it kept happening, your skin would slowly start taking on a pale, bluish hue. Eventually, you’ll die as your brain ceases to work. You know how people suffocate to death inside water, right? It’s because they lack oxygen,> the voice said and chuckled to itself, <Well, that definitely wouldn’t be the least of a drowning man’s problems, so I guess that’s a bit of a shit example.>

Evin started to feel a little better, and he walked back to the corner, away from the hearing device. He gathered some Fire energy inside his mana-core and tried to recreate what the voice did.

Miraculously, he managed to create a spark of fire this time. Well, this seemed to be the easiest part, as the fuel for this fire was apparently imaginary. So, there was no need for Evin to know something so specific and unimaginable, like the air consisting of all these tiny particles. But when it came time to keep the fire burning, Evin failed miserably.

He tried again and achieved the same results.

<Well, since you’re still young and more open to new ideas, you’ll eventually get the hang of it. And until that point, you can leave casting magic to me,> the voice sighed.

“If you could explain everything like this, then why did you have to act like that towards me in the first place?” Evin couldn’t help but ask.

In his mind, there really wasn’t and reason for him and the voice to argue so heatedly before this, especially if the voice was planning to just explain everything, anyway.

<I get bored inside your empty head,> the voice said matter-of-factly. <Terrorizing you is the only entertainment I have.> 

Evin could only sigh at the remark, understanding that the voice just wanted to bully him.

‘The voice is definitely an asshole, but he’s actually quite helpful…’ he suddenly had a thought.

<Remember that our goals are the same. You want to get rid of me, and I want to rid myself of you. Like you said, I refuse to believe that there’s no method in the world that can help our situation. When we become a mage, we can take our time to find that perfect method. Preferably without losing our freedom. Understand?>

“Alright.”

<Well, don’t worry about the small stuff now. You can clean up the room and maybe work on your Imagination Casting. Even if you don’t find success with it, it wouldn’t hurt to practice our imagination. If you want to ask something from me, you can write it down on a piece of paper.>

Evin did as the voice said and after he was finished, he sat on top of the bed, and prepared to practice the new form of Imagination Casting he’d just learned.

But just as he’d gotten onto the bed, he heard some noise coming from the corridors outside.

“217… this one seems to be it,” a man’s muffled voice sounded in the room.

“Yep, I wonder how the rooms look like inside?” a younger voice, most likely some boy of Evin’s age, said with excitement.

Then, Evin heard a key being inserted into the lock and the door opened, revealing a bright-red haired boy with a very imposing stature. The boy’s height suggested he was 13, maybe even 14, and his bulky body was a great indicator for his great physical strength. And with a grin on his face, the boy took notice of Evin’s figure.

“Oh, you must be my new roommate!” the boy exclaimed before dashing next to Evin’s side, “My name’s Arza! What’s yours!?”

Looking at the boy’s extended hand in front of him, Evin hesitantly grabbed it and introduced himself.

“I’m Evin, uh, are you a 2nd year, or a 3rd year student of the Academy?”

“No, of course not! I’m just a 1st year just like you! I’ve been very excited to enter the academy ever since I turned 10 last month, aha-ha. Though, why would you think otherwise?” the boy, Arza, asked with a laugh.

‘What? 10?’ Evin looked at the boy once more, unable to believe the boy’s claims.

“Arza, stop making such a fuss,” the man commanded from the door.

Evin looked over and saw a tall, rugged man with an array of tiny scars on one side of his face. He also possessed a red-colored hair, but his was a browner red, almost bordering on brunette. But aside from all those, there was another detail about the man, that Evin just couldn’t ignore.

The man’s left hand was completely replaced by what seemed to be a metal prosthetic, which sometimes emitted a light hiss of steam from the joints. But although Evin knew that something terrible must’ve happened to the man to need such a prosthetic, he also couldn’t help but think that the metal hand was cool as hell.

“Heh, you want my arm as well? I can offer you a deal if you want,” the man said, noticing Evin’s stare.

“Oh… No! I’m sorry for staring like that!” Evin apologized with panic.

“Ha-ha, don’t mind it too much. Everyone acts the same when they see it, so I’m already used to it,” the man shrugged and extended his good hand towards Evin, “I’m Aran, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, mister Aran,” Evin said, as he shook the man’s hand.

Aran put down his stuff and his eyes slowly scanned the room. Then, when his eyes fell on the bed, his casual smile turned into a frown, as he walked over to reveal the piece of paper that Evin found earlier on.

“A Talisman of Listening…” Aran murmured, “When will those guys ever leave me alone?”

<Oh… So we weren’t the targets of these Talismans?> the voice hummed.

Aran then walked over to the bathroom and dug out the other talisman that was hidden in the room.

“To think they’ve actually left two of these things in your room…” he said as he ripped apart the two pieces of paper.

Evin noticed how a wave of mana escaped the two papers, as they were ripped, making the room seem more full with the magical substance.

Aran then brought the two pieces of paper to Evin and Arza, and started explaining.

“If you ever see these things around you again, just rip them off and throw them away, alright? And also, look out for similar Talismans with these drawings on them.”

Aran then drew two different drawings, one that depicted an eye of some sorts, and one that depicted two thin rectangles, one white and one black, though it was considerably smaller than the white one. He explained that the first one was a Talisman of Seeing, and the latter one was a Talisman of Following.

Then, turning to Evin, he said sincerely.

“I’m sorry that you got caught up in my problems. I’ll talk to the authorities to make sure that something like this won’t ever happen again, but if you ever see something suspicious happening around you, you can tell them to Arza and he’ll tell them to me, alright?”

Evin nodded, but couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on here?”

“I’ve had a debt to the kingdom. I compensated them fully for the debt, but they still act as if I haven’t paid them back a single copper. At this point, it’s just embarrassing of the country,” Aran sighed, “Alright, you two can get acquainted while I get this thing sorted in the meantime… Actually, since you’re basically settled, I’ll come back tomorrow to pick you up for the Opening Ceremony.”

The man said his goodbyes to Evin and then teased Arza playfully before leaving.