The three friends were waiting in Kaili's small cottage until she would wash off the paint. Jin immediately occupied the sofa by the small fireplace. He lay down across it and propped his legs up on one of the armrests. Cia hopped onto the couch's backrest, letting her small body hang limply over the edges. She let out a satisfied sigh. Kaili's home may have been small, but it had that cosy treehouse feeling to it. It always seemed as if time would stop in there, and they could just rest forever.

Airo took a seat in the armchair opposite the two. "Can you please try to sit like civilized people?"

The two friends didn't reply and only showed him two middle fingers raised in unison. Airo rolled his eyes and didn't comment on their actions further. Instead, he got up from the armchair a few moments later and moved over to the bookshelves and wardrobes nearby.

The whole place was pretty much a single room with a relatively high ceiling. On the left side of the door, there was the living room area where two of the kids were currently resting. On the right side was the bathroom, which was the only place separated by a door. Sounds of splashing water were coming from there as Kailing tried to wash off all the paint. Next to the living room were three steps leading onto a slightly raised floor, which served as the bedroom. In order to obtain at least some privacy, Kaili put bookshelves and wardrobes right below the edge of the raised floor, which blocked off the view of the bed from most angles in the room. The warm light of the fireplace lit up the house in pleasant shades of gold, while the few small round windows let in bits of sunlight as well.

"Ah, much better!" Kaili finally stepped out of the bathroom in almost the exact same outfit. Only her hat remained on the hanger.

"Sorry about the paint," Jin apologized without raising his head or opening his eyes, his speech muffled due to the Wispa root in his mouth.

Kaili's eyes locked onto the plant. "Oh, no worries. I needed the wash anyway," she said and with silent and quick steps, she crossed the distance between her and the young farmer. With a swift motion, her hand snatched the Wispa right out of his mouth. "You know these are bad for your teeth! If we have to drag you to the dentist one more time..." Her voice trailed off as the boy, unbothered by her action, simply reached into the pocket of his coat and shoved a new stem of the plant into his mouth. Kaili didn't say a word. She briefly looked into his pocket, seeing it full of natural candy.

Jin's previously-closed eyes flew open and nearly shot out of their sockets. Kaili sat down on his belly, gently, yet with enough force to pin him down. "Off! Off!" he shouted and tried to push her away. With the grace of a dancer, the girl grabbed one of his wrists, while the vines around her arm untangled, wrapping around Jin's other hand and quickly binding them both together.

"Help! Dryad attack!" he yelled, but his friends simply watched the spectacle with grins on their faces.

Jin helplessly watched as Kaili reached with her other hand into his pocket, scooped out the Wispa, and began tossing it all into the fireplace.

"No! Come on! I just picked it up this morning. Fresh is best!"

"You will thank me one day."

"Please."

"Beg all you want," she replied and kept going. Jin rolled his eyes. Resistance was futile and so he only had to watch as she got rid of every single trace of the plant. Kaili even made sure to check his other pockets. Nothing stayed hidden from her reach. Only when she was sure that she burned them all did she let Jin go.

"Consider it revenge for the paint," she smirked and sat down in the armchair. "So, what's the plan for today? Hide and seek in the forest?"

"No!" the friends replied in unison.

"Dryad in a forest is like a needle in a haystack," Cia remarked and recalled the time when they spent their whole day in a single game of hide and seek because they repeatedly mistook their hiding friend for a bush.

"Nah, we actually came here with something special in mind." Jin finally sat up and began explaining everything he had told to the other friends.

"Jin..." Kaili sighed once he got to the point.

"What? It's the perfect opportunity to learn some magic! Come on, tell me you wouldn't want to know how to add some magical touch to your art?"

"Sure, it does sound nice, but... it's Manuel Luzardi."

"Yeah! The greatest archwizard of this continent!"

"He's weird."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Weird? How?"

"I once saw him walk through my grove. Just like that, out of the blue. People don't usually find this place unless they know where to look. When I confronted him, he didn't even look my way and just said that he was on a walk. Then he just walked across the water in the lake and disappeared into the woods."

"So? That's badass!"

"It's weird! There is something about the guy that I don't like."

"Yeah, but you will still join us, right?" Cia asked.

"I mean..."

"Come on, what would we do without our guardian spirit?" Airo added.

"Well, I guess I can't let you go alone. You'd be dealing with a wizard. Who knows how dangerous that can be."

Jin smiled and victoriously jumped up from the couch. That was all of them. He'd get to study magic beside his best friends. It was like a dream come true.

The trip out of the grove and to the wizard's tower went by so fast it barely felt like a minute, due to the friends' constant chatter. It's been only a couple of days since they last came together like this, but even that felt like an eternity.

The tower looked even stranger from up close. The part at the bottom, which held the main door, was significantly smaller than the rest of the place, so the branching higher floors were concealing it in permanent shade, chased away only by a tiny lamp hanging above the door frame.

Jin reached for the door knocker. He felt slightly disturbed by the fact that it looked like the wizard's face, but the excitement of becoming a mage helped chase his negative feelings away. As soon as he knocked, a voice suddenly came from behind them.

"This better not be a doorbell ditch attempt or I'm delivering you straight to your parents." The quartet turned around. The wizard was right there. Manuel Luzardi, the famous archmage, was standing right behind them.

The man oozed charisma even at first glance. His clothes invoked the feeling that he was some nobleman on a business trip. Smoothly ironed black trousers were nicely complemented by formal light-brown leather shoes, whose colour and material matched his belt. He wore a murky-brown vest, which sported so many different golden ornamentations that he literally looked like a prince. This fashion sense was complemented even further by his matching tie with a small golden star just below the knot, which looked like the symbol of some royal house. As the wind blew by, it slightly lifted up parts of his long, cyan coat. The kids weren't sure what it was made of, but the material seemed to sparkle as it shifted. A pointy cyan hat was sitting stop of the wizard's perfectly chiselled face. One would argue that he wasn't born as normal mortals, and was instead the work of a master sculptor. His slight tan and wavy dark hair then granted him the exotic look of someone from the other side of the world, somewhere around the 180° angle of this plane of existence. The perfectly symmetrical goatee and thin moustache were then the cherries on top, highlighting his overconfident smile.

"Umm..." Jin spoke first. "We're here to become your apprentices."

"I'm not looking for an apprentice," the man replied and disappeared in a brief flash.

The kids looked at each other, hoping that someone might have an explanation for what just happened.

Airo was eventually the first to wrap his head around it. "Well, guess he doesn't want us around. Maybe the poster was old or–"

"The window!" Jin interrupted him and led the group of friends around the tower. Indeed, there was a window, but it seemed to lead to the second floor, much higher above the ground.

"We'll get on top of one another!" Jin continued.

"Jin, are you sure it's–" Kaili expressed her concern, but was quickly shut down.

"You're the tallest, so you will be down below. I will get on your shoulders and then Airo is super light, so he can climb atop of us. Cia can then..." He trailed off for a moment when he saw the imp walking up the wall, her cloak being the only part of her that seemed to be affected by gravity.

"I'll scout ahead," she explained and peeked into the window. "I see... a library, I think. Lots of books, but not much else, I think there's a–" Suddenly, the face of the wizard popped out, staring back at her right from behind the window. A loud scream left the girl's lungs and all of a sudden, it seemed that nature's laws reminded her not to toy with them. She slipped and fell off the wall, thankfully caught by the joined effort of the kids below.

Airo took a deep breath and wanted to ask if she was okay and what had happened, but before a noise could leave his lips, a light flashed around them and they found themselves sitting around a table.

All the kids blinked and slowly stood up, looking around confused. The place seemed like a decently-sized dining room with at least three tables of varying sizes. They were currently occupying the smallest one. The stone walls with only some wood on the ceiling and the supports here and there made it obvious that they somehow found their way inside the tower.

"Now, can you be so dear and explain why the hell you were climbing into my restroom?" The wizard's voice appeared shortly before he materialized at the door.

"Restroom?" Cia didn't understand.

"Yes, restroom. That's where the window leads."

"But... There were bookshelves."

"Sometimes I like to read there."

"But... so many of them."

"I'm a fast reader." As strange as it seemed, Cia didn't have any reason to argue about that.

"Our apologies, great Manuel–" Jin started.

"It's Maestro Luzardi."

"Oh... right! Maestro Luzardi, our apologies. We just... well, we saw the poster in the village and–"

Suddenly, it was as if the archmage got possessed by the friendliest spirit in the neighbourhood. His entire demeanour, filled with unsettlingly strict gaze, traded places with a warm and welcoming aura.

"Oh! You're here for my project! Well, why didn't you say so earlier!" He approached and began shaking each of their hands. "And look how diverse your group is! A dryad? Here? Marvellous! A young cloud farmer? Good! I need those strong arms! And a Cloudfolk? Ooh, the honour is all mine, dear nobleman. And an imp of mixed origin? Now that is a truly rare sight!"

"Umm... so, Maestro Luzardi, why did you disappear before?" Airo asked.

"Well, I thought you were here to pester me about teaching you magic. And please, call me Manuel." He winked at the boy. "I am so relieved you came to help me out. I am sure this will fill the massive gap in the market!"

The kids looked at each other confused. "Umm... what exactly is that project of yours?" Cia spoke.

"I'm starting a delivery service! And you will get to be the first employees!"