Finally, two days later, my stay at the hospital ended and the smell of the city engulfed me. It was heaven!

Don't misunderstand. A city like Nuremberg with over 300.000 people smells awful, but if you have ever been in an hospital for a few days, you are going to miss the scent of the living. Hospital air is too clean and smells like sanitizer and death. It is understandable why people loathe hospitals.

After taking the next subway home and finally being able to rest in my own four walls, my thoughts went back to the strange dream days before.

Damn, it is hard to remember a dream five minutes after waking up and near impossible two days later.

Concentrating on the glass of water, which appeared in my hand after this dream, I tried to conjure it once more.

"Why don't you work!! I wasn't hallucinating, so there has to appear something." motivating myself through a beginning migraine didn't help in my attempt.

After giving up and cursing a full-blown headache I called my boss, informing him about my release from the hospital.

"Hello Theobalt, thank you for calling. We were already informed by the hospital about your accident, so don't worry about anything.

Also, it may be best, if you rest until the end of next week and come back Monday well-rested."

"Thank you Mr. -" I started before being interrupted.

"No need to thank me. You had an awful accident and are really lucky to be alive. Rest well and see you on Monday."

He hung up, probably busy as hell.

Puh, really happy to have such an understanding boss. Nothing worse than a dressing down from your boss and loud enough for all colleagues to hear. As the competition in every student job is pretty harsh, the fear to lose the job is always on one's mind. I was working in a small company, which builds electric parts and circuits for various machineries, like computers, cars, you name it.

There must be some Aspirin somewhere. Maybe I should ask a neighbor? Trying to ignore my headache wasn't graced by success and I was groaning and massaging my head trying to hold it together before it could split apart.

"Finally found them!"

Downing three pills at once I closed my eyes until the droning in my ears and my blurry vision were gone.

A splash of water in my face and fresh air should alleviate the pain further. Drying my face, I walked out onto my small balcony to watch the evening sun, sinking beneath the Nuremberg skyline.

It wasn't as majestic as New York or even Munich, but it was the skyline of my city, so I was content, sitting there, watching, enjoying the relief and letting my mind drift. Recapturing the last few years of my life, I had been quite lucky. Before my first semester even started, an acquaintance told me about this job and as they were quite understaffed, they hired me nearly immediately. The pay was pretty good for a student and enabled me to move out of my mother's apartment.

Of course, it is idiotic to move out, when your mother lives in the same city, but I wanted a place of my own and living on my own conditions. Not that my mum had any strict rules that had to be followed, but an eagle needs to spread his wings to fly and therefore needs to leave its nest.

Sadly there was kind of a crossroad in front of me. I could continue with my master's degree or doing an internship, preferably, abroad. The thought of going abroad scared me a little, but the opportunity to learn a new language and meet a new culture would never come back.

An internship would be the perfect opportunity for earning a little bit of money on the side and I never get the chance again to leave the country for a whole semester. I convinced myself of the second option. Frankly, it was the better choice for my future and it gave me more options and more time to think about what I want later on.

As I was too lazy to draw a pro-contra list I let fate decide by grabbing the next coin and flipping it in the air. "There was this article about flipping coins and as soon as it left your hand, you should know what you want to do," I said to myself.

Trying to catch the coin mid-air, as my decision was made, I swatted it across the room and out of the open balcony door.

"Dammit, that was my wash money!" Watching it fall down on the ground and trying to guess where it landed was hard in the darkness and up from the fourth floor.

Well, that's it, I can't see a thing. Sure it is only 50 cents, but I detest throwing money out of the window.

Giggling to myself for this awesome pun, I stepped back into my room and decided against calling my mother right away. I should visit her, maybe it will soften the blow if I tell her directly about my plan. A quick shower later and it was time for bed.

Refreshed after a good night's sleep I did my fitness routine of a few push- and sit-ups. A fit body should help to finally get a Girlfriend, I thought while standing under the shower. Sadly any success was absent, but one may still hope.

Some minutes and a short message to my mother later, a gurgling sound reminded me of breakfast. I am no star chef, but with only a few ingredients like eggs, mushrooms, onion, and some seasoning even the worst cook can make a decent omelet. Exercised, clean and fed, my research for an internship, or an idea for a location to do one, began.

Preferring Europe over any other continent and limiting my search to the neighboring countries brought pretty different choices. Not sure if Eastern or Southern Europe would be better, I postponed the search and wasted my time with other very meaningful things a young adult like myself could waste his time with.

In the afternoon and on my way to my mom, passerby's must have called me crazy, as I was rehearsing what to say to her later. Sadly no epiphany helped me out and so I did the second-best thing to pacify her. The shop at the corner gave me the idea, so after a small detour, I had enough ingredients for pasta. Mom never eats at work, so my self-made meal should soothe her enough to not shout at me.

"Hmm, what is this heavenly smell? You didn't cook, did you?" I let the door to the kitchen open so that she could smell my work immediately after entering the house. "Of course I did. You are tired from work and shouldn't have to cook while I am here."

"Thanks Theo! I appreciate the gesture. I hope it tastes as good as it smells," she said, walking into the kitchen and giving me a hug.

"I believe so, as I learned from the best!" buttering my mother up in preparation for my news.

"Mum there is something I wanted to talk about. I want to do an internship abroad."

"Why do you want to go abroad? Why don't you start with your master's degree here?" My mother asked, maybe a little bit shocked.

"It is the perfect opportunity for learning a new language and a new culture, doing some work and it is certainly good for my vita.

Also, I want a little bit of time away from the university," I answered, wringing my hands nervously. "So you have thought about it. Don't misunderstand me, I don't want to stop you, I just want to make sure, that this isn't a crazy idea of yours with no real goal."

Uff, I was afraid that she would shout at me. Luckily she understood me and even if my reasons weren't the best, she would let me do my thing.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Do you know where you will go, yet?" mom asked after a few minutes. "I did some research and I want to stay in Europe, so visiting home would not be that expensive. But choosing between Eastern or Southern Europe is hard. Countries like Czech, or Poland aren't that far away, and living expenses are not as high as here or in Southern Europe, but I believe the landscape and the girls is more beautiful."

I had never been to either south or east Europe, as money was tight before I got my job and afterward, traveling alone and without friends always seemed a bit too sad to me. Sadly my mother's job didn't allow her to travel, at least over longer periods of time, and my social anxiety made it hard to find real friends.

After the meal we tidied everything up and sat down, talking about different countries I could visit. During that, we may or may not have had a bottle of wine and I may or may not have drunk too much.

"Oh crap, it is nearly one o'clock. I need to hurry, otherwise, I miss the last subway! Bye mum, I will call you, letting you know about my decision." After a quick kiss on her cheek, I ran out of the door. A pat on my pockets to make sure everything needed was with me before I sprinted to the next substation.

Out of breath but finally inside the subway, a second before the doors closed, I sat on the first available seat. Luckily it is late at night and no controller here, otherwise I would get a fine.

Normally it wouldn't have been a problem, as we students have a ticket throughout the semester, but the semester had already ended and I was no longer a student. It was too late to leave and take a taxi, regretting my stupid action, I hoped that no ticket controller would be active at this time.

But Lady Luck was not on my side this time as I saw a controller standing up at the back of the car. I dismissed searching for a ticket and rather thought of a good excuse. Slightly drunk Theobalt is apparently not good at thinking up excuses as I panicked, while the clerk stood right in front of me.

"Ticket please," the man said while I frantically searched for an escape out of this situation. An old ticket, which lay forgotten in my wallet could be the way out. Please, please just read the numbers wrong. Please believe that this is the right ticket. Hoping for the best and willing the clerk to misread the numbers didn't succeed.

"Sir, this ticket has already expired. I need to give you a fine."

Caught…

Pleading and doing my best dog-eye impression, I tried to convince the clerk. "Please don't, I was in a rush to get the last sub and normally I pay for everything, but this time I didn't have time to get a ticket. Could you, maybe, forget it this time?"

"As it is already late and I was just getting home and nearly done with my shift, I suppose I could let you go this time."

Relief overcame me, "Thank you! Thank you very much!"

Puh, that could have been way worse. I don't want to pay the fine, as I need all the money I have for the year abroad. Just as the controller went to the next person, I noticed someone in a dark long leather mantle sitting halfway across the car. He looked at me with his cold blue eyes and I was rooted in place. The man let his gaze wander over me and it felt like he was appraising me like someone would a slab of one-week-old meat at the butcher.

The train stopped with a jerk and my rigidness was broken. Quickly I formulated a plan in my head, stood up and went near the door, without leaving the car.

Just as the doors were closing, I bolted outside, running up the stairs and out of the station. The whole time it felt like the mysterious man was staring holes in my back. Afraid and out of my mind, the sprint home felt longer as it should have. But to be fair, the two subway stations I left early made it a distance of nearly three kilometers.

Finally home I checked my spy-hole every five minutes, to make sure that no one had followed me here. The cold blue eyes of this man didn't leave me alone and it took a while until I was no longer shivering. Finally feeling safe but tired, my couch looked especially cozy and soft and with a grunt, I let myself fall onto it.

Just a few minutes of rest and distraction, I told myself, turning the TV on. The calming noise of the TV and my weariness was all it took before my eyes fell down.

I was jogging through a forest. Glances upward told me, that it should be late afternoon, as short flashes of light went through the canopy. The feeling of someone following me, let me speed up, but looking back, I found nothing.

Wait...There!

In the corner of my eyes, a dark and blurry shadow flashed but went completely out of sight. Nervously, I pondered stopping and taking a proper look back, but my legs wouldn't listen to my command.

Slowly my surroundings got darker and more gloomy as if I was running into the night. The occasional flash of light through the forest's crown grew sparser and minutes later, it stopped completely. This has to be a dream, I thought, but it seemed that I was trapped, as every trick to wake up, didn't work.

It was dark now. So dark, that even the idea of light was an abstract thought, only a madman could have, in this place. My five senses were shut down and only the ability to think, let me know, that I still existed.

It could have been years or mere seconds, I stood still in this eternal darkness. Ever so slowly hissing and chittering was building up on the edge of my hearing. Suddenly eight black orbs, like small holes in reality, lighted up in front of me.

They were only visible because, while it was dark around me, these orbs gave the distant feeling of gravity and seemed to absorb the surrounding darkness. It felt outlandish but I somehow knew, something stood in front of me.

Before I could take a step back, a sharp pain hit me in my chest and something was burning through my veins. It wasn't the burn of fire, but that of a cold, harsh, biting frost seconds before you become a statue of ice.

The pain was so real and at the same time felt so wrong, like the tingling of thousands of tiny spiders crawling beneath my skin and invading my very being.

ROAR

The loud sound finally woke me up and I registered, that it was my voice, crying out in agony.

CRASH

A figure, standing in my, now broken down, doorway. Immediately it jumped next to my side. If I had been lucid, I may have recognized the stranger from the subway, but the blood rushing in my ears, my blurry vision, and excruciating pain held me back.

Darkness started to engulf me, but not the darkness of my dream, but a final darkness trying to drown me and deep inside, I knew, that if I gave up and let myself sink down, I would never wake again.

The stranger raised a hand in which he held a strange crystal, glowing in a warm, white light. A flood of white streamed through me and the smell of pines and freshly cut lawn on a warm day in spring held me up long enough, to fight back the darkness.

The burning pain receded and the white light seemed to wash everything burdening me, away. I felt the loving embrace of my mother, after a nightmare I had as a child. It made me whole again.

Wiping away my tears and regaining awareness of my surroundings, I finally recognized the stranger. "What are you doing here?" I asked while trying to gain distance. He walked over to my chair, sat down and cleared his throat.

"Saving you, I guess. So you don't need to be so hostile." He let his gaze sweep through my apartment. "Thanks, but would you mind leaving now? I don't know you, and I don't like mysterious strangers in my home."

What did he do? Feeling oddly fine, a quick check-up revealed that not only was everything okay with me, even a scar I got from a dog-bite years before, was gone too.

"Despite healing you, you were still hit pretty hard, so forget hiding behind the couch, answer my questions and I will leave you alone."

"Please" the stranger added after a second.

"I'd rather not, especially after what happened in the subway. But I would like a few questions answered too." I tried to be brave and direct, as the stranger could have hurt me, or even let me die. So hoping that by answering his questions I might get out of this mess.

"Of course ask away, but I am restricted in some parts, so pardon me if I can only give some superficial answers."

Seems like I have to work with what I've got. Maybe he can shed some light on the last few days.

Still sorting my thoughts, the stranger asked, "So, where is your Guardian? And why did you run earlier?"

"Guardian? I don't understand?! And I ran because your gaze petrified me and I got spooked."

"I feared so, and I wanted to hold you there because I thought you went beyond it without permission. But alas, I never got to it" The stranger massaged his temples. My answer had seemingly thrown him off balance and seeing my chance I asked.

"Beyond what? And how did you root me? And who the fuck are you?” With every word, I grew angrier. I didn’t understand a thing and became only more confused. “Peace,” the man intoned, “I will answer your questions and don’t vanish immediately as you did. You may call me Daniel Rank and I am a mage from Prague's academy.” Blinking confused my brain just stopped and I didn’t know how to answer this boisterous claim. Magic?! What the hell?

Before I could follow with anything half-intelligent and no stupid mutters if magic was real or not, Daniel asked, “So...since when can you cast magic?” “Don’t fuck with me, magic doesn’t exist!” I was seconds away to just throw this lunatic out of my home. As an avid fantasy reader, I liked the idea of magic, but this man and his words just rubbed me the wrong way.

He laughed and raised his hand, palm faced up, and suddenly a small flame was hovering there. "What would you call this then?" the man grinned, knowing that I could do nothing to disprove him, as there was no way he hid some tube on his blank arm.

Open-mouthed I stared into the flame. A fish out of his pond gasping for air. "So... I didn't dream that night and really conjured a glass of water." "You did what?" Now it was Daniel's turn to play the fish. Before he could catch himself, I told him the story of my night in the hospital.

"That was really reckless. Only the strongest and most proven mages are capable to conjure something from nothing. Normally you would be out of Mana and would shrivel up in no time,” Mr. Rank was shaking his head. It seems that I had outdone myself. "Guess last time was lucky since it didn't work in the sub with my missing ticket,” shrugging my shoulders, “So what is this academy? And how do I learn more about magic?” Finally wrapping my head around this impossibility and the chance to do real magic.

Early in the morning, Daniel Rank, a dean of Pragues magical university, left, but not before he asked for Paper and Pencil to write me a recommendation letter. At the bottom of said letter sat a glowing stamp. He told me about magic, the academy and the veil, splitting the mortal world from that of magic.

Nowadays it is forbidden for mere students and mages to leave for my, the mortal, part of the world, without supervision. While Mr. Rank didn't tell me why he was here, he got a special permit and this happy accident is the only reason why I am still alive. The problem was, that since I got awoken, I used my magic. Normally the ability to cast spells would have shriveled up without use and nothing would have happened. But as I cast a spell or more precisely, used my Soulforce, mostly called mana, I would bloat up on it and explode in a not so fashionable way.

The only remedy was, to use mana or train yourself to strengthen your soul. Still, there was mortal danger, as demons often attacked unprotected mages, just as it happened hours before. Fortunately, Daniel gave me his protection amulet until I learned of a way to shield myself. Lastly, I was “invited” to the academy to study and I believe it was no mere invitation, as I will be recruited forcefully if I don't turn up within two weeks. I didn’t know how I felt about it, yet, but a step into the unknown was exactly what I wanted.