In the bookshop, I meet Drew and the rest waiting for something. Most likely me. Their faces light up when they see me, especially Lathia. She has an especially mischievous grin on her face as she walks toward me.

“Ah,” she says, “Finally, our hero’s here. The dashing, rescuer of the needy, savior of those in trouble,… Hey Drew, can you make up a superhero name for him.”

Drew, who looked like he had been about to say something, suddenly pauses. “Erm, how about fire-stopper…no, fireproof.”

Lathia puts on a thoughtful look. “You know, coming from you, that’s an okay name. It’s not that good, but it’s okay.”

“You know, “ I say, “I thought you guys were going to berate me for stupidly running into a burning building.”

“We were,” David says, “but then Drew made us realize that it actually isn’t that dangerous. Even for an Apprentice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Drew nods. “I mean, there are just three main things you need to worry about in a situation like that. The fire, toxic gases, and debris. I remember learning a noer that can absorb energy when I was an Apprentice. Tweak it a little and the fire isn’t much of a problem anymore. Telekinesis can take care of any debris, and as for the toxic gases, if there’s no one with you you can just hold your breath. As long as you aren’t in there too long it isn’t much of a problem.”

“Hold your breath?” I try to clarify.

“Yes, hold your breath. Haven’t you tried seeing how long you could hold it for since you became Laen?”

I shake my head. I hadn’t.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter since you’re fine,” Lathia interrupts, “What matters is that heart-stopping, determined look on your face when you came out of the building. Firemen on either side, holding injured people on both shoulders, and with a burning building behind you as you walk with fire in your eyes… God, I almost fell for you when I saw that.”

“Lathia.” I am almost blushing at this point.

“Hmm.”

“Please stop.”

“Sure. If you promise to one day save me with that same look on your face.”

“No problem. But, let’s be real, that’s probably never going to happen.”

“We’ll see.”

To avoid running late, we begin to move. Drew also finally asks the details about how I managed to rescue those people. I tell them everything while Lathia tries to interrupt me every few seconds. When I am done Drew asks me to show him the noer I had used to battle the flames. I do, projecting it into the air with my Uua. He rubs his chin as he looks over the noer.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Not bad. You know, with a few tweaks you could probably use this in a fight.”

“Really?” I ask looking over the Roe. “What do you need to make?”

“Well, first off let’s add this,” he says as a familiar-looking alphabet is made to the noer. It is the noer Drew had shown me in the Lands that could be used to store large amounts of Uua. A sort of advanced version of the storage noer I had seen in my textbooks.

“Why do you need that?” I ask, “Doesn’t it just store Uua.”

“Normally, yes, but if you add this,” he tweaks the noer again, “then it goes from storing Uua to being able to store energy. The base noer will then filter the energy it can store making it so that only heat is stored. Then if you add this last thing, you can then cause all the energy stored within to be released at once. Boom. Instant explosion.”

I study the noer, the cogs of my mind beginning to turn as I think of new ways to tweak it. After asking Drew some questions I begin to add my own modifications to the noer. Unfortunately, we reach the Metorium all too soon and have to go our separate ways. Still, I have a somewhat working prototype by that time and I resolve to perfect it in the near future.

On my way to the ATC, I notice the stares people are giving me and remember what just happened yesterday and my newly earned fame. I can’t help but let out a small sigh. This is undoubtedly going to be a long week.

Before I can settle down in class, I am immediately accosted by Tobi, Han, and Bella, who want to know bit by bit exactly what happened at the concert. I explain it to them, noticing how quiet the class goes when I speak. To be honest I am not sure what exactly they find so interesting about my tale. Is it because I did something mildly heroic -even though it was fueled by selfish desire-, or is it because I somehow managed to use magic publicly? I don’t know. Either way, the students are clearly unhappy when Master Speller comes in and puts an end to my story. It is then I notice that for some strange reason, Keldin had decided not to irritate me today.

Classes pass by quickly, and before I know it the day is over. I leave the ATC with Tobi and the rest. Today, I plan on going to the training center and finally trying the Pre-protector obstacle course that Drew had recommended I try. After yesterday’s event, the urge to train has once again been stoked in me. If I had been a bit more competent yesterday… well, I probably wouldn’t have been able to take down the Fasuru, but I feel like I could have done a bit more.

Outside, I notice that there is a still-growing crowd not too far from the entrance. Curious, I push through the crowd and come face to face with the Five. All of them are here, talking to each other and ignoring the multitude of gazes on them. Behind them, I spot the rest of Drew’s team.

Almost as soon as I am within view, Drew spots me and waves me over. “The hero’s finally here. What an honor,” Seth says as I come to a stop in front of them.

“What’s going on?” I ask, ignoring his teasing.

“First,” says Drew, “let’s go somewhere private.”

They lead me back into the ATC, under the watchful gaze of numerous Apprentices. They find an empty room and, after locking the door and casting a few strange-looking noers, finally explain why they had been looking for me.

“Drew said you told him that you saw the Fasuru that caused the fire yesterday. We want you to describe it,” says PM, taking the lead.

After describing it as best as I can remember, I pose a question that’s been on my mind since PM requested for its appearance. “Why do you guys want to know what it looks like?”

“Hold on a second,” he brushes me off as he turns to Emma. She nods, as if answering an inaudible question, and begins to release Uua from her hands. A moment later the Uua shapes itself into the familiar figure of the Fasuru I had seen yesterday. PM turns to me and nods at the image made of Uua, “Is that it?”

“Yes. But-”

Once again he ignores me, turning his full attention to Emma. “So it is the Majin. What do you know about it?”

“Well, from what I remember, towards the end its strength was reduced to that of a Guardian or so. It…” she continues on rambling off specific facts about the Fasuru to the now quiet room. In the end, she adds, “So, taking all that into consideration, I’d say it’s plausible.”

“True,” says Ice King, “but we can’t be careless.”

By this point, I have gotten a pretty good idea of what they are planning to do. “Are you guys trying to fight that thing?”

“Yes, so?” PM says, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t think we can do it.”

“It’s not that but, didn’t Hugo warn us to stay away from it?”

“He did. That’s why you’re not going to mention this to him,” Drew says, giving me a meaningful look. I want to retort when he adds. “Listen, Ian, we know what we’re doing. We don’t want to die either. So please, keep this a secret. Besides, we have a pretty good reason for doing this.”

“Which is?”

This time, it is PM that speaks. “Do you know how exactly the third eye is activated?” The third eye? I shoot a look at Drew as I begin to get an inkling about the true purpose of this gathering. I shake my head in response to PM and he doesn’t seem too surprised. “Well, let me give you a clue. There are many requirements for it, but an essential one is this: you must put yourself in mortal danger.”