“Ahh, so you’re a wizard now?”

“Yeah, seems that way.” Danny was in full damage control. He honestly had no idea what was going on, but conveniently he could blame the vague and new concept of magic.

“Why is it wizard? Not mage or magician, or sorcerer.” Mikey asked.

“You know, I have no idea. They’re called the True Wizard Consortium, maybe different groups had different titles.” Danny told himself to ask about it tomorrow.

“Had?” Mikey raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the TWC sound like the last dogs standing. Other magic is illegal or something, it’s all a bit weird.” Danny looked at the pile of sand on the floor beneath the broken bag. “Sorry about the bag, Mikey.”

“No stress big man, got a few spares in the back. Give me a hand getting it hung up and we’ll be even.”

The two went about carrying the new bag out. Heavy bags were, unsurprisingly, incredibly heavy, and getting them hung up usually took a few strong guys working together. Once it was up and the old bag had been taken care of Danny got ready to leave.

“Before you leave, can I hold the bag for you? I wanna see something,” Mikey asked.

“Uh yeah, sure man.” Danny hadn’t taken his wraps off yet so he put his gloves straight back on. “What’s up?”

“Hit the bag as hard as you can.” Mikey put himself behind the bag, bracing it with his leg, holding it still.

Danny shrugged, then stanced up. He took a breath and threw a quick one-two, twisting on the balls of his feet and snapping his hips with each punch. The bag thundered back, smacking into Mikey, and sending him stumbling into a nearby wall.

“Why are you playing around Mikey?” Mikey was 6’3 and had about 115 kilograms of muscle on him, no punch would send him stumbling like that, in Danny’s eyes. Especially not when he’d been braced and ready for it.

Mikey picked himself up and just stared at Danny with wide eyes. “Mate, that magic has done more than make you glow. I don’t think I’ve felt a punch that hard before.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Sure mate, what’s your angle? I’m not interested in competing again.”

Mikey paused for a moment before dragging Danny over to the weights area of the gym. He picked up a dumbbell and literally threw it at him. Danny reacted quickly and caught the weight, it felt like nothing in his hand. He turned it around and saw that it was 15kg. Mikey didn’t have to say anything, Danny’s curiosity was piqued. The two of them spent some time playing around with weights, amazed at how easily Danny moved them.

Danny had never been one for weights, so he was pretty untrained. To the shock of both of them, Danny could lift almost as much as Mikey, who had trained 5 days a week for the past 5 years. The two only stopped because people started turning up for the class that evening.

“Danny, whatever is going on with you, I want some. I’m going to go get tested tomorrow, maybe I’ll be a wizard too.”

Danny laughed him off and left the club. The workout had helped clear his mind, but now he was quickly filling his mind with more questions. Danny shook his head. “I’m strong, I glow, I’m learning magic. That’s it.”

Danny decided to shelve everything. There was just too much to think about. His brain just couldn’t keep up and he decided to pull the plug. He’d take things as they came, in whatever form that may be.

When he got home he quickly made his way to the shower. When he got out he checked his phone and realised he had several missed calls from his sister.

“Yo, Belle, what’s up?”

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“Uhhh, I’m like super magic Danny!” Her excitement burst through the phone.

“Oh yeah, the class was good?”

“Good? It was awesome Danny! I’m a proper wizard now, at least that’s what the instructor told me I was. I can cast a spell! Mana bullet! I’m going to learn how to make a shield tomorrow. Everyone is pretty jealous, I was the first to get it. You should have seen the look on my boss's face, mannnnnn, He was trying to be polite, but my god, that old bastard just couldn’t believe that a woman was better than him…” Belle continued on for a while, recounting the story of her day to Danny. Danny listened like a good brother would, exclaiming when he needed to and asking the obvious questions. Eventually, she ran out of steam and asked him about his day.

Danny was honest, but not super forthcoming. He basically matched her own story, being more talented than others in the class. She was interested to hear that he was part of a special class of ultra-talented and important people. She asked about the people and Danny was more than happy to share.

“That Meylin chick seems like a piece of work. Are you worried things might go south?” Belle was more than aware of Danny’s past, she had purposely stayed in Melbourne even after she graduated from university. The both of them knew it was probably for the best. Neither of them wanted her to be exposed to the people he had been around. She’d made a good life for herself, there was no need to risk getting caught up in something that could ruin it.

Danny brushed her concerns off. The two talked a little more, mainly Danny telling his sister about the odd people he’d met that day. His sister seemed a little envious but did her best to hide it. Eventually, she had to go and get dinner with her boyfriend, so the call ended. Danny again realised he wasn’t hungry. Instead of thinking about it, he chalked it up to magic and decided it was time to just call it a night.

As he began to drift off to sleep, Danny felt something. He felt a presence. His drifting mind couldn’t quite place it, but he could feel something. It wasn’t close, but it wasn’t that far. Before he could explore the sensation further he fell asleep.

Danny was up early the next morning. He decided to keep up his running habit, it cleared his mind and he felt like it set him up for a better day. As he ran he had the distinct feeling he was forgetting something but couldn’t put his finger on it. He shelved it.

He decided to throw his preferred clothing on today. Some high-end trackies that he’d had for years but were more comfortable than anything else he owned, yet still looked somewhat sharp. Then a sports shirt and a hoodie. He didn’t have his nice shirt or jacket anymore, so decided to drop the effort at impressing altogether. He made sure to pack the borrowed clothes in a bag.

Feeling comfortable, Danny set off for another day at magic school. He was early again, but so were the same people as yesterday. Danny waved at them but went over to a table away from where they were standing. De Waal, Fullerton, and Holmes all seemed like characters he didn’t want to be friends with anyway. The young Lucas just seemed like he was trying to make the most of it and he was only a kid, so Danny couldn’t begrudge him.

The group wasn’t going to give him the peace he wanted though. Led by De Waal they converged on his table, sitting around him. “How are you Danny?” De Waal asked.

“Yeah, alright. How ‘bout you Betty?”

“I’m doing well. We’re all just a little concerned for you after yesterday. Your clothes were all burnt up, what happened?”

Danny leaned back against his chair. “Ah yaknow, learning magic and that. You’ll understand soon.”

“And the hole in the wall?” The shrewd Franklin Fullerton stepped up to bat next.

“Ah yeah, that was an accident. Pretty new to the magic game, yaknow?”

“Aren’t we all? That’s why were curious about what happened yesterday.” The man pressed.

Danny shrugged. “I don’t have much else to say.”

“Danny, Daniel? Look, when those sirens went off the staff member looked scared for their life. Whatever it is, it was more than a simple fire alarm. We want to know what happened.” The third member of the group, the sharp Dr Melissa Holmes came out.

“It ain’t Daniel Doc. And if that’s what you want to know, you should have just asked.” Danny looked around the room suspiciously and then leaned in close to the group. This caught their attention and all huddled in, even Lucas wanted to be part of the conspiracy and awkwardly joined in. “That siren was an emergency alarm. I broke a wall and it was like I’d poked a hornet's nest.”

“A hornet’s nest?” Franklin asked.

“They came down on me like a collapsing building. We got in a scuffle, that was the burn.”

“Gosh, they attacked you?” De Waal looked genuinely shocked. “Are we safe here?”

Danny shrugged. “I’d believe what Retta said, I doubt it would be a problem for anyone else.”

“What makes you different?” Fullerton asked.

Danny pulled back from the huddle, leaning against his chair. “Nothing, the training room just had a problem they hadn’t expected. What, you think a beginner like me would be enough to cause such a ruckus? It was just a problem with the room.”