Hot steam gently rising from his body, Teo sat in an old, lab-supply ridden office in silence. He was seated on one of two artless wooden chairs around a small tea table, a hot cup of herbal essences diffusing its aroma in front of him and an aged teacher with a sizable, white beard and fluffy eyebrows sitting to his right.

Naturally, the antique lecturer beside him was Mr. Quackenstein, the only Alchemy teacher of the school and he was almost done drying off Teo with his skilled usage of Fire Magic.

After he removed the last traces of moisture from Teo's garment he broke the silence with his high-pitched, hoarse yet gentle voice.

"Now, would you mind telling me, what upset Mr. Kasahara today?" he said, sounding more interested in the drama and gossip part, instead of being surprised. Probably he was already used to similar occurrences.

Teo looked at the ground while clenching his fists, but answered the question nonetheless.

"I got carried away in defense practice and almost hurt a classmate," he confessed with an abashed expression.

"Hoohohoo, that's youth for you. Always rash and hot-headed." The teacher laughed heartily, somehow reminding Teo of a huge owl.

"Then you should consider yourself lucky, just getting a bit wet. If this went through the official channels, you would get suspended for at least a month, if not worse," the old man added in a serious voice.

Teo already knew that, but could still not swallow down his anger just yet.

For the last years, the school had always enacted a zero-tolerance policy to violence on school grounds and tended to hand out over-the-top punishments, sometimes even resorting to expulsion.

He had only heard rumors about it, but apparently, there was an accident in class over a decade ago with dire consequences. Supposedly a true genius possessing the Darkness Element had lost control of his powers during practice and sapped the life force of a classmate dry, killing him directly.

The school was almost torn down by a hurricane of enraged parents and even the student who triggered it all was eaten from the inside by guilt until he finally killed himself. It took years of effort by the Association to restore the status quo that Teo enjoyed right now.

He talked to Mr. Quackenstein for a while longer, unintentionally deepening his Alchemy knowledge, until he bid him farewell and left the cramped office, that looked more like a warehouse for various minerals, herbs and disfigured apparatuses.

'I have to hand it to your teacher, that was a good show. He almost got me too for a moment,' transmitted Goliath, thinking back on the last part of the practical class.

'Hey, Goliath! Why didn't you help me at the end?' asked Teo, his thought sounding a bit annoyed, while he walked through the corridors of the old school building.

'Don't think I didn't notice the last minute shield you canceled there,' he added after a short pause, specifying what he was referring to.

'Why should I interfere? You're fine aren't you?' replied the Golem, also sounding a bit upset.

'I'm not fine! I got wet... and it was pretty embarrassing,' retorted Teo, his emotions visible on his face.

'Well, if that isn't egotistical. You know exactly how much Mana I consume, just to stay conscious. That barrier would have taken me out of business for days and you seriously want to use it as a glorified umbrella?!' Goliath snapped back, oozing with sarcasm; he was really angry now.

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Teo had forgotten about that point as he had only considered his own problems and could not think clearheaded right now. Apparently, the ambient Mana in Sigella was much thinner than Goliath remembered it, possibly explaining, why so many generations of Grassdowns had failed to activate him. Even Teo could not provide sufficient nutrition for the Golem without sucking himself dry, putting Goliath into energy-saving mode for most of the time.

Actually, the ability to cast their own spells was one of the major differences that set Golems apart from puppets, but without a sufficient energy source, this was a highly unsustainable act.

Every spell could take out Goliath for days or weeks until he managed to recharge his energy, a strong one could even deactivate him completely. Of course, that would not kill him, but in order not to damage his internal Magic Circles it was necessary to wait for at least a month between reactivation attempts.

'I'm sorry Goliath, I'm not thinking straight today,' Teo admitted, sounding a bit remorseful even. Goliath's argument was hard to deny and he knew that his demands were unfounded. He should not let his broken pride get the better of him. What could he possibly gain from lashing out at his friends?

***

"Man, that was awesome!" called out Jack and repeatedly patted hard on Teo's shoulder as they sneaked out of the school grounds, almost making the boy fall over.

"Can you stop hitting me please?!" Teo complained to his attacker.

"Oh, right. Sorry," said Jack sheepishly but didn't let it affect his mood.

"So, can you teach me that move now? You know, the one with the drill! It was amazing!" he hollered on, not letting the matter rest.

"I don't know if I can teach you that. Maybe you should work on your normal Fire Bolt first..." replied Teo carefully, not sure of how to break the news to his friend, that he was not exactly known for the precise control he held over his skills.

"Come on, man! I would do anything, please teach me, senior!" Jack said insistently while resuming his violent back-patting.

"Alright, fine. You get lessons from your father in swordsmanship, right? Maybe you can teach me some tricks in return," said Teo finally, slightly annoyed but not without profiting from the proposal. He would need a long bath later to get his shoulders uncramped though.

"I knew I could count on you! Your humble student awaits your orders, master!" Jack called out excited, falling to his knees out on the open streets and making a total idiot of himself for that joke. Sometimes Teo wondered if Jack even had any sense of shame at all.

After hurriedly scraping him off the floor among dozens of curious gazes and pulling him around the next corner, the youths continued their conversation.

"You're coming too, right Angelika?" Jack turned around and asked the petite girl that followed after them from a safe distance. Apparently, he had moved on to the second point of his agenda.

"I'm not sure I want to learn that, it looked pretty dangerous..." she replied; her hesitation obvious.

"We wouldn't only practice that technique... Maybe we could all take turns, teaching what we're best at," Teo butted in and voiced a suggestion.

"Exactly!" yelled Jack, thankful for his wingman's assistance.

"I guess I could help you in Magic Theory and Alchemy if you want," said Angelika, slowly being convinced to participate.

"Then it's decided! We can meet near the forest or at Teo's place from tomorrow on," said Jack, completely roping her in. A wide grin on his face clearly displayed his satisfaction as he mentally checked two points of his otherwise empty agenda.

Teo chose to ignore the sudden infringement on the sanctity of his home and continued to loiter around town with his friends, smiling.

***

"Damn it, where is that brat again?" complained Phillip as he spat a thick phlegm on the ground.

The professional carriage driver was already waiting in front of the Saint Joujack's school building for two whole hours without even seeing his freight once.

"He probably sneaked off again with his little friends, not sparing a thought for poor old Phillip," the coach driver lamented to himself.

He had been working for the Grassdowns for at last five years now and it had started out pretty good. They were mostly nice people and the pay was pretty decent for the short working hours. After years of doing his own thing and his questionable 'wheels for hire' business in town, he finally could put decent meals on his family's table regularly.

At least until he was assigned to babysit the lost son that miraculously returned to the family out of nowhere.

He liked the bright boy, but so far he had brought him nothing but headaches...

And pay cuts, headaches and pay cuts. Both ranked high on the list of things he did not want to have, especially in combination with each other.

Why was it his fault, that the child didn't want to listen and would rather run off to play with his friends than to get forced into physical labor by his loving granduncle?

Every time he would be left standing here like an idiot, waiting in complete boredom. Even getting empty excuses or promises was better than nothing, he thought.

"I still didn't get that pretzel though," he murmured quietly and flimsily kicked against a cartwheel.