"Actually, I'm not talking about chasing made-up mythological orbs," Jonathan said. "I'm talking about the ability to become more powerful. And if you were to acquire this power, you would be a founding member for changing the world to your liking."

Hawthorne snickered. "I don't mean to come off rude, laughing at your fantasy, but you're too mired by mythology. That stuff doesn't exist, and it only clouds your mind with polluted thoughts. I appreciate you coming here and trying to educate me on this, but I think you need to be rooted a little more in reality. I must say, I'm quite surprised that you seem gripped by something like this."

"For the sake of the hypothetical example. If iox magic was real and attainable, would you be interested in also attaining the ability and changing the world? Make it a better place you see fit? Not to mention the wealth that could come with that."

Hawthorne rubbed his chin and teetered his head from side to side. "Certainly sounds intriguing."

"And, of course, leaving a permanent and significant mark on history."

Hawthorne arched his brow. "How fascinating. Well, that's all fine and wonderful to hypothesize about, but again, I'm not interested in going on some elaborate quest that would end in death. And I suggest that you abstain as well."

"What if I showed you that iox magic exists. Would you be interested in learning more and perhaps joining a group of people?"

The idea weighed on Hawthorne's mind. "You would have to show me it exists to get me interested, but all this hypothetical talk is not doing enough for me to spark any inspiration or motivation."

Jonathan moved his hand up from the table and focused. Taking a deep breath, he fell into deep concentration, and a white ball of energy reformed in his palm as he aimed at Hawthorne.

"Wait. What are you doing?"

"You asked for proof," Jonathan growled, his hand crackling with energy as he charged the iox bolt. He hurled the bolt at Hawthorne, the air around them exploding into a blinding flash of light. The force of the impact sent Hawthorne flying out of his chair and crashing into the wall, the sound of splintering wood and crumbling stone filling the room. Jonathan's heart raced as he watched Hawthorne collapse to the ground, the scent of singed fabric and burnt flesh filling his nostrils. It was done. The proof was undeniable.

Hawthorne heaved deep breaths in and out quickly. He grunted several times, trying to form words but was still trying to recover.

"There's no way that was real," Hawthorne wheezed.

"It was real, and I can do it again," Jonathan said coldly.

Hawthorne held his chest." Damn. That hurt like a bolt like I've never felt before."

"That was the iox magic you experienced. I'm happy to give you another demonstration."

Hawthorne was like a fish out of water as he scrambled on the floor. "Show me again."

Jonathan stood up and aimed his hand at Hawthorne on the ground.

"Don't aim it at me! Shoot it out the window or on one of my stone bowls. Just don't hit me with that again." Hawthorne gritted through his teeth.

Jonathan nodded and aimed his hand at his empty bowl of soup. Charging another bolt of iox, he shot it off, destroying the stone bowl into a million pieces. A deafening crack ripped through the house.

"My goodness..." Hawthorne shook his head. "Let me see if this is real. Let me charge a bolt of ice at you. And you charge your 'iox,' and let's see what happens when they collide."

"It's just going to hurt you again. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Hawthorne's lips fumbled." I'm just in a state of disbelief. I was told this was just a piece of mythology my whole life. Iox magic never existed. It was a rumor because there had to be evil gods in mythology. But this is unlike anything I've ever seen. And it's precisely how it was described in the mythology texts. So yes, I'm willing to take another shot. Let's go in my backyard."

Hawthorne turned on a string of lights emitting a soft glow over his lawn. He had a high wooden fence offering plenty of privacy. Jonathan and Hawthorne each stood at one end of the yard and charged up a bolt. Jonathan with his iox magic, and Hawthorne with his ice bolt. With a quick countdown, they unleashed their attacks simultaneously, the air sizzling with magic. The iox bolt streaked across the lawn, devouring the ice bolt in a burst of sparks before slamming into Hawthorne with brutal force. He staggered back against the fence, clutching his chest, but he refused to crumple to the ground. Instead, he stood tall and resolute, his eyes gleaming with fierce determination.

"I can't believe it," Hawthorne uttered.

"It's true, Hawthorne. This is real magic. We are looking for another member in our ranks. We plan on uncovering more truths that have been stashed away, but we only want capable and serious people," Jonathan said.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Hawthorne stared wide-eyed. "I want a taste of this power for myself."

"And we can make that happen." Jonathan grinned.

Jonathan and Daniel traveled to Hawthorne's house near the end of July. Once again, Hawthorne cooked dinner, and it was weird for Daniel to enter the home of a teacher he had long ago.

"Daniel, it's good to see you. They don't make students like you these days. How have you been?" Hawthorne asked.

"Couldn't be better," Daniel said, interlocking his hands behind his head and stretching his elbows. "It's a pleasure to see you again, and I'm thrilled to hear about your interest in our work and learning more about iox magic in general. If you've ever wondered what I've done postgraduation, this has been my life's work."

"I'm fascinated. You've uncovered a piece of mythology and given it truth and existence. This is an outstanding discovery, and I'm humbled that it's being shared with me."

"We want someone to be able to join us as soon as possible. So with me, I brought the iox crucible. This will determine if you're ready; if you are not, it's no concern. We will develop a plan that will allow the iox magic to fuse with your magic."

"Okay? That sounds good, I suppose," Hawthorne said.

In the middle of the living room, Daniel prepared the iox crucible and instructed Hawthorne to put his hand inside. A floating bolt of iox magic immediately jumped out of the crucible as Hawthorne touched it. Daniel tried guiding it away, but it boomeranged back, striking Daniel and knocking him against the wall.

"What in the world just happened?" Hawthorne asked.

"It's not a big deal, but it didn't accept you immediately. We'll have to do some more work on this," Jonathan said.

Daniel was still recovering in the corner of the room. "We'll need you to do something bold to prove your commitment to the iox magic."

"What do you mean to do something bold?" Hawthorne asked.

"The iox magic needs room inside your heart and your conscience to take over," Daniel explained. "You have to do something. Actions speak louder than words. You can say you want the iox ability all you want, but it won't take hold unless you commit."

"And how do I do that?"

"There are many ways. What's something you've always wanted to do?"

"Although I'm a heralded history professor, I haven't done too much traveling, so I think it'd be worthwhile to go on a trip to--"

"No, I'm sorry. You don't seem to understand. What's something you've always wanted to do but you knew you couldn't because of reparations or consequences?" Daniel asked.

Hawthorne's eyes bulged. "Could you give me an example?"

"The way you talked about Rollie when I met with you. It certainly seemed like the very idea of him filled you with rage," Jonathan said. "... I'd say hitting a student would certainly qualify. And it's not like it's all that bad. When you were going through Attleton, the teachers used to strike misbehaving students, and you turned out to be fine, didn't you?"

Professor Hawthorne flicked his eyes back and forth between Jonathan and Daniel. "Are you asking me to strike a student?"

"We are not asking. We are merely suggesting a potential outlet for you to acquire the iox ability. Is that a thought that has crossed your mind, but you had to quell that urge because of the standards set by the school?" Daniel asked.

"If you tell anyone, I will tell others about your secret ability," Hawthorne said.

"You can trust us," Daniel said.

"Yes. I think physical punishment is a great way to straighten up students. I mean, they fight against themselves sometimes, and they can figure out their squabbles by exchanging punches. When you burn your hand, you know not to touch a hot stove again. Students learn when they're afraid."

"Then I think we found our avenue for the iox to take hold. Hawthorne, you will indeed strike a student," Jonathan said.

Hawthorne smirked. "I think I can do that. But money, you guys have money to help me when I inevitably get let go, right?"

"That's why I brought a little payment for you now." Daniel reached into his bag and pulled out a sack of gold coins. He showed Hawthorne the inside, and Hawthorne's eyes widened. "Take some now." Daniel tossed a few coins to Hawthorne.

"Thank you. Thank you so much! You won't regret this. I will make an excellent addition to your team. When will I meet everyone? Do they know who I am?"

"All of them are well aware of who you are. But you will have to meet everyone once you've done your bidding. Do I make myself clear?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, I understand."

"And don't try anything funny or go against us in any way. I have become so powerful that if I wanted to," Daniel snapped his fingers, "I can kill you with my iox power."

Hawthorne put his hand over his heart." You have my promise. I want this power and don't want to ruin the opportunity you're giving me."

They shook hands, and Daniel smirked, and so did Jonathan.

***

At the end of July, I visited Farrah at her house in Hartsera. Her family let me stay there for a week in the guest bedroom. At dinner the first night there, Farrah was ecstatic to tell me about her internship that her mom had hooked up for her.

"So I know I told you over a letter that I started working for the Voltrun Energy Providers," Farrah started, "but I don't really work with my mom. I work with a few other interns. It's pretty cool. Suppose you're not a voltrun, like me. In that case, you can work on burning certain materials and saving that energy for backups whenever we have outages from a storm or something. So that's what I do mostly, and I work with another kid in our dormitory, but I've never met him because he's 2 years older, but his name is Orson. And he's so funny. Every time he opens his mouth, I can't help but crack up." Farrah's eyes softened and lit up as she thought about Orson. "Like, the other day, he was juggling all of the materials we used to burn, and he was trying to get me to burn them in midair as he was tossing them in a circle. He's an excellent juggler, and we made a whole game out of it." Farrah cracked up, shrieking with laughter.

I had never seen her laugh so hard.

"And every time I hit one of the materials he juggled, he yelled..." Farrah's laughing fit devolved into quietness. She tried to suppress her laughter while also trying to catch her breath. Tears poked out the corner of her eyes. She took a deep breath and regained some composure, speeding up her words. "And every time I made contact, he would yell 'BURNT THAT MADDA!' in this-" Farrah cackled. She shook her head, waved her hand, and mouthed, "I'm sorry," while continuing to laugh.

No one at the table laughed with her. When she realized no one found it as funny as she did, she took a few deep breaths and smiled.

"I guess you just had to be there. I'm not doing a good job of imitating Orson's voice, but I promise you, it was one of the funniest things I've ever heard. And I didn't even know what he meant by 'madda,' and I asked him if that meant 'mother,' but he just shrugged and said he didn't know. He just thought it sounded funny. Orson is always like that, but he's pretty serious about work and doing a good job. I swear." Farrah kept smiling and cracking up for a few minutes after telling us the story.

Every night I stayed there for the week, Farrah always had a story to bring up about Orson.

It was starting to make my head spin.