The former students were all stunned to see Professor Hawthorne standing before them. Daniel came through the back of the crowd and introduced him. "Although I believe he probably doesn't need an introduction. Did all of you have him as a professor at some point?"

Everyone nodded.

"Wonderful!" Daniel clapped. "So we don't need to learn about each other. Let's get straight to it. Unfortunately, we all know how the testing process went with Mandy a month ago. We can certainly try the iox crucible again, but I don't think we'll see the results we hoped for. So I had to think quickly about who would join our collective, and Jonathan here had the brilliant idea to ask Hawthorne, and he was more than happy to join us. With that said, it may seem strange, but he is not your teacher here. He is another pupil just like yourself. I've worked with him a little one-on-one, but no more than either one of you. He is also a fellow student of the iox magic."

"Welcome aboard. It's good to see you again, Professor." Patrick bowed his head.

"If only Attleton had kids full of people like you, the campus would be a much better place," Hawthorne said.

"Everyone," Jonathan took over the announcements. "Each of you has your own room labeled upstairs. After I'm done talking, you may make yourself comfortable, but we will get started with our iox training immediately, so don't throw on your pajamas. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided every day for all. It is mandatory we at least eat dinner together in the dining room together as a team. And as you know, Mandy is still here, but she will not be joining our iox training the same way all of you will go through it. Instead, she will be our assistant and keeper of information. You will see her outside with us instructors, but she will not be part of the rigorous training you all would go through. Any questions?"

No one said a word.

Daniel added, "Go upstairs, unpack, and meet outside in the backyard in 30 minutes. Now."

Everyone scrambled upstairs, found their rooms, and put away their belongings. Then they went outside to the backyard, a wide open field with an emerald green lake further out behind them. A massive white tree with purple leaves hung over the water.

Daniel stood out front with his hands behind his back, wearing his white cloak. "We can officially begin the training. I know it's been a long road, and I thank you for your patience, but now we can get right into it. We are going to start with what I call iox injections. No, there are no needles here, But I will need you to hold out your hand. All of you, now." Daniel snapped his fingers. "When I snap my fingers, I need you to heed my direction and obey quickly. The iox injections will hurt, but I need you all to stand up again as soon as possible. Try your hardest and push through the pain."

Everyone held out their hand, standing in a line. Daniel approached Hawthorne first and touched Hawthorne's fingertips with his own. A white ring of light formed from Daniel's shoulder and moved down his arm until it touched Hawthorne's fingertips.

"AHHHHHHH!" Hawthorne shouted and collapsed to the ground, writhing and whimpering.

Everyone else stared at Hawthorne on the ground, eyes bulging.

"C'mon, get up. You don't want to be outdone by these young kids, do you?" Daniel scolded. His head snapped to Elijah, who had lowered his hand at the end of the line. "Put your hand back up!"

Elijah sighed but obeyed the command.

Daniel glared at Elijah longer than he needed to, but he wanted Elijah's arm to tire. Moving to the next person while Hawthorne still struggled on the ground, Daniel performed the same maneuver on Elliot.

As soon as the white ring of energy reached Elliot's hand, she smacked the ground, face first, moaning in pain.

Mandy winced as she saw her sister collapse. Jonathan noticed and turned her away and whispered, "I know this may be hard to watch, but you can't show any reaction. Just take notes about how everyone responds."

Mandy hesitated but nodded.

"Let's see who gets up quicker from the two of you!" Daniel said, "The old geezer or the young punk? I swear if this is how the rest of this process goes, I'll be disappointed in all of you. Get up and stay up!"

Richmond was next in line to receive the iox injection and hit the ground full force.

Daniel marched towards Patrick, performing the same technique as the others, but Patrick managed to fall on one knee and stay firm and still like a statue. But Patrick's face contorted, and he grimaced.

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"Bravo! I must say, I'm awfully impressed with you, Patrick. But let's see if you can get back up, No one else can seem to."

Everyone else still moaned and struggled to stand back up, but Patrick bit his lip and fought with every ounce of energy to stand up straight, but he gasped and fell to the ground. Inhaling and exhaling deeply.

"And yet you still disappoint me. Tisk, tisk. Elijah, how about you? Let's see how well you fare." Daniel moseyed up to Elijah and touched his hand. The white light ring went through Daniel's hand and struck Elijah, forcing his head to the rough earth below.

"Wow, what a disappointing display. I could not have imagined this going any worse. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. You think you're powerful mages, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Once you finish the theatrics, get back up and take another injection."

Patrick couldn't believe how unfairly Daniel was behaving. The amount of pain radiating through his whole body made him unmovable. The only thing he could do was squirm and grunt. All the energy had been zapped from his body.

A few minutes passed, and no one could stand back up.

"I'm not getting any younger here!" Daniel shouted, "If this is how training will go, we might be here longer than we had hoped! And I do not like to wait! I've been waiting, and I've been patient, but now is the time for me to live the life I am supposed to live. And all of you deserve to live that special life as well!"

"But do you have to be such a jerk about it?" Elijah hollered.

"Excuse me?" Daniel stormed up to Elijah and towered over him. "When I went through my training for the iox magic, this is how it went. I told you that this wouldn't be easy. I've even told you that it would be intense!"

"But you never told us you would stand there and holler and demean us."

"You all have to be motivated. You all have to have your mental walls brought down to accept this new way of living. So yes, I will continue to metaphorically shove you forward so you can harness this rare power that will bring you a life of infinite satisfaction. Now, with all that said, if anyone wants to leave, they can."

"If we could even move," Elijah shot back.

Daniel glared at him and then noticed Patrick getting back up. "Well, one person has it figured out."

Patrick lifted his hand, and Daniel gave him the second iox injection, forcing him back to the ground.

"Way to be a leader, Patrick. Come on, everyone, he's already on his second, and the rest of you are still down. We have a lot to do before the end of the year when we really start to make progress and make our next move."

The rest of the evening continued until no one could get back up, not even Patrick. They all took four iox injections and felt miserable. Mandy and Jonathan carried each person back inside the house and put them on the couch in the living room. They prepared a special tea that smelled like cinnamon but had no taste, Just hot water. When they finished drinking their tea, they felt relaxed, sore, and tired. Daniel ushered them into the dining room, where they all sat and had a dinner of cooked brisket, vegetables seasoned with pepper, and potatoes. The meal was prepared by Jonathan and Genevieve.

While they ate, hardly anyone said a word, but Elijah poked at his food as something weighed on his mind. "Excuse me, Daniel, but you mentioned earlier that we need to make progress in order to make our next move. What is our next move exactly?"

"To get all of you to aim and shoot an iox bolt without any issues," Daniel said as if it was rehearsed.

"Right, but what is the next move once we can do that?"

"I prefer to wait until we get closer to the date, but it will be our next chance at a huge payday, and this time it will be even easier and low risk than the bank robbery."

"So you already have something planned out?"

"Of course I do. I have everything planned out perfectly up here." Daniel pointed to his head. "We got clean off from the bank expedition, yes? So you can trust me on this next mission."

"But I would at least like to know what we are getting ourselves involved with," Elijah said. "Doesn't anyone else agree?"

"Elijah, I think we should trust our authority here," Hawthorne said. "He's graciously given us food, money, and an ability that has only been seen in mythology."

"That's okay, Hawthorne. I appreciate you coming to my defense, but I will answer your question Elijah to the best of my ability without saying too much." Daniel finished chewing his food and swallowed. "If you know your mythology well, I'll just say it pertains to that. And if you have any other questions, I ask you to please save them for now. Is that okay?"

Elijah narrowed his eyes at Daniel. "Sure, that's okay."

"And I'm sorry all of you are missing your families for Autumn Feast, but trust me when I say we'll have a wonderful dinner later this week to celebrate." Daniel grinned.

They all finished eating, and at the end of the night, everyone was eager to go to their bedroom and fall asleep. Mandy, however, brought her pet dog with her named Coco and had to take him out in the backyard before going to bed.

Coco was a breed unique to the mage world. A small dog with scarlet plush fur and a face like a fox. Coco went outside, and Mandy watched from the back porch, although there wasn't much light out, the moon shone brightly over the lake, and lantern flies hovered around outside, brighter than the fireflies in the Nomagi world. Their luminescence shined bright orange and gave a visible enough view for Mandy to watch Coco.

Something caught Coco's attention, and he fixed his gaze at a spot near the lake.

"Coco?" Mandy said, loud enough for the dog to hear, but she tried to keep her voice down.

But Coco didn't turn his head, he was still standing on all fours, ears perked, and head locked towards the lake.

"Coco, come here!" Mandy snapped her fingers, but Coco remained still. Usually, he was good at obeying commands, but Mandy grew concerned. "Coco, come here!"

Coco ran further away from the back porch, heading towards the lake. Mandy sighed and jogged after her dog.

"What are you doing? Coco, come here!"

Coco stopped and sniffed the ground a few times before digging furiously.

"Come on, Coco, come here. This is too late at night to be playing games. It's bedtime!"

From Daniel's bedroom, Daniel noticed the bright red fur of Mandy's dog near the lake while Mandy stood a few yards away. Daniel watched, and his stomach lurched.

This can't be happening, Daniel thought.