Principal Pine was about to speak, and then paused. “You’re ready to hear what this is all about?”

“Yes, yes! Please! I’m dying to know,” I said.

Principal Pine smirked. “So, orbs in mythology are not only highly sought-after treasures, but they are weapons that complement the mage's elemental attacks. With an orb, mages were rumored to have far more power than just their fingertips. And while you are new to mythology, you may not understand some of the stories and names I'm about to say, but I will put it as simply as I can.

"The Manticore and the Gargantuan constantly battled each other. They were sworn enemies. Their minions even hated the other minions. You might hear of a hero named the Dragon Tamer who had a unique ability with dragons and understood them on a level that has never been seen before. Mythology says the Dragon Tamer was born with dragon blood inside him, giving him a unique edge over others. Anyways, he is a central hero who stops all of the Manticore's minions from destroying the world. Are you following so far?”

My hands gripped the armrests. “Yeah! Please, go on!”

Principal Pine drew in a deep breath. “In mythology, the Dragon Tamer visited an exceptional blacksmith, Helena, capable of creating all kinds of magical items and weapons. The Dragon Tamer commissioned her to forge an orb that he could use to help battle the Manticore's minions. That's a whole separate story in it itself, but Helena didn't want to create the orb at first. She tried to stay neutral. Helena knew if she made an orb for the Dragon Tamer, she would have to craft an equivalent for the Manticore side, who turned out to be the Molten Marauder.

"Sure enough, as Helena became close to finishing the resilient orb for the Dragon Tamer, the Molten Maurader paid her a visit and requested an orb of his own. So Helena apologized to the Dragon Tamer and told him it would take her longer to make the orb while she figured she could get paid by both of them and deliver at the same time. Each of them could have an orb, and Helena could retire with the money they offered. So that's what she did. Not wanting to play favorites, she made an orb for each side.

"Then, fearing that one or the other could get carried away with power, she crafted a third orb, this one she gave to another mythological mage named Sandra and told her to hold on to the orb and use it in case the Dragon Tamer or the Molten Marauder ever became too corrupt."

"So, did Helena or that other mage, Sandra, end up having to use the special orb she made?" I asked. Listening to Principal Pine, I was about to stand up and pace around the room.

"That's where mythology gets conflicting. There are stories where the Dragon Tamer beats the Molten Marauder, then there are stories where the Molten Marauder beats the Dragon Tamer, and of course, one where Sandra defeats the Dragon Tamer and one where Sandra defeats the Molten Marauder. All of these have slight variations, so no one knows what happened if it happened at all."

I gazed off to the side, zoning out, lost in the details of it all. ”I see. But do people believe the three orbs exist? Why?"

“Book were published a long ago by other explorers, those who went to islands, mapped them out, and then found the orb of the Molten Marauder inside a tomb, but when they left the island and tried to come back, the island never reappeared. The same goes for the other orb for the Dragon Tamer, a tomb on an island guarded by dragons. Apparently, an explorer made it to the island and saw the tomb with the orb solidified by obsidian, impossible to break. And with dragons flying around, they had to leave immediately."

"So no one knows where those islands are? What about the orb used by Sandra, crafted by Helena?""

"That one apparently has been discovered. These are all different explorers, too, which is fascinating, but again, the islands where these orbs are located show themselves randomly. The part where it gets dangerous is if you're constantly sailing, you risk your life because some of those waters where people have claimed to have seen the islands are heavily infested with hellions. Even if you took an army, who knows if the island would appear. Legend has it, you have to travel solo."

"See, now that we've discussed it more, I'm not sure I believe in all this stuff. An island that only appears magically? It seems like it would be easy to make up and publish a book about it.” I flapped my hand.

"And that's why it's all part of mythology.” Principal Pine’s lip curled up.

"But then why does Professor Henderson believe in the existence of some magical items? Or the orbs crafted by Helena? Do you believe in them?"

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Hm. It’s hard. I don't think I can say, one way or another."

"What do you mean it's hard? Just say yes or no. It's pretty simple."

Principal Pine paused. “When Professor Henderson talked to you about the belief in magical items, admittedly, he shouldn't have done that. Some families firmly believe in mythology, while others do not. We would receive complaints from families if professors expressed their beliefs in them one way or another. So, therefore, I must abstain from input."

“Psh, yeah, but I don't really talk to my parents, So you can tell me. They won't say anything, especially since they're in the regular world."

Principal Pine laughed dryly. "Rollie, while you're not wrong, I still abstain from telling you my beliefs. But there you have it. That's what orbs are. And in our educational institution, we've deemed it best worldwide to not discuss orbs. It just leads others down a dangerous path. So please, keep this between us, yes?"

"Sure thing, Principal Pine.” I was about to jump out of his chair, but I sank further in when a pressing thought crossed my mind. “But Farrah knows that I had to talk to you about something, and she doesn't want me to lie to her. What should I say?"

"You can tell her the truth. But make sure she doesn't tell anyone else. I don't want you searching around for orbs, nor do I want any of my students doing that. It rarely happens, but it does happen often enough that people get swept up in chasing orbs."

I nodded and left Principal Pines's office. It was a relief that I wasn't in trouble. Going to my next class, I saw Farrah standing by the massive educational building, watching the construction of the new Unity Statue.

"So, what was your conversation all about?" Farrah asked. Her arms folded, and her eyes narrowed.

"It actually wasn't that bad. More of a chat about 'why are you looking into orbs?' Principal Pine explained that some kids are recklessly pursuing these magical items. He doesn't want people to know because it could ultimately inspire others and cost them their lives." I went more in-depth with my explanation and asked Farrah to swear to secrecy.

"Of course, I won't tell a soul."

By the time I was done explaining, Farrah's eyes had widened, and she no longer seemed irritated with me. She hugged me and said, "I'm just so glad you're not in trouble."

"Me too.” I rubbed her back.

I went to my first class with Professor Shia, and we worked on fire bolts for the day. Standing in my lane, I had a wooden target in front of me, painted with blue and white rings.

Running through all the runes in my head, I had them well memorized to a point where I could charge a fire bolt and shove it out of my palm like it was no harder than brushing my teeth. The problem was learning how to aim. I could never hit the center of the target. My bolt struck my neighbor's target or flew entirely above and below, hitting nothing but the marble wall in front of me.

I had an idea, though, something I wanted to try. A technique that only I probably had the knowledge of out of all my classmates or all the people in Lementum.

The next time I charged up my fire bolt, running through all the runes in my head, a small blazing sphere of fire formed around my palm. Rather than pushing it forward like a shot-put, I curled my hand up and followed through with a spiral-like throw of a football. The fire bolt rocketed out of my hand faster than I had ever seen and struck the bullseye.

My jaw dropped.

I stared at the target for a few minutes before trying to charge another fire bolt, but my energy was running a little low. I had to wait a little longer before charging another.

Once I was ready, I did it again, the same process, and pretended like the bolt was a football. I threw it like I would a perfect spiral, and I hit the next outer ring outside the bullseye.

Still! That's really close!

The class was over, but I ran up to Professor Shia.

"You got to see this!” I shouted.

Even with the pressure of Professor Shia watching my every move as I repeated the bolt toss as if it was a football, I performed was out of the issue. The bolt did not strike the bullseye, but it was just slightly off.

"I've been able to throw it almost perfectly three times in a row!" I yelled.

"Very impressive and quite the unorthodox approach. I'm not sure if that would work with a standard strike, which is heavier and can do more damage, as you know. While it certainly is impressive, let's try and stick with the standard method of shooting out a bolt. It works the same way with the harder elemental magic. I fear this technique could lead you astray."

I hung my head. My shoulders weighed a thousand pounds it seemed.

"It's okay, Rollie. I think I want to figure this out for myself and experiment. How did you do that again?"

I showed her step-by-step and walked her through how I would have taught someone how to throw a football. At that moment, I wished I had one in my hand, I felt that was the best way to explain, but I didn't. But Professor Shia wrote down my explanation and watched me go through the motions several times.

"Thank you, Rollie. I'm going to see if this might work on others. Excellent performance today."

I grinned from ear to ear and left the classroom.

After my other classes finished up, I headed out of the building to go kill some time back at the dorm, but the world came to a screeching halt when I saw Patrick for the first time since December. I saw red. The memory of him destroying the Unity Statue and pinning the blame on me filled me with more rage than I could have imagined. He was strolling with his friend on the other side of the main lobby of the educational building.

I stopped.

I glared at him and his stupid laugh as he chatted with one of his friends. Part of me wanted to charge over there and strike him, and another part wanted to hurl a fire bolt at him like I would a football. With my newfound discovery, I could probably burn his face off.

He walked out of the lobby with his crony, and everyone around me kept on moving. I was the only one stationary.

Snapping out of my rage-fueled daydream, Farrah approached me, held my hand, and smiled at me.

"How was your day of classes?"

I exhaled but smiled. ”Honestly, I don't think they could have gone better.”