Cale could not believe his eyes when he saw what he was able to do with his magic. Not only could he transform his own appearance into the form of another person, he could also apply his magic this onto other living creatures. Instead of the small, blue dragon, there was now a black, elegant cat in front of him, which had originally been Fengari.

"I could even get used to this body", the dragon gave after a while, rubbing its head with its paws, which Cale found both frightening and fascinating in equal measure. All that was left of her previous majestic sight were her unique eyes, with which she scrutinized her new body.

"I can't tell how long it will last. It's not my Igrikum, it's my own mana that's keeping this transformation going", Cale explained, watching as Fengari elegantly leapt from the railing to the ground and walked towards him.

<"That should be alright">, she replied to him in her mind. If you saw Fengari now, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was a 4-meter tall dragon hiding behind it. Her mana, Chioni's mana and Paraios' mana were not noticeable. Only Cale's RM was faintly noticeable if you really concentrated on it. To the outside world, therefore, she seemed like a perfectly normal cat.

"Can you fly in that form, too?", Cale inquired curiously, crouching down on the ground while Fengari stood still and tried. Cale did notice something changing about her real form as his mana reacted to it, but nothing outwardly changed. Wordlessly, the black cat took off before his eyes and flew onto his shoulder as if it were floating.

"Yep!"

"Fascinating. You truly never stop learning", he added as Fengari strolled on his shoulder. It was slightly larger than Cale's hand, so it appeared to be a small baby cat on the outside, and was also appropriately light. Cautiously, Cale touched the little body, but even her black fur felt perfectly normal. "Ah. Please make sure you don't necessarily face mages openly. There are one or two who can see through this transformation."

<"Someone can see through it?">, Fengari gave in reply, holding onto Cale as he opened the door and slowly strode down the narrow steps.

<"Yes. The High-Magician, who had the same mark as Chioni, had seen through my transformations before. How exactly he had managed that I don't know, but especially around him, you should be careful.">

<"You must have changed your appearance quite a bit">, Fengari replied as she sat loosely on Cale's shoulder, looking out the small windows to her left with interest.

<"In what way?">

<"Shapeshifting has its weaknesses. The greater the difference between the real body and the transformation, the easier it is to feel the difference. The mana ended up trying to fill the difference itself, which can sometimes feel strange on the outside. At least, that's what Palaios had told me">, the little dragon explained sweetly, as Cale carefully checked with his mana to see who was currently near him. <"The Apostle must have good eyes, that's for sure.">

<"You mean the more the real exterior differs from the illusion, the sooner it can be noticed? What about you then?">

<"No one should not be able to see through the ability of Palaios, except for our leader Velence. Therefore, nothing has changed from the size. I'd be surprised if the Apostle can see through it so easily">, Fengari clarified as Cale arrived downstairs and opened the door out of the tower.

<"I hope you're right">

<"I'm always right!">, Fengari proudly stated and Cale could feel her proudly presenting her chest.

Quietly, Cale walked down the hallway when, to his surprise, he turned and suddenly Aaron Thopas was standing in front of him. The High-Magician stood leaning against the wall, completely suppressing his mana, which is why Cale could not sense him. Fengari, on the other hand, quickly jumped down from his shoulder and hid behind Cale, causing a muffled sound, which is why Aaron looked up.

"Good morning", Cale politely chimed in, and was about to hurriedly walk past the High-Magician, so he wouldn't notice Fengari, but it was long too late for that.

"We need to talk", raised the stern looking High-Magician, who stood beside him with his arms crossed, staring at Cale, before his gaze fell on the small cat in his company. His attention hung on Fengari for a while, which made Cale nervous. Of all the mages, he absolutely wanted to avoid Aaron finding out about the dragon. He didn't want to dream of the damage Aaron could do with such information.

<"Guess this will be the test run">, Fengari spoke up in amusement, while Cale suppressed his nervousness and merely showed that he was annoyed.

"You're not the only one who wants something from me", he admitted quietly and sighed. It was unmistakable that Aaron had been here waiting for him. "What can I do for you?"

"Not here", Aaron replied simply, straightening up before walking wordlessly down the hallway. The High-Magician made no move to tell Cale to follow him, but it was clear to him. Skeptically, he followed the grim mage, whom he had not particularly trusted for some time. What did he want to talk to him about? Was it about their discussion about William back then or what kind of problem Aaron had with him again?

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<"Who is that?">, Fengari inquired, trotting silently behind Cale.

<"Aaron Thopas, an Apostle of Parelthon, if I had to guess. I can't tell you for sure, though.">

<"Another Apostle? How exciting!"> exclaimed Fengari energetically, following Cale unobtrusively.

The small group was led by Aaron toward the apartments, and Cale strongly suspected that he was going to his own apartment. His suspicions proved true. Aaron wordlessly led Cale to his apartment and held the door open for him as he entered. To his surprise, Aaron's apartment was as neat and sterile as Grischa's, with only a few dark armchairs and a small table adorning the entryway. Cale's gaze, however, fell on the large world map hanging on one side of the wall. It had to be three meters wide and beautifully showed all the land masses and the individual countries.

"I'll say it straight out", Aaron started as he closed it door behind him and Cale turned his attention to the High-Magician. "How did you find out?"

"Did I found out what?", Cale repeated.

"Don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you. I know for a fact that you know about it."

Irritated, Cale stared at the High-Magician before sighing and holding his head with his hand. He was constantly being quizzed, no wonder he couldn't muster up any patience to make excuses by now.

"Aaron, if you don't tell me what exactly you want from me, I'm going to leave", Cale replied, annoyed.

"I'm talking about my past, kid", Aaron retorted slightly mischievously as he looked sternly at Cale.

"What exactly? Your age? Your family's history or rather the hunt for Fiet's family, Mr. Seeker", Cale threw back wryly before noticing that Fengari had sat down patiently on the floor next to him and was looking tensely at Aaron.

"Everything. Where did you read about it?"

"You had searched my books, didn't you? Didn't that give you an answer to the question?", Cale merely commented. You could see Aaron wince in surprise as Cale accused him of going through his stuff without permission. Aaron didn't let on, but he seemed to get a little nervous, his gaze avoiding Cale's and falling on the little cat instead.

"Sorry about that. The situation just... sort of came up."

"You mean following William and Ben just happened to come up?", Cale replied curtly.

"I wasn't chasing them, kid", Aaron defended himself.

"Stop calling me kid, Aaron. You don't know how much it pisses me off!", Cale yelled back. There was a certain limit to the insults Cale could take. But for years now Aaron had been treating him like a child and that bothered Cale tremendously. Disrespect was something Cale couldn't stand in the long run.

<"Was a good decision to come along. I'm not here 10 minutes and I see two High-Magicians fighting with each other">, Fengari said in between. The dragon's statement snapped him out of his rage and he looked down at his companion in surprise. She was not discovered, at least Aaron did not let himself notice anything unusual because of her.

<"We weren't fighting, we were just discussing.">

<"That's what you say!">, Fengari replied with amusement. <"I know a fight when I see one. In recent years, we siblings have argued often and Apostle Aaron Thopas reacts just as hurt as our leader did back when we split off.">

<"Hurt?">, Cale uttered in wonder, looking back at the High-Magician. The man said nothing in reply to the statement, but looked silently at the ground, holding his arm with one hand. What made Fengari think he was injured? Outwardly hardly, therefore probably rather.... Inwardly? Did she mean by the 'fight'... words?

Was Cale slowly losing his sense of being able to assess how other people were doing? Why hadn't he noticed that Aaron was uncomfortable with the situation? Perhaps because of his dry and cold manner? Aaron alone was not to blame for their current situation, although he had definitely contributed greatly to it. But Cale realized at that moment that he could not claim to be behaving properly. With Aaron, he was constantly arguing, simply because Cale had inwardly given up on befriending Aaron. In a way, their bad relationship provoked Cale all the more.

"I'm sorry, Aaron", Cale finally spoke up, causing the High-Magician to look up with a jerk. Cale gestured with his hand towards the armchairs before walking towards them and sitting down. Fengari hopped onto his lap a second later and squeezed to the side before lying down and watching Aaron take a seat across from him. "I... didn't know about it for quite a long time. I read about it once, yeah, but I'd never really drawn the connection to you. I don't plan on making a big deal about it, don't worry. Just stay away from my friends. I've already warned you once, and I won't do it a third time."

At the last words, Cale slowly became sterner as he touched Fengari's soft head with his hand and unconsciously started stroking it. She didn't move, but stared at Aaron expectantly.

"It's not what you think. I never intended for me to hurt anyone and certainly not your group. Please believe me this", the High-Magician replied. The fact that Aaron was asking him for the first time made Cale look at the man with different eyes. He always seemed cold and forbidding, with a murderous look, as the Eldest had described, but his words didn't match his appearance. "I... I can understand that the people around me have a lot of trouble talking and working with me. I really wanted to... it wasn't my intention."

Had Cale judged the man... judged too soon? What had happened to make Aaron suddenly speak to him so openly?

The High-Magician he had never befriended in a single lifetime because he always condescended? The man who wanted to use William, Ben, and Philippa as bait for the Thormods? The High-Magician who had deliberately given him more difficult questions back during the High-Magician exam so that Cale wouldn't get in?

From the beginning, Cale couldn't stand Aaron. His constant condescending behavior had been getting on his nerves for years and at some point, Cale just gave up trying to befriend him. The only thing that currently connected the two was the Magistrat and specifically their relationship with Grischa. And even Grischa confirmed that Aaron can be quite an asshole.

But Cale could not see any of that currently. For the first time in his life, Aaron seemed to drop his expressionless mask and showed him something that Cale was not used to from him.

Emotions.

With a sad look down, Aaron Thopas squatted on the armchair while impatiently moving his fingers, trying to find his words. Intentionally staring at him in silence for a while, Cale couldn't help but recognize something about Aaron.

Himself.

"I'll be honest with you. I don't trust you very much, at least not as a person", Cale finally spoke up.

"I picked up on that", Aaron replied weakly. He squatted forward in the chair, hands clasped together, and looked down at his feet for a few moments before straightening up and looking Cale resolutely in the eye. "I owe you an explanation. Please let me tell you the whole story."