<"Yes, yes. I won't kill him">, Fengari confirmed after Cale told her to be careful in Grischa's presence. But she didn't seem particularly interested in watching the High-Magician.

The Eldest tapped Cale on the shoulder and wordlessly gestured for him to follow. As ordered, he had accompanied William here to briefly exchange a few words with the King of Sylve, only to find that the King wanted to speak alone with his son. With a searching glance at his friend, who seemed rather nervous, Cale followed the Eldest into the next room and closed the door behind him.

"What is wrong with you two? You looked like you've seen ghosts", the Eldest remarked before dropping into the chair and leaning back.

"It's because of the king of Sylve. Do you know what he wants to talk about?"

"His son hasn't had any contact with royal family in almost two years, what do you think?"

Skeptically, Cale raised an eyebrow, for he couldn't imagine the king worrying about William. Why should he, after all, he had sent his son to his death by hunting the dragon. Literally. Whereas, even to him, King Leonhardt's behavior sometimes seemed strange.

"I guess I shouldn't start speculating, I'll ask William myself later", Cale replied, taking a seat in the armchair next to the Eldest before continuing. "I told Grischa everything, except for your past, of course."

"You did? Yesterday you had said the opposite, what happened?", the mage gave in curiously.

"Chioni, the dragon with the Thormods' mark on her chest, had contacted me yesterday. She contacted the dragons on the other side of the world and she wants to inform them of the current situation. From the sound of it, Chioni is planning a major attack on the Thormods and they want the support of the humans. There is a meeting scheduled tonight for everyone involved, including us", Cale stated matter-of-factly. Silently, the Eldest nodded at the statement, however, giving Cale pause. "I'm asking just in case: you didn't have a vision that predicted something like this, did you?"

"I don't need a vision to read the situation. It was pretty clear that it might come down to this."

"Then how can you stay so relaxed? If we're not careful, we might provoke a premature war."

"I'm probably the one of us who is more unrelaxed precisely because I didn't receive a vision", the Eldest explained calmly, beginning to play with his fingers. "Knowing that my guess is right, but I didn't receive any information, is not pleasant. On the other hand, it just means that nothing bad is going to happen..."

The Eldest didn't seem quite in tune with the last part of the statement, but Cale understood what the mage was getting at.

"While we're on the subject of 'dragons', where is the little dragon currently?", the blond-haired mage quickly added.

"Fengari is a good four meters tall, just a heads-up", Cale explained. "She has fun stalking some people."

"It must be pretty interesting for her to be able to be that close to people without causing mass panic", the Eldest replied. "Which I have to ask you to keep an eye on her. You never know."

"I will."

"I've been thinking about what you said yesterday", the Eldest began after a while, unexpectedly tightening his hands. He didn't seem to notice himself that his body reacted that way at the statement, which made Cale all the more eager to hear what the mage meant. "I think it's time to tell Aaron the truth."

"Are you sure about this?", Cale hesitantly spoke up, knowing that the Eldest was just forcing himself to make this statement. "You don't seem to me to be convinced about this decision."

"Part...wise?"

"You really don't have to do this if you don't want to. I just wanted to give you my opinion, not make you reject your choices."

"That may be true, but your statement was also right. This thing has always prevented me from being able to talk to him openly, even though he always has. Lying to someone for centuries is exhausting, if not nerve-wracking."

Unwittingly, Cale couldn't help but think of William. He was in a similar position, which was probably why the Eldest could understand why Cale didn't want to tell his friend everything. But was he really going to live with a lie for the next few years? Would he get through it all again, now that so much had already been revealed? Especially in terms of what will inevitably await them in the coming weeks?

"I can understand you, Damian. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"In fact, I would appreciate it if you were present.... in case of emergency", the Eldest replied, looking at Cale with a serious expression, so the latter nodded in agreement. A spark of relief could be seen on the Eldest's face, which made Cale grin. He sat back and closed his eyes for the moment as he focused on the one on William's mana. He seemed a little calmer than he had a few minutes ago, yet Cale couldn't for the life of him judge what they were talking about.

"In the meantime, do you have any theories about how I might break the whole cycle?", Cale finally spoke up, staring up at the ceiling, which was adorned with precious glowing crystals.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Nothing new at least, no. Please excuse me."

"That's all right, I'm just as perplexed. I can't even explain to myself how a world can come into being without the gods existing. Logically speaking, that shouldn't be possible."

"Logic and gods are two terms that don't go together", the Eldest casually remarked.

"That is also true. It's just... even if I were to break out of the cycle, what guarantees that everything would still not repeat itself?"

"You're assuming that even though you broke the cycle, everything would start all over again?"

"It's something the dragons mentioned. Palaios, the supposed leader of the dragons from the mountains, had mentioned at it was us who had separated from the gods and not the gods from us. Wouldn't it make more sense than for us to go back to their world and not them coming to ours?"

Thoughtfully, Cale stared at the crystal above him before realizing that the Eldest was not responding. He looked to the blond-haired mage, who was thoughtfully combing through his lengthening beard.

"A thought that has its justification. It would definitely make a lot more sense, yes."

"Wouldn't it? It would mean we all forget what happened because it never happened. Even I could lose all memories when I get back to the real world."

Cale could feel Fengari connecting to him at that moment, which was why he had kept his statement short.

"But being reborn infinitely sounds like the greatest evil to me, doesn't it? On maybe twice, yes. Why not? But anything above that would be too much. I admire that you're not desperate yet, I probably would be by now", the Eldest replied honestly, but Cale had to laugh at the statement.

"I am desperate, Eldest. Believe me. The fact that I have made so much progress in this life is a blessing, but at the same time a curse. When I think of losing everything, I go mad. I've often toyed with the idea of how to effectively kill myself, but how do you kill an immortal who resets the whole world?"

"That's the first I've heard of such a thing from you, Caleb. I have to say I'm a little surprised, even if I can understand it."

<"If I may chime in at this point?">, Fengari spoke up. At the dragon's voice, Cale straightened jerkily and gestured for the Eldest to wait a moment.

<"Anytime. What happened?">

<"Why do you always assume the worst? I didn't do anything wrong, don't panic. I just heard part of your conversation.">

<"Do you have any idea how I could end the loop?">

<"No, I'm afraid I don't. I was getting at something else. Palaios mentioned this a while ago, but the world won't generate itself into all infinity.>

"Eh? What do you mean?"

<"Well, how should I explain it? What keeps the world alive is the mana of the gods, but us siblings as well as you Apostles consume it constantly. Back 17 years ago, mana in the unbound abruptly halved, which may be due to your increased play with death. The mana of the gods do not regenerate when the gods do not exist.">

With a blank expression, Cale stared at the ground as he thought through Fengari's statement.

<"Does that mean we erase our own existence?">

<"Basically, yes.">

Reflexively, he looked to the Eldest, who looked wordlessly to Cale. He seemed to realize that Cale had gone abruptly white in the face, but held back.

"I think we have a problem", he finally addressed the Eldest.

"What happened?"

"The worlds, my rebirth, the whole thing doesn't work infinitely. We need the mana of the gods, and thus inevitably the gods themselves, if the world wants to live", Cale explained. <"Fengari, can you estimate approximately how much mana disappeared at that time?">.

<"About half of it, I can't tell you more exactly. Maybe Palaios knows it more, I will ask him right now.">.

"How exactly do you mean?" the Eldest intervened.

"Fengari meant that we continually consume the mana of the gods and it does not renew itself with the absence of the gods. When I started this life, the mana was said to have been cut in half, which roughly means that I waste vast amounts of the gods' mana with each life."

"That should mean that with any luck you can only be reborn a few more times, right? After that, it would be the end of the world", the Eldest completed Cale's thoughts, which is why a shiver ran down his spine.

"I think the scale is still too big. So far the dragons have never interfered, but what do you think will happen if suddenly hundreds of dragons start using their abilities? We're running out of time faster than we think."

Even the Eldest seemed to feel a spark of fear now. The two stared at each other for what felt like a minute, while Cale waited for Fengari to speak back.

"Caleb", the Eldest suddenly raised his voice gravely, bending forward a bit and interlacing his fingers. His eyes were ice-cold and stared menacingly at the young mage. "You must find a solution at any cost in this life. There's no guarantee that this life won't be your last."

Cale could have sworn the room temperature had dropped 10 degrees. Life had turned into a life-threatening situation in one fell swoop.

<"He says something similar, human child. Seventeen years ago, mana was reduced by about 48%, and so far 54% has been lost.">

For a moment, he was almost relieved to hear that number, but that didn't stop him from getting nervous.

"Caleb, if things look bad, you're going to have to kill yourself", the Eldest stated dryly, as if asking Cale to bring him a glass of water. To make matters worse, at that moment the door behind them had opened and wordlessly William stood in the doorway.

Surprised, the two mages turned to the prince, who had obviously overheard part of it. Both had been focused on the new information at that moment, which is why they didn't notice the mana source approaching them.

"Are you finished?", Cale cheerfully chimed in and smiled, but inside his heart stopped. One of the worst scenarios Cale could think of had occurred. How could he make such a mistake when he was usually so careful?

"Yes. Thank you for letting me speak with my father", William replied politely, bowing to the Eldest, who stood up. He didn't have to bring it up, Cale knew exactly what the mage was trying to say with the behavior. There was no way William was going to let it go around like that. Without background, it sounded like the Eldest was sacrificing his people.

"You're welcome. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do", the Eldest explained, turning his gaze to the 12th seat, which had also straightened up. The two High-Magicians were more tense than they had been in a long time, but were outwardly peace itself.

"Of course", Cale replied, walking up to his friend before leading him toward the exit. With the usual greeting and a deep bow, Cale said goodbye to the Eldest and walked silently beside his friend back to the apartment.

They had been walking wordlessly through the waking Magistrat for a good two minutes, while Cale was extremely careful not to walk across from Aaron or any other person William might talk to.

"Cale..." the prince finally raised of his own accord, causing the mage to stop jerkily, grab his arm, and make a barrier appear around them.

"William. I'm only going to say this once. Don't you dare tell anyone what you heard. In all friendship, this is my only warning to you."