"The more I see, the more I understand that all of this is not a fantasy, it is reality. At first, I thought it was a very detailed vision, but more and more I think it's a completely different reality", Luc spoke up after Cale completed the assault on Frignez. His colleagues saw large parts of a week-long battle that the North had lost. Even the scene that Chief Merensen ordered them to take a boat and get out of here with Aletta was witnessed by the High-Magicians. In a night and fog action, the five Anuxers reluctantly left behind all the people they had been talking to every day for the past three years and fled to the sea.

"That looked like what I saw in my insight back then", Odin whispered, more to himself than to the other High-Magicians.

Even the conversation they had had on the boat several days later, Cale showed the others. Thus, they had learned about how long William had hidden his identity and also that his father had ordered him to kill the Dragon Queen. They were beside themselves when they learned that Cale was heading to the Holy Island with his four friends, but eventually even the mages became very quiet from the oppressive silence.

"I haven't told you yet whose Igrikum makes this memory seem so vivid", Cale brought out quietly as he let the others watch them five Anuxers make their way to the center of the island. Cale sensed some familiar sources of mana by now, which is why he felt it was the right time. "The Igrikum is in fact not an Igrikum, but the ability of a dragon. His name is Velence."

<"Hello">, the leader of the dragons spoke up and at the same moment the Cale spotted from memory the dragon Velence from the first life, which stood next to Chioni when she arrived at the Dragon Queen.

"Velence?", Rangar repeated in irritation as he heard the voice in his head, while the other mages remained suitably shocked silent.

<"That is my name, apostle. And this is also my body, which you see here">, the dragon calmly explained, while Cale let the conversation between William and the dragon queen in the background begin.

<"Humans I have not seen here for a long time. I assume you are not here for pleasure, what do you want from me?">, the dragon queen sternly spoke up, causing the five Anuxers to shrug.

<"In the name of humanity, we will kill you here and now to finally put an end to the war">, William shouted with his head held high as he drew his sword. The dragons on the sidelines began talking to each other, some even laughing, while the dragon queen raised her head.

<"Kill me? Have you all gone mad? Don't you know who I am?">, the majestic golden dragon replied menacingly, while the rest of the group also moved into attack position. <"I can't believe how far humanity has fallen">.

<"The same can be said for you as well!">, William countered in a loud voice, even though his body spoke the exact opposite.

<"Tz, five humans less won't make a difference anymore either">, she admitted, opening her eyes and channeling mana before a wall of fire rushed at her seconds later. For the third time, he felt the fear and hatred as he watched his friends die and the heat reach him.

But this time he interrupted the memory at the right moment and spared the others from feeling his pain. Instead, he crossed over into the second life as quickly as he had perceived it then.

<"Caleb, take my hand!">, sounded again before his mother appeared in the field of vision and lifted him into the air. Cale could be seen looking around in irritation as the young woman fled the attack. He saw people dying, houses completely destroyed, and most of all, he recognized the mass of creatures coming running at them. Surprised, Cale turned his head forward and recognized the main building, from which stepped numerous men.

"Groka?", Odin, Nora and Joshua shouted in sync.

<"Is everything all right? What happened?">, Cale's father's voice interrupted them.

<"The creatures. They suddenly appeared from the mountains and are attacking us, we need to get out of here now!">

<"Vincent!">, a voice sounded in the distance, causing Cale's gaze to look to the muscular older man who appeared beside them. <"Take your people and defend the residents, we can't just run away.">

Cale felt the shock of them all over his body and realized for the first time how abruptly mana spread as he reached out his small hand and grabbed Robert by the collar of his shirt.

<"No way, even if you can kill the little creatures, you can't fight the Novaren">, he interrupted them in his child's voice, which caused him to fall silent abruptly and look down at his arm. The men surrounding him also fell silent and stared at the child, who gave off a menacingly strong aura. Even if they weren't mages, they could sense that Caleb was definitely strong.

<"The kid is right, Robert. We can't fight that. We have to escape with him to have any chance at all">, a soldier helpfully spoke up, which is why the people turned their attention to him. Chief Robert Meyrl had clear doubt on his face, but he had to make a quick decision that could mean life or death.

<"Fine, Vincent, grab as many people as you can and escape from here.">

"I don't get it, why is this scene different from the one we saw before?", Rangar interjected, as the High-Magicians watched the soldiers shout for the residents to leave their homes and flee.

"My insight... Caleb... you knew from the beginning exactly what I was talking about. That's why you were so unimpressed when I said that a powerful dragon was going to kill you. It happened a long time ago!", Rosalie spoke up and seemed to make it clear to all the other High-Magicians with her statement what Cale's secret actually was. With a meek smile on his face, Cale opened his eyes and looked into the horrified eyes of Rosalie, who stared at him in bewilderment.

<"What in the name of the gods is going on here?">. muttered 5-year-old Cale as he was carried by his mother and the group fled south.

<"I know, honey, I know. Don't be scared">, the woman replied at her son's casual comment, not really realizing how clearly he was speaking.

"This is insane, are you telling me you've been reborn?", Sefra interjected, but her voice sounded nowhere near as confident as it had an hour ago. She, too, watched the memories from Cale's second life as he fled with his mother and father and saw the spikes in the sky once again. Immediately, the child generated a wave of wind and flung himself and his mother a good 10 meters forward, just before the spikes would have caught them.

<"Olivia!">, the sword bearer cried in horror and stepped next to his wife, yanking the child up into the air and pulling his wife to him by the arm.

<"I'm fine.">

<"What was that? That wasn't your magic, was it?">, he asked nervously.

<"No, that was Caleb>, she explained, lifting her dress with one hand and resuming her pace as Vincent cast an irritated glance at his son, who looked equally shocked.

<"What?">

<"What year is it?">, Cale blurted out.

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<"Year?">, Vincent Leuen repeated in irritation.

<"Yes, year.">

<"1145... stop, what's with the question and why do you know magic, Caleb?">, Vincent interjected, but Cale abruptly went white.

"Yeah, you got it. I died and woke up 20 years into the past", Cale answered the 4th seat's question, whereupon Aaron also jerked his eyes open and looked at him in shock. He must have had a few dozen questions running through his head, Cale could tell by the look on his face. But since he didn't say anything, Cale closed his eyes again and concentrated on the memories.

<"By the three gods, this can't be happening. A second ago, I was on Holy Island...">, Cale muttered, looking up as a creature suddenly appeared rapidly beside them. His father noticed this too and drew his weapon, but Cale was faster. He generated a sharp water blade and split the creature's body vertically in two. Vincent just stared at the creature's body, not slowing down for even a moment, before lifting Cale a bit away from him. <"Who are you?">

<"Are you serious, Vincent! What's with that question?">, the woman yelled in between, who fled a good meter beside him.

<"That's what I wanted to ask you. Am I Caleb to you?">

<"I think our son has been infested by a creature">, Vincent muttered, stunned, which is why Olivia snatched the child from his arm the next second.

<"Don't you dare hurt him!">

<"Do you even hear what he's saying? What if the creatures are here because of him?">

<"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO YOURSELF? What are you talking about!">

<"I don't mean to interrupt, but I have a few more questions. Who are you guys?">, Cale interjected while holding onto his father's shoulder with one hand, simply overwhelmed with the situation. If he wasn't being carried, he wouldn't have moved a foot on his own.

<"Oh... I can't believe all this. First the creatures and now this.... what are you?">, the man replied.

<"I certainly hope I'm still human. No idea what the dragon que... LOOK OUT!">, Cale suddenly roared as he sensed an invisible mana source next to him. In the next moment, a large amount of mana abruptly spread through him, which Cale had never perceived before, before a barrier appeared around himself and his parents. The Elosien's thin proboscis bumped against the barrier, spraying the secretion in all directions as the three stared at the spot in irritation.

<"What the...">

That was as far as Olivia got, as Vincent had already drawn his sword and was lashing out towards the creature. But he missed, which is why the Elosien quickly retreated, leaving the three in shock.

<"If I'm not mistaken, that just now was... Igrikum?">, Olivia brought out in irritation as the two parents came to a complete stop.

<"I take it all back, that just saved our lives">, Vincent commented, taking the opportunity to take a quick survey of where they were.

<"Is that coming from me?">

<"The way it feels, it is. You're really not... our son, are you? Are you a High-Magician?">

<"High-Magician? From Altona? No, I never was, but I was taught by the 4th seat for a few years.">

<"What do you mean some years, what year would we have to be according to you?">, Vincent interfered.

<"1160">

<"You're from the future? Who are you?">

<"Caleb, just Caleb. I was the only survivor from Groka in my time, and I never learned my last name.">

After the statement, Olivia and Vincent exchanged silent glances. They probably wouldn't be so quiet if Cale hadn't continued to put up the barrier around them. It was so quiet inside that the rustling of clothing could be heard.

<"This can't be...">

<"Leuen. Caleb Leuen, that's your name. I'm Olivia Leuen and this is Vincent Leuen">, the woman interrupted him immediately, looking at her son with wide eyes.

<"If this is really our son...">

That's as far as Cale let the memory of the beginning of his second life go. The small snippet had been enough to make the High-Magicians realize what had happened. An oppressive silence developed as Cale considered showing them more moments from his second life.

"Are you serious?", Rangar interjected in complete darkness.

"So you died? That's why you showed up at the Magistrat when you were a kid, isn't it?", Odin came forward.

"That was just my second life. I joined the Magistrat then, but not until much later. I was busy trying to figure out what happened to me and what part the Dragon Queen played in it. You'll be surprised how little we actually know about her - no kidding. It took me years to find out anything and the information was more than scanty. Then, when I was 14 or 15, I came to Altona and enrolled as a student as normal", Cale explained, showing him a brief scene of entering the Magistrat for the first time to register.

"What exactly do you mean, that was just my second life?", Nora interjected.

"Well, from the sound of it. That's not what happened in this timeline. I've died five times in different ways by now."

Cale let the memories do the rest, showing you how back when Altona was completely destroyed, he was traveling with a small group and was killed one night because they had considered him ballast. Cale hadn't made much of a showcase of how strong he was in that second life, and he didn't have the Igrikum under control at the time because he had never liked using it. In hindsight, he could have made much better use of those lives.

"My third life was, admittedly, a little more interesting. Instead of going to Altona, I didn't even come to the capital with my friends. We moved halfway back to Sylve with the wave of refugees and experienced the whole thing from the other perspective. Do you want to see how they fared?"

"Yes", the Eldest himself spoke up, to everyone's surprise, so Cale dug out the memory of the new Magistrat. It was summer at the time he had arrived at the coast and had noted with irritation that dozens of mages had gathered there.

"Does the place look familiar, Nora?", Cale interjected quietly.

"Since you're asking me so directly, it's going to be the place from my vision, isn't it?"

"That's right. While Sefra went to Frignez, Grischa landed here in Sylve and took up residence. I don't know how, maybe the royal house helped, but at that time he had rebuilt the Magistrat and was trying to control the situation. I was never in there, so I can't show you any details about it, sorry."

"You didn't come back to Magistrat then?", Aaron interjected irritated.

"Ah, no. After my second death, I had had enough of magic and specialized more in other types of combat. Thinking back, I was probably just afraid to use my magic, which was because my mana didn't stop growing."

"How much did you have then?", Sefra asked curiously.

"An estimated 130 RM?"

"Am I the only one who doesn't think all this is kind of weird?", Malte interjected, who had kept a pretty low profile so far. He had always been a quiet, reserved person who kept his opinions to himself. That he spoke up so directly surprised even Cale a little.

"I had my problems accepting the whole thing, too", the Eldest helped out, which made Cale very grateful to him. But that didn't convince the other High-Magicians.

"We're talking about time travel right now, right? Real, truly time travel. That's impossible, isn't it? Not that I'm saying you or Caleb are lying, but there has to be some other, logical explanation for this", Joshua added after a moment of silence.

"I've been looking into this myself for a long time, what's happening to me, and unfortunately this is the only answer I've found. The dragons said to me that the god Mellontikos must have given me the gift of rebirth."

"That's crazy, the gift of rebirth? Like in the old stories?", Malte noted, which caused Cale to sigh.

"Yes, exactly. The belief in which the three gods Parelthon, Parousia, and Mellontikos created the world and created Apostles to assist them, who could carry some of their mana within them. According to the dragons, who used to be quite in contact with the gods, we High-Magicians are precisely these Apostles."

"That's right", Fengari commented.

"So what? We are all beings created by the gods and you are an Apostle worthy of receiving the ability of immortality from the gods?", Joshua interjected aloud, completely ignoring the fact that dragons were listening to their conversation.

"At this point, opinions differ", the Eldest calmly admitted.

"The only thing I can say for sure is that we are all not normal, but I am the exception to the exception", Cale replied, letting his memories slide to the capital of Sylve, Bellator, where he had stayed a few years after the second wave.

"What do you mean we're not normal?", Rosalie raised cautiously.

"How about you ask our esteemed council members how old they really are?"

For a moment, the 9th seat was silent before she turned to her friend.

"Sefra, how old are you?"

"I always get dragged into this whole issue, damn it. I'm 170."

"Seriously?", Nora commented in shock.

"Yes, yes. I'm an old woman, I know."

"By the beard of the Eldest", Ziyad murmured softly between them, while the part of the ignorant remained silent.

"And the rest? Rangar, how old are you?", Nora added quickly, presumably because Rangar was sitting right next to her.

"156, I'm the youngest with Odin."

"I'm 152", the addressed 5th seat Odin Ander threw after him before Nora set her sights on the 3rd seat.

"Aaron, what about you?"

"Admitted, I'm 247 and the Eldest is 289, right?"

"Yes. It was my decision not to tell you about the truth behind the apostles. You all appeared so suddenly and without prior knowledge that I simply thought it's best."

"The world and its mysteries", Rangar grumbled amused between them, causing Cale to roll his eyes symbolically.

"Just to be sure, how old are you, Grischa?"

Skillfully ignoring the 2nd seat, attention turned to the Eldest's right hand.

"Don't put me in a bag with them, I'm really 42."

"That's almost a disappointment", Luc replied wryly, which is why Cale couldn't help but laugh abruptly.