"Woa, that's a rabbit!", exclaimed the little boy. Cale, along with Fabio, was sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace and playing with his fire magic. In the flames he had made a small rabbit appear to amuse the child while his parents talked with each other.

"You are very smart, I see. Your father told me that you already know how to read and write."

"Yes. Fabio reads quite a lot and is very good at school. The teachers always praise me for how smart I am."

"That sounds like a promising mage", Cale replied, making another animal appear with the help of his mana.

Grischa's home was quite large, although only two people lived here most of the time. They had some servants that his wife had dismissed earlier today, so they had the whole house to themselves. The couple chatted about the events of the last few days and Grischa he told about many things he had done in the Magistrat. Once or twice, Cale would briefly ring into the conversation, until at some point they would talk about personal things and Cale would get busy with the boy.

They had been visiting for a relatively long time when night fell upon them. Cale and Fabio were preparing dinner together, something his wife was reluctant to allow at first. But Grischa explained to her that Cale loved to cook and should let him do it quietly. After the little family had eaten together, Cale had been outside for a bit with the boys, showing him some magic in the form of lights before the little one got tired. While Grischa needed his son to go to bed, Cale sat alone at the table with his wife, Ibellina.

"How are you Caleb? What is the love doing?"

"It's asleep, Madam Vonstetten."

"Oh what, still? You're still young, you must have a woman or two in your heart, right?", she inquired curiously.

"I don't deny that, madam. It's just hard to relate to someone when you're on the road as much as I am."

"That's true", the woman replied with a laugh. "When you marry a High-Magician, you also enter into a covenant with the Magistrat. I'm married to his work, but Grischa loves his work, and what makes him happy makes me happy."

"Sir Vonstetten is lucky to have you."

"Isn't he? That's what I keep telling him!"

Cale smiled at the statement and turned around to the back when he heard footsteps.

"I have to get back on the road, dear", Grischa spoke up a moment later.

"Already?" she replied in surprise.

"Yes. I have a few things to take care of, sorry."

"Guess I can't win against that", she admitted calmly, straightening up. "Show up more often. Elisa invited us out for dinner a few weeks ago, you know."

"Oh well, I'll try to get my work done as soon as possible", Grischa replied kindly. Ibellina handed the coat to her husband and escorted them to the door. Cale thanked her for her hospitality and politely said goodbye to the lady, while Grischa gave her a firm hug and kissed her on the cheek.

Waving, the woman stood by the door as the two walked slowly down the street. Cale could feel the lady disappear into the house, but Grischa turned to check one last time before tilting slightly to the side.

"Grin?", Cale interjected in surprise, grabbing his friend under the arm to keep him from toppling over.

"I'm really dizzy", the man admitted, closing his eyes as he leaned on Cale with all his weight.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"And make my wife worry? No thanks, I'd rather put up with that than scare her."

"Do you want to sit down for a minute?", Cale asked as he spotted a bench at the side of the path. Grischa didn't reply anything, so he took it as a 'yes' and slowly set the man down there. For some time, Grischa remained seated, as if trying to gain control of his body.

Cale had a hunch that it was a result of his mana poverty. Mages inherently had more mana than normal humans, but Grischa had been well below that for a good two days now. And it wasn't going to get any better. Concerned, Cale glanced at his friend's mana budget. He was unchanged, but the creature's markings were clearly bothering his body.

"I feel like an old man", Grischa admitted after a while. "I can't use mana crystals anymore, my body is failing me and my senses are deceiving me."

"The nature is just trying to fill the void inside you somehow. That's why your body is so unpredictable."

"I know, I know. But, when will it stop?"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"It'll pass, I promise", Cale replied with a wistful look.

"Have you ever experienced something like that?", Grischa asked, trying to focus on Cale, but he found it difficult to maintain his body independently. Therefore, he tried to distract himself, aiming rather not to make Cale worry even more.

"Yes. It's never been as bad as yours, though."

"What happened?", Grischa gave word, signaling his friend to help him get up. He didn't want to sit here for fear that strangers might see him.

"I was testing around with my Igrikum and I made a mistake", Cale replied, holding Grischa tightly to him, as he could very clearly see how difficult it was for him to walk. "And in the process, I locked away quite a lot of my mana. The headache was unbearable."

"Oh, by the Elder's beard! I hope that doesn't happen to me, too."

"I'm afraid it will, Grischa."

Grischa only sighed at the statement, but did not elaborate. Aletta had already listed what would happen to him in the coming weeks and the headache was the least problematic of it. When he thought that at some point he would no longer be able to move his body at all, he felt really sick. Inwardly, he regretted not being more attentive.

"I heard you talking to my wife about love earlier", he finally spoke up, causing Cale to laugh sheepishly. The subject was so abstruse and silly to him that he was very reluctant to talk about it. "Have you ever loved anyone?"

"That depends on how you look at it. I'd say I love my friends, but you're probably more concerned with the relationship aspect", Cale replied quietly, turning at the next intersection. Grischa nodded in acknowledgement. "Then no, I didn't. I physically may be the same age, but in my head I'm always aware of how much older I am than the rest of humanity. It felt wrong to want to be more sensitive for someone who doesn't know what they're getting into."

"Don't you ever just want to... try?"

"It's not the same if you can't grow old together. If I thought about marrying a woman and having kids, only to lose her on my next new start.... I think I would fall in despair."

"It is understandable... sort of", Grischa hesitantly admitted. The Magistrat became visible in front of them, so Grischa took the moment to ask one of the questions that was bothering him the most. "What is it like to die?"

"It's... hard to really put into words. Every death has been kind of different for me and yet pretty much the same. I remember what I said, did and felt in my last moment and the next second it's all gone. Just completely gone. I don't know why, but for that moment I always felt free until reality hits me again and suddenly I'm a child again. It all happens so fast and the feelings make complete turns, but in those brief moments I forget everything."

Somehow, it felt weird for Cale to talk to Grischa about it. Death. It had never been a final thing for him, so he couldn't know what it really felt like, but one thing was clear to him. If he could delay it, he would.

"Kind of an unsatisfying ending, isn't it?" replied Grischa.

"Maybe", Cale returned dryly. They had almost reached the Magistrat, so Grischa broke away from him and walked the last few meters independently. "I never know what to think about that. When I was younger, I was definitely afraid of death, but now? I almost don't care about it at all."

"Have you ever in your life thought about...? Suicide?"

"I have, yes", Cale confirmed, much to Grischa's surprise. The two High-Magicians entered the property a few moments later and were greeted by a few magicians before entering the building. "There was this point once in my life when I just couldn't do it anymore. I just walked aimlessly through the restricted zone, hoping that someone or something would put me out of my misery. But every time I was about to die, I couldn't let go. I kept thinking about the four of them, and then I thought to myself that I couldn't just give up. To this day, that thought keeps me going."

"They are really important to you."

"Yes, they are. To you, they may seem just to be some kids, but to me, they're my whole world. If it weren't for them, I don't know what would have become of me. Who knows, maybe I would have died a hundred times already", Cale threw back, letting Grischa lead the way up the stairs.

"Have you ever looked for a way out of your time loop?"

"I have tried, but on the subject there are only theories and no facts. At one point, I read in a book about the gods that apostles were immortal as long as they served the gods. That was about the closest I ever came to it", Cale explained. "Pretty demotivating, I must say. I hate my rebirth even more than the war against the creatures, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to finish it."

"Do you miss being a normal person?"

"I do. I'd rather be a simple farmer than a prisoner of this world", Cale announced, causing Grischa to give him a sad look.

"When we get the problem with the Kormandent settled, then I'll help you with your problem."

"I'm looking forward to that", Cale replied encouragingly. He followed Grischa down the hall to his apartment before opening the door and looking into four surprised faces. One of them was Aaron himself.

"Oh, an unexpected visitor", Grischa announced with amusement.

"Good evening", Aaron greeted them and the others, Ben, William and Philippa also greeted him. Cale had a rough guess as to why he was here, but he took care of Grischa first.

"Would you go ahead, Grin? I'll catch up with you in a minute."

"Now that sounds really romantic", the mage replied with amusement before disappearing into the study. Cale sighed and dropped on the couch next to William.

"I have a hunch we should talk", he said.

"I spoke with your friends regarding the trip", Aaron began cautiously.

"Did you two decide to come along?", he asked Ben and William, who both nodded.

"After all, I promised to help you if I could", William admitted with a weak smile.

"Thank to the both of you."

"We'll be leaving town in the morning", Aaron spoke up, preventing any of the three from saying anything else. "I will carry us to the harbor with my mana and from there we will travel directly to Winstest on the first ferry. The young lady here said you could go up the river to the capital, which we will probably do. We will make a small stop there and then travel north. I don't see any problem with the trip itself, but how do we even find this man? You said he was at home in the restricted zone, but where exactly? The area is pretty big."

Cale watched as Aaron, prepared as he always was, pulled out Cale's map and spread out the area of Winstest on the table. On it, Cale had marked the place and the mountain in which he had been at that time. But Aaron was right that the area was relatively large. Therefore, with the help of his zero magic, Cale made a pen appear and marked the cave in which he had lived in for 2 weeks at that time.

"Last I saw him was here, but I can't guarantee he's still there. Your best bet is to orient yourselves to the mountain top and always stay to the east of it."

Understanding, Aaron nodded, while the others looked at the map with interest. Finally, Ben spoke up again.

"What kind of man is he, Cale?"