Morning arrived much too early for everyone's taste. Marcus failed to tell them he snored like a rusty chainsaw, and a rat crawled across Jake's chest during the night. Marcus was the only one who seemed rested when he woke that morning.

"I don't know which was worse, your snoring or Jake's high-pitched shrieking," Bret said to Marcus.

"What are you talking about?" Jake asked. "I don't have a high-pitched scream."

"And I don't snore," Marcus replied.

"Yes, you do," Jake and Bret said simultaneously.

"Whatever. Let's get going," Marcus grumbled.

They headed downstairs and met everyone else in the lobby. Jake tried to talk to Shaylie, but she gave him the cold shoulder.

"What did you do?" Bret asked.

"She's probably mad at me because I met with Lana alone last night. Nothing happened, though," Jake shrugged. "But that's not the important thing," Jake continued. He explained about the Shark because Bret was already in bed when they returned the previous night.

"Do you think he knows about Shaylie?" Bret asked.

"I don't know. Hopefully, we can meet with him today," Jake said as they left the inn and walked toward the outskirts of town. When they arrived at the open fields outside of town, Jake approached Shaylie again. "Can we talk?" he asked.

"About what?" she replied, not looking at him.

"Nothing happened last night. I just talked to Lana about meeting with the Shark."

"I know nothing happened."

"Then why are you mad at me?"

"Who said I was mad at you?"

"I can tell."

"Look, just drop it, okay? We need to focus on training."

"You're the one who said to forget about our almost kiss."

"Do you not understand what drop it means? Now isn't the time," she said, glaring at him.

"For this conversation or us?" Jake asked.

"You're an idiot," Shaylie said, walking away.

Jake turned to follow, but he found Marcus staring at him. Marcus stood with his arms folded and a stern gaze that stopped Jake in his tracks. Once Jake backed off, Marcus gathered everybody together. "Today, we're going to focus on combination techniques. Bret, I want you to channel fire. Maya, use your telekinesis to spread it into multiple shots."

"How can she do that? Fire isn't solid," Bret asked.

"It doesn't have to be. You're thinking in too literal of terms. She isn't grasping it," Marcus explained.

Bret still seemed skeptical, but he raised his hands and sent a wave of fire into the air. Maya focused and split the wave in two.

"Good, now curve it and bring it back together in a ring," Marcus said.

Maya tried her best, but she couldn't quite connect the streams. The failure made her concentration slip, and the fire came dangerously close to the ground. At the last second, she redirected it toward a nearby pond. "Sorry," Maya said.

"It's okay," Marcus replied, clapping her on the back. "That was good for a first attempt."

Next, Marcus had Maya create illusions. They needed target dummies, but they didn't have the time or materials to build them. Maya's creations were the next best thing. She set them up in the field, and everyone lined up before them.

"Jake, send a chi blast toward that dummy. Maya, bend it so it hits the one to the right and the one behind it," Marcus explained.

Jake aimed at the first dummy and sent a bolt of energy. He watched it turn and nail the second target before angling backward and striking the third. The light seemed to ricochet off the illusions.

"Okay, now all four of you work together. Maya, make some dummies in the air. Bret, use some wind to spin them around. Jake and Shaylie fire off chi and fire to blast the targets," Marcus said.

"Um..." Shaylie said, but she hesitated to speak her mind.

"Marcus, could she try a different spell?" Jake asked.

"What's wrong?" Marcus asked.

"I have issues with fire spells," Shaylie said.

Marcus looked confused. He took Shaylie aside to discuss it in private. While they spoke, Bret approached Jake and asked, "What was that about?"

"Don't worry. It's a personal issue for Shay," Jake said.

"I didn't know you knew," Maya replied.

"She told me yesterday," Jake said. He turned away before the conversation continued because it made him uncomfortable. As he glanced around, Jake noticed a group of people watching them. Jake got Marcus' attention and pointed in their direction. Marcus greeted the newcomers as Jake walked over to Shaylie. "Sorry about earlier. I can be a bit of an idiot sometimes," he said.

"Sometimes?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I guess I deserved that."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Look, I'm trying to figure things out. Give me some time."

"I know. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," Jake winked and moved toward Marcus and the townspeople.

"They want to train with us," Marcus said when Jake joined him.

"Lana told us you were training to fight. We figured it was good to learn with all this talk of war," one of the men said. "Besides, if you're fighting the crown, we want in on the action."

"Who said we were fighting the crown?" Marcus asked. "This is about defense. It isn't a revolution."

"We all know the king was behind those attacks. He's coming after us, isn't he?" another man asked.

"No, probably not, but you are right about one thing. We need to be ready in these dangerous times. We could use more mages."

"We aren't mages. Don't get me wrong, we can use magic, but most of us never earned that title. We either flunked out of the academy or quit," the first man said, pointing at his friends.

"They expelled me," the second man laughed.

"It's okay. We can still work with you," Marcus replied. "Join the group."

As the day progressed, more people flocked to the fields to see what was happening. Even if they didn't train, they stayed and watched. They drew a crowd, which only encouraged Jake to show off.

"Bret, do you want to show them that trick we used to pull on Bobby Fulton at the academy?" Jake asked.

"Oh, the old Fulton Fake-Out? Sure," Bret smiled. "But we'll need Maya to make it work."

Bret beckoned Maya to them and explained the trick. She seemed intrigued. "When did you guys come up with this?" she asked.

"We worked on it between classes at the academy," Jake said.

"How did you guys ever get any homework done?" Maya asked, drawing a laugh from Jake and Bret.

"Marcus, is it okay if we show them something?" Jake asked.

"Should I be worried?" Marcus replied.

"Nah," Jake said, waving a hand. "It will be fine." Jake selected a volunteer from the new arrivals. He was already nervous, and Jake's reassurances didn't seem to assuage his fears. "Just stand here. You don't have to do anything but react."

"Okay," the man said, but his voice cracked.

Jake walked a few yards away and turned toward the man. A red glow appeared in Jake's eyes, but Jake did something the man didn't expect. Jake's size increased until he was as big as a giant. The man trembled and fell backward. He had never seen a red mage do that. They could change their appearance but not grow by twenty feet. The fear only escalated when Jake's hand raised, and a fireball flew into the air. It didn't come anywhere near the man, but he still flinched. "H-how?" the man asked. Jake shouldn't have been able to use a fire spell. Before he got an answer, the man felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a normal-sized Jake standing behind him.

"Boo," Jake said, making the man jump. "Relax, look again," Jake said, pointing where the giant had been standing. Bret occupied the spot instead. He waved at the man. "You focused too much on that giant illusion Maya created, and you didn't see me run around behind you. Bret channeled the fire."

"That's a nice prank, but I don't know if it would be effective in battle," Marcus said. "Now, can we get back to the real training?"

"Fine," Jake sighed.

"I want to finish today's training by teaching you how to fend off a magical shield," Marcus told the trainees. "Who wants to go first?" An older gentleman raised his hand and stepped forward. "Start channeling magic," Marcus instructed. The man obeyed, but Marcus created a shield before the man knew what was happening. He didn't have time to block it. "Stop! Don't channel anymore," Marcus said. "Does anyone want to tell me why he needed to stop channeling?" Marcus asked once the man stopped.

"Because he would become an exploder if he didn't," Bret replied.

"That's right. You can still build up energy inside a magical shield, but it has nowhere to go. If you don't back down, you will explode. No matter how hard you try, you cannot break a magical shield."

"Yes, you can," a voice said from behind Marcus. Marcus turned and saw Jeremiah standing with his hands in his pockets. He rocked back and forth on his heels while grinning at Marcus.

"No, you can't."

"I've seen it happen before. All you have to do is find the White," Jeremiah explained.

"The what?" Bret asked.

"No, the White," Jeremiah corrected.

"There is no white magic," Marcus said, barely restraining his impatience.

"Technically, you are correct. The White isn't a type of magic. It's more of a boost to your magic created by deep emotion."

"Are you saying we can break a shield if we get angry enough?" Jake asked.

"Anger has caused many people to explode. This is something more powerful. I'm talking about love," Jeremiah said. Marcus' resolve broke, and he grumbled loudly, but Jeremiah ignored him. "It's..." he continued, but Marcus cut him off.

"Don't fill their heads with this nonsense. You'll get them killed. That's enough," Marcus said, but everyone else seemed interested. The crowd murmured. Shaylie and Maya held a whispered conversation. Marcus gave up and threw his hands in the air.

While Marcus walked away and lit a cigar to calm his nerves, Jeremiah talked to Jake, Bret, Maya, and Shaylie. "I'd like to invite you all to my house for dinner," he said.

"We'd love to, but something tells me Marcus won't attend," Jake replied.

"Excellent, here's my address. Be there at six o'clock," Jeremiah said as he wrote on a paper and handed it to Jake.

"What an odd little man," Bret said while watching Jeremiah leave. "Did you buy into all that?"

"I don't know," Jake replied.

They all returned to the inn to wash up. Jake wasn't surprised when Marcus said he wouldn't come with them. However, the rest agreed to attend. Since Ash wasn't large, the walk to Jeremiah's home took ten minutes. They found it the only place on the block with a trimmed yard. Jeremiah lived in a quaint light blue house. The paint had faded and peeled, but it didn't look terrible. Once inside, they found it to be old but not dirty. A pleasant smell of cooking meat greeted them.

"Come on in," Jeremiah said upon opening the door. Jake noticed the Abbotts removing their shoes in the entryway, and he followed suit. Jeremiah didn't ask them to do this. Jake got the feeling the Abbotts saw it as a sign of respect. This pleased Jeremiah. He introduced himself to the ones he hadn't met yet. "Have a seat," Jeremiah said. "The TV doesn't work. Not that it would get anything anyway. I keep it because the room wouldn't feel complete without it," he added, waving at an old television. It looked older than Jake was. This wasn't any of the enchanted technology Jeremiah decried.

"Mr. Jeremiah, we were hoping you could tell us more about the White," Maya said as they sat down.

Jeremiah's face lit up when he heard this. He continued making dinner, but he answered her question. "Very few people have tapped into it, and most don't realize what is happening when they do. They wouldn't know anything different happened unless they saw their eyes glowing. One would simply think they got stronger."

"Do your eyes glow white when it happens?" Shaylie asked.

"Yes, they do."

Jake watched Shaylie and Maya exchange glances before Shaylie asked, "You said it was love. What does that mean?"

"Have you ever heard about someone lifting an incredibly heavy object to save their child? They say a parent's love can push them to do great things in times of need."

"Yes, but that's just adrenaline."

"I was using it as a metaphor. The White works the same way but with magic."

"And you've seen this happen before?" Jake asked.

"Once, long ago, but I didn't understand what I was seeing until the Shark explained what it was," Jeremiah said while pulling something out of the oven. "He seems to know a lot about those kinds of things. That's why people trust him. He's very knowledgeable."

"All the more reason to see him," Jake said.

"Did you talk to Lana?" Jeremiah asked.

"Yeah, but she says he's still deciding."

"He is a bit stubborn," Jeremiah laughed.

"Is he also known for reading people's minds," Jake asked.

"Yes, but usually with their permission. Why?" Jeremiah asked, looking confused.

"No reason," Jake said, looking at Shaylie. "Jeremiah, where's your bathroom?" Jake then asked.

"Down the hallway. Last door on the left."

"Thanks," Jake said. He walked toward the door and touched it, but a voice interrupted him.

"Hello there," someone said from the room behind him.

Jake turned to greet the person, but what he saw frightened him badly enough to make him forget he needed to pee. He stumbled back to the living room and stared at Jeremiah. It took him a second to find his words. "There's a skinless man in your house!" Jake yelled.

"Of course there is," Jeremiah said. "He's my son."