Freedom was the only thing, that Ki could have said, were someone to ask her how it felt. But it should not take to long. Then Kayto pointed downwards. She saw her own house. Not bigger than a Lego brick. Far away.

“I will make you fly down now, rather fast, so no one will notice you. When i'm done with business i will ring on your door.” With those words she started losing height. In a madding speed she was shooting downward, before she hit the ground in her garden, she abruptly stopped. As soon as her feet touched the ground, the feeling of being guided left. Kayto was gone. Back at her home, Ki was not sure what to think. That did just really happen right? Kayto was real right? And he was going to take her out of her boring life, into one of adventure, fantasy. Things she only imagined, seemed to be in a reachable grasp. That was not a dream right? Ki could not wait for all the things that were about to happen. She wanted to tell someone, but there was nobody. Also anyone who would listen, would probably declare her insane. Even if they were to to believe her, going away, with a guy you have just met an hour ago, seemed not like something a sane person would do. But Ki had decided, to trust the guy called Kayto. He did not seem like a bad person. Kayto could have just not told her anything. Then she would now be more confused than ever. Trying to figure out what happened. Without ever finding the answer.

“Is everything he said, real though?” Ki couldn't help but asking herself that question, over and over and over again. To get away from her rumination, she started to record another song.

“Probably the last for a while.” she thought. “So let me make it one of the best i ever made.” Hours went by. When she was finally done, the shadows of the night were already upon the town.

“I guess Kayto won’t come by today. Well, he never said when he will come by. He did not tell me where he had to go to deliver the corpse.” This thought made her shudder. His job was pretty grueling if she thought about it. But if no one did that job, then Ki would not be alive anymore. After the got into bed, she started reading her fantasy novel again. So much possibilities…

If Magic was real, then what else was real, in that huge part of the world, unknown to mankind.

“Wait. How come that the ‘hidden’ part was not visible from space? Surely someone must have noticed.” Ki told herself to ask Kayto that question once they were back together. She turned back to her book, but the ideas of all the possible existing things would not leave her. There was no way to concentrate on a book when all this wonderful things in reality were much more interesting. “Isn’t that what Kayto said too? Right he said something like that as well about movies. I think i understand slowly what he meant by that.”

As the night was progressing further and further, Ki finally decided to sleep. The next day started like anyone else had done in her life, before all the chaos happened. After she had her morning coffee and her breakfast, she turned on the TV to see the news of today.

“..., after he killed the nightguard, he escaped the police station and is now on the run. He is categorized as extremely dangerous, so people should be careful at the moment until this ruthless criminal is put behind bars again. The Police cannot explain how the criminal escaped the cell in the first place. He had his hands still bound by handcuffs, with the cell door locked.”

“So that’s how he managed to get out in time to get to me.” Ki knew how he got out. When one can bend the cuffs at will, making a piece of metal into a key and later into a weapon, should not be that hard. “I wonder if the police will come over and ask me questions again, since they think the stalker is still after me.”

But the police apparently did not think of that yet, or didn’t want to do that. In fact no one came over again. Ki started to worry. Did Kayto lie and never intended to take her along? This thought was eating at her, the longer nothing happened, the more. She wanted to believe him. Believe, that he actually was what he had claimed, that he really would make the one thing she wished, but deemed impossible all her life, to become true. Regardless, nothing happened until the evening. Another day of uncertainty. Suddenly the doorbell rang, as Ki was already about to get into her bed again. Hastily she went to the door and opened. It was Kayto.

“Where have you been so long?” She demanded to know. “I nearly went crazy in here, already doubting, that you were real.”

“Want to touch me?” Kayto smirked.

“You could also pinch yourself to see that i'm real.”

“Very funny.” Ki was not amused.

“So what took you so long?”

“You can’t know, but the place where i had to hand in that guy is not exactly around the corner. It took me 12 hours to get there. Another 12 to get back here.”

“And what is with the other 6 hours?”

“Interesting question. Just cause im not human does not mean i don’t need sleep. Also it is much better that it’s dark outside. The danger of getting noticed is minimal.” Kayto looked excited, yet still somehow not really sure if, what he was doing, was the right thing to do. But it was decided now and nothing could change that. Well a few things could change that to be truthful, but none of them were a concern at the moment.

“Ready to go for a ride on the air express?” He was smirking again.

“Never had been more ready for anything.” This was the truth. Ki had not ever wanted to do something even nearly as badly as this. “Do i need to take anything with me?” Ki wondered herself why this thought had never crossed her mind before.

“If you have some kind of charm or any keepsake you have to take with you, i would say no. We can get anything else either on the way or after we arrive.”

Ki thought for a moment. Did she even own any keepsake that she wanted to bring with her? She had nothing to remind her of her parents. Nothing from the orphanage either. Not even pictures… She was pretty much a shut in, that had never bothered with close friends as well.

“I guess not.” Ki answered.

“But wait, i guess there is something i want to take with me.”

She ran into her bedroom and grabbed the book she was reading. Her last memento of her boring old life.

“A Book?” Kayto raised an eyebrow. “What is it about? a picture album?.”

“No just a fantasy book i was reading.”

Kayto whistled.

“Not really the bonding type, are we?”

“You are right. Not really. That book is more than just a story for me.”

In her mind she said: “It is the beginning of another life to me.”

Kayto did not answer to that, but made a sign that they were now about to leave. Silently they raised above the ground, faster and faster. Higher and higher. Until they were high enough so no one would notice them. There were no clouds on the sky this night. The moon was shining gently upon them. Then suddenly they accelerated. Ki had never moved so fast in her entire life.

“How come, the wind does not blow in our faces at this speed?” She wondered.

“I am making the air in front of us, move around us in a cone. That takes a lot more energy than just flying, but it is so much more comfortable. Also if you want you can sleep now. We are moving very fast, but i won’t change direction, so it will be rather boring. The only interesting thing is the view.”

How right he was. It was breathtaking, seeing forests and cities pass below them. Everything so very small. Tiny. What a feeling this was. Lost in thought, Ki really started to get drowsy and started sleeping. When Ki woke up, they were still flying. Kayto was sleeping. Wait SLEEPING? Ki shouted his name and grabbed his shoulder to wake him up.

“What happened? Who is there? Oh it is you Ki, go back to sleep.”

With that he made himself turn to the other side and continued his nap. Ki couldn’t handle it. Was this guy even more insane than she thought?

“Are you out of your mind? What if we fall?” Fear was swinging in Ki’s voice. What would happen to a human if they would hit the ground at this speed. She did not want to know. Annoyed Kayto turned back to her.

“It’s fine. I perfected the art of autopiloting while sleeping. I have never missed my goal. Except maybe this one time… or three times… let’s say five, just to be sure. But else it was save every time.”

Ki could not believe her ears. “You are telling me, there is a chance we will fall down and you still dare to sleep?”

“Calm down, calm down. it was only a short nap. Besides. nothing could have really happened. Even if we were to crash. The subconscious is a wonderful thing you know and that’s even more true for a Magus.It is like a fail save that reacts before something super dangerous happens. Well at least for us from the wind part of the Magi. I'm not entirely sure about everyone else.”

After that he tried napping again, but the punishing glances from Ki were still on him. So he did not nap but just rested his eyes closed, but fully alert.

“So tell me, does your power ever run out?”

“Of course it does, what do you think i am? a reactor?”

Ki smirked. “So what do you do when it runs out? Hit the gas station?”

“Well im happy such things amuse you while we are flying at a speed that would instantly kill us, if i were to run out of power right now. To everyone their own happiness i guess. But to answer your question. Magic power is not like you think. There is no such thing like mana or some other stupid stuff that people wrote about in their books. Your body fundamentally changes after you become a Magus. You age less. One’s whole being becomes a source of energy. Stuff you eat. Willpower. Adrenaline. Rage. All those thing can be used like fuel. Using Magic does not burn calories like your body does. It is more of a mental thing. Once you become exhausted, your magic will start to fade. Until you pass out. Naturally, one becomes more adapted and efficient with practise. The sheer amount of power one has is naturally given. But it also depends on what exactly you are trying to do. For example, what we are doing right now, is not that stressing and hard, because it is a continuous action, that in itself does not take to much work. I'm just making the air dense enough to keep us on it. with the cone in front that is just permanently kept up. Behind us a current is created. You could call it a mini tornado. It requires quite a bit to make it, but once it moves, there is little energy needed to keep it moving. But there are so many different things that will control how hard or easy a spell is in the end. Even personal familiarity is a thing. I always dreamt of flying as a child. That's why doing this, feels like walking to me, and requires a noticeably smaller portion of energy than anyone else. It also means of course, were you ever to battle another person, There is not really a difference in power. But in proficiency. In genius. In creativity. The only exception to those are Kings. Who have an innate source of power. That lasts a vast amount of time. Which does not make them invincible. But you need to be a very good Magus if you want to fight one.”

With this, the monolog of Kayto ended abruptly. With his finger he was pointing forward. Ki could not see anything but the ocean. There was nothing there.

“We are at the Border”, Kaito said, seemingly happy that their journey would soon come to an end. Flying two people at once, must be exhausting even for someone as good as it as him. What happened next, was the most wondrous thing, Ki had ever experienced. While flying forward, it suddenly felt like they were passing a warm curtain, thin enough to be invisible. What was truly stunning, was what she saw afterwards. Land was in front of them, looking exactly like the one described in her book. Vast forests covered the area. Trees, she had never seen or heard of in her life. Plants in all sorts of colors, one would not dream to see. She felt like she had stepped into Alice’ Wonderland. Further and Further, they were flying over this foreign beautiful landmass. While still stunned in awe about what she was allowed to witness. Ki could not help, but to feel tiny. Unimportant. So much things in this world that she did not know existed. That half of the world did not know existed. At the Horizon, the scenery started to change. Less and less Trees were visible. The forest opened up and Ki could see fields that grew assumably edible plants. More and more the wilderness made space for cultivation. Small houses were sprouting from the grounds, like mushrooms in the forest. Then still far away Walls became visible. A Town. The nearer they came, the more Ki, couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.  The town was ginormous. The wall must measure multiple kilometers, tenths, maybe hundreds.

“This must be the capital that Kayto talked about.” Ki thought.

Once they passed the wall, the whole mass of this city became visible. This was like multiple entire countries put into a single city. There was nothing close to this in the human world. In the middle of the Town, stretching over multiple kilometers, a building. probably 50 stories tall, maybe more.

“The academy.” Kayto said, breaking the silence that was going on for about an hour now. “This is the place where the Kings reside. Where Magi are trained. Where important documents are handled. People are registered et cetera. Everything important is happening in there.”

“Trained huh?” Ki couldn't help but grin. “So i am gonna be trained there too?”

She did not see how Kayto’s face got a lot darker after that question. “Indeed. And i will stay too. But first let get there and register you.”

With these words they prepared to land in front of the building, where a Gatekeeper was standing, who had already taken notice of them.