Adell’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at the fist-sized hole in the large table with many buttons and screens. He had done that. He had done that! He voiced a loud cheer in excitement before jumping up and down, wondering what he should punch next with his newfound strength. Suddenly, however, the blue lines within the table he punched stopped glowing, and the table itself, which had seemed alive, died. Adell stopping cheering and jumping, and now his eyes widened out of fear he’d broken something again. All of the many screens all over the room, which had more consoles traced with colorful, glowing lines, lit up with a message.

All Nexa systems in the building have temporarily shut down. Please stand by.

Adell didn’t know what Nexa systems were, but he knew that they probably shut down because of whatever he just punched. He pressed his lips into a tight line and then ran from the room, not wanting to find out what would happen if people knew he was the reason those systems broke. When he started running, his body surprised him again. He could run fast. Very fast. Faster than he’d ever been able to run before. The muscles lining his whole body worked as he ran, kept running until he went up many floors and through many different corridors. He had reached a new part of this building again, and he wondered what lay in store for him here.

He walked down the corridor, having stopped running, but passed a mirror. He was surprised, because he hadn’t seen many mirrors here yet. Before he moved on, he decided to look at his new face, tugging down the hood of the long, deep-purple cloak he’d covered his face with once he stopped running. The body he’d found himself in a few hours ago was young by adult’s standards, but a few years older than Adell was. His short dark hair wasn’t much to talk about, but his vibrant purple eyes startled him. He leaned closer to look at them, but he didn’t understand how something like that was possible. They almost seemed to glow. Then he noticed a faint scar running parallel to his left jawbone, from below his left ear to just above his chin. He traced it with a finger and wondered how this man had gotten it. Then he looked at his hands and noticed some faint, small scars dotting the knuckles and fingers. What kind of life had this man lived?

He hadn’t wondered yet why he was in some stranger’s body, or where he was, or where the original owner of the body had went, but now he did wonder. Had he died? All of the other cloaked figures he’d seen around him had fallen, and lay still on the floor. He had wanted to check whether they were still alive or not, but then some people with white robes from another corner of the room began to move closer to him and the child next to him, and he used the chaos that unfolded to escape. He didn’t know know what happened, but his short fifteen years of life had gathered enough experience for him to know when to not involve himself in something. He didn’t want to get caught up in whatever was going on with that child and those other people. His instincts told him it was trouble, and trouble was something he’d always tried to stay away from, if he could help it.

He heard voices coming from down the hall and quickly pulled the hood of hid cloak up again. He walked with his head tilted down and his hands held behind his back. The voices turned the corner in front of him and began heading down the hallway he was in, towards the direction he just came from. Adell tried to act inconspicuous, but curiosity had him raising his head a little and peaking at the people coming towards him. They came close enough for him to hear their conversation, so he silently inspected them as he walked.

A green-eyed blond man on the left, wearing a white robe, was walking next to a woman wearing a different version of the cloak Adell was wearing. It was shorter, reaching only to the knees, and the front was open, revealing the black skirt and green shirt underneath. Her hair was dark, and cut in an even line at her shoulders. Her eyes were the same vibrant purple as Adell’s own. He wondered if everyone wearing these cloaks had the same eyes, and if so, why that was the case, but their words halted his questions.

“So it was a success?” The woman asked.

“Yes, thank Anertha it was. Maybe we can finally make some real progress.”

“But how sure are you that Regaard actually solved anything two thousand years ago? You’ve heard some of the theories on him, that he’s actually a fraud.” Regaard? The name seemed familiar to Adell. 

“Those theories have no real evidence backing them, and you know it.”

“The theories that suggest he solved the crisis don’t have any real evidence, either. Regaard’s word can hardly count as concrete evidence.”

The man sighed. “You’re right, but what other options do we have? We have to place our bets on him right now. It’s all or nothing. Let’s hope, for everyone’s sake, that he really did stop the last catastrophe.”

They began talking about something else, but by that point they’d gotten too far away for Adell to hear them properly. Adell released a breath he’d been holding, only to turn the corner and catch the gaze of a cloaked man whose eyes lit up in recognition. Adell froze, panic seeping into his limbs. This man was trouble, he just knew it. He tensed, prepared to run away at a moment’s notice, but the man reached him before he could do anything. He stopped in front of him, gaze stern. 

The man spoke, his voice revealing disappointment and anger. “And why, Terralt, are you in the mineral research wing instead of in the sorcerer’s wing? You should be practicing spells and studying magic formations, not wandering around places you don’t have any business in. And why on Anertha are you wearing that cloak? You know it's only meant for Greater Sorcerers.” The man sighed and continued before Adell could respond. “I know your master should have just finished the spell to summon Leon Regaard from the past. Shouldn’t you be in his office, waiting for his next instructions?”

Adell opened and closed his mouth, wanting to say something to appease this man, but he didn’t know what he could say. He didn’t understand anything the man had just said, apart from magic and spells, and that the name of the man that used to live in this body was Terralt. So he opted for a general response, nodding and saying,

“Alright, I will go to my master’s office right now and await his return.”

Adell thought that would be the end of the conversation and the man would let him go, but the man furrowed his brows as he stared at Adell and said, “You’re strangely compliant today. Where has that nasty attitude of yours gone to?”

Panic spiked in Adell’s mind. He’d screwed up. Terralt, apparently, wasn’t a very polite person. Not that Adell was, either, but he knew that pissing off the wrong people was a quick way to say goodbye to the carefree life he’d lived before. It seemed he’d have to watch his back now. He didn’t know this man, or anyone else in this very tall tower, but he would attract attention if he acted too differently from how Terralt usually did. He donned a smirk, hoping it hid his nervousness, and laughed, saying, “You’re right, I was just making fun of you. You really bought my nice act, didn’t you, old man?”

The man’s eyes flashed with anger. He was about to say something but Adell skirted around him and made his way down the hall, leaving the fuming man behind him. When he was around the corner and out of sight, he dropped the smirk and relaxed his tense shoulders. His muscles coiled like springs every time he tensed them. It was a very strange feeling. His original body, the one he'd been in before he died and got sucked into Terralt, was thin and gangly, lacking any muscles whatsoever. Nothing he did ever helped the matter, either. Any exercising he’d done was pointless, so he relied on agility, dirty street tricks, and quick reflexes to get him out of tight spots. All of that was pointless now, though. What use did he have in tricks and agility when he was strong enough to punch a hole in the wall and fast enough to outrun anyone that would try to chase him?

His thoughts were interrupted when he left a staircase that deposited him on a higher floor, and he ran into a man who, upon seeing him, smiled and shouted a greeting from down the hall. Adell felt dread creep down his spine. Another person that knew Terralt, and Adell had no way of knowing if this person, who seemed to act very friendly with him, was on the receiving end of his rudeness or not. Adell had no idea how to act. He wanted to scurry in the other direction and avoid a confrontation, but the man was quickly approaching him. He had short brown hair and vibrant purple eyes, and he was wearing the same purple cloak that the woman from earlier was wearing, the one that reached his knees and had an open front, showing his trousers and sweater.

“Hey, Terr. What brings you to this part of the tower? Have you heard about the Nexa systems? Seems like they were brought online again a few minutes ago.” The man reached him and clapped his shoulder in a friendly gesture before his hand dropped to his side. Adell assumed this man may have been Terralt’s friend, so he decided against being rude like he had been to that man earlier.

The man continued, saying, “I’m glad they brought it back up again so soon. I was using the bathroom, and then what do you have it, the door doesn’t open when I try to leave! Where were you when they went down?”

Adell didn’t know anything about what happened in that room with the child and the robed figures, including it’s level of secrecy, so he said, “Me? I had just come back from casting a spell with a few other… people.” Adell wasn't sure what to call these cloaked figures. Magicians, maybe?

The man frowned. “A spell, with other sorcerers? Aren’t you still an apprentice? Would the Greater Sorcerers even allow you to cast a spell with others given your track record?”

So they were called sorcerers. At his last words, Adell felt annoyed. Adell wasn’t Terralt, but he felt a little offended for him, though he wasn’t sure why. “What do you mean, my track record? I’ll have you know I was the only one standing after the spell was completed.”

The man froze, before a frown broke his cheerful expression. “They collapsed? What kind of spell was it for it to make so many sorcerers collapse?”

“I’m not sure, myself. You wanna know the strangest thing about it? There was a child there.” 

His frown deepened, before a realization dawned on his features. Horror struck his face, along with shock, as he said, “Wait… a child… W-What did he look like, this child?”

Adell frowned as he recalled the glimpses of the child he saw. “Blond hair, with blue eyes. He was about… eleven or twelve.”

The man in front of him didn’t say anything, but he appeared lost in thought. Adell wondered if he should leave him and go on his way again, but then the man looked up at Adell with a very serious expression and said, “Terralt, don’t speak of this to anyone. Something happened to your master, didn’t it? I can’t believe they made a mere apprentice perform such a dangerous spell. How on Anertha are you still alive? No, it doesn’t matter. Just keep this matter quiet until your master comes back and gives you orders.”

The man then walked in the other direction, very quickly, leaving Adell with many questions, and few answers.