"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?", Cale asked calmly as he grabbed his large bag and took one last look back into the apartment.

  Fengari was sitting at their desk, surrounded by dozens of books, and was busy taking notes in her notebook. Visibly annoyed by the interruption, she turned to Cale with a slight irritation.

  "You really want to provoke me, don't you?"

  "Me? Never", Cale replied amusedly and slipped on his shoes. Fengari had her exam tomorrow and was busy going through all the topics. Therefore, she didn't have time to come to the stand, even though the weather would be perfect for it. "Well then, study hard, see you later."

  "You could bring back some ice cream on your way back."

  "I'll think about it", Cale replied, and stepped out of the house into the sunshine.

  From one day to the next, it had become so hot that Jarle, Cedrik, and he had decided on the spur of the moment to go swimming today. Although it was now late afternoon, the sun was still beating down on them, so Cale held his hand over his face and walked down the steps. With a grin on his face, he hurried down the street and reached the beach where he had met Jarle for the first time. He glanced around briefly, but his colleagues weren't there yet. So he squeezed his way through the crowds of visitors and found a free spot before spreading out his blanket and taking off his clothes.

  Wearing only shorts, he let his gaze wander over the water, where dozens of people were swimming and some were even out in small boats. He could hardly see the other shore because the sun was reflecting too strongly on the water's surface. For a few moments, he wondered whether he should wait for Jarle and Cedrik, but the heat made him decide against it. He quickly hurried across the warm ground toward the jetty and made an elegant jump into the water at the end of it. Cold quickly enveloped him, and he swam forward with powerful strokes before breaking through the surface of the water and exhaling loudly. It felt good to be able to go swimming after a whole day of training and stuffy air, something he had done far too rarely in Altona. Whenever he was at the water, it was usually for practice. He hadn't really taken the time to enjoy himself, but he had abandoned that way of thinking at the end of his last life.

  Cale knew he didn’t have to carry everything on his own. There were enough people who would stand by him whenever he needed them. What he chose to ignore was that some of those bonds still had to be carefully built.

  Relieved, he let himself float on the surface and closed his eyes while listening to the muffled sounds of people. Children laughed in the distance, some women talked loudly, and a large man caused a big wave when he jumped into the water. Cale could sense every single source of mana on the shore and in the water, lined up close together, each going about its own business. It almost didn't feel like 10,000 people died a few months ago. As if children were not going missing in the city, or as if arson didn't exist.

  They all knew the danger, but each of them ignored it.

  With a jerk, Cale pushed himself underwater, dove a bit, and shot back up again. He shook his blond hair and brushed the strands back with one hand as his gaze turned to Jarle and Cedrik. They stood at the entrance and looked out over the crowd, presumably because they were looking for him. So Cale swam forward a little and waved his hand when Jarle looked in his direction. Moments later, he seemed to have spotted him, because he pointed at Cale and the two men came toward him together. With a wave of his hand, Cale tried to indicate where his towel was, but Jarle didn't need his help. He had found the blanket after a good 30 seconds and spread himself out on it, while Cedrik was already taking off his clothes. The two young soldiers came running toward him with long strides, and before Cale knew it, Cedrik took a big leap in his direction. Water immediately splashed toward him, so Cale used his magic to prevent the drops from hitting him squarely in the face.

  "Puah!", Cedrik exclaimed and appeared next to him. "Hello."

  "Good evening, you were quick."

  "We hurried."

  "Your daughter didn't come with you?", Jarle asked from the jetty. He hadn't jumped into the water yet and was first checking with his feet how cold it really was.

  "I offered, but she has exams tomorrow and wanted to study."

  "Exemplary girl, I wouldn't have missed it", Cedrik said, diving again, so deep that Cale could no longer see him. For a few moments, Cale just stared at the mana beneath him before turning to the duke's son.

  "The water isn't that cold, Jarle. Once you swim for a minute, it's really pleasant", he explained to Jarle, who looked at him skeptically. However, he decided to take it slowly and carefully climbed down onto the ledge before lowering himself into the water. With a few frantic movements, he held himself on the surface of the water as if he were about to sink. "You can swim, right?"

  "Of course, it would be embarrassing if I couldn't", Jarle complained, and swam a few laps around him to warm up. After a few moments, Cale felt Cedrik approaching them again from below, before Jarle let out a loud, panicked girlish scream and pushed off from where he was standing. "Something touched my foot."

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Cale immediately started laughing, and when Cedrik appeared next to him and inhaled loudly, Jarle understood why he was laughing.

  "By the gods, Cedrik, stop that! You gave me a hell of a scare."

  "I don't know what you're talking about", Cedrik said mockingly, dipping his head slightly so that only his nose and eyes were visible above the water. Slowly and with menacingly large movements, he swam toward Jarle, who quickly distanced himself.

  "Don't you dare! I'm warning you!"

  But Cedrik dared, diving, and the next thing Cale saw was Jarle screaming and flailing his hands before being pulled underwater. When Cale noticed that Cedrik was now coming towards him, he dove on his own and used his mana to quickly propel himself several meters underwater. He could see with his eyes closed how Cedrik looked around irritated, so he slowly came up and tickled him with his fingers on the sole of his foot. Cedrik jerked his leg toward him and exhaled a large amount of air, which is why he swam back to the surface a few moments later. Jarle had also resurfaced, so Cale joined them and swam up.

  "You idiot!", was the first thing Cale heard from Jarle when he caught his breath, while Cedrik just laughed. However, his gaze fell on Cale, who was also chuckling amusedly.

  "What did you do? You moved so fast."

  "Don't challenge me, I'm like a fish in the water", Cale replied simply and grinned, which Cedrik couldn't ignore.

  He splashed water at Cale, who blocked it with one hand. With the other, he formed a small wave and shot it at Cedrik, who held both hands in front of his face in surprise. Other people behind him also felt the force of the wave and turned around in surprise to look at the three soldiers.

  "Sorry", Cale shouted, raising his hand before taking a deep breath and diving underwater. He could see Cedrik panicking and holding his feet close to his body, but that didn't bother Cale. With a powerful jerk, he pulled the young man several meters underwater and resurfaced, turning to Jarle and grinning. "There you go. Your revenge."

  "Thanks, thanks", Jarle replied amusedly and began to swim slowly forward. Cale joined him and together they swam a little way forward. Cedrik surfaced behind them a few moments later, looked around in confusion, and shouted at them to wait for him.

  With calm movements, the three men swam out into the open water, Cedrik partly on his back and Cale also diving under the water from time to time. A few dozen boats were visible, some of them even with sails, which probably belonged to the wealthy part of society.

  "I wish every day could be like this", Jarle finally said, so Cale turned to him. He had a contented expression on his face and ignored the fact that Cale was looking at him. "So peaceful and beautiful, reminding you how wonderful the world can actually be."

  "That's true. On days like this, you really have time to enjoy the peace and quiet", Cale agreed.

  "You're so busy working and making a living all day that you forget to enjoy life", Cedrik said, surprisingly philosophically, so Cale turned to him.

  "That was really poetic."

  "Leave me alone, I can make sensible statements as well", Cedrik replied indignantly, but Cale just laughed.

  "But you're right, Cedrik. The world is so full of chaos that you forget to appreciate the simple things", Jarle interjected, briefly submerging his head under the water in the same breath. Cale did the same, and Cedrik joined them, so that the three of them now submerged several times in a row and swam forward.

  "That reminds me, I have another question for you, Zod", Cedrik said.

  "For me?"

  "Yes. I had completely forgotten to ask."

  "What is it?", Cale asked calmly, looking at the young man on his right.

  "Do you remember the day your friend from Altona came to visit and got sick? You came over to us briefly to tell us what was going on and then left immediately. How did you do that? I mean, you stuck to the wall like a lizard and climbed onto the roof as if it were the easiest thing in the world."

  "Ah, that", Cale said as he remembered the situation. "That was mana fixation. Simply put, I use my mana to build up tension in my feet, which allows me to stick to the wall."

  "That's possible?", Jarle asked with interest.

  "Oh, yes. You can do a lot with mana if you know how. For example, I developed this method a little further some time ago", Cale began and stopped in his movement before placing his palms on the surface of the water and pulling himself out of the water with a jerk, as if the surface were a stone. With wide, horrified eyes, Jarle and Cedrik watched as Cale climbed out of the water in the open and came to a stand on the surface right next to them.

  "What in the name of the gods", Jarle muttered in confusion, while Cedrik took his hand and moved it back and forth under Cale's feet. When he realized there was nothing there, he raised his hand and touched the sole of Cale's foot, who pulled his leg up in surprise.

  "Don't tickle me", he admonished Cedrik, even though he hadn't felt anything. The mana also served as protection against external influences, the same thing he was currently trying to teach Julius Venlan and Loys of Freigoud.

  "I’ve never seen that before. A human walking on water", Jarle finally said, while Cale fell backwards into the water and reappeared next to them.

  "I’m probably the only one who can do that. At least, I don’t know of anyone else who has come up with this idea before me. If you want, I can teach you how to use mana as a fixation."

  "Will we be able to walk on water too?", Cedrik asked excitedly.

  "Probably not", Cale replied, amused. "It's much harder than it looks. You should start with walls or trees anyway. Something with a solid surface."

  "I see", Cedrik muttered disappointedly.

  "If the opportunity arises, I'd love to", Jarle chimed in. "Although I don't know if it wouldn't be more interesting for us to learn how to use mana in our swords."

  "That's true", Cedrik agreed immediately.

  "As far as I know, there's a course for that next year", Cale interjected. "Although Mamoru told me that hardly any soldiers ever meet the requirements."

  "How did you learn to use mana like that?" Cedrik asked.

  "From a Frignezer", Cale replied mockingly. "Apparently, I have significantly more mana than a normal person, and she taught me the basics back then."

  "Was this Frignezer... your wife?", Jarle asked cautiously, causing Cale to almost choke. Aletta was like a little sister to him. At no point had Cale ever thought of their relationship any differently.

  "No, but she was a close friend of my wife's", Cale explained, looking up at the sky. "It was more of a coincidence that we met back then. Really... if I hadn't been working at that restaurant back then, my life would certainly be... very different."