It was Thursday, 4:45 a.m. Nitean Capital Time, five minutes before Eddie's private lesson with Giorgino was scheduled to start. Eddie entered the practice room and closed the door behind him. He then made a short bow. "Good morning, Elder."

Giorgino glanced up from his phone. "Good morning Eddie," he greeted. "The wake shake's on the table on your right. We'll start once you're ready."

Eddie nodded his head and walked towards his right. A tall glass of thick, chocolate beverage sat atop a small table. Eddie removed his messenger bag and placed it on the table as he picked up the glass and drank. Once he was done, he retrieved his homework from his bag and presented it to his mentor.

"Actually, you don't need to give that to me," Giorgino said.

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you said I should write a hundred words using telekinesis?"

"I wanted you to do it right in front of me," Giorgino clarified. "Sorry, I should've been clearer."

A desk, pen, and sheet of paper were summoned into existence. Giorgino made a gesture. Eddie sat at the desk, picked up the pen with his right hand, and wrote. He relaxed his arm once he was done.

Giorgino then snatched the pen out of Eddie's hand and placed it a forearm's length away from him. "Now write the same thing, with telekinesis."

Eddie obeyed. He stared at the sheet of paper as he controlled the stylus, monitoring the way it glided over the surface. It took him only a few seconds longer to finish writing.

His mentor picked up the page, folded it, and then stored it in his pocket. "Alright. Now let's start."

The desk and stylus vanished into thin air. Eddie stood a few meters from his mentor as the lesson commenced.

"So one of the reasons why telekinesis is so powerful is because of its sub-skills," Giorgino began. "Yesterday, I saw you used one of them: telekinetic sight. Did anyone tell you about it?"

Eddie shook his head. "No, I figured it out myself."

"Wow, you really are gifted," Giorgino commented. "Anyway, telekinetic sight is just one of the many sub-skills a telekinetic can have. I will demonstrate the rest."

Rumble. The room shook and shifted as the smooth floor morphed into soil. A massive mountain rose from the ground, forming a few kilometers from where they stood. Giorgino turned to his side, rose his arm, and concentrated. Rumble. The mountain moved to its right as though a giant was pushing it.

"Macro-scale telekinesis, or 'macro-kinesis' as some people call it. It allows you to move gigantic bodies as a single mass rather than a collection of parts."

The room then returned to its normal state. A block of metal appeared in Giorgino's hand. Eddie watched as it thinned and lengthened into a long, sharp blade. His mentor then swiped his hand over it. The blade melted into molten metal.

"Micro-scale telekinesis, or 'micro-kinesis.' Allows you to manipulate objects as small as atoms. Perfect for changing the shape, structure, or state of matter of an object."

Crrrck! Several forces seized Eddie's body and trapped him like a bug encased in amber. Eddie pushed against them with all his might, but he could not move a single muscle.

"Telekinetic paralysis. If you can use your hands to move objects, you can also use them to hold them still."

The tension soon left Eddie's body as Giorgino released his grasp. His mentor then went on, "There are other sub-skills besides the one I showed you earlier, but I can't do them. One of them is telekinetic healing."

Eddie's ears perked up. "Telekinetic healing?"

"Yes, healing. The principle of telekinetic healing is that it manipulates the cells in your body, allowing you to heal faster," Giorgino explained. "You need to have the right background to practice it, though. You can't learn telekinetic healing unless you've taken biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and some other subjects that I can't remember. It's very difficult.

"Anyway, let's move on. We'll train your telekinetic sight."

Zwoom. Tall walls rose from the floor to the ceiling. Eddie turned around as he discerned his environment. He was surrounded on only three sides; his left was unobstructed.

"You're in a maze," his mentor's voice informed. "You'll have to use your telekinetic sight to get around. Be careful; you might encounter things you don't want to bump into."

Eddie held his breath. What exactly did his mentor mean by "things you don't want to bump into"? Monsters. He meant monsters. Eddie kept his hands hanging not too far from his torso, preparing himself for any unpleasant surprise. He felt like Theseus in the Minotaur's labyrinth, except his goal was not to kill any beast—it was to escape.

Eddie closed one eye as he scanned his environment. Fwoom. In an instant, he mapped out everything within a hundred meters from him. There was a fork in the road up ahead. The footpath on the left led to another intersection, while the one on the right led to an undead woman with hollow eye sockets and needle-like nails. Eddie jerked backward. He had just started, and there was already a monster waiting nearby.

Eddie trod down the trail, minimizing the amount of sound his shoes made as they lifted off and landed on the floor. His heart pounded in his chest as he neared the first intersection. He halted, then tiptoed. The woman twitched and kept turning her head, but she did not look or move in his direction as he passed through the fork in the road. Phew. He resumed walking normally. Eddie waved one hand in the air as he tried to scan more of the maze. He hoped the exit was not that far off.

When his telekinetic vision reactivated, he spotted several more monsters prowling around the premises, including a winged lion, a troll, and a human-sized Venus flytrap. He lifted one finger and traced different paths. There was only one route that had no monsters in its path, but even passing through it did not mean that he would avoid running into any beast. Some of them lurked dangerously close to the intersections; perhaps close enough for them to pick up his scent. He gulped. You cannot be serious.

Eddie took a deep breath and resumed his journey, taking time as he trod along the path. Walk any quicker, and he could risk his footsteps being heard. He placed his hand on his chest, over his thumping heart. Its beat boomed in his ears like a subwoofer, peaking every time he reached a crossroad.

To his luck, none of the creatures noticed his presence as he made his way towards the exit. He peered in front of him. There seemed to be only one intersection left. He waved his arm. His senses detected a door standing not far from where he was, and immediately his spirits lifted—he was almost done!

Eddie crept along the footpath and reached the final crossroad. He looked towards the left. The path on that side led to a single door, and nothing else. He then turned his head towards the right. At the end of the right footpath was a giant. Spiky, stone armor covered it from head to toe, and a broad sword the length of three men rested in its hand. Yup, left it is.

Eddie crept down the left path, picking up his pace as he edged closer to the door. Its handle gleamed under the light as it invited him to cross to the other side. Once he reached the end of the path, Eddie stretched one arm and wrapped his hand around the doorknob. Before he opened it, he scanned the area that lay beyond it. Just in case.

Fwoom. Eddie's hairs stood on end once he saw what was behind the door: a gathering of beasts awaited him on the other side, fangs and claws extended as they hungered for prey. His heart skipped a beat. That was no exit; it was a trap! But if that was not the way out, then that meant...

Eddie placed his hand on one of the walls. There was another door, located at the end of the right path. Eddie closed both eyes and concentrated harder. He could see beyond the door now. His mentor's figure appeared in his mental map. Yes, that was the true exit. The only thing standing in his path was the armored giant.

Eddie breathed a heavy sigh. You gotta be kidding me.

He marched towards the crossroad and turned right, formulating a plan as he neared the giant. Fire might not do much damage against its protective layer of stone, so he had to use lightning. He should strike the giant using lightning, yes, and finish it in one blow. Run past it and escape. Simple enough. Eddie extended two fingers from his dominant hand. A buzzing feeling ran through his right arm as current flowed towards his fingertips.

At last, he reached the end of the right path. The giant immediately swung its blade.

Eddie thrust two fingers forward.

Crack!

A white streak of lightning jumped from his fingers and penetrated the stone armor, shattering it to smithereens. The giant spasmed, then fell, and then died. Though he was relieved the fight ended quickly, an uneasy feeling lingered. It felt too easy; something did not feel right.

A chorus of howls, roars, and screeches sounded from the other side. Eddie's heart rose to his mouth once he realized what he had done.

Where lightning struck, thunder roared. And they heard his.

Eddie bolted down the path and reached for the door. Great. He spent all that time creeping and tiptoeing only to signal his presence with a bang. Imbécile, imbécile! He glanced behind himself. One of them was already at the crossroad. Its friends joined not long after.

Eddie pushed his legs to run faster. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he locked his eyes on the exit. The closer he was to the door, the louder the roars and snarls became. Eddie glimpsed behind himself. A three-headed wolf was already on his heels.

Fire blazed from his fist as he punched the air. Howls pierced the air as the flames engulfed and consumed the wolf. Some of the creatures ran off in fear; others still persisted. Eddie returned his focus to the exit. The door was right in front of him now.

Eddie leaped, grabbed the doorknob, and barged through the door. He slammed the door as he closed it behind him, panting.

Giorgino laughed upon noticing his student. "How was it?"

Eddie lifted his head to look up at him. "Please tell me we're not doing that again."

His mentor chuckled. "I promise, that's going to be the last time," he said. "Now go get some water. Five-minute break starts now."

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief. He staggered towards the water dispenser and gulped down a cup of cold water.

***

Giorgino's phone beeped as it signaled the end of the lesson. It was 5:50 a.m., and Eddie had been practicing his telekinetic sight for the past hour.

Eddie walked towards the table and picked up his bag. "Thank—"

"Wait," Giorgino interrupted him, "before you leave, do you have time to stay back for a while?"

"Uh, I can stay for a few minutes," Eddie replied. "Why?"

"There's something I have to tell you. It's about the ring."

"The ring?"

"You know, the one with a rose head, the one you gave to your girlfriend—"

"She's not my girlfriend," Eddie corrected him. Although I wish she is.

"Right. Anyway, it's a very long story, and I ask you to not interrupt me or get angry. Okay?"

"Okay."

Two chairs, both facing each other, were summoned in front of them. The two young men took their seats. Giorgino hunched his back and fidgeted, half-opening his mouth as though he was trying to force words through it. Eddie raised an eyebrow at his mentor's behavior. Does he want the ring back?

He soon learned that it was not the case. Giorgino divulged every detail about the ring, retelling the same story he told Grimelda the day before. Eddie fidgeted more as the story progressed, and when Giorgino finally revealed that Michelle was under a curse, he felt nothing but shock.

"So there you have it," Giorgino concluded, clasping his hands. "I bet you are sad, confused, overwhelmed, probably extremely angry with me right now, and I understand. It was my mistake for giving it to you in the first place."

Eddie felt his hairs standing on end, his parted mouth speechless from what he had heard. He slowly massaged his temples and lowered his gaze. No, no, it can't be.

"So what you're telling me," Eddie began, "is that I cursed my best friend? And she knows—"

"No no," Giorgino said quickly, "technically my ex was the one who cursed your friend. And I don't know if she knows, yet, but I also don't know if she doesn't know. But anyway, it's not your fault, Eddie, it's not."

"But I still gave it to her..." his voice faltered. His eyes then shot back to his mentor. "It's not permanent, is it?"

"No..."

"Phew."

"...t yet."

"Not yet?" Eddie repeated, his voice slightly raised.

"I can explain!" Giorgino raised his hands. "The curse that's afflicting Michelle is a creeping curse. For now, only her finger has turned into glass. We can still cure her. However, if the glass covers her entire body, then it will become permanent."

"How long do we have?"

"At the earliest, about thirteen days—"

"Thirteen days?" Eddie exclaimed.

"But don't worry! We're currently brewing a panacea. It's a powerful potion that can undo the curse," Giorgino said. "Trust me, we'll make sure we remove it."

"There's still one thing I don't understand. She's been wearing the ring for months, but nothing happened then."

"That's because the curse was dormant. It's a long explanation," Giorgino began, rubbing his palms. "Think of the ring as a room, and the curse is like fuel. And heat is like magic. When you enter a room, whether it's hot or cold, nothing bad will happen to you. The same thing as a normal ring—nothing will happen to you if you wear it, whether you put it on while in a magical realm or a non-magic realm like Earth. However, wearing a cursed ring is like entering a hot room with fuel—you'll get hurt. So what I tried to do is to remove the curse, removing the fuel from the room, but what I actually did was remove the heat from the room. The curse is still there, but it's dormant. So even if you walk into a room with fuel, if the room is cold then nothing will happen to you.

"That's why Michelle didn't experience anything weird for the past months—because she wore it while she was on Earth, there was no magic to activate the curse or heat to burn the fuel. Now, the problem is that Michelle managed to find her way here, to a magical realm. Her coming here was like adding heat to a room filled with fuel. The magic in Nitea was more than enough for the curse to activate. Do you get it?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. That wasn't the best explanation, yet you still managed to grasp it. Anyway, I think that's enough for tonight."

"But wait—if she asks if I gave it to her, what should I say?"

"Um, I think you can tell her you gave it to her," Giorgino hesitated. "She'll eventually know anyway."

Eddie nodded. The two of them rose from their seats, having concluded their meeting. Eddie made a short bow. "Goodbye, Elder."

"Goodbye, Eddie."

Eddie extended his right arm. His messenger bag flew across the room and into his hand. He slung the strap over his shoulder, made another short bow with his head, and promptly left the room. He then made his way to the flying deck.

"Louis, to the portal."

Marble floors turned into soil and grass. Concrete walls gave way to trees and open space. A pond lay before him instead of a cityscape. Eddie took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Demergo."

A whirl soon stirred in the once-calm pond, white light radiating from its bottom. Eddie leaped into the pond, letting himself sink without resistance. A few seconds later, he found himself pushed upwards, eventually finding himself standing on a carpeted floor. He was back on Earth.

They teleported to his bedroom and prepared themselves for bed. As Louis floated to the shelf and snuggled between two leather-bound novels, Eddie changed into his sleepwear and arranged the curtains. He placed his phone on his bedside table. Just as he tucked himself into bed, his phone pinged. He picked it up.

It was a text message. From Michelle.

Eddie's heart pounded in his chest. Normally, a message from Michelle would excite him, but now he was dreading to know what she had sent him. He crossed his fingers on his left hand while he used his right to navigate his phone. Just when he thought his heart could not beat any harder, he felt it pounding in his ears the moment he read her text: Hey, remember the ring I got on Valentine's Day? I finally figured out who it's from.

Eddie gasped. Oh no, he thought. She knows? Of all the times she could figure out that it was him, now was not the time he wanted her to know. Not after it turned out that the ring he gave her was cursed. It was likely that Michelle knew, for she was a smart girl who could easily piece clues together. Besides, it was also possible that Grimelda revealed it to her. But then again, Michelle did not know who her "secret admirer" was for months. If she suspected that it was him, she would have asked him a long time ago, like what he had been hoping for. His fingers, which went numb for a few seconds, regained enough sense for him to type a response: Oh, you did?

He sent it. He glanced at the time; it was two o'clock in the morning. She was almost certainly asleep. However, just after he had set his phone on his nightstand, it beeped. A message. To his horror, she replied: Yeah. It was you, wasn't it?

His mind went into panic mode. What should he say? Should he apologize? Would she forgive him? Should he send paragraphs upon paragraphs of texts in order to explain the whole situation? He quickly typed a string of messages and sent them in rapid succession.

Yeah, it was me
LOOK I'M SO SO SORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED
I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT TO YOU
IT WAS AN ACCIDENT I SWEAR I DIDN'T KNOW
I bet you have a lot of questions right now
I'll answer them soon in person
Because I think I'll explain it better that way than through text
When are you free? I'm free Thursday afternoon so that means about twelve hours from now

After the eighth text, he restrained himself from messaging her further. He kept his eyes peeled for a reply, hoping for a positive one. Even a neutral response would relieve him. Anything not negative. The phrase "Michérie is typing..." appeared on his screen. He waited in agony as the phrase lingered in his sight. It was taking her more than ten seconds to respond. To him, it was not a good sign.

Thankfully, there was no explicit anger in her next message: Sure, I can meet this afternoon. When and where?

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief. He resumed texting her.

How about at Bois de Boulogne, our usual spot? At 3 pm?

that sounds good. i'll see you soon

Okay. Good night

good night

Eddie yawned; the effects of the anti-sleeping serum were wearing off. He closed the messaging app, set his alarms, and then placed his phone on the bedside table. He then buried himself beneath the duvet and closed his eyes.

✧ ✧ ✧

I don't know about you, but I think Giorgino's doing a pretty great job as a mentor so far—or maybe Eddie is just that good of a student. Maybe it's both? 🤔 Anyway, how would you compare Giorgino to Helene, Eddie's first mentor?

By the way, if you found this chapter fun, please vote for it by pressing the star-shaped button on this chapter! I'd also love to hear your thoughts via any comments left here 🥰