“Hah! I knew it,” the mage said. “Come, my boy.”

Layol twitched his freckled nose and stepped in to Bennegraf’s side. His master pressed a string of buttons, and a small light blue disc appeared under their feet.

“Ready?” the mage asked.

“Yes, Kanja,” Layol replied. His thoughts were elsewhere.

The thin blue disc levitated the two men up toward the ceiling… then through it. They passed on, sailing through several hallways, labs, and study areas before coming to rest next to a small window on an empty floor.

Bennegraf stepped off the disc and made his way down the abandoned hall. Layol stayed behind for a moment, as he always did. It had become a little ritual game; stand on the disc for a little while longer – then see if you could jump off and touch ground before it disintegrated. This time was no different from the others – Layol lost the race.

He walked over and looked out the small window. The air was so clear and fresh today that he could see well over the foothills ahead, and out into the reaches of Rymon. The capitol city of Melborne was visible, but barely. Tiny buildings and structures gleamed in the distance. Sicon was a big world – he knew that from his studies in school. He only hoped that he would get to see all of it one day… if his duties of healing and peacekeeping would allow it.

“Layol,” his Kanja interrupted. “Come. We have only a little time left before your test. Let’s practice a little more – to be safe.”

“Oh… My apologies, master. I was just…” the boy began.

Bennegraf started to chuckle. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be a child.

“Think nothing of it, my boy. You were nowhere in the wrong,” the mage said.

Bennegraf opened the door to the small room – and waved his apprentice in. Layol slid between his Kanja and the door frame to the petite room with a single bed, and plopped down on the mattress. The wizened mage pulled the door shut and stood next to him.

“Now,” the boy’s mentor began, “fall into your meditative state, and we’ll work on your strategy.”

Layol closed his eyes and took slow deep deliberate lung-filling breaths. The realm of reality around him melted away into a serene shifting pool of color and light.

“Excellent,” the mage said. “Now, go through each and every move of your attack strategies. Take them very slow… feel each muscle shifting beneath your skin. Good…”