“What was that…” Her harsh tone made him wince. 

“I-I don’t know, I couldn’t control it I—”

“You couldn’t control what?” She cut him off. 

“I don’t know, ok!” He cast his eyes again downwards, sweat creased his face—throat dry. 

She turned slowly towards the class, “Class is over, you are dismissed.” She waited for the last student to leave, turning back into his direction. Professor Nix’s eyes studied his kneeling form for a minute before sighing, “Come with me.” 

Where did she want him to go? Was he in trouble? The grass below began to feel like needles. He winced, feeling the soreness from his palm, as he rose from the ground, heading to follow the professor. They walked through the field in silence. Upon entering the school; they headed throughout the cafeteria to the main hallway. The main office soon came into view. He was being taken to the headmaster? If he knew what happened, what would he think of him? Would he kick him out of the school? Or worse… ?

His stomach twisted and turned in anticipation. Reaching the office, they passed through the staff—heading directly towards James’s office. Looks of pity from the other students in the office bestowed him. 

As they reached the office, Nix said. “Sit down and don’t move,” Her voice left no room for argument. 

He nodded and sat in the nearest chair, watching her enter the room. Minutes passed in slow motion and he couldn’t help but fidget in anxiousness. The button from his uniform seam pressed firmly between his fingers as he took a deep breath—his mind racing. 

Finally, the office door opened revealing the two figures and he held his breath. As they approached, he tried to read their body language; they were impossible to read. 

“Jordan,” James spoke slowly. His stance was neutral, Jordan couldn’t tell a thing. 

He internally groaned. This was it. They were going to kick him out, they were going to—

“You’re not in trouble.” 

He let out all his breath, “What?” He stared momentarily at James before he turned to Nix, “I’m not?”

“No silly!” The same carefree energy the professor had before encompassed her once again. “I was a bit shocked, I’ve never seen anything like that before.” She looked at his pale face regaining color.

“Now I’ve heard from Nix what happened, but would you like to explain what really happened?” The headmaster said. 

His mind recalled everything that happened, “I was next up to showcase my most powerful magic—the problem was I didn’t know any magic.”

Nix’s eyes widened, “You don’t know—”

“Please let him continue, Nix.” James waved his hand, “Go on, Jordan.”

“I panicked, not knowing any magic, until I remembered the flame spell I learned in Beginner Spellcraft. But even in class I couldn’t get the flame to show; it was my only shot, so I took it.” He shifted slightly, “The first two attempts failed but on the third… Everything went wrong. It was like something took over me—I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t.” 

The headmaster's eyes held a glint of curiosity, “What exactly took over you?”

“I don’t know, but it was the same as this morning. I had a weird dream, then when I woke up, I had the nastiest headache ever. I rushed to the bathroom and—” He paused for a moment. It was now or never, he would have to trust James. “When I looked in the mirror my eyes were red.”

“What?” Though soft, the shock was evident in James’s voice. The look on the headmaster's face was again hard to read. “Why didn’t you come get me straight away?”

“I don’t know… everything is new for me here; I’m not used to trusting people.” He looked James in the eye with an honest look. He could see Nix in the background, trying to process the information for herself.

A softness appeared back into the headmaster's face before he said, “It’s ok, but before we get more information, we’re going to need to set up a meeting.” James turned towards the office hallway that connected his office to the main one. “Jorge!” 

The assistant appeared in less than a few seconds, “Yes sir?”

“Please get a copy of this lads schedule, and get all his teachers down here now for a meeting.” He looked at his assistant with a steel gaze, “Get Daren down here as-well, and make sure that no-one is near the meeting room, do you understand?”

“Of course, headmaster.” He turned away and walked off. 

Turning back towards Jordan the headmaster said, “Follow me.”

He followed him towards the furthest meeting room away from the main section of the office. Inside was a huge circular desk with chairs positioned at every corner. He was told to take a seat, as both the professor and the headmaster exited the room. 

To say he was nervous was an understatement. His life just kept changing more and more—soon he didn’t know if he would just be consumed by it. He cursed his thoughts. He survived in an orphanage where he was small and easy to pick on; he survived on the streets, picking pockets and stealing to eat. He would be able to survive this. He won’t let whatever was in his head take over him. 

Breaking him out of the thought, the door opened. His teachers, Daren, Professor Nix, and the headmaster all piled in, talking amongst themselves. 

Daren was the loudest, “What do you want? You just pulled me from my paperwork without a word—you know if I don’t do it no-one will!” 

No one seemed to notice him yet. 

Darens' head turned… well he spoke too soon.

“What is he doing here?” His voice was laced with venom. His voice sparked the others to turn towards me. 

Another series of questioning voices filled the room once again. 

“Everyone calm down.” James' commanding voice echoed throughout the room, silencing everyone. “I know you all are busy, and I know you’re curious but please take a seat and we will explain.”  

Mumbling their own displeasures the circular table was filled, and the room was silent. 

Sitting down at the head of the table the headmaster began, “I know you all want answers, but first we need to come to an agreement.” His eyes scanned the room, “What is said in this room must not be spoken about aloud anywhere else, I need you to swear it.” 

“This is really serious then?” Professor Reed muttered. “Fine, I swear by all the 10 realms nothing will leave my lips.” 

A chorus of swears later, and the meeting commenced. 

Professor Nix started it off, “Today in class I was having the students show off their most powerful magic in the field as a test to gauge their abilities. But as you all can assume something went wrong. When—” she glanced at Jordan—”It was Jordan’s turn, it was clear he was having issues, but I let him push on. A minute later, he conjured a flame spell that covered his hand. In a split second the flames turned a dark red hue before shooting out and nearly destroying the entire field.” 

Looks of shock filled the professor’s faces, as they moved their gazes from Nix—to him. This room was beginning to feel a little hot, but he was sure it was just his nerves. 

“Flame spell, eh?” Professor Phoenix said. “What kind of flame spell was it?” He narrowed his eyes’ toward Jordan.

He coughed, “It was the one you taught in class, sir.” 

“Bullshit. There’s no way that spell could do that much damage, it was 1st tier; if what I’m thinking is correct, only a 7th tier or higher could do that much damage on the field.” His eyes turned to razors. 

“I s-swear it was sir, I did exactly what you taught.” He wiped his hands on his leg, getting the sweat off, “I visualized the flame, and everything.” 

Phoenix’s face held confusion, but he remained quiet.

“So you called us for a simple spell malfunction?” Daren's voice cut through the silence, “If that's all, am I free to leave?”

“Daren you should know malfunctions don’t work like that,” Professor Salem sighed. “Malfunctions happen, yes—but if it was a simple mistake then the spell just wouldn’t have worked. No, there is no such thing as a malfunction increasing the tier of a spell.” 

“Agreed!” Professor Atlas cut in. “I cannot recall such things happening in magic's history.”

“So what really happened?” Reed said, glaring at James, “You wouldn’t call us in here without knowing something first? Get to the point.” 

All eyes turned towards the headmaster. 

“You’re right. But we are in the same boat, I only have merely an idea of what could’ve occurred.” James motioned to Jordan, “He holds the information we need to figure this out.” He paused, “You can tell them everything, Jordan.” 

If James trusted them, then so would he. He told them everything he told Professor Nix and James, but paused when getting to the part of the dream. The memory hurt, but he bit his lip and continued. 

“I had a dream of a glowing figure hovering above my head. The first thing it told me was to ‘figure out my powers before it's too late.’ It kept talking but the voice was familiar; the voice was my mothers.” He tightened his hands that rested on his leg. 

Before Jordan could continue the headmaster's eyes broadened, “Are you sure that was your mother?” 

“I’m sure. I know her voice, and that was her.” He confidently confirmed. 

James turned to Daren, “This is much bigger than I originally thought.” In shock, Daren looked at James, nodding.

“Would you be so kind as to fill us all in?” Nix said, raising her eyebrow. 

Clearing his voice the headmaster scanned the room once more, “His mother is Alison Grace. Yes, that Alison.” 

The room froze.

“What!?” Reed exclaimed, rising out of his seat. 

“There’s no way… “ Atlas looked off into the distance.

Salem for the first time, wasn’t yawning; she seemed fully awake now. Both Phoenix and Salem were staring holes at Jordan. This meeting was going amazing. 

“And when were you going to tell us this?” Professor Nix scowled dangerously towards James.  

Raising his hands in surrender, “I was! C'mon, Nix I wouldn’t leave this from you—I mean you all.” James laughed harmlessly. 

A grunt was all he got in response. 

“But now you all see why this has to be kept under wraps.” The headmaster’s serious demeanor returned. “As Daren and I were about to say, things are a-lot worse than intended. If Alison some-how reached out to Jordan, then we can all assume something is up—something big.” 

Nodding in agreement, Phoenix asked, “Atlas are you sure nothing in those books of yours mentions anything like this?”

“I’m not sure—” He scratched his head. “Wait—” His face twisted into horror. “The only mention of spell amplification of that magnitude was that of an avatar. The people—the primordial gods—Chaos and Order—chose to give their power, so they could follow their will. B-But that couldn’t be, the last avatar was a couple millennia ago.”

Chaos… again that word sparked something inside of him. 

“Yes you are correct that is impossible.” Reed agreed. 

“Is it?” The headmaster said. “How do we know for sure?”

The question was held in the air for a moment, before chaos erupted in the room. Everyone spoke their opinions, stating why it could and couldn’t be possible. Jordan for once was completely calm, from what he learned in class there was no-way he was this avatar. Still, his mind couldn’t help but repeat… What if?

“This is ridiculous!” Daren got up, walking up to the front of the table, “There is no way that boy is an avatar! I’m not surprised you—” He pointed towards James—”Would believe nonsense like this.”

“I have a suggestion,” Salem announced. “Couldn’t we just bring a mana tester, and see for ourselves?

“You bloody genius!” Atlas got up and quickly left the room. 

Almost in an instant, he was back with a dull orb. Jordan stared intently at it—though regular looking, it was anything but. He could feel it. Quite literally feel it. His mana felt like it was being pulled from within. Professor Atlas placed the orb in front of him, and everyone in the room watched closely.