The next morning after the exams, Xavier would be greeted with a round of applause, and cheers as he entered class, but all would cease, as soon as Gabriel walked in; with a rather menacing look on his face, and tired eyes that gave away the impression that he didn't sleep last night; as though something had been bothering him, and still did as of that present morning.

  Abigail came in a while later in order to congratulate her top three most successful students.

  "Morning everyone, I'm sure that most of you, if not all of you; are aware of the events that transpired yesterday, and as your homeroom teacher, I would like to personally congratulate Sally Domini, Gabriel Euthenia, and Xavier for their outstanding performance during the assessment exams."

  "If I'm being completely honest, I wasn't even expecting Xavier to make it on this list, given his current circumstances, but all's well that ends well. Your presence however, will be needed in the principal's office after lunch break. So please, make sure not to miss it" Abigail said, and carried on with her lessons.

  During lunch break, Xavier would be stalked and tailed by three senior sorcerers the entire time.

  "You're awfully late," Sally said, as Xavier took a seat at the table with a full lunch tray.

  "Yeah, sorry. Things have been really weird a lot lately; I'm receiving a whole lot of gifts from people who never talked to me, let alone even bat an eye," said Xavier.

  "Is that where all that food came from?" Jasmine asked.

  "Is it recommended to even eat that much?" Jeffery asked.

  "Uh, well. Yeah, there's this guy I know personally who says its necessary if you want to look good, and so your body can stay healthy too. Something about the body needing excess energy in order to reproduce and sustain a healthy flow of mana," Xavier replied.

  "It's like I've always been telling you Jeffery, but you never seem to listen," Sally said. "And don't you still have that meeting with Principal Jena later?"

  "Yeah, you're right. I've just been caught up with a whole bunch of things lately, thanks for reminding me," Xavier replied

  "What's that about anyway?" Jasmine asks.

  "I don't know, but whatever it is, it's probably going to be long and boring as hell. Might have to use the bathroom just in case" Xavier said, and left the table, tailed by three Senior sorcerers that blended in with the crowd.

  "Hey, is it just me, or has Maxwell been following Xavier around a lot lately," said Jasmine.

  "Who? Gabriel's older brother? One of the top three?" Sally said.

  "Yeah, this is the second time I've seen him hanging around the junior classroom blocks, and he rarely does that."

  "Pretty sure he's just checking on his brother."

  "I'd beg to differ. Last time I checked, Gabriel had a falling out with his brother," Jeffery added.

  "Huh? Maybe you're on to something," Sally said.

  "Think we should investigate?" said Jeffery.

  Sally thought about it, "Let's wait until after, he gets kidnapped," she said.

  "Wait, what? Don't you think it would be better if we did something before, that happened?" said Jasmine.

  "You're not wrong Jasmine, but then again, you might not be right," Sally said. Jasmine got wrapped around that statement, until it finally clicked.

  After washing his hands and drying them off: Xavier would be met face to face with the number one ranked senior student, immediately as he just left the bathroom.

  "You're Xavier, right? My name's Annie, the boy to my right is Maxwell and the one to my left is Dave. We'd like to have a talk with you in private."

  "Uhh, do I have a choice?" Xavier asked.

  Dave stretched his left arm out against the wall behind Xavier, and smilingly said, "Good question."

  The four sorcerers made their way towards the senior classroom block, with Xavier being encapsulated by the top three students.

  "So, you and Dave. What was that fight all about," Xavier asks.

  "Don't worry about Dave, he's just an air head," Annie replied.

  "You're just bitter you were about to lose top spot," Dave replied, walking with his hands behind his head.

  "Then, what about you Maxwell? You don't seem to be bothered about top spot?" said Xavier.

  Maxwell always carried himself in a calm, relaxed demeanor, and so replied, "Doesn't matter much to me."

  The four sorcerers arrived, and got into the classroom: Annie took to the back of the class, Maxwell took to the windows on the far side of the class, and Dave got the teacher's desk. Leaving Xavier dead center of the class.

  "So uh, what's going on here?" Xavier nervously asked.

  "Over here," Dave said. Xavier turned around in order to look at Dave, but as soon as he did, Annie struck a bolt of lightning towards him.

  Xavier's eye activated, and with time stopping reflexes, dodged it in the nick of time. The lightning bolt struck Dave instead, but he was prepared for it, and so absorbed the attack.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Xavier was getting ready to defend himself until Maxwell stopped him.

  "Easy kid, we're not here to hurt you."

  "That's the eye alright," said Annie.

  "Damn, looks like old man Gasper's been hiding things from me," Dave said and kicked his feet up on the teacher's desk.

  "You know a little something about this eye?" Xavier asked.

  "Take a look at her eyes kid, of course she knows a thing or two," said Dave.

  "What you have there is one side of the eyes of truth; mythical eyes that are said to appear once every millennia, separately in the skulls of two human children. If you have the right side of the pair, it means that someone else out there has the left side," Annie began to explain further.

  "My clan has special eyes too; set to appear once every century, so they're not a lot of people like me. The second sorcerer supreme had reason to believe that the next eye of truth would present itself in my clan, and so decided to keep our name, and existence confidential; all in an attempt to keep us from harm, and if his assumptions were wrong, he anticipated that our eyes could be the key to finding the eyes of truth."

  "He spent years studying our eyes, all in an attempt to better understand the capabilities of the eyes of truth, and later entrusted us to safeguard the info after he compiled it."

  "What did he find?"

  "It's not much, but he anticipated that the eyes of truth would be capable of seeing vast distances; far surpassing ours, and see the full mana network of an individual," Annie said.

  "How far can you see?" Xavier asked.

  "Ten kilometers out, but I've got a limited field of vision," said Annie.

  Dave, who was Behind Xavier; still seated by the teacher's desk said, "So how many fingers am I holding behind my back little bro?"

  "One, and it's your middle finger," Xavier answered without turning around to see.

  "That's some pretty impressive stuff," said Dave.

  "I can see a thousand kilometers out, and mana networks perfectly, but what I don't understand is."

  "You're standing right before me, but, it's as if I'm seeing images from the past; like a record of you distorting mana flow by striking key points," Xavier added.

  "That's also part of the Second sorcerer supreme's findings: he suggested that the reason why they're called eyes of truth, is because they hold all factual information of the known universe."

  "He came to this conclusion because of our eye's unique ability, to trace the steps of past events, but I'm assuming, that yours aren't necessarily limited to only past events, am I correct?" Annie asked.

  Xavier had foresight, but never gave much thought in trying to see beyond what was next to come in a few moments time, and so he did as per request, but couldn't see that far into Annie's future, and almost collapsed because of it.

  Annie got a hold of Xavier before he could fall flat on his face, and kept a hold of him.

  Xavier regained consciousness breathing heavily and said, "I- I'm sorry, but I don't think I can see that far yet."

  "It's okay, the one eye limitation could be a factor. That, and because your already weak mana signals distorted," Annie said.

  "Did I get top spot by any chance?" Dave asked, carrying a smile on his face.

  Xavier looked in Dave's direction, now catching his breath and said, "Yeah, I don't think I'm obliged to answer that."

  "That eye is awfully demanding huh? I assume your involuntary foresight is what drains you the most?"

  "Yeah but, how did you know?"

  "Your eye was active the entire time you fought Maxwell's little bro over here, and sadly was the same fight where you ran out of mana."

  "If memory serves me right: principal Jena must have given you some down horrendous, and outright, horrible tasting shake, didn't she?" Dave said.

  "Yeah, she, did?"

  "Exactly, that brew from hell is meant to boost mana production, and ensure that you were at full strength just in time for the finals."

  "Taking into account your already low amount of reserves; you should've been in top shape, but that wasn't quite the case now, was it?"

  "You know, you never had to mention my family relations for that," said Maxwell.

  "Just letting Xavier here know who he has to answer to incase he accidentally kills him," Dave inhaled deeply.

  "I swear I can smell the tension between those two. I'm telling you kid, nothing like a good old-fashioned rivalry, to get you going straight, right Annie?"

  Annie stared at Dave, then looked at Xavier, "Don't listen to Dave. If it bothers you that much, I can teach you the gentle fist technique."

  "At times I found focus, and conscious thought, to be the best solutions to stop your mind from wandering off too often. So, in this case: if you're too focused on your opponent's mana network, it shouldn't give you enough time to think as far ahead, as to see your opponent's next move before they even make it, because doing so, would drain too much of your mana."

  Keep in mind though: never use the technique against another person if you're too inexperienced to, or else, like Dave said; you might actually end up killing someone."

  "Thanks Annie, I'd really appreciate that," Xavier replied.

  "Every day after school?" Annie Asked.

  "Every day after school," Xavier replied, then the bell rang shortly after. Xavier jumped out of Annie's arms, "Shit! I still have that meeting with principal Jena! Uh, thanks for everything guys, but I should really get going," Xavier said, and left for Principal Jena's office.

  "You know, you'd think that Gasper would've told him all of this already," Maxwell said.

  "Yeah, but the old man is kind of weird when it comes to handling stuff like this. Guy sure knows how to keep secrets," Dave replied.

  When Xavier got to principal Jena's office, he proceeded inside unannounced, and saw Gasper present, "Damn, she got you too?" Xavier asked.

  Gasper looked over his shoulder at Xavier, carrying a serious demeanor, and then back at principal Jena, "Like I said, it's all classified information Jena; just trust that I can handle it."

  "I'm more concerned about the safety, and well-being, of the school, and all, of its students; if this is the kind of information that could put them in danger, I would most definitely like to know!" principal Jena said.

  "Well, if this is a safe school environment, in which I am led to believe so. Then there should be no problem whatsoever, the info is of no harm," Gasper then turned and looked at Xavier.

  "But if you, young man. Hold any close relations with anyone here, I'd suggest you keep a safe distance. That is, if you ever so wish to protect them," Gasper concluded.

  "Well then. Even if I don't, I trust that you'll handle the situation. Just don't expect me to sit by and watch from a comfortable distance, I'll be keeping a close eye on you," said Principal Jena, and dismissed the two from her office.

  Somewhere in a secluded location: plans begin to brew, as the sorcerer from last encounter, returns with vital information.

  The night sky is no longer graced with moonlight, and so the face of the sorcerer in question, remains shrouded in darkness; only the outline of their figure remains visible, "My liege, we have uncovered the identity of the boy in possession of the eye of truth," the sorcerer addressed Steppenwolf, who sat on his throne with his eyes closed, in deep contemplation.

  "Good, may I know the name of the boy?" Steppenwolf asked.

  "A boy named Xavier, I know not of his last name; the school seems to hold no records of it either," the sorcerer replied.

  "That's okay, it only further solidifies my assumptions," Steppenwolf opened his eyes. "There any more information I should know about?" he asked.

  "That's all for now," the sorcerer replied.

  "Very well," Steppenwolf got up and slowly walked around his throne; in order to gaze at his suit of armour.

  "Notify the others: they are to infiltrate Hephaestus capital this weekend, and retrieve the tinkerer's hammer. Gus needs to add some finishing touches to the suit," said Steppenwolf.

  "What about me, what should I do?" the sorcerer asked.

  "Oh, you? You're going to spend some quality family time this weekend. Enjoy yourself." Although unable to see his face, Steppenwolf could tell that what he said agitated the sorcerer, even if, it was in the slightest.

  "Oh, and before I forget. Tell them to take Riley along, they'll need him in order to break through the Hephaestun's magic barrier."