Deadly Rumours

The room fell silent the moment John finished what he had to say. A complete beginner breaking through a circle of magic by just repeatedly using a spell was absurd, especially in such a short amount of time.

"Hey Valentine, are you okay?" Jack asked, his usually cold demeanor starting to crack.

"I think? It does hurt but. Somehow it hurts less than before." Valentine replied

Jack approached Valentine with a concerned look. He didn't feel any interest towards the new guy before but after witnessing such a showcase of both madness and willpower he just couldn't hold himself back.

Danny also approached but much more confidently. He put his arm over Valentine's shoulders and chuckled to himself.

"You truly are one crazy fuck."

"I guess I might be."

Jack still maintained a distance from the two but was looking for a way to join them.

"This guy. You really need to be more like me man. Just go with the flow. Come here jackass" Danny said.

Danny reached his free hand out. Grabbed Jack by the back of the neck and pulled him in.

"You fucking manchild." Jack said, punching Danny on the shoulder and grabbing him in a headlock.

"Asshole."

Valentine didn't speak much but had a dumb smile on his face. He felt a sense of belonging in that odd place. He might have been kidnapped, forced into a life he didn't ask for and would be in pain every waking moment of his life for the foreseeable future but it had been a while since he felt truly welcome anywhere.

John let out a loud sight. He was staring blankly at the ground, deep in thought.

"Valentine. Listen carefully to what I have to say." John spoke. His tone was powerful, unwavering and authoritative.

Valentine, Jack and Danny all diverted their attention to John. Jack and Danny had heard John speak like that before and knew they couldn't play around. Seeing the reaction of the others, Valentine got a grasp of the situation immediately. He simply nodded his head affirmatively and paid attention to the words that came next.

"What happened just now must never be repeated. I am at fault for underestimating your condition. BUT. As long as you are under my wing, be it an official member or just a preliminary trainee you follow my orders to the tee. UNDERSTOOD?" The power behind John's voice made his words echo in the room.

Valentine just nodded his head once more.

"Jack, Danny. Go and put these back in my office. Stay there until I tell you not to." John said, tossing the keys he had in his hand to them.

Jack and Danny complied, taking the keys and making their way towards John's office. John stood up against one of the targets and waited until they were gone

"Kid, I'll be honest with you. If you use any more magic you will die." John said bluntly

"What do you mean?" Valentine asked.

"You may not be feeling it right now but your magic circuit has been nearly torn to shreds. You have guts and I respect that but no amount of guts is going to be enough to save your life if you don't wait."

"What do you mean torn to shreds? I just trained. Will I be unable to make the pain stop now?" Valentine stuttered.

"If you follow my orders to the letter you'll be able to do much more than just make the pain stop. But we are done for today. Tomorrow you'll get a message in the mail about a scholarship. Take it. You'll come here and I'll have you go through hell and back to keep you from killing yourself." John replied.

"I will, but I'm not sure what happened. How can my magic circuit be damaged by some training? You said magic missile doesn't do that." Valentine asked.

John sighed deeply. He walked in front of a target, raised his hand and aimed at it's head.

"There is a difference between a standard magic missile and a heightened magic missile." John said.

"Magic Missile"

"Magic Missile"

The first magic missile was about the size of a golf ball, hitting the target without much impact. The second, had the shape of a Roman javelin. It burst through the target and even left a small hole into the wall behind it.

"The first one is a standard first circle magic missile, mine is a bit bigger than yours since my magic is more stable. The second one is a magic missile that I heightened to fifth circle." John said

"What you did was subconsciously heighten your magic missile to second circle. Making it significantly stronger yet more complex and demanding. And of course as you can assume, the more mana is used the bigger the blowback for failure." He continued

"What are circles?" Valentine asked.

John was caught off guard by that question. For a moment he had forgotten he was talking to a complete outsider.

"Circles are something like levels for magic. If you had paid attention to your magic circuit when it wasn't completely mangled you would have noticed that it circled around your heart one time. If you look at it after you rest you'll notice it circling twice. Each circle signifies a significant leap in power and mana. You are usually considered a full fledged mage when you reach the 4th circle." John replied.

"I see. So how do I fix my mana circuit?" Valentine said.

"As long as you follow what I say you will be fine." John replied.

"Erm, John. You did say that I shouldn't have been able to get to the second circle. Does doing that mean I'm a genius?" Valentine asked.

John flinched for a moment. That was the very question he didn't want to be asked.

"Valentine, you see, your condition will let you move through the first couple of circles at a breakneck pace but, I don't think you'll be able to make it past the fourth circle. But don't worry about it. You can always improve I'm other ways." John said

"Wh-" Valentine tried to say

"We don't have much time. Wear your blindfold and follow me. You're going home." John cut him off.

Valentine complied and followed John to the car blindfolded. The walk there felt off. He couldn't pinpoint what but something was off.

"John, did something happen?" Valentine asked.

"It seems you started to notice. Don't forget, no magic." John said.

-

The car ride seemed to be as silent and uneventful as the one the day before, even having the same driver, but Valentine couldn't shake off a potent uneasiness.

"Second circle huh? And in one day at that. That's impressive. It took me a couple of months back then but I guess such a feat is befitting of Merlin's stolen superweapon." The driver said.

"What?" Valentine replied, being caught off guard by the driver

"Don't play dumb kid. Pretty much everyone heard the rumor that Merlin wanted to groom you into a superweapon." The driver insisted.

"No no, you're misunderstanding the situation, Merlin did want me yes but I am in no way a superweapon." Valentine said.

"Reaching the second circle in a day seems pretty damn super to me. We got far enough, feel free to remove that blindfold." The driver continued.

Valentine took off the blindfold. Looking at the direction the car was moving Valentine was certain that the driver was going the wrong way.

"Mister driver, I think you're going the wrong way." Valentine said

"You're a quick one. You see, some of the hire ups really dislike the idea of that man having a latent superweapon under his wing. They can't really let him accumulate that much power. So I was ordered to take care of that." The driver replied

"W-what do you mean?" Valentine stuttered.

"I mean that I am here to kill you." The driver said nonchalantly

"What for?" Valentine asked, trying to stall for time while he reached for the door handle.

"I'm not an idiot, you know. I just have a job to do. Please don't hold any grudges." The driver replied.