Once we touched down in Zurich, I immediately felt the differehe air here was fresher, like it had been perfectly chilled. It was like heaven after sweating in Italy. Venice was cooler than Sicily or Rome, but it still had that sticky humidity that g to you like an annoying cousin who wouldn’t give up. Zurich erfect—warm enough to remind you it was summer, but cool enough that I didn’t feel like I was about to melt into a puddle. The sky was this bright, clear blue, with just a few clouds hanging out like they had nowhere better to be. It was a relief to finally breathe without feeling like I was inhaling soup. It was the kind of weather where you could walk around all day without turning into a sweaty mess.

  After we checked into the hotel, I turo Lis and said, “Something weird happehe Guidance offered me the Bard Css.”

  Lis gave me a curious look, raising an eyebrow. “gratutions. But why is it weird?”

  I shrugged aled in on the couch. “Because I bought all my instrument-pying skills from the Guidance. I didn’t learhe ‘hard way.’”

  He sighed and shook his head, looking non-too pleased with me. “Why did you buy them instead of learning?”

  “Because music lessons take forever, and I had other things to do,” I replied, waving a hand dismissively.

  “So, what’s the criterion fetting the css?”

  “How should I know? It always surprises me.”

  He leaned fiving me a pointed look. “You didn’t get what I meant. When the Guidance offers a css, the first sentence expins what criteria you met to get it. So, what did it say?”

  “Oh, got it,” I said, realizing what he was getting at. I eled mana and popped up the css s so he could see it.

  Lis studied the s for a moment before nodding. “You didn’t get the css because of your musical skills; I don’t see any problem with that,” he pointed out.

  “Huh, you’re right,” I admitted, rubbing my . “I like this css, but I learned my lesson with the fighting css; I won’t take it unless I get it for free. Any ideas on how to make that happen?” I asked, looking at him hopefully.

  “First, actually learn to py,” Lis said, raising an eyebrow as if it was the most obvious solution.

  “But I already bought the skills from the system,” I protested, frowning.

  “Did you buy every instrument in the world?” he asked, giving me a knowing look.

  “No…” I replied, dragging out the word, realizing where he was going with this.

  “Then learn to py something you didn’t buy,” he suggested in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Thanks, Sensei,” I said with a grin. “I’m dreading the day you won’t be around to answer my millioions anymore,” I added, trying to keep the mood light.

  “I trust you’ll figure it out. You were doing fine even before you met me,” Lis said, giving me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

  We found Mahya a wyer who specialized in business tracts. After meeting with him, she told us it would take a few weeks.

  Lis got busy w with the E-foil. Mahya had the idea of creating perma mosaic spell circles and borrowed some books from Lis. Meanwhile, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos aled on the cello and et. I found three different cello teachers and packed my day with lessons from nine in the m until eight in the evening. In total, I had nine cello lessons a day. I also told all the teachers I was studying with others so they could coordihe lessons, ensuring I wasn’t learning the same thiedly. After two weeks of intensive lessons, I got the ability. I kept up with the lessons and reached level 3.

  Mahya arrived at the hotel ter than us, looking frustrated. “The deal got deyed,” she announced, running a hand through her hair. “Looks like it’s going to take lohan I expected.”

  Lis gnced up from the E-foil part he was tinkering with, eyebrows raised. “How long are we talking about?”

  “At least awo weeks, maybe longer,” Mahya replied, sighing as she sank into a chair. “The wyer said there are some st-minute issues to sort out.”

  I nodded, uanding her frustration. “That’s a pain, but it’s better to get it dht than rushed.”

  Lis, ever the practical one, leaned forward. “In the meantime, we should find a pce to put your house,” he suggested, looking at me. “I o try some things, and it’d be better to do that in a spot where nothing would get damaged.”

  I nodded.

  “And don’t fet,” Lis added, giving me a pointed look, “you still o build that ranged spell.”

  I sighed, rubbing the bay neck. “Yeah, I know. It’s on my to-do list.”

  We found a farm for sale in the vilge of Mettmeen, Switzernd, re for a month, pced my house there, and then Lis went back to tinkering with the E-foil. Mahya started ying down spell mosaics, and I dove bato studying the book A Aspects for Spell Creation.

  The whole a aspect was based on iion, and the iion had to be precise and sharp, with ra fluff, or the spell would act strahe book had no exercises, so I had to figure things out indepely.

  After finishing the book, which didn’t take long si was tiny, I started trying to think of exercises to train my iion, but I couldn’t think of any. I thought about asking Lis, but reminded myself that I o learn to hahings on my own.

  In the end, I started practig with the fire spell I built.

  Despite their cim that the spell practi had prote, I wasn’t willing to take the risk of turning the pto a bonfire. So, with all the seriousness of a wannabe wizard trying not to burn down his house, I filled a bucket with water. Then, I built the outer shell of the spell, half-filled it with the aspect of fire, and i with the iion of flying. I kept the iion as pure as possible—“fly,” nid simple.

  Well, the spell had other ideas. The moment I closed the shell, it shot out of my hand like a rogue firecracker on a mission, zooming all over the room with the enthusiasm of a kid on too much sugar. Panic set in as I imagi hitting the wall and turning the whole pto a barbecue. I grabbed the bucket with one hand and a fly swatter with the other, like some deranged janit to catch a bat.

  The spell was having none of it. It zipped around, narrowly missing Lis’s head, causing him to dive behind the pedestal like he was dodging bullets. Mahya yelped and did a very graceful—if not slightly exaggerated—somersault out of its path. I was running in circles, waving the swatter like a maniac, trying to whack the spell into submission.

  But no dice. The little bugger was too fast. Just as I was about to give up and accept my fate as the guy who torched his house, the spell ran out of flying mana and dropped like a rock. With o desperate lunge, I positiohe bucket underh, and it plopped in with a sizzle. Steam rose from the bucket, and I stood there panting, feeling like I’d just wrestled a dragon.

  As I stood there, panting and clutg the bucket, I couldn’t help but think about how much my life had ged. A few years ago, I would have been worried about getting enough sleep between shifts and w enough to provide Sophie with the lifestyle she was used to, not chasing rogue spells around a magic-proof room.

  Funny how life turns out.

  Mahya was lying on the flhing so hard she was kig her legs in the air like a toddler throwing a tantrum, and Lis was clutg his belly, tears streaming down his face. At first, their ughter at my misfortune annoyed me, but after a moment, the absurdity of it all hit me, and I started ughing too. For a few minutes, we just ughed nonstop, the kind of ughter that leaves you gasping for breath and w if you’ll ever stop.

  I hat.

  I khis spell was a disaster waiting to happen, but sometimes, you’ve just got to throw caution to the wind—or, in this case, into a bucket of water. There’s something to be said about learning through sheer panic, though I couldn’t quite decide if it was a good or bad thing.

  I thought about what I had done wrong and decided that I had probably filled it with too much flying mana and that one aspect alone wasn’t enough. I added a bit of the flying asped a bit of staying put so that the spell wouldn’t escape me again.

  It was more plicated than I thought. If I added more io stay, the spell didn’t go anywhere, no matter what I tried. If I added more io fly, the spell would fly and crash somewhere. I stopped using the bucket because Lis assured me that my little dart couldn’t damage the room.

  After I almost depleted my mana, I went outside tee. I didn’t want to take mana from my baby core. At least my core ed my eight thousand mana; I could almost imagi burping after the meal.

  Since I had no idea how to proceed, I went to y mind worked better when my hands were busy, and that was when the best ideas came to me. Cooking had always been my refuge. There was something about the rhythm of chopping, stirring, and seasoning that brought order to chaos. It made me wonder if spellcasting was just another form of cooking—following a recipe, tweaking ingredients, hoping it doesn’t blow up in your face. I started cooking and used telekinesis to learn the spell better and see why it listeo me while my dart didn’t.

  I cut all the ingredients manually. Not wanting to take any ces with flying knives. But I brought everything else to me with telekinesis—filling water from the tap, pg pots on the burners, and activating the hot ptes for cooking. The spell listeo me and did exactly what I wanted. I could sense some other aspects there but couldn’t identify them—their “fvor” was unlike anything I’d entered before.

  I figured I robably missing some information and should keep searg the books. The day, when my mana was full, I started going through books, spending a thousand mana on eae, but I found nothing. I signed up for some workshops si took twelve and a half hours for my mana to refill, and it felt like a waste of time to do nothing in the meantime. I asked Lis and Mahya if they wao join, but they were too busy with their projects and turned me down.

  Scuba & Snorkeling Lesso books ter, still no answer.

  Turicum Gin LabI had to call a cab home. I was too wasted to drive. The day, eight books, still no answer.

  Havana Da books, still no answer.

  Amplifying Impact with AI: Non-Profit WorkshopEight books, still no answer.

  Create Your Sustainable HomeEight books, still no answer.

  How to SolderFor this workshop, Lis and Mahya joined me, and Lis even decided to build a s device that works on mana. Mahya and I told him not to think about it before he fihe E-foils. He gave us the evil eye but agreed.

  After anht books, I still didn’t find an answer. By now, I probably knew fifty nguages or something.

  Swiss Ski Experien the Jungfrau RegionI always wao learn to ski, but I still didn’t find an answer.

  Zurichberg Watch Journey - Explore Real WatchmakingStill no answer.

  Basic Course: Making Your Own Gss BeadsI ran out of workshops and vinced Lis and Mahya to visit the Lindt Home of useum. Ohey heard the word “chocote,” I didn’t have to work very hard.

  We bought even more chocote, but I still didn’t find an answer.

  I took a Mount Titlis Day Tour with just Rue; at least he was always up for anything I wao do. He loved the Rotair revolving cable car and wao ride it repeatedly.

  Finally, I found a promising book, The Higher Echelon of Aspects—The Mark of a True Wizard. And I earned another nine points.

  I nning to study it when Mahya burst into the house and informed us that the deal closed for two million euros and that we were going out to celebrate. I hugged and gratuted her, and we headed out for dinner and drinks to celebrate.

  We somehow made it bae, though none of us knew how, and we hoped we had dohing magical iy.