Thayde looked up. “It’s too hard!” he complained, flexing his fingers in and out in a strenuous motion.

“That’s because you’re not thinking of it right. You’ve got to respect it – it’s a kind of magic,” the Master snapped.

Thayde held the weak ball of luminescence in his palm before it blinked out, grunting with frustration. The Master tutted.

“Argh! This is so useless! Why can’t you teach me something worth knowing, like immortality or something?” Thayde said, creasing his brow in anger.

“Ah, Thayde. you have much to learn. That is the path of darkness; and besides, who wants to live forever?” his Master said, waving a finger in the air. A spark jumped out of it. “Oops. Anyway, any Student whose ever tried it has ended up failing – in a deadly way.”

“What about ‘81?”

“He still got destroyed a little later. You see, that Student was on the dark side to begin with. He was like Icarus – broken wings, with no one to help him on his fall.”

Thayde sighed. “Whatever…”