A loud, incessant ringing echoed across the void. Within the vast abyss, a solitary birdcage stood unattended. Inside the cage lay a young boy curled up in a fetal position.

"How long are you going to stay like this?" the darkness spoke in a calm, soothing tone.

Expanding and trembling, it swirled beyond the cage in both imaginable and unimaginable patterns, forming eyes and ears, lips and hair. It was like a sea of dark, stinging smog that moved in a whirlpool of infinity.

"For as long as I need to," the boy replied, barely raising his head, revealing tired eyes beneath his long, unkempt hair.

"You know you can't stay like this forever," the voice insisted.

The movement of the darkness outside the cage intensified, rumbling and shifting with unimaginable speed.

"Now, now," the boy said, extending his hand beyond the cage. "It will all be over eventually."

The noise continued to intensify, growing until it became almost unbearable.

Zeke opened his eyes, slamming his alarm clock down on reflex. "What time is it?" he yawned, stretching his arms wide.

He squinted at the clock, his vision still blurred with sleep. "HOLY SHIT!" Zeke shouted, leaping out of bed.

He rushed into the other room, where Fredric was sleeping on the couch—wearing a pointed hat and a sleep mask—and shook him violently. "WAKE THE FUCK UP! IT'S 7 A.M., WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" he screamed.

"Huh?" Fredric mumbled, gently lifting his blindfold.

Zeke dashed to the bathroom, brushing his teeth with ferocious intensity, while Fredric slowly stood up and calmly packed his pajamas.

"Hurry up! We're gonna miss the train!" Zeke yelled, frantically pulling on his pants. "Brush your teeth and let's go!"

"Dude, I'll brush on the way," Fredric replied, calmly buttoning his shirt.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" Zeke grabbed his bag and bolted toward the door.

"Not that way," Fredric remarked, wetting his toothbrush. "The elevator will take too long."

"Then what do we do?" Zeke asked, exasperated.

"We improvise," Fredric smirked, biting down on his toothbrush.

He grabbed his bag and opened the window, smiling at Zeke as he perched on the windowsill. "You maniac," Zeke grunted.

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In a flash, Fredric leaped out of the window.

"Oh, what the hell. It's not like anyone other than those two idiots will break it," Zeke muttered as he jumped after him.

A breathtaking vista unfolded before his eyes. A crimson sunrise enveloped the blue sky, casting the city in a warm, amber glow. Zeke glanced at Fredric, who was gleefully smiling with a toothbrush in his mouth. As they continued to fall, Fredric looked at Zeke with a genuine warmth, and for the first time in a while, Zeke smiled back.

He screamed as the cold pavement rushed up to meet him. Yet just before impact, he halted mid-air, floating effortlessly. "Oh," he said, slowly opening his eyes.

Zeke stood up as Fredric gently descended beside him. "Lesht'sh ghow," Fredric said, toothbrush still in his mouth.

They sprinted toward the nearest monorail station. Fredric calmly brushed his teeth while running, carefully spitting out the toothpaste to avoid any mess. When he finished, he tossed the brush into the nearest bin.

"Your toothbrush," Zeke remarked.

"I'll get a new one. You don't expect me to carry it around all day, do you?" Fredric replied with a slight smirk.

By the time they arrived, the monorail had already departed. "fuck, we're five minutes late," Zeke groaned, visibly frustrated.

"Think we can catch up if I speed us up?" Fredric wondered.

"Hmm," Zeke considered. "Not catch up—we'll cut a corner," he decided, hopping onto a fire escape of a nearby building to reach the rooftop.

Fredric followed suit, casting a spell to accelerate them both. No one below noticed the duo scaling the building; they moved swiftly, gracefully leaping upward at breakneck speed.

They raced across the rooftops, the golden sunrise embracing them once more. The cold wind whipped against their faces, but they couldn't help feeling a strange connection. "This... is pretty fun, don't you think?" Zeke smiled warmly at Fredric.

"Yeah! We should do this more often," Fredric laughed, his eyes sparkling with innocence.

Soon, they reached a point where the monorail line cut between buildings. They dashed forward, turning into blurred streaks as the train approached.

"Ready?" Zeke grinned as they neared the edge.

"Hoohoo!" Fredric shouted in response.

They leaped, letting momentum carry them like speeding bullets, crashing directly through the train's open windows and landing in an empty four-person seat.

Breathing heavily, they struggled to catch their breath, cold sweat dripping down their cheeks. "Holy Fuck, that was intense," Fredric mumbled.

"Yeah," Zeke agreed, pulling a bottle of water from his bag. He took a sip before passing it to Fredric.

"I'm surprised you could keep up," Fredric remarked after drinking. "I'm pretty well-known for my stamina."

"What did you expect? I've been doing nothing but stamina training down there," Zeke replied.

"I guess so," Fredric smirked, pouring water over his head. "But didn't the lack of sleep hit you at least a bit?"

Zeke grabbed the bottle and poured the remaining water over himself. "It did," he said, staring directly at Fredric. His tired eyes lit up with a golden hue as the train entered a clearing.

"I see," Fredric smiled, looking equally exhausted.

"By the way, how did you use so much magic back there without setting off the alarm? Is there some kind of trick?" Zeke wondered.

"There is and isn't," Fredric closed his eyes. "It's all about efficiency. The Ordinus system judges illegal actions based on mana emission. Contractors are allowed some mana for daily necessities, so anything below what's considered an offensive spell isn't registered." He sighed. "The trick is using less mana than that threshold, even when casting powerful magic."

"Where did you learn that?" Zeke asked, genuinely curious.

"That's a little too personal, don't you think?" Fredric smirked.

"Fuck!" Zeke muttered abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Fredric wondered.

"I think I forgot my keys."

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