The days fly by and the changes within my body and my mind astound me! The others are progressing mightily as well, I can see as much from the added swiftness of Kestrel's blade and the sureness of Blink's strikes. Mere months ago, my companions appeared as I, as any apprentices might upon graduating into the world. Today, our band would give any single man, warrior or wizard, reason to doubt his safety. I have seen a single arrow from Vaugner that could have dropped a hill giant! And to my amazement, I have nearly equaled his feat not once, but twice!

The others may not fully appreciate the changes because they are so much more obvious to those who study the Art. The fountain at Sola gave us all appreciable health, and our strange dreams have quickened and strengthen us in all manner, but those who pursue the Arcane Arts truly see the changes because they affect our clarity of mind.

We mages can read all manner of arcane writing, but we can not understand everything we read until the foundations of understanding are laid. Only a few short months ago, the incantations of Luminosity and Hand of the Mage taxed my mental faculties. It was all I could do to properly set an Arcane Mark. Now, Rillian's scroll of Fireball, once no more than incomprehensible gyrations of Elemental Fire, seems as clear as day! How many of but nineteen short years can cause the awesome energies of the Plane of Fire to coalesce in their minds, ready to spring forth in a flaming torrent of heat and light! I am astounded, there is no other word!

I remember Brock back in Arcane Theory asking Dame Millington the likely timing of progression through the Circles. She was quite diplomatic in her response, hinting that it might take years of study to progress a single Circle, and that many would never reach the Ninth, even if their raw talent proved sufficient to the task. Years, she said! Ninety days and nights have passed since our final exams were waived. Ninety days and the Third Circle is now my willing servant. How long to the Fourth? There is no telling, but this phenomenal pace leaves me wondering: "How is it being accomplished?" Can all six of us, six of a class of barely thirty, be so gifted? One of us, I could see. Two, the coincidence would be suspicious. But six? The odds can not be calculated! There is only one explanation: We are being aided by some power beyond our imagination. But for what purpose? And are we mere pawns, or will we take our destinies into our own hands? One thing is for certain: At this pace, we will soon know!