Chapter Thirty-One.

Eden ruffled his brother's hair, startling the younger boy, who jumped back and took up a fighting stance before realizing who was there.

"Eden!" Nick exclaimed. "What's up, man? Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" Eden chuckled.

"So I was reading the supernatural sites," Nick told him. "And guess what? The largest mage slave trafficking ring in the world just suddenly vanished. It's gone. Everyone died. No official report on how it happened yet."

"They kidnapped the wrong mages," Eden told Nick. "And pissed off one hell of a demigod, whose godly father than ordered at least one or two separate magicians to kill everyone still alive."

"Huh?" Nick gave him a confused look.

Eden walked over to his brother, then wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug as he did his best not to cry. Even if he hadn't remembered anything until Cam showed up, the fact that he had come so close to becoming a mage slave for life – and had even had a platinum collar placed on him – had frightened him.

He had come close to losing ever being with his brother again, or continuing to begin to talk with his family once more. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was glad his parents had begun to resume communications with him. That they had begun to talk to him again and accept that he was a mage.

"What's wrong, Eden?" Nick asked.

"Sorry," Eden whispered. "After we talked yesterday… I got put into a platinum slave collar."

Nick's hands shot up to Eden's neck, feeling for the missing collar.

"I don't feel one," Nick said with concern in his voice. "And they're inescapable, from what I read. Are you feeling okay?"

"I know people," Eden stepped back, smiling with tears in his eyes. "People who know people who can destroy them. Void magic works on them, as long as it's applied right. I've told you about Cam?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded.

"He knows a void mage," Eden told him. "And has asked her to keep an eye on me. She showed up too late to prevent me from being kidnapped… but she used her magic of voids to destroy the collar. If I hadn't, by a stroke of luck, met Cam those few months ago… I'd be a permanent slave."

"So…" Nick said. "Cam's the demigod you were referring to? Right?"

"Yeah," Eden nodded. "That was the first time I had ever seen him truly enraged."

And it made Eden realize just how big the gap between them was. He was a lone school mage, so it was only natural he was powerful and dangerous. But Cam, who was also a lone school mage, was far, far more powerful.

That was the difference between him and a demigod.

Sure, he could best one of the twins in a duel, even with their father being a High God, like Cam's, but he knew he could only beat one of them, and only if he acted fast. Having a lone school and talent in it put him as an equal to those who had normal schools of magic while being born of the most powerful of the gods. A child of the most powerful of the gods with a lone school…

It was like putting Nick against Jenna.

Sure, Eden and Cam had dueled before, and they had come close to a draw a few times, but Cam was also inexperienced and subconsciously holding himself back. Eden had a few years of training.

Realizing this gap, and seeing the power of two other lone school mages in action, Eden's determination to grow as a mage had become even stronger.

He knew that even if he and Cam were friends, the facts were that Cam was at the top, and Eden knew how that felt. After all, until Cam came along, he had been at the top, and it was a lonely place, indeed.

To ensure the gap had even a marginally slower increase, Eden was determined to become as powerful as he could, and that meant a lot more training than before.

"Nick," Eden said. "I'm going for a training session in a minute. I already got permission from Mom and Dad for you to come with me. My mentor's agreed to see about training you, and if he won't, he's agreed to find someone to train you."

Eden had tried convincing Jenna to teach his brother, but she refused, saying she wasn't suited for teaching magic. He knew that she was really trying to figure out if she should stay, despite her and her brother not wanting to be in one place for long. He had hoped that having additional reasons to stay, like teaching someone magic, would have helped her make that decision to stay. For Cam.

It was so obvious how in love he was with her, and she did love him back. He couldn't understand why she'd refuse to get with someone she obviously loved and cared for. Why that wasn't enough of an excuse to put down roots at last and be with epic warriors and mages who would have her back, no matter what.

Her crush was essentially a god with a lot of connections. A lot of powerful connections. One who had performed massive feats, including the Fairy Empress. If being with him wasn't safe, what could be?

"They won't teach you how to be a badass warrior," Eden told his brother. "At least, not at first, but they'll teach you how to control your power and harness it."

"Sure," Nick grinned. "Let me get my shoes and jacket. Are we teleporting there?"

"We are," Eden smiled. "After, we'll get dinner, then you'll get to see a real mage arena fight."

"Do Mom and Dad know?" Nick gave him a suspicious look.

"Yes," Eden chuckled. "I told them I was going to take you, and I promised you yesterday, anyway. Remember? Hurry up, if you want time."

Nick nodded, then stepped into his shoes and quickly laced them, before grabbing his jacket. Before he could pull it on, his brother touched him, and they were suddenly elsewhere.

"This," Eden gestured to the empty warehouse. "Is the underground mage arena I fight in. For the most part, it's impossible to teleport directly in here, so you have to go through one of the bouncers."

"But you teleported in here," Nick frowned.

"He said 'for the most part'," a voice chuckled, and the pair of brothers turned to face the figure standing behind them.

A boy who looked around thirteen, with golden-blond hair, warm brown eyes, and a lean build. He was dressed in designer clothes, and showed no signs of the awkward stages of puberty, his body perfectly proportioned.

Nick was jealous.

"Your brother," the teen said. "Has permission to teleport into and out of here, and is keyed into the enchantments so that he can. Originally, he couldn't, but I keyed him in later so that he could come and go more easily. I trust him not to betray my trust."

"Who are you?" Nick frowned.

"This is Adam Leosvar," Eden answered. "And be forewarned, he changes his appearance frequently, to help prevent people from realizing it's him. He's one of the oldest, most powerful mages on Earth."

"This does," Adam said. "Exclude other supernatural species. Demigods, nephilim, and gods are plentiful. If you were to include them, I would only be in the top thousand supernaturals on Earth."

"Where are you at?" Nick asked.

He was confused as to how someone only thirteen could be so powerful. Or change his appearance in ways that no one could recognize.

"Excluding his father," Eden said as Adam smiled. "Who recently turned out to be a demigod, Adam here is the most powerful mage on Earth. And don't let his looks fool you, he's a natural shift mage. He can shift his body so that it's younger. In actuality, he's ancient. Thousands of years old. He even knew Merlin."

Nick's jaw dropped.

"Come on," Adam smiled. "Let's see what your magic can do, Nick, then I can decide if I want to teach you or not."

Nick nodded, and Adam set a candle on the floor. The flame mage sat down and showed Adam what he could do with it as Eden began performing various exercises with his spatial magic.

The spatial mage watched his brother's show as he distorted space and moved around it. Nick wasn't doing much, just the stuff that he could do, like making the wick light, and the flame grow and shrink.

In the end, Adam did decide to train him, mostly because of the Demon Flames.

"It will be hard to find," Adam said. "A mage willing to teach a novice who uses them. They aren't evil, they're simply hotter than they appear. By a lot. And this means they're more dangerous until you get a feel for how strong they are and how to adjust that temperature."

"But aren't they just flames?" Nick asked, holding his hand close to the candle's small flame, which was currently unaffected by his magic. "It feels like normal fire to me."

"The moment you begin manipulating it with your magic," Adam told him. "It becomes Demon Flames, returning to normal only once you stop. You yourself are immune to your own flames as well, it's an inherent trait of fire magic. Only by foolishness can you burn yourself through your own magic. Now, let's get to work."

Eden returned his focus back to training. His biggest advantage in a fight wasn't his teleportation, even if it might seem capable of doing so. It was excellent for escaping, but in a closed arena, against mages like Jenna and Tyler, it could be problematic.

Since they could simply blanket the entire area in their magic.

Instead, distorting space and distance worked better. Magic didn't travel through all space equally, and distorted space was one such case. His preferred variation on it was to distort distance specifically, as it allowed him to reach them quickly.

However, he could also distort the space itself directly, which would result in most magic either fading away or weakening enough that he could easily avoid it. Against monstrous mages like the twins, that was important for a duel.

Even if he would just teleport right out of the range in a real fight. Better to go for a guaranteed escape than not. There were cases where that wouldn't be possible, though. Like when fighting Silvar and at the facility, but both of those had blocks on spatial magic that prevented him from distorting distance as well, so it wouldn't have mattered.

When the brothers finished their training session, Eden finished it off by teaching Nick a few martial arts moves, then by teleporting him to the Jules Arcade, where the twins were in the middle of an air hockey game against each other.

"Is Cam back in town yet?" Eden asked.

"I think," Jenna answered, failing to block the plastic puck. "Damn. You win, Ty."

The table turned off, and the twins faced Nick.

"You must be Nick," Jenna smiled. "I'm Jenna, and that's my brother, Tyler."

"So?" Tyler asked.

"Adam agreed to teach him," Eden nodded. "It's not too late, Jenna."

"I know," she said. "But I'd rather not take on a student. I'm not suited for it. Want to play me?"

"Think you'll finally find someone you can beat at this?" Eden asked.

"I can beat most people," she rolled her eyes. "I'd rather play against someone who might actually be a challenge."

"Try Cam," Eden told her. "He's got good reflexes and enjoys this game, and does it without using magic."

The three of them knew that some of the kids could use enchant magics and enhance themselves, increasing their ability to play or react to certain games, including at the level of young demigods in three particular cases.

"Um," Nick looked around nervously.

"Only mages can find this place," Eden told him. "It's a sort of haven for young mages in Tejina. No one really knows who owns the place, it sort of simply exists. Every kid you see here is a mage of some sort."

"Really?" Nick looked around with wide eyes. There were at least fifty kids in the arcade. "All of them?"

"Yep," Eden grinned. "Every last one. We got introduced to it by Cam, though we're not sure how he found it. I suspect Adam was the one who introduced him to this place. But to the people on the street? This place isn't noticeable, not unless a mage led them to it. The guy at the food counter? He's a former kid who played here."

"I don't see any adults," Nick frowned. "Other than him."

"The only adults you'll usually see here," Eden told him. "Are the workers, probably. The enchantment is set to let youth with magic awakened find it. It's meant to be a hangout place for kid supernats."

"Oh," Nick said. "So I can meet other young mages, here?"

"Chances are high," Eden nodded.

"Speaking of mages," Jenna said. "Did you ask Adam?"

"Yeah," Eden smiled. "He told Cam that he'd have to ask me before officially saying there would be a match with me taking on two people. Apparently, Cam wasn't happy, but decided that I could decide if I wanted to fight against two demigods or not."

The twins laughed at that.

"Come on," Eden told his brother and the twins. "Let's eat before watching the matches tonight."

"Are you going to fight?" Nick asked as they made their way to the dining area.

"No," Eden shook his head. "As much as Cam wants me to duel the twins, it's not happening. I fight on Mondays, and if Cam and I duel, it's on Fridays, though those duels might be ending."

"Why?" Nick asked.

"Because Cam," Eden said. "Has the ability to knock out nearly anyone in an instant. And now that he doesn't subconsciously hold himself back… he can probably do it to me, through my mental barrier, immediately. Fights against people with lone schools aren't exactly fair, even among those with the lone schools, and some are inherently better than others depending on the spells known."

"Oh," Nick said.

"Order whatever," Eden told him. "It's on me."