(Jason, 16)

"Everything alright?" Lina asks.

"Yes," I hand her the letter just delivered to me by way of royal courier. "Your papa's making a request of me, so it seems the group stroll through town has to be canceled for me."

Niko, Jacob, Lina, Tasha, and I were planning on walking through town today, stopping for somewhere to eat as we traveled. As royals, Jacob and Lina are not allowed to do that often, not without an entire entourage to accompany them. Uncle Zach put a stop to the entourage for today, to allow the happy couples a little more casual of a walk through town.

Their guards will, naturally, remain with them, and have already rejoined us after my training session ended. That should deter people from drawing too close for pointless things, though they will probably still have some people approaching them.

"He finally asked you?" Jacob asks.

"You knew?" I ask.

"The meeting was last Felday," he nods.

"Oh!" Niko realizes something. "The letter is about that? King Zachary is asking Jason for it?"

"For what?" Tasha asks.

"To help teach magic to some Marrans," I answer. "It seems that some parts of Mar are now accepting of it and rejecting their religion's view on it. He's asked me for several reasons. I am an outside source, I am fluent in Marran, and I am the cause of this situation."

"He wants them to be tutored separately from others?" Tasha asks. "Not with other students?"

"The students," I explain. "Are all sixteen, or old enough for university. They would need a private tutor for that. If all goes well, then King Henry will send some younger aspiring magicians next summer, to begin the proper method of training."

"Yes," Niko nods. "He did not realize Varil began teaching their students when they became adults, not just at sixteen. I did not until arriving here, either."

"And so," I say. "They are needing some lessons on the basics. Even though there are academies for those starting magic lessons late, Uncle Zach thought it better to start them off with something a bit more personal, as there might be some confusion. Having someone fluent in Marran was a bonus, as well as someone who has already had to deal with some of the differences between our people. I might be able to explain things to them better than someone else."

"And a request from the king," Tasha begins.

"Can be turned down with honor," I tell her. "I am not Varilan, do not forget, and while it would ordinarily be rude and improper to turn down the request of the king, there are exceptions for everything. If I accept, I am to be in Lecture Hall 23 in a few minutes. Otherwise, one of the professors will start the lesson."

"I will come with you," Niko says. "My presence will likely shock them. Forgive me, Lina, but-"

"It is okay," she smiles at him. "I understand your desire to be around some of your own people, Niko. We can do the walk some other time."

"Thank you," he responds.

"Plus," she says. "I would like to sit on Jason teaching your people how to use magic."

Of course you do. I bet Jacob and Tasha do as well.

"Alright," I roll my eyes before they can comment, their expressions saying it all. "Make sure your guards behave."

I open a gate to the appropriate lecture hall, and Jacob sighs.

"You've been in every room in the university, haven't you?" He asks.

"All of the ones available to me," and some that aren't, but best not to tell him that. "I wanted to make sure that I could easily reach them in a hurry."

"Why were you keyed into the block for the university?" He asks.

"Because your papa didn't tell me not to do that?" I answer, earning confused looks all around. "Uncle Zach asked me to put in a block against gate magics for all of the main universities. Setting it up takes around three hours, and not once was I told not to give myself an exemption. Come, my students are waiting."

"Your students are right in front of you," Jacob mutters.

"My other students," I tell him, then step through the gate, finding ten Marran boys gathered at the back side of the room, looking at the gate warily.

Jacob steps through next, then Lina, their guards, Tasha, and finally, Niko. The Marrans all look at their prince, eyes widening.

"Do you know if they can understand Varil?" I ask.

"No," Niko answers. "They barely know a few words, all learned over the last week. They are staying at the mansion, but keep a respectful distance from me."

As is custom, I suppose. I cancel the gate spell and sit on the professor's desk.

"I will be speaking," I say in Marran as I enhance my voice with magic. "In both Varilan and Marran. If you are to attend proper lessons or take them with someone else, you will need to be able to speak Varilan at a moderate level, minimum."

"This is Jason Jeshema," Niko introduces me to them. "The magician who took out the ogres and corrupted in the mines. He is one of the most talented magicians among our allies. He will be the one teaching all of you for now."

"Come sit in the front," I tell the scared Marrans, who obey, even if hesitantly, though they do give Niko a few more glances as he and the others sit in the row behind them. "It is my understanding that your people believe magic is evil. Can you explain to me the reasons for this?"

None of them were present in the room when I shut down the priests last weekend, and I am hoping they were not given the story of that. At least, not the full details. I want to hear what they believe in all their honesty.

Two of them raise their hands.

"Yes, you," I indicate the one on the right.

"According to the priests," he says. "Magic is a force from the underworld. Only the powers bestowed by the gods are holy and sacred. Using magic that was not bestowed by the gods causes tainting of the world, which then corrupts monsters. It is also the source of ogres."

"Erm," I have to hold back my laughter, but in the end, I can't help but start laughing, earning dark looks from… everyone. "Sorry, guys. Ogres? Seriously? Magic didn't cause them. At least, no less than they cause any number of beneficial magical creatures.

"Ogres," I explain, collecting myself. "Are simply an evolution of a creature. Do any of you have a dog or know someone who did?"

Most of them raise their hands.

"Dogs are an evolution," I explain. "Long ago, humans began taming wolves and domesticated them. Over time, they bred out the traits that were unnecessary and bred the tamed wolves that had the desired traits for hunting. Over several generations, this evolved wolves into dogs, with various breeds based on those desired traits.

"Ogres are similar in that regard," I say. "Their origins are from goblins. Goblins are rather short compared to us humans, yes? Goblins that were tall were cast out. On a rare occasion, the exiled goblins would find others like them of the opposite sex and mate. This produced others that had an inclination towards height. They continued to breed taller and stronger, but also sacrificed their sense of sight, though I'm not sure why. That's what resulted in ogres."

"Doesn't that mean," the boy asks. "That goblins would then be a result of magic, too?"

I sigh.

"No," I say. "Goblins are also the result of evolution. All life is. In addition, all humans have magic. If magic itself was inherently evil, then so too would we humans be.

"You are all here," I say. "Because the ten of you want to learn magic. I want to you dismiss all previous notions you have of it. It is not evil. It does not come from the underworld. It does not disrupt the natural flow of the world's own magical energies."

"But it causes the corrupted!" One of the other boys exclaims.

"No, it doesn't," I think for a minute on what to say. "The corrupted aren't true corrupted, in the first place. They're more like 'tainted', but it has nothing to do with us using magic. True corrupted are influenced by demonic or divine magics, not by mortal magics. There are two types of corrupted beast: cursed corrupted and holy corrupted. Cursed corrupted have a tendency to decay anything they touch. Living things tend to start rotting – while still alive. Holy corrupted have a tendency to heal and purify… excessively. This might not sound like a bad thing, but it is. It overload's a living thing's own healing and recovery, which in turn causes them to become ill, which results in even more healing, which only makes them more ill, up until they die.

"What we call 'corrupted' now," I continue. "Are actually tainted. Human hopes and prayers, mental curses and hate, those used to be filtered into the underworld and the heavens. They no longer are, and this results in that 'extra' energy remaining here on Midlaris. That energy then seeks out a suitable host and influences it, tainting it. Unfortunately, it isn't the sort of thing that can simply influence something else, and regardless of if it's good energy or bad, it causes the corrupted beasts we know now."

Looking at everyone's reactions, there's a mix of confusion and disbelief, except on the faces of Jacob, Niko, Lina, and Tasha. They all have stunned faces.

Looks like I found three more reincarnated Magi. Based on Niko's lack of skill, he's either having a hard time recovering his memories, he's suppressing them, or he's not actually interpreting them. I suppose growing up where he did could have caused the memories of a magical life to be somewhat terrible, so he's probably suppressing them.

Based on the way he pines after Lina… I suppose I know who they are. Tasha and Jacob together tells me who Tasha is, too. At least, if the pairings are the same as back then, just like with Alex and me.

Well, not exactly the same, since this is the first time in our three lives we have been together.

Hm…

It's possible that others have had a harder time recovering their memories because of the time difference and the interference of the Queen of the Gods. Then combine that with needing to mature to start fully understanding the memories, and the others' capabilities being low make sense, with them being reincarnated Magi. I suppose most of us probably only started actually interpreting their memories and learning from them in the last few years.

There's probably at least one other Magi who grew up similar to me, interpreting and somewhat understanding them from a young age. Which one, though?

For that matter, I do need to confirm who these three are, even though I already have suspicions. Niko is probably the most obvious with his natural high affinities for earth and curse magics, but there's always the possibility I'm wrong.

I do need to focus on my magic session, though.

"Now," I say. "As stated, the ten of you decided to defy your church and learn magic. How many of you want to be magicians, and how many of you want to be warriors?"

"Warriors can use magic?" One of the boys asks, surprise on the faces of each of my new students.

"Yes," I beckon to one of Jacob's guards, who gives me an annoyed look. "Jacob, please tell your bodyguard to listen to me for the point of this demonstration."

"Do it," Jacob tells his bodyguard, who reluctantly walks up here and stands to my right, facing the rest of the room.

"This is," I say. "One of the people entrusted with the Crown Prince's safety while he is traveling through the city and kingdom. Like most warriors, he has undergone intense physical training. Part of the combat training includes enhancement magics. Run back and forth across the front of the room."

Jacob's guard gives me an annoyed look, but does.

"Now enhance your speed and do it," I instruct, and he does, moving even faster, causing the Marrans to stare at him in shock. "That's enough, thank you. He can also enhance his physical resilience, allowing him to take blows better, and his physical strength, allowing him to dish out stronger attacks. These are essential to any slayer, or someone who fights ogres and corrupted for a living."

I open up my spatial storage, which draws stunned looks as well. They're both stunned and afraid of every display of magic so far. I hope we can knock that out of them soon. From my spatial storage, I pull out ten bowls, causing Jacob to sigh.

"Why do you have bowls in your dimensional space?" He asks.

That's a good question.

"I'm not sure," I answer. "But I do."

Using force magic, I send the bowls to the ten Marran, who all flinch at that. Once the bowls are sitting in front of them, I begin the next part of the lesson.

"The first part of training," I say. "And one of the most fundamental parts to casting magic, is visualization. For a starter magician, this is augmented by an incantation, a word or phrase that assists your visualization."

I hold up my left hand, using earth magic to create and form a stone bowl, which I then hold in the palm of my hand.

"Visualize what you want to do," I tell them. "There are two forms of visualization, your mental and your magical. Magical is hard to describe in words, but you'll instinctively know how to do it once you start casting magic. The first, and basic, spell you'll be casting is a water-creation spell.

"Hold your hands over the bowl," I move the bowl so that it's in front of me, floating on air, and cup both hands over the bowl, palms cupped towards each other. "Then visualize water forming and pouring from between them and into the bowl. Desire it to happen, and allow your instincts to take over. It might take a few attempts, but you'll be able to tell how to shape your mana into the spell. Using an incantation works best when starting out, until you get the hang of magical visualization and knowing how to listen to your magical instincts. I'm going to do an incantation as an example, but don't repeat it. They're of your own creation, and allow you to visualize what you want better."

My friends all give me intense, interested looks, and I do my best not to sigh. I can't believe I'm about to do an incantation. It's been eleven years since that ridiculous one I did for what turned out to be no reason. I had no need of using incantations because my magical eye and instincts were already working and active, I only thought I did.

"Pour, pour, and flow forth, water as clear as day."

Water forms between my hands and pours down in a small stream, filling the bowl. I cancel the spell as soon as it's almost full, timing it so that the remaining water pouring down fills the bowl exactly to the brim.

"And there you have it," I say. "I have generated water," I say that in Varilan. "And filled the bowl with it. All of you give it a try. Remember, come up with an incantation to help you visualize what you want to happen, and listen to your instincts as to how to shape mana. All humans can use mana instinctively, it's an inherent part of us. Don't fight the instinct, let it happen."

The ten Marrans look uncertain, but try. They all attempt to use various incantations, which are just as ridiculous as the ones I hear Varilans use. By the time half an hour has passed, however, all ten have managed to create water with varying levels of success. None of them managed to fill the bowl halfway, but that doesn't surprise me.

They all have incredibly low amounts of mana, and their magical power is pretty weak, too. My theory on this is that, with the northern kingdom's people rarely using magic, if ever, it began to weaken in them. It wasn't 'necessary', so their bodies adjusted to not using it. Most of those who used it probably didn't find lovers.

Here in Varil, many of those with powerful magic also have powerful children. In other words, magical power and mana amounts are partly inherited. This is part of why Varil has so many powerful magicians – they give all those with talent training if they want it, which opens up more possibilities for finding a romance in addition to increasing their mana and magical power, thus the mana and magical power of their children.

"Good job," I tell the Marran teens. "All of you succeeded in casting your first spells. Did you know that it takes an average of three hours to do it normally? And that most try for several days before succeeding, even after having spent a year learning the basics and adjusting their perceptions to cast spells easier? This means that you all did pretty good with dismissing your past notions of magic, at least temporarily."

"This concludes our first sessions," I tell the teens. "You may keep those bowls. As for the water," I say that word in Varilan. "I guess you'll have to dump it out once you leave the building? That, or in a potty room somewhere. Thank you for attending. Do you have any questions?"

Several of them raise their hands, all of them looking uncertain.

"Yes?" I point at one of them.

"Why is royalty in the same place of learning as commoners?" He asks. "Do they not learn from personal tutors?"

"No," I answer. "Here in Varil, your education starting at university is based on your own studies and merit. They can learn with private tutors, as happens in Mar and many other nations, but things are different in Varil. This gives them a chance to interact with nobles and commoners on equal grounds, as their authority holds no weight as students. This does not mean they are completely treated as commoners – as you'll have noticed, both Jacob and Lina, the Varilan prince and princess, have guards with them. Their safety overrules the rules, so their guards are present for lessons and training except in field experience. The reason for that is field experience is overseen by proper Royal Mages and Royal Knights, who have more experience than their current guards. On those days, their guards either have time off, or go through additional training to help maintain and improve their skills. You."

I point at another teen.

"Why are there girls attending university?" He asks. "Should they not stay at home to raise their children and keep things clean? They are being treated as equals."

"Varil," I say. "Sees such practices as old-fashioned. If a woman can do the same job as a man just as well as he can, why should she not be allowed to? My Mama Alyssa is a builder, she makes buildings and enchants them. There are men she can do three times the work of when it comes to building, and she's around eighty years old."

Their eyes widen in shock.

"You," I point at another.

"Why do you wear those pins in your hair?" He asks. "I have not seen that in Varil yet, not among men."

Niko starts laughing at the question.

"The first day you do it with a Marran," he says. "He notices and asks! The first time more Marran meet you, they ask, too! Did you not say that only Alex has commented on it so far?"

"Alex has asked about it?" Jacob asks, and I give him an inquisitive look. "I speak some Marran. Lina and I were both taught it."

"Yes," I say. "Alex asked about it, I turn my attention back to the Mararn. "I'm doing a social experiment regarding it, and taking note of everyone who gives the pins themselves more than a look, and what their expressions are. I am also noting down everyone who asks about it or makes a comment regarding them. You."

"Is it true that you kidnap Prince Niko?" He asks, sounding suspicious and wary while also angry.

"You can ask him yourself," I gesture to Niko.

"He does not," Niko responds. "I am assisting him in a secret project."

"Speaking of that," I tell him as his people give him stunned and awed looks, probably due to their royalty actually answering their question. "Are you ready for it this weekend?"

"I am," he nods.

"Alright," I say. "Lina, Jacob, I'll entrust you two to act as the representatives of Varil for escorting them out. Niko and I had plans to work on the project this weekend."

"Before you two disappear off for this project," Jacob says. "Papa has a request for either you or the Sages, and was hoping we could pass it on to you, and you possibly to them if you do not wish to perform it."

(Alex, 16)

When I enter the cafe, I sweep my gaze over the room. There's a bar at the back of it, with shelves filled with bottles, glasses, and small sacks of various items, in addition to a few bowls of fruits and vegetables. There are ten tables set up, with three customers at one and four at another. Behind the counter is Mikey, who is busy filling a cup with tea from a simple pot, which he sets back onto the burner beneath the counter.

"Hey, Mikey," I say.

"Welcome," he smiles at me. "Didn't expect to see ya here."

He clears his throat.

"Didn't expect to see you here."

"They're making you work on that accent?" I ask.

"Yes," he nods, sipping the tea. "It ain't easy, though. We got a new baker, by the way. Some kid named Adam, said he knows an Alex and a Jason, figured it was probably ya and that pompous noble ya know."

"Sixteen?" I ask. "Comes from a ways away?"

"Yep," he answers, and I take a seat at the counter. "Can I get ya anything, Boss?"

"A tea," I nod. "Any treats you recommend?"

"We gots these nice muffins," he tells me. "And the new guy made some bread this morning that's got raisins in it, and I think a touch of cinnamon, too. Not sure. Tastes good, though, and there's a few pieces left."

"Sure," I say. "Both please."

"Got it, Boss," he pours me a glass of tea, then opens up something under the counter and does some stuff, before setting a place with a slice of the raisin bread in front of me, along with a banana nut muffin. "Here ya go. It's five varru for the tea, and ten for the muffin and bread together."

I hand him fifteen varru, then enjoy the muffin and tea, before trying the raisin bread. I have a vague memory of the flavor of the ones from Earth, but it's not enough to compare. Regardless, I enjoy this. Adam definitely knows what he's doing, at least for these.

When I finish eating, I give Mikey directions. He can't read that well, but he can memorize certain things, such as directions, easily.

"That's the new place to stay," I tell him. "Barry and Sara wanted to give it to you, but I told them I was visiting you anyway. It's a nice place – three bedrooms, one potty room. No bath, so you guys will have to use the public baths to bathe. There's a kitchen and family room, but no dining room. A standard family house for a city family."

"A house?" He asks.

"Sort of?" I answer. "It's more of an apartment, I suppose. The building has four floors to it, and each floor is a separate home. Rent is four thousand a month, but between your job here, Col and Peter working, Barry and Sara hunting, and Jeddy's crush-filled job-"

"What?" He frowns.

"-you should be able to afford it," I finish. "Officially, the lease is in Barry's name, but the rest of you are still good to stay there."

"What do you mean, 'Jeddy's crush'?" He asks.

"You didn't know?" I smirk. "Jeddy's developed a crush on the daughter of the owner of a nearby stall. Barry mentioned it to me earlier, he said he'd stopped by to see how Jeddy was doing, and the guy was blushing up a storm while watching her. The stall owner himself laughed when Barry asked if it was affecting his job and said that Jeddy was there more because of his cuteness factor. Apparently, the real reason he wanted Jeddy wasn't for the work, but because he knew it would pull in plenty of women."

Like most street rats, Jeddy is relatively small for his age. He can definitely be counted as cute, so I can see the stall owner wanting to use him to attract more women to his stall. Many of the people who do the shopping for food are female, so it's a logical choice.

"Anyway," I tell Mikey. "I just wanted to see how ya were doing, Mikey, and to see ya at your new job and give you the directions to the apartment. It's fourth-floor. I'm going to head to the hunter's guild and see if they've news on the situation with the flame boars. Barry and Sara said it's still problematic to go out hunting."

"See ya," he says, and I leave, then make my way to the hunter's guild.

After asking at the desk, I learn what they know so far. They put up a B-Class hunt on the information regarding the issue, and received information on it a few hours ago. Barry and Sara didn't know because they check in the mornings, usually.

The resulting answer?

Nothing. They cannot figure out the source of the flame boars' increased numbers, it's as if they're simply manifesting in the air. That tells me everything I need to know, though. How to give them the information they need to deal with the situation without drawing attention to myself, though?

As soon as they finish with their walk through the city with the prince and princess, Jason and Niko will probably head off to wherever it is they go when Jason secretly teaches Niko the proper foundation for magic. That means I can't just let Jason know.

And I can't exactly go up to the royals and tell them. They'd want to know how I know such things.

Hm. If I could use my past's power, I'd be able to handle the situation easily. Sadly, I have neither the magical power nor the physical skills I had back then. At least this is a completely mundane problem and not something that would require the power of a Magi.

The sudden increase in the number of flame boars is the result of magical overload. There's too much ambient magic in the air, the mana fine-tuned for fire magics. The generation of the boars is the world's way of mitigating the problem so that it doesn't start manifesting as random magical occurrences.

Fire simply forming out of nowhere, exploding where it forms, would not be fun to deal with, and Midlaris is a world that cares for his children.

His children, apparently. At least, according to the memories I have from when I was Quinn. Nolan always referred to Midlaris as a male with absolute confidence, as did several demons I knew, back before Nolan rescued me.

I'm glad those are only memories and not pure experiences for me. From what my memories tell me, I rarely slept well, even up to the latest of the ones I have from back then, because of what happened to me before Nolan rescued me.

I frown. Nolan rescued me, Lucas rescued me, and Jason rescued me. This seems to be a habit, doesn't it? Hm. Jason might actually know a way to deal with the flame boars situation. For now, the guild is putting it as a B-Class hunt so they can attempt to decrease the number of them, but something needs to be done soon. Whenever increases in monsters happen, the guilds usually just have people kill them until they end. Most only last a few months, but there are some that can last for years.

Well, nothing I can do, I guess. We'll have to wait until Jason returns so that he can handle the situation. Assuming he has the appropriate memories. If not, I'll have to tell him what I know so he can take care of it.