(Alex, 17)

This is going to be fun. The exhibition for Sageson Magical Technologies' new products is occurring inside the Exhibition Hall, a massive building with a few huge rooms where large exhibitions take place. The food exhibition will take place here next weekend, and I suppose Jason got permission to use it this time.

His demonstration is occurring in the Grand Hall, it's central and largest room. It's over four hundred feet in length and width, and there's a projection board floating in the air every fifty feet from the back of the room towards the stage set up for him, ensuring everyone can see. Speakers are set up as well, ensuring everyone can hear.

They really set things up this time.

Jason is already up on stage, along with several employees of Sageson Magical Technologies. As with last time, their new products are hidden underneath sheets held up with magic to form box shapes, regardless of what the form of the product underneath actually is.

My crew and I wait with the thousands of others for the demonstration to begin, and at precisely two in the afternoon, Jason steps forward, the screens changing from showing the goods on the tables to Jason himself.

He looks rather healthy, but I know he's using more illusions to create that. He ain't doing all that well, and has gotten worse over the last couple of weeks even if his mamas and papas ordered him into rest. We all know he ain't resting that much, even if he's getting enough to get by.

Some of us are suspecting that an infection set in, and that he ain't having an easy time chasing it off.

"Hello, everyone!" Jason says. "As most of you probably know, I'm Jason Jeshema, one of the representatives and owners of Sageson Magical Technologies! Many of you were there a few months ago when we demonstrated new products, and I can assure those of you who were, we have plenty more coming that's just as great!

"But first," he says. "To all the mamas out there, to all the chefs who work the kitchens in a restaurant, let me ask you something. Tell me, how often do you wish mixing dough was easier? Making the icing or frosting quicker? If you want to speed things up, you need to add a little magic to it, but you still can't do anything until it's done, right?"

There are murmurs of agreement from most of the women around me. They would be the ones who stay at home and take care of the kids. I know from my memories as Kris that it wasn't like that on Earth, as we had long-since moved past the point of women staying at home to take care of the house and children, but we haven't here.

"It's not all that bad," Adam mutters, and I remember that he's behind me. "But I can see why it would be nice to do something easier."

Wait. No. No freaking way! Did Jason invent one of those?

"Well!" Jason flashes that award-winning smile of his. "Get ready to not need those arm muscles as much anymore, folks!"

He walks behind a table as one of the staff members approaches, and she removes the sheets, revealing a stand-up mixer. There's also… ingredients on the table. He's making something, which means one of those things is a freaking oven.

"This is a mixer," Jason indicates the device. "It runs using a mana battery, and once turned on, it will begin mixing ingredients for you. Watch!"

He pours ingredients into the mixer, probably having measured them out before this. Then, he turns it on.

"There are several speed settings," Jason tells everyone. "Some quicker, some slower. All efficient in their own way, depending on what you're doing."

As he talks, he mixes the wet ingredients together, then pours them into the mixer. It's not long after that the dough finishes.

"And ta-da!" Jason says. "It's done, with no extra work on my part! Quick, efficient, and less energy-consuming on your part! Now look at this!"

He pulls the dough out, then rolls it out, and quickly assembles a pie. He makes a freaking berry pie. Oh, my goodness, Jason! Seriously?

"Of course," Jason says. "There is nothing like hand-kneading the dough yourself, but if you've got a few screaming kids, or a high volume of orders, you might not have the time for that. Naturally, a quality place might continue to hand-mix and knead their products, but this isn't meant for this."

As he talks, he walks over to another product, and an employee removes the sheet. Yup, that's an oven.

"This!" Jason says. "Is an oven with a stove on top! We have two versions of them. The first version connects to the power grid and runs off the enchanted network, if it's available where you live. The second, this version, runs off of mana packs, a larger mana battery than normal.

"This oven," Jason continues as he opens it. "Has already been heated up. Unlike your standard oven, you can more easily control the temperature."

He puts the pie inside, then closes the oven, before turning on the timer built into the clock on the thing rising up from the back of the stove. I never did learn if those had a name back on Earth.

"And," he says. "You can set a timer through it! Now, while that pie is baking, I'm sure you are all going to be smelling it. Well, have you ever wanted the smell of a freshly-baked pie without having to bake a pie?"

Jason walks to another product as he speaks.

"Is he talking about candles?" Elise asks.

"That would be weird," Adam responds.

"Well!" Jason says as the sheet is removed. "Now you can! This ceramic device utilizes heating enchantments to warm a wax on it. This special wax has been infused with the smell of fresh-baked pies, and the scent can last up to three months!"

Jason demonstrates how to turn on the wax warmer, showing us several different scents, all of them pies except for one, brownies. He announces that they also have a line of candles with the same scents as well.

"However," Jason says. "For those who want the scent and don't want to risk your little ones knocking over the candle and setting something on fire, the warmers are the better option. With no flames and a controlled enchantment that shuts off if the warmer is knocked over, all you'd have to worry about is hot wax and no flames!"

"Speaking of children," Jason walks over to another spot, and the sheet is removed, revealing a table covered in stuffies, along with a few buckets. Two look like they're filled with water, while the other is full of something dark red. "We have something for them, too! Many of you may have seen or heard about the stuffie golems said to protect Prince Jacob. Well, everything has a starting point, and defensive stuffie golems originated from these!

"These stuffies," Jason indicates the table of stuffies. "Are not ordinary stuffies, but golems. They utilize a special enchanted core that draws on the mana in the environment, much like many mana batteries and mana generators. They're not as complex as the ones made protection my cousin, but they can do a few things."

He demonstrates with some of the stuffies, having them make orbs of light, walk, sit, dance, imitate their model animal's sounds, and a few other things. He also mentions that they can warm up lightly, helping to keep a child warm in the cooler days and nights, or cool lightly, helping to chill a child suffering from the heat of summer.

As he talks, one of the stuffies moves independently, then jumps up onto his head. Tiger Alpha snuck his way in, and Jason ain't paying him any mind. I bet he's going to scold the stuffie later, and that is one sentence I never thought I'd say or think.

"Now," Jason says. "Have you ever had an issue with your child's stuffie getting stained, and the stain just not coming out?"

Jason grabs a pair of white wolf stuffies using force magic and dunks them into the bucket of red liquid. The stuffies float back up, and Jason rapid-dries them with fire magics, using just the heat aspect of it.

"Especially if the stain has set in before you can take care of it?" He asks, the points at one of the stuffies, before walking towards another product, the other stuffie following him through the air. "Well, worry no more! Sageson Home Goods' stuffies, both golem and normal, are made with quality enchantments that reduce staining!

"Now," he stops beside the product. "How do you wash them? Well, there are several ways to!"

The sheet is removed, revealing the clothes washing machine that had some sort of technical issue preventing them from announcing it last time. It's a front-loader, and I suppose he didn't want top-loaders. Can't blame him, I don't remember using them much, but doubt I enjoyed having to reach all the way down to grab stuff.

"First!" He says as the door to it is opened. "You can toss it in our new clothes-washing machine! These hook into the plumbing system to draw in clean water and to expel the dirty water after! It washes in cycles, first doing the cleaning cycle, then the rinse cycle! Add in a bit of laundry soap, set it to the type of wash you're doing, then let it do its job! When paired with the clothes dryer we announced last year, washing your clothes is no longer a time-consuming thing, and you can have fresh laundry in only an hour to an hour and a half!"

He demonstrates how to set the thing, then turns on the washer, and Tiger Alpha's expression says he does not envy the wolf stuffie.

For the other stuffie, he dunks it into one of the buckets of water, scrubbing it with a bit of soap, then uses the water from the other bucket to rinse it off. The soap is the kind which can be bought at the store, and nothing special. When the stuff is rinsed, there is no trace of the red liquid set into it.

Those are the highlights of the exhibition, and Jason demonstrates a few other products, making sure to pull the pie out when the timer goes off and to bring out the other wolf stuffie when the wash cycle ends, using magic to dry it off. Pure-white once more.

Wait. What is the washer hooked up to? They're on a stage, so do they have a small bit of plumbing set up underneath it just for the demonstration? I suppose with their finances, they can afford to do something temporary like that.

It looks like the massage balls are ready to be sold as well, as they're demonstrated on an employee's back.

The demonstration lasts for more than an hour, and then Jason grins at everyone once there are no new products to reveal.

"And folks!" Jason says. "We have saved the best item for last! Now, I know what you're all thinking: 'there are no more products up there!' Well, you're right! There aren't! That's because this product is far too large to put into here! In fact, we don't even have it fully constructed yet! However, we've been working on it for awhile, and we're ready to start construction of its tracks!"

The train!

All of the screens change to show train tracks with a train on top of them. It looks pretty realistic, so I'm assuming they have the two cars we can see already built. It's inside of a building of some sort, making it hard to know where it's located.

"Transportation is moving ahead!" Jason announces. "What you see on the boards now is the first of its kind: a train! An idea brought over by reincarnates from other planets, a train is a fast-moving transportation vehicle. It can be used to transfer goods or people over long distances much more quickly than even the quickest horse!

"The train you see up there," Jason says as the images change to show the inside, revealing the train's seating compartments. "Is a passenger train, designed to transfer people from one place to another. We've already begun construction of both the train and the tracks, and will be working with Mar on this project! By the time summer ends, we will have a direct train line leading from here, Varisly, all the way to the Marran capital! Roughly six hundred miles of tracks, a journey which often takes a month to manage, if traveling by carriage or horse. Well, with this train, we can manage it in six hours!"

The murmurs that had begun as he spoke stop, the entire exhibition hall going silent.

"That's right," Jason says, and I can hear the grin on his face. "As I said, this is a whole new level of transportation! The train will have several stops along the way, and the tracks won't be a straight shot. The actual journey, factoring in its twists and turns and stops in other cities, will take around eight or nine hours total.

"Now," he says. "I know many of you are skeptical over this. 'Can we trust it?' 'If they have only just started building it, how can they be so confident in it?' And other various questions. Truthfully? Because my Papa Jared – Sage Jared – and I have been working on this for several years now! We have worked closely with someone reincarnated from a world where these exist in order to construct it, and we have already performed preliminary tests.

"During the summer," he says. "As soon as the railway is complete, we will be sending the train on its first journey, a complete trip from here at Varily all the way to the Marran capital!"

Jason continues his explanation of it, saying that they are already working on construction the train stations throughout its locations, including here in Varilsy. Cost for riding it will depend on which style of compartment the passenger wishes to ride in, and food can be bought during the journey.

All I can think about is a map I remember seeing in Jason's workshop. I didn't think anything of it, but it had lines all across it, forming strange patterns. I thought he was tracking movements or something. Most of the lines were focused on Varil, but there was one that went straight to the Marran capital that passed through Varilsy. From Varilsy to the Marran capital was a violet line, though most of the lines were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo, which is why I had thought it was just some strange thing of Jason's.

It was a map of the planned railroad system. The color of the lines likely indicated the priority for putting the tracks down. There was another violet line that went to the Jakor Duchy, and another to the Meti Duchy.

Both places with gates, both places that may be affected by war soon. The gates might act as a backup or emergency thing, while the trains will act as the normal transport for troops.

As Jason concludes his demonstration, my mind travels to one of the red lines I remember seeing. It went from Varilsy to the Unwild Lands. Not just anywhere, though – I'm sure it's somewhere near where the Sages live.

What is the long-term game for the Sages? What is their ultimate goal? Their interactions with society and recent actions are far more than should result just from having Jason. They took in three more orphans, too.

What are they doing?

As everyone clears out, I stay with Adam and Elise until we're a safe distance from the exhibition hall, mostly to avoid being shoved by the crowd.

"Here you go," Adam pulls out several baskets of treats from his spatial storage. "As you ordered."

"Thanks," I send them into my spatial storage. "I hope they help cheer Jason up."

"Same," he tells me. "Have you managed to figure out why he's gotten so depressed?"

"No," I answer.

"That's a shame," Elise sighs. "I have a few memories from our time as the Magi where Nolan got depressed, and he kept whatever it was bottled in. It probably frustrated us back then just as much as it is now. I don't need my experiences to know that."

"He tries to shoulder everything himself," I nod. "And wants us to worry as little as possible. I know he's going to heal from his injuries, and that his depression will fade, but it ain't right for him to bear it alone. Anyway, thanks. I'm going to head to his house and hopefully beat him there."

"Good luck," Adam says, then leaves.

I bid my crew farewell, then get moving.

(Adam, 17)

When I arrive at my apartment after seeing Elise to the forge where she's beginning her shift for the day, I find a royal carriage outside. Jacob or Lina must be here, which is surprising. There are rumors that a god appeared and made it clear that the Magi were acting under orders of a god higher than the ones we fought, but most people are still finding it hard to believe that. Without proof, doubt always sets in.

Due to that, Their Highnesses are avoiding being out in public as much as they can. University, training, and that's it. The rest of the time, they stay in the palace, doing whatever it is they're doing. I know Jacob is running the kingdom, and am not sure about Lina. Elise has voiced thoughts of asking Lina after training if she could come to the palace with them and keep them company. Unlike Jacob, who has Eden with him quite often lately, or Jacob to hang out with, Lina has only Tasha to keep her company, and Tasha has her own business to deal with.

Well, there is Niko, too, but a lady needs her lady company, even if her betrothed is available.

There are rumors about Jason and Alex being Magi as well, though no one is sure of what to make of them. Neither of them have commented about them, so either no one's saying anything, or they don't care. I'm going to bet on both.

I enter the apartment and find Jacob inside, looking somewhat grim.

"Is everything alright?" I ask.

"No," he answers. "One of our agents in the Jakor Duchy was killed. Just outright murdered for serving me. Thankfully, I have other agents present, and know some of the situation. Duke Jakor is treating harshly anyone loyal to Varil, and is forcing everyone who can to train in preparation for war against Varil. The former Duke of Varilar is doing the same in the region he seized control of."

Only the Magi have been alerted to the full situation. Right now, we are Varilans, except for Jason and Niko, and we hold loyalty to it. Jacob asked us if we would be willing to serve Varil in a worst-case scenario, and we all confirmed it.

We are more than Magi, we are friends. Even if our pasts were to integrate themselves back into our lives like Jason's has, we would remain as friends and loyal to each other. It is only natural that we would serve our country.

"That is one of the main issues," he tells me. "But it seems they are also hunting down anyone who might be suspected of being able to start a revolt. It is not right, and we need to put a stop to it. Now."

"Do you have an idea of what to do?" I ask.

"We could use the gate to move troops in," he tells me. "Except that they are keeping it sealed. I do not even want to know how they created that enchantment, as the enchanters would not have helped them.

"That is why I am here," he fixes his gaze into mine. "We need the power of a Magus. Even a weakened one is more capable than Royal Guards."

"You wish for help from the King of Summer," I say.

"Yes," he answers. "Adam, I am formally asking you as your prince to aid your country is destroying this rebellion. Use whatever means necessary."

"No matter the consequences?"

"Let me deal with the aftermath," he tells me. "It is time the world knows just how powerful the Magi are, and for us to send a reminder that Varil is not a nation to mess with."

"Understood," I say. "I'll head out immediately, then."

"Thank you," he says, then leaves.

I change outfits, pulling on a warm robe. I'm heading north, after all. I could use a basic heat spell to warm myself, but I'll focus all of my energies on dealing with the rebellion. Jacob no doubt knows that what I'm going to do is extreme.

I am the Divine Phoenix, Magus of Energy, King of Summer.

To call upon a Magus for assistance means no damns are given about the consequences, as long as the issue is dealt with.

Changed, I open up a gate to my hometown, then another to a spot further north, passing through with barely a glance at the people I grew up with. Now that I am as close to the Jakor Duchy as I can get with gates, I utilize the flight spell Jason taught all of us in his elite training group.

It takes me only a couple of hours to reach the Jakor Duky's main city, and I fly right over the walls surrounding the large mansion at its heart, then I land, activating my aural sheath and utilizing two fluid barriers coating my body, for a total of three layers of defense.

My new appearance is no doubt surreal to the guards here, and I ignore them as I enter the mansion, using force magic to open the doors.

Inside, I make my way straight to the dining room, where Duke Jakor sits, eating a feast with a handful of others.

"Duke Jakor," I say as his guards take up their arms, mages ready to cast their spells. "You have committed high treason for the rebellion you have launched. Surrender yourself to the Varilan authorities."

"Hmph!" He scoffs. "So the heretic sent a single child to come after me?"

"Child?" I ask. "I am an adult, traitor, and I am far more capable than your guards. Now, surrender yourself. This is the territory of Varil, and you have unlawfully seized it and are persecuting Varilan citizens."

"And if I don't?" He asks. "For example… kill him!"

I hold up my right hand as his guards begin their attack, then snap, activating the spell I began casting as soon as I entered. All of his guards present erupt into flames which consume them, turning them to ash in only a handful of seconds.

The traitor pales at that.

"Congratulations," I say. "You've made me kill people for the first time in this incarnation."

"In this incarnation?" He frowns.

"Yes," I say. "I am the Magus of Energy, the King of Summer. You have failed to comply with the orders and face proper punishment for your actions. No damns are given anymore. You have one week to surrender back to Varil and stop your attacks on its citizens. I'm not a soldier, nor a negotiator."

I intensify my stare on him, and he gulps.

"I am someone who fought the gods themselves," I say. "And won."

With that, I turn and leave, flying out of the city. I land outside of it, then begin casting a spell. It's even more complex than Niko's big curse he used against the titan, and takes me more than an hour to cast. More than five hundred steps to the spell.

During that time, several guards attack me, but I ignore them. Even his strongest mages aren't as strong as I am, so their attacks just slam into my barriers.

When I finish the spell, I point at a spot above the city.

"Sun of the Phoenix."

The moment I say its final words, the spell activates. A miniature sun forms above the city, burning bright and hot. They will no longer suffer night here, and the sun will burn their crops away. Its main effect will cover half of the Jakor Duchy, and it took up nearly all of my mana to cast.

At my current power level, it will only last a week, but it's still beyond anything their mages can stop. More than five hundred steps to the spell means no normal person could hope to affect it. The spell is even designed to burn away any spells designed to filter out light or heat.

Even if the sun itself is over this city and affecting half of the duchy, it will be seen from neighboring regions. Their environments and crops will be affected by it. I can already feel the plants around me waking up, falsely believing it to be summer now.

"This," I say to the guards staring at the miniature sun in horror. "Is barely even a fraction of the power of a Magus."

(Jason, 16)

"Are you okay?" Mama Elena rushes onto the stage as I start coughing. "I told you not to push yourself, Jason."

Something happened around an hour ago that set off my body. Something in the natural state of magic on a major scale. I've been doing my best to ignore it, but whatever it is, there's a disturbance nearby. A powerful one that's causing me to feel even more ill.

Hopefully, it's nothing too serious. Honestly, it's probably just a meteor passing close by, or an earthquake about to hit, or something.

"I'll be fine," I tell her. "I just need some rest."

"Jason," she says. "You need more than a little rest. You need to stop working on things, stop going out, and stop doing things!"

"That's not why I got worse," I tell her. "My sensitivity to the natural state of magics has increased over the last week, and even the slightest shift is causing havoc for me now. Once I finish healing, I'll be fine. It should return to normal once everything's better."

"Jason-"

"Mama Elena," I say. "I'm not doing much. I'm barely using magic at all other than what I need to sustain myself. I've been tinkering, yeah, but I'm not enchanting or anything."

"Okay," she takes a deep breath. I know she doesn't want to do this while we're still in the hall, with a few thousand people still present, but I guess she's going to. "Jason, you need to rest. Go home and get in bed. Don't get out unless you need to."

"I do that," I say. "It'll make Alex and them worry even more. I was planning on visiting my healing hot springs again. I always feel a little better after soaking in them for a few hours. They do boost my recovery a bit."

"You need to go home and rest right now," she tells me. "You're about to pass out, and if you go to the hot spring, you probably will pass out."

"Yeah, yeah," I sigh. "I'll do that once we finish cleaning this up."

So many people are here to watch us clean up the stuff or talk with the employees we have present to answer questions about some of our products, to give out more detailed information than what I gave during my demonstration.

"Jason-"

"Supervising, supervising," I hold my hands up in defeat. "I'm just supervising."

She nods, then returns to overseeing stuff as well. I don't even have my scanning spell active, my state has gotten that bad. Actually, I've been contemplating on visiting Uncle Zach and David and hanging out in the sanctuary, hoping that helps boost me enough that I don't feel this horrible.

Without warning, a pair of arms snake their way around me from behind, one over my left shoulder, one from my right side. A head moves beside mine as I tense up, not sure if I can actually push off whoever this is. Only Alex is allowed to touch me like this, and people are starting to stare!

Before I can say or do anything after my shock, the being kisses me on the cheek. Immediately, I feel my body's recovery speed up. Immensely.

To the point where I'm healing at what should be my natural rate.

"I can't sense Enamas, so I take it you gave as good as you got, Dragon?"

"Jaklenai," I recognize the voice speaking in lightly-accented Varilan.

"Yeah," he says. "I woke up a little bit ago and sensed your suffering."

"You just woke up, and already speak Varilan?"

"Yeah," he chuckles. "I copied the knowledge of it from several people on my way here. Has it really been three thousand years since I went down for a nap?"

"Probably," I answer. "You lifted the curse of his ill intent."

"Of course I did," his voice is playful. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I'm dating your papa now," I tell him as Mana Elena finally notices people staring at me, and she turns her gaze to us, looking confused, angry, worried, and several other things I can't really focus on right now.

"Really?" He sounds happy. "It's about time you finally confessed to him."

"He'd probably not be happy with you hugging me like this."

"I'm affecting your healing through our contact so that you don't feel the full effects of your body repairing," he tells me. "It would be quite uncomfortable, based on what you told me."

I sigh, knowing he's right about that.

"Thanks," I tell him. "I'm directing the healing into the worst areas. It probably won't be more than an hour or two before I finish healing up, and I think I can put up with the discomfort for that long. It's been more than a month since I fought Enamas."

"Okay," he releases me, then moves around to my front.

He looks much as he did back then, with his blue hair, green eyes, and that star stud earring I made him. Unlike my last memory of him, Jaklenai is clothed. The god's not wearing his usual outfit from back then, and instead has on a pair of cargo shorts, boots, and a sleeveless shirt that hugs his body well, emphasizing his toned build.

Did he go somewhere like Earth before coming to me, just to get those clothes? Because those shorts and that type of shirt do not exist here, even if he's wearing leviathan-leather boots.

"My name in this incarnation is Jason," I tell him.

"Pleasure to meet you again," he tells me. "It is Alex now, is it not?"

"It is," I nod.

"How is he?"

"You can ask him yourself, you know."

"I know," he grins. "But I'd like to ask you."

"He's doing okay," I answer. "Thank you, for lifting Enamas's curse."

"Anything," he says, his voice echoing through the hall. "For the High Magus who put down the evil gods who tried to destroy Midlaris and wipe out humanity. I am embarrassed to be considered among the same type of being as them, and had I known about their little war, I would have personally stepped in and put a stop to it long before the twelve of you came to end it."

As he speaks, he releases his divine aura, which then fills the hall. There are still thousands here, making thousands witness to his statement and aura. It is unmistakably divine, and I realize that Jaklenai timed this for now. His delay was intentional.

Everyone present, save myself, bows to Jaklenai, the natural response to the presence of such a powerful god.

"It is a shame," he continues. "That many foolish mortals wish to claim that any who challenge the gods are heretics and evil. Do they know if the gods were good or evil? If someone challenges an evil god, does that make them evil simply because their foe was a god? No, it does not. You Magi are the heroes of Midlaris. Any who would persecute you without knowing the full story? They are the true heretics. After all, it was the Queen of the Gods herself who asked the twelve of you to end the war and fight the gods. It was the Queen of the Gods who asked you, the High Magus, to gather others to battle the heavens and the hells to protect humanity and Midlaris. She is a truer god than those who fought and abused Midlaris and his children."

He apparently did his research into the current state of affairs as well. I suppose, now that I remember more about Jaklenai, that such a thing is normal for him.

Jaklenai puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you, Jason," he says. "For your service back then, and I am truly sorry for not noticing the state of things sooner, or I'd have acted before Her Majesty became involved."

He removes his hand, then chuckles.

"Now," he says. "I'm going to go do godly things. I'm sure you're going to end up with a lot of questions about who I am and what I'm a god of, so good luck!"

He disappears in a poof of sea foam, his divine aura vanishing as well. I look at Mama Elena.

"Chances are," I tell her. "Once I finish healing now that Enamas's curse is gone, I'm going to pass out for a week."