(Jacob, 16)

Finally! The griffins have made contact. I was starting to worry I would need to intrude deeper into their territory before they approached me. Rather than three females, a male flanked by two females approach. Judging by the size of the male, I would say he is the patriarch of the local pride.

"Lord Griffin," he says as all three of them bow to me. His words are touched with fear, though I cannot fathom why they would be. "Welcome to our lands. We were attempting to decide the best way to approach you and the best gift to grant you in your current form, but after you had the Lord Dragon visiting yesterday, we thought it best to approach you now."

So they were observing us, and they apparently thought Jason coming out here was some form of threat. That must be why he has fear in his voice – he believes I grew impatient at their lack of approach and called out someone able to completely annihilate them.

"As this body," I gesture to it. "Is new, born of this life, it requires training. Jason did not come out to intimidate you, and I apologize if it came across that way. He came out to help me train harder than the Royal Guards present can push me."

When I use the magics known to us Magi, I can best them in a one-on-one fight. A two-on-one might push me, and a three-on-one would definitely best me as I am right now and with the current selection of Royal Guards. However, that still limits how I can train and the magics I can learn.

Jason, on the other hand, possesses the ability to train me in the ways of the Magi hidden from me by my lack of memories. As he is both Jason and Nolan, rather than simply the reincarnation of the High Magus, he possesses a wealth of knowledge about the abilities, spells, and techniques of all Magi.

He can teach me things I have forgotten which were unique to me. That makes me wonder just how much of our abilities he claims to not be able to wield that Jason can wield. From my memories of our old life, Nolan never used any of the spells we designed that were unique to us.

But he is the King of Magic himself. His magic is far more flexible than any other, his abilities extensive. Our issue was our affinities for the spells and talent with them. But Nolan possessed a full affinity and ultimate talent with all magics.

That means he may have lied about just how much he could do, but that is neither here nor there, and I have guests at the moment.

"I apologize," I tell the griffin, now understanding why the patriarch left their den for my greeting rather than the matriarch. "For the assumed intimidation. It was not intended, as his presence, as I stated, was to assist me in my training. My current mission leads me away from university and my normal training, so some measures have to be taken to ensure I do not fall behind."

Especially with Alex seeming to stay with me in terms of magical power at the moment.

"My apologies," the griffin responds, though I can tell he is uncertain about my honesty there. "For understanding, Lord Griffin."

"Everyone misunderstands things from time to time," I tell him. "Though I was intending on speaking with you at some point."

I then begin my discussions with the griffins, telling them about the war and our plans. No word has yet to reach us of Nelem backing down, even after their loss, but that may simply be a matter of the travel time necessary for everything.

However, we still wish to work on decreasing the number of potential enemies. The current target still seems intent on this back-and-forth with letters, and I pray to the King and Queen of the Gods that they notice me conversing with griffins here and decide to stop annoying me with that.

After I finish speaking with the griffin, I indicate the griffin cub, who is currently wrestling around with Griffin Alpha.

"He showed up here Sorday afternoon," I tell the griffin patriarch, who examines the griffin cub.

"A most interesting creation," he looks at me again, and I realize he was looking at the stuffie. "I sense Lord Dragon's power within it."

"Yes," I nod. "Jason crafted him for my defense, in case something should make it past the Royal Guard. I was referring to the griffin cub he is wrestling with, though."

The griffin patriarch looks back to the pair for several moments.

"I do not recognize his scent," the griffin informs me. "He is not from my pride, nor of any nearby one. You said he arrived only two days ago?"

"Yes," I answer.

"Hrm," the griffin patriarch thinks for a few moments, watching the griffin cub as he does. "A most interesting situation. I cannot tell you from where he comes, Lord Griffin."

Which is problematic. If the local griffin pride does not know where he could come from and does not recognize his scent, then the griffin cub is a long way from home.

"Thank you," I say. "Have a good rest of your day."

The griffin patriarch wishes me well, then the trio leaves, walking back into the forest. I turn my gaze to the griffin cub and watch him for several minutes. Where did he come from? And why has his pride not tracked him down?

I pull out my comm plate and call Jason.

"Yes?" He answers sleepily.

I look up at the sun, which indicates it is a little past noon. Varil might still be in morning, but it is not that early there.

"Jason," I say. "Did I just wake you up?"

"I was up all night working on a personal project," he stifles a yawn, which sounds funny through the comm plate. "Was catching some sleep before heading off to put it into action."

"Are you planning on destroying something?" I ask.

"No," he answers. "It's nothing dangerous, don't worry. Just something personal and secret. Were you needing something? Chatting? More training? The ability to wipe out a fortified castle in a few seconds? A talking sword?"

"A talking sword?"

"Hm?" Jason must still be mostly asleep. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about him. Tiger Alpha, add 'locate Horal' to the list of things I need to do. He's probably annoyed by whoever owns him."

I do not even want to ask about Horal, especially as Jason refers to the sword as a person and not an object, much like the Ultra Defense Stuffie Golems. Chances are, it was a god he bound into a sword, yet the comment he made suggested the sword was not under a punishment.

"Jason," I decide to switch to the reason I contacted him. "The local griffin pride contacted me, and their representatives just left. They do not know the cub, nor where he comes from. The patriarch said he does not recognize the smell of the cub. Would you be willing to come out here and attempt to locate his pride?"

"Sure," Jason says. "Give me a few moments and I can be there."

The call ends, so I put my comm plate away, and a few seconds later, a grey gate appears. Jason steps through it as the cub stops wrestling with Griffin Alpha to look at the gate, then to look at Jason. Jason is wearing just a pair of pants and his usual accessories, minus the hairpins. I do not see Zevenas, but that could just mean he is invisible with the amulet again. The griffin cub suddenly looks at something at eye-level at the gate, which disappears, and that confirms the presence of the baby dragon.

"Hello," Jason puts a hand on the cub's head, scratching behind its ears. "Where's your mama and papa?"

The griffin yips at him, then nuzzles against his hand. Jason opens up his spatial storage and pulls out a slender, grey needle threaded with violet lines. An isivinite needle.

"I'm going to prick you and draw some blood," Jason sits on the ground, and the griffin cub jumps up onto his lap, the baby dragon becoming visible as the two wrestle for a moment. "Stop that, you two."

They settle down, which impresses me. The griffin cub listens to me, but Jason's ability to instantly calm the two beasts with gentle words goes beyond my talents. Jason continues stroking the griffin's fur, and I realize after a few minutes that he is likely communicating with, attempting to ask its home.

That must lead nowhere, as Jason then pricks the griffin cub with his needle, drawing blood out on it. As usual with wounds like that, it heals almost as soon as the needle has pulled out, though sufficient blood for the spell remains on the metal.

Closing his eyes, Jason moves a hand back and forth over the needle as the two baby grey-level creatures watch. While nothing seems to happen, I know Jason is casting a spell to divine the location of others who share blood with the one he drew from.

A minute passes. How far away is the cub's family?

Then a second minute.

Then a third. He must be verifying the location several times using multiple spells.

Jason performs his scries for twenty minutes before stopping, then he opens his eyes and looks at me. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he is baffled.

"I can't locate his family," Jason tells me. "It's as if they don't exist. I even tried looking for their final resting place, and it didn't exist. I suspected it after tapping into his mind, but had to make sure there wasn't some mind magics at work that I couldn't detect yet. The little guy is an Origin."

"An Origin?" I frown. "What is-?"

I cut off as a memory resurfaces, one of my lost memories. It contains an explanation of the Origins. They were things we dealt with frequently as the Magi, judging by the casual way Benjamin explained it to the villagers in the memory.

While Midlaris does create normal monsters to deal with excessive ambient mana, he cannot and does not create the grey-level beasts. They are born on their own, except in rare, exceptional cases. Those are known as Origins, and they develop on their own. They only form in the presence of Magi, but we never saw any for a Magus who was not grey.

I only know that bit because Benjamin mentioned it in my memory.

"Oh," I say. "So he is the only one from his pride?"

"Correct," Jason nods. "I take it memories just resurfaced?"

"Just one," I answer. "Enough to let me know what an Origin was. Are there gargoyle Origins? Asking as those are the only ones that are not born or do not form naturally, with only Benjamin – Niko – being able to make them."

"There aren't," Jason answers. "How much do you remember about them?"

"Just that," I say. "They form around grey-level Magi. Rarely, but they do occur."

"Yes and no," he shakes his head. "They're more likely to form around grey-level Magi, but they aren't exclusive to that. They can also form around a Magus in an area with high levels of ambient mana. This place is saturated with it, so I'm not surprised one formed around you, even at your current power level."

"If that is true," I say. "Why are there not beasts roaming like crazy? Midlaris does not personally create each one, it is simply the way he set things up to work."

"There aren't?" Jason raises an eyebrow. "Why is it you won't settle in the forest?"

I turn my gaze to the forest, remembering at Jason's prompting the high number of powerful beasts inside of it. The beasts must live inside of it. And the guards at the fortress likely clear these fields regularly of the ones which do not.

"But none have formed while we are around," I say, and Jason turns his gaze to the cub. I look at the cub as well, which looks at each of us in turn before going back to his staring contest with Zevenas. "Are you saying that the cub's formation affected the spawnings?"

"Yes," Jason tells me, and I meet his gaze again. "Due to your presence here and the high saturation of ambient mana, with concentrations of it attuned to light, wind, or earth, the mana began to draw together near you, then formed the griffin cub. It took a few days, but it wiped out most of the ambient mana, which is only recently beginning to replenish, though it will be at a safe amount. Who knows what happened to cause such high levels of it in the first place."

That does seem strange, considering the nature of this region and how few people are here. But it is also not something for us to worry over. Humans are not the only source of increased ambient mana levels, after all.

"And because of that," I say. "No new monsters are spawning from the mana, the levels in a safe amount."

"Correct," he scratches behind the cub's ears. "He's decided you're his papa, by the way, and you know how griffins are."

Yes, I do. He will be to me what Zevenas is to Jason: a permanent pet. Papa will not be pleased, though his reaction to finding out I now have a griffin with me all the time will prove amusing.

"Now," Jason stands, Zevenas hopping off his lap. "I am going to take a shower, then go do something. Let me know if you need anything else, Jacob."

"I will," I tell him.

Jason opens a gate, then steps through it with Zevenas quickly following behind, then the gate disappears. I look down at the griffin cub.

"What should I name you?"

(Alex, 17)

"What do you mean?" I ask Connor.

"I mean," my brother tells me as I try to review the finances of our family. "That we aren't entirely broke."

"Our entire wealth is based on Amarxik Toys," I tell him. "Now, we only have what is in our coffers, especially since Richard abandoned us immediately."

"The factory," Connor tells me. "Might be owned by Amarxik Toys, but the actual building and the property it's on belong to Amar-to Levirar. We will still generate taxes from that."

"Richard will no doubt find a new place as soon as possible."

"While still giving us money," he tells me. "We'll be low on income for awhile, but it's not the end of the world, Alex. As long as there are no major emergencies, we have enough wealth to last us a few years."

"As if Richard wouldn't do his best to sabotage it," I say.

"I've already sent word back to Ama-to Levirar Barony," Connor tells me. "With an official notice that Richard is no longer baron. He won't be permitted access to our funds."

"How did you do that?" I ask.

"The Royal Slayers all have comm plates," he tells me. "And the town isn't that far outside of the duchy's main city. I contacted the local Royal Slayers last night and asked them to send word. I'm on rather good terms with the Royal Slayers who handle things in the barony, and it was for you, so both groups were willing. In addition, His Majesty always sends a few Royal Guards in cases like this. With gate spells available to upper-level members, it's even possible that they're already there."

"That still doesn't mean-"

"In addition," Connor continues. "If he did do something, it would be an act against nobility. That would result in an investigation by the Royal Guards, who would no doubt follow the trail. He'll bide his time until he's either sure he can get away with it, or until he realizes it's pointless."

I sigh, accepting Connor's wisdom on that. Richard would know how things are when something happens to nobility. That doesn't mean he won't make it look like an accident, though.

"We can always," Connor tells me. "Find a new way to build things up. We can make our own company."

"Doing what?" I ask. "It's not like we have much. I don't know what you might be able to bring to it, but I doubt my patents would help that much."

"Your parents?" He asks, and I realize what I have.

"Actually," I say. "They could. I own the patent for a couple of things. One of them is under Sageson Magical Technologies, so I can't just move it into a new company right now, but the other patent… Jason and I worked on a game together. An improved version of a game I made when I was younger, to entertain the little ones in the street crew. While he helped me with it, I own the full rights to it, and he didn't put the patent under Sageson Magical Technologies. We could start our own toys company. Or game company. Or something. That would be our only product for now, but-"

"It would work," Connor tells me. "Let's go back to you owning several patents, though. The one owned by Sageson Magical Technologies – is it making money?"

"I'm not sure," I answer. "I don't know if they actually bought the patent, or if they're just using the product. I really only made a suggestion to Jason, and he and Sage Jared created what the patent is on. It's actually used in the game."

"Contact Jason," he tells me. "Or better, Sage Harold. He's still here, and would probably deal with it best. We can set up our new company, and see about transferring the patent to it if you still own it fully. It could be they're just using it while holding onto the patent for you. Either way, if we put the patent under the company, its use would funnel money into the company, and thus our family. Or you can keep it for yourself and not put it into the company, raising your own personal funds."

"The game is definitely for the company," I say. "But we'll need suppliers, and-"

"I'll handle that," he tells me. "Just tell me what we need to make the game, and I'll contact the appropriate people. It might lower our budget temporarily, until we start generating income again, but it'll be worth it. Papa's going to be acting as soon as he can, and we need to act sooner. I'm going to bet on the odds of Papa forgetting just how much he taught me about running Amarxik Toys, and if it pays off, we'll be able to deal with any threat he could pose, too."

That sounds fun. I'm more of an alley-stabbing kind of guy, but stabbing Richard through a company rather than the knife hidden up my sleeve might prove interesting.

(Jason, 16)

I locate Niko in the library, of all places. I suppose that shouldn't have surprised me, considering how much of a refuge the library was for him when he was in Mar. The gargoyles told me that he seems to be doing better, but they don't know Niko like I do.

He's found people who accept him, and so is trying to surround himself with comforting things to draw his thoughts away from the negativity in his mind. From the darkness lurking within, threatening to consume him. It's not something he's doing consciously, though, and will only hurt him, but it's best if I leave him be for now, let him do his thing.

Right now, he's sitting beside a short boy of around ten years of age, the two of them looking through a rather hefty tome. The written language of this land differs from the ancient tongue's written form, and it seems the boy is teaching Niko some of it using a fable.

I listen for a few minutes as the boy does his best to imitate voices, moving his finger along the pages to show Niko the words he is reading. The story is about a pair of boys who found a sword hidden in a cave, a sword which granted them the power of the gods. At least, that is what I can tell from what the boy is reading out, he's at a point where the two are quarreling, a little older than when they found it.

The chapter finishes with one of the boys stabbing the other with the sword, wanting to keep its power for himself, then Niko stops the actual boy from continuing reading.

"Jason," Niko looks at me, his green eyes filled with surprise. "You are here."

"I promised, didn't I?" I tell him. "I managed to make them."

"Really?" The hope in his voice betrays his true feelings regarding his arm and leg. "Kyron, wait here. Jason has something to show me, but it is rather private."

Kyron nods, then Niko opens a gate. I step through it, then my friend follows and dismisses the gate. He looks at me hopefully, and I open up my spatial storage and pull out two pairs of cuffs. One pair of wrist cuffs, one pair of ankle cuffs. They are thin, with the wrist cuffs being three inches long and the ankle cuffs being only one. Each has a pair of wolves engraved into them and set with silver.

I forged them out of an alloy of mithril and star iron, the cuffs' silver-gold appearance mesmerizing Niko for a moment. He shakes his head, then accepts them.

"You activate them," I tell Niko. "By pushing mana into the one worn on flesh. It will then create an illusion over the corresponding limb that makes it look and feel like a normal arm or leg. The cuff will continue to drain your mana until you either remove it or cancel the spell, but the upkeep isn't high. I used magic crystals in the alloy, enchanting it so that they would draw on the ambient mana in the air and store it, to help decrease the cost you have to spend."

"Thank you," Niko's voice is full of gratitude and appreciation, and he's already slipping the cuffs onto his wrists. "Now I can hide I'm not a real man if I leave here."

He muttered that last part, but I heard it anyway. We are right in front of each other, after all. It seems like he's considering not leaving Garoyal for awhile. While that only shows how badly his mental state is right now, it's probably for the best if he has time to adjust to his arm among people who don't care.

"So," I say. "Taking lessons from one of the Garoyalan youth rather than an adult?"

"It is not that I don't trust the adults," his face flushes as he realizes my curiosity. "I took him on as an apprentice. Kyron is rather talented with golem making. He is on his way to making golems the way I do just from studying the stories about my golems in the war. I would prefer to not allow his talent go to waste, so I asked him to be my apprentice. I helped train him with some magic before lunch, and I wish to learn to read their language, too."

"Good luck," I tell him. "Try not to strain yourself too much, too, okay?"

"I am always careful," he tells me.

"I didn't mean with magic or physical abilities," I tell him. "You're in a land where you are worshiped and revered. Make sure to give yourself time to relax as well."

"I will keep that in mind," he looks down. "You know."

"That you intend on staying here a little longer?" I ask, and he nods. "You kind of made it obvious. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, and I'll come up with a suitable excuse to protect your academic record."

If all else fails, he can still just apply again at the start of next term, as I know he'll pass the exam. However, I hope he returns before the end of this term, as it will mean his healing is well underway.

"Anyway," I tell him as he gives me an appreciative, though hesitant, smile. "I need to go do something. Jacob reminded me of something while we were talking earlier, and I want to see if something's where I think it is."

"Okay," he says. "Thanks, Jason."

"You're welcome," I open a gate. "And goodbye."

"Goodbye."

I step through the gate, then close it as I use flight magics to keep myself in the air. Immediately, I take off, soaring over the eastern mountains. I pass by the griffins and the dragon which live in this section of them and continue flying.

Once I pass the mountains, I fly south a little, using my magical senses to look for Horal. I remembered where I left him, so that is a good place to start. The sun is setting in this region as I pick up the magical signature I remember belonging to him, so I dive down, following it.

As I descend, I notice a group of more than a hundred mages, with twelve standing in a ring. They are holding their hands out, a magical circle carved out onto the ground and filled with a mixture intended on amplifying the power of the spell. The liquid crystal glows from the amount of mana already contained in it. It seems they are pouring as much mana into this as they can.

I spot the sword on the ground in the center of the circle, stuck into the ground with its point.

A single-edged sword, a backedge, of a bluish metal, godsteel. Golden runes line the sword's blade on the half not sharpened. The name is eluding me at the moment, mostly because of the ridiculousness of the situation.

My guess is that they gathered mages from several different kingdoms to perform this spell, and it's not as if they'll actually succeed. Horal is godsteel, and the enchantment is too tightly woven. I made him towards the end of my life as Nolan, too, so the craftsmanship and enchantment are much, much greater than the ones I used on other gods. They won't be able to purge an evil spirit, nor destroy the weapon.

He's also rambling to the mages, who are ignoring him as they continue pushing their mana into the liquid crystal forming the ritual circle. Once a mage runs out of mana, they swap with another, and it looks like they plan on doing this until the circle has absorbed enough mana to compare to an adolescent dragon. How long have they been at this? They must be returning to it as soon as their mana is empty.

I forgot how much Horal could go. Tapping into the minds of the hundreds of mages, I begin filtering through their knowledge to pluck out the language they speak so that I can understand Horal. It strains me to do it from this distance, but I'd rather not draw attention to myself just yet. The ones with slight mind barriers, I ignore. There's no way I'm bypassing those right now, with my talent, from this distance, without being noticed.

It takes me around twenty minutes to be able to understand the mages and Horal without an issue. They speak six different languages as a group, suggesting six different nations supplying this ritual. Horal's speaking in just one of them, which seven of the twelve currently at the circle speak.

"-and that's before I whup your asses, you punks!" He says. "Seriously! As soon as you finish this thing, and I find a suitable master, I'm going to swat your behinds like there's no tomorrow! Well, I'm going to have them use me to swat those behinds! Every five years, you guys try this, putting even more mana into the spell than before! You can't purge me, and you can't destroy me! I'm not a possessed sword! I am Horal, Helper of Warriors, Master of Knights!"

He continues rambling, and I just watch from above. They try this every five years? Seriously? And they haven't realized that they can't do it? First, the magical power of the spell isn't great enough. Yes, they're putting a lot of mana into it, but that doesn't magically raise the actual magical power of the spell. Second, they need a lot better reagents for the crystallized mana. The blood of a grey-level beast would be necessary. Third, they'd probably need to realize that even adult dragons wouldn't have enough mana to destroy Horal or break my enchantment.

"Nolan!" Horal says after several more minutes. "Nolan, could you please get me out of this situation? I swear, they don't know a good sword when they see one. They act like I'm possessed just because I can talk. For thousands of years, I trained people. Then one of my owners decided to use me to kill someone important, and suddenly, everyone says I'm this possessed, evil thing. The last thousand years, they try to either purge me of the evil spirit or just destroy me. They already failed in the purging, so now they're on to the destroying. I'm pretty sure the magic I'm sensing in this circle isn't anywhere close to being enough to actually destroy me. Could you rescue me? Please? And then use me to swat their asses like the bad children they are?"

"Who the hell is Nolan?" One of the other mages asks, approaching the ring. "Will you shut up?"

I teleport directly next to Horal, startling the mages.

"My name is Jason in this life, Horal," I grab his hilt and draw him out of the ground.

The enchantment feels exactly as I remember it being when I forged the sword, a much finer piece of work than my earlier bindings.

"Finally!" He exclaims. "I'm out of the dirt! That stuff tastes nasty, I don't recommend eating it."

"You can't taste anything," I roll my eyes. "Forgive me, but I'll be taking Horal."

"Yes, yes, take me," Horal said. "Also, can you find my sheath? It got lost about five centuries or so ago."

"We can go looking for your sheath later," I tell him. "First, I want to take you home and just amuse myself by staring at you, thinking about all the attempts made in destroying you."

"That sword is possessed!" The mage who has spoken exclaims. "Who are you? Put that back!"

"I am Jason Jeshema," I say. "Son of the Sages and Prince of the Delvarkari. I am also the reincarnation of the King of Magic, the person who forged this sword and bound a god into it."

"Yup, yup," Horal says. "I am Horal, God of War. I asked Lord Nolan-erm, I ask Lord Jason to bind me into a sword so that I could benefit humanity without risking being a threat. He did. It was a lovely binding. He also bound my wife into my sheath at her request, though she doesn't talk much. That's kind of why I want you to find her, O Benevolent One."

"Hush," I tell him. "Or I'll turn you off."

"Please don't."

"Anyway," I look at the mages. "You can't destroy Horal, nor undo the enchantment. I wove them so tightly, even the breath of an adult dragon wouldn't warp it."

An elder dragon, maybe, but not an adult dragon.

"Since you guys seem to think he's some evil weapon," I say. "I'll take him off your hands for good. But, uh, he can't make anyone do anything. So the person who killed someone? Yeah, they did that of their own accord, not because a god bound into a sword forced them to."

"You make bold claims," one of the mages who had been pouring his mana into the ritual says. "Yet I see no proof that-"

"Whether you believe me or not," I say. "Is irrelevant. I could, naturally, exert my magical power and force you all to your knees or unconsciousness, but I am not that kind of person. You aren't my enemy, so there's no need for it."

I hold up my hand and exert magical power above my palm, the grey, smokey appearance of it drawing their gaze.

"However," I say. "I will mention that I am on the level of a dragon when it comes to magical power. And now, I am leaving. With my sword."

I cease exerting my magic above my palm and teleport a couple thousand feet up, before opening a gate and passing through it into the living room at my home in Varilsy. Mama Elena gives Horal a suspicious look.

"My, my," he says. "What immense magical power. Is this a young warrior for me to teach? Well, not young, as her form suggests she's rather old, but that magical power – I wouldn't mind teaching her a few techniques, Lord Jason."

"She's my Mother Elena," I tell him in the ancient tongue. "And she's a master chef and alchemist. When she fights, she prefers knives, daggers, and magic over swords."

"I know tricks with knives, too," Horal says as Mama Elena groans at my possession of a talking sword. "Though you didn't give me the ability to change my form, sadly."

"My Father Michael uses swords," I tell Horal. "You might be able to teach him a few things."

"Do I even want to know what you're talking about?" Mama Elena asks. "I caught my name and Michael's, and know you're speaking in the ancient tongue."

"Mmmm… maybe," I answer. "Horal was complimenting your magical power, then asking if you were a warrior in need of training. I'm going to put him in my workshop, where he'll annoy Rufus."

"Alright," she says. "Come back out as soon as you finish, I need your help making some potions. I received a big order, and two pairs of hands are better than one."