(Jason, 16)

"Why have ya been in trouble all week?" Alex asks as we step through the gate and find ourselves outside of the training facility in the Unwild Lands, his crew following us.

My mamas and papas and I did some more adjustments to its appearance over the last couple of months, to give it some more rooms and utilities. It's shaping up to be a rather complete location, even with Mama Alyssa and I needing to work elsewhere, too.

"My mamas and papas are being over-dramatic," I tell him as we enter the building.

"We are not!" Mama Alyssa says. "Alex, last Felday, he taught a seven-year-old flight magic."

"See?" I ask. "Over-dramatic. When I was seven, I'd already figured out gravity magic from watching Papa Samuel use it to lift stuff. Compared to that, flight magic is nothing."

"You weren't flying around!" She says. "And that's not even factoring in the other stuff you taught him, Jason. We're just glad Thomas and Jenna are normal when it comes to learning magic. We don't need three flying children stealing cookies."

"Sage Alyssa," Alex says. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but… ain't that exactly the kind of stuff Jason does? I mean, ain't he still stealing cookies and stuff?"

"That's a different matter," she shakes her head. "Jason didn't freak out and go into a full-on panic attack if he got hit with a trap designed to keep sneaky fingers out of things."

"No," I say. "I just stood on the ceiling until Papa Samuel released me from the trap, since I couldn't reach the trap's enchantment to disable it."

Though I did figure out how to move around in the gravity traps, but I'm not telling them that.

"Oh, right," Alex says. "I forgot they ain't had the best life until they were rescued."

"Cody likes to run away, too," Mama Alyssa says. "He used to hide in one of the buildings on our property, but ever since he figured out the gate spell, he runs over to Jason's home for hours on end."

"Why?" Alex asks.

"To escape the panic attacks of the others," I state. "My place is quieter and has two horses. Cody likes horses, too, and Aurum and Koricel are calmer."

"Koricel?" Barry asks.

"One of Aurum's sons," I explain as we enter the dining room, where a big feast has been set up, the rest of my training group attending university here, along with the rest of my training group.

In addition to my training group, my family of both the Sages and Fael Mira and Jarenidis, Franklin is here, as are friends and family of some of my training group members, really filling out the room. I decided to throw a party for us to celebrate lasting this past year of university, and I'm pleased with the turnout, even if it appears I'm the last to arrive.

Well, Alex, his crew, Mama Alyssa, and I are, but that's partly my fault. Alex and his crew were waiting for me when I thought they'd gone ahead, and Mama Alyssa and I were doing something with the plumbing at our house in Varilsy, then I returned to my normal house to take a shower while she used the one at the mansion.

Then she called me to let me know that Alex and his crew were there.

"Alex," I look at his crew, then at him. "Did you ask them?"

"Yeah, I asked them," he answers. "They agreed to it."

"It'll be fun!" Jeddy exclaims.

"Okay," I nod. "Everyone has, so we can do two teams of twenty."

With the additions to my normal training group this past term, combined with the ten Marrans, Jacob's personal guards, Lina's personal guards, and the other four members of Alex's crew, there are a total of forty members to my full training group. Twenty-two total members to my training group from university. Eleven Magi and eleven non-Magi.

"Go have fun," I tell them. "That stuff's for later."

Alex and his crew head off to chat with their friends and other people, and I mingle for awhile. Niko and Lina are sticking together as closely as allowed by etiquette, enforced by Gargoyle Alpha. They really did miss each other with Niko being gone for so long.

Others have noticed the changes to him, and I know they're wondering what's made him much more confident in himself. It's a secret the handful of us who know it will likely take beyond when he turns grey and regenerates his lost limbs. However, it's had a profound effect on him. During the days of review in lessons this past week, he didn't just wait to be called on, but actually raised his hand to answer questions. He's shown off more, too, but not arrogantly. It's just that he's less hesitant to use his magic and is much more confident in using it.

While I don't like what he went through the last few months, I do like how he's come out of it. The smile he has on his face shows no shyness to it, like his smiles of old.

Actually…

"Niko!" I call, and he looks at me. I raise an eyebrow, and his face flushes. "Yeah, thought so."

Lina gives me a confused look, but I shake my head to let her know not to worry about it. It's nothing she'd have noticed, just Niko being, well, the new Niko.

After an hour of me mingling with people, enjoying the food Mama Elena and Mama Elizabeth made with the help of Jenna and Thomas, I call for everyone's attention.

"Alright!" I say. "As those of you not part of my training group knows, I have a rather large one when you include those outside of university. Well, they've agreed to put on a performance for all of you, as part of their own celebration of making it through these past two terms! So if you would kindly exit through that gate, we'll meet you out there once they've changed outfits."

I point at the gate I manifested by the back wall, which Mama Alyssa waves to everyone at before stepping through. The hundred or so guests start filing through that gate and the violet ones which appear beside it thanks to Papa Michael and Mama Elizabeth, and my training group head to their rooms here to change.

The outfits for this are new, not just in making but in the existence of the style here on Midlaris. Alex mentioned them to me a few weeks ago, and I mentioned them to Mama Elizabeth, who got to work on making them.

All of that is made even easier using a piece of technology Mama Alyssa, Papa Jared, and I made.

Once the guests have left, my family steps through them and we dismiss them, leaving me alone in here. Alex is the first one back, wearing boots, which is still the norm here, and the new outfit. While sleeveless tunics are nothing new to Mildaris, especially in the southern regions, where it's cooler, the fact that they stop a little below the waist is.

They're more akin to shirts than tunics, and the fact that Alex is now wearing shorts only emphasizes that. The shorts reach down and cover his knees, leaving a gap of a few inches from there to the tops of his boots.

Alex is on the Blue Team, so his uniform consists of a pair of dark blue shorts with a lighter blue stripe down the outside legs and a white sleeveless with a red stripe down each side and on the shoulders. His stripes contain a golden stripe down their center, turning it into three stripes rather than one. It denotes him as the Team Captain.

He also wears a pair of fingerless gloves, supplied for this as well. Those aren't revolutionary or anything, but they are unusual for people to wear.

As others enter, I assess the uniforms. The Green Team's uniform is identical to Alex's, except with green instead of red, the stripes a lighter green. Jacob is their Team Captain, mostly because I thought it would be funny for the opposing teams to be led by Jacob and Alex.

The outfits are pretty much uniform, thanks to the machines Papa Jared, Mama Alyssa, and I made, finishing them last week. While they still take manning if we want the clothes to be enchanted, so that the enchantments can actually be placed by someone, we've now introduced uniform clothing creation.

Clothes can be mass-produced identically in standard sizes.

Niko still has on his cuffs, as they're providing the illusion of an arm and leg of flesh, but otherwise, everyone has removed their jewelry for this. We learned quickly once training really went underway that not wearing jewelry for this was for the best.

"Before we go out there," I say. "I wanted to talk with all of you about the next three months. Most of you are university students, while the others will be attending academy or starting university with the start of next term."

I look at Alex's crew, who all nod. Peter is old enough to start university next term, and the rest decided to attend an academy until university. While they could attend a free academy based on where they live – sort of like public school on Earth – I'm covering the costs for them to attend one that might actually make a difference in their education, now that they've been training under me and studying academics with Alex.

"As such," I say. "I wanted to inform you that the universities require that their student groups perform a training session lasting two weeks. Some of you already know this, especially those of you who just finished their second or third year of university, but I know some of you don't. It is not a required thing, so none of you are required to attend."

I would have had this speech sometime in the last week, except I gave the training group the week off so they could study for the final exams for the term.

"However," I say. "We come from a variety of backgrounds, with a variety of duties to perform. From Jacob, with his duties as Crown Prince, to Tasha, with her duties as Duchess Meti, to Alex, with his duties as Lord Levirar, to Adam, with his job as a chef, and all the rest of you, it can be difficult for me to come up with a two-week session just for our group. Since most of us are first-year students moving into their second-year, we're required to be in a student group. That… makes it complicated. How do I work around people whose duties can mean they're required to be somewhere while others are free, or has them free while others are busy? I've talked to other group leaders, and… they don't have the variety that we do here."

Shaking my head, I take a deep breath.

"So," I say. "I decided that we'll hold two two-week sessions. Only one is required. The first begins tomorrow, the seventeenth, and will last through the thirty-second. The second session will take place starting on the seventeenth of the seventh month and lasting through the thirty-second. I'd like to do a third session, except that I can't do one during the eighth month or it'll overlap with entrance exams, I don't want to start one right after finishing this coming one, and I want to leave the Dragon Festival alone since many of you have obligations during it.

"That said," I say. "If there's interest, I might do a one-week training session next month or the first week of the eighth month."

Looking around, I see embarrassed looks on the faces of nearly everyone.

"What?" I ask. "Why do you all look like that?"

"Jason," Jacob says. "We all expected you to take up the whole summer with a training group. Everyone here cleared their schedules for it, outside of the mandatory events or the bare-minimum necessary. We all planned on discussing with you permission for us to leave at times to do our formal work."

"Oh," I say.

They took into consideration my habits while I took into consideration their duties.

"I was not a part of this discussion," Niko tells me.

"It occurred two weeks ago," Jacob tells him. "A full week before your return."

I should make another stuffie golem and have it monitor them for secret meetings.

"Alright!" I say. "Well, we'll discuss stuff more after the celebrations of the end of the term finish! Actually, I need to speak with all of you at-length over something else, I just wanted to let you all know about the training thing while we were gathered together. Let's not keep our guests waiting!

"Wait!" I pause. "One last thing: aural sheathes are permitted! But remember: if anyone asks, tell them it's a special type of barrier that I received special permission to teach all of you. Keep in mind that the technique itself is meant to be a secret, so even if you're seen using it, you cannot tell others who to."

They confirm they're aware of this. I didn't need to say it, everyone here has proven themselves trustworthy, even the newer members of the training group who made it to the end of term.

"Excellent!" I say. "Let's go!"

I open up an extra-wide gate so that we can exit two at a time, and the teams form up their own lines and walk out in pairs, red on the right, green on the left. Once everyone has exited, I follow them through.

The performance my trainees are doing will be with a ball made of enchanted black dragon leather, on the field of posts with water below, a goal on either side. As the teams move off to their own sides of the field, huddling together to discuss which ten will play primary and which ten will sit on the benches unless needed as backup, I turn to face our guests.

Mama Alyssa and I made stone benches here after the last of the exams ended yesterday, to allow our guests seats for viewing the game. A stand is set up with refreshments for anyone who wants some, and it looks like most of our guests have a snack and a stein of ale. They were chatting on the benches when the teams showed up, then fell silent, and now they're all looking at me.

"Alright!" I smile at them, speaking with a little magic to ensure I'm heard. "You are about to witness my students… play a game!"

The guests look at me in confusion, and I feel myself starting to grin.

"Now," I say. "How, exactly, does a game show off training? You've noticed how powerful your friends and family within my group have become. Well, this game is simply one way of showing it! We use it as one of our forms of practice, and it'll show off their ability to move around, to attack, to defend, and to support. As you can see, they'll be moving around on posts with a pretty nice fall into water. The posts are of uneven heights and spacing, making movement a little more tricky. Flight magics are rendered inert by the playing field, meaning they can't just soar around.

"Their goal," I open up my spatial storage and pull out the playing ball. "Is to get this ball through the opposing team's goal. As you can see from the field, there are two of them, one on either side. The Blue Team's goal is on your left."

I point to my right, then I point to the left.

"And the Green Team's goal is on your right," I say. "Each goal is protected by a single player, the goalie or goalkeeper. Their duty is to prevent the enemy team from getting the ball into their goal. So the Blue Team will try to get the ball into the Green Team's goal, and the goalie for the Green Team will try to stop it if it makes it past the team. The reverse is true as well.

"However," I say. "Other players are free to do as they want, not limited in the range of where they can travel across the playing field. They can attack members of the opposing team, defend members of their team, support members of their team, and try to steal the ball from the other team if the other team has it. If they have the ball, their goal is to protect it or pass it to other members of their team."

I pull out a whistle and hang it around my neck.

"I will act as referee," I say. "Ensuring the full rules are played by and that all acts are fair. You'll notice on the far side of the field a giant sign with a tiny kid sitting in front of it, with Green on the right and Blue on the left, a zero beneath. That's the scoreboard, and Cody there will adjust the score each time a legitimate goal is made. The match will end once a team has earned ten points, as I think that'll be more than enough time to show off their abilities."

I glance at my students. Yeah, that will be more than enough time to show off their abilities.

"It's time to begin!"

I fly to the center of the field, the twenty players ready for battle. Standing on the post in the exact center of the field, I look at Alex, then at Jacob. They're the two closest to me, as set by the rules of the game.

"Let's have a nice, clean game, everyone," I say, ensuring my voice is heard by all forty of my students. "Which, of course, means beat the crap out of each other without doing anything too severe."

They chuckle, then I throw the ball up into the air.

"Begin!" I call, soaring out of the field to sit by Cody.

Alex leaps into the air, grabbing for the ball, and Jacob blasts it with air to knock it to the side. Lina manages to catch the ball, tossing it to Wyatt as he jumps past Jacob, only for him to take a burst of flames that knocks him off the posts. Jacob manages to grab the ball from him and tosses it to Adam, who's made it into the Blue Team's side.

Spells fly like crazy, of water, fire, earth, air, light, shadow, lightning, and force. Bodies are enhanced to take hits, to hit harder, to move faster, and jump higher. Even with the enhancements, aural sheathes, and enchantments on the clothes, injuries are sustained, but they're soon mended by team healers on the field.

Were someone to show up, ignorant of what was going on, they would probably think that the ball was something special and there were ten people fighting over it while throwing lethal spells at each other. They'd probably be confused over the identical outfits each side had and the strange fighting terrain with easier-to-fight-on open spaces right outside, but that would come after.

When playing this game, my students do not hold back for the most part. They know how to control their power and shape their spells to avoid causing actual serious injuries, and are willing to get themselves hurt to get the ball through the goal.

Judging by the expressions of the spectators, it's easy to tell they're impressed by my students' abilities. They're probably also wondering just how easy or difficult it is to move around on the posts. Looks like I don't need to send the trolls this way.

The teams make sure to rotate their players so that everyone has a chance to show off, though Alex's team keeps Niko as their goalie, as he's had the least amount of practice on the posts so far.

It takes a little more than an hour for Green Team to reach ten points, Blue Team at zero. Having a violet-level mage as goalie really helps, especially when they have the mana pool of a Magus. Adam did manage to put up a good fight at keeping things from passing by him, but he couldn't compare to Niko.

When the match ends, Cody and I join the spectators as the two teams form up on the posts, Alex and Jacob shaking hands for a good game. Then, they all join us, all forty of them soaked in sweat, half of them breathless, and red in the face from spending an hour fighting each other.

"And that," I grin at the spectators as I summon the ball to my hand using force magic, using water magic to send the sweat from it onto the ground. "Is why we use this as training. Does anyone want to try and move around on those posts?"

Mama Elena and Mama Alyssa open gates back to the training facility so that my students can shower off the sweat, and once they head back, the gates are closed. Some of the guests do give moving around on the posts a try, with Mama Elena, Mama Alyssa, Papa Samuel, Fael Mira, Jarenidis, and I acting as support to ensure no one is hurt when they fall, using force magic to shield them and move their limbs and heads away from the posts.

"I'll be starting university next term," a young woman approaches me. I think she's related to one of my newer students, a young man named Taylor. "What are the requirements to join? Taylor wouldn't tell me."

"Because it changes every term," I shake my head. "First term, it was middle orange and some spell and control requirements. Last term, it was lower yellow and a higher test of casting ability. Next term, it will be upper yellow and even more ability with spells."

"No combat ability?" She asks. "Taylor uses a sword to fight."

"And martial arts, as you saw during the game," I nod. "However, that's irrelevant. The purpose of my training group is to train one's magic, which is why I test for magical abilities for those wishing to join. We train physically as well, to ensure that my students are well-rounded and can fight even if their magic runs out."

"Doesn't that skew your group against warriors, though?" She asked. "Since they don't train their magic as heavily?"

"Taylor made it in," I point out. "Half of my trainees are warriors, not mages. Those who attend the Royal Universities are the elite, and my group consists of the elite of the elite. That's why the entry standard is so high. At the start of the first term, most of those within it were lower orange. The lowest returning member this past term was middle yellow. The requirement for entry next term is upper yellow. Everyone is lower green or higher."

Her eyes widen, and I can see the shock on the faces of some of the others who are listening it.

"My training group," I say. "Has a tendency to advance two or more magical power levels in a single term. While this will slow down somewhat now that they're at green, the training techniques used are simply that potent. New members have advanced three or more their first term in the group."

Mostly as a result of them learning to use their magic more efficiently, thus allowing them to train more efficiently, creating a small spike in magical power growth.

"Within a single year of university," I state. "Members of my training group have advanced five or more magical power levels. This has a direct effect on one's natural physical strength, which is a benefit for warriors, especially Slayers, Royal Knights, and members of the Royal Guard. Anyone who is serious about receiving access to this training program will train themselves in an effort to reach the requirements, whether warrior or mage."

"But it's still skewed against warriors," she says. "Couldn't it just be coincidence that you have half of them being warriors right now?"

"It could be," I tell her. "But any proper warrior knows magic and trains it just as much as they train their body, even if it's a different type of magic they're using. That's why it's not skewed against them. In my training group, I teach both warrior magics and mage magics. The entry requirement is to see if they're able to learn both and are powerful enough to meet my other students in power by the end of term."

"Oh," she says. "I did not realize."

"It's okay," I smile. "It can be hard for people who haven't been given the full explanation or who only see one side of things to not realize that it works both ways. That's part of why the two universities do join training exercises – it allows warriors to work with mages and mages to work with warriors before they do so professionally. It lets them see that things are different, and helps to foster an understanding."

"Okay," she says. "Sorry."

"Being willing to challenge what you think is wrong can be an asset," I tell her. "It's something that's as true in this life as my past ones."

"So you and some of the others," someone else approaches, a man a few years my senior. "Really are reincarnates of the Kings and Queens of Power?"

"Yes," I answer. "Anyway! Let's head back to the training hall!"

I open up a gate and let others through it as Mama Alyssa and Mama Elena do the same. Once everyone is gone, we follow through and dismiss our gates. After another hour of celebrations, I have Leviathan Alpha, Gargoyle Alpha, and Griffin Alpha open up gates to let our guests start returning home.

My students assure their friends and family they'll be leaving after we take care of some stuff, though a couple are ready to stay for the training group tomorrow, having already packed up clothes so that they didn't have to return home, expecting me to announce it was starting immediately with me forgetting to tell them.

I should be offended by that, but that's exactly the sort of thing I'd do.

"Hey, Jason," Kyra frowns, looking around once it's just my students and my family here. "I just realized, but, uh… where is Zevenas and Jacob's griffin cub?"

"I convinced Jaklenai to watch them," I answer.

By that, I mean I asked the baby dragon and the griffin cub to go harass him and gave them some suggestions for what to do. He's currently enjoying having them nip at his heels anywhere he goes.

I can't wait for his reaction to the next thing they'll do.

"Anyway," I sit on a table, facing all of them. "What I'm about to discuss is something rather serious. It's restricted information, but as you all know, you're no longer 'normal' citizens. Or, uh, 'normal' guests from Mar."

Niko and some of the Marrans chuckle at that comment.

"Which of course," I say. "Allows you restricted information from time to time. Because of your greater magical abilities, your competency with magical techniques and mundane fighting styles, and your education under both myself and some of the Sages, this is one of those things you are all being made aware of."

I look at my mamas and papas present, and they give me a reassuring nod.

"Last Sorday," I turn my gaze back to my students. "Alex and Jacob uncovered a plot to have monsters invade the capital from within. They dealt with the monsters and one of the gods who were behind it. All of you likely sensed that powerful source of magic on Felday morning. That was me dealing with the other god behind it. Niko also dealt with another god during these events, though we believe that one to have been unrelated to the other two and their plans on ruining the work of the Magi and our presence.

"Though Alex and Jacob dealt with the monsters," I say. "And rescued hundreds of street rats who were being experimented on, there was one thing they couldn't deal with, and it's extremely troubling."

I explain about the Crimson Pearl and its effects. The real ones, not the partial-truths Jacob was given by the god. Everyone's expressions turn grim as they hear it, and how they can be addicted to it against their will if someone puts it into their drinks or food.

"Part of the reason I gave you guys the break," I say. "Was because Mama Elena and I were working hard on figuring out, then creating, an antidote for it."

Mama Elena approaches, pulling two crates out of her spatial storage.

"Inside these crates," I indicate them. "Are wooden boxes containing antidotes. There's one box for each of you. You'll notice that they contain a small, spherical pill. It's white with golden flecks. It will neutralize the curse and the addiction. If you realize you've been tricked into taking the drug, take one of the antidote pills."

"The antidote," Mama Elena tells them as she opens the crate. "Is in limited supply. It is expensive and time-consuming to make. Do not waste it. We've given them to persons of importance, such as Zachary. The reason you are all receiving it is because of your status in Jason's training group. That puts you as targets for it. You're regularly among powerful, influential people. You all have immense magical abilities. All it takes is being lost to the drug to cause a problem. Or for them to manually trigger the curse while you're somewhere important."

"Inside this box," Papa Jared sets a box down on the table beside me, then opens it. "Are bracelets and anklets. They have several enchantments to them. Should you be hit by the curse triggered in someone else, these will shield you from it somewhat as well as immediately begin drawing on your mana to heal you with holy magic."

"They will also," I say. "Alert us directly that you were affected by it, and either myself or one of my mamas and papas will come to your rescue and the rescue of anyone around, as long as it's possible. Do not give these to anyone else, and wear them at all times. They're made of star iron, and are one of the most expensive things you will ever wear."

"Congratulations," Papa Samuel grimly tells my students as they stare at the two crates and the box. "The forty of you truly are no longer normal. You've been upgraded to the same level of security importance as Zachary Varil himself."