(Jason, 16)

There is complete silence after Papa Samuel makes the announcement. Jacob, Lina, and their guards already knew about the upgraded status of my students, but no one else did.

"The reason for this upgrade," I say. "Is partly because of who you all work with regularly. A Marran prince, the eldest Jesheman prince, a Varilan princess, and the Varilan Crown Prince. There is also the Duchess Meti, betrothed of the Varilan Crown Prince and head of the family and owner of the companies which supply much of Varil with its cotton, which was recently targeted for assassination several times, the source of which has yet to be found. If the Meti family is wiped out, the companies beneath them will no longer function properly and a collapse will begin, a collapse which will spread throughout the kingdom. So part of this is to protect high-ranking members of Varil from having their friends targeted.

"On top of all of that," I say. "Is the training you are all undergoing. It's a mixture of modern and ancient techniques which have yielded tangible results, and you all know restricted spells that plenty of people would like to get their hands on. There are some other reasons mixed in as well, though it's not necessary to say them. So, come on up and accept your antidotes and take either a bracelet or an anklet."

"Do you have one?" Adam asks as he approaches, the first to come forth.

That sets off the others, who all begin to move forward, now that they're overcoming their shock at their upgraded status.

"No," I answer. "But I'm powerful enough my body's natural regeneration due to being grey-level in magical power will overcome it, and that's if it even manages to affect me in the first place. Everyone in this room has the potential to reach grey in magical power. Once you do, you'll no longer need an antidote or the protective bands, but that's a long way off."

"You think this issue might last for years?" Kyra asks.

"Yes," I answer. "It isn't something which we can simply get rid of. We don't know where the supply is located, and they can make more of it. Unless we completely wipe out everyone who knows how to make it and all remains of it, it'll continue to appear again and again."

"So it will probably never be dealt with, then?" Kayla asks.

"Correct," I confirm. "We may, one day, manage to wipe it out for good, but there's always the possibility it lasts longer than any of us Magi will be here. We have a time limit before we're gone, which I've already mentioned to all of them."

"Yeah," Adam says. "Except you didn't tell us what that time limit was, just that 'we'll be able to finish university'."

"You will," I nod. "That said, there's one thing that we can do that will make wiping out the Crimson Pearl a lot easier. I'll explain after you all finish with this."

Everyone finishes taking their supply, and I know that my students have noticed the confused looks on my mamas' and papas' faces. It's an indication that I didn't tell even them about this solution.

I open up a gate and send everyone through it, my family included, then follow, stepping out of it and into a remote section of the Unwild Lands.

"Everyone," I say as I pull an orb of essence of curse magic out of my spatial storage, then one of holy magic, continuing to pull the orbs out until I have one of each element. "Examine these. Memorize how they look, how the magic within each feels."

My students examine them, and even my mamas and papas do. They only know the one of holy, as it was necessary to make the antidote, though I'm sure they know how to make the others, considering I taught them how to create an orb of the essence of one element and they're geniuses, too.

Once everyone finishes examining the orbs, I turn and throw the orb of essence of curse magic hundreds of yards, detonating it with a bolt of force magic. It erupts with the same effect as the one Niko demonstrated, only spanning a diameter of eight hundred feet rather than one hundred, even though it's only twice the size of the one he demonstrated.

Which is exactly why he didn't demonstrate one this size and made one only half it to use. When the diameter of a sphere doubles, its volume is multiplied by eight, and the volume of the orbs has a direct influence on the radius of its effect.

"If you ever encounter," I turn back to face my stunned papas and mamas and students. "An orb like this, get the hell out of there and contact me immediately. The orb I threw, the curse variation, is necessary in order to create the Crimson Pearl. The holy variation is used to create the antidote. However, anyone who knows how to create a single one knows how to create them all. So if you encounter one of any type, you have either encountered the person who can create them, or it's someone able to lead us back to the creator.

"However," I indicate the direction of my attack. "You've seen what a single one of those orbs can do. If it's unleashed against you, you won't be able to defend. That was pure curse magic. It's not a spell you can simply cast, and it's not something anyone under grey level of magical power could protect against.

"So if you see any of the elemental orbs," I say. "Get out and alert me. Otherwise, you may well die."

"I don't understand," Nathan, the half-Marran member of my training group, says. "If they can make these, why don't they just use them for their attacks?"

"For several reasons," Niko answers. "The first is it allows them a source of income. The second is that forcing people into a dependence on them makes them feel powerful. The third is that they can spread out the devastation and set it off across a wider range. Jason, how many doses can a single orb create?"

"We made seventy-five thousand of the antidote pills with a single orb," I answer, then begin putting the orbs still around back into my spatial storage. "It was split up into five hundred-dose boxes and given to seventy-five people, including the forty of you. Ours are more refined, however, in order to purge the curse and effects of the Crimson Pearl from you. Due to the weaker nature and how it builds up over multiple uses, we estimate that they can make around sixteen times that many from a single orb.

"The good news," I say. "Is that creating the orb isn't easy. As I said, it takes a powerful, talented mage with a lot of mana to do. There probably isn't more than one or two people making the orbs to use for the Crimson Pearls. This means the supply is limited, and we know they won't use any of the drug that is less than perfect. Let's say they manage to produce one million usable doses of the drug in a week. That sounds bad, right?"

Everyone agrees with that.

"That's around one hundred and twenty-five thousand doses able to be distributed per day," I say. "Let's say they keep a fifth of that as storage, so one hundred thousand doses. Someone who is addicted might go through ten to twenty doses per day, so that gives us five to ten thousand actual victims. That's a decent amount of people, right?"

Everyone nods.

"Now," I say. "If five to ten thousand people in the capital are affected by the curse within the drug, that's a significant issue. However, they'll likely spread it out through the kingdom of Varil, so we can expect maybe half of what's produced and sold to be used in the capital."

"That still sounds bad," Hailey says.

"For every person they heavily addict to the drug on these estimates," Fael Mira steps forward, reminding everyone that she and Jarenidis are here. "We can cure one and a half. Each of you have in your possession five hundred antidotes."

"In other words," Jacob realizes. "The antidotes are not just for us. If we find someone addicted to the drug, we can use them."

"Wait a minute," Elise says. "Shouldn't there be twice as many antidotes as were distributed? What about the other half?"

"They're being given to key alchemists," Mama Elena answers. "And certain healers. Ones who are being given the signs of the addiction. Not just in Varisly, but in other cities and key locations as well. If they confirm addiction, they're to use the cure and contact the local authorities to come and interrogate the user regarding their supply. It should help us root them out a little easier."

"However," I say. "Keep in mind that you all might be targeted repeatedly, so do not use your antidotes willy-nilly. Confirm the severity of their addiction, and only if it's bad should you use the antidote. Otherwise, bring them to an alchemist or healer with it. If you can, find out where they got their supply of it."

"If it is imbibed," Wyatt says. "Could they know turn it into a liquid form and pour it into the water supply? Would it make it through the water purification?"

"It would not," I shake my head. "Mama Alyss and I were confirming that earlier. When we designed it, we added in holy magics just as a precaution. In order for there to be enough Crimson Pearl in the water supply to have an effect on someone, they would need to produce at least one or two of these orbs per day just for a city a tenth the size of Varilsy, I think. I'm not sure. It would have a noticeable effect on the water, one anyone would see, and anyone would think the water is bad with the look it would have. They would need a concentration of at least three or four times that in the water to make it past the purification, and even more than that for there to be an actual effect when consumed."

"Only a place," Mama Alyssa says. "Without the plumbing system we designed would be susceptible to that, but a place like that doesn't drink water. The risk there would be it getting mixed into potions and salves, but again, the water would be noticeably bad."

"Okay," Wyatt says.

"Once knowledge of the drug becomes more common," I say. "An official notice from the palace will be sent throughout the kingdom listing the local places with a cure for it is. Any alchemist or healer supplied with it will be ordered from the start to report repeat addicts. We are settling into this for the long-haul. From what I know of Earth's drug problems, they never truly go away. Fortunately, all we have to do is locate the person or people who know how to make these orbs and deal with them. The problem might resurface later on, but as long as we consistently deal with the people who know how to create the orbs, it will stop soon after. Chances are slim of it appearing more than once in a generation. Now. Let's start questions. Are there any?"

A few of them ask about the effects of the drug, the safety of the antidote, and how we will make it if it takes a lot of time to make, as I and my mamas and papas do have other obligations as well.

"Mama Elena did sort of shirk some of those responsibilities," I say. "In order to whip up the antidotes. However, we will not be producing more of it."

"What?" Jacob asks. "Why not?"

"Because there is no need for Jasoran and Elena," Fael Mira steps forward. "To do so when the Dragon Clans are willing to assist with this. We have four alchemists who have already been taught the recipe, and I will be creating the orbs. They can create a single batch in two days."

"Are there any other questions?" I ask, and no one asks any. "Alright! On to the next topic! Since you all know about your elevated status, there's some other stuff to discuss. First, anyone who becomes a part of my advanced training group isn't allowed to participate in the annual tournament between the universities of the various schools."

There are shocked looks on most of my students. The Marrans and I wouldn't be allowed as part of the Varilan representatives anyway, since we're foreigners, but I'm sure the rest of my students were hoping to shine in the tournaments.

"The reason for this," I say. "Is because you are all advanced past the students who go there, and that's before becoming included in my elite training group. Yes, that's right. Even you first-year students are more capable than the fifth- sixth- and seventh-year students going to the tournaments when it comes to the magics used there."

There are even more shocked looks from my students.

"Because of that," I say. "Anyone who manages to stay in my advanced and elite training group for a full term or more will find it easy to become a Royal Slayer or even a member of the Royal Guard, if you wanted, after graduation.

"However," I say. "For those of you who don't or won't have other responsibilities, such as those of you inheriting land or the kingdom, there is another option available. The populations of certain types of monsters are increasing, including grey-level beasts. In the next few generations, it will become necessary to have warriors and mages capable of hunting them and taking them out.

"To those of you who aren't Magi," I say. "We are going to offer you a place here at this facility, teaching those generations. Once we graduate university, we'll begin opening this facility up to talented young men and women from all over Ikarix. We would like all of you as instructors here, as well as the initial wave of guards.

"This isn't a requirement, of course," I tell them. "Just a request. However, I'm sure you're already starting to find it hard to deal with what was normal before. The Jeshema Academy and Jeshema University can provide an outlet for that, and if you want to fight some monsters or collect reagents of some sort? Well, these are the Unwild Lands.

"As I said," I tell them. "This is just a choice, something we'd like to ask you to help out with, once you graduate university. You'll all be perfect professors for the next wave of young men and women being trained up to violet and grey magical power, and having a populace that reaches that is crucial for when the populace of certain grey-level beasts becomes too high.

"Now!" I say. "Who wants to return to Varilsy? We'll open a gate back up here at the Jeshema mansion tomorrow morning at eight for anyone who decides not to stay the night and who wants to join in on the first session."

(Niko, 16)

Lina steps through the gate after me, her guards following along with Pine and Eli. I would much prefer this time alone, but understand that the escorts are necessary due to the customs and protocols which bind us.

I wanted the first person to see this who already has not to be Lina, and Lina alone.

"Are we at Jason's home?" Lina asks, looking toward his house.

"Yes," I answer. "Though that is not why we are here. Stay here."

I walk into the barn and approach Koricel, rubbing him down before saddling him, then I pull myself up onto his back.

Settled onto his seat, I grip the reigns and click my tongue, and Koricel leaves his stall, and I guide him out to the pen. The five of them stare at me in shock, as none of them knew I took riding lessons.

Guiding Koricel with nudges and clicks of my tongue, I set him to walking around the pen, then trotting and galloping, before I bring him up to Lina, smiling wide.

"Is this one of the things Jason has been teaching you?" She asks. "I know we suspected he was helping you better your Varilan and foundation of spellcasting, but we dismissed the suspicion you were learning to ride as well."

"Horses are ridden in Varil all the time," I tell her. "Especially among the nobility who do not wish to take a carriage between towns. I asked Jason to teach me how to ride back during autumn. It is something we do most visits out here. Koricel is one of Aurum's sons, and he is mine. Now, we can go for rides together for dates as well."

"Yes, we can," she smiles. "Though on separate horses until after we marry."

"Yes," I tell her. "Though I can wait the four years for that. Let me take him back to his stall."

I take Koricel back to his stall, remove his saddle, and brush him down. As I start to leave, I realize his stall was open. He could have been out the entire time, Jason lets them roam free. I look at Aurum, who is also in his stall.

"You two are strange," I tell the horses, and Aurum whinnies at me while Koricel snorts.

Shaking my head at them, I make my way back outside to Lina and the escorts.

"That is what I wished to show you," I tell her. "That I am capable of riding a horse now."

"You rode him like a natural," she says. "If I had only just met you, I would think you learned to ride at a young age, not for less than a year."

"Jason is a good teacher," I tell her. "Without his assistance, I would find myself behind the rest of you and unable to communicate as clearly and effectively as I do with all of you in Varil."

"You are a good student as well," she tells me.

"Jason gave permission for us to use his hot spring," I say. "Do you wish to?"

"I do," she says.

The six of us walk to Jason's hot springs and descend down to it, then shower off in the washing room before settling into the hot springs for a soak. Lina sits across from me while my escorts sit across from hers, our escorts sitting to the right of the person they are escorting.

"You are still wearing your cuffs in here?" Lina asks. "I know we all kept on the bracelets and anklets they supplied us with because he said they keep themselves clean and are safe for places like this, but you left your cuffs on for this? Come to think of it, you did not grab a bracelet or anklet."

"My cuffs have the same cleaning enchantment," I tell her. "Jason borrowed them last night as well, to work the protective enchantment into them."

I locked myself in my room during that time, so that no one would see my arm and leg, so everyone just thought Jason was visiting me twice in one evening.

"I see," she says. "May I inquire about something?"

"You never need to ask me, Lina," I tell her. "Does that mean it is serious?"

"You did not inspect the orbs," she says. "You also did not seem surprised to see them. Did Jason already show you all of this? Because of your status as the Magus of Curse?"

"No," I answer. "I know how to make them. They were one of the training methods Nolan used during the war. Jason made me promise not to share the ones none of you have remembered yet."

"Making them is a training method?" She asks.

"It uses a lot of magical power and mana," I nod. "And requires strong control over your magic. As a result, it increases your magical power level, mana reserves, and your magical control. Another factor which they are likely looking into with the case is for anyone whose magical power level increases at an abnormal rate who cannot be linked to Jason's training in some way."

"That would make sense," she says.

We stop talking and just enjoy the magical feel of the hot springs as the steam and magic soothes our bodies. Eventually, we get out, wash off, and dress in casual clothes, then walk to the yard in front of Jason's home.

I pull out a blanket and lay it down, then Lina and I lie on it, holding hands as Gargoyle Alpha and Thunderbird Alpha put themselves between us, just because they can. Lina and I were already the safe distance apart.

We watch the sky as I enjoy being able to go on dates with Lina again. While this was not an arranged one, it counts as one anyway, in my opinion.

After an hour of us just relaxing here, watching the clouds and birds above, Badger Alpha makes an appearance by jumping onto my chest.

"Hi, Niko!" He greets me. "I put some food on the table for you and Lina and your friends. Make sure to keep those tummies full, okay?"

"Okay," I chuckle as Lina sits up and gives Badger Alpha an amused look. "We will ensure we do that."

"Good!" He tells me, then looks at Lina. "Hiya, Lina!"

Badger Alpha jumps off of me, then wanders over to Pine, jumping up onto his shoulder before conversing with him.

"I am a little hungry," I tell Lina.

"So am I," she says. "Let us see what he made us."

(Alex, 17)

These clothes really are amazing, and they remind me of what we had back on Earth. Because of that, I think I know how the uniforms for the game were made. Jason and his papas and mamas brought to life machine-made clothes.

When I left him, he was talking with Tasha regarding something, so I suspect that he is negotiating with her pricing and conditions for the Meti Clothing Company to use the machines. I'm sure it ain't gonna change most of what nobility wears, as the outfits they were for events and occasions are even more custom than normal wear.

For civilians, on the other hand? Once clothing like this is under production for the public, no longer will most commoners only have two or three outfits due to cost. Not only is it bothersome to buy more than that due to cost, but for the most part, there is no need to, as long as they wash them every few days.

But I'm sure that this new way of making clothes will bring costs down, and that even the poorest of commoners will start having a few extra outfits to wear, especially since these clothes are more comfortable. Normally, clothes are a little on the scratchy side, though the wealthier the person, the more likely they can afford a more comfortable outfit.

Even if still a little rough. That is just one thing that comes with most handmade clothes. Is this what clothes felt like on Earth? A uniform feel to each piece, with them being cut from bolts of cloth made uniform through automation, rather than individually woven by hand?

There's a knock at my door, pulling me out of my thoughts. I answer it and find Jacob standing there, dressed in his own uniform, and he laughs when he sees me.

"Allow me to guess," he says. "You planned on challenging me?"

"I ain't your Royal Rival for nothing," I tell him.

"Let's get the ball from Jason and go," he says.

I follow Jacob out to Jason, who gives us the ball and tells us to let Griffin Alpha launch it, then we take a gate to the playing field, finding Cody sitting on the scoring board, the score reset back to zero to zero.

"How much do ya want to bed," I say. "Jason knew what we were doing and sent him here to keep score for us?"

"Were I someone who made bets," Jacob says. "I would say that Jason most definitely did that. What shall we play to? Ten?"

"Until either sundown or one of us ain't able to continue."

"That sounds like a plan," he tosses the ball to Griffin Alpha, then the two of us head onto the field.

We hop across the posts to our starting positions, and Griffin Alpha takes up the spot above the center post. He launches the ball into the air, then takes off to Cody, joining him as Jacob and I begin our match.

We both manage to get to the ball at the same time, then strike at each other at the same time in an effort to push the other away. The ball passes by us, and we both send a gust of wind at it to send it in different directions as we land back on the posts.

Rather than going in either direction, the ball just shoots straight back up again.

Our match continues like this, the two of us anticipating each other's moves and working to counter them, then attempting to counter those as they happen. We hold little back as we fight for the ball, falling onto or against the posts, into the water, into the side of the pit; as we throw spells at each other and the ball, leap across the posts in an effort to grab it or block the other, and more.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot keep the ball from Jacob from very long, and cannot manage to throw the ball into the goal before Jacob intercepts it. Likewise, he never manages to keep it from me for very long, and I manage to prevent him from scoring a goal as well.

When our stomachs start rumbling for dinner, we agree to call it a tie, then look over to Cody. He's sitting with Griffin Alpha on his head, looking at us with interest. It's adorable in the way that only little kids are.

Jacob and I both become aware of the presence of others at the same time, and turn to find the rest of the students sitting on the benches, along with the Sages who came out, Jason's other two adoptive siblings, Miralandis, and Jarenidis. All of the students of Jason's chose to remain here, since we all had honestly expected Jason to spring on us that the training was beginning immediately.

Jason himself is standing at the edge of the field, dressing in a Grey Team uniform, while several of our fellow students are dressed in a Red Team uniform.

Jacob and I return to that side of the field, and I toss Jason the ball, having grabbed it when we agreed to stop.

"What's going on?" I ask, still out-of-breath from my match against Jacob.

"Some of them," Jason says. "Wanted to try beating me in a match, so I decided to play. Alright! Let's go!"

Jason heads to the side I was on, while the other team heads to the side Jacob was on. It looks like the players are Niko, Lina, Tasha, Barry, Sarah, Colin, Pine, Adam, Nathan, and Gabriel, a first-year student who joined us this past term.

This will be interesting.

Griffin Alpha launches the ball, and instead of going for it, Jason shifts to his goal, blocking it. Barrier spells have a restriction for this game on both size and duration, but I doubt that will matter to Jason, with how quickly and precisely he can make them.

Red Team tries to make a goal, but Jason blocks it every time, never straying from the goalie's posts. A few times, he goes on the offensive, launching the ball as a goalie to the other goal. Most of the time, the ball goes through, but Niko manages to block it a few times.

It's a reminder of just how far above us Niko is. Even if he's only lower violet, his own mana shaping speed is able to keep up with this game when the opponent is the greatest mage to ever live, the High Magus himself.

If Jason really tried, he could easily power through everything by sheer force, but that's not in the spirit of the game. He'd hurt the other players if he did that, simply because of the power gap. So he's playing the best he can with the opponents he has.

It makes me really want to see a match between him and Niko, once Niko reaches grey. Jason will be even more powerful then, and the difference of several tiers of power would still put him above Niko, but Niko would still be much closer to Jason and will truly be the Magus of Decay, just as Jason is truly the Magus of Magic.

The game ends after two hours, with Jason having scored sixty-three points and his opponents, none. However, the Red Team doesn't seem down at all, and they're all grinning, even though they're exhausted. It was all for fun, and they went into it knowing they'd lose against him.

The players rejoin us, then we return to the training facility, Cody taking the gate Griffin Alpha made back rather than making his way back to us, then following through the gate. Much faster, so that's the smarter way.

Jason gives me a hug and a kiss, then tells me he'll join me for dinner after he takes a shower. He and the other ten players head to the showers, and I head into the dining hall, where a feast awaits us.

Once I have time to sit and think as I eat, thoughts of what Jacob and I went through and what Varil is about to undergo fill my mind. I don't have a doubt at all that the moment Jason finds the people who can create the orbs for the drug that he will ensure the knowledge of it is erased from their mind.

He is a Magus, after all, and even without our true pasts, we still line up with the ways we followed as the Magi. Jason is Nolan, not just someone with his memories. And as the Magi, when we wanted knowledge erased, we erased every last trace of it.

How long will it take him to find those responsible and erase the Crimson Pearl's presence for good?