(Jacob, 17)

"Good morning, everyone," Jarenidis greets my group as we step through the gate, finding ourselves in a field by a lake.

Around the field and lake are dozens of some sort of bison. I have never seen a bison before. These ones stand nearly ten feet in height, with dark blue markings in their dark blue fur, all of them possessing light blue eyes.

"What you see around you," Jarenidis tells us once we have assembled in two rows of five before him. "Are tide bison. They are resilient to physical attacks and possess potent earth and water magics. You must use magic if you wish to hurt them. Each of you must kill three of them before the end of this session to pass. If not, you will suffer punishment once today's sessions finish."

Most of the group groans at hearing that, as over the last two weeks, nearly everyone has suffered at least three punishments, and they are not fun. We would all prefer to run one hundred miles while wearing weighted packs, our magic blocked, than undergo another one of Jason's punishments.

They are effective at making us try our best, though.

"Begin," Jarenidis says. "I'll be monitoring in case someone is in danger, but do not intentionally put yourself in it. And remember, each of you must kill at least three. A team kill does not count as a kill for any member of it. Bring the remains of any of them to me, so that I may store them away. Oh, and for those of you who can use combat constructs, do not, or any kills made with their assistance will not count."

Everyone splits up, making their way to tide bison to fight. Knowing most of them will stay close by at first, I use flight magic to float up into the air, then past them, soaring to a further area. The tide bison are spaced out, but most are near either the lake or one of several streams leading into it.

Landing a few yards behind one near a large creek, I grab the hilt of my sword as ropes of water rise up from the creek, the tide bison turns its light blue gaze on me. It noticed my approach? Does it possess some sort of scanning spell, then?

The streams of water shift, then strike at me. I summon up a barrier, only for the attacks to pierce through them, sending me tumbling to the ground as they strike my body. Were I not wearing the enchanted uniform of the training group and had I not enhanced my body's natural defense, those would have pierced my flesh.

Instead, it just felt like someone punched me quite hard. Scrambling back to my feet, I dodge another round of the water strikes as I draw my sword. Dirt rises from the ground, forming into hard rocks, and pelt at me. I deflect the ones I can with my sword, avoid others, and am struck by a few of them.

No matter how hard I press against this monster, I never manage to do more than defend myself. Any attempts at casting a spell to strike it with fail due to its constant assault, and I begin to wonder how this sessions is even possible.

Without warning, I find myself back in front of Jarenidis, aware that everyone else is present as well. They all look as battered and bruised as me, and just as surprised.

"Time is up," Jarenidis says.

Has it really been nearly two hours?

"You have all failed," Jarenidis announces. "None of you managed to fell even a single tide bison. It is strange, to be honest. Niko was the only one who managed it today, and he killed the three needed within minutes."

Niko is also many times more powerful than the rest of-

"Did you say that everyone except Niko failed?" I ask as a large, grey gate opens up.

"Yes," Jarenidis answers as the other three groups start walking through the gate.

Either Jason or Miralandis decided to bring everyone here. They all look quite confused.

"Okay, everyone!" Jason calls out as he, Sage Jared, Sage Elizabeth, Sage Alyssa, and Miralandis step through the gate. "Uh, my brother misunderstood the challenge!"

"I did not," Jarenidis tells him. "You said to have them kill three tide bison during this session, so that is what I assigned."

"Exactly!" Jason laughs as he walks over to his brother. "Jarenidis, they were supposed to kill three tide bison. They didn't have to do it alone. They were supposed to work in teams of two."

"You didn't mention that part," Jarenidis told him.

"I did," Jason shakes his head, and I notice Miralandis mouthing that Jason forgot to say it. "Anyway, once Jacob's group finishes recovering, we'll give you all two hours to do this challenge again, and you'll only be given a punishment if you fail it this time. Niko, you were able to kill three in your session, so you can sit out.

"To make it a little easier," Jason calls out. "Work in teams of three! There are thirty-nine of you for this, so it works out even. Kill three tide bisons within two hours! Once you finish, you can return to the facility and relax. Dinner will be waiting for you! Also, as a bonus, anyone who kills four or five will receive a special reward!"

I immediately approach Eden, as I have fought real battles alongside him.

"Would you like to team up with me?" I ask.

"Sure," he says. "Who else should we ask?"

"I wanted to ask Alex," I tell him, then point in the direction where Alex is leaving in. "But he, Barry, and Sarah seemed to team up before I managed to reach you. Let us see if Evan will join us."

We walk over to Evan and Wyatt, who were walking towards us as well.

"Hello," I say. "Eden has agreed to team up with me, so I can only take one more person with me."

"And you wished for Evan," Wyatt nods. "I understand. Evan?"

"Yes, sir," Evan says.

"I will find two others, then," Wyatt says. "Good luck."

Wyatt leaves as Eden gives me a look of confusion.

"He accepted that rather fast," Eden says. "He didn't look offended or anything that you chose Evan over him. He's not hiding it, is he? He won't be upset or stew or something, will he?"

"No," Evan answers for me. "Wyatt accepted it because I have less friends here than he does, meaning I would have a more difficult time than he would finding other teammates. We discussed it while walking over."

"Oh," Eden says.

"Okay," I say. "Let us be off, then. Follow me."

We fly up into the air, then I take them back to the tide bison that has left me feeling sore and exhausted. If either of them have realized I am testing them, they show no sign of it. Both of them are candidates to be my Champion, and I wish to perform a little more assessment.

Even if I have thirty-four other candidates, these two are the ones I am favoring the most for the position. I do need to take my time to appraise Eden well enough to make a decision, and it will likely take me several more years to decide. Things may change in that time.

Landing in front of the bison, we draw our swords.

"Use some sort of blade spell," I say. "When striking the tide bison. Jarenidis said we must use magic to hurt them, so I am assuming that means none of our weapons will pierce its hide with our current strengths."

I wrap my sword in a thin layer of earth magic imbued with the power of wind, Eden uses a mixture of wind and water, and Evan uses earth and fire. As the tide bison begins its attack, we split up, Eden moving to the left, Evan to the right, and myself focusing on the monster's front.

Together, we should be far more capable of taking this monster down.

The tide bison focuses on me with its attacks, though I notice it shaking the ground and defending itself from the sides. Eden strikes with his sword, moving swiftly between attacks, and the spell attached to his weapon cuts a shallow wound into the monster's side. At the same time, Evan strikes fast and hard, bolting forward and delivering a swift slice before moving back.

Though the tide bison wishes to attack those two, I ensure its attention remains on me by repeatedly aiming for its face and eyes, though my attacks never strike due to how much attention it focuses on me.

Slowly, the three of us wear down the tide bison, wounding it in the sides, the neck, and the legs. Its spells become weaker, less forceful, and move with less speed. Finally, we manage to kill it, Eden delivering the final blow, cutting through most of the tide bison's neck.

I open a gate back to where Jarenidis is, then the three of us use force magic to move the beast through it.

"One down," I say as I close the gate. "Two more to go. That took us more than twenty minutes, and the other two will take us longer than that due to our exhaustion. Let us take a few minutes of rest before we seek out the next one."

"Yes, sir," Eden and Evan respond in unison.

Will we manage to take out three of them, though? After a long day of training, everyone is already pushing their limits with this, and I will not be as useful as I should be, having fought a tide bison for nearly two hours.

Deciding not to worry about that, I apply holy magic to my wounds, so that I at least will not be hindered as much as I would be if I left them.

(Niko, 16)

Everyone looks exhausted, but that does not surprise me, despite more than an hour having passed since the last team finished the final session. Fighting tide bison before reaching violet in magical power is not a simple matter. That is why Jason wanted everyone to work in teams rather than alone. Though he did mention while we watched the others that he killed his first one at ten.

Then Sage Jared added that Jason killed it with just two spells, a feint and the actual attack. As usual, Jason proves to be extraordinary.

Because everyone managed to succeed in killing three tide bison in their groups, no one was forced to suffer an extra punishment as a result of failure. The relief on the faces of the six who must perform today's punishment was amusing.

Now, we are gathered around our evening bonfire, beer and snacks at-hand. Lina sits beside me, holding my hand as we watch the flames. Most of the couples here are seated together, as usual, though Jason and Alex are seated apart. Alex sits with his brother and crew, while Jason sits alone, Zevenas on his lap. The griffin cub sits on Jacob's lap, too, though I do not know where the two creatures are during the lessons.

No one has managed to figure that out, and Jason refuses to answer.

Today's bonfire is more rowdy than the ones we have held over the last two weeks. Today was the last day of training for this camp, and tomorrow morning, we will all return to Varilsy to continue on with our lives.

It was a long, exhausting two weeks. Most of us passed out as soon as we went to bed. Even I, with my greater magical power, struggled to keep up at times. I think those of us who were here for the winter camp are grateful, though.

They did not pit us against a titan again.

Harvesting rare or dangerous ingredients, hunting powerful monsters, pushing our bodies and magic to their limits? Those were all things we did. Fighting a titan?

Not this time, and for that, I know I am happy.

As the evening turns to night, and the moons move high in the sky, everyone starts turning in for the night. I give Lina a kiss, then we walk back to our dorms, kissing again before we part ways. I enter my room and change into a nightshirt, then lie on my bed, quickly falling asleep.

My alarm clock wakes me at seven, and I change into proper clothes, then pack up my things, sending them all into my spatial storage before making my way down to the dining hall for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, fruits, nuts, and oats await, along with milks and juices for us to drink.

Rather than taking us all back at once, everyone is allowed to leave when they are ready for it, they need only to ask one of the Sages. Everyone must be gone by eight-thirty, though. Lina joins me for breakfast, then we walk outside, our escorts joining us, as usual. As I open up a gate for us to return, able to reach Varilsy now with how powerful I am, my comm plate alerts me to someone attempting to contact me.

I pull it out and find that Aiden is calling.

"Hello, Aiden," I greet him in Marran.

"Hey, Niko," Aiden responds. "Would you mind coming over here? To the usual spot for my camp."

"No, I would not," I tell him. "Why?"

"Uh," he hesitates for a moment. "We have a monster here that we are not sure how to deal with, or if we should. It looks pretty damn powerful. You aren't busy, are you? Or are you not doing anything with the railroad opening?"

"I am not taking it to Mar," I state. "Though I will be at the station. I will be there after I send Lina back to Varil."

"Niko, I can come with you," Lina says.

"Lina, you need to return to Varil," I say. "Jacob might have left a few times to attend to his princely duties, but you did not leave cam, and you must be ready for the opening ceremony for the train station. It will take you more time than it will take me."

"Okay," she says, then kisses me for a few seconds. "Open the gate, then."

I open the gate, and Lina steps through, her guards following her. Eli and Micah remain, however. Micah seems to be staying around me more often lately, even though we barely spoke before. So far, Eli is really the only one who has treated me as just another person, so I am happy that Micah seems to be accepting me now.

"I am coming in just a moment," I tell Aiden as I close the gate.

I open a new gate, then step through it, Eli and Micah following me. We step through into Aiden's tent, and Eli and Micah give him awe-filled looks. Right now, my brother wears his usual uniform, with leather armor over it.

"Thanks for coming," Aiden ends the call and we put away our comm plates. "It's not far from here, and we're worried it'll attack us soon."

Aiden opens up a gate, then the four of us step through it, arriving away from his camp. Due to the lower elevation here, there is some grass growing on the ground here, peeking out from the small amount of snow that has yet to melt in the mountain spring.

Around two hundred yards away stands something around eighty feet in height, with dark blue hair and dark blue eyes, its skin so pale, it is nearly white. Muscular, massive, and deadly.

An ice titan, and this one is older and more powerful than the one we fought during the winter. However, I am far more powerful than before. Eli and Micah look nervous, though, no doubt remembering our previous battle with one.

"Yes," I say. "I know what this is. We should probably call Jason to deal with this, but he will no doubt be busy with preparations for the train. I can handle it by myself, though, it will just take me a few minutes longer."

"Okay," Aiden says.

I take a step forward, holding out a hand to prepare a spell.

Then a bolt of lightning strikes down from the sky, striking the titan, before the monster is struck with a giant meteor. As the monster staggers, it begins to drop to the ground, as if something is pressing a great weight upon it. Gravity magic?

Is Jason here? Did he somehow find out about this and decide to handle the-oh. I see now.

The dragon which took notice of the ice titan casually flies forward, before exhaling flames, incinerating the monster. Once there is nothing left of the ice titan except for ash, the dragon looks at us, flicks its tail in greeting, then flies off.

"Well, then," Aiden says. "It appears the situation is solved."

"Yes," I say. "It does appear that."

What a shame, too. I was hoping to show off to my brother just how much more powerful I am through the fight with the ice titan.

"Well," Aiden sighs. "Thanks for coming, Niko. Apparently, your glory was stolen by a dragon."

"I did not need the glory," I tell him. "We should be returning, though. The train is opening today, and I wish to be there, even if I am not riding here."

"Alright," he ruffles my hair. "Good luck, Niko."

"Thank you," I tell him, then open a gate back to my home in Varil and step through, then address Eli and Micah once they are through and my gate is closed. "I will take a shower now, then prepare for the opening ceremony. If you two are attending, I suggest preparing as well. I must be there early, though, to more easily enter the area reserved for royals."

For our protection, Jason arranged a special location for us to watch the ceremony from, near where he will be. It makes sense, since we are royalty, especially with the assassination attempts on Jacob, Lina, and their father so far.

I do need to be preparing to leave, though. Even if I have two hours before I must be there, I still want to arrive early. There is no telling how many people may show up early to this.

(Jason, 16)

"Hello, everyone!" I greet the crowd gathered in the station, some under the shelter, most beyond it, in the fields outside of Varilsy.

Because of a few technical things, we had the train station built outside of Varilsy, to make it easier to store trains on an off-track and not need to open up a new hole in the walls protecting the city for the train to pass through. To make it safer for potential passengers, we created a clear zone around the path leading up to the station and the station itself. Monster wards are abundant, and will be maintained regularly to ensure nothing too dangerous draws close.

Because of the assurances of that safety in addition to the numerous guards present, many citizens came to watch the opening ceremony and first voyage of the train. A lot of people. The crowd is massive.

"As most of you know," I say. "I'm Jason Jeshema, adoptive son of the Sages and blood grandchild of the leader of the Dragon Clans. I am here before you all today to present to you an alternative distance transport to the gates you have all seen in use the last few weeks.

"Right now," I continue. "The train will pass from here to Loraga, then to Varilar, then to Menavar, then into Mar, up to their royal capital. In the future, we will be building additional tracks connecting more of the cities in Varil, and even to cities in other kingdoms. The train system will connect not just major cities, where there will be gates, but smaller towns and villages as well, which is where its benefit will truly shine, allowing quicker travel to locations which will not have the gates, which are used to connect important cities together.

"This train behind me," I say. "Will begin its first journey shortly. We will take it from here all the way to Mar's capital, pick up King Henry, then return back here to Varilsy. The trip will take us approximately fourteen hours.

"Now," I say. "Going on this trip will be myself, your own King Zachary, your Prince Jacob, your Prince Franklin, my Papa Jared, who helped oversee the construction of the tracks, ten of the workers who helped construct this train and its tracks, twenty train guards, and two hundred lucky Varilans. Normally, a trip on the train would cost a little bit. However, we drew a raffle to allow people to take this first trip with us.

"Those of you who won the raffle," I say. "Come on forward, hand your tickets to the train guards, then board the train. We have attendants to show you to the compartments you'll be sitting in. And, because this is the first voyage, you will all be given lunch and dinner on this trip for free."

The boarding process begins, and I join the other VIPs as we board in the VIP coach. Uncle Zach, Jacob, and Franklin are in one compartment, their guards split into two of them. Papa Jared and I are in our own compartment, along with Zevenas, who insisted on coming along. Jaklenai decided to come with us and is in a coach of his own, though he probably thinks I'm not aware he snuck on board.

Once everyone has boarded the train, the driver sets it into motion, and it begins to slowly roll forward, picking up speed as it travels further from the station. I look out the window, watching the fields pass by.

The fields turn to forests as I marvel at how smoothly the train runs. Papa Jared really did come up with enchantments to ease it and decrease the vibrations felt by its passengers. I don't know if I could have come up with them as quickly as he did.

"Your Mama Alyssa," Papa Jared says as the train slows down nearly an hour and a half after departing Varisly, to pass through the Loraga Station. "Said she noticed you constructing something during camp. You kept sneaking out to go to an area near your home, and were cutting down trees, drying them out with your magic, cutting them to size, and whatever else you needed to do. Then you constructed a series of shelters."

"I wasn't sneaking out," I say. "I was simply leaving to go do that. It's for the skyship."

"For the skyship?" Papa Jared asks. "I thought we agreed-"

"That I would come to the two of you if I needed help," I say. "It wasn't that I'd only build it with your help. You two wanted me to do this on my own because of your reservations about having such a thing in existence. Anyway, the shelters are mostly to store the wood I'll be cutting for it. I want to get them cut and dried this summer, even if it'll probably take me a few more years to build it, even with you two helping me. Mostly so that I don't have to start doing it then. I already got the plans for what a normal boat needs for wood."

"Why does it have to look like a normal sailing ship?" Papa Jared asks.

"It doesn't," I say, the train picking up speed again. "But if it needs to land in the ocean, we can sail it like that, too, right?"

"Right," he chuckles as I look out the window again, watching as the fields pass by. "This really does change things, Jason. The train, I mean."

"Yeah," I say. "Even if we have the gates, not everyone will want to use them, and not everyone will want to use the train. Some people will want to use the train for the view, as a luxury. It'll connect smaller towns and villages, as I said in the announcement earlier. I should have made that whole thing longer, shouldn't I have?"

"Probably," he says. "That's what we get for leaving you to come up with the speech on your own, though."

"You guys should have learned that by now," I chuckle, then sigh a little. "So many things from Earth I want to bring over, but so many things that would be bad to."

Like guns. I will never, ever bring guns here. Magical cannons, maybe, but there are already types of those, anyway. Once I return to my true form, I may put an Absolute Law into place on Mildaris to prevent certain technologies from coming here, to ensure they never do.

"What are some of the other things you want to bring over?" He asks. "We have time during this trip to discuss them."

I open up a spatial storage and pull out a notebook, handing it to him.

"Of course you've already written them down," he chuckles, taking it. "By the way, most of the shops in Varisly are using the inventory tablets you came up with, and most of the restaurants are using the order tablets you came up with."

"Yeah," I say. "They're pretty useful. The only downside to them is that if a company purchases another, we have to take all of the ones they have back so that we can key it to the same company."

That way, only that company's tablets can access and share the information with each other. I put a lot of effort into making sure magic hackers like me can't break into them and steal the information stored in them.

Well, okay, I can, but that's pretty different.

"We're going to pass by one of the towns we use for experiments," I tell Papa Jared. "A little after lunch. I'll get to see those statues."

The defensive statues are already in place in the town, and from what I know, several drills have been run to test their effectiveness. With mages in place to ensure the people are protected if something goes wrong.

"Yes," he says. "Lunch should be served soon, too."

We discuss my plans until lunch, which is a hot meal of steak, potatoes, salad, and soup, then I nap a little. Not long after I wake, the fields and forests turn into mountains, the train ascending to meet with the terrain. Not an hour after that, we arrive at the station near the Marran gates, and everyone unloads from the train, pulling on their coats and cloaks to keep warm. Except for me, I just use magic.

Jaklenai exited the train as well, drawing attention to himself simply because everyone knows what the god looks like. Henry seems a bit stunned by his presence, but smiles and dips his head to us, greeting Uncle Zachary and myself, before waving to the gathered folk.

They were brought off the train just so they could see that yes, we did make it all the way to the Marran capital, which they can see right over there, and that yes, Henry sul'Mar really is boarding us here.

With that done, everyone boards the train, Henry joining Uncle Zach, Jacob, and Franklin in their compartment, his own guards entering their own. Another twenty Marrans have joined us for the trip, Henry having already done his own speech to them about the train and its services.

The train then departs. There is no turning around or anything, however, as the train is built to travel in either direction, needing only a driver in the appropriate end of the train to control it.

"What are your plans for the rest of summer?" Papa Jared asks as the train picks up speed.

"Cutting and treating the wood for the boat," I answer. "Making sure I have enough of it in case of issues. Testing some stuff regarding the crystals being harvested here in Mar for me, another two-week training camp if any of my students are interested, which I know they probably are, my own birthday, and apparently, the Festival of the Dragon."

Most importantly, however, is celebrating Niko's birthday. He's never had a proper birthday celebration before, and his birthday's in just a few weeks. I plan on making sure Niko knows what a real birthday celebration is like.

Actually… do I know what a real birthday celebration is like? Jacob and Lina had a banquet and dance for theirs, being royalty, and Alex's happened during the training camp, so we just mixed it in with the other stuff.

Well, I can pull on my memories of Earthen birthdays, birthdays from the old days, and birthdays I've seen celebrated. Maybe I'll ask Adam and Eden how birthdays are celebrated here, too. It may just be normal for most people to not have much special, just get a present, maybe a special meal, and treat the day as normal.

This is considered medieval by Earth standards, after all. Or renaissance, maybe?

Well, it was that sort of time period. They didn't exactly have trains back then. I guess I'm moving it forward, just as I'd wanted to do.