(Alex, 17)

"Hey, Ben," I greet Ben as he exits the church to prepare to head back to his apartment.

"Alex," he frowns. "What are you doing here?"

"This," I toss him the old ball, and he catches it.

"The kids like the one you gave us yesterday," he tells me.

"Yeah," I say. "It's meant to be one of Levirar Toys Company's new products. I've made all that we have right now, which isn't much. Unfortunately, I ain't got the time to do stuff like that, so I've been looking for a person or three to start production of them. In other words, I need workers with enchanting experience. Coincidentally, ya have some, and I know it's decent 'cause I've seen your work in Jason's training group. From what ya told me yesterday, ya need a regular job that pays well. Producing those balls ain't a one-and-done deal. We'll need workers for it for awhile, since we'll be selling 'em for awhile."

Ben inspects the old ball, and I can tell he's interested. His mind shows it, even if his face doesn't.

"The pay is five varru per hour of work," I tell him. "With eight hour shifts per day."

"Huh?" He looks sat me in confusion. "Ain't pay based on days, not time?"

"Most places here, yeah," I tell him. "But back on Earth, it was based on time spent, so if someone had to leave early, they got paid an appropriate amount rather than, say, half or none. And it ain't per toy, since we'll be using an assembly-line style production."

"That's the one where each stage of the production is done by someone different, right?" He asks. "That Sageson Magical Technology uses?"

"Yeah," I confirm. "It was invented a few centuries ahead of this era back on Earth, but is a bit more efficient when it comes to mass-producing things. Ya would be the one doing the seam stitching. Your work with that is pretty decent."

"Doesn't it cause problems with the enchantments?" He asks. "To have multiple people do the enchantments for an item?"

"No," I answer. "The Sages figured out how to work with that and make the enchantments harmonize. All of my workers will be given the instructions for how to make these balls, and the process includes that harmonization."

"So for stitching together some balls," he says. "I'll get paid forty varru a day?"

I can see the hope gleaming in his eyes. That's a lot of money for a low, low peasant to earn.

"Five days a week, not seven," I nod. "So two hundred per week, assuming ya show up on time and never leave early."

I did some digging, and found that he's making average for the district he's been working in, which is about three-quarters of that. He's sharing an apartment with three other students to pay the rent, and is able to send only thirty varru a month back to the church due to needing to eat and supply himself with stuff for university on top of rent.

This new budget would add on an additional two hundred, forty per month to start. It's all we can afford right now, but I'll probably be increasing pay by a varru per hour once sales actually begin, bringing it up to forty-eight per day, which would bring the pay up almost two hundred more.

He'd be able to pay for his own apartment and supply himself with food and university supplies and still send money back. And working less per week during summer. Well, excluding the training camp weeks. During university, he'd have less time to work, so he'd earn a lot less, but would likely work on the weekends he's free to still earn money.

Either way it's sliced, taking this job would mean more money for him, and therefore, more money to send back to this church.

"Also," I tell Ben. "We need a couple of workers for other things. I was wondering if ya knew anyone who could do those?"

I hold out a piece of paper, and he takes it and reads it.

"Yeah, I do," he answers. "A couple of the kids here can do a couple of these things, but there's no way they'd be able to travel over, even if you wanted to hire kids."

"Production," I tell him. "Will currently take place in Varilna Manor, until we're able to construct an actual factory for it."

"Varilna Manor?" He asks. "I can't imagine why the earl would agree to it."

"He agreed to it because he's my brother," I tell him. "As of twenty minutes ago, Earl Connor Levirar is in charge of the revitalization project for Varilna District. For reasons completely unrelated to my visit yesterday, His Majesty became aware that the previous earl in charge was extorting the citizens of this district and not at all performing the maintenance required. Earl Levirar has already declared that his first step in the project will be to update the waterways beneath her to modern ones."

"Not at all related, huh?" Ben snorts. "I bet you saw some of the extortion going on, then abused your status as Royal Rival to see Jacob and tell him about it, so that he'd tell his papa."

"That was the plan, yes," I tell him. "Except His Majesty was playing chess with him, so I got to report it directly to the king."

I also learned last night that Jacob can beat His Majesty at chess four out of five times. I barely managed to stall his victory for two hours before he finally bested me by a hair. We have a rematch in an hour.

"Right," Ben tells me. "So, um, when does this whole thing take place?"

"The shifts are Mondays through Sordays," I tell him. "From eight in the morning to five in the evening. There will be an hour-long lunch break from noon to one, to ensure ya rest up and are fed. Do ya accept the job?"

"I do," he nods.

"Alright," I tell him. "Bring the kids ya think can do those jobs with you as well, would ya? Only two of 'em, though."

"Will do," he tells me. "Thanks, Alex."

"Ya are welcome," I tell him. "Just looking out for a fellow victim of Jason's."

"We are that, aren't we?" He asks with a laugh.

"Yep!" I answer. "Anyway, I best be off. I've other work to do. See ya, Ben."

"See you," he says.

I open a gate and step through it, right into a warehouse filled with a foul smell. Immediately, I create a bubble of air filtering magic over my nose and mouth, and a light film of air over my eyes to stop the stinging.

"Ugh, Pine," I say. "Did ya really have to start a new batch of that right now?"

"Yes, Alex," he snorts. "You're the one who decided to open a gate right beside where I do this."

The tanning process for wyvern hides smells worse than normal ones when he's changing the liquids, especially as he has to use stronger ones each time.

"I was wondering if ya had the order for Captain Enlin yet."

"Yeah, it's in the crates by the door," he tells me.

"Thanks," I tell him, then hurry over to them and open up a gate, before pushing the crates through. I close the gate, then return to Pine. "I'll see ya, Pine."

"See ya," he says, then I open a new gate and step through it.

"Hey, Alex," Captain Enlin gives me an amused look. "Pushing the crates through without coming?"

"Had to say something to someone first," I tell him. "Ya look geared up."

He and his crew.

"We are," he tells me. "We just got a report of a stronger ogre needing someone stronger. I was about to call you when the crates came through."

"Sure, I'll go," I tell him.

"Alright," he says. "Gear up, then let's head out."

(Niko, 16)

When Lina comes into view, I feel my breath catch in my throat. For our date tonight, she put on a green and yellow dress, with green and yellow jewels adorning her golden accessories, the thunderbird necklace I gifted her still around her neck. She looks every bit the princess she is, gliding down the stairs in such a way that were it not for my scanning spell, I would think she were gliding.

With the grace of a goddess, Lina approaches me, meeting my lips with her own, taking my hands into hers. Only then do I realize I had taken to staring at her with my mouth agape. Rather than dwell on that, I simply return the kiss.

Someone clearing their through to our side interrupts us, and we look over to find her papa standing there. When did he show up?

"Hello, Zachary," I greet him.

"Hello, Niko," Zachary gives me a light, amused smile. "You two behave yourselves during dinner, and remember, I will meet you at the amphitheater."

"Yes, sir," I tell him, then look at Lina. "You are beautiful, Lina."

"Thank you," she smiles. "You are handsome, Niko."

I feel extremely self-conscious about my appearance. Lina obviously took a more formal approach to our date tonight than I thought of it. My outfit consists of black pants, a dark green tunic, a black leather vest over that, and my black boots. As with the Varilan custom, I also wear a sword on my hip, this one sheathed in a black leather sheathe, with an onyx in the pommel. As always, I wear the two rings she gifted me. The one with the green jewels of my old eyes, and its twin, with violet amethysts to match my new eyes.

"You are a god," I blurt out without meaning to.

Normally, such a compliment would be met with dagger-filled stares. To compare a mortal to a god is to insult the gods and say that mortals can meet the gods. Many churches would brand someone a heretic for such a comment.

Lina, instead, laughs.

"As are you, Niko," she tells me. "If we think of ourselves in our true forms."

"I do not feel like a god," I tell her. "I feel like a man about to turn seventeen."

"I feel like a woman of seventeen," she says. "That is what we are in this life. Come, let us be off."

Lina and I leave the palace and enter the carriage, sitting across from each other. One of her guards sits beside her, while Eli sits beside me. Her other guard and Micah take a second carriage, not enough room in this one for six to sit comfortably.

At first, we sit in silence as I watch Lina and she watches me. However, I wish to ask her something, so I break the silence after a few minutes.

"Lina," I say. "What are your plans for Felday?"

"There is the Summer Solstice Ball at the palace," she tells me. "At seven in the evening. It will be a masquerade, as always, and I must attend it. I asked Jason to make my dress. He agreed, saying he needed the break from his work."

"He made my outfit for it as well," I tell her. "So we will likely match. I meant the rest of the day, I knew you would attend it."

"There will be the preparation time before that," she tells me. "Otherwise, nothing. Jacob has many duties to attend to now, so we do not do things together as much as we used to. In past years, we often left the city to take in a view and talk."

"Yes," I nod. "Ever since your papa needed to leave for healing, Jacob burdens himself with a lot. That worries me. He has become much more serious over the last few months, and even stopped teasing Jason and Alex entirely."

"I noticed that as well," she tells me. "But let us discuss that another day, shall we? This date is meant to be happy."

"I am happy any time I find myself in your presence," I tell her.

"What are your plans for your birthday?" Lina asks. "I find that much more important than the solstice, and it occurs on Felday."

"That is an unhappy thing," I tell her. "I do not partake of celebrations. My papa and mama never held them for me, barely gifting me anything at all. Growing up a mage in the northern kingdoms left me out of a lot of things."

"That is why I ask," Lina tells me with a smile. "If you have no plans, why not spend most of the day with me? I already received permission from Papa to spend the day out."

"That would make me quite happy," I tell Lina as the carriage rolls to a stop. "I believe we have arrived."

A moment later, the door opens, and I step outside, before helping Lina out. We enter the restaurant, our escorts sitting at a table on the other side of the restaurant. I asked the restaurant to clear for us when I made the arrangements for this date, so only the six of us, the staff, and a handful of Royal Guards are present.

The waiters serve our meal almost immediately after we sit, and Lina and I enjoy our dinner. Jason recommended this restaurant to me when I mentioned wishing for a date with Lina a few days ago, and now I know why. Their food tastes excellent.

"I know you do not eat out much," Lina tells me once dinner concludes and we enter the carriage. "Did Jason recommend that restaurant to you?"

"Yes," I answer. "How did you know?"

"Niko," Lina chuckles. "You often ask Jason for advice on what to do or where to visit. Assuming he advised a location is only natural. I do find it amusing, though, that you ask Jason of all people."

"Why do you find that amusing?" I ask as the carriage begins to roll once more.

"Because he tends toward as oblivious to relationship and date things as you," she tells me. "And the majority of his dates with Alex consists of eating at his mansion and him reading a book to Alex on the couch. When they do more than that, he generally asked one of his papas or mamas for advice on what to do."

"Oh."

"Yes," she smiles. "However, I do still enjoy dates with you, Niko, so look cheerful, would you? Dinner proved excellent. You have your own charm, as do dates with you."

"Okay."

"On Sorday," she changes topics. "I will arrive at the mansion a little after eight in the morning, and we shall spend the day together. This time, I plan the events, so do not make any preparations, other than for what to wear. Allow me to handle all else."

"I look forward to it," I tell her.

We make the rest of the ride to the amphitheater in silence, where Zachary greets us as soon as we exit the carriage. Our group makes our way inside and to the back row, and I sit to the left of Lina, as always, with Zachary on her other side, our guards and a few Royal Guards seated around us and standing behind us.

Lina and I hold hands, letting them rest between us on the bench. Even though I possess the ability to use my gargoyle arm without issue, I do not 'feel' her hand in mine, which upsets me. I possess the awareness of it, but not the feel of it.

My return to Varil means it will take me longer to reach grey in magical power, as my amount of training decreased immensely as a result. Perhaps I will use Jason's home for training? He told me I may always visit it, even without him present. It should speed up my arrival at grey magical power, and therefore, the return of my arm and leg.

Pushing those distracting and depressing thoughts from my mind, I lean against Lina and ignore the light clearing of the throat by her papa. This does not violate anything, Zachary, so be quiet. I am simply enjoying her presence as the performance begins.

(Jason, 16)

"Come on, Cody, you can do it!" I give my little brother some encouragement.

Cody closes his eyes, and I watch as his body trembles, hear his shaky breath. He fidgets nervously from atop the rock.

"Come on, Cody!" I call again. "It won't hurt, I promise! Just remember what I told you, and I'll be right here the entire time, too!"

He swallows hard and nods, then lowers one foot into the lake, before yelping and pulling it out. He gives me a frightened look.

"It's a little cold, but you'll get used to it, I promise," I tell him. "Come on! You can do it!"

Cody nods, then tries again, this time managing to descend into the water, and I hold with under his shoulders to ensure his head stays above water.

"Alright," I tell him. "Remember what I told you about how to float, okay?"

He nods, then I help him onto his back as he begins trying to float, gently guiding him with my words. It takes awhile for him to start floating on his own, and I do not pull that 'move the hands out from underneath without telling' crap that people like to do. When someone is terrified of drowning, doing that to them has the potential to worsen that fear.

"Good job, Cody," I tell him after he floats on his own for a full minute. "Come on, I want to show you something."

I take hold of his hands as he stops floating, then I gently swim backwards, guiding us toward the center of the lake. Cody's breathing turns short quick as panic begins to set in, so I talk soothingly to him, assuring him that everything is okay. As long as I am here, he has no chance of drowning.

We reach the center of the lake, then I cast a spell on us to allow us to breathe normally underwater.

"Alright, Cody," I tell him. "We're going to sink down. I cast a spell so you can breathe fine, but remember that unless the spell is cast, you'll need to hold your breath, okay?"

He nods, looking quite scared.

"I promise," I tell him. "You're going to like this."

I sink down, pulling Cody with me while using mind magic to ensure he does not panic, and we sink all the way down to the bottom of the lake. I sit on the sediment, and position Cody so that he's sitting beside me. His eyes are closed, and he's starting to hyperventilate out of panic.

"Cody," I speak to him telepathically. "Open your eyes. I promise you'll love what you see."

It takes me a minute and a half of encouragement to convince Cody to open his eyes, and once he does, he looks around in awe. The water here is extremely clear, allowing him to view everything not from a view above, but from around.

He looks at the plants and rocks on the bottom of the lake, and at the fish swimming through the water. A particularly large one swims by us, called by me through my mind magic, and it brushes against Cody, causing him to giggle a little.

We stay down here for ten minutes before I bring Cody back up to the surface, releasing the spell which allowed us to breathe underwater.

"See?" I tell Cody. "It can be fun to be under the water, too."

He nods, then I swim back to the shore, bringing him along with me, of course. There, I have Cody float on his own again, and he panics for a minute before I manage to calm him down again. Once I'm confident in his ability to float, I teach him how to kick in the water for swimming, then how to perform a stroke.

When Cody tires out, which doesn't take him very long, I lift him out of the water and back onto the shore, then climb out, myself. I open a gate back to my house, then usher him through and send him upstairs to wash the lake water off in the shower up there. While he does that, I take a shower in my own shower room, and once I'm clean, dry, and wearing a fresh outfit, I make my way to my kitchen and wait for Cody to finish up.

He always takes a long time in the shower if he's not with someone, and we think it's because he likes the alone time and the feel of the hot water on him.

After half an hour of me waiting in the kitchen, I send Badger Alpha up to tell him to finish his shower. A few minutes later, Cody returns, hair still wet, face crimson in embarrassment.

"He put his pants on backwards and had to fix that," Badger Alpha tells me as he hops up onto the counter. "And kept falling as he did because of his haste. Otherwise, he'd have been down a minute sooner."

"You didn't need to hurry down," I tell Cody, running my fingers through his hair, using a spell to dry it as I comb it down. "Just get out of the shower. That was a long one."

"Sorry," he tells me. "I was thinking about the fish swimming by and what it'd be like to be a fish, and forgot I was in the shower."

"Okay," I chuckle. "Let's get started making dinner."

I finish drying his hair, then we pull on our aprons, wash our hands, and begin prepping dinner, Badger Alpha watching as I instruct Cody in the art of cooking. Today, we're having boar steaks with stewed veggies, rolls, and banana pudding.

Cody eats three bananas, and I discover he likes them and make a mental note to let Mama Elizabeth know so she or Papa Harold can pick them up regularly. And maybe make banana bread and banana nut muffins for Cody, too, to see if he likes those as well or just raw bananas.

Once dinner finishes cooking, we eat, and Cody devours everything like the hungry boy he is. We wash the dishes, then I sit Cody down and work with him on the candle-lighting exercise Papa Samuel started me with when he first started teaching me magic.

Because he's more normal in terms of actual ability, it will take him a lot more work to actually perform the multi-cast spell. However, I deal with training dozens of teenagers on a regular basis. I can handle teaching a single seven-year-old boy.

Though the style of teaching is different, since I'm a lot more gentle with Cody, not as firm as with my students in the training group. But then, I'm teaching him one of the most basic spells to cast, helping him set a foundation for magic.

And I'm making sure to stay away from incantations, to help him learn to visualize without them sooner. By the time he starts academy in six years, he'll be ahead of his class for sure.

Once Cody's lesson ends, I send him up to bed, he's staying the night here, snuggling with Badger Alpha, who doesn't mind the attention. It makes Cody feel safe and secure, and after what he went through, he needs that.

My earcomm alerts me to an incoming call a few minutes after I tuck Cody in, and since it's Mama Elena, I answer it.

"Hello, Mama Elena."

"Are you busy right now?" She asks.

"I'm at my house, why?"

"Can you come to the house?" She asks. "I need help mixing up a few batches of potion. Zachary just got word that the Ventaris Barony was hit by the plague and asked for some potions to be prepared. I'm heading over to the house as soon as I finish grabbing some ingredients."

"I'm watching Cody tonight," I tell her. "And just tucked him in, he's already asleep according to my scan."

There's an agreement that once Cody's asleep, he's not disturbed. If someone wakes him up, he has a full-on panic attack that takes hours to calm him down from. That will fade with time, but it takes minimal disturbances during his sleep to achieve that.

"Then I'll come to you," she says. "The seal on the room should prevent him from hearing us or smelling the brewing."

"That's fine," I tell her. "Badger Alpha is with him, too, so he'll make sure Cody's undisturbed as well."

"I'll be there in fifteen," she tells me, then ends the call.

I set up two alchemy stations for us to work on, one for her and one for me. A single batch of the potion takes three hours to make, and even Mama Elena has to focus on only one as she works. We can't multiply the batch or it ruins the effectiveness of the potions, and since it only makes fifty, Mama Elena really likes my help for it.

We'll probably end up making two batches each tonight, then I'll head to bed, only to sleep through breakfast and find Badger Alpha waking me up because Cody's hungry. We're trying to work on Cody waking me up if he needs something, but he's still too scared to try, even though he knows I won't hurt him or yell at him.

(Niko, 16)

I step through the gate, then wait for Steven to arrive, which only takes a minute, as usual. Summoning a lance of lightning, I throw it at the dragon, watching as it strikes the grey barrier that forms to protect him.

Satisfied, Steven leaves, and I look at Jason's home. Cody's inside, sitting in the living room, while Jason is asleep. Judging by my scanning spell, Badger Alpha is in the boy's arms. From what I know, Cody probably has yet to eat breakfast if Jason still sleeps at nine in the morning.

Rather than exercising Koricel before training, I walk into the house, startling Cody.

"Good morning," I greet him. "Did you eat breakfast yet?"

Cody shakes his head.

"Boss was up until early this morning," Badger Alpha tells me. "Making potions for the plague with the Mad Witch. Cody won't wake him up, and he won't let go of me so I can. He had a rough night and is especially frightened."

"Okay," I tell Cody. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Cody stares at me, fright in his eyes, and I know from his expression that he likely would not eat any food I made right now.

"Let us go into Jason's room," I tell Cody, then walk to Jason's room.

Cody hops off the couch and follows me, and I remove my boots once we are inside of Jason's room. Jason himself sleeps on his side, as usual, with a leviathan stuffie in his grip. Floating up into the air, I move so that I am directly above Jason, then release the flight spell, dropping right onto my friend.

"Niko!" Jason exclaims upon waking up, then wrestles me off of him as I start laughing. "What was that for?"

"You needed waking up!" I laugh. "Cody is hungry, but will not release Badger Alpha and will likely not eat anything I make unless you are there to assure him it is safe."

Jason groans at me, then looks at Cody.

"You could've woken me," Jason tells Cody. "It's okay to wake me up if you're my brother."

"What about me?" I ask. "I am your best friend!"

"Hm," Jason looks at me thoughtfully, then looks at Cody. "If Niko ever sleeps over, you have full permission to jump on him to wake him up. In fact, I'll make sure that you get the chance to soon."

Cody looks uncertain, and I do not look forward to that incident. Jason will most definitely enhance the impact with magic.

"Alright," Jason says. "You two go out there and wait for me, I'll be out in a minute."

Cody and I return to the living room, and Jason emerges from his room two minutes later, dressed in his usual attire rather than his nightclothes.

"Niko, can you make us breakfast?" Jason asks as he plops himself onto the couch Cody is sitting on, pulling his younger brother against him. "I'm much too tired for that, Mama Elena and I spent nine hours making potions, and that's not including the time it took to clean stuff."

I understand immediately the real reason he wishes for me to cook, so I enter the kitchen without complaint and begin preparing breakfast for everyone. I fix up the toast thing I can never remember the name to, made with eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, along with sausage links and eggs on the side, then serve it with freshly-sliced strawberries and bananas, and milk to drink.

I sit opposite of Jason and Cody and eat with them, as I am still hungry even after my own breakfast two hours ago. After breakfast, Micah and I trained with a sword, and that worked up an appetite.

Cody hesitates to eat at first, but his hunger eventually wins over his reluctance. I feel certain Jason eating the food without any issue helped Cody to decide to eat, too. Despite that, I still feel happy that he decided to eat my food. Last time I tried cooking for Cody, he refused to touch anything I made and ended up nibbling on an apple in the end.

"So," Jason says to Cody once breakfast finishes and we clean the dishes. "Want to watch Niko train his magic? Or want to meet a dragon?"

Cody squirms on the couch as he tries to figure out how to answer. Does he only want to see the dragon, but fears the response for if he does not wish to watch me train?

"Tell you what," Jason tells him. "You can watch Niko train his magic, then I'll take you to go meet a dragon after lunch. But only if you watch him train and try to pay attention to how he does his magic, so you can see how others do theirs, too, okay?"

Cody gives a reluctant nod, then follows me outside as Jason gives me a sleepy look that tells me 'thank you'. He just wanted to return to bed, but did not want to tell Cody that, probably to appear strong and energetic to his younger brother or something.