“So, how does it feel being on your first non-lethal mission?” Izuki asked the boy sitting in front of him, cheek resting on his palm as he looked outside the trailer truck window.

“It’s not really that amazing, I mean, a delivery mission? I see the necessity for them, but I think we’re a bit overly qualified for that.” Edward said next to Izuki, staring at Izuki with a bit of worry… understandable given that Izuki wasn’t even looking at the road.

“Ah, don’t be like that prince… while you might feel ‘overly qualified’ it doesn’t change that this needs to be done. If every Sage felt the way you felt about delivery missions, then they’d never be done.” Edward frowned, looking down in thought… he could see what Izuki was saying.

“I see. Someone has to do it, because what we deliver will help others. No job too big, is it something like that?” Edward offered, a bit annoyed at being referred to by his title.

He was proud of his home, he was proud to know that he was likely to lead it someday, but he didn’t like the formality of it.

He disliked being referred to as ‘prince’ especially by those who weren’t members of the Empire, there was no reason for him to be called prince when they weren’t even ‘subservient’ to the crown.

“Something like that. Never dismiss a mission simply based on what it is. For you, it might be nothing, but for all we know the supplies we’re delivering could be the difference between life and death for someone.” Izuki said, focusing on the road now.

That was mostly because they were coming across the checkpoint to leave the city with a vehicle, a necessity for the safety of normal humans.

If they were to leave the city without a Sage to protect them, they might find themselves attacked by a Mystic Beast.

Even a weak one Star Mystic Beast could kill a group of humans before they might kill the monster through luck.

More often than not, they weren’t lucky.

“Ah, delivery? How many passengers?” the checkpoint guard, a Sage of some unknown level, though Edward guessed a four Star Sage, asked.

The man, while older, didn’t feel much stronger than Edward… it was a possibility this man had never gone to a Sage Academy, leaving him to train by himself or with any Sage who took interest in him.

“Nine people total, all Sages, seven of which are three Star. It’s an Elem mission.” The guard widened his eyes slightly before looking to Edward.

Edward felt awkward at the look, noting that the guard was looking to him with a mixture of envy and respect as he nodded.

“Understood, you’re looking to take that material to a nearby village… ah, that explains it. Go ahead.” The man seemed to say after looking at the mission papers, signalling for the barriers to be dropped, allowing the truck to drive onwards as Izuki waved.

“…” Edward was quiet, looking at the side mirror and seeing the guard in the distance, thinking about those who wished to become strong… and did not have the talent.

Izuki let Edward stew in his silence, knowing that the first encounter with a failed Academy Sage was always a bit odd.

The difference between that man and Gregory Valzard was simply talent and teachings, Gregory was strong enough to enter an Academy if he wanted to, he just refused.

With his talent, and meeting Everburn, Gregory became the General of the Empire’s Army.

If another were to try what Gregory did, more often than not they found themselves stuck at four Stars for upwards of fifty years.

Izuki figured that Edward would calm down eventually… most Sages eventually learnt to consider such Sages as those who fell so that they may progress, others, usually Rogue Sages, would treat such people badly…

Then again, some Rogue Sages were such people originally.

“…Is the difference between an Academy taught Sage, and a self-taught Sage that big?” Edward asked finally after an hour or so of listening to the travelling music Izuki was playing.

Way too much country for Edward’s tastes.

“Generally? Yes. For an Academy Sage, they reach five Stars within ten years after reaching four Stars… about eight times out of ten? For a self-taught Sage that would be about two times out of ten.” Izuki pointed out getting a stare.

“It’s that big a difference… it’s a shame they weren’t given a chance.” Edward said with a frown, getting a smile from Izuki.

“It is… but you also need to understand that self-taught Sages aren’t all the same. Some become monsters in their own right. Your brother is really young to be a six Star Sage, for example, and the majority of the Kings were never formally schooled.” That, at least made sense for Edward.

The Kings were the ones who created a standardized schooling system for Sages, they created the Academies… so before them, there was nothing.

Having to learn the tricks to your Element alone… Edward imagined it was really difficult… he only reached this point through training with his brother and eventually learning from Jonathan and now the Kazuya’s.

Without them, Edward might have never reached his current strength.

“What the King’s eventually said was this: If you show talent from the beginning, we will take you. If you do not, then fight for your talent. Basically, if you are talented enough, then you deserve help. And if you aren’t talented enough, become strong without the help.” It was a bit harsh, but Edward also got the underlying message.

A future King would become King, with or without assistance, it just might take longer without help.

Talent shines through.

“Now with that answered, let’s listen to some tunes.” Edward winced, already tired of country music.

“When life leaves you high and dry, I’ll be at your-” Edward sighed, already ignoring the singing of Izuki… regardless of how good the man was at singing, Edward just couldn’t enjoy it.

In the back of the truck, similar music was playing, and unlike Edward, his classmates quite enjoyed the song, Hiiro, Liza, Leah, Jade and Vince all singing along to a different country song.

“And I will wait, I will wait, for you! And I will wait for you! Now I’ll be bold…” after the chorus, Hiiro, Liza and Leah just watched as Jade and Vince sang the words along with the voice playing out of the speaker, leaving the three bystanders to wonder when Jade would figure out Vince’s crush on her.

On the other hand, Tony and Miya were watching them with soft smiles, Miya didn’t have confidence in her singing voice (meaning that her voice was ‘meh’ compared to other Sages, good to most normal humans) and Tony just liked being around, even if he wasn’t good at such songs.

“They’re an interesting bunch, you’re classmates.” Miya offed to Tony, conversationally as Tony blinked, surprised to be spoken to as he looked to the teacher (and his friend’s mother) for a moment before looking back to the others.

The cargo they were transporting wasn’t big, and the truck they were using was a trailer truck. The five members of the second year S-Class were actually dancing, stomping their feet to the music, it really looked like old folk dancing with how Hiiro and Vince would trade partners with Liza and Leah, Jade remaining on the side and singing.

Good practice for singing classes too.

“T-t-they are…” the stutter was back, and Tony blushed at being caught out like that, Miya looking to Tony with a frown before she spoke.

“Can you understand this?” Miya spoke and Tony blinked in surprise before nodding.

“Yes, I can, you’re speeding up?” Tony asked as Miya smiled and nodded.

“Good, so speak like that. If that’s the way you speak most comfortably, than do it. You shouldn’t have to change yourself to cater to others.” Miya pointed out and Tony blinked looking down for a moment.

“How does Mrs Kazuya know about this?” Tony asked and Miya giggled in response.

“It’s simple really, all Lightning Sages, and quite a few Light Sages, eventually end up getting altered senses of time like you have right now. It can be fixed eventually, much like my husband’s stutter eventually left him.” Tony looked hopeful as Miya smiled.

“It’ll come back if you gain another Star, but after getting rid of it the first time, it’ll be easier the next time. It’s normal.” Miya pointed out, and Tony smiled at that looking to his friends a bit hopefully.

The moment he looked away though, Miya frowned slightly, looking at Tony with confusion… Miya had given a bit of a lie by omission after all.

Oh she hadn’t been lying when she said that Izuki had gained a stutter due to the speed increase gained when he progressed in strength, some of Hiiro’s early memories had stuttering in them.

She also hadn’t been lying when she said that they could be gotten rid of, and that they’d return when Tony ranked up…

What she had neglected to let Tony know was that such a thing usually only occurred when a Lightning or Light Sage reached four or five Stars first.

And according to Hiiro and his classmates, Tony had been stuttering since they knew him as a two Star Sage.

For the boy to be stuttering since that level… Miya had the urge to throw the boy to Izuki and demand her husband figure out what was going on with the child.

If the boy truly was experiencing life at such high speeds, resulting in his stutter as his tongue tripped over itself trying to get the words out… then he might be as fast as a four Star Sage even though he was in three Stars.

Then there was Hiiro’s claim that Tony had reached three Stars before anyone else in the class with the exception of Liza who was three Stars when they first met.

Miya then focused, sub-vocalizing her voice, knowing her husband would still be able to hear her.

“Izuki? The boy, Tony, you should give him some specialized training on handling high speeds. He picked up a high speed stutter at two Stars.” Miya spoke so soft that none could hear her, and when she focused her own hearing-

“I see… I’ll test him out when we return. He also seems close to materializing an Armament.” Miya was surprised at that last bit, making sure to show none of her surprise on her face.

The Six Arts training was going along nicely, knowing that Hiiro’s best weapon was a spear, they were attempting to get him to concentrate his Essence into the shape of a spear… it was slow going though, as he claimed that he needed a higher concentration of Essence… even when he had contained enough to be considered the entirety of the average three Star Sage’s Essence.

That was a huge amount of power to be put into an Armament, and yet it still hadn’t taken concrete shape. To further his training, Izuki had demanded Hiiro meditate while controlling an Element, similar to how he ate and did the same during Izuki’s private training with Hiiro.

For the prince, he was focusing on a Clad, claiming that he doubted he would be getting an Armament, and after trying to get the boy to use a weapon, Miya and Izuki agreed that a Clad would be much safer for the boy to learn.

For Edward, shaping his Clad was simple, it would be an armour, but the problem was which piece? He had already stopped focusing on his legs, claiming that it wasn’t going to be leg armour, and that he really hoped it wasn’t going to be just a helmet or chest piece. In that regard, he focused on his arms for now, but didn’t have the power to fuel it.

It was a problem Headmaster Oren spoke of, claiming that those who used their Clad’s as a weapon such as himself found the power requirements to be much higher.

Attack and defence in one required more power than normal… made sense. So Edward, contrary to Hiiro, needed to increase his physical strength even more, while Hiiro needed to be able to control his power more.

Liza was already sorted in regards to an Armament, she was just working towards a Clad, having already decided to try for a shield first, but that was apparently failing so she would be working for armour instead.

For Clads, the rarest types were aura’s, then shields, and the most common would be armours. Liza seemed determined that her Clad not be an aura as she wouldn’t know how an aura would come out…

Besides, she was a close range fighter. If it wasn’t a shield or armour she would have to start learning how to be a spell-caster.

Then, for Vince… he seemed determined to believe that his Armament would be a gun. Even though there had never been a gun Armament, ever.

He just shrugged and said he knew what he was doing, and kept focusing his power into the shape of guns, even though they never seemed to maintain their shape no matter which gun he made, including dual wielding his pistols.

Leaving Vince alone, clearly he wouldn’t listen, Jade was next up, already focusing her Essence into the shape of a rapier, though that might not be quite right…

Perhaps a thin sabre, a rapier might not be the exact weapon Jade would end up using.

And then the Leah girl, if her Armament wasn’t a wand or staff the Kazuya’s would experience genuine surprise there, the girl was so clearly a Spell-caster that giving her another weapon would be very odd.

And then there was the child that started this whole contemplation for Miya, Tony…

Tony always fought with his bare fists when practicing in training, and when they fought on that mission last year he had used clawed gloves and bladed boots to fight…

But his Armament was forming into two handheld weapons of some sort… Izuki had at first thought they were scimitars based on their shape, but it was too angular for it to be a scimitar, not to mention how the vague shapes seemed to have handles on both ends, making it appear truly strange.

What weapon was angular in a manner similar to an arrow head, with handles on both ends? Izuki and Miya would have to do research to find this out, but they were just surprised that Tony seemed to actually be getting somewhere with such a weapon that he had claimed to have never seen before.

“Hey kids, Mystic Beasts closing in!” Izuki shouted from the front of the truck, and Miya giggled, looking at the students who were in turn looking at her.

“Press the button over there, an opening will appear on top of the trailer. When you’re done, get back in through there.” Miya pointed out as the five students, plus Tony who was standing up, got ready to fight.

Miya watched them jump, grab onto the handhold before pulling themselves onto the roof of the trailer, and waited until they were all gone before closing her eyes.

It was harder to do this without directly touching the Earth, but Miya was connected to it through the truck itself, feeling the vibrations caused by its movement, and then using this as a form of sonar to find the Beasts…

Five? That Miya could sense, she wouldn’t be able to sense flying ones, but judging by their auras they were all likely only two Star Mystic Beasts.

Nothing over three Stars would be this near Berlin anyway, as Mystic Beasts grew stronger, they also grew smarter, knowing that if they stayed near human habitats they might get hunted by a strong Sage.

So judging everything to be alright, Miya just leaned back closing her eyes and waiting for everything to be over.

It would be two hours later that their truck would pull into their destination, a small nameless village near a lake, finally allowing the students to ‘stretch their legs’ without the need of a fight.

“Who knew sitting still could be so tiring…” Edward complained, as they were attacked four times, he fought three of those four times, the one he didn’t fight being the first encounter.

The time between encounters varied, but suffice to say the last half an hour was spent without a single encounter, leaving Edward particularly antsy as he had been sitting in front of the truck with Izuki instead of with his friends.

This arrangement was because Hiiro warned the group that his parents would act in a sickeningly sweet fashion unless separated.

The proof was when Izuki and Miya ran off to a small diner that served pasta talking about ‘Lady and the Tramp’ the moment they handed the papers involving the mission to Edward.

Sighing as a group, the seven students waited for someone to explain the next part, when they noticed a man walking closer with a woman at his side.

“Hello there, I take it you all are from Elem?” the man asked with a raised brow, getting nods from the group as Edward stepped forward.

“Indeed we are. We’re here to deliver a shipment of null-metal threads, here are the papers.” Edward said, showing the man the papers as the man chuckled, the woman at his side shaking her head with a smile.

“Kid, good on you for delivering that, we needed it, but you should be more careful yeah? You never know when a town might be taken over by Rogue Sages… I could have been a Rogue Sage pretending to be in charge getting ready to rob you.” The man pointed out, the woman at his side nodding.

“Yeah. First delivery mission?” the woman asked, getting nods from all the S-Class students, smiling as she saw their nods.

“Don’t worry about it, a Sage can easily tell who is on their first mission when it comes to this. The proper procedure is ask for our papers first.” The woman said, handing Edward the notice for ‘mission complete’ and getting a blush of embarrassment from the students.

Right… their teachers had run off before they could be informed of this.

“Also, don’t reveal what you’re delivering. We should know what you are delivering.” The man added in, signalling for some people to walk up to the trailer of the truck and get the shipment.

“Thanks for the advice… so, are you all Sages that live here?” Hiiro added in, looking at the colourful hair colours of the people walking past.

“Oh some of us are, others are just normal humans with dyed hair.” That drew wide eyed stares as the man ran a hand through his sky-blue hair.

“Yeah, I’m not actually a Sage, it’s just for appearances in case of Rogue Sages. The actual leader of the Sages in this village is Jennifer here.” The man thumbed to the woman whose eyes narrowed as she smiled, giving a small wave as the man handed the papers to her.

“But, that would make the Rogue Sages attack you first if you make it seem like you’re the leader of the Sages here.” Jade pointed out the dangers of such an action, getting a laugh from the man.

“So? I’m always next to Jennifer, so if they attack me I know I’m safe, isn’t that right?” the man said, throwing an arm over the older Sage’s shoulder, getting a roll of the eyes as she removed his arm from her shoulder.

“Yes Maxwell, you’re right. Plus, my hair is normal enough that some would mistake me to be a normal human secretary.” That… actually made a bit of sense.

Jennifer had black hair in a bun, glasses, and had a clipboard she was carrying as she followed Maxwell to their trailer… no one would think ‘leader of Sages in the area’ when looking at her.

“It’s still dangerous though.” Vince pointed out with a look as the other Sages carried the null-metal crates out of the trailer, drawing some eyes.

“Yeah… if I’m not fast enough, I wouldn’t be able to protect Maxwell… but he is the one who suggested this idea and put it into action. I might be leader of the Sages, but he is the actual mayor of this village.” That drew another surprise as Maxwell smiled.

“Wait, you’re the leader of the village, but you make yourself a target? Why?” Jade asked only to get a scoff from Edward, Hiiro and Vince, who all looked at each other in surprise before smiling.

“Of course he makes himself a target. A leader who lets others fight while he stands back is not a leader.” Edward said, getting nods from Vince and Hiiro, who agreed with the sentiment.

“Exactly. As a normal human Maxwell can’t fight in the same way a Sage can, but he can help in his own way.” Hiiro pointed out as Vince raised a fist.

“And the fact that he proposed it and put this plan into action means that Maxwell was searching for a way to help of his own volition, no one had to ask him, he put himself out there. The hallmark of a good leader.” Vince added.

All their statements were just getting Maxwell a bit embarrassed as he scratched his cheek absently.

“Uh, thanks for the backup there guys… moving past my reasons for being a target, this shipment of null-metal couldn’t come at a better time.” Hearing the term again, Leah narrowed her eyes.

“U-um… what is that, null-metal?” Leah asked, blushing as she noticed the eyes on her.

Ah, she was getting more and more confidence as she grew stronger… but she always got a bit timid around new people.

Before she probably wouldn’t have even have been able to ask the question, so progress was there at least.

“Oh, null-metal is a synthetic metal, it’s actually more of a plastic than a metal.” Edward pointed out, getting nods all around.

Leah only didn’t know about it because she used no metal weapons so…

“Null-metals are ‘metal’ that can’t be altered by Metal Sages, hence they are ‘null’.” Hiiro added into the discussion, getting a smile by Vince who raised his hands, his two pistols appearing in his hands.

“Yep, all Sage Guns, rare as they are, are made of null-metal due to the delicate internals. If a Metal Sage could just alter my weapon or pull them out of my hands from a distance then I’d be done for no?” Vince pointed out, getting a wide eyed stare from Leah as she nodded slowly.

“Null-metals are used in other places too, armour for Sages, the internals of Sage brand electronics, and on certain segments of the trains we use to get from major city to major city.” Namely the tracks, the wheels and the entire bottom part of the train…

The other parts were left as normal metals so that Metal Sages forced to fight on the train could actively eject enemies from the train… and because null-metals weren’t exactly cheap.

“Can conduct surprisingly.” Liza pointed out from her position on Hiiro’s back, drawing glances from her classmates before they moved on with their thoughts.

The other people around them on the other hand were a bit surprised on suddenly seeing the short Sage clinging onto another like that.

Liza’s words were intriguing though considering null-metals were plastics with metallic properties, most plastic weren’t conductive in the slightest, but null-metals were actually very conductive.

Null-metals could be treated to become non-conductive, but if they weren’t, they could conduct electricity very well, hence how they could be used in electronics.

“Wow…” Leah said with wide eyes leaving Jennifer and Maxwell to look at each other and share a small laugh at the antics of these young Sages.

"Well you’re all free to do as you please at this point until you’re all ready to leave, I hope we meet again.” Maxwell said as he waved, walking away with Jennifer following him.

“How strong was Jennifer anyway?” Jade asked after a moment, watching everyone leave with the crates of null-metal, getting an answer almost immediately.

“Oh she’s a six Star Sage, quite strong too, and her Diversity makes her awesome to have on your side.” Izuki said without fanfare, getting yelps of shock from the students…

He looked like he was there the entire time, the only proof that he really went to go eat pasta was a stray piece still on his cheek being wiped off with a napkin by Miya who was at his side all of a sudden.

…they ate quickly.

“Diversity? That you know that she has one means you’ve worked together before?” Hiiro asked with a pointed look, getting nods from his parents.

“Yeah, a while back during the Fae War Jennifer was considered a high priority Sage on our side because of her Diversity, Analytic Sight.” Miya replied, happy with the appearance of Izuki’s face after wiping the left overs off of his face.

“Yeah, her Diversity lets her know the Element, strength, and other aspects of those she looks at. She wears those glasses so that she doesn’t use it on everyone automatically.” Izuki recalled what information he could of Jennifer, his wife nodding in agreement.

“She was a high priority Sage, despite being only four Stars when she started fighting in the war, because of that ability to determine strengths, information is really important in war after all.” Miya pointed out, and the students wondered what she would have seen if she used her power on them.

They hadn’t known, but Jennifer actually had used her Analytic Sight on them before she stepped out with Maxwell, just to check out the latest generation of powerful Sages…

“Jennifer, why’re you so quiet?” Maxwell asked, a worried look on his face as Jennifer shook her head.

“It’s nothing really, just thinking about how monstrous those kids will be in the future.” Jennifer admitted.

The quiet boy who hadn’t spoken throughout the encounter had appeared erratic, his power fluctuating badly, and Jennifer didn’t know why… what she did know was that the boy’s power never actually changed in output, just density, which was impressive in its own way. A Lightning and Darkness Sage

The stuttering girl who hadn’t known about null-metals was very different from the quiet boy, her power under tight control, her output low compared to the boy but hers didn’t fluctuate at all, simply remaining still on the surface, yet flowing rapidly beneath said surface. A Wind and Water Sage.

The girl with glasses like Jennifer’s power was bright and rigid, her power similar to a metal shell with rays of light bouncing around within, each ‘bounce’ ensuring that the rays never intersecting, letting know that the glasses girl’s power was under meticulous control, but rampaged in its own rough way… a Light and Metal Sage.

The boy with the guns power seemed like a forest, filled with bright sunlight, nourishing the forest below, and while it looked idyllic on the surface, the forest was filled with danger, and the sunlight was harsh… beautiful, but hiding danger. A Wood and Light Sage.

Then the crown prince of the Empire, whose power roared within him, looking like a large, earthen temple containing a blazing fire opposed to an icy tundra… a three Element Sage.

And yet, while those five were all surprising to Jennifer, who found the nuances to their power intriguing, they weren’t as interesting as the last two.

The clingy girl’s power confused Jennifer, larger than almost all the others, and yet it was the most silent, the only sign of any movement being the occasional throb, as if a heartbeat, going by once a second… Jennifer couldn’t even guess what Element this was, but with every throb Jennifer felt anxious.

Then there was the boy she clung to, whose power was the definite largest, Jennifer saw some of her own four Star Sages whose power wasn’t as large, and yet he was still clearly a three Star Sage… if that was it, he’d already be amazing…

But his power whirled around him, grasping at everything around him, ready to alter the world to his whim, only being left alone because the boy had no need to do so…

Whatever that Element was, it scared Jennifer. Simply standing near the boy made it feel like the world itself would fight her if he so chose… even knowing that she was a six Star Sage, and the boy was only a three Star Sage, her power made her fear.

Then she walked out and actually spoke to them, calming herself down as she realized that yes, their potential was scary… but right now, they were just children, learning, and growing.

They were on the side of humanity, against the Fae, against the Rogue Sages and against the Mystic Beasts, thankfully… otherwise Jennifer might have killed them herself.

Jennifer watched the truck leave with mild relief that day, knowing she probably wasn’t going to meet them again.