Vel sat down and waited for everyone to arrive for breakfast. Four years had passed since he had come to this work and he was turning fifteen this year and he had become used to this life.

Some time passed before Felix joined him who himself had turned ten just a couple of weeks ago, the same age Vel was when they arrived in this world. The two sat there waiting for their parents in silence. They had not said much to each other and would only talk to each other when it was necessary. So their relationship basically had turned into ignoring each other.

Their parents joined them like every morning and they eat breakfast together. Their parents would ask simple questions which they would answer in different ways. Vel liked to talk, he would explain everything in detail and would take his time. Felix on the other hand didn't and would answer everything in short sentences.

“I will be joining you on your training today,” Paulus said as he wrapped some eggs inside a piece of bread and took a big bite. Nobody liked breakfast as much as Paulus and he would always be the last one to leave the table.

“Is there a special reason father?” Vel asked knowing his father was a busy man. Felix on the other hand didn't say anything as he was used to Vel asking the questions he wanted the answers to.

“Felix turned ten a couple of weeks ago and it's time for him to start cultivating, I want to see how much the both of you have grown,” Paulus said as he continued to eat joyfully. The truth was that there was also another reason he wanted to join them today, he wanted to make memories. He loved thinking back to the fond memories he and his brothers had training with their father, he wanted them to have the same. The other reason was that his sons didn't really like each other. He didn't know when or how it had happened but the two would dodge each other like taxes and he wanted to find out of there was something he could do about it. He and his wife pretended not to notice but would have long discussions at bedtime about how to solve the problem. Their time would eventually end in this world and they wanted the two to at least have each other.

They finished eating and together walked towards the training grounds. Aulus who was waiting for them saw the magistrate and quickly greet him. Paulus greeted him back and told him that he was only here to observe.

Aulus nodded his head and started the training session like every other morning. First, he would spar with master Vel who didn't need that much guidance, and then would spend most of the time working with Felix who needed all the help he could get. “You should have mastered all the basic moves by now master Vel,” he said as he took out two small wooden swords from inside his spirit ring and handed one over to Vel.

“No spirit force, just basic swordplay,” Aulus said as he got ready and waited for Vel to do the same. He couldn't help be excited to show the magistrate how much the boy had grown in only a year.

Vel nodded his head and initiated the fight also a little more motivated than usual, his father was watching after all. The two spend the next ten minutes attacking and defending with basic swordplay before Aulus gave the order and said, “add ten percent.”

Vel nodded his head and focused on his dantian as he moved the spirit force inside his body to increase his strength and speed. He had learned how to cultivate when he turned ten years old as it was not allowed to start before that as it could damage the spirit. He was pretty surprised by how good he was at it, he had even broken into the ninth spirit realm in four years which took most people at least six. He also knew he had the ability to break into the origin realm but was told by Aulus not to do it before he had turned eighteen as it would mess up with his growth. It pained him to wait three-plus years for it but at least he had time to work on condensing the spirit force inside his dantian and get a better result when it was time to breakthrough.

Paulus watched from the sidelines and could not help felt proud. He watched as Aulus kept telling Vel to increase or decrease his spirit force and the boy was doing it like it was the easiest thing in the world. Not only was his spirit force stronger than most spirit realm cultivators, but the boy still had three more years to strengthen it. He was the complete package when it came to martial arts, talented in cultivating, fighting, and instincts. Every move he made was clean and simple and to the point, something not a lot of young people could do. Most youngsters would try to perform complicated moves but they would always learn in the long run, less is more.

The fighting continued for another thirty minutes before Vel was completely drenched in sweat. “To be able to fight for so long at your age and realm is quite impressive young master, please go take a rest,” he said with a smile on his face as he reached out and took back the sword. He then turned around and threw it to Felix who barely caught it as he had really bad hand-eye coordination.

“That's all for today,” Aulus said to Vel who then nodded and went inside to train on his own. He would usually only spend half an hour on Vel and then spend the rest of the morning training Felix. He had hoped for Felix to get inspired by his older brother's achievements and get better but the boy didn't really seem to have any interest. He had at first denied it but he had to admit it eventually, the boy didn't have a warrior's heart.

Paulus spend the next couple of hours watching and couldn't help sigh at how many mistakes Felix made. Well asking for two prodigies was a little greedy he thought to himself. Part of him was happy the boy was bad at it. He knew that Felix couldn't partake in most aspects of normal life because of his birth and maybe this was for the better. It's better not to have it than to have it and not be able to use it.

Some time passed before Felix was too tired to continue and they were told they were done for the day. Paulus complimented both of them for doing their best and made sure to cheer Felix up who clearly wasn't happy with his performance.

On the way to lunch, they met up with their uncle Herius who would usually join them and spend some of the time informing his brother on the events that were happening in the province. Especially Felix liked to listen to those reports as he had never really left the mansion. They still had not found the assassins and he wasn't going to take a chance by going outside. Especially when he knew his fool of an uncle was out there.

“So what's new,” Paulus asked as he waited for the food to be served.

“The amount of attacks at the border is increasing a lot lately. I would think they were coordinating their attacks if I didn't know better,” Herius answered shaking his head. He didn't like the way things were going because he knew that the senate would be forced to start another war if the barbarians kept attacking like this. Their attacks were really simple, find the closest village near the border and steal all their wealth, food, and weapons as they killed the men and abused the women. The number of swimmers in Belgica had doubled in the last ten years and the situation had gotten a lot worse.

The two boys ate as the elders discussed the situation and excused themselves as it was time for the afternoon studies.

“How was the training?” Herius asked after they left.

“Vel is without a question a genius our family needs to nourish. You had to see him out there brother, he would have kicked my ass in two seconds when I was that age,” Paulus said proudly.

“And Felix?”

Paulus shook his head and answered, “not so well. He works hard but just doesn't have the talent for it, and it also doesn't help that he has an older brother like Vel who is good at everything.”

“Don't I know about that,” Herius said jokingly. “But don't worry brother, nobody would be blessed by the gods to be that talented,” he continued as he finished the last of his wine.

“What do you mean?”

Herius looked at him confused and said as he stood up to leave, “don't tell me you've never been to their afternoon lessons. I would go take a look if I were you. Now if you excuse me, I'm going back to work.”

Paulus curious got up and decided to join his sons for their afternoon lessons with master Sisenna. Here they would be educated about many different things like the history of the country, martial arts, and even politics. It was something he himself was the least interested in but something he knew was important for a ruler to learn.

Sisenna was already talking when Paulus entered the room and quickly greeted him. Paulus explained he was just here to watch and told the master to continue. He had to admit that he liked the way Sisenna was teaching the class. He interacted with his students and asked a lot of questions, unlike his old master who would barf out information for four hours straight and expecting you to remember all of it.

“So how do you think we were able to dominate our enemies and become the rulers of most the European continent?” Sisenna asked as he pointed to Vel.

“Our generals. While our armies are stronger than the other nations we have the luck of having some of the most innovating generals who have become legends,” Vel answered as he secretly hoped to be like them one day.

“Do you agree?” Sisenna asked Felix who was sitting there looking bored.

“We have indeed been blessed with great generals but that's just the result, not the reason. The true reason we have been able to dominate almost everyone is because of the Tower of Romulus.”

“Explain,” Sisenna asked curiously.

“By implementing the tower the senate decided to go from a closed-off system of succession to an open one. This made sure that the most competent person would be in charge when it came to the noble families, military or even the Senate itself,” Felix said not taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

Sisenna could not help smirk at the answer. It was a great answer for a ten-year-old, but it was not completely correct. “You are partly correct, but I think that the most important reason we have been able to dominate is because of the stability between the noble families and that there has almost been no infighting,” Sisenna said as he turned the page and got ready to move on. But he was quickly interrupted by Felix who said, “That is also a result and not a reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“Identification,” said Felix as he continued reading his book.

“Explain,” Sisenna said annoyed at how he had to keep asking him that or he would get lost in his own world.

“By integrating almost every benefit a person can get with their achievements in the tower they made it impossible for cultivators not to sign up. This means that they know who you are, who your family is, and how strong you are from the day you are born to the day you die. This allowed the senate to support the geniuses they like and hinder the ones they think do not share their vision. Pretty smart actually,” Felix said as he smirked at the thought of it.

Sisenna looked at him with admiration in his eyes. He was only ten years old but even now he felt like there was nothing more he could teach the kid. If only the kid was not a swimmer, he would become one of the pillars of this country.

Paulus at the other side of the room gave Felix a loving look as he smiled and thought about how much he reminded him of his sister. 'Maybe I'm really blessed with two geniuses,' he thought to himself as a tear came into his eyes.