MThe moment Jade heard those words, the smile on her face spread so much that Dusk was afraid that her lips would get torn apart. He was pretty sure that she was, at this moment, thinking to herself “Wohoo! This day has finally come! It is now my time to shine. Time to show this son of mine how cool his mother is!” While Dusk thought this to himself, he could not help but chuckle internally.

“Baby, pay attention now. Mommy’s gonna show you some awesome magic.” Jade said as she puffed out her already existent chest making it seem even more exaggerated. It was a really funny sight.

Once Stream heard those words, she too opened her eyes and looked towards Jade. It was pretty obvious that she was curious to see magic for her first time as well. Seeing this, Jade’s smile widened even more to the point that her eyes had almost become slits.

Under the watchful gazes of both Dusk and Stream, Jade raised her hands and adopted a serious expression. As soon as she did so, a stream of water could be seen circling around the wyvern in a circular manner. This stream continued to expand so much that by the time it was at its peak, it looked like all the water in a huge aquaworld was moving around the wyvern in a really incredible pattern.

On the ground below too, the earth’s surface was rising and falling, almost as though it were a wave. It was really a sight to behold. Seeing this, Dusk could not help but gape in admiration. Magic was truly a wondrous thing.

“Mom, this is so awesome, you’re the best.” It really was, and Dusk could not help but say it. Just as he had expected, once his mother heard those words, she dispersed the magic and hugged Dusk tighter while kissing him all over. This mother of his was just too affectionate.

“How will she cope when I leave?” Dusk thought to himself.

On the other hand, while Jade was all over him, Stream had a bewildered look on her cute little fox face. She turned to look at Dusk before exclaiming in her fox tongue “Wow, your mom is so awesome! Magic is way too cool! Will I be able to do that one-day? I want to be able to do that! Wow!”

Dusk could tell that this little fox was excited. While she was really hyperactive and always carried that spoiled little sister vibe. This was the first time that Dusk had heard Stream talk so much at once. He could tell that at once that a fire had been ignited in her. This will was the will to learn high-level magic, magic that could shake the heavens and put others to shame.

Feeling her determination, Dusk could only gently pat her head while smiling to himself. This little sister of his sure was growing up.

For the rest of the journey nothing eventful happened. There was little that could happen while they were in the sky after all. Thus by the evening of the eighth day, they were able to arrive in the same manner in which they departed.

As soon as they entered the castle, Dusk could feel some hands pick him up and hold him close to her chest. Dusk had already anticipated this new presence and thus did not resist. After all this time, he had come to accept his fate as a toy that everyone would want to touch.

This new presence did not bother him though as it was someone that he knew and loved, his sister Sunny. As soon as Sunny held him to herself, she looked at mom and greeted her.

“Wow Dusk, you’ve grown so much since the last time we met. Big sis feels as though she has lost a lot by not seeing you growing up this past year.” Said Sunny as she held back the tears in her eyes. She seemed to be really happy to see her small brother and her mother after such a long time.

“Welcome back sis.” Dusk hugged her while saying so.

“Thanks little bro, I’m glad to be home.” Said Sunny as she rubbed the tears off her eyes. Before she could finish speaking though, she looked towards Dusk in her arms with a look of surprise on her face. “Wow little bro, I hadn’t noticed but you’re extremely light. It’s almost as though you haven’t increased a single gram since the last time we met. You’re as light as a feather.” Said Sunny. Following her statement, only silence ensued and thus Sunny decided to let it go.

As she was speaking, Dusk noticed Seria approaching. She had one of her rare smiles on her face. Once she came into view, Dusk smiled at her. When she arrived next to Sunny, Dusk stretched out her hands to hug her. A gesture which she firmly accepted as she carried Dusk over from Sunny’s chest to her own and immediately kissed Dusk on the forehead while saying “I missed you baby bro.”

“I missed you too sis.” Dusk replied.

Seria then proceeded to greet Jade as the four of them walked into the house while chatting and catching up on recent things. Through all this, Seria was still carrying Dusk.

The excitement after the reunion soon died down after some days. During these days, Jade had explained to Sunny and Seria all that had happened during the Empress’s summon and all that had been decided to be set forth.

While both Sunny and Seria found this information to be surreal at first, they soon came to accept the idea of an Imperial Academy as something that would bring way more merits that it would demerits

Through this period, Dusk had also explained to Sunny and Seria that he could ‘see’ and also how he could do it, unfortunately, just like his mom, they were unable to understand it. In as much as they could not understand, however, they were really happy, as they knew this was something that was really beneficial for Dusk.

Dusk also informed them all about Stream, this information was met with even more surprise than the last, as everyone knew that beasts were unable to meditate. For one to suddenly be able to just went against the confines of common sense. However, as Stream was Dusk’s companion, they decided to take the opportunity as a blessing and promise to never disclose the information to outsiders.

Once the days returned to normal, Dusk once again resumed his training. He was training his body, his martial arts and his E.M waves as he waited for his fifth birthday. Dusk forced himself to train even harder as he knew that once he clocked five years of age and discovered his affinities, he would have less time to train his body as his time would then need to be directed to both schoolwork and meditation.

And so, on this day, Dusk was standing in the palace’s quadrangle in a horse’s stance. The pressure bracelets on his arms were exerting pressure throughout his body making drops of sweat fall off him every so often.

Even as the pressure was building up, though, Dusk ignored it as he kept on shooting out palm after palm. While these palm strikes did not look at all harmful, one could even go as far as to say that they looked gentle, they in fact weren’t.

Every time Dusk shot out a palm, it would be accompanied by a low rumbling of the air around it upon which Dusk would then readjust his position and begin once again.

Once he had done this for around five hours, Sunny would come to call him for a break. “Baby bro, please come in and have a rest.”

After the break, Dusk would go back to the quadrangle and begin running around it in circles. As the quadrangle itself was rather big, Dusk would ask his mother to use her earth magic to change its landscape every single day so that his body may be able to experience different terrains.

Once Dusk finished running through the terrain for approximately five more hours, he would then sit down and recuperate. Throughout the whole exercise Dusk would be subconsciously training his E.M waves as he stretched them to the max.

As he was training, Dusk came to notice that his sister Seria always sat at the edge of the quadrangle observing him. In her eyes were feelings of admiration and affection

Over time as he noticed that she would do this everyday, Dusk became a bit worried for her. After all he would not feel nice if she wasted all of her time because of him and thus he decided to approach her.

“Big sis, you don’t have to always stay here and watch me. Don’t worry I’m really careful and I wont hurt myself so you can just go and enjoy yourself.” Dusk said to her in a serious tone. He was honestly concerned for her. The response that he got from her, however, dispelled all his worries.

“Don’t worry baby bro, I do this because I want to. There’s nothing more fun to me than watching you grow up.” Said Seria with a smile on her face that was as bright as the morning sun.

Once Dusk heard her words he could only sigh and continue onwards towards the bathroom. Even as he headed into the bathroom, Stream was still laying on his bed meditating. As she could not strengthen her body, Stream decided to increase her strength by meditating and once she started, she would not stop. Her diligence was just as high as that of Dusk.

As soon as Dusk exited the shower, he decided to go to the main room of the palace where he spent time with his mother and sisters. He really enjoyed this time of day, as the members of his family were really fun people to be around. The moment he sat on his mother’s lap and began to play with his sisters, all the fatigue that he had accumulated simply disappeared.

This routine continued for a while until soon enough the announcement was made throughout the continent that a new imperial school had been founded and that only the best students in each kingdom would be chosen. While this caused uproar, as Dusk was just four years old and was ineligible to enter, he did not pay any mind to it.

A few days after the announcement, came the sad day that Dusk knew would have to come, his sisters’ departure to school. The farewell this time was even more painful for him than the previous one as having stayed for so long with his sisters, he had come to consider them second to his heart. Dusk almost proposed going with them but as he knew that it would be impossible and that his mother would be lonely all alone, he decided to hold himself back.

As his sisters had gone, Dusk now dedicated more of his time to his mother. When he wasn’t training, he was with her, telling her stories and teaching her new things. It was a really fun experience and it was in the same way that another year passed.