Led by the likes of their father, James, Jordan and Jacques waddled through the mid-levels of the castle in radiant silence. Looks of nervousness, anxiety or apprehension; or an amalgamation of the three, remained stamped on each of their faces during the entire walk, until they were once again in 'Dr.' Creps' wing of the castle. When their furrowed brows, nervous groans and darting eyes evolved into panicked breath, cold sweats and a noticeable reduction in pace.

The doctor shot up from his seat the moment Villan stepped through the door. Jordan swore he saw the same, nervous sweat as his own pooling on Dr. Creps' hands as he rather rudely gestured for them to situate themselves onto any of the large beds situated throughout the space.

There were a half dozen of the devices positioned along the walls, facing each other. The doctor's desk was situated in a way that presented his front towards the entrance at all times. Allowing him to quickly greet guests upon a moments notice, as he so aptly displayed. And permitting as many of the now familiar beds to fill the room as possible.

The Automated Robotic Surgeon, or ARS, resembled a bed slightly larger than twin size with a crescent arm mounted onto rails along the base. To the right of each device were tall, elongated, cabinets. Each with dizzying arrays of drawers, hose connectors , sockets and funnels that served as inputs for the various medicines, drugs and implants used by the robotic arm.

After passing off their packs to their siblings, the three brothers cautiously mounted the machines.

'I feel like a labrat.'

That sole thought echoed through Jordan's mind as he settled into place under the harsh lights overhead. Equatorially eclipsed by the thick band of metal suspended above him.

After verifying each of their implants were in their oddly-specific locations, their father and all their siblings moved to the other side of the room as one while Dr. Creps moved to each of their machines in turn. Fastening the bags of powdered liquid into place on the crescent arms and activating their machines in the process.

From his peripherals, Jordan noticed Jago's lips curl into a sadistic grin just as the bed beneath him began to hum to life. A thick, black line creased along the length of the curved arm above him. Followed by another, and another, until repeating sets of crowded hands with fingers of needles, laser cutters, scissors and tubes, syringes and claws stretched across the arm from end-to-end.

The bed rattled louder as thick straps spat from the undercarriage to promptly bind Jordan's body. His heart began punching at his ribs as a pair of particularly needle-filled hands began to inch closer to his heaving frame, now bulking under the tension of their restraints. Jordan's eyes bulged as a thick syringe unwarningly plunged itself into the back of his knee. They, then bulged past their limits, threatened to pop out of his skull after the needles began to menacingly prick and prong his body from crown to soles.

An ecstatic warmth washed over Jordan's body as the hands made it to his midsection. While it wasn't necessarily a numbing sensation, it was enough to distract his mind and quell his rioting heart from the perceived assault he was under. His eyes fluttered through the cloud of lights above him to survey the endless apparatuses standing by along the base of the robotic arm before his mind seemed to skip. And he found himself fighting heavy lids to stare at the once-cloudy bag of liquid suspended off to the side of the arm. Now sprouting a tube that steadily dripped fluid into his leg.

The simultaneous rattling of the frame beneath him, sudden cold enveloping his skull, tightening of his restraints, and the needle that jumped from the arm to bite at Jordan's neck, ripped him from his sudden daze in an instant. His heart resumed its assault as if it'd never stopped. Prompting the new restraints and the claw gripping his head to recklessly tighten their grip.

Another wave flooded Jordan's body after the release of the needle. This one bringing along the tingling numbness he'd secretly longed for, but no apparent drowsiness. When the feeling finally fell to Jordan's feet, a sharp and powerful thump echoed from the back of his skull.

Jordan's neck immediately spasmed from the process. Then began twitching as the point began to burn with a subtle intensity through the numbing agent. Through his clenched eyes, he failed to see another array descending upon his body and as a result, began lashing out as the sharp, distant pricks began erupting throughout his face. First his ears, from the outer skin to the deepest reaches of his ear canals. Followed by each of his nostrils and even his tongue, after it was dragged from his mouth by a set of mechanical clamps.

As the seconds grew to minutes, the sensations only grew. More pricklings in his neck and throat. A sharp stab or two between the ribs. A thousand little stimuli that collectively made Jordan's entire body burn with the sensation of a thousand numbing needles, prying his skin apart.

Jordan's neck cramped through the restraints to try and catch a glimpse of the process going underway. Like a molecular assembler, the spindly hands tracked smoothly along the arm and the rail mount at the base to strike at Jordan's legs with rapid precision.

Almost on their own, Jordan's eyes slammed shut, blocking his mind from the sight as his neck seemed to lose its strength. He drew his lungs full of air in an attempt to calm himself. But before the air could smoothly slip through his nostrils, his cranial band strengthened its hold, latched his forehead in a vice that caused all the air in his lungs to disrupt in a distasteful yelp.

From the influence of cold, hard fingers on the edges of his face, Jordan felt his eyelids being mercilessly forced open. Through the tears welling in his sockets, his eyes focused on the circular palms of the metal claws, silhouetted against the dizzying light. The clawed shadows grew larger with each passing second. Gradually undoing the results of the tumultuous, incomplete meditations he'd only just attempted until his body was once again in a full panic.

His body began shaking, as if the bed itself was trembling beneath him. Yet, the claw remained stationary at the center of his vision. Looming closer a millimeter at a time until it made cold contact with the flesh of Jordan's eyeballs.

And gripped his cornea in a gentle embrace.

"Jordan, calm down!"

Jordan was more than aware of his fathers pleas, scratching at the back of his consciousness. Regardless, his words; and all other stimuli fell on a muted consciousness. Any all sounds besides the rage of his flesh became distorted to his ears. His sight was reduced to a mass of cold, oppressive darkness while his body swelled from the restraints steadily erupting and tightening themselves around his body.

Suddenly, the claws flexed. Increased their grip ever so slightly as an abnormal cold began to crawl around the flesh of his eyes. Jordan's strength was knocked from his body as the wiry, snaking fingers breached his eye sockets with a dull thump. Sending a shrill shudder arcing down his spine that only increased in tune with the fingers digging.

It took everything in Jordan's power not to gag. To not vomit all over himself from the sickening sounds echoing in his skull. His gut clenched from the fluid in his eyes displacing against the bone and creeping fingers with loud, wet cracks before leaking down his face. From the wiry appendages continuing to force paths around his eyes. From the sharp knocks and rings that echo in his skull, leaving his face feeling more and more distorted as time passed.

Without hesitation, the claw began to tug gently on the flesh after having snaked around to the backs of Jordan's eyes. The violent tremors returned to the bed beneath him, in that instant. As did the distant shouts of his father scratching at his consciousness. As the pull increased, the lights above him distorted. Splayed sideways at unnatural angles while the sound of rushing air filled the room around him. Winding and swirling until culminating in a thunderous, wet pop that echoed through Jordan's skull like a ruptured balloon.

Then, Jordan's world turned black.

Like a wave hit his body and sapped his strength, Jordan's body crumpled in place after having the assault come to a close.

For what felt like years in his mind, he felt the stimuli of his surroundings flood his awareness. The embrace of the bed contouring around his legs. The silky, replaceable fabric lining his back. The incessant squirming and thrashing of his body from the after affects of his shock. The soft hums of the machine above him. Even the snickering, worrisome or snide remarks of his siblings were almost overbearing to him.

'The worst is over.' Jordan sighed to himself. Focusing again on regulating his breath.

Suddenly, the fingers on the sides of Jordan's face flexed, prying his now useless eyelids apart once more and sending a flood of fresh, cool air began to mix around the new void in his skull.

'Wow.' Jordan's breath quivered after a meek attempt at a wry snort. 'I'm actually blind. Can't see shit. Not even a red glow.'

Jordan's thoughts were cut short as a suspiciously warm, watery fluid was dripped around and into his eye sockets. Followed by a dense pressure around the vacant holes that quickly began to rise and rise until a loud knock rocked Jordan's skull.

Once Jordan's head settled, his skull began to feel increasingly cramped. His sockets were veritably filled with... something, he'd noticed at first. Small and shriveled like raisins. But as the dizziness slowly waned from his head, the feeling quickly grew to become a ballooning pressure that compressed his cranium. His thoughts became cloudy and sluggish as pain increased the dragging seconds. And once the sensation became too much to bear, a sharp prick stung Jordan's neck.

Quieting the subtle voices, quakes and hums around him into a balmy silence.

***

Awareness returned to Jordan in increments. The first stimuli he took notice of were the silky fabrics lining his body and the bed upon which he lay. A blanket noticeably different from the one in the doctor's operating room. Drier, thicker, softer and clumped in random spots under his back and legs like he'd been thrown haphazardly onto the bed mattress. Next was the mass of memory foam compressed almost flat under the weight of his head. Followed in tune by an oppressive weight that was cradled around Jordan's body and stirred with him as he rose from his grogginess.

After trying, and failing, to pry his eyes open, Jordan subconsciously reached for his eyes. As if it had never been, Jordan's fatigue shattered as the rugged cloth of the gauze covering his eyes ran along his cold, metal fingers.

He leapt upright in that instant. Cackling madly while patting and poking his body from head to food to feel the warmth of skin through the tips of his new appendages. "I have arms!" He cackled louder as he fell back into his pillow.

"Yeah, you do. " Jago's whispered, impatient tone range from somewhere beside Jordan's bed. Shocking the latter to his core. "Now, go back to sleep. And don't take your headband off until you're told."

"Mmcht." Jordan scoffed while extending the finger in the direction he thought Jago sat. "Who made you my babysitter?"

"I did." He snorted. Just before the door hissed closed behind him. As if to punctuate his reply.

"Go tO SlEeP." Jordan mocked at his back after rolling onto his side. 'Could you, when your arms, Jago?"

As Jordan lay in bed despairingly feeling the seconds tick by he longed for sleep, the trauma of his prior operation replayed incessantly in his mind. Each sensation, the pokes and prods, the distinct feeling of static enveloping his body, even the manic invasion of his eye sockets, seemed to return to his nerves. His body grew hot as the sensation traveled from his from his eyes to his ears, down to the nose, through the mouth before leaking down to his throat to encompass what was left of his flesh.

Even as the pain continued to crawl through Jordan's body, the sickening, crawling sensation seemed to concentrate within his eyes until the sensation passed the basin of his sockets and began digging through the depths of his skull. Intensifying with each passing moment until the pain was lodged into the recesses of his cranium. Where it pulsed for what felt like years; centuries even. Before finally subsiding.

Allowing Jordan's mind to collapse into a deep slumber.

***

...

[Hardware synchronized.]

Jordan's mind spun as he pushed against his pillow to force himself upright. His blankets, now heavy and saturated with moisture rolled off of his back, allowing the cool, morning air to excitedly kiss against his skin. After a brief shudder from the cold, Jordan swung his legs out of bed, then abruptly froze after focusing on the digital words floating in the blackness.

[Manuals Installed: Carpo Industries Optical Scanner. Olfactory Detection Array. Auricular Mesh. Gustatory Modality Enhancer. Subdermal Environment Analyzer. Respirocytes: Standard Dose. NanoLung Mk I. Carop Industries Neural Interface.]

[Downloading 1/3: Merit System...]

[Downloading 2/3: Campaign Software...]

[Downloading 3/3: Universal Cartographic Library]

Jordan sat patiently at the edge of his bed while he watched the notifications fade in-and-out of existence. Everything about the situation, from his posture, to his attentive stare, reminded Jordan of warmer times. Of his childhood. When he'd spend many of his mornings in the the exact same posture. Watching his favorite shows. Burning through his personalized education programs. Training his mind and body. And delving through both the Starfarer's Archives and the Universal Cartographic Library, to learn as much as he could about the abundance of technology humanity now had under its control.

A nonstop endeavor that he'd undergone since he could speak and stand to prepare himself for the moment that was now upon him.

[Downloads complete.]

[Initializing.]

[Initialization complete.]

The digital words soon faded into nothingness. Leaving Jordan once again trapped in the limbo of perpetual emptiness and periodical thoughts.

If only for a moment.

[November 320th, 2nd Year of the Galilean Powers(Y.G.P. New Bran, Europa. 07:41. Universal. Europa. Time. (UET)]

Just as the prior notifications, the date and Jordan's location faded away after pulsing for a few moments at the top of his field of view while the time remained. Pulsed gently once more before repositioning itself at the top of Jordan's field of view. Centered underneath what appeared to be a miniature red dwarf star. Inscribed with the number '56' beside it.

'The hell is that?'

Before Jordan could ponder further, readouts of the pressure, composition and temperature of the air around him appeared in a similar fashion before all but the temperature faded. Repositioning itself in the lower left corner of his vision.

Oxygen levels, web browsers, VR software, even a local map of the habitat all appeared with Jordan's vision before either fading out of view or falling into the peripherals of his vision. Ready to be summoned again at the slightest thought or glance.

Just as Jordan began to hesitantly reach for the gauze wrapping his head, a loud bang like clapping iron plates thumped from far beyond the wall.

Jordan flinched backwards onto bed as his head cranked towards the sound. Towards a humanoid outline of red wires, walking in the blackness. Hauntingly becoming more vivid and detailed with new growths of wires after each step.

He saw the gray and white outlines of his bedroom door before the structure hissed open by influence of the figure. Now detailed to such an extent that the formerly red silhouette of a man was now a full crimson mass with sharp cheeks and the rounded scalp of a bald head.

A gentle rush of air flooded the room in pace with the figure's ingress. Washing over Jordan a pungent aroma of salt, flowers and dirt that nearly permeated his mouth.

Jordan reflexively kicked against his mattress to distance himself from the figure as a brown aura began to envelop them and trail towards Jordan. "W- Who's there!" He nervously shouted.

"Calm down." Jago sighed annoyingly as he reached towards Jordan's head.

Jordan grumbled to himself as he sat upright. Allowing his brother to tend to his gauze. "Could've announced yourself."

If Jago heard the complaint, he chose to ignore it. Surprisingly. He remained silent, seemed to not even breath as he unwound the gauze with wide loops around Jordan's head. Allowing the red-orange glow of light to permeate his eyelids with each orbit of his hands.

Jordan couldn't help but twitch in excitement once the pressure holding down his eyelids released. He peeled his eyes open slowly. And blinked rapidly while looked around at the darkness slowly fading out of existence. Revealing the the outlines of his bed, his quilted blankets, surrounding furniture and Jago's disgruntled expression.

Jordan continued staring as the light continued to brighten and settle into focus. As it did, Jago's skin rose in contrast until it popped vibrantly. Revealing small blemishes Jordan was certain he never noticed. His once-sandy skin now glowed like creamed coffee. A stubble of black hairs; probably fractions of a millimeter long, traced the underside and front of his chin and neck. Extending down until they crawled out his leather vest like invasive insects.

"What. The fuck. Are you staring at!!?" Jago snapped.

"Oh! uh..." Jordan stalled as his eyes randomly darted around the room, as if looking for an answer, until a glint of light above Jago's shoulder caught his attention. "What's that?"

Jago's eyes followed Jordan's finger to his shoulder, and then to the wall behind him. Before he chuckled softly to himself, shaking his head. He turned back to Jordan with a scowl of half-disappointment, half-annoyance. Before simply stating. "My Merit."

From Jordan's perspective, the object beyond the gilded tip of his finger resembled a small, dull-orange, star-like sphere that seemed to glow without radiating any light and stayed in place relative to Jago as he shifted his weight from leg to leg.

The sphere twitched occasionally as he continued to stare. As if it were glitching out of existence entirely. "Five-thousand, one-hundred twenty nine." Jordan commented as he squinted to the number glowing proudly beside the star. "That makes you what, a D-Ranker?" He snorted mockingly.

"You're not entirely hopeless, it seems." Jago grunted to himself before explaining. "Everyone's Merit is displayed through augmented reality. If you've been introduced, their names will be displayed as well. Otherwise, it'll be blank."

Jordan took a glance at the red orb floating at the top of his vision and sighed at the comparisingly small number. "I see."

"The number you see up there is your Merit." Jago explained as he turned for the door. "Get dressed then read about it on the way to the hall. It's breakfast time."

...

"Make sure you read about your other implants as well," Jago said sternly after Jordan emerged from his room. "We'll be upset if you don't."

Jordan silently sneered at both the assumption that Jordan would care about his siblings' opinions and Jago's orderly tone. In truth, he didn't need to be told to learn anything about Merit or Campaign. As that was already a part his plan.

It was well known amongst the Astros siblings that Jordan was among the more intelligent children birthed by their father. Yet, his apprehensiveness to study particular subjects served as a source of contempt among the children of the clan.

From their perspective, Jordan's gifts were almost wasted on his seemingly half-assed efforts. From his however, some things; traveling to other lands; exploring other cultures; learning the limits of a transhuman existence, were better to be learned through experience, rather than study. In his opinion, learning as much as he could about the endless civilizations orbiting the sun prior to exploring them would only ruin the fun of it. The surprise would be non existent. The wanderlust slain by the mere presence of expectation. Relegating him to only be able to compare what he saw, with what he thought he knew.

He just hated no one else in the Clan understood. Perhaps except their father.

Throughout the Solar system, eye-scanners and the other sensory implants Jordan received were parts of a standard sensory suite that were sold for next-to-nothing. They were practically given out to the public and commonly referred to as the next evolution of cellphones and tablets used on old-Earth.

Through the neural interface, simply thinking of the internet summoned an augmented panel in the center of Jordan's vision. Prompting him with a basic search engine. After repeating the word, 'Merit,' in his head, the words quickly filled the search bar before screen quickly refreshed with a wall of text. Causing Jordan to immediately grunt in annoyance.

On a whim, Jordan reached out towards the panel and halted in place as it shifted into his hand.

Jago's steps grew more distant in the back of his mind as Jordan stared, dumbfounded at his hand. Though he knew it wasn't real, physically. Through the sensors inside his fingers, there was a slight warmth and soft buzzing sensation that trickled up Jordan's arms from the panel. Wholeheartedly fooling his brain into thinking he actually held something in his hand.

Not knowing what to do next, Jordan turned awkwardly in place; panel swaying in a frustrated stupor, before he threw it out in front of him like a saucer.

Just as a physical projectile would, the panel twisted as it arced towards the floor. Deflecting slightly to the left just before it mutedly slapped against the checkered stone. The backdrop and border seemed to shatter into oblivion upon impact. Leaving only the cascading paragraphs remained. Stretched and elongated along the floor of the hall.

Starting from the day they were born and ending at their death, Galilean citizens remained under almost constant evaluation, as their merit Points were tallied and accumulated on basis of the core Galilean values of strength, honor and independence. By adhering to these values and showcasing skills, talent or aptitude in whatever endeavors an individual chose to pursue, they would vastly increase their standard of living as they moved up in rank.

Establishing the rewards and punishments, and the assignment of points for all citizens in the Powers were handled by Archer. The resident, symbiotic AI residing in the Chieftain of the Powers' head, along with a few others. The points themselves operated on a cumulative system. And were highly regulated across virtually all fields of life. After reaching a pre established cap, a citizen would automatically be promoted to the next rank and be granted the additional bonus permitted by their rank.

The ranks on the other hand, increased exponentially from one tier to the next and were represented by the various types of stars from smallest to largest. The lowest and most populated E-Rank had a cap of 1,000 points, and was represented as a red dwarf star. While S-Rank, at the highest, had a cap of 1-trillion points. And was represented by a large, blue-white, O-type star.

"If you're chasing Merit, I imagine you're going on Campaign?" Jago paused at the junction leading towards the dining hall with a curious grin wrinkled over his face. "If so, I recommend going to Ganymede."

"Why?" Jordan asked dismissively.

"Look it up and find out for yourself." Jago chuckled as he continued on his way. Then turned again to call over his shoulder a second later. "Did you read about your other implants?"

"Didn't need to." Jordan sighed with impatient frustration. "Sensory implants are all synched. Not only are they amplified, but I can see sounds and smells. I have infrared and ultraviolet vision. My ears and nose passively tunes out displeasurable inputs. Everything I see is recorded. And my eyes are basically supercomputers." Jordan paused during a few paces to tap at his chin in contemplation before shrugging. "On top of that. The respirocytes my blood was replaced with, increased my respiratory efficiency by over two-hundred percent. And, in addition to negating the risk of stroke, the NanoLung will keep my brain oxygenated after cardiac arrest. Anything I miss?"

"Fair enough." Jago mumbled contemptuously as he stepped through the dining halls entrance.

The hall was an oval shape room of stone walls and polished wood floors. Encircled with cupboards, basins and a large AutoChef along the rear wall. A round table overshadowed by an antlered chandelier occupied the center of the space. Around which a plethora of velvet cushioned, throne-like seats were neatly arranged. Directly opposing the door, placed before a large window was a slightly larger seat in which their father sat. Crowded by both toddler booths and a few dust lined chairs on either side.

Jordan scanned the heads present as he orbited the table in search of an empty seat. A quarter of the way around, he slid into a chair between James and their younger sister, the 29th child of the Clan, Agnes.

Before his rear fully settled into his chair, a knife-like elbow primly dug into Jordan's ribs.

"What was it like, Jordy?" Agnes giggled.

Jordan recoiled in his seat before turning to Agnes with claw-like hands and a frown akin to a Japanese-opera mask. "Don't make me do it!" He warned.

Agnes fell across the arm of her seat and threw her arms up in mock-surrender. Then covered her mouth as a soft erupted from her lips.

Along with Florence, Agnes was among the few only-children in the Clan. She was born a little over an Earth-year after Jordan and his two brothers and strongly took after her mother. Pale skin with vibrant brown hair cradled an oval shaped face. Still, like most of their siblings, she retained the deep set, hawk-like eyes of their father that shone a vibrant forest green.

Jordan glanced above her shoulder. Where, unlike the majority of his siblings, only her name was displayed on a banner. He quickly glanced away from her expectant gaze. Turning his attention to the console on the arm of his seat instead. "You know I can't tell you, Agnes," he said softly.

Jordan ignored the subsequent pouting of little sister as he passively flicked through the console on his chair to peruse the menu. In truth, he knew it was only an act. A way to pass the time until Agnes' attention found something else to latch onto. So that he could resume his survey without the shadow of guilt hanging over him.

Surely enough, the moon-faced girl turned to her other side to talk to Lila after a few minutes. Permitting Jordan to peacefully order his usual breakfast. An assorted fruit bowl, egg sandwich and a bowl of grilled salmon and rice.

Jordan resumed scanning the present heads and star-like orbs after the confirmations on his chair's console flashed away. Like himself. James, Jacques, Florence, and the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, all had the crimson, red-dwarf orbs floating above their shoulders. Denoting each of them as E-Ranked citizens. Leo, Theodore, and Massimo all shared the same dull-orange glow as Jago. D-Rankers, with numbers ranging from the two-thousands to just below 100,000. Eloise and Lila on the other hand, were the only C-Rankers. With yellow, sun-like orbs floating above their shoulders and numbers well above the hundred thousands.

'I wonder what rank Vera is." Jordan thought to himself.

Any further surveys were immediately cut short by the plates of food rising onto the the table from a system of chutes in the foundation.

Jordan reached out before his plate even halted before him to toss the first pieces of egg and goat cheese into his mouth. Then froze as his eyes began to humm within his skull. In the next instant, the digital, augmented visage, no larger than a playing card, appeared onto the table beside Jordan's plate. The tan-skinned woman had a cloud of curly hair that she pulled over her ear before puckering out a pair of vibrant, red lips towards the camera and quickly fading.

[New Message: Jemenna Desai.]

"Oi!" Jordan nudged James with his elbow. "Did Mom just sent you a message?"

James only continued to stare directly ahead and monotonously chew his food with half-lidded eyes. Jordan stared emptily at the movements of his jaw and recoiled in disgust as chunks of eggs and steak fell from his brother's stubble. James then swallowed hard and violently stabbed a chunk of meat with his fork before turning to Jordan, half-lidded eyes blinking slowly. "Don't talk to me while I'm eating, Jordan."

Jordan's eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets as he bit back the urge to tell James about himself. Instead, he tossed a grape into his mouth before settling into his sandwich.

"She did," James answered a few seconds later. "Knowing her, she probably sent all of us a gift. You plan to visit her?"

"Actually, I-"

A loud tapping of metal on glass cut off Jordan's words. His head snapped to his father, rising from his chair as he rapped the edge of his cup with the tip of his finger. Settling the perpetual murmur of the dining hall in an instant.

During a short pause, 14 wine glasses were lifted from the tables' chutes and positioned themselves in front of the ranked Galileans and their father.

"I'd like to congratulate James, Jordan and Jacques, on completing their trials and give a toast to their good fortune." Villan plucked a glass from the table and raised it up to eye level. "I look forward to seeing each of your developments as you rise to the top."

Villan raised his glass a degree higher and soon after, each of his children who were of age followed.

It wasn't Jordan's first time drinking wine, but it was sweeter than he remembered and a golden hue, like honey, rather from the deep red color he was familiar with. After his first cautious sip, he downed the glass in one large gulp before setting it down on the table as gently as he could.

"As you travel across the Powers, or the System even, always remember that New Bran Castle will harbor you safe passage." Their father continued in a noticeably cold tone. "For only a week at a time."

"Hah!" Jago laughed from across the table as he loudly slammed his glass down. "Here it comes!"

"As of 48 hours from now." Their father continued. "You're no longer welcome to live within the walls of New Bran Castle. You'll not be allowed back until you're promoted to D-Rank. And you may not leave until I let you."

As his arms spread to his sides, Villan's face warmed up into a dark smile that stretched from ear to ear. "Immediately after breakfast, you three are to report to the training grounds. Where you'll learn how to fight like an Astros."