Tullian couldn’t believe his eyes.

“YOU HAVE A CRYSTALAKRUM? I’ve always wanted one of these!”

He ran over to it and looked at it from every angle he could.

“These things are a marvel of arcane engineering! Did you know that the Tinkerer, the leader of the Creation clan, was the one who designed them? He apparently designed it for himself, but the other higher ups in the clan wanted to monetise the thing.”

“You are the last person I expected to nerd out over it. I suppose it’s pretty cool, yeah.” Sin said.

Rai and Sin promptly introduced their friends to the rest of the penthouse. They pointed out the exercise area with the indoor pool and strength training equipment. After that, they walked through the living area with the crystalakrum into the open plan kitchen, which was just beside the living area. It wasn’t a large kitchen. They mostly had the basics needed to make food, but since there were only three people living there it served its purpose.

The terrace was large enough to be considered its own room, just outside. It had a smaller pool designed for relaxing. One could look over the edge, down at the rest of the city. The terrace was completed by a relaxing mini-garden area with comfortable seats.

After going back inside, Rai excused himself for a minute so he could change out of his uniform into something more comfortable. Sin wasn’t too fussed, so she remained as she was.

Minutes later, Rai walked out of his bedroom into the living area where the group was now sat down on the couch and chairs beside the crystalakrum. He wore loose fitting black garments without sleeves, similar to the outfit he wore on the day of the entrance exam. His black seals were snug on his wrists.

As he walked into view of the others, who were already talking. Other than Sin, they paused their conversation to look at him.

He reached for his mouth, feeling to see if something was there. Then he checked the rest of his face.

“Is there something on my face? Why are you all staring?”

Sin shrugged, Lina’s face was as red as a tomato, and Amy’s was a lighter shade. Tullian was the one to speak up.

“I didn’t realise you were so fit. I guess it makes sense though, since you’re so good at fighting.”

Rai rolled his eyes and sat down beside Sin who saved a space for him on the couch.

“You guys hungry? Thirsty?”

They all shook their heads.

“The Academy chefs made such an amazing meal for us all! I can’t believe we’ll get to eat such high quality food every day.” Lina said.

Amy nodded in agreement with her sister, her curly hair bouncing up and down as she did.

“I was surprised they had meat, let alone chicken! Chicken is so rare to find these days, so being able to have some after such a long time was a blessing.”

Tullian’s arms were crossed, and his eyes were closed. He had a serious expression on his face.

“Chicken is the greatest thing in all of Zenith. In my clan, chicken is practically worshipped. We hunt them and feast on them every year.”

The rest of them looked at him with slight concern. Sin asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Is that... alright? I don’t think being obsessed with chicken is-OW!” Rai thumped her on the forehead. “Hey! Why’d you do that?”

“His culture is his culture, don’t assume what you don’t know Sin. It’s not our place to decide what’s right or wrong.”

“Ah... I guess you’re right.” She turned to Tullian and bowed slightly, “Sorry, I didn’t realise I was being like that.”

“Don’t mention it.” He waited another moment before moving on to another topic, “Rai calls you Sin, but we call you Sindyl. What’s the difference?”

Sin blinked a few times, registering the question.

“Um. I don’t really know; I just like it when he calls me Sin. It’s the same thing my dad calls me. But when anyone else does that it always feels weird.”

The three newcomers nodded studiously together. They all had something similar about themselves that made it easier to resonate with what Sindyl was saying. Sometimes it was just more comfortable that way.

“Anyway, I was wondering what kind of powers you all have!” Sin mentioned.

They all had different reactions to the question. Tullian looked somewhat excited, since he clearly prided himself in his abilities. Amy was also somewhat excited, since she had no real chance to show off her abilities yet. Lina, however, seemed more reserved than usual.

Sin noticed.

“But, if you don’t want to say or show then you don’t have to, please don’t feel pressured to. You can just raise your hand if you want to talk about your abilities, if not then don’t worry about it!” Sin added this on quickly after noticing Lina’s reaction.

With those words spoken, Lina’s reservedness relaxed a touch. She clearly didn’t want to show off her abilities.

Tullian and Amy energetically raised their arms though.

“Okay! Let’s go to the sparring area in the basement!”

“YOU HAVE A SPARRING AREA IN YOUR BASEMENT?!” Tullian and Amy practically shouted their reaction in unison. Lina, by this point, was no longer surprised.

Rai led the group through the hallway, letting Mr. Guard know that they were going to the sparring area. He stressed to Rai that they were not allowed to go anywhere else today. If they did, then the Deceiver wouldn’t be happy. Huh... I guess something’s going on at the Secret today.

The group went into the lift and down into the sparring area.

Their expressions were far more awestruck down here than in the penthouse. The open space, the armaments that could be seen in some kind of glass windows, even the arena itself being adjustable based on the settings in the control booth near the entrance. The room felt like it wasn’t part of the establishment upstairs at all.

Sin walked into the arena, calling for Rai to join her. As soon as they stood side by side, Sin pointed at him.

“This is your training dummy!” She declared.

Rai stared blankly at her. He tilted his head. “Eh?”

The rest of the group shared Rai’s sentiment.

“Huh? Him?” Amy asked.

“You’ll show off your abilities against him in a spar.” She turned to Rai, whispering “No using Ghost! You’re not trying to destroy them. Just test how strong they are. Try to keep your mana sealed to a tenth, but if you need to then you can tune it up.” She turned back to the group, “Who’s first!”

Tullian’s confusion dissipated, and he let out a laugh that shook all of their eardrums.

“I will go first!”

He walked over to the arena as Sin walked out of it. The twins stood beside Sin, ready to spectate the match.

Tullian did some rudimentary stretches. Rai didn’t.

“Are you taking this seriously?” Tullian asked him.

“Of course. A real fight wouldn’t afford you time to stretch, you have to act instantly.”

Tullian’s eyes went wide. Does he always train like that? Like it’s a real fight? He’s more serious than I thought!... Tullian held out his hand to the side. It looked like he was ready to grab something. After a moment, wind began to circle around his feet. Just a moment after, the wind surged upwards, causing the bracelet on his wrist to flail around.

It started glowing. The bracelet that was black with a green gem was now glowing a foresty green.

A beautiful ethereal looking bow appeared in Tullian’s outstretched hand. The bracelet was now gone. The bow was translucent, with a soft green glow to it. It was as if a series of stags’ horns were attached to one another, originating from the handle. There was no bowstring.

Rai let out a low whistle.

“That’s a beautiful bow.” He said.

“Thank you. It was my mother’s.”

Rai wanted to know how it worked, but he resigned himself to finding out in the fight.

“Are you ready?” Tullian asked Rai.

Rai nodded, even though he had no weapon at hand.

“You have no weapon! How can you be ready?”

Rai softly shook his head, taking the opportunity to rile Tullian up a little.

“I don’t need a weapon to win.”

“You don’t need a weapon? Aren’t you underestimating me just a little bit too much? I know that you can fight, but surely you’ll need a weapon at least.”

“Haha. I guess you’ll just find out once you fight me.”

Tullian was rearing to go, Rai’s taunting words bolstered his fighting spirit.

Sin decided to count them down.

“The fight begins on go.” Tullian got into an attack stance while Rai remained where he stood, stanceless, to Tullian’s surprise.

“Hold on.” Rai said, surprising the others.

Rai had another idea. The spectators were apprehensive, especially Sin. She knew that if Rai had an idea, it probably wouldn't go well. Rai was sure to meet her expectations with his next words.

“Both of you. Amy, and Tullian, I’ll fight both of you at once.”

Sin facepalmed.

“Are you an idiot? You might be strong, but definitely not strong enough to take on both of them.”

Amy’s usual excitement seemed to be replaced with a silent ferocity. She looked at Rai, “Those are arrogant words Rai! You’re cute, but speaking like that... you’d better be willing to take responsibility for disrespecting us.”

“It’s up to you guys, and you’d be at a disadvantage since you haven’t fought together before. None of us know each other’s powers, except for me and Sin. So, of course I think I can beat both of you at the same time.”

Amy clenched her teeth. She wasn’t the best fighter, but she didn’t appreciate being disrespected like this.

“Fine. We’ll fight you, two on one.”

Rai smiled, glad that his mental warfare was already working. Jin taught him more about fighting to win than fighting to show off. Those lessons had already come in handy, and he felt like they’d continue to do so far into the future.

Sin let out a long sigh as Amy called forth a sleek staff from her spatial rune. It was carved out of a white wood, with bright runes lined along its form. There were no embedded gems, but the orb at the top of the staff was encased in a beautiful sapphire.

As Amy walked over to where Tullian stood, Sin theorised about what kind of mage she was. Given that she was from the Isle of Chimes, it would make sense for her to be an enchantress, someone who strengthens her allies using magical buffs and heals.

Sin crossed her arms. She was already mentally exhausted.

“Okay. Are you guys actually ready then?”

They nodded. Lina watched in anticipation.

“Phew. Great! Then the same thing from before applies. The fight begins on ‘go’.”

Sin took a breath before counting down...

“3... 2... 1... GO!”