Bryson Coldwater stood in the middle of a lake near his home standing on top of the water surface blasting jets of water into the air. A short distance away sat safely on a boat gently rocking back and forth was his anthousai teacher Primrose and the former divine pixie Coni Pinop watched in the sidelines.

They were currently testing Bryson’s output when it came to heavier attack spells. So far they’ve been extremely impressed. It had barely been two weeks since Bryson had dealt with the cultists. The process took a few days but all the kids were able to return to their very grateful and worried parents. But what was more interesting was Bryson’s strength.

Already a generational talent Bryson’s abilities in understanding and casting spells in a plethora of different manners something changed after that night. His mana reserves increased as did his ability to manipulate mana around him.

After explaining what happened to Primrose she deduced that it was likely that near-death experience that caused this boost in strength. Bryson’s weird otherworldly magic in him likely mixed together with his bodies desperate attempt to keep him alive and depletion of mana to produce this newfound source of power for him to use.

Though it was made abundantly clear that he should never try something like that again, lest he might never wake up again. He didn’t plan to, recovering from it only took a day but the exhaustion he felt was greater than anything he had felt before.

Thankfully news of what exactly happened to him did not reach his parents. Bryson shuddered to think of the scolding he would receive if his mother ever found out that he nearly died. He was not planning on risking that again as he launched another jet of water into the air allowing it to travel up as far as possible and allowing it to descend back down in a gentle cooling mist.

“Am I done?” Bryson said looking back at the two on the boat.

“You still have another minute left before noon.” Primrose said checking the time.

Bryson narrowed his eyes at her while Coni laughed, “I think you can stop a little bit early.”

“Good.” Bryson grunted as he walked his way back onto the boat.

“You have really improved on your aquamancy.” Primrose praised.

“Hmm.” Bryson grunted as Coni floated next to him, offering a water canteen.

“Have you tried skating?” Coni said as Bryson took a drink.

“What?” Bryson asked.

“Skating on the water, you form ice and then skate around the water with it.”

“Can you even do that?”

“It’s slightly unorthodox and takes a bit of concentration but yes, it would be an efficient way of moving around a large body of water without needing to spend much energy.” Primrose concurred.

“Where did you get that idea from? This doesn’t sound like something people would do up in god land.”

“That’s not what the place is called.” Primrose said.

“By watching you skate.” Coni said.

“Pardon?” Bryson said taken aback.

"There's not much ice up in the Divine Realm, let alone having people play sports on it. Watching you play hockey made me wonder if there were other situations where you could move efficiently on usually difficult terrain.” Coni said as Primrose nodded along.

“So you decided that I can move around the water by skating with ice boots?”

“Yes. What do you think?”

“I think it’s ridiculous… but it might work.” Bryson admitted, “Row as back to shore already.” He ordered.

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With a nod Primrose gently tapped the end of the boat before it began to move itself onto shore. As they sailed Primrose asked Bryson.

“Lord Bryson, what is this thing I heard of special guests arriving tomorrow?”

“You heard that? Yeah, the royal family is coming to visit.” Bryson said leaning back on his seat.

“The royal family? As in the king?” Coni said perking up from where she sat on his lap.

“Yeah, him and a couple of kids. He’s meeting with Father. I don’t think they’re talking about anything important, it’s more of a public gesture.” Bryson said.

“Public gesture?”

“My Father rules over the largest amount of land in the kingdom out of the four dukes, granted a lot of it is inhabited, but the last time the king visited the place was before I was born. So he’s due to make a visit I guess.”

“I heard the king is bringing two of his children, Reynard and Mallory Avildor correct?” Primrose said recalling the names. She remembered when Afa vaguely inferred how the King’s children would be key players in her story. Primrose was a bit worried if this was some ploy that Afa was attempting.

“Yeah, apparently Sable and I are to keep them company due to our close ages.” Bryson said.

“You don’t sound very happy about it.” Conie said.

“I’m not looking forward to playing jester for the prince and princess.”

“Aren’t you being overdramatic? It’s not like they’re here to harass you.” Coni asked as they approached the small wooden dock.

“I just hope that they leave quickly.” Bryson grunted as he left the boat.

***

Bryson Coldwater stood at attention with his sister Sable as a massive airship descended down onto the airport landing area trying not to yawn as he stood there in the morning cold. Behind them were several local police, militia, and royal guards with Coldwater-oriented colours all standing at attention. In front of him were his parents awaiting the king to land.

The airship itself has the king’s emblem painted on it and was glistening with gold and jewels and carried the colours of the kingdom, red, white, and gold. The size of the airship was that of a commercial one which can house thousands of people. Of course, the king’s entourage did not number that much. It felt like extravagance for the sake of extravagance.

As the ramp descended down out came the king and queen flanked by several more royal guards. This time they all bore the colours of the king and wore their markings proudly. The king himself was a tall man, nearly the height of Duke Coldwater. But the small height distance between them was made up by King Avildor’s sheer broadness.

Meeting face-to-face there was a strange feeling of tension in the air as the two simply stared at each other in silence. Neither moved as they had this staring contest between the two. The guards surrounding them seemed stiffer than usual as they stared.

King Avildor gave Duke Coldwater a once over before breaking out a jolly grin, “Alexander, good to see you again. It has been a few years hasn’t it?” He said with a laugh and giving Duke Coldwater a hearty thump on the shoulder.

“My King. It has been some time since you last visited.” Duke Coldwater said taking a step backwards and bowing his head in respect.

“Please, it’s Franklin, Alex. Ol’ Alex, stiff as always.” He said with a laugh towards the royal guard in charge.

The poor officer unfortunately had his helmet to his side in order to show respect and now looked like a fish out of water being addressed. His eyes widened ever so slightly in panic as he glanced over to Duke Coldwater, obviously worried about offending him, but ignoring the King would be an insult in and of itself.

As he momentarily had a mini-debate in his head that likely felt like an eternity for him, his solution was to simply give a small nod. Nod was a bit of a generous term as he barely shifted his head enough for motion to be registered. But it seemed that it was satisfactory for the king as he quickly moved on.

“Ah, Lilith, beautiful as always.” He said giving Lilith a firm handshake.

“Your words are too kind.” She said with a smile, “Tell me, how did your family enjoy your trip here?”

“Pleasant enough, though the kids are unaccustomed are unaccustomed to the time zone and are currently napping.” King Avildor said as he turned his attention over to Bryson and Sable.

“Ah, I see your young ones. Greeting, how are you two?” He said kindly to Bryson and Sable.

“I am well your majesty, thank you for coming here.” Sable said giving a small curtsy with her large winter jacket, Bryson followed suit as he looked at the king.

King Avildor was a well-built man, he had a full, well-trimmed beard and sparkling blue eyes that brimmed with energy. His voice was full of vigour as he greeted them, but what Bryson noticed most was the magic that the man was adorned in.

He was covered in various magical artifacts, even the crown he wore was more than just a piece of jewelry. Bryson didn’t have time to break down all the different components of the items he held but he was able to make out that not all of the enchantments served any real purpose, purely used as a display of extravagance.

“What two lovely children you have.” He said with a grin.

“My thanks for your compliments.” Duke Coldwater said respectfully, “Shall we go inside?”

“Yes, let’s.” King Avildor nodded.

As the group of nobility, guards, and servants began to move, Duchess Coldwater turned to her children, “Things are going to be busy these next few days so your father and I decided to assign you two a few things to keep you busy.”

“What kind of tasks?” Bryson said feeling uneasy after being told that essentially he had chores to do.

“Oh, just a few minor things that will have you outside the manor, don’t worry it will be fun.” She said cheerfully.

Bryson and Sable shared a look of exhaustion before the two nodded to their mother. I’m going to have to go hiking don’t I? Bryson lamented.