That night, Jak had a very strange dream. He found himself floating in a sea of nothingness, a pure black emptiness stretching as far as he could see in every direction. He looked down at his hands but realized his body was gone, it was only more black emptiness. He realized that he didn't even know which direction was up or down. There was just the void.

Then, out of the void, he noticed something taking shape. It looked like a giant rope, much thicker than Jak himself. Or, perhaps it was a small thread of string, and Jak himself was tiny. It was difficult to get any kind of bearings in this void. The rope started moving—or perhaps Jak was the one traveling, flying over the rope.

Soon he reached the end, and saw that it was still being made. Thin strands of blackness, subtle shades different to the rest of the void, were forming at the end of the rope, twisting and weaving themselves as they became the rope itself, extending on into the emptiness.

As Jak was staring at the rope, he had the oddest sensation that he was looking at himself. The black strands wove together in a way that felt... like Jak. Like his aura. Jak was still considering this when he saw another strand join the others, weaving and twisting with the rest. This strand, however, wasn't black but glowed a soft orange. The same orange as the boar's tusk had glowed. Just as the rope felt like Jak, this strand felt like the boar. As it wove itself in, Jack could see a thin strip of orange spiraling through the rope. The rope itself now felt slightly heavier, as if there was a weight to it that had increased with the additional strand.

***

Jak woke up and felt stronger. No, that wasn't it. He felt... capable. Like he could face anything. At least, he could face more than before. It was an odd sensation. He had always known himself simply as Jak, but in those moments, rubbing his eyes from the night, he felt like he could be more. It was exactly the opposite feeling, Jak realized, of when he had spent his Potential, after touching the silver rod and learning to hide himself better. I earned Potential in my sleep? It seemed odd, but then Jak realized it must have been the boar. Jak had killed a magical beast last night, and now his Potential had grown. The dream. There was something significant about it. His mind started spinning. Should I just hunt, every day? What about Alya, does she need to kill monsters? Jak couldn't see his little sister fighting beasts every day. And Tim? Even less so.

Puzzled, Jak lay in his bed of leaves, enjoying the rustling of the trees. He looked up, the branches overhead waving at him. They were silhouettes against the growing light of dawn. Jak breathed in deeply. The increased Potential felt fantastic. Perhaps he had indeed grown stronger. More energetic at least.

Jak got up, packed his things, and went for a walk with Ash in the woods. He looked at the trees and bushes, familiarizing himself with the local flora. He didn't see any animals, perhaps they were all asleep.

When he returned to the camp, the others were all up and packing. They left shortly after, everyone happy to leave the place where they'd almost died to "the dragon" as they'd nicknamed the boar. It wasn't as scary, once they'd eaten it. A few of the students were even joking around, the laughter adding a brightness to the forest.

The rest of the trip went fairly smoothly. No more near-death experiences, just a walk in the forest. Eventually, late afternoon, they reached a point where the trees thinned out and then stopped, opening up to a wide meadow. The dirt path continued, over the grassy field, winding up to Elwind Academy. It looked like a village built into hills. Sprawling cottages were built into hillsides, and the rooftops were covered in grass, so from above it probably looked like nothing but rolling grassland. The walls were stone, as were the pathways and steps. Warm firelight lit up many windows, giving the whole place a cosy and well-used feel. Behind the hill-cottages was a castle, with a tower rising up into the sky.

"Welcome! Welcome. Welcome to Elwind Crafting Academy, your new home." The voice came from a very motherly-looking woman who was walking up to the group, even as they stared at all the buildings. "Oh you do look precious. I am Elder Maela, head of administration and quartermaster of the academy. Please follow me."

The lady turned around and led them to an open field. Standing there were five older students, their gazes studying the new students as they came into view.

"At Elwind you are welcome to study anything, but you will be grouped and housed according to your primary focus. I have the house captains here, to give a little demonstration of what they have been working on." The lady smiled. "I always love to see inspiration blossom." She gestured to the first captain. "This is Gavin, house captain of the Elite Guard. Their study is twofold—to defend Elwind from monsters and men, and to hunt monsters for their valuable parts. Gavin, dear, could you dazzle us with something of your art?"

With a curt nod, Gavin drew a long sword from his side, and began to step through various poses. Jak could see the poses were a bit like the cards he saw at Makerstown, and would probably be very useful to learn, even if it looked now a bit silly, as the man danced around in a circle, leaping from stance to stance. The silliness wore off, however, when Gavin started speeding up. His positioning was perfect, never deviating from the proper form, yet he kept going faster and faster. At some point, his sword started to have the tiniest white glow to it. Enough that as Gavin whipped it round through the stances, an afterimage followed the blade, making it seem like a ghostly creature that danced around the swordsman.

Gavin kept going, faster and faster, until with a shout he came to a stop, whipping his sword towards the crowd of students. The white glow that had been building up in the sword leapt out and flew toward the crowd. There were some shrieks, but the wave of white light dissipated as it traveled, and by the time it hit the students it had faded from view. A strong wind hit the students, causing several to take a step back, and one girl to fall over. Jak noticed that Elder Maela hadn't even flinched, the wind seemed to have parted around her without even ruffling her clothes.

"Ahem. Thank you Gavin, for your... enthusiastic demonstration." Elder Maela said, a frown and smile battling for dominance over her face. "Captain Kirela, could we please see a demonstration of the arcane arts? Something a little less unsettling, if you please."

Kirela had a thin face and a mischievous glint in her eyes. She was wearing a deep purple cloak reaching to the floor, so only her face was exposed. She lifted slender hands, which Jak noticed were glowing purple.

"Watch closely." Kirela said, waving her fingers at the crowd. And then simply vanished into thin air.

"Boo." She said it softly, standing at the back of the students. The ones closest to her gave a few screams as they turned around. Elder Maela's smile turned thin as she maintained composure. "Thank you captain Kirela." She turned to the third captain.

"Captain Jason. Something calm yet inspiring. Please."

Captain Jason was tall and muscular, standing at ease and holding a strange device. It looked a bit like a bow, but made of metal, and full of strange spinning discs. He lifted it up to show the crowd.

"Crafting house. I made this bow. I think it's neat." He nocked an arrow in the bow and pulled the string. All the discs spun in a mesmerizing pattern. Jason aimed high over the forest and released. With a snapping sound, the arrow vanished over the trees, Jak couldn't even see where it fell. Elder Maela giggled and clapped.

"Wonderful dear, a true mastercraft. Thank you for not shooting the students. Captain Tabitha?"

Tabitha showed them a large carpet with the runic patterns Jak had seen at the Travelers Gate in Makerstown. It seemed very complicated, and Tabitha promised them that this carpet would fly someday, though she didn't seem thoroughly convinced herself.

After that was the final captain, Roley, of the Alchemy house. He was wearing a black cape and seemed to like the attention. He held up a bottle of swirling silver liquid. "Behold!" He shouted, and threw the glass bottle at the ground, shielding his eyes as he did so. Seeing him do this, Jak shut his own eyes, just before a bright light flashed in front of everyone, blinding them for a minute or two.

Elder Maela, once most people's sight returned, gave a sigh. "Well, now you have seen a little something of each house. I hope you have already had some thoughts about your primary field of study. Please go now to the house captain of your choice."

Alya went immediately to captain Kirela, along with Violet and a few others. Jak thought the crafting house looked fun, but walked up to captain Gavin of the Elite Guard. Gavin nodded to him as he approached. Tim hesitated a little more than the others, not completely sure where to go, but eventually walked up to Roley the alchemist, shook his hand and started chatting about his blinding potion.

Soon all the students had chosen a field of study, and the house captains led their groups to the cottage they would be staying in. Jak followed Gavin with a few others.

"Our cottage is the closest to the forest," Gavin said as they walked, "we are the first line of defense. Well, the only line really, unless the mages decide to ever leave their tower. We have a reputation throughout the seven kingdoms. We will maintain that reputation. Any weakness will be squashed. Any cowardice will be cut out. Our training is not exactly pleasant, but it produces results. Am I clear? Good. If an Elite Guard is ever defeated in combat, it is a shame to the academy. You will work hard. You will test your skills against the forest. We will not hold your hand. Am I clear?" There were various echoes of "yes sir" from the group.

"Good. He we are. Welcome to the Vipers Nest." They had come to a building on the edge of the academy. It was quite big, and rose four storeys high. The rooftop was covered in grass like all the other buildings, but this one was much flatter than the others. Two people dressed in dark green were sitting on the roof, looking out over the field.

"Vipers Nest has four floors and a basement. As you go up in strength, you move up in which floor you have access to. Since you are all stage 1, you will sleep in the basement. Training begins at dawn. You are dismissed." With that, Gavin walked over to a ladder set against the wall, and started climbing up to the roof where he joined the other two sentries keeping watch. Jak felt like they could have been given a little more instruction, but clearly none was coming, so he and the others headed into the building, and went down the stairs into the basement. It was a single large room with beds lining one wall. Jak had never joined an army, but he guessed this is the way it would be there too. At the foot of each bed was a wooden chest for storage. Some of the newcomers starting complaining about the beds, but they seemed fine to Jak. Although, if he had to say it, he would probably prefer the forest floor. He found an empty bed, dumped his stuff in the chest, and sat on the bed feeling a bit lost.