Trillia could understand some level of distrust from them, she was rapidly learning to not trust anything when it came to deities. They always seemed to have their own angle at play.

"Yes. That's correct, young Lady Fairtrade. I do have my own angle. As does the Professor and everyone else you meet. Are you saying you're innocent of such things yourself? Did you not offer your services to young Arlyss with the hope that you could use his power and influence to change fate and save your family?"

Trillia winced and took an involuntary step back as he so easily invaded her mind and thoughts. The Professor stepped forward.

"You aren't supposed to read the minds of mortals, Lord Zymeth. There are rul-"

A cold look from the deity before them silenced the Professor. "Keenly aware of the rules of this place, Professor. I helped you establish it. I helped write the rules with my brothers to safeguard this location from would-be enemies. Isn't there also a rule that states that mortals must never share a classroom with Immortals or Deities?"

As the Professor opened her mouth to speak, he continued. "Also, a rule that states no student from the first or second axles shall ever lay eyes on books of science from the third axle? Yet this one knows the words for atom and molecule now."

The imposing figure took a step toward Trillia. As she started to look up at his face, Titan stepped between them. "Enough! I won't let you torment and scare them with your games and tests, Father."

The deity's demeanor changed completely, once more wearing a silly grin. "Forgive me, lad. I was just seeing how much resolve the group had. I will say - it's fascinating to see that out of everyone here, the young lady we are set to help is the only one weaving offensive magic."

Trillia turned a surprised glance to Blossom. Blossom also seemed shocked as she looked up at Zymeth. "You knew?" The young mortal whispered.

Zymeth bowed deeply to her. "Of course. A spell that uses mana-infused spores to inflict disease deep in the lungs and prevent healing and manifestation of mana in that region. Am I correct?"

Blossom was even more stunned at that. Titan still stood between his father and the others. "My father is widely considered the most knowledgeable mage in the second axle. Some even say he is superior to the [2nd Axle] himself."

Zymeth stepped forward and gently smacked Titan on the top of the head. "You are to be a general. One day, you may even take over the Infernal bands from me. You must not give in to petty gossip, especially when it seeks to pit the Darktone clan against one another. There is enough of that already. No axle, no matter how young, would ever have anything to fear from a deity."

Trillia found some modicum of courage as she spoke up. "So, how did Lord Darktone get his position?"

Zymeth leaned slightly to look around Titan and offer her a grin. "What a good question. However! That's a rather long history lesson. For now, what areas is the student in question lacking, Professor?"

"Her ability to shunt the attacks of the eldritch is still suffering, and she has no staying power. Her understanding of combat is....reasonable, given her young age. But I fear for how effective she will be in that regard as well."

Zymeth slowly pulled his eyes off of Trillia and turned them to Blossom. "I'll take over teaching the class magic and casting if that's acceptable?" The Professor offered a meek nod. "Wonderful. Rest for today... tomorrow meet me in the arena when your internal clocks hit three in the morning. Eat before showing up. I will be teaching you for the full day."

In a rather dramatic puff of green smoke, the man vanished as quickly as he had shown up. The Professor and the other two deities let out sighs of relief and visibly unclenched their bodies. Blossom stared at the spot he was just standing. "Am I really to learn from him? He scares me."

Titan grumbled something very unkind under his breath. "He scares everyone. Even Uncle Mathias is wary when dealing with him. By the Infernal, I think the only two things in the entire second axle that don't fear him are Uncle Kain and Auntie Alliyah. The latter mostly because she knows there would be no fury in the history of the universe if she met her end at the hands of a deity, as the fury that Uncle Kain would unleash, rules be damned."

Blossom forced a little smile, trying to distract herself from the fact that her world's time was running out. "That sounds sort of romantic...in a rather brutal way."

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The Professor moved behind her desk and sat down, hands still shaking. "I hate dealing with them. So damn much."

Trillia looked over at the woman. "May I ask why?"

"No. Do as you were told. Go and get some rest. His training will be effective, but it will not be easy or kind. You will utterly hate existing by the end of tomorrow. I learned magic from him as a young deity. Good luck."

"Oh, and Blossom? If you need to talk, reach out. I will try to help where I can."

The group decided to retire to Titan's room to chat about tomorrow. The man didn't decorate at all. There was a sizable stack of books on the desk, and nothing else had been touched in the room. Even the bed looked as if it hadn't been touched since their arrival. "Do you not sleep?"

Trillia made the comment as she looked around. Tempest was quick with an answer. "Neither of us do. We don't need rest or sustenance. Perks of being a giant globe of energy. If Uncle Zymeth is going to teach us magic, there are a few things we should warn you about. Do you want to take it, or shall I?"

Titan sat in the chair at the desk with a heavy sigh. Rubbing his temples. "I will."

Tempest walked over and flopped down in the bed. The two mortals sat on the floor against the wall, looking at Titan. "First thing to note is that there will be no rest. Eat something filling. Expect to get hungry by ten or eleven in the morning. By the twentieth hour, you'll be famished. By the thirtieth, you'll be dead on your feet. If this is anything like when he taught me, he will give us two to four hours out of every thirty to rest and eat. The rest of the time will be training."

The two mortals paled a bit. "Is....is it even possible to learn like that?"

Titan gave them a grim chuckle. "It's easier. The system, even in a place like this, where it's hidden from you. Works based on your stress levels. This is why soldiers go through incredible feats of growth during war. Why people who leave as bright-eyed young souls return as completely different people. It's not dissimilar to how the orcs of your home realm get their ability at a young age, Trillia."

The god paused a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "I went under his training for the first time at the age of thirty. That's rather young for immortal-born creatures, but I am his son, and he sets a higher standard. I trained for thirty hours, rested for two, and repeated that for a year. By the time that year was over, I no longer needed sleep or sustenance. That was before I had even ascended. My mana regeneration rates had gone up ten times, and I had similar levels of stamina regeneration as most War Trolls do."

Again, he paused. "Do either of you even have War Trolls on your home realms?"

Both girls shrugged. Titan nodded.

"War trolls are basically giantkin. They are notorious for being impossible to put down. When I was a child, my father actually took me to a mortal realm. Though I can't remember the name. Anyway, he took me there to learn about enchantments. There was a War Troll general who had gone rogue and tried to save his people. The punishment the other mortals on the realm bestowed upon him was using his life force as an eternal battery."

Trillia already didn't like where this was headed. "They basically strapped him to a giant machine and slowly and perpetually ground his lower half off. Using his heavily mana-infused blood as fuel. The poor thing didn't make a sound as his body kept regrowing into the grinder. The troops he led were imprisoned in stasis magic. So if he tried to escape, the enchantment would get broken, and his people would die."

Blossom seemed sick. "Are there really people that cruel? Why didn't you or your father stop them?"

"We are Infernals. I realize your cultures probably abhor slavery... ours does not. Killing an immortal is a difficult task. The best punishment for most crimes in our society is slavery until such a time as your debt is considered paid. Sometimes, that's only a few decades... other times, it's a few millennia. The reason I bring this story up is because similar enchantments are used in the Infernal realms for immortal prisoners. That is the mindset infernal beings have. In any case, after the training was done, I was a considerably more powerful mage. Even if I lean more heavily on martial combat now, it was still invaluable training. We'll do our best to help the two of you get through it."

The room went silent. After a few minutes, Titan picked up a book to start reading. Tempest seemed able to amuse herself by making wind magic flow back and forth between her hands, still trying to master squeezing out as little mana as possible.

Trillia finally broke the silence. "Why is the Professor so afraid of your father?"

Titan paused his reading. After a moment of thought, he put the book down. "Because at one point, my father and Tempest's father tried to kill her. She stole something from them."

Blossom and Trillia's confusion was evident.

As Titan tried to think of a good way to proceed, Tempest took over. "She stole a soul from each of them. Their respective followers had sacrificed people to them in some bloodthirsty ritual. The Professor snuck into their realms to steal their souls and set them free in her own realm. Where they rightfully belonged. The only reason she's alive is because the [2nd Axle] found it interesting as to how she snuck into their realms. Since she had used the Aetherian Realm to do it. It was one of the first recorded civil wars within the Darktone clan."

"Your families have fought before?" Blossom asked rather innocently.

Titan and Tempest both shared a snicker. "That's an understatement. Uncle Kain pushes for competition within the clan. Says it brings out the strongest and best. It also keeps him on his feet or something stupid like that. There are rules, I guess, that they gotta follow. But yeah, we fight all the time. There's basically an eternal war between the Celestial bands and the Infernal bands. It's good to teach people how to fight and defend ourselves from the threat of the Eldritch."

Titan nodded at his cousin's statement. "It's getting late, and the two of you should get something light to eat and rest. Remember, tomorrow eat something heavy and be prepared for a long and grueling day."

The two mortals stood, nodded, and left to do just that.