<(Jared)>

Today is the day. The final day of basic training and the day we are all given the test to determine whether or not we pass it. At 0700, the forty of us are rested, fed, and waiting in our rows behind the facility. Colonel Fowl greets us, then orders us to follow him.

We walk for almost an hour on a trail we have been forbidden from entering so far, and it leads us to another concrete building, this one without any glass in the windows but many signs of battle on it. Gouges in the walls, burns, pits, holes, and more.

The instructors all await us here, though four are missing, likely inside the building.

"Inside of here!" Colonel Fowl speaks up after we have stood in our lines once more for ten minutes, allowing us time to rest from the walk. "Are four instructors, each of whom wears an amulet! The test is the same at every facility! Your goal is to claim at least one of the amulets or defeat one of the instructors! If you pass this test, you will graduate! The only difference that happens between sessions and facilities are the instructors – but all instructors are S-Rank Superhumans! You will enter the order you were ranked at first! Cadet Fuller! You're up!"

I enter the facility and seek out one of the Colonels. I locate Sparks in the kitchen on the first floor, and immediately take control over the metal legs of the tables and benches. The moment I connect to them, however, she does something with her electricity. All I know is that electricity travels to me through the connection to the metal, and I black out.

Waking up, I realize that I'm in the field outside. Damn. Lost almost immediately. How could they expect us to win against S-Rank Superhumans?

Looking around, I realize that three others have already gone in and failed the test and a fifth person is currently attempting the test. A minute later, Irina carries him out, setting him down with us before returning inside. One minute later, Fowl calls for the next to enter.

Cadet by cadet, everyone goes in, then loses. The only cadet who does not look fazed in the slightest by this is Caleb. Of course he isn't – he can probably take them on with his Ability. Not only that, but he could probably even best them and take their amulets.

How did the cadets in the past pass, though? It's impossible to claim an amulet from the instructors, they're too powerful for us.

Unless… that's not the real test.

Caleb. Can you hear me?

Of course.

You know what the test really is, don't you?

I do. Fowl thinks our group will do what all the other groups have always done. Apparently, all groups have passed through the same method.

Wait for the instructors to come out, then fight?

Indeed. He thinks he's figured out how to block my mind-reading. They all have, as they're trained against it. They don't fully understand my power even if they know what it is.

So they're going to wait for this to end, then come out and wait for us to realize that the amulets are still on them and work as a team to claim them. That's what they're thinking we'll do, right?

Right. I could probably take all of the amulets myself, but I've never had to fight so much at once that it would be tricky, even with my Ability. Figuring out the exact adjustments to make would be a pain.

But this is actually a team test, we're not being tested individually.

Correct. You've already noticed the lack of real instructions. He never did say we are going to be tested individually.

What do you think of this plan?

I tell him my idea and he listens, giving me a few adjustments as we talk. Only eight more cadets are left by the time we finish, then he sets it into action.

"Okay, everyone!" I clap my hands, and the other cadets look at me. "Change of plans! The real test isn't grabbing the amulets – it's the teamwork we all display together and how we display it. They never said we had to try for the amulets alone, and the units always wait until the end, when the instructors are out and near the cadets, to go after them. The units never realize that the instructors are waiting for it.

"We're not going to do that," I continue. "We're going to-"

"Hold up!" Owen holds his hands up. "What about the instructors? Fowl can hear us, you know!"

"He can't," Caleb speaks up, indicating where Fowl was, and everyone stares at his glowing eyes instead of where he's indicating.

Kieran and I were talking after the simulated battle and he told me about the linked concentric circles. Seeing them in-person intimidates me, though. With them, Caleb appears to just radiate power.

"Caleb's created," I tell the others. "A reality bubble on a much smaller scale than he did at the battle. This one just encompasses the building and this field. The instructors are trapped inside of it and they believe that they're facing us as normal. Caleb's stretching time in there – they're moving far slower than we are and are completely unaware of it. Their amulets are stuck here, in the real reality. He made a restriction so that amulets cannot be within it.

"One by one," I continue. "Caleb's going to release an instructor back to this realm, once all the amulets are out of the building. They'll be momentarily disoriented, but these are Colonels of the GSDF – they'll recover fast. We need to act before they arrive. The two of us came up with the perfect team for each group. He's going to time everything so that the battle happens when a cadet goes in. The fake cadet will return through a fake instructor. Once we've taken down all four instructors, Caleb will release the reality marble, bringing the others back here.

"For the fights," I continue. "We've created what we believe to be the optimal teams for each instructor. To be completely ready for this, however, we have to move some stuff around in the building."

Caleb and I tell everyone who they will fight with and who they will be fighting, as well as where. All of the amulets are gathered up and given to Caleb, and I move back to the cafeteria, where everything that is not metal has been removed, and where the room itself has been filled with metal items from the building.

My team is smaller than the others, consisting of just Owen and myself. The other stronger Superhumans were needed for the other three groups, and Caleb feels that with another Unison Strike, Owen and I can win this one without me being blacked out by Sparks' electricity.

We are the last group to fight and so have to wait almost an hour for the other teams to finish. From what I can hear of the other cadets, it was tough.

You two ready?

"Ready!" Owen and I speak at the same time.

Incoming in five… four… three…

Owen and I grab hands, as much as it makes us uncomfortable, and unite our Abilities, taking charge of every piece of metal and electricity in this room.

We need to take her down immediately.

Sparks reacts the moment she appears, but it's too late. Owen and I have taken over the room itself and she's unconscious almost immediately.

"That," I say as we release the Unison Strike. "Was actually pretty anticlimatic."

"Maybe," Owen says as rope appears in the air in front of us, and I snatch it out of the air. "But it defeated her. No one's ever managed to actually take the amulets or take down an instructor, Caleb said. We've taken four amulets and taken down four instructors. This particular group of cadets is going down in history, even more so than for the mock battle."

Owen and I tie Sparks to the chair Caleb sends us, then some of the other cadets help us carry her to the field, setting her at the end of the row with the other captured instructors.

Then, we all straighten up our uniforms and Caleb mends them with his magic, then we all form up with one exception – Caleb and myself. We stand at the front of the cadets. Instead of leaving two holes, the cadets formed eight rows of six behind us, standing in our true ranking order.

Caleb allows us to view the reality marble he's created, and Fowl calls 'next' for the last person to come in. The fake Caleb approaches Fowl, who is only a couple of feet in front of the captured instructors.

"In the building!" Fowl orders Caleb, when he stops walking in front of him.

"Sorry," Caleb smiles. "But remember – when dealing with a Creator, you can never trust the reality around you."

"What?" Fowl looks confused, and the fake Caleb – and the fake cadets – vanish as Caleb releases the reality marble. Fowl jumps as he and the other instructors face a sudden surrounding shift, from exhausted and battered cadets to a perfectly formed group, heads held up without a trace of exhaustion. "What the hell?"

"Look behind you," Caleb instructs the instructor, who is gazing at the four amulets hanging around the most powerful cadet's neck. "I never needed to set foot inside the building."

"He managed to fool even me," Kieran appears beside Fowl, looking at Caleb in shock. "I saw what he was showing in his fake Reality!"

Fowl looks at Caleb, then at me, then to the rest of the cadets. He gives a slight nod.

"The others are not going to believe me when I tell them," he smiles. "Congratulations, cadets. You have proven yourselves not just as individuals, but as a team. Congratulations, Privates."

Fowl looks at all of us, then slowly begins clapping.

The other instructors present clap as the captured ones begin to wake up. We gagged them, just in case, and from Sparks' muffles, I think it's a good idea. Pretty sure she's cursing Owen and me.

We have free time for the rest of the day and we all use it to relax. The instructors finally calmed down after an hour, but I'm not sure if they were ever released or not. Caleb apparently used his magic on their binds and made them entirely immune to Abilities… or removal.

When morning comes, we're put on a bus and taken to an airfield, where we board a state-of-the-art airship. With cozy seats and fine foods, we can all rest and relax in luxury… even if only for a few hours. Most of the other Privates actually sleep, though I locate Caleb on the deck. He's crazy, being on it so high up.

Then again, so am I for actually looking for him up here.

I approach from behind, and he doesn't react to my presence. At first, he stands as still as a statue, and as I look at him, I realize that he probably feels at home up here. I'm not sure why, but he looks like a creature of the sky.

"So you can create alternate realities," I say. "Anything else you can do that you haven't shared with us?"

"Quite a lot," he responds without taking his eyes off of the clouds. "You know that after we land, we'll be thrown into the rest of training. I mean, we'll have the two weeks of a small break to allows us time to recuperate from basic, the harshest and most grueling part of our training, but that's not what I'm thinking about."

"The threat to us," I lean against the railing, looking out across the deck. "There will be a small army waiting for us to arrive so that we can be arrested. They plan on using magic-binding weapons. Illegal except in some cases, and deemed necessary to capture you by the Council of Dreams. Can you defend against them?"

"Some," he nods. "But not all of them. Teacher never liked the topic of them and while he'd train me against them, the only way to truly do it was to use them on me and he didn't want to do that."

We fall silent, and after a few minutes, I ask him another question.

"Can I ask you something a little personal?"

"Why Kieran and I had access to our auras when we were little?" He asks, and I nod. "It was a school we went to, all of us were around the same age. They taught us how to use auras when we started there at five. We all lived there as well, all of us orphans. Kieran was from the first class of students there. We saw him and his brother, John, as older brothers. Some of us had Abilities, but most were just regular kids as far as I'm aware. They wanted us to be ready for the increasingly dangerous world. Before we were old enough to really defend ourselves, the city was invaded."

Caleb sighs, losing himself into thought. He's probably thinking about all of the friends he lost. His family, as he considers them.

Aura isn't usually taught to kids because their minds aren't stable enough for it yet. This school took a huge risk and there's no way they managed to keep all of the kids alive through the process and training. They must have come up with excuses for why some of the youth stopped showing up.

There was definitely something dark behind it, seeing as the Council would never allow a place like that to exist. They had to be careful, yet they also picked one of the largest cities in the world to make it their home. Why?

Dismissing that from my head, I'm reminded that it's gone now and that only two – now three – people who know of it are alive. I highly doubt anyone outside did, as it would have been too great of a risk to have anyone outside of the building aware.

It was only around for two years. If another one had been started after that one fell, the Council would have known by now.

Returning to regulated air instead of the oxygen-thin air of the deck, I try to get a few hours of sleep before we arrive at the main training facility, which stretches several square miles and includes a forest and a lake, along with over forty buildings, excluding the barracks.

As we step off of the airship, I'm greeted to the sight of a group of soldiers protecting a single man: Father. Definitely not the force we were threatened with.

I approach warily, ready for attack, but Caleb sends me a quick thought saying that something's different and that I don't need to be tense.

"Hello, Father," I greet my father.

"Jared," Father says. "A mysterious being approached the Council a week ago. He claimed to be the Sage. When your mother protested against that, claiming the Sage was dead, he severed her link to her Ability, freeing me."

Severed her link? Similar to what Caleb did back when he disconnected me from mine?

"He said that she will never be able to use it again," Father continues. "And she went on the run shortly after. The warrants have been rescinded, so you need not worry any more. We do believe she's going to hunt down Taylor, however, so I ask that if you or your friend know where he's at, please tell me now."

"I don't," Caleb says from beside me. "The golem is no longer part of my magic, I created him to be a true golem. He lives on his own and is an actual living creature. I can attempt to track him down, but it could take a long time. What did the Sage look like?"

"Not sure," Father answers. "He wore a dark blue cloak with gold trim, a golden clasp on the front shaped like the insignia on the back. His hood was over his head."

"What did the insignia look like?" Caleb asks.

"A star with thirteen points," Father answers. "That was it, and nothing else."

"Teacher," Caleb mutters. "So you do have a connection to the Sage."

"You know the symbol?" I look at Caleb.

"Yeah," he nods. "Whenever Teacher's going someplace cold when he leaves me, he creates a navy blue jacket with a golden star on it, the star with thirteen points. He and the Sage use the same insignia."

"What does it represent?" I ask. "He ever tell you?"

"No," Caleb answers. "But I do know what it represents – the thirteen aspects of existence. I knew the Sage was still alive."

That last part was muttered, and I don't think he realizes he did it.

"I should let you get to the tour," Father gives Caleb a curious glance before looking back to me. "We'll have time to make amends later. You two, have a good day."

Father and his guards leave and we rejoin the rest of the cadets arriving, They're all looking at me with wide eyes. Had no clue I was related to a member of the Council of Dreams, did you?

Knock off the cockiness.

Get out of my head, Caleb.

Do you think I want to be in your head?

Dammit. I forgot he doesn't really have a choice. Immediately, I start thinking of cooked spinach and he glares at me. I give him a wave, and he rolls his eyes, then faces the front again.

It's so easy to forget that he's always in our heads, up until he goes and says something to us. It then feels creepy and intruding and invasive.

The different training branches are split up as we arrive, then the groups are split up again. These smaller groups are then given tours by other cadets. By the end of the day, we're all tired and ready to sleep, making our way to the barracks and claiming our bunks.

Caleb claims the one I was going for and I think he did it on purpose. I shoot him an image of cooked spinach on top of what looks like a pile of dog poop.

This goes two ways, Caleb.

Indeed.

The next thing I know, I'm assaulted by some of the nastiest things I've ever seen. Rotting food, grimy socks, dirty alleyways, and so much more disgusting things that I do not wish to ever speak of again.

"I yield!" I yell. "I yield!"

Only four cadets from our branch are in this room, which houses forty cadets. The others are staring at me, confused as hell, and the other two do their best not to laugh.

"Teach you to do that again," Caleb giggles.

"For those who aren't aware," I announce to the room. "Caleb is always in your head if you're near him. Always. He can't help it. Don't… try abusing that. The connection's two-way and he's seen things I never want to speak of. Apparently."

That, and sights I don't ever want to see. He went mischievous with that but if he ever turned dark, it would be quite the nightmare. I can't imagine what he went through in Alkran, but I do know that what he saw would probably make the strongest of men freeze in absolute terror.

"There's someone on this bunk," someone says, and I look at the bunk under Caleb. There's no one there. "They just hit me!"

"Caleb," I look at him. "Can you see them?"

"Of course I can," Caleb grunts. "And besides, it's just Kieran."

"Kieran's not a recruit," I remind him. "He's not in training. Why is he on the bunk under yours?"

"He decided to be a part of my team."

"We don't get to pick who we'll be on teams with," I remind him. "We'll be assigned to different training exercises and missions with varying people, and they'll figure out who we work well with, what Abilities compliment us the best, and then when we finish, assign us a squad and a designation, if we choose to continue to work for the GSDF."

"You want to separate Kieran from me?" Caleb looks over at me.

"On second thought," I say. "An S-A Superhuman Colonel can probably pick whatever team he wants to be on."

"S-A Superhuman Colonel?" Someone asks. "Kieran's a Colonel?"

"He's the night guard for the Alzir Training Branch," I tell him.

"Former," Caleb says, which I guess makes sense seeing as he's here instead of there.

"Former night guard," I correct myself. "If Kieran's on your team, then I'm on your team, too. I think we make a good team."

"You don't think very much."

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"If the hat fits."

"What's your Ability?" A kid with dark red hair and crimson eyes asks me.

Not orange hair, like most redheads, but actual red hair. It's almost the color of blood. He's dressed in black and red, yet I don't sense darkness in his eyes – just pure energy and excitement.

"Elemental," I answer, climbing onto the bunk beside Caleb's. "Metal, some stone. A-Rank."

"Damn!" He grins at me. "I'm Flame, and I'm an Elemental, too! I do Fire, though. So what's Mr. Invisible's Ability? Light? That doesn't explain two letters."

"Perception," I answer.

"That does, though," he grins at me. "That's so cool."

"And light and shadows," I add, and he frowns. "Don't try sorting it out, it's a huge mess none of us are sure of how to explain."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"What's your Ability?" Flame asks Caleb as I realize something.

Kieran's wrapped himself in his perception filter yet isn't having the usual effect on us. I wasn't aware he was here until Caleb mentioned it. So he can do it without making people uneasy.

I made him swear not to do that if he's going to stick with me.

"Ah," I say to Caleb.

"Huh?" Flame looks at me. "Oh, right! You were talking to him, weren't you? So you're a Psychic, Caleb? That's so cool! What am I thinking about right now? Whoa! That's so cool! Where's that waterfall at? Never heard of it! So I'm your guys' age, right? I'm also a twin, and my brother's an Elemental, too. We're all Elementals, just like our father, who could do minor shifts with stone! But see, my brothers and I – we don't follow the thing where siblings who are of the same type of Superhuman as their father are the same Class as each other commonality! I'm fire, Brooks is water, Cliff is stone, and Gale is air! We're the Elemental Quartet! They all already went through BT, but I kind of got kicked out the first time around so I had to go through it again! I'm B-Rank! I got caught up in that Unison Strike during the simulated city battle! It was so cool! Brooks and I did a Unison Strike once and it was awesome! He was all 'I'm so exhausted' after it, but I was just like 'look at what we did, Brooks!' He thought I was too excited over a bunch of steam but it was a whole lot more than that."

Does this kid ever shut up?

Just as I think that, a jet of water slams into Flame and he's thrown into the wall. I look over to see a boy with blue hair and eyes not far from us, looking rather amused. He's dressed in blue and silver. Beside him are a younger boy with white hair and yellow eyes, dressed in white and yellow, and a slightly-older boy with with brown hair and eyes, dressed in all-brown.

Elementals don't usually actually match their elements, except in the case of those with energy manipulation. They must be from one of the families where people tend to have odd hair and eye colors, and it manifested for them by matching their elements.

"That was cool!" Flame scrambles back to his feet. Gale is probably around ten or eleven, and Cliff is probably around fourteen. "Hey, Brooks! Look! I passed this time!"

"B-Rank, my ass," Brooks says. "We're B-Rank. You're A-Rank."

"Only when I want to be!" Flame exclaims. "Look! My new bunkmate! His name's Jared and he's an A-Rank Elemental who can manipulate metals! Oh! What kind of metals can you manipulate? We can be a killer team!"

"No restrictions," I answer. "I can manipulate any metal, and I already have someone I can Unison Strike with. The fact that you can do it is amazing, especially with someone with a conflicting element."

Unison Strike is a powerful merging of Abilities between two Superhumans and finding someone one can do it with is incredibly rare. It also takes a lot of trust in that person and a deep bond that will be difficult to break. Owen and I somehow forged a bond of friendship like that, but for this hyperactive kid? It also takes a steady, calm mind and supporting Abilities. How could they merge fire and water together?

"It's quite easy, actually," Caleb tells me, then looks at Flame. "I'm not a psychic, I'm a special type of Territory."

"Never heard of it!" Flame informs him.

"I have," Cliff looks at his brother. "Territories are people who can claim the area around them as their own, taking control over its environments. Powerful ones can read the thoughts of those within, and even see everything within that territory, not just sense it. It allows them to imitate being a Psychic or a Time who can see a few moments into the future. I've never heard of special types of them before, though."

"It's complicated," Caleb lies down on his bed and stares at the ceiling. "I'm going to try to get some sleep."

Flame opens his mouth.

"Caleb's the one who created the golems," I tell him.

Flame's eyes widen, and he quickly covers his mouth and hurries out of the room, his brothers staring at me in confusion.

"Golems?" Cliff asks.

"I'll explain out of the room," I slide off the bed, then look around to the cadets still picking beds. "That's my bunk."

"I'll protect it," Caleb mumbles. "Now shoo."

----------------------------------------

<(Caleb)>

Even though we're in a rest period, we can take on official jobs, now that we're agents of the GSDF. There's a building just for that, with a counter where we can collect rewards (and our monthly pay), as well as walls filled with jobs we can take on. We can only take on jobs of our Ability Rank or lower, though.

I really doubt there are any jobs my Rank on the board.

Finding one I like, I walk up to the counter and inform the clerk which one I would like to take.

"Are you sure about that?" She asks.

"I am," I answer.

"That's an A-Rank job," she tells me. "I haven't seen you before, and you look like you're new. You just came from the groups yesterday. Fresh out of training? I'll need to verify you before I can authorize a mission this hard. Rare is one who can take on even a D-Rank when they come out."

"Verify me?"

"I need to not just see your ID for the job," she says. "But run it in our system."

"My ID?"

"The card with your picture and Ability Ranking on it?" She says. "You should have received it yesterday."

"Oh, that," I say. "I left it in the room."

"You'll need it to take on a job," she says.

"Okay," I summon it with my magic, and she stares at me. "What? It's just simple magic."

"How did you do that?"

"Magic," I hand her the ID. "It's easier than walking the twenty minutes back to the barracks we got stuck in."

She checks my ID, then gives me a rude look.

"Do you really think a fake ID will get you anywhere?" She asks. "There isn't even such a Rank."

Oh, that's why she thinks I'm faking it.

"There is," I tell her. "Just scan the ID. There's exactly one Ability Class that can be assigned four letters. I have it. As far as I'm aware, there are only three who possess this Ability. If you really think a D-Rank is a stretch – which it usually is – then you'll be in for a surprise when you realize that this particular batch of recruits comes in for jobs. There's an S-A who's not actually a trainee but is here anyway, an A-Rank, and a B-Rank, and those are just the ones from my branch. A couple of C-Ranks as well. Judging by all of the ones I could sense, I'd say there are a total of three A-Ranks, eight B-Ranks, and twenty-one C-Ranks among the newest batch of recruits. Almost an entire Unit, when you think about it. Ever had a count that high before?"

She scans my ID, then frowns, then scans it again, then has one of the other clerks scan it, then they call in a manager. Is it really so hard to believe that my ID is real? I mean, sure, I max out Ability Rankings, but is it really so hard to believe that a child could be this powerful?

I can alter reality to my whim. At S-S-S-E, I would be far more powerful than the most powerful of regular Territories. And I'm higher than that.

"You should see my Aura Order and my Magic Rating," I tell the manager when he looks stunned at the result the scan says. "If you think my Ability Ranking is weird."

"Actually," he says. "This has your information as classified. Scanning it won't yield us any results. How did you forge this?"

"I didn't forge it," I tell him. "I was given it. What information does it pull up when you scan it? If you tell me, I might be able to tell you, oh, okay."

"I didn't say anything yet," he says.

"You thought it, though," I say. "Part of my Ability allows me to read the minds of those around me. It's generally a pain in the butt. It gives you all basic information, including our resident history, our Ability Type, our GSDF Ranking, our Ability Ranking, accomplishments, and a few other things. It's classified because of information you'd receive. To start with, you'd probably look at my Ability and go 'never heard of it', then my resident history and go 'that's not possible'. Following that, you'd see my accomplishments and go 'holy cow, this kid is insane'. I do need to ask Grant why he had me classified, I really want to see the face people will make when they see them. Did it authorize me for the job?"

"It did," he tells me. "But we'll need to get a superior. Colonel!"

They all salute and I turn around to find Grant standing behind me in his uniform.

"I've never seen you in uniform before," I comment.

"You're on vacation for two weeks," Grant looks at me. "Why are you applying for a job?"

"I'm bored."

"When is Teacher coming by to answer your question and teach you a spell?"

"He came by this morning," I answer. "Apparently, he doesn't actually know how to fly, he just manipulates gravity or air depending on his mood and his environment. It doesn't matter – I figured flight out during the simulated battle with the other groups."

"I had you discreetly tested," Grant says. "For your magic ranking. The moment the orb touched you, it shattered. The mobile testing can go up to a point less than ten thousand. It takes approximately double that, minimum, to shatter it."

"Oh," I say. "That's why there was that dust there. You guys missed some when cleaning it up."

"I had Kieran do it."

"I'll let him know," I tell him. "I cleaned the rest of it up. I was wondering why there was some fuuxar dust, now I know."

"Do you know how much kielmar energy you have?" He asks.

"Somewhere upwards of one million," I answer. "Teacher never actually gave me an amount, but he once let it slip that it had seven digits. He's got a fuuxar testing crystal somewhere that can register my exact number but says he can judge it pretty well even with my high amount. I can register it up to around two hundred and fifty thousand or so – enough to judge most ancient artifacts."

"So why did you choose to do this to fill your boredom?"

"What is typical?"

"Partying," he answers. "Relaxing. Tanning. Working out. Preparing for your return to training. Being an absolute slob now that you have two weeks before you actually need to keep your area clean."

"None of that interests me," I tell him. "Besides, I'll be ready for my return to training."

"So why are you wanting to do a job?"

"Because I'm bored."

"What job are you wanting to do?"

"Guard a fuuxar store today," I answer. "I have to be there by eight, which is in twenty minutes, and they're running around like idiots because they can't figured out that 'classified' means classified. Can you please clear this up?"

"Guard a fuuxar store?"

"A store that sells fuuxar dust and crystals," I explain. "It needs a guard just for today. It'll put ten grand into my account, which is my quarterly salary with my current rank. That's not enough to pay bills for a year. I mean, as a soldier here, I'll not have to, but after the training's up, whatever I decide, I could use the interest that accrues. So can you clear it up? This place pays good if they offer pay ten grand for a day of work."

"At ease!" Grant orders, and everyone else in the room relaxes. He never took his eyes off of me. He's good. "You do realize you were supposed to snap to attention, don't you? I know they drilled you on it."

"I've never saluted you before," I say. "Never stood at attention to you before. I'm not planning on starting now. Besides, I can throw you into a reality marble you'd never figure your way out of. Are you going to clear this up? They think I faked the ID."

"His card's real," Grant tells the manager. "I had it classified for classified reasons. You'll find a non-trainee here who will have a card that scans classified as well, S-A Ability Ranking, name's Kieran."

"He's standing behind you," I tell Grant.

"Why are you taking a job?" Kieran asks as Grant turns around and looks at him. "We're on vacation."

"I'm bored."

"Oh, okay," Kieran says. "What job are you taking?"

"Guarding a fuuxar store," I answer. "It needs two guards. Want to join me?" I look at the manager. "Kieran wants to join me. Here's his ID."

"Hey!" Kieran protests, then checks his pocket.. "Wait… how did you do that?"

"Magic."

"I should stop being surprised by the magic you can do," Kieran comments. "Especially after that other spatial spell."

It takes a few minutes, but they eventually give us the OK to do the job, then Kieran and I leave the building to make our way to the fuuxar shop, receiving clearance as soon as we reach the facility's gates to leave the training grounds.

Kieran is like a kid in a candy shop with his wonder and awe when we arrive at our destination. He's never set foot in a shop devoted solely to fuuxar before.

Every last shard or speck of dust of fuuxar is locked in magically-bound glass cases produced in a special facility. Just one pane for a single case costs eight grand to produce. Not to buy, to produce. It's almost impossible to break. And that's for the end panes, not the long panes. Two feet across and three feet high costs quite a lot. Four feet across and three high costs more than double that.

Fuuxar dust rests in long tubes that come directly from the storage above and requires a special key to pour. Each tube has a different key. Same for the cases. The dust and crystals come in a wide variety of colors, each one with its own attributes. Clear is the most popular as it works best for channeling or storing magic. It's also the strongest, in terms of magical durability.

"Fuuxar is a bit out of your prince range, son," the man at the door answers as Kieran peeks through the windows of the shop.

"Whoa," Kieran looks at me. "Look at all the crystals and shards!"

"We're here in response to the security detail," I show him my ID "You should have already been informed of our acceptance of the request."

"You're a kid."

"Ever heard of the," I say. "Ultra-powerful night guard of the GSDF's Alzir Training Branch for their youth agents?"

"Rumored to be a Special-Type Superhuman."

"He manipulates perception," I inform him. "He's also fogging up your window with his breath while he's imperceptible to you."

The man looks at the window, where Kieran's breath can be seen as he's lost in awe.

"Caleb!" Kieran exclaims, looking at me again. "Have you ever seen this much fuuxar before?"

"I have," I look at him. "You missed it because you were sick. Remember when we went on that field trip when I was five? You got sick that morning and couldn't go? We all got souvenirs from there, and I made sure to get you one, since you couldn't go."

"Ah," Kieran says, then frowns at the owner. "Why is he looking at you like you're weird?"

"You're wrapped in your aura," I tell him, and the air around him ripples. "Now he can see you. Sir, Kieran and I are both more than qualified to guard the shop."

"I'm surprised neither of you are asking why there are no bars," the man says. "That's a pretty common question, almost everyone asks it the first time. Can you tell me why this shop has no bars, when almost all fuuxar shops have bars on the other side of the windows, as well as a grate on the inside?"

"Easy," Kieran looks at him like he's an idiot. "It does. Why would you ask us why it doesn't?"

The man quickly looks at the front of the shop, then back to Kieran.

"Kieran's Ability allows him to manipulate perception," I say. "The powerful magic forged to create the perception filter on your bars and gate don't affect him, not with him being at S-A Rank. By the way – it must have been expensive to afford the spell, considering how many magicians and how much magic would have been required."

"Ah," the man pulls out a key. "He's then proven himself capable, but what about you? And we need four guards to open."

"I can save you twenty grand," I put both hands out, palms down at waist-height. I scoop my palms up and raise my hands to shoulder-height. "We now have four guards."

He stares at the two golems standing behind me with wide eyes.

"They have all of my combat ability," I say. "As well as access to my ability to see anything in the area surrounding me, which is why I'm capable of seeing your bars and ignoring their presence entirely. The magic that created them was highly ineffective and would have worn out in about two months."

"Would have?"

"I'm making minor adjustments to the bars," I inform him. "As well as strengthening the metal and making it resilient to Abilities. There we go."

"Why did you summon two golems?" Kieran asks. "You could have handled the entire job by yourself."

"Except that he needs four guards to open up," I look at my curious friend. "So even though I can cover the entire thing, to follow his standard of opening and to fill the accidental vacancies he's got for today, we need four bodies. We now have four."

"Golems are a lost magic," the owner says.

"Forgotten, not lost," I tell him. "It's easy to do. Fuuxar crystals with a stone attribute make it a lot easier, but I'm way past needing that for them. I'll be able to sustain their existence for the shift and remain alert."

"You've used fuuxar?" Kieran asks me in surprise.

"Yeah," I tell him. "Teacher owns a mine and would sometimes bring me crystals, shards, and dust from it to use in magic training. He'd purify it, first. The crystals he supplied me with are probably way purer than anything you'd see in a store. Here."

I pull a crystal from my spatial inventory, and Kieran jumps, staring at the ring that's on my right ring finger.

"What?" I ask.

"Your ring can produce items?"

"It's a spatial inventory," I tell him. "It's a four-thousand year-old artifact Teacher gave me when I turned ten. I've got all sorts of things inside of it."

"May I?" The owner asks, looking at the sky blue crystal. I hand it to him, and he turns it over in his hands for a moment. "Do you mind if I examine this inside?"

"Do we have the job or not?"

"Yes, yes," he seems distracted. "The positions are two outside, two inside."

"You two, stay outside."

"Yes, sir," the golems give me a slight bow, and the owner jumps.

"I'm not going to make golems that can't speak," I tell the owner, then he unlocks the door and lets us inside. "Even if I can't their voices right."

Inside, he walks around to the back of the counter and walks over to his assessment equipment, which sits on the counter by the register, so the customer can see him examining the crystal or shard they're wanting to sell him.

He spends roughly ten minutes viewing the crystal before finally looking at me, a massive grin on his face.

"I've never seen a fuuxar crystal so pure!" He exclaims, handing me back my crystal. "If I'm not mistaken, your Teacher's achieved one-hundred percent purity! How did he manage that? Even the best of the purifiers can only bring it up to around seventy-percent, and that's if it's dust!"

"No clue," I shrug. "Teacher can do many mysterious things. Come on, Kieran, today's going to be a boring day."

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<(Kieran)>

Caleb's not the same kid I knew. Definitely not the same kid. He'll talk when he needs to but I'm discovering, now he's out of basic, that he talked a lot more than usual during basic, probably due to the stress. He felt it, too, he just never let it show.

I keep myself hidden for the most part during our job guarding the store while Caleb just stands near the register. The few times I try to engage him in conversation, he responds with short answers. Not in an agitated way or anything, it just seems like that's how he is.

What I really want to do is get him to talk about magic, Teacher, his life before basic and after Alkran, and so much more. I'm sure if I got him talking, he'd be like the kid I once knew, but I'm not sure how to get that started and don't want to try while working.

The day is really boring. Some people actually do try to rob the store while we're here, a team of A-Rank Superhumans, but they never made it past the golems. Caleb didn't even notice until I told him, which is funny considering he's the one who can see everything going on around us. Other than that incident, though, the shift really is quite boring.

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<(Flame)>

"So what's Caleb like?" I ask Jared after he wakes up.

"Jeez," Jared groans, turning over on his bed and glaring at me. "You couldn't have waited for me to finish waking up?"

"I did wait for you!" I tell him. "Though if you didn't wake soon, I was going to wake you and ask you since he disappeared off the grounds before eight this morning. He woke up at, like, six. So what's he like?"

"I have a killer hangover," Jared complains as he sits up. "Could you please shut up?"

"You drank quite a bit at the party," I tell him. "Of course you have a killer hangover. So what's Caleb like?"

"Why do you care?" Jared snaps. "Your voice isn't the thing I want to hear first in the morning."

"Because he's so cute," I tell him. "Like, super-super-super-super cute! And he's so silent and mysterious, and yet so powerful at the same time. His, thick, golden-blond hair is so soft-looking I just want to feel it and see if it really feels as soft as fox fur! Do you think he'd be upset if I asked him if I could touch it? So what's he like? You spent a hundred days with him in training. What do you know about him?"

"That he doesn't like chatterboxes," Jared snaps at me. "Will you just shut the hell up already?"

Staring at Jared, I realize that he really, really does not like me.

"Sorry," I apologize. "I just wanted to talk."

I take off out of the room, making my way through the woods on the property until I arrive and an old building that used to be a barracks, but got abandoned some years ago. It's dusty and stuff, but I don't really care. I just want to get away from Jared and be alone.

Caleb really is cute. When I talked to him this morning, though, he seemed disinterested in conversation. He told me he was looking for a job to do since he was bored.

My stomach starts to growl, but I ignore it. It's lunchtime, and I should probably eat, but I'm not really hungry, even if my body says I am. Caleb probably wouldn't like me if he found out I liked him, anyway. Liked him in that way. He's quiet and mysterious and clearly very powerful. The fire within him burns hotter than any I've ever seen before.

Footsteps sound in the hall, and listening to the patterns, it sounds like someone is just exploring the building. Shaking my head, I let my eyes and hair return to their natural browns. Unlike my siblings, I possess a rare trait of our heritage that allows me the ability to change my hair and eye colors. I'm the only one alive from our village who can.

"There you are," a head pokes into the lounge I'm in. "You have no fear, sitting on a couch that dusty."

This guy is definitely cute, too. Blond hair, brown eyes, and a friendly, yet mischievous smile. He's around my age, but will probably hate me if he found out why I'm hiding here. I can't help it when I'm focused on a cute guy, it just comes out.

"I'm Ben," he enters the room. "I'm a B-Rank Elemental, can manipulate air. I come here all the time to get away from the noise and to practice my Ability."

"Tobias," I use my real name when I greet him. "I came here to be alone."

"Want to share?"

"Not with a kid who has an obviously rich upbringing."

"Doesn't mean I'm a snob," he takes a seat on the chair across from me, the dust on it floating off and piling itself neatly in a corner. "I've been out of basic since the batch before this last one and most people don't know I'm rich. Or even suspect it, for that matter. Want to tell me what's wrong? I'm a guy people can talk to."

He feels trustworthy.

"There's a recruit in my room," I tell him. "Jared Fuller. He got all grumpy on me and yelled at me. I was just asking him a question about a cadet he went to BT with."

"Fuller?" He asks, then laughs. "I know him, we grew up together. He's not a morning person. BT must have been killer for him, and he's taking advantage of the lack of morning wake-up calls that he won't have once training starts again. Jared really likes to sleep in. He's probably just cranky because he was assaulted with questions when he woke up. You didn't wake him up, did you?"

"No."

"Smart move," he says. "He really wouldn't have taken well to that. I actually have a scar right here," he touches his right side. "From the one time I did that. Trust me – it's not pleasant. Jared won't apologize, either – he's a mouthy, smartass, spoiled jerk. He also doesn't accept anyone who isn't powerful as a real person and won't hesitate to hurt those breaking the law. He's killed before, when he's legally able to.

"But want to know a secret about him?" Ben asks, and I hesitate. Should I? Is this a trap? He seems to be genuine, so I nod. "Jared's a big softy if you manage to break through that wall. He's overly protective of his younger brother, Taylor, and would move mountains for him. Someone's coming. It senses like it's Jared, but he's not alone."

The other person with Jared is Brooks. I can identify the feeling of his fire anywhere.

The door opens and an irritated-looking Jared walks in with an irritated-looking Brooks.

"Benjamin," Jared looks at Ben. "Been a few months, glad to see you finished."

"Yup," Ben grins at him. "Just talking with Tobias here."

"What the hell are you doing?" Brooks asks me.

"You know him?" Jared looks at Brooks, then at me. "Sorry, we're looking for his brother."

"That's Flame," Brooks says. "He can change the color of his hair and eyes, he's actually using his natural right now. Tobias is his real name, too. You really upset him, Jared, to make him switch over like this. He almost never does it, and when he does, he's thinking about suicide. You can't get all depressed just because someone snapped at you, Flame! What the hell were you pestering Jared about right after he woke up, anyway?"

I sink into the couch as much as it'll let me, feeling my face heat up. Jared's cute, too, with soft-looking brown hair and eyes as green as forest fuuxar crystals. There's a very a beautiful fire within him. I don't want him to know that I crush on other boys. He'll probably hate me even more than he already does.

"He was asking me about Caleb," Jared tells Brooks. "Called him cute in the process."

"Huh," Brooks looks at Jared in surprise. "You strike me as the kind of guy who wouldn't like gays."

"There are a few boys I've got small crushes on," Jared shrugs. "Not that it matters much. Training will let us have time for romances, but it's not as if we'd be able to go anywhere with it. Better for us to wait until we're done with training."

"Sorry for snapping you at," Jared looks at me. "I get kind of cranky first thing when I wake up. Why don't we go hunt Caleb down? With the way his mind works, it's possible he's ended up halfway across town in search for lunch."

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<(Brooks)>

Jared, Flame, and I manage to discover that Caleb went off with Kieran on an A-Rank guard job, so we manage to get permission to leave the campus, but they only grant it to us for after dinner. When we arrive at the shop Caleb was guarding, we discover it's already closed for the day and that he left just barely before we arrived, in search of food.

People are talking about golems guarding the store, and when I wonder aloud about that, Jared informs me that Caleb probably created them to help with the job.

"Caleb's an Elemental who can create golems?" I attempt to wrap my head around that.

"A Special who's also a magician," Jared shakes his head. "He's very fond of creating golems, though I think it's more to have company than anything else."

We manage to locate Kieran, who's eating a stake while sitting at a table outside a restaurant.

"No clue," Kieran responds when Jared asks about Caleb. "I lost him shortly after we left the shop. He just vanished on me, after getting lost in thought. Pretty sure I should have tied a rope to him, or something. It seems that he now gets deep into thoughts."

Jared snorts and shakes his head, and we resume looking for Caleb. I find him first.

"What is that thing on Caleb's head?" I ask Jared.

"What thing?" He asks me. "Where's he at?"

I point to Caleb, who has some sort of creature on his head. It's got a shell, a small head and tail, and four stubby legs. Its shell has a sort of hexagonal pattern to it, and it's a green-brown in color. It looks really weird and he's drawing stares. He's also oblivious to them, just eating his cotton candy like he's not walking around with a strange creature on his head.

"That," Jared laughs. "Is a turtle. They're almost extinct. How in the world did he find one?"

A turtle? I've never heard of them before.

"Caleb," Jared sighs, even though he definitely can't hear us. "Why in the world do you have a turtle on your head?"

Caleb looks over at Jared, who then rolls his eyes. Caleb walks over to us and looks at Jared.

"So you just found him wandering the streets?" Jared asks.

"Yeah," Caleb answers. "I told you that. I'm keeping him, he's endangered. I named him Jeremy."

"Why?"

"Because I used to have a classmate named Jeremy," Caleb answers. "Who found a turtle. We were five and he wasn't allowed to keep it because it's endangered and we were five, so the entire class managed to gather together and convince the staff at the academy to let us keep him. We took real good care of him. His name was Lettuce. We were five, don't judge on the naming."

I can see why Flame likes him. According to Jared, though, any indication of him liking someone is actually just him being deep in thought, sometimes about the pattern of that person's natural magic. My poor brother.

It's a shame this idiot had to go and snap at Flame, I'm sure they'd be pretty good friends otherwise. Now, however, Flame is only tolerating his presence because of me.

"Hi, Flame," Caleb looks at him. Huh. Most people take a minute to realize that he's Flame when he's like this. If at all. "Don't mind Jared, he's just a pretty big jerk sometimes. Do you guys know where Kieran went? I was on my way to get dinner with him when he vanished on me."

"Yeah, we do," Jared snorts. "Though his version is that you wandered off."

"I should tie a rope to him," Caleb comments while looking like he's about to lose himself in thought again.

We lead Caleb back to Kieran, who stares at the turtle for several moments before speaking.

"Lettuce?" His eyes are wide.

"Lettuce died a few years ago," Caleb informs him. "I named this one Jeremy. I found him wandering the streets."

"Mind if we join you two for dinner?" Jared asks.

"Sure," Caleb responds. "Just don't eat my food."

We sit down. As we order our food, wait for it, and eat it, I discover that Caleb and Kieran are both quiet people, though Caleb is more of a thoughtful quiet while Kieran comes off as more of a moody quiet. Flame is trying to get both to talk and Kieran just looks annoyed with every attempt.

My brother needs to focus less on making friends with everyone he meets and more on his training. We joined the GSDF for a reason, and it wasn't to be social butterflies.