An hour later the younger generation all stared at the ground rather ashamed.

  Alliyah stood at the edge of the courtyard, looking out over the ocean and the steep drop. "Don't look so gloomy. It's my failing as a teacher. I'm not used to trying to teach people who are at such low levels."

  "Forgive my insolence, Your Majesty." Alliyah turned to glare at Amara, whose voice was positively dripping with sarcasm. "Perhaps teach them the basics of something with structure?"

  "Amara, I am sure they all know the basics. They are into their low hundreds."

  The group looked between the two war heroes. Alliyah paused as she looked over at them. "How many of you have crafted Runes?"

  Malor and Amelia raised their hands.

  Trillia sort of had, kind of? She also raised her hand slowly. "Of course. The Minotaurs and the orc." Alliyah lamented.

  "Stas. Do you have some high-quality explosive runes?"

  Stas wordlessly walked over to the table and pulled a bag out of thin air. "There's about a hundred in there. Hey Cow, want to fish me up some good stone for making more?"

  "Sure, sprout. We can listen to another glorious lecture." Cordaos chuckled as he walked over and sat near a wall. Trillia could feel a large pulse of mana spread out under him. Stas sat next to the minotaur king.

  Cordaos would pulse mana and hand over a small ball of white stone. Stas would take it and slowly carve into it with his mana. Alliyah clapped her hands and motioned to the group. "Ok. Everyone take a seat." The trainees sat in front of her and waited. Even the pact-bound beasts were happy to sit and listen to the Queen speak.

  Alliyah produced a familiar-looking mug from a pouch at her hip. "Have you all seen something like this before? If so, what is it?"

  Amelia raised a hand before speaking. "Dad has one as well. He calls it a travel mug. It's a rune work item that uses runesmithing and crafted runes to create water when mana is poured into the item."

  "Correct. Do you need a specific type of mana to use it?"

  This time, Trillia raised her hand. She remembered a conversation she had years ago. "No. But the type of mana you have might change the contents of the mug."

  "Also correct. There is more to it, though. Let's say you're a child and only have a hundred mana. Someone born with water mana manipulation could fill this mug several times with a single point of mana. In part, it's because their mana synergizes with the runes. The other part is this particular mug is a lesser artifact and is extraordinarily well made. What information can you glean from those two statements?"

  The answer seemed obvious, but that also felt like they were missing the point. After a moment, Simon raised a hand. "Uhhh... That the better the crafting is on the item, the more mana efficient it is?"

  Alliyah thought about that for a moment. "Half correct."

  Trillia watched as mana flowed from the Queen, and the mug slowly floated toward Simon. "Why is it more mana efficient? What about the quality of this item makes it mana-efficient? Runes are runes, are they not?"

  That stumped the group again. Simon took the mug and turned it over in his hands, looking at each rune in turn. After he was done, he passed it down the line. The Queen was happy to wait and watch the cogs turn in their heads.

  "It's like an enchantment." Malor finally spoke up after taking the mug for a second time. The group turned to look at him. "All of us could carve the exact same enchantment onto identical pieces of stone. But mine would probably be several times more durable because I inherently understand enchanting better, and so the intent I carve into the enchantment with my mana is more stable. It's the same for runes."

  "Correct. Now, for this reason, I asked Stas for some of his explosive runes. We get to do something fun."

  Alliyah snapped her fingers, and the mug vanished. Reaching over into the bag, she pulled out a bunch of perfectly round white balls with a tiny rune etched into each. They seemed identical.

  Alliyah approached them and set a rune in front of each in turn. "Don't touch them yet."

  Trillia stared at the little ball before her.

  It was odd. There was no mana coming off of it at all. Trillia felt her mana dip slightly as Alliyah no doubt scanned them all. "Oh, good. Frederick, come here, bring your rune."

  Fred seemed nervous but stood and carefully picked up the rune before walking over to stand next to Alliyah. "Your Temper manipulation is based on heat and pressure mana, correct?"

  That caught the boy off guard. "Y...yeah. How did you know what it takes to make it?"

  Amara spoke up from her position laying near the edge of the courtyard and twirling her dagger. "The Queen has probably a hundred different types of mana manipulation. She is humble and won't tell you, but you should trust her word when it comes to magic as much as you would a deity."

  "That is foolish. A deity of magic, even a young one, knows more than I could ever hope to know in this mortal form. Perhaps when I ascend, that will change. Regardless, I am well-studied and well-researched. Now, I want you to do me a favor, Frederick."

  She walked over and poked Amara with her foot. "Give me some spare weapons."

  Amara rolled her eyes, and a half dozen small daggers appeared. The Queen snatched them up with her mana and floated them over next to Fred.

  Taking each dagger, she ran her fingers along their edges and blunted the sharpness.

  "You do crafting, right?" Fred nodded.

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  "Good. I want you to envision sharpening these weapons. I want you to think carefully about the steps and intent that goes into sharpening a dagger. I want you to channel that exact intent into that explosive rune in your hand. What is your maximum mana?"

  "Around four thousand."

  "Use two hundred mana on this rune with the intent I've given you."

  She stood in front of him, the two surrounded by daggers.

  Gently, she took one of his hands and placed it over the other that held the rune. "Sharpness. Tempering. An edged weapon. Carefully think of your intent, take your time, and do not rush. When you're ready."

  Fred seemed even more nervous with her holding his hands, but the poor lad did his best not to show it. Instead, he closed his eyes and thought. A few minutes went by, and Trillia watched a tiny fleck of mana flow into his hands.

  A low thwump was heard, but no one saw anything actually happen.

  "Good job. Now look down at the daggers."

  Fred opened his eyes and looked down. As the rest of the group did, the blunted and dull edges were sharp again. Fred pulled his hands away as the dust of the rune hit the ground. He kneeled and lifted one of the blades. "What? I didn't target the blades."

  "Good job, go sit down. Layla, come here and bring your rune."

  Layla stood with her rune and walked over, staring down at the blades in wonder. "You have Light mana manipulation, in addition to being a Universal manipulator like me. How much experience do you have with your Light based mana?"

  Layla turned her gaze from the daggers to the queen. "Not much, forgive me. I have only recently picked it up when I was running undead dungeons. Because I am a divine class, my light-based mana hurts the undead."

  Alliyah probably knew all of that but patiently listened with a smile and a nod. "That's good. Perfect for this, actually." Once more, she took the student's hand in front of her.

  "I want you to imagine the sun in the sky. I want you to imagine a lantern on a dark night, fighting against a storm. I want you to imagine washing all of the purities of this realm away in that light."

  You've been afflicted with [Majesty's Might]!

  You will lose 1% of your health, mana, and stamina per second!

  Trillia and the others blinked at the notification but said nothing. Layla had already closed her eyes and was concentrating on the intent. "Maximum mana?"

  "Twelve thousand."

  "Use fifty."

  Layla took a deep breath and fell into concentration. Trillia watched as orange and gold motes of mana floated around the woman and slowly drifted into the rune in her hands. An explosion of light washed over the courtyard, and the debuff that Trillia had been afflicted with vanished.

  Layla opened her eyes and stared at her hands, which were wrapped in the Queen's. "That was an area-cleansing ability?"

  Stas spoke up from the side. "Also a rather potent debuff to undead and abominations. Were I not so high above you in levels, it would have hit even me."

  Layla blinked in even more surprise the dust of the rune filtered between their hands.

  "Go sit down, good job. Malor, Amelia. Come."

  The two glanced at each other but stood and walked over to stand in front of her. "You two are an item." She waved her hand as the two began to get bashful. "Please don't hide it, I'm happy for you both. The reason I bring it up, is that the connection you share can be used in battle. Malor, you have a rather interesting manipulation type called Meld. Explain it to your friends."

  Malor also seemed a bit surprised but spoke regardless. "It is something I created while working with Lord Arlyss. It is based on Earth and Shaper mana. I...I don't actually know how to use it well yet. It doesn't take to anything well."

  "Good...good. That's even better, actually. Amelia, you have sound and vibration mana. The two of you are going to use a combination on this rune. I will walk you through it." She grabbed their hands and placed them near one another. Each held their own rune.

  Trillia blinked at the non-explanation that Malor had given, confused about the mana type.

  "Malor. I want you to envision a tornado in your mind. Just the shape. Imagine that it is made out of your mana. Imagine that it can support all of your dreams and desires. Imagine it expanding into eternity and solidifying as reality."

  Malor took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Maximum mana?"

  "Eight thousand."

  "Hmmm... Let's go for something grand. Use a thousand mana."

  Malor nodded. "Wait for my signal. Amelia, I want you to imagine the feeling of drums in your chest. I want you to imagine the melody of a harp and the vibration of your own voice when you sing. I want you to imagine your voice stretching out with Malor's hopes and dreams. His aspirations. The future the two of you want to build together. Mana?"

  "Six thousand."

  "Use half."

  The two minotaurs looked at each other before closing their hands together as instructed.

  A few seconds ticked by.

  Alliyah gently tapped Malor's shoulder. A second later, she tapped Amelia. As mana surged from the two, it exploded up and out.

  Trillia sat staring up in wonder. The mana had crystalized in a tornado of colors, each pulsing gently in the air, waiting to be disturbed. A thousand colors sparkled around the courtyard as the crystallized mana bounced light off the sun.

  "It's beautiful." Malor whispered as he stared up at what he and Amelia had created.

  "Now imagine every single obstacle the two of you have faced. Imagine every hardship. Imagine everything that has been taken from you. Focus all of that rage at Brutus. Pretend that he is all that will stop you from achieving this beauty."

  The two blinked in surprise but closed their eyes, taking a deep breath. Trillia watched as the air and mana built tension. A low, angry hum sounded from the beautiful shards of crystallized mana.

  Brutus stood and lifted a cloak in front of him. A second later, a cacophany of shattering sounds split around the tornado of crystals and launched them at Brutus. Most of the crystals were dashed against his cloak. A few managed to cut into the fabric.

  A moment of silence hung in the courtyard before Cordaos clapped. "Well done! That's a very good combination attack for a first attempt."

  The two stared at the cuts in Brutus' cloak as the dust of the rune filtered between fingers and hit the ground.

  "Go sit down. You both did a good job. Simon, Thea, you are next."

  Trillia was last, and that was fine with her. She stared at the rune in front of her that was identical to all the others and wondered what the trick was.

  "Thea, you have wind mana manipulation. Simon, you have explosive mana, just like your father."

  The two nodded. "Simon, your job is going to be the hardest demonstration to pull off. Your Father's mana can be turbulent and demanding. Your will must temper the mana. You must show it that you are in command. If you give it even the tiniest room for error, it will pounce and devour. You have felt Thea's wind magic before, on some of your many late-night trips flying with her and Taz, have you not?"

  Thea went red in the face, and Simon looked as if he was going to drop dead on the spot. "Yes...Your Majesty." The goblin managed to get out with a whisper.

  Alliyah seemed entirely unbothered. "I want you to imagine your mana expanding throughout this entire courtyard. I want you to imagine the freedom of the sky. What it feels like when you enter a free fall just under the clouds. The feeling of pulling up centimeters from the ocean and feeling the spray of cool water on your skin. I want you to imagine the wind on your face as you fly with her."

  Simon did his best to regain his composure before closing his eyes. "Use a hundred mana."

  "Thea. I want you to imagine the feeling of flight. I want you to imagine what it is like to be free in the skies and see the world laid before your feet. I want you to wrap you and Simon in wind to protect yourselves from the storms of this world. Use a thousand mana."

  Thea nodded, and she and Simon joined hands. After another few seconds of getting the feeling for their intent, Alliyah tapped each on the shoulder. A whirlwind whipped around the two of them and launched them up into the air.

  Taz was startled and moved to jump up to save his master. Alliyah motioned, and the Gryphon found itself unable to move.

  Thea's shriek hit their ears, and Trillia felt a small pang of fear creep in. None of the adults seemed worried at all.

  Simon quickly wrapped his arms around Thea as his wings came out, and the two slowly drifted to the ground. Trillia could see their hearts thumping in their chests.

  "Sit. Well done. Trillia."

  Trillia reached out to grab her rune. She stood and walked to stand in front of the Queen, who wore a warm smile.