When Kirii woke up, the first thing he saw was Alice standing with some grass being swept off of her clothes from the wind, the grass faintly glowing since it was Kirim's enchanted grass she was sleeping on. Alice was looking upward, neck craned up intensely. Kirii couldn't see what she was looking at right away, but a light turn of the head and he couldn't believe his eye. He blinked in disbelief as if what he saw would go away with a blink, but he was wrong. Overnight and the school they were working on was so tall he couldn't see the top anymore. Moreover, there were connecting bridges and at least two towers he saw connected to the building. The towers, he could barely see the top of. They were finished.

"How...much did you get done last night, Kirim?"

Kirii's question was met with a smile when he saw her face as he sat up. She was grinning.

"I'll finish the structure this afternoon. How was your sleep?"

Kirii wanted to cry seeing the building have grown so massive. Just from laying on the ground beneath the building, he could tell it was a whole scale immensely beyond what he was used to calling a building. The tower directly above him was so high above his face it felt like he could fit hundreds of his home between him and the tower. He realized something physical about himself as he stared at the tower in the morning sky above him. No matter how much he trained with Kirim, he would never measure up. But that wasn't all. His back had been getting sore from all the training and then sleeping in his rough shack. Sleeping next to her on the grass had somehow taken that away. Or maybe she had an enchantment in the grass to relieve from physical ailments. That option felt far more likely than a chance that sleeping next to her was the key. After all, they had been close every night almost consistently since Kirim had arrived.

"I don't think I've ever slept so well. But seriously, how did you increase the speed so much? You said it would take-"

"Your ambient energy is so strong, and I was able to slow my sense of time down, or speed it up in a sense. It's hard to explain. Like I was thinking faster than time was passing, and having your ambient energy around allowed me to use creation magic on even larger scale. When you have strong resonance with someone, energy tends to multiply, apparently."

Kirii was baffled that was the result of sleeping nearby when she was already boosting her ability so much. Resonance...he wondered if he could be better at magic through resonance. His body hadn't yet switched over, though he had been thinking it might be alright to even be female forever. It wasn't as if he had any particular attachments to being male. He didn't have anyone he was interested in romantically, had no intentions to have children, and when he was older there was always the ability to go back since he would be more adept at magic and capable of the switch.

"What does it mean...for my ambient energy to be strong? I was so exhausted, but I'm feeling the most energetic I've ever felt now. Was it because of this resonance you mentioned?"

Kirii hummed.

"Yes, resonance with someone of a similar wavelength, or a familial bond tends to happen easily. It's also because of the enchantment surrounding me currently. It pulls energy into those with deep vessels. You and Alice really were running on empty while sleeping. You filled back up so quickly, then the resonance between the three of us was immense. I felt like I could create a castle off of it."

Kirii just pointed up to the school in response to those words.

"I think you did create a castle off of it..."

"Not even close to the one I'm familiar with in size. Vector's castle is about four times larger than this. I'm only aiming for something that can accommodate usefulness. All the facilities I can think of for learning, enough for a future with a few hundred students occupying the building."

Kirii gave her a baffled expression.

"Hundred? Aren't you already having difficulty teaching us?"

Kirim smiled and shook her head side to side once in denial.

"Not difficulty so much as I just don't have the materials to teach so many students yet. I could develop many tomes in the future that could teach students with little effort. Touch the tome and the lesson would begin. A specter of me teaching the lesson until it gets through. Having reliable teachers to fill anything I might have missed would be the only thing remaining, and the only way to get more teachers, is to teach students with the intent to teach. The very first step is having everything necessary to teach available for use, which is the reason for the school. To get everything ready, to train more teachers, and eventually I can retire from being a teacher in order to do something about a troublesome memory of mine."

Kirii was confused, but he smiled. She knew what she needed, she had goals, and she was progressing just like he was. He suddenly felt closer to her, she was more relatable.

"On the topic of resonance, I haven't taught you what resonance is. In magic terms, it's a generator of energy. When two lives are linked strongly, they produce an immense multiplication of the energy they have every moment. In short, it's a cheat like if we were holding hands and both desiring the same thing from the very depths of our souls, we could conjure the most insane of dreams to life. But that lame kind of description is overselling it. Only one person can control that power, and the other has to be asleep for it to work or the moment of resonance can easily pass. There is no real way to resonate with someone while both are awake."

Alice joined the conversation since she had been there the whole time and vaguely been listening.

"Why did I benefit from your resonance then? Or are you saying I resonated with the both of you while I was sleeping?"

Kirim giggled. It was cute and neither Alice or Kirii had heard such a cute sound from her before. It caught them off guard completely.

"You resonated with us. I suppose you already forgot something. Remember when I taught you wind magic? You accidentally cut yourself and there was a lot of blood loss. I had no other option in the moment but to transfuse a bit of mine to you. You're essentially a blood sibling of mine now, without the negative effects I have. A lesson now from your older sibling~ a half blood elf is born when a full blood elf willingly transfuses some of their blood to the one who would become half. This is a sacred bond between two who care deeply for each other, like family. The ritual binds mortality and ability to grow, while avoiding the negative effects of being a blood elf, such as being easily blinded by even the softest light source or the insatiable hunger for blood drenched food. You gain everything from it, and it saved your life which was precariously on limbo in that moment. Resonance is extremely easy between blood siblings. It's a little more difficult between cousins, but it was easy with Kirii since we're closely related as well."

Alice stared in disbelief.

"We're...sisters now?"

Kirim sat up and nodded, looking up to the top of the just barely unfinished structure of the school.

"We're siblings sharing the very same blood running through me. Blood elf heritage tends to change a person it occupies a little, such as the potential for eye or hair colour changing, but at the very most you'll get tiny streaks of black in new hair you grow and you'll get small yellow spots in your beautiful blue eyes. Perhaps the eye change will turn out to be a beautiful half and half split where the colours blend together or just make a green."

Alice was confused again, but she smiled. She always wanted an older sister, being the elder child in her family. She just wanted someone that could be to her like she was to Selka.

"I didn't realize saving me then would have such significance..."

It was something that Kirim hadn't really made much mental note about, but she kept it somewhere enough in mind that she was able to use it as a lesson prompt. Eugeo very much denied the opportunity to have the same kind of treatment. He wanted to stay human, and just have his life run as long as the rest. While Alice's situation was very much staying human and having none of the annoyances of being a blood elf. There was no real reason to deny becoming part blood elf.

"Well, I suppose it is significant. Now, unless you two want to get some more rest, I have some more plans for decorating the inside of the school you two can work on with Eugeo. I'm going to finish up the outside and work my way down from the top of the school with decorations."

Alice and Kirii nodded in response, returning to the school and getting to work once the mental image was shared to them, the plans for the next basement floor they would work on with Eugeo. With the three of them, they would get a lot done that day. Selka arrived soon after they got started, a basket heavy enough it required both of her hands to hold.

"Got your housework done for this morning?"

Selka nodded in Kirim's range of sight and looked up at the school in amazement.

"How did you progress-"

"So fast? Because Alice and Kirii spent the night sleeping beside me, and it created resonance. I'll let Alice and Kirii teach you what that means. I have a feeling I'm about to get an unfortunate message from one of my familiars."

In the short moment between Alice and Kirii going into the school and Selka arriving, Kirim felt an urgency in Kiin as he was returning swiftly from the border tunnel. When Kiin did return, thankfully nobody else was present to hear the conversation.

"A unit of unmounted dragon knights from the human tribe are at the tunnel entrance seeking conversation with you..."

He said it in a low voice to try and make sure nobody could hear if anyone was near enough to hear. Kirim pet him gently on the head.

"Let's go then. I'll just finish building the school when I get back from whatever this is."

She glanced at the nearly finished school, only needing a little more on the top central spire to be finished. It was essentially the top room, the watch tower of the entire building. She would finish it.

She hurried by foot to the tunnel and stopped beside Charles and walking beside him as he noticed and followed suit.

"The situation?"

"Human dragon knights who are here to talk. I'm not taking chances of course..."

Charles nodded, a serious expression instantly adorning his features. They walked in silence until they reached the other end of the tunnel. Kirim hadn't taken the time yet to set up her new door for the tunnel, since she was so focused on building the school. Kiin and Rithi were taking turns keeping watch, just in case something were happening she needed to know on the other side of the tunnel. The unit of dragon knights on the other side of the mouth of the tunnel gave her a strange feeling as she approached them. It were as if they were afraid.

Kirim stopped about twenty steps away from them and Kiin perched on her head, giving a firm stare to the unit. Charles stopped with Kirim and waited for her to give some kind of signal what she would do or say.

"How about we start with your reason for being here and introductions on your side?"

The taller of the bunch, a man who could be no older than his late twenties stepped forward and knelt.

"I am unit leader Teru of the most recently formed unit of dragon knights. We do not yet have a unit name. For unfortunate reasons, we were banished. Some of the travelers in our lands have been talking recently of a blood elf living in the light lands. I was hoping you would be willing to teach us your ways..."

She sighed as she looked over the rest of the unit. Banished. It was basically telling those young humans to throw themselves into the mouth of the nearest monster. They would have had a fairly long journey of at least a few weeks to get from their village to the mouth of the tunnel, if they didn't rest. They were either impressive as they were for making it as far as they did without being gobbled up by a hungry durven [A beastly creature the size of a full grown dragon made of poisoned tree roots. Result of the experiments of the dark mages.], or they were lucky beyond belief.

"My name is Kirim, from the nearby blood elf tribe on that side. I have been banished as well, in a sense. I will have you step into a runic circle to prove your words. If you wish to move to this side, you will need to undergo some procedures. I will have you work if you wish to come here."

Teru nodded his head and stood up, waiting for her to produce the runic circle. In an instant, the runic circle appeared and he was startled. He was used to seeing runic circles take several minutes to fully manifest.

"It's ready."

Teru stepped in and she asked him again.

"Your reason for being here and introduction."

"I am here as a banished dragon knight with my unit, and my name is Teru."

The circle glowed a gentle blue.

"I'm glad you're telling the truth. Now, the rest of your unit will have to do the same. You can step into the tunnel freely but don't move past me once you've passed the truth telling circle."

The rest of the unit were able to clearly state their names and their purpose for being there without the runic circle changing from the white and blue tones it had in neutral or positive feedback.

"Great, let's get you set up over on the other side."

The entire time they were being tested for telling the truth, they were nervous the integrity knight beside her would start attacking them. They were already serious, but they were afraid to say anything that might make the integrity knight unsheathe his sword.

"Brace yourselves for the brightness. It's very different here from the other side."

The other side of the tunnel was like nothing they had ever seen before. The colours, the brightness, the sky itself and the land beneath them were all different. It was like stepping into another world. They had glanced at the peculiar monument inside of the cave, but didn't dare stop following Kirim. One thing had their attention more than anything else – the massive tower reaching to the clouds nearby. It couldn't be seen from the other side of the mountains, even with how tall it was. It was like each side of the world had some kind of perception blocker so to avoid giving details of the other side away. The tunnel was the exception. Perhaps on top of the walls as well.

"...the light lands are beautiful."

Kirim was glad the group were human. They were a little tan as far as differing skin tone, but otherwise they were impossible to tell apart from the humans of the light lands. They could just say they worked outside a lot if outsiders to Rulid were to come around and see them.

"Indeed they are. So normally I would need to take you to the church immediately, but I've made a copy of the monument in the lobby of the school, so we'll take you there. Today I'll get you outfitted so you look the part as my students, and tonight you'll introduce yourselves to Rulid's people. Do not introduce yourselves as dragon knights anymore. You are students now."

Teru nodded and the others sighed in relief. It didn't sound as bad as some of the travelers in the dark lands made it seem. The travelers of course spoke of the immeasurable strength the blood elf child wielded, how swift and terrifyingly powerful her might would crash down on any who angered her. She might still be like that, but she was being courteous and inviting for the time being.

"I have a question for you, if you don't mind..."

Kirim nodded and glanced at Teru so to signal him it was alright to say it.

"We've heard of your strength. Why would you be banished? And why following that, would you so easily accept others who were banished?"

She shrugged.

"I'm surprised word got out. I haven't let many who came by live after attacking me and my companions on this side. Then again, perhaps Vector spread it around to make sure people knew I was banished and not allowed to go back...as far as accepting you, I would like to train some teachers for my school. You're still young enough that I could train you to be teachers. And this is also convenient because you're from the dark lands. I would like to start accepting banished people here so long as their intents are good, or other people with the intent to use their strength and honed abilities learned here for good. I want this school to bring the sides of the world together. As for why I was banished, it's apparently because Vector assumed I would use whatever I gained from this side to kill him someday. Well in return for banishing me from meeting my family, I might as well live up to his assumption."

They all paled as they heard her last statement. She was aiming to eventually kill the god of the dark lands. But everything else she said was idealistic and they were on board with. They couldn't help themselves. Everything she had said and everything they had heard about her made their fear ever more present in them. No matter how kind she was, she was the strongest person they had ever met, even out of those who lived in their tribe.

The fact that the school was her school, they immediately assumed she built it. She hadn't been banished for long, but such a massive structure was standing in the light lands already. Even if it was bare inside, it was beyond impressive and imposing to them. The dark material it was made of contrasting with the bright sky was even more symbolic to them.

"You want us to be...teachers?"

She nodded.

"Yes. If you aren't up for the job, as long as you dedicate yourselves to your studies and help in some way when you graduate, then you're free to decide your future on this side. I've been given somewhat free reign to do whatever by the administrator of this side's religious sect which is basically the strongest person of this side. But, as teachers you would be set for life."

Teru nodded, his expression showing shock. She was given the blessing of the highest power in the light lands. Just who was she, really? But she was kindly welcoming them, so questioning her further at the moment held no reasoning, and she might not keep the kind act up were he to question her. He couldn't risk the well being of himself and his unit.

With no further word from Teru or his companions, she began walking again, leading them to the entrance of the school. They went straight to the school from the mouth of the tunnel, which meant they didn't come within sight of the village gates. Teru was curious about the light landers, but he understood with a little assumption that it would probably be best for them to be initiated before meeting with average villagers.

The entrance to the school took their breath away. It was a several door type of entrance, for many people to enter and exit at the same time. With doors which had some sort of see-through material used in their construction. So the inside of the lobby of the school was visible on the other side. There was barely anything in there yet, but they could see through the windows what she had mentioned before. The monument to the religion of the light lands.

Kirim walked through the doors which opened on their own as she approached, and the group followed. Self opening doors wouldn't have been surprising to them if they had felt a bit of wind magic with the opening of the door, but it was entirely void of using magic. It was an automatic thing which might have been created by magic, but functioned by some kind of trigger and a hidden mechanical process. It was a unique marvel to them. They pushed on, following Kirim though everything they saw had them gawking like tourists. The lobby of the school again was mostly empty. They kept that in mind but couldn't stop from looking from thing to thing which caught their eyes. The smooth stone floor, the massive amount of energy coursing through the floor and walls around them, the stairs and structure of the lobby in itself were more than enough to marvel at.

The monument was something a little intense. There was something similar known in the dark lands but not the same. It was a white monument stone with a stone rose coming out from the middle of it, and then a bunch of runic text on the monument which they couldn't understand. Kirim stopped beside the monument, faced them and began explaining.

"For this procedure, you're receiving a sacred task so that integrity knights don't cause any trouble here. The sacred task is essentially in this case just a binding tool to a certain thing you do. Since you were banished from the dark lands in a sense, you won't be able to return to the dark lands until you graduate and get a new sacred task or elect to not take up another sacred task. The sacred task of student just means you need to study or attend this school every day. There is a backlash for not doing your sacred task, so I urge you not to put off your studies if you can help it. In order to accept your sacred task, you simply need to touch the monument's flower for a moment."

Teru nodded in understanding. There wasn't anything within what she said that was overly concerning with him when she finished what she was saying. He stepped up to the monument stone and without hesitation touched the rose of the monument. The monument's flower and text glowed as he felt a little of his energy leave him, entering the monument.

"Is that all there is to it?"

She nodded.

"Once you've accepted your sacred task, come stand beside me and I'll outfit you in uniforms. Were you educated in your clan to make your own clothes?"

Teru shook his head as he stood beside her, the rest of the unit following his lead in touching the monument without holding back.

"That's a little disappointing...but you will learn that among many essential things for survival and magic here. I'll give you a more detailed explanation of everything being taught here over time. For now, I already have a few students here who make their own clothing, so if you see others around my age or younger inside the building, they're also students. At least for the time being. In the future we may have visitors around my age."

Teru blinked at her in surprise and walked around to stand beside her like she instructed. A warm smog covered him and he felt a large discrepancy from the armour he had been wearing and the thin clothes which he saw on him when the smog blew away.

"Good, they fit. I wasn't certain those would be your size. I'll have to make quick adjustments to the uniforms for the rest of your unit accordingly however...that shouldn't take more than a moment between each of your sacred tasks being collected. Continue please."

He kept blinking down at the sight of the clothes he was wearing. An elegant but remarkably plain outfit considering what he was used to seeing from a blood elf. It was a combination outfit of a long sleeved open wrist tunic which reached a little past his hips, in a dulled black primary colour and a white trimming, with a little extra to the uniform top. For the pants, he was wearing something he didn't recognize. It was a pair of sleek and smoothly cut white pants with black trimming which had openings near the top and on the back. As he felt around he wondered if he should feel assaulted for having those placed somewhere so vulnerable. He shook it off as best he could as he looked down and saw the shoes, which were polished black without laces, without buttons, and without the very rare zippers seen only on clothes of nobility. They had a single metallic buckle each and fastening strap securing the shoe over his ankle on the outside. The entire outfit made him feel the most comfortable he had felt his entire life. But at the same time it made him feel incredibly insecure as he was without the protection of his armour. He looked around frantically as the next members of his unit were given their tasks and their adjusted outfits as he took in the appearance of the outfit. He saw their armour lined up behind them on the floor and sighed.

"Why would a uniform leave us so...exposed? Would it not be safer to wear armour?"

She shook her head in response at first, keeping her mind on the alterations of the last member of his unit's uniform until she was done.

"Armour is fine if you're heading into battle, but I'll be enchanting yours with time and altering its appearance so it doesn't draw worried looks from the locals of the light lands. As far as not feeling safe in the uniform, there's no need. Both because it's more peaceful here than in the dark lands, and because the uniforms are enchanted in a similar way to the school. Try and strike at the floor in front of you to check the school, and then try to strike somewhere you are clothed by the uniform."

She was calm, barely showing enough emotion the entire time they had been in contact so far to be more than a familiar bound to actions. She was just prioritizing finishing the top of the school's base construction subconsciously, so she couldn't invest emotionally into the interaction.

Teru followed through with striking at the floor in front of him and as he felt the impact soften his punch to the point neither the floor nor his hand took any damage, he blinked furiously at the floor. As if it dared resist the strength he had cultivated his whole life. It should have at least some sign of damage, but there was no evidence he tried to damage it at all. He was afraid to try it on himself, but he slammed his fist into his covered knee in much the same way, trying to not hold back. He realized as soon as the contact was happening he was feeling the same thing as with the floor. His hand and the clothing were resisting each other, softening each other. Like they weren't quite closing the gap between each other. He wondered how such a thing worked.

"There's something called magnetism in my enchantment. It has its strongest repelling force within a centimeter of physical contact, so if you do get closer than a centimeter to contact, you're all the less likely to make contact. Think about it this way – have you heard your footsteps since you entered the school?"

Teru stared in bewilderment, but took a few steps to confirm what she was saying. He had some level of disbelief that she could be so powerful as a child to accomplish so much, but repeatedly she was shattering his expectations of reality. A child had made the most ridiculous enchantment he ever heard of, but it was also the most amazing in a sense.

"By the way, I say it's magnetism and magnetism works to repel a strike, correct? Well when you felt pushed back, as if it were just recoil from hitting something, it was only because you weren't strong enough to feel the full brunt of the repelling force. You can learn much here. To close the gap in that magnetic power, and to learn anything else you could imagine useful to a life you want to live."

He was feeling ridiculed, that he wasn't strong enough to get much more than a normal reaction from punching the enchantment.

"How strong are you then? Are you saying you could get the full reaction of this enchantment of yours? Aren't mages strictly strong in magic?"

She shrugged.

"I suppose a display of difference is only right, since you seem to need as much proof as possible to confirm my identity. Stand back, or sit on your armour."

He stepped back, and the rest of his unit sat on their armour from her warning. She walked several steps forward and then wound herself back like the most proficient pugilist they'd ever seen, and unleashed a single punch which put a small crater in the floor and sent her flying back to the ceiling. She stopped her ascent with a wind magic cushion, but there was no magic in her physical attack. The floor repaired itself the damage from her punch as she returned to the ground next to them.

"I put only about...sixty percent of my physical strength into that strike, and only used magic to stop from colliding violently with the ceiling. Need you further proof?"

Teru shook his head frantically.

"Well then, I'll escort you to meet your fellow students on one of the floors below, then to your dormitories, where you will be living. I will teach you magic to fill your rooms. If you struggle too much with learning the magics to fill your rooms, then mention so to one of your classmates first and then myself. I will be working on filling this place with some basic decorations for the next month between teaching, so only request of me if you can't obtain the desired results without the help of your classmates."

Teru and his unit stood and saluted in response.

"Stop that. Follow."

She walked passed them and down a spiral staircase near the middle of the lobby to the floor before, and went further to the floor below. There was barely enough light in the floor they passed to show there wasn't anything in there yet. The floor below was impressive however. Already well decorated and lit up to project a realistic wasteland to fight in. It was remarkable what could be done with magic in designing a massive space like that. They stared in wonder at how it could have all been done. Moreover, they became tense, realizing that fellow students were working.

"Did you complete the structure of the school?"

Selka's words earned a smile from Kirim. Teru and his companions softened a little, seeing the gentle expression which had been absent from the woman they had been growing used to.

"Yes, just as I was introducing some more students into the school and supplying them with uniforms. I'll be giving the rest of you uniforms soon as well. I've been having some fun designing yours."

Selka cheerfully responded.

"Oooh, where are they from? I'm guessing they're from Centoria's knight school?"

Kirim shook her head.

"Nope, they're a banished unit of dragon knights from the dark lands. I'm providing them with sanctuary and they've become students. We'll have some helpers to speed up progress with making this building more homely and full of what it needs to teach everyone in the future."

Selka nodded in approval, sizing them up.

"I look forward to working toward a wonderful school experience together."

Her words and expression were like a divine blessing to Teru and his companions. They saw the entire opportunity to start over and choose whatever life they wanted in the light lands as the best possible outcome, a reward for their efforts of crossing the dark lands wasted frontier to get there. To survive rampaging monsters and the attacks of mages and battle frenzied traveling pugilists. It was the greatest respite one could ever hope for at the end of a journey. And they would quickly be starting over, starting a new life in a much more welcoming place to the idea of peace.