"So are you ready for the big test tomorrow, my little golden flower?" Asked a gentle-looking woman with golden blond hair and a motherly smile. The woman, along with Mari, was sitting at a wooden table eating dinner together.

  "Yft bdt ey m!" Mari answered with a mouthful of steak.

  "Shallow before you talk, dear."

  "Sorry, Ma." Mari apologized after shallowing. "You bet I am!" Aurelia nodded.

  "I'm happy to hear that, and I'm looking forward to hearing all the great fights you'll have during the test."

  "You did this as well, Ma?"

  "Of course, dear. The finer details may differ from year to year, but the acadamy likes to keep things consistent."

  "Oooo, any interesting battles you remember?"

  "Ah, yes. Too many to count, in fact. Especially during the latter part of the colosseum fights. Ah, I could remember them as if they were yesterday." She reminisced while leaning her cheek against her hand.

  "HAHAHAHAHA! Those were the days!" Shouted a large man carrying a deer carcass as big as a moose over his shoulder as he burst through the door.

  "Pa! You're back! What took so long?"

  "Welcome back, dear, but our little flower is right. You're a bit late."

  "Hahaha! Sorry! But this little thing is faster than it looks! The flashes of lightning it could shoot from its antlers didn't help either! HAHAHAHA. It sure put up a fight!" Aurelia gave an understanding nod.

  "It must be a mutant of some kind; this species typically controls ice, not electricity."

  "Really?/Really?" The father and daughter asked simultaneously. Aurelia nodded.

  "Why don't you put the body in the freezer and join us for dinner. I'll write and turn in the report for you later."

  "Really?! Thanks, dear, you're awesome!" With a happy skip in his step, Atlas made his way to the back of the house.

  "Make sure to freshen up before you come back!" Aurelia reminded him.

  "Yes, dear!" Hearing his reply, Aurelia stood up and prepared a plate for her husband. A few minutes later, Atlas returned wearing a new shirt and shorts before sitting down next to his wife. "So, you're excited for the big test tomorrow?" He asked while digging into his meal.

  "You bet I am!"

  "Gteth!"

  "Swallow before talking, dear."

  "-Gulp- Great! I'm sure you'll do wonderfully in it!" Mari beamed at the compliment. "Oh, I before I forget." Atlas leaned back into his chair and rummaged for something inside his pants pocket. "Ah, here it is." Reaching out onto the table, he dropped a crumpled piece of paper in front of Mari before he continued eating.

  "Hmm? What's this?" Mari placed her utensils on her plate and then picked up the piece of paper. Unravelling the paper revealed a phone number, an address, and what appears to be someone's name.

  "I finally got to meet with my friend who made your Storage ring and asked if I could get his number."

  "Really? Awesome! Thanks, pa!"

  "Hahaha! Don't mention it! I'm happy to help you any way I can! Though, why did you need his number? Is your ring broken? If so, I could easily fix it myself."

  "Wait, you can?" Mari asked, doubt clear in her voice.

  "Of course! Your old man is great at fixing things!" Mari and Aurelia turned to look at a cabinet on the verge of falling apart, kept together by loose wooden boards, tape and rope. "I might not be the best at fixing ordinary things." He was awakrdly admitted. "BUT I can fix artifacts!" Mari just nodded and smiled at him.

  "Sure, Pa. But no, my ring is fine. A friend of mine asked if I could get him in contact with the person who made it so he could buy a Storage ring of his own."

  "You have rich friends?" Atlas asked.

  "He's rich enough to afford a Storage ring if he can frequently down high-quality Mana potions as if they were water."

  "He? Your friend is a guy?"

  "Yup!" She answered without hesitation.

  "Is he the same friend you said you frequently train with?"

  "Yup! He's a blast to train with!"

  "Hahahahaha! That's great to hear!" Atlas said with a joyful laugh. "I'm glad you have such a wonderful friend!"

  "Is he strong?" Aurelia asked with her voice lacking its usual warmth.

  "Hmm," Aurelia's smile slowly started to become strained. "Hard to tell!" Mari finally answered, catching her parents off guard.

  "Why do you say that, my little flower?"

  "Don't get me wrong, he can win a fight against my other classmates and kill monsters. But his actual strength varies depending on whether he's allowed to make full use of his magic." Aurelia narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

  "Is he a spell caster?"

  "Is he n-"

  "A punching one!" Mari continued, inadvertently interrupting her mom.

  "A punching spell caster?"

  "Yeah! He fights just like Pa! Rushing into the face of his opponent and punching them until they give up. Any spells he casts are either to enhance his attacks, to get closer to the enemy or to heal himself. In fact, his fighting style is very similar to how Pa fights, but instead of willing his body to heal, he uses healing magic."

  "Really?" Atlas asked, his interest piqued.

  "Yup! Well, you see, he not only knows more than one healing spell, but he also has natural regeneration. So he might be even more reckless with his healing abilities than you, Pa! For example, one time during a sparring session when we were both on the verge of collapsing, Alex."

  "Alex?" Aurelia interjected.

  "Oh, that's his name, the friend I'm talking about." Aurelia nodded at Mari's clarification. "So during the fight," she continued, "we were both one hit from losing. Before I could make my move, a blast of fire burst from Alex's back, rocketing him towards me. Before I knew it, he was landing a solid punch right into my jaw, causing the academy's arena to trigger and thus ending the fight with him as the winner. Despite him winning the battle, we had to wait for Alex to recover from his injuries. You should have seen it! His entire back was ripped open, exposing bones and muscles! He also couldn't move his lower half; apparently, his last attack ended up damaging a portion of his spine."

  "That does sound awesome!" Atlas agreed. " Though from how you described, unless they changed the arena's enchantments since my time at the acadamy, shouldn't the arena have stopped your friend as soon as he launched his attack if it did that much damage to himself? I know it did when I tried a similar attack back in my days there."

  "Oh, Alex is an Enchanter, and he makes these runes that interfere with the arena's enchantments. So when he has one, he can go all out without having to worry about the arena stopping him. He even makes me some to use during our spars! Though sadly, they aren't as strong as the one he uses due to our instructor prohibiting it." Atlas let out an empressded whistle.

  "Damn, I wish I had something like that during my time. Just imagine all those great fights cut short because of those stupid enchamnets, makes my blood boil. Nothing's worse than a fight cut short before the climax." All three of the family members nodded in agreement.

  "Well, I'm glad to hear you have such a strong friend," Aurelia said, her smile regaining its earlier warmth. "Once you two have time, you should bring your friend over so we can meet him."

  "That's a great idea! I'm sure he'll love to come over."

  "When he does come over, your mother and I can have a go at him!" Atlas continued. "It's been a while since I fought a human who can heal themselves during a fight."

  "And I would love to see how strong your friend actually is," Aurelia added.

  "Hahaha! I doubt Alex would disappoint! It's always a blast to fight him!"

  "My blood is boiling just thinking about it!" Atlas stood up from his chair. "Why wait! Let's go out and meet him right now!"

  "Dear, sit down," Aurelia calmly ordered. Her husband sat back down with a slight pout. "You know, they don't like it when you cause unnecessary hardship to civilians. The last thing we need is to give them any justification to add more restrictions to our contract, nor an excuse to issue us any paperwork." Aurelia knows that her husband doesn't like being forced to wait for a battle he is looking forward to, but she also knows that what he hates more is having to sit down and do any paperwork. "Just wait until Mari's friend comes over naturally, then he will be out of their jurisdiction and into ours."

  "Fine," Atlas grumbled. "I guess I can wait until Mari invites her friend over." Aurelia nodded approvingly to her husband.

  "How about this, dear? Why don't we go over and spend a night in a Rift with just the two of us?" Atlas perked up at his wife's suggestion.

  "That's an awesome idea!"

  "Aw, why can't I join you guys!" Mari whined.

  "Oh! That's a great idea! It's been a few days since all three of us went out on a family adventure!" Aurelia placed a hand on her husband's shoulder to calm him down.

  "Sorry, my little flower, we can't bring you along this time."

  "We can't?/ You can't?" She nodded.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "You have a big exam tomorrow, and you'll need to be fully rested up for it."

  "Bu-"

  "I know you are strong and full of energy." Aurelia introduced Mari. "And that not matter which Rift you end up getting, wouldn't pose that big of a danger for you. However, that doesn't change the fact that this is a crucial test for your final grade, and that getting a low score would make you look weak. You don't want that, do you?"

  "No..." Mari dejectedly answered. Aurelia nodded and stood up.

  "It's getting late, so once you're done with your dinner, you should head straight to bed. I will have your bags packed and ready for you when you wake up in the morning." She picked up both her and her husband's empty plates. "Come on, dear, we should head out before all the good Rifts are taken."

  "Ah, you're right! If we don't hurry, we might be stuck with only the weak Rifts!" Atlas shot up from his chair and rushed out of the house.

  "It's not fair, I wanted to join you two," Mari grumbled out loud.

  "Sorry, my little flower, we'll make sure to make it up to you once you get back from the Survival Test."

  "I guess it's not that big of a deal." Aurelia's smile softened

  "Thank you for understanding my little flower." Mari shot her mother a suspicious glance.

  "You seem extra excited for this. You're not usually this happy to go into a Rift unless it's a high-tier one. And I doubt they're would be one available without you being notified?" She paused. "Unless you had already done that."

  "Ah, no, dear." Aurelia shook her head. "It's just been a long while since your Pa, and I got any quality alone time together." She answered with a longing sigh while leaning her cheek against her hand.

  "Why would that matter?" Mari asked with a confused tilt to her head.

  "If you need to ask, then you're a bit too young to understand. Don't worry about it, my little flower, I was just like you when I was your age. I'm sure you'll come to understand what I mean once you find someone strong you want to spend your time with."

  "I guess?" That was all Mari could think to say. Aurelia let out a soft chuckle at her daughter's reply.

  "How about this?" Aurelia walked over and picked up Mari's empty plate. "Why don't you go up now and freshen up. Once you're done, I'll tuck you in and sing you the lullaby I used to sing to you when you were younger."

  "Really?" Aurelia nodded. Cheering, Mari got up and dashed upstairs. Aurelia chuckled at the sight. Grabbing the used utensils, Aurelia walked to the nearby sink and washed the dishes before putting them in the drying rack at the side. Drying her hands, she walked up to Mari's room to tuck her in before leaving the house to meet up with her husband.

  "Are you ready for the Survival Test tomorrow, Eli?" Crystal asked as she crossed items off a list while packing them into her bags.

  "Yes, I should be prepared no matter what kind of Rift I find myself in. How about you?"

  "I would have liked to be more prepared, but that's difficult without any more information on the possible Rifts we'll be sent into."

  "Yes, that would be nice, but typically people don't get that kind of luxury. I'm guessing the teachers want us to get used to this situation for when we enter a newly created Rift for real." Crystal nodded.

  "Yeah, you have a point there." Closing her bag, Crystal glanced over and noticed Elizabeth's revolver on her bed. "Can I ask you something?"

  "Be my guest."

  "Well, we'll be in the Rift for a while, so how are you going to deal with your limited bullet count? I know you pack extra bullet components that you can piece together when needed, but I don't think that would last you that long either." Elizabeth nodded at her question.

  "Good question." She picked up her revolver and started inspecting it. "An essential skill that they teach in my Echanter 101 class and Non-combative Survival class is how to make use of sub-optimal materials in sub-optimal conditions to better our chances at survival."

  "Non-combative Survival class? I heard you mention that class a few times, but I never managed to get much info about it."

  "It's a class that the teachers recommend to new students planning on less combative futures. My teacher in Enchater 101 recommended I take it due to my plans of going into my family's business once I graduate. It makes sense, you don't know much about it. As a budding Mage, I doubt they would tell you about it." Finishing the inspection of her revolver, Elizabeth set it back down. She then grabbed the suitcase off the ground, put it on the bed, and opened it. Inside was filled with various metal components.

  "Really? What's the class about?"

  "The class name pretty much tells you all you would need to know. It's a class that teaches survival skills that people in non-combat fields might need. For example, as an Enchanter whose main weapon is a gun, they taught me how I can use sup-par materials I might find in Rifts, like monster bones, to craft myself more bullets in cases that I run out. A broader example would be teaching Alchemists how to brew potions in the wild with any of the standard equipment they usually use. As a Mage, you really only need your mind and a few Mana potions for emergencies, so they wouldn't really have much to teach you." Confirming everything was in place, Elizabeth closed the suitcase and set it aside.

  "Wait, don't you need your enchanting tools to craft your bullets? Wouldn't it be cumbersome to carry them around?"

  "Yes, it would be cumbersome to carry our enchanting tools. Fortunately, it isn't hard to use more unathroide items to enchant something."

  "Really?" Elizabeth nodded, grabbed something out of her hair and handed it over to Crytsal. Taking the item, Crystal inspected it and realized she was looking at a single metal hairpin. "You can use this to carve engravings?" She asked, handing the hairpin back to Elizabeth.

  "Yes," Elizabeth took the hairpin from Crystal, unfolded it into a thin metal needle and showed it to her. "With a carefully maintained Boost spell to reinforce the hairpin, I can use it to carve enchantments into soft enough materials like monster bones." Folding it, Elizabeth then placed the hairpin back where she got it. "Of course, the hairpin isn't the only thing I'm bringing that can be used as an emergency enchanting tool, and if all else fails, I could always carve myself one using any hard enough material I can find in the Rift. Does that answer all your questions?"

  "It does, thank you."

  "That's good to hear. How about you? Are you ready for the Survival Test?"

  "As ready as I can be," Crystal answered as she crossed the last item off her list before closing her bag. With everything prepared for the big test the next day, Crystal and Elizabeth chose to spend the rest of the evening having a relaxing chat with each other over a warm meal befor heading to bed early.

  "So are you ready for the big test tomorrow?" Raven asked while maneuvering his game character to roll under a monster's attack. Taking a moment to process the question, Jack waited for a lull in the fight befor pausing the game.

  "The what now?" Raven shot him a 'really?' look.

  "The Survival Test portion of the physical exams."

  "Fuck." Jack muttered out loud when he realized what Raven was talking about. "I was so happy to be finally done with all the written exams that I completely forgot about that!"

  "Come on," Raven got off the couch. "We should prepare you for the test before we continue the game."

  "What are you bringing?" Jack asked while stretching his stiff body as he stood up from the couch.

  "Just the essentials like food, water, and a portable tent." Jack nodded.

  "Make sense, it's hard to pack anything more specific when they're not giving us info on the kinds of Rifts we'll be entering."

  "Isn't that the point? Entering Rifts with little to no info about it is pretty standard out in the field."

  "True, true." Jack nodded in agreement. An hour later, the duo was almost done, with Raven packing cans of food and dried salted jerky into a bag. "Found it!" Jack yelled as he entered the room, a collapsible tent under one arm, a rolled-up sleeping bag under his other, and a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck.

  "You're bringing your binoculars?" Jack shrugged while setting the two items under his arm down beside his bag.

  "Why not? I haven't used them since we went camping a few months back. They're pretty cheap, so all I would need to do is kill a monster or two to make enough to buy some replacements. And they should come in handy no matter what kind of Rift I find myself in."

  "Fair enough," Raven admitted with a nod before stuffing the last of the food into Jack's bag and closing it. "Anything else you want to bring along?"

  "Eh, not really," Jack answered as he took off his binoculars and set them next to the bag. The duo silently looked over their prepared bags, thinking about what other items they might want to bring along. The silence was broken by the sound of Alex's stomach rumbling. Raven chuckled at Jack's embarrassed look as he scratched his flushed cheeks.

  "Come on, help me with dinner, then we can continue our game. If we're fast enough, we might be able to squeeze in another hunt before it's too late."

  "Great idea! What do you need me to do?"

  "Any preference on what you want to eat?" Jack shrugged.

  "Not really."

  "How about stew and rice? We can finish our current hunt while we wait for it to cook." Raven suggests after giving it some thought.

  "I'm down."

  "In that case, go prepare the veggies while I start cooking the meat and broth."

  "Yes, sir." Jack saulted as he went to grab the veggies. Raven rolled his eyes before heading to the chicken. Once the stew started cooking, the duo spent the rest of their evenings continuing their hunt, ate their meal when it was done and then continued playing late into the night. A decision they would both come to mildly regret the upcoming morning.

  Alex was walking down the sidewalk heading towards the academy, carrying four storage pouches on his waist and a large hiking backpack. As he absent-mindedly made his way to the acadamy, he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

  "Alex!" Turning around, he saw Mari rushing towards him down the sidewalk, a large backpack hanging around her shoulder. He waited for her to catch up before continuing walking forward. "Heya Alex!"

  "Mourning Mari, are you ready for the Survival Test?"

  "Yup! How about you?"

  "As ready as I can be. It took me a while and a lot of Credits, but I managed to get everything I needed in time." Alex patted the Storage pouch on his hip. The duo chatted with each other until they entered the academy grounds. "What room did you get? I got room 216 at the Enchanter's building."

  "I got Gym A." Alex nodded. "Oh, before I forget," She rummaged for something in her short pockets, took out a crumbled piece of paper and handed it to him. "Here's the number of my Pa's friend, the one who made my Storage ring." Taking it from her hands, Alex opened it and read it over befor storing it away in one of his pouches.

  "Thanks, I'll make sure to pay you back."

  "No prob!" The duo chatted with each other until they arrived at the academy.

  "Well, looks like we have to go our separate ways for now. If we're lucky, we'll see each other inside the Rift; if not, I'll see you in a week or two." Mari nodded with a wide grin and gave Alex a thumbs-up.

  "No matter where we both end up, I know we'll ace this! Good luck out there!" She cheered as she dashed away.

  "You too!" Alex shouted back before heading to his designated room. Entering room 216 at the Enchanter's building, Alex looked around and saw a few other students waiting. He also spotted a clock on the wall and saw that he had another hour and a half befor the test was scheduled to start. Taking off his backpack, Alex found a quiet corner of the room, sat on the floor, leaned against the wall while placing his bag on his lap, and began reviewing his memories of the Rift he selected.

  "Mr.Alveron?" He was knocked out of his memories by someone calling his name. Opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that the room was more packed than before. Turning to the source of the voice, Alex saw a young woman wearing a lab coat, her blood red hair tied into a bun.

  "Ah, good morning, Ms.Nash," Alex greeted as he tried to focus his mind away from his memories.

  "Late night?"

  "No, just caught up in some memories." She nodded before stretching her hand towards him. Grabbing her hand, Alex, with Nash's help, got up off the floor. "Thanks, Ms.Nash." He said while slinging his bag back on before dusting his legs.

  "Didn't I say you could just call me Natasha?"She asked in a playful tone. "Ms. Nash makes me think you're referring to my mother."

  "You did, but another teacher told me doing so wouldn't be respectful." She narrowed her eyes at him.

  "I would think that would be my decision to make. Which teacher was it?"

  "I think you already know." Natasha clicked her tongue in disgust.

  "-Tch- always poking his nose where it isn't needed or welcomed." Alex mentally shook his head. He never understood Natasha's relationship with her twin. His older self just figured they added that tidbit about them to flesh out the less important NPCs, but now that he is living in REALMs, he can't see why there's so much hostility between them. In the end, Alex decided it would be best to ignore his curiosity and let them deal with their issue among themselves. "Well, forgot what he told you. You have my permission to call me by my first name."

  "Whatever you say, Natasha." She beamed.

  "Great! Oh, before I forget, here you go." Reaching into the duffel bag she had slung over her shoulder, Natasta took out a metal bracelet and handed it to him. "Your tracker for the Survival Test." Alex looked at the item in her hand before looking around the room and noticing that all the other students were already wearing a tracker.

  "Thank you." Alex took the item from her hand and put it on. "It's different from the rest." Natasha's eyes lit up at his comment.

  "I knew you would notice it!" She gestured to the tracker. "That one is custom-made so that the enchantments are hard to circumvent, and in case you somehow do it, it will immediately notify us." She froze, realizing the implication of her words. "I'm not saying you would do that or that you're not allowed to bring any of your runes!" She said frantically. "It's just, uh." Natasha lost some of her energy as she tried to think of an excuse. Alex shook his head.

  "No, it's fine, I get it."He reassured her. "It makes sense for the acadamy to be cautious, especially with my track record." He paced the tracker around his left wrist.

  "Thank you for your understanding." She sighed with a relieved smile. "But that's not all it does!" She continued with renewed energy. "Not only is this bad boy equipped with the same enhancements as the trackers you used in previous outings into Rifts, like the protection bubble. It's also connected to the teleporters scattered throughout the academy, including that one." She motioned to the large circular metal platform at the center of the room.

  "Are these teleporters the things that are going to send us into the stable Rifts?"

  "Yup! Once the Survival Test is scheduled to start, groups of ten students will step onto the teleporter and be randomly sent to one of the eight Rifts. Of course, your tracker is programmed to send you to your chosen Rift instead." Suddenly, the teleporter came to life; the circuit-like lines throughout the machine lit up with a blue glow. "Ah, it looks like it's time for me to go. Good luck out there." Natasha waved goodbye to Alex before turning to leave.

  "Thanks," Alex waved back before entering the line of students. Once it was his group's turn, he took a deep breath and stepped onto the teleporter. Then, in a flash of light, he was gone, the next group of students following close behind.