It's been 4 years since Mikael and David had come to this world. In this time, they had slowly improved their cognition in the eyes of others, they had been very careful, as members of the royal family, they didn't have a chance to interact with many, so what they could know as children, was limited. Fortunately, they had access to the royal library, as books were hard to produce in medieval times, this was a rare luxury; only nobles would have access to such luxuries.

Though literature of this world was still lacking, there were a few good pieces, but most of it were instructional manuals for various tasks and incompetent literature filled with derivative work by nobles. David assumed it was due to general illiteracy amongst the population.

Subjects like chemistry, biology and physics were borderline non-existent. Mathematics was as basic as it gets, allowing for only simple calculations. Philosophy was bearable, but heavily influenced by religion and magic.

As such, the brothers only pretended to read most of the time, to justify their intelligence. They concentrated on magic, geography, history and tag.

Tag became their game of choice, climbing things, running and play fighting allowed them enough physical activity to facilitate proper development of their bodies, but not enough to induce injury. Boros, their personal guard already had a tough time following them, but they tried to stay close to him, Mikael and David had a deep respect for the working man, as their father was such a man, they would never interfere in his job unless it was absolutely necessary. Boros was a tall and wide man, he was wearing a full-plate armor. He had a crooked nose and bright blue eyes. No hair to speak of and a scar running up his neck. He spoke kindly to them, but it did not seem forced, rather it seemed like he was quite attached to David and Mikael as a parental figure.

Their eating habits became famous in the palace, children who refused the luxury of sweets and ate anything and everything in their wake.

They had many teachers, but some were more important than others. Geography was taught to them by a famous cartographer, who owned a cartography guild. He was a man who had seen the entire world, so his input became extremely valuable. Madelan was his name. He was extremely passionate about cartography and took the suggestions of Mikael and David to heart. The idea of earth being round was not something he had even considered. Considering the extent of his travels, this planet seemed to be considerably large.

“How do you know the earth is flat?” asked David.

“Well, your grace, if it wasn’t, we could see the curve, how would you even imagine such a thing”

David made a face as if he was thinking.

“Well take a look at this” David drew a circle on paper.

“You see this? It’s round right?”

“Yes”

David drew another circle, this time larger.

“How about this one”

“It’s still a circle”

“Yes, but something is special about it”

Madelan Laughed.

“I don’t see it David”

“It’s flatter”

Madelan thought about what David said. His eyes widened.

“Ahhh, you are suggesting, that if the circle is large enough, it would appear flat”

“Yes, so there is a way”

“There is a problem with that theory”

“What is the problem”

“Wouldn’t we fall down at some point?”

“Which way is down”

“What?”

“Which way would be down, in which direction would we fall, is there, some land if you go down?” David added the last question to extenuate the ridiculousness of such a thing.

Madelan looked baffled.

“I don’t know”

“What if there is no down or up, what if something keeps us attached to land, an invisible force like mana”

Madelan didn’t know what to say.

“Perhaps, how would we prove it”

“The curve would be noticeable at a large distance”

“Huh?”

“Shadows would be different at the same time of day”

Madelan opened his eyes wide.

“Of course! Of course, my gods, it would explain the navigation issues as well. I must solve this puzzle, I must know, thank you David, thank you”

In the Year 781 in the Land of Fiery, Madelan Discovered the curve of the earth, in the subsequent book written on the subject “The mysteries of Navigation” David was credited for this discovery, however this book was written years later, so for now this knowledge remained with Madelan.

In terms of magic, they lucked out, they were attached to a reputable mage, who seemed to have a talent for teaching. He was very observant, and picked up on their cues easily and explained things clearly. Magic in this World was quite complex.

Mana wasn't something one could find within themselves, rather it was found around oneself. Concentration was not varied, rather it was a constant presence, however it could be depleted, so in terms of large-scale magic, striking first was key. In terms of minor magic, it would take hours to deplete the mana, but the consumption was exponential based on the grade of magic. It took around three days for the magic to fully replenish.

There were 9 grades in total, generally the first 5 grades could manifest instantly, so they were popular among warriors, they often never bothered to learn the rest, as they could not use them in battle.

In terms of capacity for magic, apparently anyone could learn magic, the problem was control, visualizing the magic was tough for many, on top of that mana control seemed to be connected to genetics, however the difference was not vast. It seemed that the difference was like the difference in physical ability, it was just as random and with enough hard work one could catch up. Though of course, talent and hard work in combination would produce significant results.

Elements were broken down into 7: Light, Dark, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind and Lightning. There was no such thing as affinity for an element, but they took practice, learning 5 of them would be no different from learning five different sports, possible, but mastery was not necessarily achievable during your lifespan, so people chose to focus on mastering 1 or 2 of them. An archmage had to learn all 9 Tiers and Master 3 Elements, this was considered to be a lifetime achievement.

To create a spell, you had to gather and move mana in a certain way. There were no incantations as such, but during complex spells, many often spoke certain words, which were like formulas, made up of words from the Grand Magic Code, each word described a certain movement in magic, the word "Kor" meant circular movement, "Ram" Meant horizontal movement and etc. Spells were made up of a combination of movements. It was not necessary to use these words, but many learnt mana control through this method and bad habits die hard, also it allowed for one person to know the spell, and many could use them together, if they could understand the code spoken by the main caster. In cooperation even 6^th tier mages could cast a 9^th tier spell.

Mana moved at a certain speed, so there was no such thing as variation in terms of spell speed. additionally, there were special abilities individuals were born with, the abilities were random, though heavily influenced by a person’s talents. it was also required to master 3rd tier magic as a complex 3^rd tier spell was needed to form runes within oneself to use the ability.

Currently David and Mikael were still practicing 2nd tier magic, 1st tier magic took them 3 years to master, which was a reasonable amount of time, though their teacher Andreas, thought this was too quick for such young children.

One more important teacher was Father John, a priest with an uptight attitude. Mikael and David were at first critical of his boring teaching style, but then discovered that the priest had vast knowledge of politics within the kingdom, and though he did not have a particularly strong talent for teaching, if asked the right questions, he had much to offer.

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

"Boys, the King has requested your presence tomorrow. Make sure you prepare yourselves. Very important people will be there" said Andreas.

"Do you know the reason teacher?"

"Even the King has heard of your achievements and curiosity boys, I'm sure it's to commend you"

The king was quite negligent in terms of his youngest sons. Though when they met him, he always seemed tired and barely awake, so the brothers did not judge him, after all they always had respect for the working man. The King was of normal stature, but his reputation as a warrior and a ruler preceded him. He fought and won many wars, which was why this kingdom had enjoyed a long period of peace.

The crown prince seemed like a normal child, he seemed to handle his status well, but was very clearly not enjoying the attention. They seemed to have him put through the same lessons as his young brothers, but unlike them, he was just a child, so the expectations of their mother were misplaced. They did not interact with him much, but when they did, he seemed to be distant. Mikael suggested that the crown prince was suffering from social anxiety, but this would be ignored, since in the middle ages such things were not acknowledged.

The Queen seemed to be a capable Queen with significant influence, but an incompetent mother, who could not understand the essence of motherhood. Her idea of love was a hug and a gift.

In terms of Factions, there were plenty. The most powerful was the king's loyalists, part of the Kings inner circle, they only truly acknowledged the authority of the King. The Queen faction included foreign envoys as well, since she hailed from the Kingdom of Eraton to the south, king's Loyalists were also likely to back her most of the time to appease the king.

There was also the faction of the archmage, which took a more passive role, but had significant influence due to their power in times of war. The archbishop also held power, but he seemed to be a man of integrity and did not abuse his power, leaving state matters alone. The archbishop seemed to have improved the reputation of the church with his reasonable and kind actions towards the people.

Nobles were split between many factions, Mikael commended King George for such an achievement, it was obvious that the nobility should be much more united, it spoke to the competence of the King that opposition was scarce in a monarchy.

 

"What do you think Mikael?"

"I think this is exactly what we aimed for, it's not strange for the King to take notice of talent"

"I would've preferred to wait a couple years, there is plenty we still need to learn"

"You think we won't have the opportunity?"

"Wouldn't you want to test the extent of your children’s talent?"

Mikael thought back to his own children, his eldest son went through plenty of hardships in Mikael’s experiments of excellence. David had a point.

"Well, no point in speculating, the patient ones shall see"

"Who said that"

"The wisest man to exist"

"Who?"

"Me"

"Don't drown in it"

"Should we act like children… children?"

"No, this is the king, nothing strange about us behaving"

"True, perhaps it's time to ask Boros to teach us as well, but we’ll need to acquire health stones"

"Let's see how it goes first, let’s not hurry, as you suggested"

The royal hall was an unnecessarily large room, hundreds stood with plenty of space between them. The Queen and the King sat on humble chairs, Mikael had not seen this scene and continued to be impressed by his so-called father. Everyone else stood, even the particularly old men.

David and Mikael were accompanied by Boros, Madelan, Andreas and Father John who stood behind them. All of them kneeled as per tradition.

"Stand, and come closer children" The King spoke, he seemed rested for once.

 

Mikael and David approached.

"David, Mikael I've paid close attention to your achievements so far. It good to hear that my sons show such curiosity and diligence at a such young age"

"Thank you for the kind words, your grace" Both Mikael and David responded.

"Kindness has nothing to do with it, mastering the 1st tier of magic by the age of 6 is no easy task, your academics have been exemplary as well"

"It is a testament to the talents of our teachers, your grace" David responded

Andreas, Madelan and the priest were taken aback by his words. Whispers spread through the nobles, they had heard of the young princes’ rumors, but they did not expect them to be so well spoken at the age of 7.

"Good steel is useless without a good smith, your grace, we are grateful for the time they have put in us" Added Michael.

The teachers behind them had a tough time hiding their satisfaction to the words of the princes. Just from this exchange, their reputations would soar throughout the kingdom.

"You speak well my children, your teachers will be rewarded accordingly, we will speak of their reward at a later time"

The archbishop stepped out of the crowd.

"With your permission your grace, I shall reward Father John as well, he has fulfilled his duties well" spoke the archbishop

"Very well, I suppose I cannot give much to a man of gods. I suppose my sons should be rewarded as well for their efforts, what would you like my children?" The king asked with a kind smile.

Mikael and David knew this was a test, they looked at each other, speaking a language only brothers could speak. Mikael chose to speak.

"Your grace, we intended to ask Boros, the man who has guarded us all our lives to teach us the ways of the sword, as we have heard whispers of his exploits in times of war. We would like certain resources for this task"

 

The king had expected many responses, but not this. The boys were far beyond his expectations. They could become significant powers in the kingdom, if they chose to become generals, that would most likely yield tremendous results as well. However, right now a concern was born in his mind. They were too capable, if their ambitions were too extensive, they would become a threat to Robert, the crown prince. Should he let it happen? considering their potential, or should he quietly get rid of them while he can, to save Robert? Is he even capable of such cruelty towards his own children, suddenly he was afraid of the future.

"Truly Boros is a capable man, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen him to guard you. Though there was no threat to speak of, I am sure it was due to his reputation. Boros will receive a new blade, by the Archsmith of the capital"

"Thank you your grace" Boros spoke calmly, a lifetime soldier did not show emotion so easily, so he took all of this with a certain stoicism.

"Very well, anything you might need my sons. There is one thing I'm curious about, what do you think being a king means?" The king asked with suspicious eyes.

Mikael and David realized the king's concerns immediately, they had half expected it. The room had become a bit tense, some realized the reason for the Kings’ question.

"It is a great responsibility, a sacrifice for the people, our brother, Robert is brave for undertaking such a task in the future"

"True, but it is also power one receives"

"Your grace, there are better ways to acquire power" Mikael wanted to make it clear to the King that they had no interest in the matter. If they were thought of as a danger to the crown prince their movements would become too restricted in the future.

The King erupted in Laughter.

"That is true, but it also shortens the process, do you ever feel jealous of your brother Robert?"

"Of course not, your grace, we love him, as he is our brother first and foremost"

"And if that was not the case?"

"Still no, a King is a target, a King shoulders everything and the tired face of our own father, we know it well your grace, we do not want to live such lives despite the glory of it, we want to fight, laugh and live fully. There are other better ways to have power"

The King thought about his son's words.

"Are you suggesting I'm foolish for being King" The king said with a smile.

"No, your grace, I'm just saying you are very brave for being so"

The King laughed once more. His fears were alleviated, this children were different, they could only be an asset, the possibilities excited him, even if Robert was not good enough, his younger brothers would pull the slack, it made him calm and happy, his enemies should beware.

"Good answer, go on my children, I have big plans for you, for now do as you like"

"We will do our best, your grace"