Goodtimes.

In the calm rivers of a hidden valley stood a man with glasses in meditation all while being surrounded by his students all around, while only the sound of water and nature could be heard by normal people, the more perceptive and with stronger senses could hear the amount of effort each one of them was giving just by their breaths and fast beating hearts.

This effort was being used to try their best to control the flow of the river that was in front of them, a hard exercise of patience and control, trying to not be too forceful neither too loose in their battle of control, this exercise was created by Joseph as a means to let them use mana in large amounts but having to learn to control such large amounts of water would quickly drain oneself if they were not careful, thus they were given the objective of making the river turn and hit targets that were around 300 meters away, the two teams would struggle against one another to see who would hit who's target first.

In this battle Noah was quickly showing hes superior control over magic and its application being able to change the waterflow by using blockages and earth modeling of its margin trying to guide the flow towards the otherside, but as often the case the crafty Ralph would not let him do as he pleased, constantly making holes and pushing the water through such holes to break the blockages and make less water come towards their target, slowing down the Noah's plan while his team would fight against the rest to push it outwards.

The teams were balanced, the weaker ones, Alex and Laura had Noah, while the other team had Sophy, Ralph, Anna and Brian having not only a more bqlanced team but also bigger advantage in numbers.

Try as they may the group of four would try to speed one side of the water and guide the flow only to be interrupted by Alex and Laura solidifying the accelerated water, making thus a intriguing sight for Joseph who was watching their fight.

'Noah and his team know that they can't take their time trying to use subtle means because they lack the firepower and the reserves to fight for long, while Ralph's knows that they need to stop Noah and try and push back with numbers to try and force the situation to a drag, winning on the long term. If things keep going as they are Noah's team ceirtainly will not hold...'

Just then as Joseph was thinking that the results were almost settled he saw another river bursting fourth from underneath in the direction of Ralph' team target, gushing from a newly made hole goinf downward to hit its target.

'The crafty Noah strikes again, good thing i was prepared this time... huhuhuhu' thought Ralph when suddenly the otherside of the river crumbled and the river made a sudden twist, his team was nit blindly forcing the water to change the waterflow, but like he was disrupting Noah's earth magic his team was slowly changing the waterbed to accumulate more water on the otherside while also being ready to crumble the earth on the river bank.

Seeing this from outside would make one see a river being divided in two, both going towards a different target, one of them small and quick, the other large and unstoppable.

"Quick, help me make a whirlpool in the interflow of the river that will make their river slow down and ours grow stronger and quicker." said Noah by using his magic to try his last attempt and attack, while both Laura and Aled followed him to make a decently sized whirlpool that would help guide the rivers flow to the other side.

"Nice try Noah, but today its our win!" (Anna)

"Sorry brother!" (Sophy)

"Today we defeat the raidboss Noah!" (Ralph)

"Hehehe, just like you planned big bro!" (Brian)

And thus Ralph's team gave the last push of magic to close down the hole made by Noah underneath the surface, closing down the river that just showed up.

But suddenly another bigger hole opened up, with much more pressure the water went out stronger than before, quickly closing in on their target. Noah had not made only one hole but rather two of them, both his attacks to change the river bank and the smaller river were all a diversion to then strike quickly and fiercely to win before they were overwhelmed.

And so came the conclusion of their mock battle, with Noah's team hitting the target faster than the other could hit theirs, althougt it was a close victory it atested to Noah's capability at both strategy, strenght and commanding ability, not only was he capable of coordinating with Laura and Alex about making an underground river while distracting their opponents, but also to make a parallel river to act as a feint and diversion.

"Ok kids, that is enough for today, good job everyone it was a good battle and I am sure you all have learned alot from it, first that numbers and strenght arent the only way to win, and second that time is something precious on a fight and while rushing might not be the wisest move, being quick and decisive can bring a win when things look bad." said Joseph in his mentoring tone, ready to then proceed with the indivial instructions about everyones performance and what they should practice next.

'The only one I am not sure how to teach is Noah, he has mostly went beyond whatever I gave him... now even I feel I dont have much to give him... Maybe i should find him someone with more experience and knowledge from the natives...' thought Joseph about how to help Noah's talent flourish even more

'Ralph as always was too confident in his plan and too slow to adapt, while Anna was too flustered to try and take command and be more decisive, Sophy and Brian usually dont take the lead but their over relliance on others orders made their potential not come out as it should...' And thus more and more notes for the kid's teaching in the future were made, trying to constantly give them the tools needed not only to survive but also to be free and choose their own path when they grow up was always his objetive wih the kids, he would see them grow in the place of their parents.

'But I am still worried about how they dont seem to be so affected by all that happened before they came to Jurissia... heck they saw their own family and friends commit mass suicide to bring them here, how can they be this calm and collected?' Deciding to leave that for now, Joseph and the lids made their way home to rest and eat in comfort.

Having been here for 7 months gave them plenty of time to know each other and made friendships, they were now a big family, being closer than ever also bought about some eventual drama, like Ralph and Anna shouting at each other and Laura being a crybaby that would pout and lashout everytime someone teased her, something that happened frequently because both Ralph and Noah were approaching the level of compulsory pranksters of the base, people would wake up soaked in water, would trip when getting out of bath, and the most common was the little shocking touches which would be akin to tickles and also the ice cubes that would find their places on everyones backs, sometimes so stealthly that one could swear it was a ghost. The only one that would never get pranked would be Joseph, because he had caught them red handed many times, and while Sophy was still being target by pranks, her brother would always make it lighter for her.

The only one that didnt belive that Noah was a prankster would be Anna, who would always take it out on Ralph when she was pranked, 'because there was no way such a serious guy would do this things...' she would say while beating Ralph with her fists, something which Noah always found amusing and a good way to tease his best friend Ralph...

These times were good for all of them, they would laugh, grow and find comfort in each other, livinf their best days in a long while... something which was bound to be brief...