I hardly slept that night. I stared into the darkness of the bunkhouse, dreaming of what was to come. The following day be the day that we would receive our rewards and, more importantly, the day that I would meet with the inner circle.


    That morning, I set out with the rest of my countrymen for our morning exercise routine. Something about the communal, repetitive working of mind and muscle helped me feel connected to my men—stilled the tension in my chest. After breakfast, I made my way to meet my lords. Derek was growing on me. He was blunt about his opinions and maybe a bit stiff, but I didn’t mind. From what I knew, he grew up in the city, was well-educated, was a fierce fighter, and valued integrity more than most. If I were vying for a lady’s attention, I might feel intimated. Derek had short, dark hair and a thin yet muscular build. Agile and strong, he was a bit taller than me and had been blessed with a rather symmetrical face. I shook my head, realizing that I was feeling jealous; this wasn''t the time. I couldn’t afford vanity. It would cloud my judgment.


    Instead, I turned my thoughts to Kate; she intrigued me. I had overheard her saying that she was from a smaller town but that her family was well-off. I had to admit that I was attracted to her. She had long blonde hair and a sweet smile, and she could battle with the best warriors, not because of her strength, but because of her speed and agility. After another minute of walking, I came to the clearing where I had set our meeting. Derek and Kate had already arrived and, as I had guessed, Kate was the first to speak.


    "Champion King Steven!" I scrunched my nose at the obnoxious title.


    "Kate,” I said as gently yet firmly as I could. “Stick with Steven. I am king. We are champions."Kate blushed in embarrassment."If that’s really what you prefer,” she replied, hiding her discomfort at my gentle rebuke.


    I smiled, unused to having such a marked influence on others with just a few words. I would need to be careful how I handled and addressed my countrymen. My words held too great a weight now to take them lightly. With that thought in mind, I greeted Derek and began with the important business that needed attending to.


    "As you both know, we will be receiving several boons for our victory in the tournament. I’m going to break up the tasks for said boons between both of you and your assigned knights. It sounds like we''ve been given an extended period of time to build up our city and get ourselves settled into our classes, which begin tomorrow. Derek, you will be in charge of managing the new bamboo grove. Kate, you''ll be overseeing the development of our farmland. Both of you will have to be involved in managing the iron mines, as it will be both labor-intensive and related to crafting our weapons, shelters, and more. But we can’t shift all our attention to the new opportunities before us. We need to continue pushing the priorities we started with. We’ll want to get that smokehouse finished, build a storehouse, not to mention clearing out more space for those buildings and cutting logs up into usable materials. All this must be accomplished while we start our new courses, which I''m guessing will eat up a lot of our time. In short, we have work to do.”


    We continued to talk over the details for several minutes before we were interrupted by the sound of pounding hooves. We rushed to the entrance of our camp and were surprised to see Sophia riding toward us. She waved and she pulled her steed to stop.


    "Surprised to see me?" she asked. “ Someone had to come give you your rewards. Congratulations. Thanks to you, I''m the talk of the academy. As for your rewards, you made some good choices, but it will take time to make good use of them. You may not even see returns before the next tournament. I must congratulate you on choosing one of the best classes—not that I can share anything more about it. Hand-to-hand combat will be helpful as well," she said with a wink.


    "Now, for your boons. I''ve been instructed to inform you that, before the agriculturist can visit you, you will have to make a serviceable road leading to the land you wish to farm."


    I grimaced. The scouts reported that we had an open section of our territory that would likely be good for farming, but it was in the northwest corner, making it nearly a three-mile trek through dense woods in that direction. The thought of clearing 3 miles of trees and underbrush with our single ax made me shudder.


    "And what of other boons?" I asked.


    "Ah yes. Here, take these," she said, handing me a scroll tied with a leather cord.


    "This is a map marking your territory, along with the general location of the bamboo grove and the coal and iron mines. Eager with anticipation, I took the scroll and began unrolling it. I was a bit disappointed to see that no additional information was provided about our territory beyond a bare-bones lay of the land, but that was to be expected. I scanned the map and found the two points of interest. I frowned. The iron mine was about 2 miles southeast of the entry point to our territory''s forest, making it roughly a 3-mile commute in total from our camp to the mine. That wasn''t the only issue, though; the Bamboo Grove was directly east of our territory, which would either force us to cut yet another road through the forest or alternatively require us to make a 4-mile run around the perimeter. But to make matters even more frustrating, I saw what promised to be an insurmountable task: about halfway to the Bamboo Grove, there lay a large river that would need crossing.


    "Judging from the creases in your forehead and the frown that hasn''t left your face since you started reading, you understand the difficulties that you''re going to face," Sophia noted.


    "This is outrageous," I began. "Even the easiest to access mine will require a fleet of wagons and a two-mile stretch of road for them to roll on. The bamboo grove might as well not even exist given how difficult it will be to reach, and don''t get me started about clearing a path to the farm!"If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Sophia stared down at me for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "Did you think it would be easy to build your new nation from the ground up? Do you have any idea how long it would take to naturally locate and assess a mine? Like you said, don''t even get me started about the farm; it would take years of trial and error to learn what the specialist is going to teach you in a few short weeks, not to mention locating and cultivating all of the starting seeds you''ll receive. On the bright side, it looks like you got a free reality check—that ought to count as an additional boon."


    I glared at her, willing myself to think rather than react. What she said is true. Even if it takes time, these resources will pay off in the long run. I can’t think of everything in terms of quarters and tournaments. To win the Academy, we have to play the long game. I know that. I just need to adjust my expectations accordingly. I sighed. Were it so easy.


    Refusing to look defeated, I spoke with harnessed intent. "You''re right Sophia; thank you for knocking some sense into me."


    Sophia smiled. "My pleasure. Like I said, you did an excellent job yesterday, and you are already making quick advancements. Your long-term plan for the boons may not materialize as soon as you’d hoped, but when it does, you will have a marked advantage. It will take some extra effort, but each of these rewards will pay off greatly in the long run if handled correctly. Don''t lose heart. Claim your courage, young king. Victory is never easy, but always within reach."


    “As for your classes, they begin tomorrow. A school building is located 2 miles directly west of where the road enters your territory. Your first class will start at 10:00 a.m. I suggest you arrive early. Once you’ve built a road to your farmland, you can let your instructor at the school know, and they will schedule a meeting with the agricultural specialist." With a final, satisfied nod, Sophia turned down the road and left us alone once again.


    I turned to Derek and Kate with a slight smile on my face.


    "Ready to overcome some insurmountable odds?" I said.


    They didn''t seem overly upset about the new challenges ahead. I chose to believe that was because of their great faith in me. I chuckled.


    Derek turned to me, stable and steady as always. “All they''ve done is add some new variables. N


    No othing we can''t handle. So, what''s the plan?" Derek asked.


    "I’m working on it,” I replied. “What would my lords suggest?"


    "For starters," Kate began, "I don''t think it will be possible for us to clear out large swaths of the forest with a single proper axe. If we want to have any hope of making progress towards the farm or building a bridge across the river, we''re going to need more axes, and to make them, we''re going to need iron."


    "Indeed," I replied. "We''ll need to talk to Liz—see what it takes to start making some wagons. Four miles round trip is way too far to be carrying iron ore.”


    Derek, who had been deep in thought, interrupted. We might not have to carry it at all," he said.


    I looked at him with surprise, nodding for him to continue.


    "If we smelt all of the iron just outside of the mine, we would have the coal and the iron ore all on-site. That would allow us to minimize the transportation of raw materials. Derek finished.


    "In that case, we will just have to bring materials to the mine to set up a forge and then send a team of people to mine, smelt, and cool the iron each day," I mused. Hope found its home in my heart once again, and ambition alongside it. Once we had a forge up and running, we could pump out new tools, building supplies, and eventually, weapons. Looking back up at my advisors, I put a hand on each other shoulders, looking each of them in the eyes.


    "All right. Here''s the plan."


    ~


    The rest of the day went well. I tasked Kate and Derek with gathering supplies for the wagon we would need for the new forge and recruiting a couple of people from their teams to handle tool construction and iron production. We ended the day by running through drills and various one-on-one duels. Morale seemed high; our victory had done a lot to unite us as a team, and it seemed like the entire camp had come to trust me as their leader. As I lay in bed that night, my thoughts kept racing. Ever since my unusual experience in the hut, I''d wanted to sit down and try using my gift again, but I decided to hold off until the official class began the following day. That night, I dreamed of a mountain surrounded by fog, with a single torch visible, moving up its winding path toward the peak.


    ~


    The next morning went as usual, starting with our group exercises and then breakfast. Afterward, I gathered everyone together.


    "Soon we will be heading off to our courses,” I began. “I''m excited to say that I believe these lessons will change the course of the Academy and our nation. Now, I have an announcement to make. As you all witnessed at the tournament, a battle of wits that brought us ultimate victory. With that in mind, we are going to start an additional level of training that will challenge and stretch each of us mentally. You are all strong in body, and growing stronger by the day. The same should be true of your minds. To that end I will be teaching everyone in the nation how to read and write."


    A flurry of whispers and conversation began the moment I ended my sentence, but no one cried out in protest, and the rustlings in the crowd seemed more curious than anything. Surveying my soldiers, I found that they had that same determined look on their faces as the day we won the tournament; they were ready to do whatever it took to win.


    "How many here have mastered basic literacy?" I scanned the crowd again and saw that only two hands were raised in reply. To my surprise, one of the hands belonged to Duck, and the other to Roy.


    "Very good. Roy and Duck, along with Derek, Kate, Brad, and myself, will be teaching the rest of you how to read, starting tomorrow immediately right after breakfast."


    I heard Kate groan behind me as she realized how full her schedule was about to become. I figured that was good, though; teaching is often one of the best ways to learn.


    We gave ourselves plenty of time so that we could walk the few miles and still arrive early. I wasn''t sure what to expect, so I didn''t want everyone to be exhausted when we arrived. It took us about 45 minutes to get there, and when we did, I was surprised at what I saw. The school building was small, comprised of a couple of classrooms and a single, outdoor training area where I figured we''d spend most of our time. The building itself looked brand new as if it had just been constructed. The doors were locked, so we waited outside the main entrance for about 10 minutes until we heard a click, and the door swung open.