The sky was painted a warm tangerine hue from the sun resting on the horizon. Few clouds float above, far in distance from one another. Brandon was leading Nozomi and Kaito down a dirt road. Kaito was busy munching away on a huge piece of meat that was skewered on a stick. Both Kaito and Nozomi had put on noticeable weight while traveling with Brandon. Their ribs no longer stuck out and their bodies no longer seem frail. Both were wearing proper clothes as well. Nozomi wore a gray tank top accompanied by some black leggings. However, most of that was hidden due to her wearing a black cape that covered most of her body. She wore one to match Brandon. Kaito wore a dark blue t-shirt with beige cargo pants. Both of them wore a brand-new pair of boots that were similar to Brandon's. They were currently traveling through some plains, massive. Very few trees could be found in this area. The majority of flora that made up most of this area was grass and weeds varying in height. The grass and weeds swayed gently from the soft breeze brushing against them. Bison could be seen nearby grazing on the grass. Their herd size was massive, hundreds of them traveled together.

“So how much longer until we reach the canyon?” Nozomi asked, smiling at the bison.

“Not long, it’s only a few minutes away now,” Brandon explained.

“Isn’t it a bad idea to train at the bottom of a canyon? Couldn’t excessive amounts of magic cause damage to it and cause the walls to collapse onto the bottom?” Kaito asked in between bites of meat.

“That is very true, but there is no need to worry about that. The amount of power you two possess combined wouldn't be enough to cause that level of damage. It takes years of training to be able to have that much destructive power.” Brandon explained.

As they continued their walk, the canyon came into view. The land suddenly drops off, leading to a drop of three hundred feet. It spanned nearly a mile wide and was six miles long. Kaito and Nozomi lean over the edge to see the bottom. Their mouth hangs open in awe of the canyon's size.

“Welcome to death's canyon, a name bestowed upon it by the nearby towns,” Brandon said.

“Why is it called death's valley?” Kaito asked.

“There is no life in this canyon, not even insects or flora that normally lives in canyons. No matter the season above, the weather in the canyon remains the same. During the day, it will easily hit over one hundred and thirty degrees and at night it drops to a perfect zero. Nothing changes its own temperatures, even if it's snowing above, it will still hit over one hundred. Some legends say that many years ago a powerful witch was murdered here. Her body was left at the bottom to rot away and her magic aura stayed around, affecting the canyon forever. Not sure if it's true, but it makes an amazing place to greatly increase your body's strength.” Brandon explained.

“Wait, how can we train in conditions like that? We barely managed to survive some nights in Rodon due to how cold it gets there during the winter. How do you expect us to survive colder weather every night?” Nozomi questioned with concern.

“You'll have to figure that out, part of this training is to think for yourselves. You'll have to think of strategies to survive, nothing is just going to be laid out for you.” Brandon stated.

Kaito and Nozomi stare at each other, at a loss for words. The task before sounds impossible, how were they to survive this training.

“I never said this would be easy, but if you can finish training with me, it will leave you two prepared. You'll never have another day like that day in the alley with Jack. You'd both be able to protect yourselves from the average person with ease. However, I understand if you wish you back out now. We can travel to a nearby town, and I'll leave you two enough money to get by for a while, to start a new life.” Brandon said, awaiting their response.

“I can't speak for my sister but, I want to do the training. I want to get stronger, I need to. Not just a little, I need to get a lot stronger and if I have to start here with this then so be it. I will do whatever it takes to get stronger, no matter the cost.” Kaito explained.

Nozomi shakes her head in defeat.

“While I think this is crazy and honestly a bit stupid, I'll do the training too. I didn't come this far to back out now, and with Kaito doing it, I can't let him do something like this alone.” Nozomi said with determination.

“Good, we'll start your training in the morning. Let's set up camp and enjoy your last night of comfort.” Brandon said.

Brandon holds his hand out away from the canyon, and it begins to emit soft white light. Suddenly, several bags appear a couple of feet in the air and drop to the grass below. Brandon and Kaito begin unpacking two of the bags that contained one tent each. Nozomi sorted through the different food cans and rations, setting out even portions for everyone. Once done setting up the tents, Kaito gathers some nearby rocks and puts them into a circle formation. Brandon pulls out a red crystal from his bag and places it in the center of the rocks. He holds his hand over it and the crystal glows bright red. Suddenly the crystal begins emitting fire and Nozomi hands out everyone's canned food. Brandon puts a cooking rack and pot over the fire. He opens three cans of food and pours them into the pot. Once everyone has settled, the sun had just set. Crickets filled the air with their nighttime rhythms and noises, as a full moon illuminates the plains below.

“So I've been meaning to ask this for the longest time. How do you just magically make our camping gear and supplies appear and disappear?” Nozomi asked, passing Kaito a pack of crackers.

“It took us a month to get here, and you're just now asking?” Brandon questioned as he stirred the pot of food.

“I was honestly too nervous before due to constantly thinking about what the training was going to be like. Now that we're no longer traveling, I know what the training is going to be like starting out. My mind is no longer running like crazy.” Nozomi explained, letting out a laugh.

“Well, as you could probably guess, it's teleportation magic. It's something I first learned about from an old magic book when I was growing up. However, when I was younger, I couldn't use it fully. I could only teleport a single item back and forth. I went and trained with these really religious monks in some mountains to the south. They trained those who could pass their entrance exams, I spent five years there.” Brandon said.

“Can you teleport any item at any time, or are there rules or something to what you can and can't teleport?” Kaito asked, munching on his crackers.

“Technically, I can teleport anything that isn't living. However, I must draw or engrave a sigil on the item and infuse it with some of my magic. Once I've done that, I have to have the same sigil placed in a room somewhere on a much larger scale. Once that's done, I can teleport the item to and from that room at any time. It's extremely useful for traveling, but not that useful for fighting. It doesn't take much magic to break the seals, so someone could easily break a seal on an item to take it from me.” Brandon explained, pouring everyone's food into bowls.

Brandon passes Nozomi and Kaito their bowls. Kaito quickly begins eating away at his.

“So we're allowed two hours collectively out of the canyon. We'll have to gather food from nearby bushes or any animals we can kill. Gather water, and enough wood or dry grass to burn for a fire. Are we allowed to use any of your camping gear?” Nozomi asked, mixing her crackers into her bowl of stew.

“You'll be allowed to use one bucket, use it for food, water, or anything else you think of. Along with that, I shall give you one pocket knife, to gut anything you manage to kill. Besides that, you're on your own, if you need anything more you'll have to figure out how to make the tools you need.” Brandon explained.

Kaito finishes his bowl by turning it upside and slurping up the remaining food.

“What are you going to be doing while we're down there?” Kaito asked, placing his bowl on the ground.

“I shall remain up here, reading or researching, whichever I'm in the mood for,” Brandon said.

“So we get to sleep in freezing weather, while you sleep up in here in a tent with a fire powered by magic.” Nozomi pouting stated.

“I've already spent my time in that canyon, enough to last me a lifetime. I spent one year with a friend down there. It was one of the worst years of my entire life. And master Wu didn't give us two hours, he gave us one hour for our time above. We spent a few nights pretty hungry, we also had to spar each day at the bottom, so we quickly burned through our supplies during our downtime.” Brandon said, taking a bite of his stew.

“Please tell me, you plan for us to only stay down there the week,” Kaito said hesitantly.

“Nope, the plan currently is to spend one-year training. However, you might be able to finish early. It's just going to be based on how far each of you progresses. Just going till I think you've reached your highest achievable strength from this type of training.” Brandon explained as he finished off his stew.

“Wait, but you said we'd only spend a week down there. Why is it suddenly a year now?” Nozomi questioned.

“Your first part of training is one week down there. Which is just basic survival, you'll learn how to manage your time and resources properly or suffer the consequences. Also, living in harsh conditions in time can condition your body and strengthen it. After the first week, we shall start your next part of training, which will have different rules and tasks for you to do. Each part will increase in difficulty.” Brandon stated.

Kaito and Nozomi look at each other with regret-filled eyes.

“Time for bed, enjoy your last night in the tent because in the morning you shall begin your first day of training,” Brandon said.

Brandon kicks some dirt over the fire as Kaito and Nozmoi crawl into their tents. He packs up everyone's bowls and teleports them away before climbing into his tent.

The sun rises on the horizon, blanketing the plains below in its warm morning light. Brandon emerges from his tent and stretches out his arms. He immediately holds out his hand like before and teleports the items for Kaito and Nozomi. A bucket and a small knife appear and drop to the ground.

“Time to wake up you two, today your training starts!” He yelled out at their tent.

After some fidgeting from inside their tent, Kaito and Nozomi both come out of their tent.

“What's for breakfast?” Kaito sleepily asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Nothing, you're on your own for food. Your two hours begin now. The bucket and knife are next to the firepit.” Brandon stated.

His words quickly jarred them awake, and they quickly get themselves ready.

“I'll go harvest branches from the trees we passed yesterday. Last night I took a quick look around and I saw a pond to the east of us, it's not far. Go and see if you can catch some fish from it if there are any. If not, it's still a source of drinking water." Nozomi explained.

Kaito agrees and grabs the bucket and knife.

Kaito and Nozomi both nod and run in opposite directions as fast as they can. It doesn't take Kaito long before he reaches the pond. Luckily, the pond was large and near the entrance to the canyon. He quickly fills the first bucket with water and sits it down.

“I hope Nozomi gets enough wood, otherwise we won't be able to boil this water. What am I going to do for fish, though? We weren't given a rod or a spear.” He thought to himself.

Kaito leaves the bucket and walks around the pond, he could see multiple fish varying in size swimming happily around the pond.

“If I could find a decent stick I could attempt to sharpen it, but without trees, I'll have to wait until Nozomi is back with the wood. I should look for berries instead.” He thought to himself.

Kaito leaves behind the bucket of water and begins searching around in hope of finding some berry bushes. Nozomi on the other hand was still running back the way they came for the wood. The sun begins to beat down on her and sweat slowly rolls down her brow. After nearly running for thirty minutes, she spots a patch of trees growing in the distance. The trees were relatively small compared to most woodland trees. About twenty of them stood proudly above the plains grass below. She hastily makes her way up the first one and grabs onto it. The tree was barely seven feet tall and very thin. She pulls on it using all her weight and bends the tree down to the ground. The wood was extremely dry from the heat, after bending it several times she manages to break it at the base of its small stump. Nozomi grabs the tree by the point of its top and begins to drag it back to the canyon.

“Ten minutes left, they better hurry. Failing to meet the time quota on the first day wouldn't look good.” Brandon thought to himself.

Suddenly, Brandon heard someone running up behind him. He turns to see Kaito carrying a bucket of water and red berries overflowing from his pockets. It isn't long after and Nozomi runs up dragging the small tree behind her, she was out of breath and panting rapidly.

“Good, with both of you here, you can make your way down into the canyon now. One last thing before you go, we woke up at six in the morning. However, due to the sun rising on the horizon, it won't be until around eight in the morning before there is any amount of useful light down there. Good luck.” Brandon said, waving to them.

Kaito and Nozomi quickly begin making their way down into the canyon. Before they are even a third of the way down, the air becomes hot and they both begin profusely sweating.

“He was kidding, it's hot as Hell down here. I can hardly breathe.” Kaito said, trying to pace his breathing.

“Once we're at the bottom, we'll find one of the caves Brandon mentioned. I'm sure it'll be cooler inside one of them.” Nozomi said, struggling to drag the tree.

Once at the bottom, they instantly begin walking as fast as they could, checking the wall of the canyon for a small cave. The bottom was even hotter than the ramp leading down to the canyon. After twenty minutes of walking on the sweltering canyon floor, they find a small crack just barely large enough for them to squeeze through with the bucket. Nozomi drops the tree and squeezes between the crack, her breasts make it a little difficult but after fidgeting, she manages to squeeze through. Once inside, she could hardly see anything further than a foot in front of her. The cave was cool, and the air wasn't humid and heavy like the air outside. She holds out her hand and a small fire appears, lighting the room. The cave was minuscule, and the walls were jagged. It was just barely big enough for them to store the bucket inside and for them to sleep on the floor along with their campfire.

“Come on in, just be sure to carefully slide the bucket in at the bottom.” She called out to Kaito.

A few minutes pass and Kaito enters the cave with the water bucket. He sets them down and lets a sigh of relief out.

“It feels great in here, long as we stay in here this will be easy during the day,” Kaito said, sitting down on the floor.

“Yeah, but I bet it'll be colder in here if we don't build a proper fire. I'll go chop that tree up for wood and maybe see if I can make a spit to go over the fire.” She said, quickly making her way out of the cave.

As the hours pass by, Nozomi manages to chop the tree into small logs using a sharp rock she found outside. She wasn't able to make spit due to the lack of materials to tie the sticks together. However, thanks to one of the branches having a protruding lump, they were able to use it to hold the water bucket. By leaning the stick on the wall with the bucket hanging from the middle, they build the fireplace beneath it to boil the water. As their water boiled, they feasted on the berries Kaito managed to find.

“I'm glad you found these berries, they're so tasty,” Nozomi said, grabbing another handful.

“Me too, there are more berry bushes up there, so we can have them again, I just wish I could've grabbed more than my pocket's worth. We also need to make a spear, if we want to get any fish.” Kaito said.

“That will be tomorrow's problem, for now, we need to pray that I got enough wood to keep us warm throughout the night. The sun should be set in about an hour.” Nozomi said.

“As long as we stay close and ration out the logs, we should be fine. I'm hoping with how small the crack is and us having the fire on the opposite end of the cave, it'll keep most of the warmth inside.” Kaito said, eating the last of the berries from his pocket.

With the berries now finished, they drink some water. The water was hot and uncomfortable to drink, but they both had drunk far worse things to survive. Boiled water was a delight for the homeless people of Rodon. After having their fill of water, they lay near the fire, away from the entrance of the cave. It didn't take long before the cave's temperature dropped significantly. They snuggle close to each other, shivering even with the fire.

“I'll be amazed if we live through a week of this, let alone a year. Too bad you can't use your fire magic for longer than a couple of seconds without your staff, that would keep warm for a long time.” Kaito said between the sounds of his teeth clattering together from the cold.

“Relax, we've been through worse. At least we have a fire and don't have to worry about someone taking our stuff while we sleep, like in Rodon.” Nozomi said.

They make small talk for a while before they both drift into a deep slumber. While it might have been freezing, they were far too exhausted to care.