The road beyond the Gate of Dragons wound steadily downward through the hidden valley. The younger generation had stopped trying to act normal several minutes ago. Because normal people did not casually walk through a hidden mountain complex that looked like someone had stolen an entire civilization and hidden it inside a valley.
Every turn revealed something new. Bridges stretched across streams below. Stone pathways disappeared beneath flowering trees. Water channels wound through training courtyards. Observation pavilions overlooked hidden sectors farther down the mountainside. Everything looked alive. Not abandoned. Not preserved behind glass. Alive. The Replica felt like a place people actually used. A place people belonged. A place with stories. And that somehow made it feel even bigger.
Ava Miller pointed toward a bridge.
"LOOK."
Eva immediately pointed somewhere else.
"LOOK."
Ava pointed again.
"THAT ONE."
Eva pointed harder.
"NO. THAT ONE."
The twins immediately abandoned the road and attempted to sprint in opposite directions. Ethan Walsh caught both of them by the backs of their training jackets before they escaped. Again.
The twins looked betrayed.
"We were exploring."
"You were fleeing."
"We were investigating."
"You were running."
Reasonable silence followed. The twins immediately tried again.
Lila Navarro looked ready to join them.
"Can we go faster?"
"No."
"Why?"
Cassian pointed toward the road.
"Because if you disappear, your parents will blame me."
"Fair."
Lila still looked disappointed.
Meanwhile, Torres and Little Bean had become a completely different problem. The moment the Gate of Dragons opened they had stopped admiring the scenery and started calculating it.
Torres pointed dramatically toward one of the bridges crossing a waterfall.
"That bridge alone could fund a small academy."
Little Bean checked his datapad.
"…possibly."
"THANK YOU."
Tomas looked horrified.
"Please stop evaluating the mountain like real estate."
"There is no wrong way to appreciate history."
"There absolutely is."
Little Bean continued typing.
"The tourism value is substantial."
Torres looked proud.
"See?"
Nobody helped.
Far above the valley, the Viewing Platform overlooked everything. And unfortunately, the adults could hear all of it. Senior Torres physically bent forward laughing. George Benton nearly dropped his tea. Jules looked exhausted already. Marcus Voss turned away. Failing to hide the smile.
Alejandro Torres Jr. slowly lowered his face into one hand.
"…why."
Senior Torres wiped tears from his eyes.
"That's my boy."
"Please stop encouraging him."
"Never."
Reasonable answer.
Below, Little Bean finally looked up from his calculations.
"Conservative estimate."
Everyone turned. The child adjusted the datapad.
"Several billion."
Silence followed. Torres slowly looked back toward the valley. The bridges. The buildings. The roads. The waterfalls. The hidden sectors. Then nodded seriously.
"I respect this mountain."
Mei pointed immediately.
"For the wrong reasons."
"There are no wrong reasons."
Little Bean nodded.
"Agreed."
Neither helped.
The road eventually widened into a large open courtyard. And for the first time, the younger generation finally saw the Replica entrance itself. The building sat nestled naturally into the mountain. Massive cedar beams supported wide overhanging roofs. Paper-screen walls reflected soft sunlight. Flowering vines climbed carefully maintained stonework. The entire structure blended so naturally into the valley that it felt like it had always existed there. Not built. Grown. The atmosphere changed immediately. Even Torres stopped talking. For several seconds. A personal record.
Then the doors opened. A woman stepped out calmly. Elegant. Composed. Entirely unimpressed. The younger generation immediately recognized her.
Maize. The Replica's resident guide. Teacher. Caretaker. Professional destroyer of unrealistic expectations. Her expression suggested she had already judged all of them. Several times. And found them lacking.
"Welcome."
The greeting sounded polite. The tone suggested she had already seen enough nonsense for one day. The younger generation straightened automatically. Even Torres. A little.
Maize looked them over slowly. Then sighed.
"Good."
Nobody knew what that meant. Nobody liked it.
Ava raised her hand immediately.
"Can we train now?"
Eva raised hers too.
"Can we train now?"
The twins looked dangerously excited. Maize stared at them for several seconds. Then pointed toward the entrance.
"After changing."
The twins immediately nodded. Acceptable answer.
Hana blinked.
"Changing?"
Maize nodded.
"Training attire has been prepared."
Torres pointed.
"Prepared by who?"
"Beauty."
Torres immediately looked suspicious.
"…I don't trust that name."
"Wise."
That somehow made everything worse.
The younger generation entered the building. Then immediately stopped. Because the interior looked less like a training facility and more like a museum. Historical photographs lined the walls. Ancient academy banners hung from cedar beams. Display cases preserved fragments of older traditions. Training manuals. Historical records. Photographs. Memories. Stories. The Replica wasn't just preserving techniques. It was preserving people.
Then they reached the dressing halls. And everything exploded.
The girls entered first. The moment Hana saw the clothing she physically froze.
"WAIT."
Mei stopped. Lila stopped. Valerie stopped. Even the Miller twins stopped. Which honestly felt impressive.
Rows upon rows of training attire filled the dressing rooms. Traditional practice uniforms. Historical academy garments. Replica training attire. Every piece carefully preserved and reconstructed. Hana physically pointed.
"I KNOW THESE."
Beauty's voice echoed pleasantly through hidden speakers.
"Several people do."
Mei moved closer. Her eyes widened.
"No way."
Valerie immediately joined them. Then Camille. Then Seraphine. Then Elowen. Everyone recognized the designs. History books. Preservation archives. Educational records. The exact garments they had studied for years. Except now, they were real.
The boys' side wasn't much better. Lucian froze. Tomas froze. Even Rafe froze. The garments hanging before them weren't replicas of replicas. They were exact reconstructions, right down to the reinforced stitching along the shoulder seams and the small embroidered crests that marked which era of the academy each uniform belonged to. Lucian immediately started studying stitching patterns. Tomas started examining construction methods. Torres examined price estimates. Different priorities.
"I've seen these before."
Lucian sounded genuinely amazed. Beauty answered immediately.
"That was the intention."
The Miller twins did not care. At all. Ava grabbed one. Eva grabbed another. The twins immediately changed. Then reappeared. Ready. Prepared. Dangerously excited.
"Can we train now?"
"Can we train now?"
Beauty seemed pleased.
"Soon."
The twins accepted this. Barely.
Far above, the adults watched everything unfold. Volkov looked entirely too entertained. Solis wasn't even pretending anymore. Tanya openly laughed. Naomi leaned toward Haruka and murmured something about how Hana had once refused to wear anything that didn't have pockets, and how that particular battle appeared to have been quietly lost. Kael leaned against the railing watching Hana and Mei completely lose their minds over the historical garments. Ryven stood beside him. Comfortable. Quiet. Watching.
The younger generation eventually emerged from the dressing halls. Then stopped. Because suddenly everyone looked different. Not like cadets. Not like visitors. Not like tourists. They looked like students. Like they belonged here. The Replica's training attire transformed them somehow. The valley transformed them. Even the adults went quiet briefly. Master Sora smiled softly. Master Ren smiled too. Because every generation reached this moment eventually. Every single one.
Then naturally, Torres ruined it. He looked down at himself. Adjusted one sleeve. Considered the outfit seriously. Then nodded.
"…I look expensive."
Little Bean checked immediately.
"You do."
The entire valley broke.
Beauty's voice echoed through the Replica one final time.
"Training begins shortly."
The younger generation turned. Beyond the bridges. Beyond the waterfalls. Beyond the courtyards. The first challenge sectors waited quietly among the trees. For the first time all morning, nobody laughed. Nobody joked. Nobody calculated property values. Not even Torres. Because suddenly it felt real. The Replica had welcomed them. Now it was time to discover whether it intended to be kind.
Behind them, somewhere past the dressing halls, a bell rang once. Soft. Distant. Patient. The kind of sound that meant the mountain had finished waiting, and had decided, quite calmly, that it was their turn now. Nobody argued with a bell. Not even Torres, for once.