[A Day Later- Hoin]

I stared at the books on the table. There had to be at least a hundred or so of them. They were all on my list of top books.

"Which do I take?" I asked myself, picking one up. It was about the legendary founding of Tora. According to the writer, Tora was founded by a pair of god-like beings from another plane of existence.

I put it into my bag and stared back at the multiple stacks of books. I could only bring a limited amount of them with me. If only I had a hyper ring to store them all inside.

"Hey, what are you doing, little bro?" a voice called out.

I glanced up. A brown-haired young man walked through the giant doors leading to the library.

"Brother!"

"What's with all those books?" he asked, striding over to me.

I sat down on a chair and sighed. "I'm trying to decide which ones to take. I like them all, so it's hard."

He placed his hand on a text about poisons. Big brother loved learning about them. He dreamed of becoming the best poison and venom specialist in the entire universe one day.

"You know, there are a lot of books in Nine Petal for you to read."

"I know, you told me that, but I like these."

"If you can't decide, just pick them up randomly." He grabbed nine of them and handed them over to me. "Now, you can go. Koukyuu and the rest of the students going to Wahkan for the exam are here."

I gulped. "A-already?'

He raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, little bro? Don't tell me that you're getting cold feet."

I put my hand down on the books in front of me. "To be honest, I'm not sure if I should go. Maybe I should wait until next year."

"What? You skipped two grades but want to take a year off? If I were you, I would just get it over with." He scratched his face and laughed. "It's actually kind of embarrassing to think that my little brother will only be a grade below me."

I averted my gaze. "Can't I be homeschooled? Or have a private tutor?"

Brother pulled up the chair across from me and sat down. "Jude, you can't stay indoors forever."

I lifted up the hood of my coat. "And why not? It's comfy inside."

He laughed. "That it is, but this is only a small portion of the world. I don't want it to be all that you experience. I'm sure Dad would tell you the same thing if he were here!"

I looked up at him. "Easy for you to say. You don't get tongue-tied when talking to strangers."

Brother patted my head. "You'll have me around."

"But you will not be at the exam," I muttered.

"Who said I won't be?" he asked, grinning.

I jumped. "You're coming with me?"

"Not exactly."

I stood up and headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Brother asked, standing up.

Truth be told, I felt like hiding. If only Dan were here, he understood me better than Hal did. Hopefully, he was alright in Tora. We hadn't heard a thing from him in months. What if he was misled about being able to regain his memories?

I pressed my book bag against my chest. "I-I need some time to think."

My big brother smiled slightly. "Alright, I understand. If you decide to go, I'll be waiting for you in the hall."

I sat down on the steps and glanced down at my book-covered table. Would the others be nice? There were a lot of mean people in the world.

I took a deep breath and stood up. My hands shook with every step I took toward the door. I knew that Hal was right about me needing to go out, but it was scary. Unlike books, people were hard to read. One time, they would tell you something nice, and they'll mistreat you the next moment.

Dan felt the same way. That's why the two of us remained here. Away from everyone else, with our only friends being the stories we read. But since he left, even reading felt lonely. I thought that feeling would've subsided once winter vacation began as Hal would be around, but he had to go on a mission. He and our parents hadn't returned until a few days ago. Sadly, Mom and Dad went off on a new mission. They never rested for long. Hopefully, they would be fine.

According to him, the mission wasn't a success, but it wasn't a complete failure. He wouldn't elaborate on what he gained from it. Hopefully, it would help Sarah regain her kingdom.

Chills ran down my spine as I recalled watching the games with my parents. Sarah had been badly mutilated by one of the Hiearchian team members. My brother's other teammate, An, didn't have a much better fate. He entered an extended coma. To my knowledge, he still had yet to wake up from it. Most likely, he was brain dead.

"Slow down! Slow down!" someone yelled. The sound of clapping drew my attention to the window. A pink dragon flew straight toward the library. Someone appeared to be riding on it.

The rider clapped his hands together again and yelled, "Vanish.' Unfortunately, he was still going too fast and was too high up.

"Oh no, he's going to crash!" I yelled, jumping over the rail of the stairs. I ran over to the window and placed my hands on it. I mumbled a spell. Cyan prana flew out of my hands, went through the window, and piled up in front of it. A snow mound materialized where I had gathered my prana, softening the purple-haired guy's landing.

"What was that noise?" Hal asked, appearing behind me.

"Someone was riding a dragon and crashed! I stopped them from smashing through the window with my snow.

"What?" He stared at the window I was pointing out. His eyes widened as the boy's head popped out from the snow. "Wait, is that... An?"

"Your comatose friend?" I asked, glancing up at him.

Hal laughed. The next thing I knew, the two of us were outside.

"Need help?" Hal asked, reaching a hand out to the boy.

"Hal!" the purple-haired boy said, taking his hand.

Hal chuckled. "It's good to see you're alive."

An gasped. "You thought I was dead?"

My brother lowered his head. "I did think that you were brain dead at one point."

He smiled. "I'm not. Though, it did take some work to recover." He stared at his trembling hand. "I still need some therapy. The doctors at Adela's place said that I might not be able to completely recover either."

Hal gulped. "I see." He smiled. "But at least you're up and about now!"

"Yeah, I'm thankful that it wasn't the worst-case scenario." He glanced at me. "Who's the kid hiding behind you?"

Hal turned around. "When did you get behind me?" he asked, laughing.

I gripped his shirt.

"Is he shy?" An asked, stepping closer to me.

I stepped back. "H-hello."

He smiled and waved. "Hey, I'm An! What's your name?"

"J-Jude!"

"Jude? That's a cute name. Say, are you the one who made that snow pile?"

I nodded.

An beamed. "Thanks. I probably would've had a worse landing if not for you, little one."

"Y-you're welcome," I said, pulling my hood against my forehead. Snow started to gather around me.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Jude, I know that you want to hide, but a pile of snow in this weather sticks out like a sore thumb," Hal said as I buried myself in snow.

"I know," I muttered.

An laughed. "The kid reminds me of me when I was little. I used to hide behind my big sis too. If it were up to me, I would've stayed in the dojo."

I poked my head out. "I like the library more than a dojo."

"My little brother here is a bookworm. He even taught himself psychic magic."

An whistled. "He did?"

I nodded slowly.

Hal slapped his friend on the back, chuckling. "Say, can you teach him a few spells? Books are great, and all, but nothing beats real-world experience."

I sighed. My brother's manners were still atrocious.

"I would be happy to," An said, smiling.

"You would?" I asked, jumping out of the snow.

My brother and An burst into laughter.

I dropped back into my pile of snow. My burning face probably could melt some of it.

"Huh, why is there snow here?" someone asked.

I looked out and saw a blond boy walking over to us.

"That is unusual," a red-haired boy with a bowl-cut said.

"Hey there," Hal said, waving. "Are you one of the ones taking the exam?"

The blond boy smirked. "Yeah. The others should be here shortly. So, did one of you make this?"

"It was my little brother, Jude," Hal said, putting his hand on top of my head.

"Stop!" I cried as Hal pulled me out of my hiding space.

"You got to meet your new friends."

I squirmed. "He's not my friend, and I don't even know if he'll pass the test."

The blond guy gave me a stern look. "I will pass the test for sure!" He gasped. "Wait, you're the one who's going to Nine Petal?"

"You thought it was us?" An asked, walking over.

Hal chuckled. "We're already students at Nine Petal. We'll be second-years, to be exact."

"That's so cool!" He glanced back at me. "But how can a ten-year-old enter Nine Petal?"

"I-I'm thirteen!" I blurted out.

"What? But you're so short!"

I huffed. This was precisely why I hated interacting with other people. They always assumed stuff.

"Calm down, Jude," Hal said.

I sighed. "Alright."

"Carter, Huo, don't run ahead of us!" a silver-haired girl yelled as she ran over to the boy.

"S-sorry, Kanja," he said, blushing.

Did his personality just do a one-eighty?

"Who's the kid?" she asked, glancing at me.

I adjusted my glasses. "I-I'm Jude!"

She smiled and knelt down to pet me. "What a cute kid. So, who is the one coming with us?"

Hal chuckled.

"It's him," An said, snickering.

Kanja stared at my blushing face. "Really? But you're so young."

I raised two fingers up.

"He's saying that he skipped two grades," Hal said in my place.

I nodded.

"Wow, you must be brilliant," Kanja said.

"A real brainiac!" Carter said, whistling. He glanced at Huo and chuckled. "Think he's smarter than you."

The bowl-cut boy scoffed. "At least I skipped a grade. I bet you were held back."

"Hey! Don't spread lies! I almost was!"

He shrugged. "That's not much better, dummy."

Well, at least I knew who to avoid now.

"Hey, Kanja, did you find Carter and Huo?" a cyan-haired air asked, running over to us. Behind her were a pale blue-haired guy, a dark-skinned man with attire that made me think of tribespeople, and a knight dressed in black armor. 

Another silver-haired girl poked her head out from behind the knight. This one was short, with long hair, and dark skin. She smiled and waved.

"Woah, what's with the getup?" Hal asked, pointing at the knight.

"It's a long story," the blue-haired guy said.

"I like stories," I whispered.

"Is this the one we're looking for?" the dark-skinned boy asked as his emerald eyes peered at me. He was tall! Almost six feet tall. The blue-haired boy was taller.

I smiled. Finally, someone got it!

"Great, let's get going. We're starting to run behind schedule," Carter said.

"NO thanks to you," Kanja said, leering at him.

"S-sorry."

Why was he only stuttering around her? Oh, maybe he liked her!

"Good, you're all here," a white-haired woman in a red kimono said. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw my brother's friend. "An, you're awake now?"

"Yup! I woke up a few days ago. I wanted to see all of you earlier, but Yanyu made me stay back a few days until I was better. I'm going to go see Vermeil next."

The woman smiled. "That's great. You seem to be missing some weight, but I'm sure you'll get it back soon."

An laughed. "I've been eating more than usual to speed things up too!"

"Hey, don't overdo it, or you might end up a ball," Hal said, chuckling.

He laughed nervously. "For better or worse, I don't put on weight easily."

I smiled. Hopefully, I could find a friend like my brother's.

"Go on, introduce yourself to the others," Hal said, nudging me forward.

I gulped and stepped toward the lady and my potential classmates. "N-nice to meet you. I-I'm Jude."

"Hello, Jude!" the armored figure said, waving.

"He's an even bigger genius than Huo!" Carter said, patting my shoulder.

I pulled away.

"Eh, are you okay?"

"My little brother likes his space," Hal said.

I nodded.

Huo smiled slightly. "I can relate."

"Oh, sorry about popping your bubble," Carter said, stepping aside from me.

I smiled. At least he didn't get mad. Some people did.

"So, you're Hal's little brother," the white-haired lady said. "I'm Koukyuu. I'll be your guide."

"Take good care of him. If he runs off, just look for a pile of snow," Hal said.

"I will!"

I buried myself in snow.

"Eh?" Carter yelled.

"Seems he's a shy one," Aurelius said, snickering.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you," Hal said. "Please come out."

Nate laughed. "Reminds me of my big brother, Dan."

I poked my head out. He had a brother called Dan too? Come to think of it, he looks a bit like my big brother. Wonder why that is.

**Solar Note: I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, especially those who were looking forward to seeing more of the older cast ^^. This chapter was dedicated to ShinomiyaDR, who helped me brainstorm Jude's powers. Let me know your overall thoughts on it :)**