I stepped forward and reached for Ayawamat's shirt collar but stopped myself.

"What do you mean Iah was suspended? If it's a joke, then you have to work on your comedy routine," I said, my voice dripping with venom.

Ayawamat scoffed and turned away his attention back to his boxes. "I'm not kidding. Ask Director Shin'en. He will tell you the same thing. Including why."

I turned around and stormed out of the room and the dorm.

"Lei! Where are you going?" Hikaru yelled, running after me.

"To ask the Director for some clarification," I said as I ran on ahead and leaped into the air. The winds covered me, pushing me higher. "I leave the boys to you!"

Hikaru sighed and nodded. "I was hoping to get some sleep, but fine. I'm curious to know why Iah was suspended too."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," I said, waving as I flew away.

My eyes shifted toward the school. Why did Shin'en suspend Iah?

It didn't take me long to descend in front of the main school building.

"Lei?" Nyima asked as she pushed Sarah down a ramp on the side of the stairs. "Why are you here and what's with that expression? Everything fine?"

"Ayawamat told me that Iah was suspended. I-is that true?"

She averted her gaze.

Sarah looked side to side before finally nodding.

"Thanks for responding," I said, running up the stairs.

"Hey, where are you going?" Nyima snapped.

"To talk to Shin'en. Ayawamat said he can give me answers to the suspension of Iah."

"No need to do that, I can answer them," Eien said as he walked out of the building. He had his hands in his pockets as Zafi and a boy identical to the kid followed him.

I leered at the prince. "Well? Get talking."

Eien scratched his head and sighed. "It's against the school rules to not be here on the first day of the new year."

"That's it? But he knows the situation, no?"

Eien scoffed as he walked past me. "Father can't bend the rules for one person. Doing so would be unfair to the rest of the student body."

I clenched my teeth. He had a point, but I didn't like it.

"Iah knew about it," Nyima said, taking a deep breath. "Despite that, he made his choice. It's no use getting mad over it when he didn't care enough about it himself."

I turned around and jumped back into the air.

Nyima was right, Iah didn't care enough about the things he was giving up nor the people he was leaving behind to stay. Still, thinking about it made me feel a pit open up in my chest.

As I flew, I saw a short blond boy with baggy black pants and an equally baggy white shirt look up and smile at me. Several other boys, also dressed in baggy clothes, surrounded him. Some of them even had tattoos. Where did such delinquent-looking characters come from? Last I checked, this was an elite school.

The boy jumped up and grinned as he was next to me. What in the world? Did he really just jump seventy feet without using wind magic? And while wearing flip-flops too...

"Hey, aren't you Lei?" the strange boy asked as he started to lose altitude.

"Y-yeah," I responded, still taken aback by the strange guy.

He smiled and waved.

What was that? Did he merely wish to greet me?

I stayed still in the air and watched as the boy landed on the ground without stumbling despite his loose shoes. He was as limber as cat. A set of purple eyeballs watched me as if waiting for me to come down and speak to their owner.

His eyes seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen them before.

Taking a deep breath, I flew down. "You asked my name, but you didn't bother to introduce yourself first," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Hey, watch the tone you use when talking to the master!" one of his posse said, stepping forward. His green hair was braided into three ponytails, two on the left side and one in the middle, while his right side was completely shaven off. A snake tattoo decorated the right side of his neck and ran up the lower part of his shaven head. He must've belonged to the eighth branch of the Kyuu Hyaku.

The blond boy raised his hand. "It's fine, Koichii. He's right, I did ask his name before doing so myself." He snickered. "It was mighty rude of me."

The green-haired guy sighed and took a step back. "As you wish, Master."

The blond boy smiled widely. "Nice to finally get to meet the famous Lei in person. I'm Burai Zettai, though all my friends call me Bui."

My eyes widened. Did he say... Zettai?

"Are you related to Eien?" I asked.

He raised a hand toward his chin. "Eien? Yeah. I'm the cousin of his grandfather."

"His grandfather?"

He smiled widely again. "Yeah, my lame-ass dad is the younger brother of Eien's great-grandfather."

I scratched my head. "I'm not really familiar with his family."

He laughed. "Well, there's one close relative of mine that you probably do know, Maya."

"Maya?" I asked, tilting my head.

The boy chuckled. "Oops. Forgot that she goes by Lucette here."

"Wait, Lucette's real name wasn't Lucette?"

"Oh, it is, but it's not her primary name." He stepped forward and walked past me. "Anyway, I simply wanted to have a small chat with you. Thanks for not flying away." He eyed me. "You were impressive during that first-round match. That Alto guy stood no chance at all. With such talent, you might be worthy of entering the honor class."

I turned around. "The honor class?"

The boy looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Yes. Koichii and I belong to it. There, you might find those worthy of calling rivals. Staying in the exchange student class won't help you grow."

"So, you came this way to recruit me?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I was merely making the option known to you. The one in charge of recruitment is my grandpa, Mr. Obi."

I jumped back. "You're Obi's grandson?" Wait, does that mean that Lucette was his granddaughter? I had heard that she lived with him.

He glanced at Nyima as she walked in the distance. "Not the one I'm looking for."

"Huh?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Nothing to concern yourself with. Oh, but please tell your other female companion what I told you. She's the one I'm looking for."

I leered at him. "What do you want with Adela?"

He blinked. "To enter the Honors course, what else?"

I averted my gaze. "Oh, that?"

He laughed. "What? Thought that I was looking for a girlfriend? Like I would. Girls are a distraction. I have to focus on my dream."

"And what's that?" I asked, looking back at him.

He raised his head toward the sky. "The same as yours, to become the strongest mage."

I chuckled. What was up with blonds becoming my rivals these days?

"So, that makes you my rival!"

Burai smiled slightly. "Just what I wanted to hear. Glad that you're not back away at the prospect of facing an honors student, unlike so many others."

I crossed my arms. The only honor students I'd seen the power of were Etsuko and Hitoshi. They were very strong, but they were also third-years at the time. Where had they gone to college? It would've been nice if I could've fought them.

"What year are you in?" I asked.

"I'm a second-year like you."

"I see. Say..."

Burai turned around fully. "Yeah?"

"Would you have considered asking Iah to join your honor class. I mean, if he were here?"

Burai closed his eyes. "Prior to what happened over Winter Vacation, yes, I would've. Iah is talented like Adela and a hard worker like you." He opened his eyes, giving me a cold look. "But not after what he pulled. He ruined all that by taking the easy way out. Look where it brought him, hosting an abysmal that seeks to take control of him."

My eyes widened. "W-where did you hear that from?"

He turned around. "I got my sources. I also know that you have one too, but you don't appear to rely on it." He smiled. "You seek to climb to the top with your own power, isn't that right?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah!"

The boy snickered. "That's what I like about you. That unwavering spirit of yours will take you far." He smirked. "I'm looking forward to when you'll be a challenge for me."

I grumbled. "What makes you think I'm not already capable?"

He sighed and turned around. "Do you want a test?"

I raised my arms in front of me and covered my hands in wind. "Of course! Not sure if you know, but I never back away from a challenge."

Burai placed a hand on Koichii's shoulder and grinned. "There's that spirit I was talking about. Koichii, mind doing the honors?"

I lowered my arms. "Huh? You aren't fighting me?"

Burai shook his head and patted his friend's shoulder. "Koichii here is enough to gauge your strength."

What? Was he claiming he was stronger than the guy twice his size?

The tattooed young man covered his hands in roots and rushed at me.

I coughed out blood and vomit as his fist struck me in the stomach, sending me falling on my butt.

How could he have moved that fast?

Burai sighed and walked toward me but before he could speak, I jumped up and sent razor wind at Koichii.

Koichii side stepped the attack and vanished.

This guy has to be as fast as Aria...

I held my right arm up and smiled as Koichii's punch struck it. His eyes were as wide as mine were when he first hit me.

"Surprised? Attacking from behind is rather predictable if you ask me," I said, smirking. "After I'm done with you, I'm coming after your boss."

Koichii scoffed. "That won't happen." He jumped back and vanished again. I spun around and formed wind blades behind me.

Once he reappeared, my blades swung outward. Three of them sliced him in half at the abdomen.

"Huh?" I said as I saw him vanish. So, it was an afterimage. Great, I didn't accidentally kill the guy.

I spun back around and caught his root-covered fist with both hands. Wind came out of my finger tips and ripped the woody roots apart as if they were thrown into a wood chipper.

"Didn't know honor students could be so predictable," I said, chuckling.

Koichii slipped out of my grasp by abandoning his roots as if they were gloves. His foot met my stomach, launching me into a tree. I curled into a fetal position, unleashing fierce winds. A spherical barrier had formed around me.

The sphere of wind narrowly avoided hitting the tree as I spun around its trunk. It might've been a single tree, but it didn't deserve to die.

My eyes scanned my surrounding but the other ones nearby were Burai and his gang. The former simply smiled while the others cheered on their fellow member.

"Finish him, Kochi!" one of them yelled.

Kochi? Thought his name was Koichii according to Burai. Or was that a nickname?

Burai closed his eyes and pointed upward.

I jumped away as something broke through my airfield, the area where I could sense objects around me. It was moving faster than I could even register. Kochi's movements were akin to lightning.

The ground shattered as the snake-tattooed guy's fist hit the grass.

A loud thud echoed behind me. The tree I had narrowly missed had been uprooted.

"It's over," Kochi said with a slight smirk as he raised his hands.

The roots of the fallen tree curled around me. Soon, I was covered in a wooden cocoon with nothing but my wind barrier serving as a thin shield.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. The roots moved quickly and grew thicker on the outside. He must've planned to finish me off by having them crush my barrier and maiming me enough that I could no longer fight. But the was no way that I was going to allow him the delight of victory!

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**