Holding my hands out, my barrier's winds expanded outward, hacking away at Kochi's roots.

As chunks of root rained around me, Kochi clapped his hands. I gritted my teeth as the ground curled around my feet. He had earth magic too?

My wind blew pushed against the creeping mud, turning into dust. "You're unlucky that I have experience fighting against earth mages," I said with a tired smile.

"Their earth likely pales against this," Kochi said calmly as he raised his hand. The ground rose up once more, this time carrying me with it. Why did he lift me up on an earth platform when I could jump out and fly?

Kochi clenched his hand shut.

Glancing up, my jaw dropped as I watched a meteor drop down from the sky.

What? Did he call that thing down from outer space? No, he had to have made it himself.

It then hit me, that time while he was missing, that must've been when he had made it! That explained how he managed to stay hidden for so long. But, how did he get up there in the first place? I didn't see any missing earth, so it couldn't have been a platform like the one I was on. Could he have been a wind mage too?

I held my hands up, but as I did, the ground beneath me grabbed my feet once more.

Letting out a roar, I blew away the platform. "Ventus Draco!" I yelled, channeling as much wind magic as I could into this spell. A long green dragon appeared out of my hands and struck the meteor, puncturing it through the center. The rest remained, passing by me. As it did, the rock halted and closed around me.

"Ugh!" I squirmed as the hot earth grasped me. Was that guy planning to kill me? No, Burai said this was a test. They must've been seeing how I would get out of this. Still, I didn't like how for most of the fight, I'd been on the defensive.

"Ventus Perserco!" I yelled as I summoned my wand. The giant boulder let out a screeching sound as it was sliced in half.

With my wind-covered butterfly knives, I cut the rest of the meteor into chunks.

Kochi jumped into one of the first pieces that had been broken off and continued to do so until he reached me. He swung one of his long legs at me, but I blocked it with my left arm. Though, that didn't do much good as the sheer force pushed me toward the school building.

Damn it! This guy is no joke.

My vision blurred as a pair of hands slammed against my back, flinging me toward Burai and his gang.

I-I lost...

I hit the ground with a puff of wind to soften my landing, but my bones still ached upon contact with the concrete floor.

Blood dripped out of my mouth as Kochi landed on my back. He quickly jumped off and watched as I lingered on the ground.

"Is that all?"

My hands quivered as I tried to push myself up. I wiped the blood off of my mouth and smiled. "No, I'm barely beginning."

"Hey, you!" a voice yelled.

Kochi turned around, only to be slapped in the face.

"Nyima!" I said.

Kochi rubbed his face and glared at her. "So, this is Nyima."

She knelt beside me and grabbed a hold of my arm.

"Ny, what are you doing?" I yelled.

"What do you mean what I'm doing? I'm saving your butt from these goons!" she said, pointing at Kochi.

I blinked. "Wait, you're misunderstanding! I'm sparring with that scary-looking guy, not being bullied by him!"

Kochi clicked his tongue.

"W-well, you do have a tattoo and are the tallest guy I've met in this academy." Not to mention, he was part of a gang, but if I said that, Nyima would probably freak out again.

Nyima glanced at him and then back at me. "Sparring? But battles outside are forbidden. If a member of the student council other than Sarah saw you, you would be in trouble."

Sarah? I turned and saw as the princess glared at Burai and his gang. She had multiple water rapiers ready to fire.

"Eh? Sarah, don't! They aren't bullying me!"

Sarah sighed and disintegrated her rapiers. She rolled her wheelchair toward us.

"Who is that girl?" one of the guys asked another.

"He said her name is Sarah."

"Hey, isn't she one of the student representatives?" another said.

"Y-yeah, I think she is."

One of them back away. "Think we should scram."

Burai snickered as he approached Sarah. "Sorry for the disturbance, student council rep. I was merely having Koichii test out Leiichi."

"Leiichi?" Nyima and I asked in unison.

He giggled. "What? Don't like it? I can come up with a better nickname. Hmm, how about Lei-lei?"

"Why do you even need a nickname for me?" I asked, tilting my head.

The blond walked toward me and smiled. "Because I like you."

Kochi sighed. "That guy has the tendency to add 'ichi' to the end of the names of those he is fond of."

That explained the Koichii. I gasped. "Wait, shouldn't your nickname be Kochiichi?"

He grumbled and turned away.

"Koichii didn't like it. Not that he likes his nickname, but he does prefer it over Kochiichi," Burai said. He laughed. "Though, I like Kochiichi. It's fun to say."

"Sounds like a tongue twister," I said, smiling.

"Yeah, it does," Nyima said.

Burai jumped toward her and leaned in very close, causing Nyima to back away. "I might've gotten you wrong, Nyima. Anyone who slaps Koichii like that has to be fearless."

Nyima raised her hands in front of her and took another step back. "I'm not. Wait, what do you mean by wrong? Did you think I was a coward?"

He spun around. "No. I simply found you dull. That said, your magic still leaves much to be desired." He eyed Sarah. "Your water magic is lacking if it could be overcome by someone with an impaired Magicum Organum."

Nyima winced. "I know it is. Don't need someone like you to tell me that."

Burai laughed. "Though, maybe it says more about the Shui Princess's skill than it does yours." He waved at his group. "Well, let's get out of here guys. We got what we came for."

Kochi and the others followed him.

Sarah smiled slightly as Burai walked away but quickly hid it as Nyima and I approached her.

"Who is that guy anyway?" Nyima asked.

"His name is Burai. He's part of the honors course."

Nyima's eyes widened. "That laidback guy in flip-flops is an honor student? Huh, guess dress code isn't looked at when making that determination."

I chuckled, though it made my stomach ache more.

My childhood friend sighed and placed a hand on my abdomen. Blue light emanated from her palm, healing my wounds.

"I'm back!" Kun yelled, running over. He gasped as soon as he saw me. His hand went to his stomach. "That sensation I felt earlier... It was because you got hurt."

Sarah rolled over to him and took his hand.

"We should take you to the nurse's office to get you checked," Nyima said.

"I'll be fine. My bones and scars are gone," I said, lifting my shirt up.

Her face reddened as she stared at my abdomen. She turned away and cleared her throat. "T-the abysmal's healing ability really is impressive."

I smiled. Yeah. Though, having it felt like an unfair advantage at times. But there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. It wasn't like the abysmal had control of it either. The ability appeared to be a passive one.

"In that case, let's get you back to the dorm so you can rest!" Kun said, grinning.

I smiled as I leaned against Nyima's shoulder. "That sounds... nice," I said as I started to doze off.

"H-hey!" Ny yelled.

"Sorry," I said, opening my eyes.

She grumbled as she held me by the arm. "I-it's fine. Just, don't drool, okay?"

I leaned back on her shoulder. "I'll try not to, but no promises."

Nyima let out a sigh in defeat, but I could feel a warmth coming from her. She probably was smiling. I laughed mentally. This really brought me back to when we were kids. Although I wasn't the frail child I was back then, it wasn't all bad to lean on her and the others every now and again.

"What did you think of that guy, Koichii?" I asked, smiling as we made out way down a set of dark stairs.

"He wasn't very strong, but he certainly was as persistent as they say. I got the feeling that I could wail on him and he would still get back up."

"Yeah. I take it it's from his days of being a victim of bullying."

Koichii stopped. "How do you know all this?"

I snickered. "You really have to ask? My grandpa's files of course. He did seek to eliminate that boy. Wonder why that is. Leiichi seems like a great guy. Despite being born with a frail body, he continues to do his best. That kind of person is rare. Most would've put their head down and give up. I'm not even sure what I would've done in his situation."

"Really? I don't think you would've given up either."

I smiled. "Come on, you're just saying that because we're childhood friends."

"No, it's the truth. You might be the boss, but I don't speak any falsehoods. It's best to remain quiet than to speak."

I nodded as I skipped down the steps. "You're a great guy, Koichii. Thanks to you, I think that I've ignited a fire in that boy. One that'll make him a worthy rival."

"He did manage to match Iah during the games despite losing soundly to him a few months prior."

"True, though Iah also started to stagnate at that point." I sighed. Too bad as I was hoping to see how strong the future Prince of Mina was. Lei certainly seemed to think highly of his skills despite all that happened.

"Bui?" a voice called out. Light poured into the dark stairwell. Staring at us were a pair of crimson eyes.

I waved. "Hey, gramps. How are you doing?"

He opened the door a bit more. "I'm surprised to see you here. You don't come to school often."

I laughed. "Yeah, but I have to for attendance purposes."

"Right, otherwise you would be suspended."

I slid my hands into my pants pockets. "Yeah. That said, I think that I'll be attending class more often from now on."

He beamed. "Glad to see you taking your studies more seriously."

I snickered. "Though, that depends on if a certain somebody can be transferred over."

Grandpa raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Lei Lan."

He gritted his teeth. "That boy? You know that I can't stand him. Why do you want him to enter the honors course?"

"I wish to see how much he can grow."

"Someone like him won't amount to anything."

"Really? I don't get that impression after meeting him." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you hate him so much, grandfather?"

He turned around. "He keeps getting in my way. Whether it's in this lifetime or in his previous."

"His previous lifetime?" Koichii asked.

Grandfather looked over his shoulder. "Yes, that boy's past life stopped me from becoming Magus Maximus." He clenched his hands. "I was so close too. I won't ever forgive him. While the one who got in my way is dead, I can at least make him pay in this lifetime."

Koichii scoffed. "No offense, but that sounds petty as heck."

Grandfather scrunched his nose. "You don't understand, that's why it seems petty to you. Anyway, get out. Both of you! I don't wish to hear another word from you."

I sighed. "Fine. Seems I'll just continue to skip then. Take care, old man," I said, waving as I walked back into the dark hall.

Koichii followed quietly behind me.

Seems I failed to convince my grandfather. How do I get Lei transferred to the Honors course now?

"Maybe we should speak to the director," Koichii said in a low voice.

I tapped his arm with my elbow. "Hey, that's not a bad idea, Koichii! Let's go pay my cousin's son a visit."

Koichii nodded. "Alright."

**Solar Note: Hope that everyone had a nice Memorial Day Weekend (or had a nice weekend in general for those who live outside of the U.S.)! After today, I'll be publishing every five days for the foreseeable future.**