I hummed as I carried a stack of papers. Mr. Suzuran had asked me to print out some papers for him. Why there wasn't a printer in every classroom was anybody's guess.

"Ohh, skipping class too?" a voice called out. I quickly turned to my left. A smiling Burai waved at me.

"No. Mr. Suzuran sent me on an errand."

Burai snorted. "So the future Magus Maximus began as an errand boy. That's an interesting origin story right there."

I pouted. "And you're a skipper."

He shrugged. "I do well anyway."

I spun around. "Say, where is your friend?"

"Oh, he's a better boy than me." He rested his face on his hand and smirked. "Or so I would say if I didn't know he was only doing it for a girl."

Sounded like Kun.

"What about you? Is there anyone you like?"

My face blushed as I pictured Yuzu, Adela, and Nyima. "I... uh... What do you care?"

He laughed as I ran off. "Good luck!"

Was he saying that for class or with the girl I liked? Ugh! This was why I didn't want to focus on romance! It had already ruined things. Iah went bad because he liked Nyima, who liked me. Hmm, why had I pictured Nyima? Or Adela, for that matter? Ahh! Was Yen right? Was I really a three-timer?

I shook my head. No, that couldn't have been. I only had eyes for Yuzu!

My ears tingled. A rising and falling melody played from within one of the classrooms. I peered in and saw several people doing ballet. Among them were Huoyin, Lidia, Carter, and Kanja.

I smiled. Carter spun around with Kanja and a girl I didn't know. 

"So that guy dances. That's unexpected," I said, chuckling. Likewise with Huoyin. He looked like the bookworm type but was quite nimble. Every movement looked practiced. On the other hand, Carter's style appeared more improvised, a departure from his martial arts.

"Ahem," a voice called out.

I gulped and saw Yuzuki. She looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh while putting on her serious face.

"Shouldn't you be in class right now?"

I nodded. "Errand for Mr. Suzuran."

"Hmm? Why do you sound like little Sei?"

My face reddened. "No reason. Well, see ya! Got to get these to class!"

I sighed as soon as I got inside my classroom.

"Is something the matter, Lei?" Mr. Suzuran asked, furrowing his brow.

I smiled. "It's nothing. Here are the papers."

He took the pile from me. "Alright, but if you are feeling unwell, you can tell me."

I nodded and returned to my seat.

Yen narrowed her eyes at me. "So, what happened? Did you run into someone you preferred not to?"

"Not exactly," I whispered as I picked up my pencil and jotted down the stuff on the blackboard. Right now, I had to focus on my education. Like I told Alban the other day, being the strongest was more than raw power.

She smiled. "Then I take it you ran into Yuzu."

I grumbled and poked her with the eraser end of my pencil. "Focus!"

"Okay. I won't badger on."

I smiled and continued writing my notes on prana restoration pills. The highest-grade ones seemed to double as cultivation pills. Too bad I couldn't take any of the latter because of the cat abysmal within me.

My pencil slid from my hand. I let out a yawn. That was odd. I hadn't felt sleepy earlier. Even slept like a kitten. So why now?

I put a hand over my chest. Nyima and Adela's words rang in my head. Abysmals absorbed the energy of others. That was especially true for mine. Was he becoming more hungry as of late?

I picked up my pencil. In that case, I had to learn this stuff. That way, the adverse effects could be minimized. But, taking too many prana restoration pills also came at a cost. It could damage the Magicum Organum. I could use them in combination with batteries, but that would take a toll on my wallet. A normal one could only charge me as much as a candy bar would, so it would take packs upon packs of them. The high-grade ones were less, but each was as expensive as a bunch of lower-end ones. Maybe eating more was the way to go, but food cost money too!

Ugh, I needed to get myself a job as soon as possible. Or better yet, find a way to separate from Mr. Cat. Hideo said he was looking into it, as something similar had happened to his sister, but he had yet to find anything. Or perhaps he had and forgot to tell me. No. He could be scatterbrained with some things, but I doubted he would've forgotten that. If anyone was invested in the abysmals, it was him.

"Hmm. Did Mr. Suzuran have a point too?" Yen said.

I smiled. "I'm feeling fine. Just a little sleepy, is all."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Were you up playing video games all night with Kun again?"

I shook my head. "No. I went to sleep soon after you girls returned to your dorm. Plus, Kun was out training with An, Alto, and some of the other guys."

"Oh, right. He took Hika with him." Her eyes widened. She pointed at my chest.

I nodded solemnly.

She put a hand to her head and sighed. "Hope Kun, Nahi, or Tahoma know a way to help."

I smiled. Kun did help seal Ratmir. 

Wait, wouldn't Iah eventually feel like this too? Or maybe his case is different, given it has to do with the spirit within that cursed sword. On the other hand, it could be worse than my situation. Argh! Why couldn't Adela, Ny, and Kun expel the evil spirit? If they could, they probably would have done it. So maybe they couldn't do it at their current strength. No. That's not it. Ratmir needed a vessel to be sealed into. Without risking Ratmir's complete escape, they had to trap him in whatever was closest, Iah himself. He seemed aware of it too.

Yen patted my hand. "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll figure something out if don't have a solution in mind already."

"I'm not worried about myself," I said, returning to my notes.

She blinked. "Then what are you worried about?"

"Iah. If I am feeling like this right now, imagine how he'll feel as host of an ancient Pillar of Destruction."

"That term sounds familiar," Yen said, tapping her head.

It did. Had we heard it when we were little? Back when this country was the center of a big battle against light and darkness?

"Nyima and Adela mentioned it. It's what was written on the ruins. There are twelve of them."

Yen shook her head. "No, thirteen."

I blinked. How did she know that? Thought only I did.

She touched her forehead and blinked. "This is bad. Think your abysmal might be starting to affect me too."

I gulped. No. Not Yen and Kun too!

Yen smiled. "Just kidding!"

I furrowed my brow. She wasn't one to joke like that. Kun did, but even I doubted him. Like when he said he had died with a serious face then claimed it was a joke. 

She patted my head and gave me a motherly expression. "No need to worry about me, little bro."

I sighed. There she went, treating me like a baby again.

"Alright, class. Come and grab a piece of paper," Mr. Suzuran said, smiling. While he looked like her, it was still hard to believe he was Mayu's father. Not that she was as bad as Aida. Well, at least she repented.

Eien, Ny, Sarah, Kun, Arima, Xue, Miwa, Yuta, Yuto, and Ren stood up. Since it was a small class, a lot of the seats were empty. Sarah wanted to sit by the windows so Kun sat there instead of with us. So much for being bros. Haha. Not that I had any issue. I would've sat beside them too if not for my habit of daydreaming and looking out the window.

"Hey, are you feeling well?" Kun said as we stood up to join them.

I smiled faintly. "Honestly, it's creepy how you two know things even when you're not there."

Yen flipped her hair and scoffed. "You're the same with us."

I laughed. "True." Being a triplet could be both comforting and scary because of our interconnectivity.

"So, you are feeling unwell. Is it your abysmal?" Kun asked.

I nodded. "I think so at least."

"Hmm, that's concerning," Nyima said as she walked up to us with papers on hand. She gave each of us one.

I eyed Sarah as she used her crutches to walk back to her chair. Did she insist on getting her own paper?

"Yeah, but I have a mitigation plan. And so far, it's just a sleepy feeling," I said.

Nyima crossed her arms. "It's good that you have a plan in mind, but who knows how long it can delay things."

I frowned. "So you don't have a solution?"

She averted her gaze and sighed. "I wish."

"Solution to what?" Mr. Suzuran asked from his podium.

"Sounds like Lei's abysmal is giving him issues again," Eien said, grinning. "Hmm, I wonder if Uncle Hideo knows anything."

"Uncle?" Yen asked.

He grinned. "That's just a term of endearment."

How odd. Didn't think Eien was the type to do that. The only people he seemed fond of outside his family was Miwa.

Nyima sighed. "That guy..."

"Guess the curry of forgiveness didn't work," Eien said, nodding to himself.

"Curry of forgiveness?" Yen asked.

I shrugged.

"Well, he's the only one we know who might know something," Nyima said, scoffing.

I smiled. True. I had only thought of him helping me unfuse from my abysmal, but he could probably help with the drain issue.

"Abysmal? Does the issue involve energy drain?" Mr. Suzuran asked.

"Huh? You're aware of it?" I asked.

He smiled a bit. "Yeah. I saw a similar case. The oldest of Hideo's sisters had also fused with an abysmal and started to feel tired. Her abysmal, being more conscious than yours tried to mitigate it by being less active, but that didn't really help matters."

"Kiara? Oh, I remember now!" Eien said.

I furrowed my brow. The guy sure knew a lot of people.

Mr. Suzuran laughed. "Yeah. I had to kick out a certain curious kid."

Eien turned away. "Well, I was like six at the time."

Our teacher cleared his throat. "As for the solution that I came up with, I gave her a jar of low quality prana restoration pill and also fixed her meridians."

"You mean pressure points?" Kun asked.

"The flow issues went beyond those. Her whole system was messed up. It was obvious that the fusion was a hasty one. It didn't help that she had both prana and mana in her system. Thankfully, I had help from an expert on balancing the two."

An expert? Who?

"I had my flow fixed some time ago," I said.

"Your battle against Iah must've messed up with your channels again," Yen said.

Mr. Suzuran held out a hand a summon an small notebook. "Aha. Here it is."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The procedure." He held his hand over it and caused a piece of paper to pop out of thin air. I held my hands out and caught it. "That has the recipe for the pills. I can make them for you if you can't. As for your meridians, Koukyuu or I can fix them after school."

I smiled. "Thanks." I frowned. "Wait, but the tournament is after school."

Yen grabbed my arm. "You're going to get yourself checked. A tournament is only a short term thing. Delaying it could hurt your health."

"Yeah, you're right." I turned to our teacher. "Uh, do I have to be out for a day or more?"

He shook his head. "One hour should be enough."

Could I make it back in an hour? There were only a few matches left.

Kun smiled. "I'll try to make my match last!"

Ny cleared her throat. "Same."

I grinned and hugged the two. "Thanks, Kun, Ny!"

"I-it's nothing. Now let me go," Nyima said.

I let go of her and stepped away. "Sorry. Got excited for a sec."

Yen giggled. "You usually are, kid."

I blushed.

Hopefully, Kun could win against whoever his opponent was. I still wasn't sure who would be facing who, given Aban and Sowk's unannounced insertion into the tournament. If my opponent were Aya, I would need to be at one hundred percent for sure!

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Know it's been a while since I've done a Lei pov one xD. Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**