*Lei*

Aurelius jumped back and blocked my razor with one of his feathers. Vandavalian magic really was amazing. If only me and the others had gotten to see more Vandavalian magic during our winter vacation. Although, given his feathers were tied to the sleeves and collar of his signature green shirt, was that tooth necklace of his linked to another familiar of his? If so, what was it? And why had he made no use of it thus far?

"Not bad," I said, chuckling as I blew away his incoming feathers.

While I trained with Au in one side of a room in the stadium where he fought Shuai, Adela taught Ling in another. My sister ended up training Tamara too. Seemed Tammy originally wanted to train with me, but I wasn't the sound mage. My sister was. Luckily, Yen was with us. As for why Tamara sought me out, I had no clue. Well, other than that she might've mixed me up with my sister. It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. But it was more common when we were kids. Since Yen was a bit of a tomboy growing up, people thought she, Kun, and I were all boys.

Aurelius stared at his feather shield as it suddenly got cut in half. He chuckled. "Right back at you."

"So, what can that necklace of yours do?" I asked, pointing at it. "Eri told me your clan use the body parts animals which in turn become familiar spirits."

He touched his necklace. "Oh, these are teeth from a Vandevalian Golden Wolf. Although, he's a hard one to control."

"You have another familiar? We barely got our first ones," Yen said as she and Tammy joined us.

Tammy's eyes were wide.

"Think we should take a break," Ny said. She, Kun, and Hika had been sparring against Zel, Wani, and Nahi.

"Sounds good," I said, grinning.

Wani fell to one knee and panted.

"Is this considered our win?" Kun asked, smiling at Nyima and Hika.

"Ny asked for the break, so it might be our loss," Hika said, sighing.

"You two worry too much about losing and winning," Nahimana said, her hands her hips.

Zel chuckled. "Funny to hear someone as competitive as you say that."

"Just like it was weird she didn't participate in the tournament last year," Kun added.

Nahimana glared at him. "Taking her side now, are you?"

Kun raised his hands. "I'm not taking any sides here!"

She sighed and turned away. "It's alright. Given my performance against Yen, I regret not having participated last year."

Yen grinned as she walked over. "Well, I'm glad I managed to get some wins at least."

Nyima glanced at me. "Yeah."

I glanced at the blue yonder. In two weeks, I was to fight either Burai, Adela, or Kaharu and then another one of them, assuming I won.

"Alright, let's get us some food and return to training," I said, marching on ahead.

"Seems Lei is returning to his old self," Yen said sighing.

"Yeah," Kun said, shaking his head.

"Hey, at least I am stopping to eat!" I countered. That was an improvement from before, right?

Wani walked over to me and patted me on the back. "Relax, bud."

I took a deep breath. He was right. Ugh. Why did my stupid nerves have to return? I hadn't felt this anxious since the entrance exam. At least I was more outwardly relaxed than back then.

"I'll try," I mumbled.

"Here I thought he was super confident," Au said.

Yen put her hands on her hips and laughed. "It's a façade. He tries to mimic me."

I huffed. Although, she wasn't wrong. Big Sis was the most confident person I knew growing up.

"I tend to find this side of his cute," Yuzu said, giggling as she strode toward us.

My cheeks reddened. She was just teasing me, right?

"Here. Taiyi wants her papa," Adela said, handing me her chick which chirped in my arms.

I patted its tiny head.

Yuzuki narrowed her eyes at Adela. "Using your familiar like this, huh? How low can you go?"

"Don't you insult Lady Adela!" Ling said, springing forth.

Adela sighed and lowered her head. "Yuzuki is right..."

I walked next to her. "It's not good to be jealous," I whispered.

She nodded. "I-I should've learned from Iah's mistakes, but it seems I haven't."

"Good thing Cart isn't here, else he would be green with envy," Au said, laughing.

"I'm glad he isn't," Hikaru said, sighing. He still had bad memories of when he was tasked to watch over the first years alone, didn't he?

"Is that Nat heading our way?" Zelde asked. Indeed, it was Hideo's younger brother.

Ny glanced around. Ha. Was she worried about running into the guy's big brother?

"What are you doing here? Weren't you going to watch your brother train Jude? Or did you finally decide to get off your laurels?" Li asked, grinning.

"I actually came to get some McDaisy's," Nat said, laughing. "Would you folks like some too? I was contemplating getting some for everyone."

She tilted her head. "McDaisy's, huh? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Uh, it's the biggest restaurant in the region, if not the world," I said.

"We don't have them back home," Adela said.

"Nor in my part of Vandavale," Aurelius said.

Oh. Then maybe Ling heard about them from online. Unless she was a hermit, which she might've been given her demeanor.

"We have a ton of them back home. My cousin-in-law and his mother founded the chain," Nat said, chuckling. Wait, McDaisy's originated in Zionia? How did it spread to Xeleria? Was being a multinational corporation not good enough?

I gripped my chest. Thoughts swirled around my head. I saw the image of a little black kitty being picked up by a pair of brown hands.

"Are you okay?" Adela asked. Taiyang chirped with concern.

"Tere," I mumbled, pressing my head against the white hallway wall. I turned to look at Taiyang and saw the image of a white haired boy with golden eyes. The boy reminded me of Sowk and Rhys.

Adela gasped. "Tere? How do you know that name?"

"You know my cousin?" Nat asked.

I closed my eyes and recalled a faint memory. This one, one of my own. She was the older sister of the Shield Knight, one of Hideo's companions. I gripped my head as I saw the same pair of hands from before holding a chubby toddler version of Tetsuya. Mr. Cat, was he related to the Shield Knight? He had reacted before to Hideo too. So he must've known them.

Mr. Cat, are you a Zionian too? Wait, that's right, the wings from when I fought Ratmir possessed Iah. I'd forgotten about them.

I fell to the ground. My vision became cloudy.

"Lei!" my friends yelled before everything went blank. When I finally came to, I found myself in a circular realm with waterfalls of darkness in all directions. Yet, I wasn't sinking at all.

"This place," I said, standing up. It's like when I was first absorbed by the Abysmal. Back then, I'd met a hooded man here. Wait, was that man him?

"Mr. Cat!" I yelled, turning around. "Mr. Cat, where are you? It's me, Lei! Uh, sorry I don't have any spirit cat snacks for you!" Although, they probably would've come in handy right about now. Wait, if I was here again, could it be that he had taken over my body? No, my friends were in trouble if so!

Chuckles filled the air. It was the hooded figure from before! "That's about as creative as my nephew's Doggo."

I curled my hands into fists and spun around. "Show yourself!"

"Someone is apprehensive. Here I thought we had become friends," the man's voice echoed. I thought I saw several hooded figures walking toward me, but each one vanished like a mirage before they could reach me.

There was something off about this guy. He felt similar, yet different from the Mr. Cat I had gotten to know over the autumn.

"Be careful," a gentler voice called out. I turned my head and saw a hooded figure with their back against mine. With each movement I took, he did too as if he were my shadow.

"Mr. Cat?" I asked.

He chuckled. "My real name is Takeshi, but you may call me that if you want."

I gasped. Takeshi? Wasn't that the name of the one who made Hideo and the other four's weapons? So that's why reacted when it came to stuff about the Five Knights!

"Lei!" a voice called out. I gasped as a pair of claws cut through the black space. It was my lion!

"Shizhi!" I yelled. Wait, was that why Mr. Cat reacted to the name too? It was similar to his own real name...

"You have to get out of here! That guy's malice is going to kill you if you don't!"

I gasped as something came down from above.

Takeshi jumped into the air and blocked the attack from the other hooded figure. Their clash caused the dark dimension to tremble. I would've been blown away if Shizhi hadn't ran behind me and grabbed me.

"Who is that?" I asked.

Takeshi turned to look at me. His hood fell off, revealing a gentle with worried smile. "This guy is the manifestation of my sins."

Sins? So, this guy was akin to his demon?!

The shockwaves intensified. My familiar rushed forth and unleashed a mighty roar, causing the darkness of the waterfalls to bend. But the thing seemed to fixed itself as if alive.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm trying to wake you up. As long as you remain here, you won't wake up." He grumbled as the energy from the clash of the Takeshis pressed down against us. "If we don't, you might end up in a coma like your friend An did, or worse."

Yikes! That would mean I would miss my next match. But worse, I would've worried my family and friends sick like An had.

I glanced up as the good Takeshi was pushed down.

"Time is running out," my lion grumbled before roaring and slashing at the darkness.

I got off his back and summoned my knives.

"Lei! Did you hear a thing I said?"

"I did, but I need to help him. Mr. Cat needs our help!" I said, shrouding myself in wind.

"But you might enter a coma!"

"True, but if I feel that if I don't make a stand now, something worse might happen later. Mr. Cat has been fighting his darkness all if this time! He's the reason I haven't gotten taken over again like I was the first time. He also helped me stop Ratmir."

My familiar sighed and turned around. "Fine. If you insist. Although, at your current strength I don't think you'll be much help."

I smiled. "That's why I need you. You were the familiar of Ventus, so you must be strong."

He sighed. "To be honest, peace has made me rusty."

"Give up!" the evil Takeshi yelled, pushing the good one further down.

"I won't quit! I won't let you ruin any more lives!" the good Shi said as he began glowing bright purple. He pushed the bad one several feet into the air. The fabric of space was bending around him.

The malicious Takeshi snickered as he used a pair of dark purple wings to slow his ascent. "You really think that I can't do the same?" An thick purple aura surged around him. As the two clashed, the entire place trembled erratically. I gripped my chest.

"This is bad! The core is releasing a surge of energy in the real world!" Shizhi said, gulping. "If this continues, not only will you die, but all of Nine Petal Island will vanish without a trace!"

I smiled through the pain. "Then let's go stop him," I said before shooting up toward them. Hopefully, the prana shroud I'd been forming all this time could hold up against the mana induced shockwaves.

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