I slurped my ramen. "So tasty!" I exclaimed. The noodles had just the right amount of spice, packing a punch while not being too hot.

"You're really hungry. Try to pay attention to your steps more than your food, or you might lose it," Kanja said, chuckling. Our class followed Lei and his friends up a mountain. The stairs seemed as if they went on forever. Haha, they would make for the perfect training ground!

Still, I wished I could fly like Ling, Aurelius, Nate, and our seniors. Well, technically Hikaru levitated rather than flew, but still...

"What's wrong?" Kanja asked as I continued to eat, but slower.

"I-I was just thinking of the gap between me and those in the second-year class. E-even within ours, the gulf is vast."

She sighed. "If it's big for you, imagine how big it is for me, Lidia, and Huo."

I bit my lip. Great, I forgot not to bring up the subject with her. She got like this when she tried to cheer me up back on the boat.

"I-It's alright. T-that's why we're here! To learn."

Kanja smiled slightly. "Yeah." She glanced at Hikaru. "Wonder if he would be willing to teach me how to do that."

I glanced at Adela. She didn't appear to be using fire magic to propel herself. Was she using magnetic levitation too?

Hmm, though it could be that she was using a non-element specific spell like the one Ling used. Considering they both hailed from Xian, that was a strong possibility. If anything, it was the same spell.

"We're almost there," Yuzuki said, waving at us.

I sped up and passed everyone, even the second and third years flying overhead.

"We made it!" I yelled as soon as I saw a pair of buildings.

"Quiet down. You're so loud!" Ling said, rubbing her ears.

"Yeah," Huo said, glaring at me too.

I lowered my head. "S-sorry."

Mira turned around.

"What's wrong?" I asked, blinking.

"Jude hasn't caught up yet. Maybe we should have waited for him after all."

I swung my hands behind my head. "Think he'll be fine. Jude's a smart kid."

Mira sighed. "You're probably right."

I grinned. "Of course I am."

"Someone is self-centered," Yen murmured.

Lei chuckled. "That one really reminds me of him," he said as he landed. His eyes seemed sad.

Was he talking about his missing friend again?

Friends... Had Rob returned home safely? Was home even safe for him, given what his father attempted to do? Hoped my old man wouldn't take things too far. He had already stripped Rob's father of his titles and exiled him to the fringes of the country. What worried me was that my old man wasn't one for mercy. Not after Mom died.

"Cart?" Nate said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I looked into his cyan eyes.

"You okay?" He glanced at my hands. They were clutched into fists and releasing embers.

I took a deep breath. "Sorry. I was just thinking of Rob. He should be the one here."

"Still not over that?" Ling asked, putting her hands on her hips. She shook her head. "Seems like you and Kanja love to beat yourselves up over water under the bridge."

"Me?" Kanja asked, pointing at herself.

Ling grumbled and nodded. "Yes, you. There are no other people called Kanja around. That I know of at least."

Kanja rolled her eyes. "I meant why did you include me?"

Ling turned around and scoffed. "Think that I didn't overhear your little conversation with Carter earlier? You see yourself as the weakest. While that may be true, Carter is right that we are here to get stronger."

Adela pressed her hands together and nodded. "Yeah. You saw our tournament. Last year, Arima won it, but this year she lost in the first round to someone who didn't make it out of round one."

Wonder if Mira, Kanja, Jude, Huo, or Lidia would beat Nate or Tamara next year.

"M-made it!" Jude said as he ran after us. How did he make it here so fast! The kid had better stamina than I had expected.

"You okay?" Mira asked, lifting him up.

Jude gasped for air. "J-just a l-li-little out of br-breath."

"Sorry for leaving you behind. I wanted to go get you, but Nyima said she would bring you over."

A blue-haired, dark-skinned girl walked toward us. Her shirt and skirt outlined her hourglass figure. W-was she a model?

"H-hello!" I blurted out, waving.

Ling elbowed me. "Stop that, you're making a fool out of yourself. Well, a bigger one."

Nate chuckled.

I turned around and built some distance between us.

"What's wrong with that one?" I heard Nyima ask.

"He's special," Ling said in her usual tone. "Also, I think that you need a bigger uniform."

Nyima put a hand on her chest. "True. It's a little hard to breath in this."

Yen grumbled. "Can't believe that they're still growing."

"Yen, being envious isn't a good trait to have," Adela said, even though she looked as annoyed as Yen.

"Yeah," Lei said. He coughed. "Uh, can we get going now?

"Y-yeah!" I yelled, my face deep red.

Nyima sighed. "Ditto."

I looked away and ran off.

"Carter, wait up! You're going to get lost!" Aurelius yelled.

I stopped by the front of the boy's dorm. The place did seem like it would be easy to get lost in. It was almost the size of the boat we took to get here.

Why did they only allow us ten if they had this much space? Were all the rooms really occupied?

Aurelius stood shoulder to shoulder with me and gawked at the building. "It's somehow huger up close."

"Yeah, but our rooms aren't there. At least not in that fancy part," Lei said, walking over to us.

Au blinked. "Huh? Where are they then?"

"In the wing on the far right of the building. It's actually part of an unfinished wing that was left to decay."

"Decay?" I asked. That did not sound good...

Lei laughed at our reaction. "Don't worry, me and my friends fixed it up! It's as good as new!"

I wiped my forehead. "That's great."

"You should've seen it last year. Both buildings' extensions were full of insects," Adela said as she and Nyima got closer to us.

Nyima grumbled. "Please don't remind me."

"S-sounds s-scary," Jude said, rubbing his shoulders.

The blue-haired girl nodded her head. "It was."

"Alto and I zapped some of them too," Lei said, bringing a finger up to his chin. He flicked his hands, releasing azure a tiny stream of azure sparks. "Sadly, Aya's insects are a lot tougher than what we were up against."

Nyima sighed. "We should just have called on him to get them out."

Lei fidgeted. "I doubt I would've wanted that."

Adela snickered. "You were a lot more proud back then."

He smiled awkwardly. "I hate to say it, but I'm not sure I would accept his help now. Or at least having him do all of the work."

"Seems you spoke too soon," Nyima said, smiling slightly at Lei.

Lei sure was lucky to have two pretty girls on his team. Well, I did have Kanja. Mira probably was pretty underneath that helmet too.

I snuck a glance at Mira as she put Jude back down. Wished I were a kid again, I would like to get piggy back rides too. My big sis and big bro used to give allow me to ride on their backs all the time when I was ten.

"What's wrong?" Aurelius asked, watching as I touched my head. The sad thing was I wasn't very tall either.

"Just thinking how it must be nice to be small or tall," I said with a slight smile.

Aurelius laughed. "That's so random!"

"He seems to have a random mind," Ling said, approaching us.

I grumbled. "S-shouldn't y-you be with the girls?"

Ling smiled. "You didn't ask that of Nyima nor Her Highness."

Adela sighed. "Ling, what did I tell you before? Call me Adela here."

The green-haired girl turned away. "I still can't. You're the High Priestess. Even here, I can't allow myself to step out of line. Plus, if my brother is following Xianian traditions despite attending school in a foreign country, I should too."

The High Priestess of Xian sighed. "Fine. Anyway, let's get going. We have to get you girls situated into your dorms." She placed a hand on Ling's back and nudged her forward.

"I'll be going back to check on Sarah and the others," Nyima said, running on ahead.

"Bye, take care!" Lei yelled.

Nyima waved back at him and formed a bubble. She flew high into the air.

Jude gasped. "W-why didn't she fly us here?"

Aurelius ruffled his light blond hair and laughed. "Maybe she thought you needed some exercise, little guy."

Nate nodded. "Probably."

Jude's cheeks reddened. "I-I'm not unfit."

Yeah, that kid could move fast. Though, he did need to work on his stamina. Not that Nyima would know that unless she watched our matches...

"Let's get going," Lei said, waving at us. He didn't go through the front door, instead walking along the perimeter of the building.

I glanced at Hikaru who, like Huo, hadn't said much thus far. Both of them seemed exhausted, but Hika was more worn out than Huo and even Jude.

"You alright, Hika?" Lei asked, turning around as Hikaru yawned.

Hikaru blinked several times. "Yeah, just a little sleepy."

Lei smiled. "If you want, I can show the boys around. There are only five of them anyway. Not that I would have a hard time serving as a tour guide for five hundred."

His remark seemed to awaken Hikaru as the brown-haired boy's eyes widened. "That would be too much, even for you!"

Lei rubbed his ear and chuckled. "It was a joke, Hika."

Hikaru grumbled. "I know, but I can actually see you trying to be a tour guide for five hundred just to see if you can."

The honey-brunette crossed his arms and smirked. "Maybe I would."

Hikaru leered at him. "You're as bad as Kun sometimes, you know that?"

Lei scratched the side of his face and laughed slightly. "Well, we are triplets."

"Is that guy mature or immature, I can't tell," Aurelius whispered.

Hikaru laughed. "Despite knowing him since we were in diapers, I'm not even sure."

Lei turned to look at us and flashed a smile as if to warn us that he could hear us.

Hikaru gulped.

"S-scary," Jude mumbled.

I nodded. Yeah, he was.

Nate chuckled. "Reminds me of my older brother."

"Which one?" I asked. He had three. Well, four but I didn't know Dante.

"Was thinking of Hideo, but Silas and Alex have their moments too. Well, all three can be equally scary."

I leered at him. He wasn't far behind, as he gave me quite the frightful smile before.

Lei glanced down at his bowl and slurped his ramen. "Hideo sure knows how to make good curry and ramen," he said.

Nate bit his lip, realizing Lei had overheard him just now too.

"Y-yeah. He's great at making soups, noodle dishes, and the like but not very good at much else."

"That so? Too bad. Was wondering if he would make me some honey chicken," Lei mumbled as if talking to himself.

"Honey chicken? He might be able to. He was looking into doing more meat-focused dishes."

He snickered. "Great!"

"Can't he think of something other than honey chicken?" Hikaru asked, crossing his arms.

"You should know, Hika. You have known me since you were born!" Lei said, snickering.

Yup, he really did overhear our whispering.

"Then... yes. Since other than honey chicken, all you think about is becoming Magus Maximus," Hikaru said.

Lei raised his chopsticks to the air. "Yup! Honey chicken and being Magus Maximus are my pursuits in life. Well, after that comes Manga and anime!"

I snickered. Seemed I beat him by having only one.

"Why are you laughing?" Huo asked, blinking.

My face heated up. He probably thought I was a weirdo. "Oh, it's nothing."

Nate smiled. "I doubt it's 'nothing'. You're thinking about how you're more laser-focused than Lei, right? For having only one pursuit."

I jumped to the side. Did he read my mind or was I truly that easy to read?

"H-how did you know?" I asked.

Nate looked at Lei as he returned to eating his ramen while walking. "Your laughter gave it away. Trust, me, I'm used to hearing such laughing. Hide used to do it when he thought he had someone beat too."

Oh, so that's how he could tell, experience.

"We're here!" Lei said, coming to a halt. With his chopsticks, he pointed at a pair of metal doors. "Beyond here is where you'll be sleeping and bathing for the next three years of your school life."

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