The group of students sat in the carriage going back towards the school. It had been 2 days since they left Lee, Peter and the old man. Even though there was no other choice they still couldn't help but feel regret.

“We should be at the school by tomorrow morning. I hope they won't be too mad that we went off on our own.” Amanda couldn't help but worry about the potential consequences. She needed to keep her position as a wizard to make money for her family since she didn't come from a wealthy house like Tom, David and Mary.

“It'll be fine. If anyone has anything to say about it I'll just remind them they're talking to Mary Saint Cloud of the Cloud house and her companions. They'll have nothing to say after that.” Mary never had any friends growing up. It was still uncomfortable for her to use the word.

“We need to focus on what we can do and ignore the rest for now. It may sound heartless to say it but our minds can't be on those we left behind or what may happen to any of us after the matches. We need to focus on the best way to win.” Tom Sky hated the way it sounded but too much of the talk the last few days had been about things that could not be helped. They needed to focus on the near future.

“He's right. Without Lee it's probably not possible to beat Valdimir. We probably should just concede that match and think about how best to win 3 of the other 4.” David couldn't help but wonder if he'd get stuck with the duty of the sacrificial match to Vladimir.

“Planning and focusing is important but there are too many unknowns right now. It's best just to get the the most rest we can and meditate. We'll figure it out when we get there and have more details.” It was odd of Derrick to be one to not talk about scheming but they knew he was right. They wouldn't know what was the best idea until they finally got to the school and saw the situation.

*****

Lee awoke with the sun light hitting his eyes through the window. At first he thought he was in his own bed or back at school. It wasn't until a few moments passed he realized he was sleeping on a spar mat at the old man's house. Quickly his hands moved to his body to find his injuries. It seems they were mostly healed. He tried to feel his mana but it was dim and small. He really had over done it.

He got up and wondered to the open door and went down the stairs. He smelled food on the stove. His mother was cooking up some stew with a sad but focused looked on her face. She turned to the sound of foot steps that had just entered. She saw Lee standing by the door way looking a bit pale but otherwise healthy. She dropped the spoon she was mixing the stew with on the floor and ran over to him.

“Oh my baby boy! Mother is so glad you're up! How are you feeling? Are you hungry or thirsty? You had me so worried. They said you were going to be okay but I wasn't about to leave your side for a single second!” The hug was tight and made him realize he still had many bruises and sensitive spots on his body.

“I'm fine mom and thank you. I'm still pretty sore though. If you don't mind could we stop the hugging please?” She quickly let go and took a few steps away now treating him like fragile glass they may fall apart and break at the slightest touch.

“I'm sorry. Go ahead and sit down. I'll get you a bowl of stew and wake up everyone else. They'll no doubt like to know you're finally up.” She quickly got out another spoon, poured the stew in a bowl and put it in front of Lee. After he thanked her and begun to eat she quickly went to let everyone else know he was awake.

The old man and Peter both came out to meet him. Peter looked in a good condition but the old man looked worn out. He had never seen him in such a state. “Are you okay sir?” Lee asked. Suddenly a thought occurred to him he had forgotten about but remember now seeing Peter. “My friends. Are they alright?”

“They're fine my boy and there's no need to worry about me. You're the one who took quite a beating, and here I was thinking I taught you well enough how to handle yourself!” the old man joked. Lee knew when he did this it was often to change the conversation or hide his own discomfort.

“He's just worn out is all Lee. Every time this old man starts to regain his mana he uses it to help heal you. You didn't think all those wounds healed so quick by themselves did you Lee? Come on now. Slow witted students are one of my dislikes.” Peter knew the old man didn't want him saying this but he felt Lee should know just how hard the old man pushed himself for Lee's sake.

The old man waved the comment aside before Lee could say anything. “It isn't important. It's not like I have any impressive magic I need to do in the next few days. Pushing myself is fine, and frankly, this shows me it's been too long since I did. Clearly I've grown a little lazy in my old age.” He walked over to Lee and put his hand on his shoulder.

“As it turns out, I just had a good nights sleep and so have a bit of spare mana right now. This will be the last healing you need physically but it'll still be at least 2 days before you fully recover your mana. An injured body slows the process down as it needs to focus on healing itself and not generating mana. But you should know that of course.” The old man poured his mana into Lee and finished healing his wounds. He even had a little mana left after he was done.

Lee looked over to Peter who seemed in good shape. “If you don't think it's rude to ask, I’m curious why Peter who seems to be okay didn't use healing magic and instead you were the one who got continuously worn out.”

“I wanted to but the old man said I absolutely couldn't. Since the moment I woke he's told me to mediate and focus on my mana and that to use any of it too soon may destabilize what was just done.” Lee figured something like that may be the case. Something was a little different about Peter but Lee couldn't figure out exactly what it was. It was as if his body and movement which had somehow unnoticeably been choppy and out of alignment were now as they should be.

“In any case Lee, speaking of your friends and what happened I have some news. I'm afraid you've been asleep for 2 days. The tournament will start in a mere 2 days more. I'm afraid they had to go on ahead without you. As for who those men that attacked you were... After I woke up I went to the area to have a look. There is no proof of it but I've strong reason to believe they were sent from the Star house. It seems they're trying to ensure they win the match and use it as a sign of dominance in the Cloud area. They felt you would've gotten in their way would be my guess.”

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Lee clench his fist as he looked at his stew. Would they really go so far just to play their stupid power games? Did life really mean so little to them. He started to wonder if Mary's Cloud house was the same and if she helped her own house use such methods.

“Well, they failed to take my life but it seems their plan ultimately worked. There's no way I can make it back in time to fight,” He hated that the Star house which resorted to such tricks would get the best of him. He worried about his friends. If the Star house felt they were in jeopardy of losing to them what would they be willing to do?

“We need to get back as soon as possible! There's no telling what they may do next if they're willing to go this far.” Even as Lee said this he knew by the time he arrived the fight would be over and any damage they did would be done.

“I agree!” the old man spoke up. “As it turns out, you can be back there in 2 days. I hate to ruin your chance for a family reunion, but you'd need to leave immediately to make it.”

Peter was just as confused as Lee. “How are we to make it back? It took us 3 days by carriage going as fast as we possibly could. There's no way to do it any faster.”

“Sure there is Peter. I guess you still haven't noticed yet as you haven't tried to tap into your mana... why don't you try now? I think it should be safe.”

Peter wasn't sure what the old man meant but he focused on his mana system and started to gather power within him. As he gathered more and more he started to notice something odd. It wasn't as hard as it use to be. Even as he was approaching his limit. He kept gathering mana expecting to hit that wall but found himself going beyond it. He went further and gathered more and more.

He felt power flow through his body the likes of which he'd never felt. His limbs tingled. Everything felt electric. He felt himself break through to the S level. He continued to gather mana, it felt like a flood of water going out through a broken dam. It finally started to slow.

“What just happened? I've grown much stronger all of a sudden?”

“I've never seen it done before myself. When I fixed my own mana system I didn't have a bunch of wasted effort built up like you. I'd say when I fixed your mana system you finally were able to achieve the gains of all your hard work. Don't feel like it's a gift. Everything you have is what you rightfully earned. From this point on your growth depends entirely on your own efforts.” The old men gave Peter a pat on the shoulder.

Peter with his new power used the moment to try to measure where he stood against the old man. While his hand patting him on his back he tried to feel the mana within the old man's body. It was mostly empty but he could feel how much should be there. At least he started to... It was a vast empty cave that just kept going deeper.

“Now now Peter, peeking without permission isn't nice.” The old man took his hand off Peter's back and gave him a smile. Peter was now sure of it. There was something beyond S rank that this old man had found. But how far did it go? Peter felt for a moment he had finally started to reach the peak but realized there was higher up the mountain to go; with clouds above blocking his view of the true height left to climb.

Peter focused on the power in his own body. So this is the power those in the S class felt. Clearly their arrogance was well warranted. Just how many of his old selves would it take to defeat the current him? It seemed as if the difference between classes only grew with each rank up. This was clearly the biggest yet and by a wider margin than even he would have thought.

The old wizard spoke to Peter which woke him from his own thoughts. “In any case Peter, I know this is all a bit strange for you but you must get use to it quickly. You need to eat something now and get up your strength. I'm afraid it will fall on you and your new abilities on if Lee makes the tournament in time.”

Lee was confused. “Wait, so what? You want me to ride on his back or something?”

The old man laughed. “Think of it as student teacher bonding.”

Neither Peter or Lee looked happy about the idea.

*****

The head of the Star House sat looking at the message in his hand. His minions had found the children but there has not been a letter since. It was already two day over due. He had nothing else he could conclude except that his men were dead. The only question is what could have happened?

The uncertainty of the situation only grew. The plan he had been so sure of the last few months had only grown more and more questionable. With so many strange occurrences it couldn't be a mere coincidence. He began to write at his desk. He needed to be sure everything went as he wanted. To make such a move against the Cloud house only to fail would lose far too much face.

He would make sure everything went as he commanded and if anyone cried foul they'd be made to suffer.

*****

A day later the students arrived back at the school. To their surprise, they weren't spotted until they were just about at the gates. Perhaps the net for their search had spread out so far that no one close to the town was looking. Soon they were brought before the headmaster and lectured sternly on the carelessness of their actions. They were told after the tournament certain privileges were to be revoked. It was all minor and expected.

In the end not much could be done. They were the best hope of the Cloud house to defeat the plot of the Star house after all. The teachers saw to it they were fed and evaluated their current strength. To their surprise, each of them was now in the B rank. Some of them the very low end like Derrick and David. Mary was at the very highest end of B rank. They weren't sure how they had become so strong in less than a year but it was a welcomed sight.

Before long night came and then the day of the match finally arrived. It was only morning and they wouldn't start until mid-day but the anticipation in the air. The students they were about to face would no doubt be arriving any minute. Mary stood by the window in her room looking for any sign of approach. “I'm going to make you Star Bastards pay for what you did to Lee.” She whispered to the empty room. She would hold Vlad most responsible of all.

*****

Lee hung on to Peters back. For 2 days now Peter had used his new power with body enhancement along with wind magic to move at high speeds. He made sure to pace himself but even even with that he was surprised at the speed he could keep up.. Every 3 or 4 hours they would stop at a town to take a carriage for a while so that Peter could rest. Once the carriage made it to the next town over Peter would repeat the process of carrying Lee on his back again.

At night instead of going to an inn they'd traveled by carriage and sleep while moving so that no time was lost. It was already the morning of the tournament and they still had a good amount of distance to cover.

“Do you think we'll make it before it starts?” Lee's found his position both uncomfortable and embarrassing and wanted this over soon equally for both reasons.

“All we need to do it make it before it's over. Focus on conserving your mana. How are you feeling?”

“I've felt better to be honest, the traveling arrangements certainly aren't helping.”

Peter turned his head back a bit to face Lee. “Well, you know whose to blame for your traveling conditions and not feeling at your best right?”

“That I do.” Lee would see to it that the Star house would regret it. As long as he made it in time that is.