“Leo…” Bella pulled lightly on Leo’s hand. He had been marching forward, and Bella could tell he was not very happy.

At least Bella's light tug was enough to make Leo snap back to reality and turn to Bella. “Sorry.” Leo let go of the girl's hand and scratched his head. “That guy… someone like him doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as people. I should have forced him to apologize to you.”

“No, I asked you to let him go because it was not worth it. If he dares to even target you or your family he will be in for it. But I will warn you that he might send some of his lackeys after you.” Bella lowered her head and bit her lip. “I’m sorry, because of me…”

“You did nothing wrong. We are friends now and roommates. As such, I can’t just sit by while you are being manhandled like that. Even if he were stronger than me physically, I would have still done the same thing. If he dares to come at you again, tell me.” Leo reached out and placed his hand on top of Bella’s head and gently ruffled it. It took him a second to realize what he was doing, and quickly pulled his hand back. “Sorry. Force of habit…”

Bella chuckled, seeing Leo blush. She actually felt much better. The boy in front of her really made her heart skip a few beats today. “Let me guess, you used to ruffle your sisters hair.”

“Yeah. Anytime someone in the village bullied her, I would beat them up and then try to calm my sister down.” Leo replied, feeling slightly awkward. He did not mean to treat Bella like his little sister. Nor did he want to remember those days. Sadly for him, someone remembered them very clearly.

“This guy really did let those bullies have it. I remember there was a big village meeting over it.” Jack walked over and said while inwardly sighing in relief. He was glad that Leo seemed fine. He had hurried after Leo to make sure he was okay. The others were also right behind him.

“No one wants to hear that boring story.” Leo did not even want to remember that time. He had really gone a little too far.

“So dangling three kids by their feet from tree limbs is a boring story?” Jack chuckled. “Those kids even peed themselves.”

“Wait, they peed themselves while upside down?” Abby asked with wide eyes and a sour expression. Just the thought of it made her stomach turn.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Yeah. Leo beat them up, tied them upside down to a tree limb, and in the end, they ended up peeing on themselves in the process.” Jack put his arm around Leo’s shoulder and smiled. “He may look like a good person, but once you mess with those he cares about, he is like a dungeon boss.”

“I guess I could see that.” Anna nodded. She thought of the expression Leo had when Harry said something about his family. She wondered what would have happened if Bella and Abby had not stopped him. This was just an internal thought, though. She was happy with the current outcome. But she would also make sure that Harry behaved himself.

Putting the event with Harry behind them, the group continued their tour, which ended at a large arena. “This place is?”

“From what I heard, it's the battle arena. You can either fight other students or against a monster created from chaos.” Billy answered Leo’s question.

“Let’s check it out!” Leo's eyes were filled with excitement. He had never seen how a Card Master fights, so this was a very good chance for him. Everyone quickly agreed, and the group entered the arena.

The arena was made of solid stone. It seemed to have been carved from an enormous chunk of rock. The entrance was a long tunnel that came out to stadium seating with three arenas sitting side by side at the bottom. The entire building actually sunk into the ground about one hundred feet, allowing for plenty of space.

“This place is huge!” Abby exclaimed as she looked around. She had heard about this place, but hearing about it and seeing it were two different things.

“It’s also quite packed.” Leo really did not expect to see so many people here. The stands were half-filled, and there did not seem to be any tournaments going on. At least none that they were told about.

“Over here! There is space here.” Bella called out as she pointed at a spot that had six seats open nearby.

Bella unconsciously grabbed Leo’s hand, pulled him over, and had him sit down in a seat next to another young man before sitting on the other side of him. Anna and Abby looked at each other and smiled before making their way over as well.

“Looks like it's just us guys.” Jack chuckled as he, too, made his way over. Billy smiled and shook his head, following Jack. They both took a second to pat Leo on the shoulder and give him a knowing wink, which made Leo sigh once more. He had no idea what was going on. Bella took his hand, and he followed.

Only one of the stages was being used at this time. There was a young man with a Blast Turtle on stage going against a young woman who had a Yellow Lightning Hawk.

‘Hmmm…’ Liana looked at the two on stage and narrowed her eyes. ‘Leo, watch this battle closely. The Blast Turtle should have the advantage with its ability to fight at range but the Yellow Lightning Hawk is mutated.’

‘Mutated?’ Leo raised an eyebrow and looked at the Yellow Lightning Hawk but could not see a difference from the reference book he had read.

‘The tail feathers of the Yellow Lightning Hawk’s have green tips. Those green tips are a small mutation but it is enough to give the Yellow Lightning Hawk an edge. It allows it to use wind to speed itself up.’