Tom Sky sat during a lecture along with his fellow class 5 students. The weights he was wearing all day had begun to take their toll on him. He started to dread Peter Leaf telling him to stand up to do a magical demonstration of some kind. The prospect of having to move anymore than he absolutely had to was not a happy one.

David Rain found it painful to move but almost as painful just to sit. He spared for about 30 minutes after everyone else had left with Lee. He was struck, thrown around and his body was twisted in ways he had never imagined it would be. He hated the smirk on Lee's face at the end of training. He remembered Lee saying “you have no need to worry. Everything we did will leave only minor damage so there's no reason we can't train tomorrow.”

He hated it but there would be no other way to keep up with everyone else. He had long suspected what Lee told him about his natural talent being low. He was happy it would not limit him in the future but he hated the thought of everyone passing him in magic ability.

Derrick Hill and Amanda Clover practiced their mana control in class. Lee could already feel changes within them. Was it because they were such good talents or was it because neither had truly had a decent teacher in the past? Lee thought perhaps both played a part. In either case, he could tell what he was teaching them was working well.

Perhaps just as importantly, it built up their confidence. Both seem tended to lack confidence in their magic ability a great deal; probably because of their lack of a solid background. Lee decided on top of their mana training he would need to find time to sit them down together and talk about some magic theories that was not being discussed in this class.

On top of that, he would need to have magical duels with them so they could get use to being in combat. This was perhaps their biggest issue. There was nothing for it but to let them fight and gain experience. He was happy Sky, Rain and Cloud were from noble houses in this regard. Even though he know things they were taught were wrong a fair amount of the time, the practical experience with spars and dealing with magic was useful.

And then there was Mary Saint Cloud. She was following his regiment but Lee was honestly unsure of how best to teach here. It wasn't like she was bad in any single area. Her talent was clearly top notch. He supposed the Cloud house became one of the big 3 in the continent because their bloodline held such natural talent. She was probably exceptional even for them.

Her mana control was good but had a few fundamental flaws. Lee realized in some ways it would be easier to teach this entirely from scratch than to try to fix so many minor problems that added up to a big one. She had a lot of good habits. To go further they would need to be broken to make better ones.

The old man was described magic a bit like a wheel. You can do most of it right but if you have just a few flaws suddenly it is like a wooden wheel that isn't perfectly round. If it has cracks and dents that makes it's roll harder and less natural you will find twice the effort gets you only half as far. Just as it doesn't take many imperfections to make a wheel not work correctly it doesn't make many imperfections to limit your magical ability drastically.

As the days went on with their training, Mary grew frustrated. It felt to her like she was going 1 step forward and 2 steps back. She thought she was actually becoming a worse wizard as this training went on. In some ways she was correct. Lee telling her to break her habits and tendencies and build new ones caused her to actually decline a bit in ability for a while. What was once smooth and natural was tossed aside for the new.

Much of the way Lee told her to channel and control her mana felt wrong and she would often mess it up. Her frustration and anger at the situation had everyone else who crossed her path on their toes. She had asked Lee to train her to get stronger. Yet she was actually a worse wizard right now than when she started. It was becoming too much to stand.

“What you're teaching me isn't working! I'm making a fool out of myself in front of the whole school. I tried to do a very simple magic demonstration when asked and I failed to even cast the spell. A main house Cloud not being able to cast a simple spell? Do you know how ridiculous and shameful that is? It is like a frog that can't leap.”

“Mary, I told you before. This is going to be very difficult for you. I know you have been taught magic a very particularly way all your life. Now I'm telling you to do something different and it feels unnatural and wrong when you try to. But I swear I am not lying to you. This will make you stronger. You just need to give it time and have patience”. Lee couldn't afford to not have Mary on board with this.

She was getting restless but agreed. In the end the difference in ability between her and Lee was enough so that she would give this the time it needed to work. At least that was what Lee was hoping.

The training with Tom was going well. He was still slow in his 25lb weights but now he was able to get through the day without wanting to cry. The worst part of the training is when he failed to dodge a spell and was knocked down. Lee would continue to fire on him even being on the ground. Getting up with all the weight on himself was hard to accomplish quickly. But the motivation insured he did.

Derrick and Amanda had been doing well with their training. Amanda in particular had come a long way. She turned out to really have a great natural feel for mana control. They were becoming better able to control their magic and increase their power. He still had a lot for them to work on and they were still a long time away from duel casting or casting without making any chants but he had hopes they would be able to do those before long.

Tom was still fairly miserable lugging around all that extra weight but he was showing signs of improvement. He had began to move quicker and reaction faster when dodging attacks. Lee when firing spells at him intentionally made them hard to dodge but just off the mark enough so they were possible to dodge. Slowly he started to move the spells closer and closer to the center of Tom's body.

Lee was having a lot of fun teaching David Rain. He hadn't realized till he started to spar how much he'd missed it. Sparing daily before coming to this school and then suddenly not doing so was something he missed without even realizing it. Rain wasn't must of an opponent of course, but he was determined and showed good toughness with his ability to stand up time after time.

The training went on with a mix of sparring and instruction. Lee didn't tell the others why he wanted to teach David martial arts as opposed to magic skills as he thought that being public would embarrass him. David after getting over this had began to embrace his training. Whenever David needed encouragement to get back up Tom told Lee he should talk to Amanda and instruct her while David was on the ground.

Lee didn't know why, but he found this to be very effective. David would always get right back up and declare he was ready for more. Their sparring continued until Lee knew he was completely spent physically. When that happened he told David to work on his mana control. He sat in the corner with Amanda and Derrick while they also practiced theirs.

He made sure to watch them practice their mana control the first few weeks just to be sure they were doing everything as he wanted them to. Even one minor mistake would have drastic consequences for their mana training. Soon he would have them do all their mana training on their own time and focus on other things here. But it was important to be sure it was done correctly before that happened.

As time went on that is exactly what did happened. The only one who still needed to be coached when it came to mana control was Mary. Lee knew these bad habits would take a while to break but she seemed unwilling to just sit by and do mana training alone while everyone else trained in other things.

To try to solve the problem Lee shared his idea. “Well, if you don't want to train your mana here then we need to find a time to do it together. If you prefer, we can go to your room after this training is over and we can do it there.”

Mary responded a bit too loudly so that the other 4 almost heard “you want to come to my room tonight?!” When they turned towards her wondering what it was she said she simply waved her hands at them “never mind! Go back to your training. Do you have so much time to spare?”

She said very softly to Lee with the red on her cheeks almost matching the red of her hair “that would be okay I suppose..... just don't get any funny ideas!”

“What kind of funny ideas would I get?” Lee was unsure of what she meant

She was angered at his comment and turned around saying “idiot”softly. She gave out a huff “you'll need to come late so that no one sees you. Usually there are magical barriers in place to keep a student from entering another student's room at night. Luckily, my family knows how to deal with them. One of the benefits of being a Saint Cloud. I'll make it so the barrier to my room is down just before midnight. Come at that time”.

“Okay, I’ll be careful to not been seen. I don't want to get you in any trouble”. She nodded and then they went back to their training. They finished just a bit before 9. This was as late as they were usually allowed to be out. They casually went back to their own rooms and wished each other a good night.

Mary casually walked back to her room. She casually waved to a few other nobles she knew were also retiring for the night. She casually closed the door behind her. Her back pushed against the door and she started to breath hard and quickly. She felt a strong nervous energy in her body and a slight nervous sweat on her forehead. “What am I getting so nervous about? So Lee is coming to my room, at midnight, alone. No big deal.”

She ran to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. There was no reason not to make sure she was presentable. She was from the main Cloud house after all, and should always represent them proudly. Maybe she should do something to make her hair look a bit better. Her makeup wasn't as good as it was when put on early this morning. She did sweat a bit from the training. A shower wouldn't be a bad idea. She may as well put on some fresh perfume on if she was taking a shower.

She went through these task one by one. She knew she should dress as conservatively as her school uniform. Then again, it was her room. Why shouldn't she be able to dress a little more comfortable in here? She looked over her clothing. Surely she shouldn't wear something like the tight top and short shorts she saw in her closet. Wouldn't that be a bit too revealing?

Then again, why shouldn't she? She certainly had nothing that she felt embarrassed about showing. Her body was just the right amount of curvy and well proportioned. She stood a proud 5'5 with a thin frame. Her skin was pale and healthy. The bruises from her fight against 'The Shame of the House of Sun' had all faded. Her blue eyes reminded those who saw them of ocean water. She was the pride of her house in talent and beauty. Of course she couldn't wear something so revealing...

*****

Lee left his room just a little before midnight. He moved slowly and silently through the halls. He knew it would be horrible for his plans if he embarrassed her and so took great care moving towards her room. He probably should have left a little earlier to give himself more time if he was going to move so slowly.

Before long he was at her door. He remembered now they never talked about how it was he should enter. Should he just walk in or give the door the slightest of knocks. It's unlikely anyone would hear if he knocked very lightly but he didn't want to make any noise at all if possible. In the end he figured it would be best just to open it slightly. He looked around, then slowly opened the door a crack and whispered “Mary?”

She pulled the door open gave a quick look around and then pulled Lee inside shutting the door behind him quickly. She was clearly not happy “what you are doing? Are you trying to get caught? Just get in here already instead of standing around outside like an idiot. Also, your late. I started to get worried you fell asleep. I can't leave my door defenses down all night you know!”

Lee answered back a meek “I'm sorry, I'll do that from now on and be here on time”. He gave her a look over.

In the end she didn't wear the short shorts and the tight and smallish top she saw before. She put them on at first but in the last 30 minutes decided on an outfit just a bit more revealing. Now her belly button was clearly visible and her chest pushed against the blue colored top that matched her eyes. Her shorts covered less than half of the skin aboce her knees.

She blushed and looked away “what are you looking at?” She put her an arm around her stomach feeling a little to embarrassed. With him standing there. not in theory but in reality, her boldness had faded. She had to fight the urge to turn around. She knew if she did the shorts would also do a good job of giving him a great view her butt. Not that there was anything wrong with it.

“it's just you look different is all. I've never seen you without your school uniform so I was just surprised”. Lee figured she must not like something about how she looked. He should probably say something to try to make here feel better. That is what you were suppose to do in this situation, right? What did his father say to his mother again when she felt like this? Now he remembered!

“Don't worry, no matter what you wear, you'll always look like the worlds most beautiful woman to me!” Mary's face went scarlet red at that comment. Lee was terrible at dealing with women. He just didn't understand them. Did he say the wrong thing again?

Mary turned away a bit and smiled; turned back to him a good deal more happy than he had ever seen her. “Well, of course! I mean, not that I care what you think about how I look. But it's nice to know you aren't totally blind. I'm sure you feel lucky you get to see a beauty like me. I suppose you have some good sense at times so you're not entirely hopeless.”

She let her hand drop and felt a bit better about her situation “but don't get any ideas. I just like to be comfortable at night. It's my room after all and since you insisted on coming to teach me at this time of night, don't expect me to change the way I dress to suit you! That would be arrogant. You're just going to have to get use to it. Just remember, even if you begged me for a thousand years it isn't like you would ever have a chance with me!”

She turned a bit shy again “but if you beg and cry enough I might take pity on you. Probably not, but I just always live by the saying of 'never say never; you know.” Lee was lost at what she meant by all of this. Clearly she still didn't like him but it seems she was at least willing to tolerate him. That was all he needed for his purposes. He did hope they would grow to be friends someday.

“I understand, well in that case lets not waste time and begin our training. I am sure you don't want to be up all night with me.” Lee moved to an open spot on the floor.

“Of course not! What would I possibly want to do all night up with the likes of you!” She said this a bit too loud. After Lee reminder her to quiet down they sat opposite one another and began the training. Lee tried to sense her energy as she tried to control it. Tonight they were going to practice control of mana outside the body.

As the training continued Lee gave more and more tips but it seemed she just couldn't do it the way he instructed her to. There was nothing else he could think to do to help her. In the end he was left with no choice. “Mary, I want you to put your hand on my stomach and try to feel how my mana flows. Try to notice how it's different compared to yours. Would you mind doing that?”

She was silent for a moment. “Well, if there's absolutely no other way.... I suppose it can't be helped.” Lee took her hand and placed it under his shirt and over where his mana system was.

“Now I want you to concentrate and try to feel out what I’m doing. From where you're hand is, even one not skilled at feeling mana should be able to sense it.” With that he lifted his hand and began to form mana. Hr Controlled the shape and size of the mana he released it outwardly. “Do you think you understand what I’m doing?”

“No.” Mary paused before saying this “give me a little more time. I want to be sure I really get this down. It's important after all so I will need to take my time!” Lee waited until she said she was ready. He asked her to now lift here hand up and shape her mana outwardly. To try to copy what she felt from him. There was improvement from before but it still wasn't exactly right.

“Mary, I need to get a better sense of your mana flow. There is some small mistake being made and I can't tell what it is without direct contact with your mana system. I am afraid I'll need to put my hand on your stomach to get a better idea of what the problem is.” She blushed to match her hair.

“Do what you have to do. Just remember no matter how beautiful you think I won't forgive you if you try to take advantage of me.” She felt him put his hand on her stomach and lower chest right where the rib started. His hand felt big, strong and warm against her smooth skin. She almost put her hand over his but stopped herself.

“That is odd, it seems your mana has gone out of focus. Are you okay Mary?”

“I'm just fine, give me a moment will you!” She slowed her heart beat and tried to focus her mana. It took a few seconds but in the end she was able to do it. As she tried to control her mana outside of her body Lee found the problem.

“You're fully compressing from below. That is throwing everything off just a bit. You need to do it completely equally on all sides”. As he did this she started to improve. Now she was controlling the mana outside her body nearly perfectly. It would simply be a matter of practice now. He went to pull his hand away.

“Wait!” Lee gave her a puzzled look. “Well, this is very important after all. Let's try it a few more times just to make sure. You can never be too careful right?”

“I suppose that's true” Lee pressed his hand back firmly against her.

“Yeah, you can never be too careful you know...” she closed her eyes focusing on the warmness of his hand. Wondering if he may try to put his other arm around her and pull her to him. She would of course not allow that. Well, maybe just a little...

“You're losing control of your mana again it seems.”

Mary blushed “It's fine! I wasn't thinking of anything indecent! I just need time to get the hang of it!”

There lessens continued for a few more weeks. Lee thought she was doing perfectly fine after just single week of one on one training. Mary demanded more, she wanted to be sure her mana form was perfect no doubt. He admired her determination. She would be a great ally to have in the tournament with that kind of spirit.