Rain pelted the back of my neck as I stared down at the forest of blue flames. Through my [Mana Sense] I could see three figures below me, although only one had made a move against us. All I knew what that they were a nature magician, but that was enough for me to work with. Mana gathered around their hands as they looked up at me and I saw a new spell being cast.

I threw the Box at them.

The stone room smashed through the trees with ease, its symbols activating at my command. Blue flames licked against its side and the student jumped back as their spell was interrupted. I flew up, my feet supported by metal, and met with Amanda. A crash reverberated through the air as the Box struck the ground, dirt and broken branches crashing against the ground. I'd have to check it for damage after.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“I don't know, but this bloodline magic belongs to Oalice Batri. He's a second-year student.” Amanda replied immediately. “I didn't know he'd unlocked his bloodline. We should get out of here.”

She didn't need to tell me twice.

“I sensed two more somewhere down here.” I said. "How's your magic holding up?”

Flames gathered nearby as Amanda made her way toward me.

“I’ll be better once we're out of here. Whatever those blue flames are, they're forcing me back.” She said. “And this rain keeps restricting me more and more.”

There was a low cry from her back as Agni agreed with her. I'd seen what the blue flames had done to her fire, and I knew going down there was a risk. Even though we had been ambushed, there was no reason for us to stay here.

“Alright, let's leave.” I said.

With a wave of my hand the Box returned to me, and I saw its surface was unharmed. The symbols glowed brightly and I started flying toward the edge of the storm. Amanda followed close behind me, both of us accompanied by a group of stone spears. My [Heart Silver] swirled across my body protectively, waiting for my instructions.

It didn't have to wait long before the first enemy appeared.

His form was outlined by the rain, droplets circling him in a series of halos as he gazed down at us. He was wearing a second-year uniform, and I could see the contempt in his eyes as his eyes swept over my face.

“Oalice Batri, I'm assuming?” I asked Amanda.

She nodded, her eyes glued onto the second year.

“First years?” He asked. “I’ve read about you two. Amanda Mitri, and Andross Silver. The fire attunement is worthless to me, but your mana is helping. And you, why does your earth attunement feel perfect for this. Wait, no. That's a water attunement I’m sensing.”

"I appreciate the compliment, but I also don't like the sound of that.” I said.

The rain around me lit up as Amanda unleashed her magic onto the second year. She unleashed a stream of flames, but the instant she moved the mana around us coalesced into a wall in front of our opponent. Fire met water as their magics clashed. With each wave of Oalice's hand the rain grew denser and threw itself into the flames, overwhelming them. I could see the flames petering out as they struggled to maintain their form.

As long as Amanda was inside the storm, she wouldn't be able to fight properly. I shot stone spears at him, expected him to stay still and try to use the water to cut Amanda down, but instead dodged them and the water surrounded us from all sides. He clasped his fingers together and the flood of rain grew tighter, forming a ball of water that kept us trapped inside.

Amanda's flames grew fiercer as she tried to burn us an entrance, but the student on the other side closed off any holes that she forced open.

“Hold me for a second.” I said.

Amanda broke off her attack, not hesitating to swoop down and clamp her hands onto my arms. Swirls of fire aided her in holding me up, and the stone platform me collapsed under my feet as my stone spears flew into my inventory. I'd completely disconnected my [Earth Manipulation]. I took a deep breath as my concentration was freed up and I turned my head to face the wall of water boxing us in.

Being help up by my arms in the air wasn't the most dignified position, but it let me do what I needed.

Blue mana swirled across my vision, and I focused on resting control of it from my opponent. It wouldn't have been possible if the rain wasn't boosting my magic beyond its normal limits. I could feel my water attunement overflowing with power as it was filled to the brim.

“[Water Manipulation].” I said.

The moment I activated my spell the water froze in place. My will entered the spell, and I focused on communication with it.

Free us. Friend?

I sent my intentions into the mana, and it buzzed with confusion as I did so. I was asking it to do the exact opposite of what the spellcaster had asked. It wasn't an easy task, and I felt the casters will clashing against mine as we vied for control of the element.

Unfortunately, I wasn't skilled enough to wrestle away control of a spell from someone this skilled. Kyle had been surprised by my water attunement, but Oalice had sensed my attunement before I'd had a chance to surprise him.

Thankfully, all I needed to do was create a distraction.

The moment that Oalice’s attention was off Amanda she raised a golden wing toward the wall of water and sliced through it, steam and golden flames crashing through my vision as a hole appeared.

With a tug of her hands, she threw me out of the water unceremoniously. The water closed around Amanda as the hole closed, and I plummeted through the air. There was a flash of light around me as the [Heart Silver] flew out of my inventory and formed steps that I used to walk along the sky. Alongside the metal came a dozen spears made of stone.

“[Earthen Spear].” I said.

I pointed toward Oalice and half a dozen stone spears appeared in front of me and shot toward him. My earth attunement felt weaker than ever before, but the second year couldn't erase my magic entirely. The first of my spears stabbed into his side and he was forced to dodge the rest. The rain began to move as he instilled his will into it and forced the droplets to grip my spears.

The sphere of water that was holding Amanda shattered as he was forced to focus his attention elsewhere. A pillar of fire washed over Oalice and I saw him grimace as the rain draped around his body protectively. Amanda was free, and incredibly angry.

That was when a flash of light glimmered below me, a shining beacon in the eyes of my [Mana Sense].

"Watch out!" I said.

Amanda broke off her attack at my shout, just in time to avoid a beam of green light aimed at her chest. It had come from the forest below us, but I couldn't see the shooter.

Oalice retreated the moment her flames dissipated, and I could tell from his expression that he wouldn't be returning to the fight anytime soon.

Amanda frowned at the ground as her hands poised to rain fire down on the newcomer.

“That person that keeps shooting at us looks like—”

Her voice cut off as another plume of green light gripped the space around her. Amanda winced but I could see that whatever our opponent was doing, it wasn't directed at her. From within the light a hundred small dots spread out across the air. Seeds. Each one shot into a droplet of water and the moment the two elements collided the seeds transformed into bushels of fully grown and lush greenery.

Then the plants exploded into life around us, their roots piercing the rain to stab at us. I dodged the first few, but quickly saw that the plants were forming a barrier around us, boxing us in much like the rain had. No matter how I looked at it, the situation was strange. The second-year students weren’t trying to harm us, but they also weren’t letting us go.

“They want to keep us within the storm.” I said.

Amanda nodded, her eyes tracking our opponent's movements through the rain. Her flames were dying down as the torrent continued, and I could see wisps of smoke clinging to her robes as the fires along her hair were put out.

We didn't have much time. Even if the magic couldn't suppress her attunement forever, a single stray attack destroying her defences would set us back for days.

Which made it all the stranger that our opponents weren't attacking us in our moment of weakness.

“Let me try something.” Amanda said.

She raised her hand toward the formation of plants boxing us in and two red beads appeared in her palm. With a smooth motion she threw them at the foliage. I closed my eyes in time to avoid being blinded by the white-hit flames that spewed forth from the beads, and I heard a yelp as the plants were burned to a crisp. When I opened my eyes the man behind the spell was staring at Amanda with wide eyes from the forest ground.

“Bet you didn't think I could do that in this rain.” A smile tugged at her lips. “Or that we could reach you even with your weird attunement suppression.”

Before he could reply, my [Heart Silver] spear crashed into his side. It was followed by five other spears that shot toward him without hesitation.

The student took one look at the incoming artillery and fled further into the trees. In moments he disappeared from our sight.

I commanded my metal to stop before it followed him through the forest. There were still two others out here and I didn't know where they were. Not to mention the one I'd just fought wasn’t out of the fight. My spear hadn't done enough damage to finish him off, but his retreat gave us the breathing room we needed.

"Come on.” Amanda said.

Her golden wings brushed against the rain as she flew across the sky, and I followed her on top of the Box. Our destination was the edge of the storm, where the rain was thinnest, and the forest flames were red.

"Wait. Somethings not right.” I said.

My [Mana Sense] was still active as I moved through the sky, and through it I could see something had changed. It wasn't the rain, or the clouds.

The tree looked different.

My eyes narrowed as I gazed at its surface. The glowing blue bags were still shivering as they clambered upon its bark, but now there was another light mixed with them. It was soft green, and it began to push through the surface of the tree as the storm raged on. It was mana.

“That tree has magic now.” I said.

Amanda turned towards me and shifted her gaze toward the tree.

“How?” She asked.

"I'd like to know myself.” I said. "I can definitely sense mana within it.”

We looked at each other and without hesitation we both moved toward the tree. I made sure to keep my [Mana Sense] active, but the students had retreated for now. I wasn't sure how much longer Amanda's fire attunement could hold out before the rain overwhelmed her, but I trusted her to let me know before it reached that point.

The tree was bigger up close, and each of the bugs on its surface was the size of my hand. I'd never seen them before but looking at them up close confirmed two things for me. The bugs weren't magical, and the tree was filling with mana.

“Courus bugs. They make a good nightlight but not much else.” Amanda said. “Oalice probably put them here to lure us in by making the tree look magical in the rain.”

"It looks magical even without them.” I said. "But it wasn't before."

I placed a hand against the tree trunk and frowned. It was filled with magic, but I couldn't sense an elemental attunement within the bark. It was an ordinary tree that was filled to the brim with mana that it couldn't handle.

“It feels like someone is overfeeding it.” I said. "Got any ideas?"

Amanda's hair flickered with flames as she examined the tree. They were weaker now, but whatever magic was in place couldn't get rid of our iTunes entirely. I could only suppress them.

She ran a finger across the tree’s surface, her eyes glued to the bark as she tried to see beyond the surface. I kept my Focus on trying to find our opponents. I didn't want to let them sneak up on us again while we were distracted.

“Okay, I see what he's trying to do here.” Amanda's voice interrupted my thoughts. "That makes sense.”

I waited for her to explain her words, but she was lost in thought.

"Great. But I didn't hear what you were thinking.” I said.

She looked up, startled, and I let out a chuckle as the flames in her hair turned bright red.

“The Batri family don't just restrict magic, they siphon it off for future use.” She said. “If Oalice has unlocked a bloodline ability then he might be doing the same thing here with our magic. He's siphoning the power of our attunements from us and putting it into the tree.”

I looked at the tree again as she spoke and frowned.

The tree was filling up with mana, and I considered her words carefully. If she was telling the truth then our magic was being forced into the tree, and it was causing a reaction. He'd wanted to lure us here so he could steal our mana.

“So, he's trying to force this tree to attune?” I asked. "Does that even work?”

“Maybe. I've seen stranger things happen.” Amanda said.

She shrugged at my expression and pointed at the tree.

“Finding an attuned plant in a holy land naturally is tough, let alone leaving with one, but as long as we're in this storm all he needs is our magic and he profits. He probably doesn't even care what attunements we have.” She frowned. “That's why he brought his own tree. I doubt anybody else has an inventory specialised for holding it. Most people expect smaller plants to attune, or to just find magical materials.”

“Its size also stops anyone trying to steal it from him. They'll be visible for miles.” I said. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“Only if you're thinking of stealing this guy's magic tree when it attunes.” Amanda grinned.

“Great minds really do think alike.” I said. “But first we need to find a safe spot to plan.”

I searched for the nearest exit. The forest was hiding our enemies, and the edge of the storm was too far away to fly to. If we were attacked on the way our opponents could keep us here until their spell had siphoned all our magic.

The only place left to go was up.