Amanda and I flew toward a giant tree, its skin glowing soft blue in the sky and dust flying around its body. It had transformed the area around it into a sea of blue flames. I hadn't seen it fall to the ground, but I'd heard the crash that resulted. Either it had spontaneously appeared from thin air, or someone had attacked it. Either way we had to get to it quickly.

As we moved, I checked the rewards of the battle with Kyle.

[Stone Grasp (II) has reached level 3.]

[Metal Manipulation (II) has reached level 4.]

“What's that?” Amanda asked.

I stopped the stone platform the moment she spoke, and we looked out toward the giant tree. It was still lying on the ground, shrouded by dust, but now there was a wave of pressure emanating from it. The sheer power of the magic being cast sent a wave of pain through my temple and I winced. The hairs on my arms rose in a shiver as the tree pulsed with light and magic shredded the surroundings, cascading out of the tree and plunging into the surrounding forest.

“[Earth Manipulation].”

“[Fire Manipulation].”

Waves of fire and earth shrouded our sight as Amanda and I activated our defenses. We were protected from all sides but as a result the tree disappeared from our vision. Instead, I focused on what I could sense with my attunements.

Dust. Dirt. Stone. All that composed the ground was my domain. The earth below me resonated with my being and I saw through its eyes. The trees rocked with the power of the spell that had been cast, and something was touching the surface. Multiple things. They were everywhere.

Then I realised what I was feeling and laughed. Water droplets touched the ground around me, seeping into the dirt.

It was raining.

I moved aside the shield of earth. Whatever magic the tree had used was gone, and in its place was a stormy sky that pelted the holy land with a shower of rain. Across its veil of clouds lightning struck the air, illuminating the sky with every crackle.

Strength coursed through my body as the droplets ran over my hair and robes. Each droplet invigorated my spirit and resonated with the water symbol inside me. It wasn't the normal boost of energy I got feeling rain during a hot summers day. These droplets were boosting my magical abilities.

“This is new.” I said.

“And worrying.” Amanda said. “I don't think anyone in our year level can do something like this. Maybe one or two of the third years could, but I don't see why.”

Amanda hadn't removed her flames, choosing to wrap them around her like a shroud. Her hand rose toward the sky, and she frowned as the drops landed on her palm and flickered past her fingers.

Tiny puffs of evaporated water rose through the air as she supercharged the surroundings with heat and fire, but instead of washing away the droplets circled her. They created a halo of steam and water that followed her wherever she went. I could tell the spell was waiting for her to let her guard down. When she did it would strike.

“That's a good look.” I said.

“Thanks, I hate it.” She said. “It feels like someone's making me run a dozen marathons all at once.”

"Really?” I asked. “I feel great.”

It was obvious that the rain was a spell, but I couldn't feel its adverse effects until I focused internally. My water symbol was engorged with power, but next to it my earth symbol felt smaller than it ever had before. The spell was restricting my earth magic even as it empowered my water magic.

My metal symbol ignored the rain’s impact entirely and stood proudly unaffected as it pulsed with power.

Amanda raised a hand over her head and a plume of flames roared to life, sweeping across the sky and consuming droplets by the thousands. Then it disappeared as it was overcome by the endless torrent.

"Do you have an umbrella?” Amanda said. “This is a waste of mana.”

I waved a thin layer of stone over her head to block off the rain, but the halo that had formed still followed her. As a last resort I tried using [Water Manipulation] to move it, and then immediately regretted my actions as my concentration almost broke and my stone platform started to fall out of the sky. Controlling two elements was hard enough without the additional restrictions the rain was putting on my earth attunement.

A moment later I'd fixed it. I definitely wasn't ready to casually use multiple elements at once without preparation.

“Nevermind. This is just as bad.” She said. “It's trying to challenge me at every step.”

“I think I have a solution.” I said. “You're not afraid of small spaces, right?”

She shot me a look and I chuckled.

“Of course I’m not claustrophobic.” Amanda said. “I’ve been entombed under the earth during our matches more times than I could count.”

“Don’t take back those words after this.” I said.

I reached into my inventory and pulled out a massive stone block. It was the hollow room I'd created using Wahyu’s house strengthening symbols. The stone block was taller than me by two feet and could easily fit the length of my body if I was laying down.

“I call it the Box.” I said. "It's no carriage, but it'll keep you dry.”

A silver plate was lodged into the floor of the Box, and on the side of the metal that lay within the stone block I could sense Oubliez’ symbol waiting to be activated.

Amanda put her hand on the surface of the Box and examined it closely.

“It's perfect except for the name. This is the defensive regent project you were working on, right?” She asked. “When you said you'd make the stone block bigger.”

“Yup. I've tried and tested it multiple times so that I could bring it out into the field.” I said. “It's no fortress, but it can take a lot of hits.”

“Thank Fue. This rain is creeping me out.” Amanda said.

She motioned at me to let her inside, and a large wall of stone flew open. Amanda stepped inside without hesitation, and I saw Agni begin to transform back from gold to red as the two examined the inside of the Box.

To my surprise the halo refused to follow her inside, splashing to the ground the moment she stepped into the confines of the Box. Amanda breathed a sigh of relief and the air pulsed with light as she flash-dried her robes.

“I'll let you know if anything happens.” I said.

“No problem, I'll be meditating to get back some of my mana. I'll send William and Roxxy a message too.”

She gave me a thumbs up and I closed the door.

The rain was relentless, but now that I was alone, I took my time travelling through the sky. My control over earth was weakening by the second so I stepped atop the flying stone box and retracted the platform and other earthen weapons into my inventory.

That left me with my metal spears. And Gold.

"You're not feeling this?” I asked. “I can barely keep the box afloat.”

Gold looked at me and then at the rain. Then he snapped his beak together as he tried to catch the droplets with his tongue. It was clear that whatever magic was at play it wasn’t hurting him.

“Good. It’d suck to be alone out here.” I said.

His lack of reaction didn't surprise me. As far as I knew Gold wasn't attuned to any elements. Or at least he didn't use spells. He could activate regents with his mana, but their creation and use didn't need any magical expertise.

In the distance I could see the outline of the giant tree. Its blue glow shrouded the darkened sky with an eerie brightness that clashed with the veil of rain. Underneath me the blue flames were growing brighter by the second and I flew the Box down to get a closer look.

"What do you make of this?” I asked.

We were close enough to the trees that I should have been feeling their heat, but instead the blue leaves emitted gentle waves of energy that seeped into my skin. Each drop of rain that touched the blue flames made them grow larger, and some trees had already been swept up in a tide of blue fire.

Gold chirped and pecked at the flaming leaves, his wings flapping cautiously as I gently directed the rain away from them. Thankfully his small size made it easier to keep the rain away from him than Amanda.

Feel like. Cultivation. Room.

"I agree.” I said. “Hopefully that means that's an attuned plant up there, and not a magical animal.”

One of the first rules I’d learnt was that putting living things into inventories was difficult, to say the least. When I’d first received an inventory, it was designed to hold earth and stone. Each type of animal was different and needed a customized inventory to hold it. Or an animal taming [Class]. Which I didn't have.

If I found an attuned animal, I'd have to carry it in my hands. Frankly, I wasn't sure that limitation wouldn't prove the same for the tree. It was bigger than anything I'd imagined putting into my inventory, and because it was clearly magical it might struggle as much as an animal would. My mother had told me that could be an issue, especially with the rarer plants.

Gold stared at me and then let off a series of quick chirps.

Worried?

"I'm just wondering if the tree will fit." I said.

Gold chirped again.

What about the secret. The weapon. It is the same. Fit two in bag?

"Its not a secret and a weapon. Its just called a secret weapon to sound cool." I said.

The moment Gold spoke I instinctively checked my inventory. Inside it was an item I'd brought just in case something went wrong or if I found something really valuable I wanted to secure. Before entering the holy land I'd had my father modify the space to allow me to put a single item into it. When he'd seen what it was he'd almost thrown a fit, but eventually he'd relented.

When used properly, it could change the course of an entire battle. Or so I hoped.

"I can see why you'd think its the same thing, but its not." I said. "That tree is attuned. Its a different story. My inventory can hold a pretty big plant. I guess we'll just have to hope it can fit that tree inside of it."

“Are you alright out there?” A voice floated through my ears.

It was Amanda.

She had pressed her hand against the wall of the Box and talked to it. To my surprise, it worked. If I hadn't been focusing all of my attention on keeping the Box afloat, I wouldn’t have heard her, but I opened a small hole in the door and lowered it next to some of the blue flames.

“Is this weird to you?” I asked.

Amanda’s eye poked through the hole and she glared at the flames.

“That's unnatural. Or at least it's not fire magic. I think those used to be flames until whatever touch transformed them. Now they just look like them, but they're not real fire. I don't want to test it with my own flames or else it might do something that I regret.” She said.

"Weird.” I said.

I wanted to try feeding the trees regular flames to see what happened, but I didn't have any fire on me.

We flew through the flaming blue forest as fast as we could, and I kept an eye out for other students. In the distance I could see the giant trees swaying in place. Whatever had first caused it to crash had either retreated or was still there with it.

“How close are we?” Amanda asked.

"We’re approaching it now.” I said. “Are the others nearby?”

"No response.” Amanda said. “Maybe they ran into something better. Or they got ambushed and are knee deep in spells.”

“Let's not jinx them.” I said.

I trusted William and Roxxy to look after themselves. The holy land was a large place, and there were opportunities everywhere. I had to focus on the one in front of me.

The moment I could see the individual leaves on the tree through the rain I opened up the box, leaving Amanda free to soar into the air. Agni had once again transformed into a pair of bright golden wings and waves of golden fire formed a second skin over Amanda’s body that burnt away any droplets that got too close.

“That's the size of the guild building.” Amanda’s eyes narrowed. “We can't carry that back safely.”

We’d gotten close enough that the blue glow was clearly visible. It cast a pale light onto the surroundings, and I could see the clouds in the sky circling around the tree’s head. It was clearly defined as the centre of the magic.

“Blue sheen. Strange rain summons. And it transforms flames into blue not-flames. Whatever it is, I haven't heard of it before.” I said.

"Me neither.” Amanda said.

She looked troubled, and I didn't blame her. Even if she didn't have a water attunement, she still knew most of the materials and plants that could be found in the holy land. The unknown was exciting, but it was also dangerous.

Gold returned to my shoulder, keeping a keen eye on our surroundings as we approached the tree. I could see its bark now, and to my surprise the blue glow wasn't coming from the tree itself. Thousands of glowing bugs clung to the side of the tree, shivering in the rain as they huddled together and crawled through its surface and branches.

A frown crossed my lips as I spotted the glowing bugs. Something felt off.

“[Mana Sense].” I said.

The world around me blazed with glorious colour. Amanda was a fierce golden statue as her mana crowded around her protectively, and as far as I could see the ferocious fire mana of the holy land had retreated. In its place was an ocean of blue as water mana launched a relentless assault against every other element.

Then I spotted the abnormality I'd felt when looking at the tree.

“Strange.” I said. “The bugs are glowing, but they're not magical. Neither is the tree.”

I could feel the mana’s intent within the rain as it focused on suppressing all other magic, but it didn't originate from the tree. Instead, I sensed other presences in the forest around us. They were people, and strong ones too.

Three in total.

“We're under attack.” I said.

A beam of green light shot toward me, forcing me to separate from Amanda as I moved to the side with the Box in tow. The attack had come from below, and underneath the blue flames a head of green hair sprouted out.

Before I could get a closer look a wave of flames washed over my vision. Amanda retaliated immediately and the air turned crispy as steam showered over the forest. I expected our opponent to retreat, but I could see through my [Mana Sense] that they were standing still.

The moment Amanda's fire touched the blue flames she shuddered and cut off the spell. Her flames writhed in pain as they fought against the sea of blue, and I saw them glow bright before they were consumed, transforming into blue flames.

“That's not an attuned plant.” Amanda grimaced. “Someone’s unlocked a new bloodline ability and kept it secret.”

Underneath the blue flames green and blue mana gathered at the person's fingertips as they prepared to fire again. Now that I could see it clearly, it was the same type of mana as the rain around us, and the source of the intent I could feel behind the spell.

Amanda was right. The tree had been a false treasure chest used to lure us into our opponent’s domain.

We’d fallen into a trap.