The first day's matches concluded with little fanfare. Sue and Caleb had given Aida an approving nod for her performance against Weyn, but didn't say anything else as they murmured to each other while they observed the rest of the participants.

  It had never felt so obvious to Aida that she was third-wheeling. Even Vanita was sitting with Abedi, and Edward Sparks sat apart from everyone else as he watched Lily's match against Shon Yanomo. Aida wasn't bothered, but she was aware that Ezra wasn't present.

  Her intrusive thoughts haunted her all throughout lunch, having her receive congratulations from her classmates on autopilot.

  You're over him, Aida told herself firmly. After all, just two days ago at the Fire Festival she had been contemplating her feelings towards Dev - and she wasn't a wishy-washy adolescent who couldn't make up her mind.

  It's just because what happened to Ezra is shocking, no more than that. It’s normal to consider mortality when something life-threatening happens.

  Since she was on the path to spiraling into useless, unproductive thoughts again, Aida decided it was a good time to work on some drills to improve her physical combat abilities. Beat the uncooperative spirit out of my head.

  Levi volunteered to go with her, and despite Aida's insistence that she didn't need any help, he managed to smoothly sidestep her excuses by confessing that he was also uncomfortable being left out of Sue and Caleb's interactions.

  "They're embarrassing to be around," Levi announced matter-of-factly. "They actually hold themselves back a bit when you're around out of respect, but when you're not there it's just awkward."

  "Really? Tell me more," Aida said, amused. Nothing like gossiping about other people for distraction.

  Levi shivered, rubbing his shoulders even though summer's insistent presence had managed to permeate through the cooling foliage of the mountains and leave them with plenty of unpleasantly sticky skin.

  "Well, for one thing, Suelina is always touching him. And not like a light touch of his shoulders here, casual brushing of fingers there - straight up squeezing his biceps, giving him a massage when he doesn't need it, and very intimate hugs."

  "That doesn't sound too bad or out of character," Aida commented. "She’s a very affectionate person."

  "No, no, you don't understand," Levi said, annoyed. He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I think they've intentionally mixed their mana. That's the spirit with which she's stroking him - and he’s not embarrassed by it at all!"

  Aida gasped at Levi's vulgarity. "Don't say things like that if you don't know it's true!" After a scandalized moment, Aida added, "And mind your own business!"

  "But you know what I mean, right?" Levi persisted. "They're intimate. And you can only be that comfortable with each other if you’ve already done more than that."

  They continued bickering as they continued on their journey back to the combat rings, which was blessedly empty. As soon as they were no longer able to detect another soul in their vicinity, Levi dropped his cheerful demeanor.

  He looked at her seriously. "Are you okay?"

  Aida sighed in exasperation. "This is why I wanted to be alone."

  "And because you think that way, that's why you shouldn't be alone," Levi countered. "On the off chance that we really have lost Ezra, we can't afford to lose anyone else."

  Aida stopped in her tracks, steeling herself. "Do you think Ezra is really gone?" she asked. Levi froze at her question, before slowly turning around. He glared at her suspiciously.

  "What are you thinking?"

  "What if he's just going through the same power-up process Sue went through when she was in the Deep Western Woods?"

  Levi's suspicious gaze turned into a flat stare. Aida stared back, her breathing carefully shallow.

  He cleared his throat before glancing around. "You think that's a possibility? According to your understanding of...this world?"

  "I don't know, I just..." Aida faltered. "...anyway, Ezra is still alive, so..."

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  Levi looked at her quietly for a long moment before he sighed. He reached out and gripped her shoulder tightly. "I don't have any other theories for what happened, so...I guess in the meantime, I'll hold on to that hope too."

  Aida blinked up at him. She hadn't been expecting him to agree with her - in fact, she had only said what she said because she, despite Levi's faults when it came to handling close and intimate relationships, relied on him to be her sounding board. He was impressively nonjudgmental, and there was no denying he was intelligent and open-minded enough to accept and understand the crazy things she said to him. He helped her think through possible scenarios, offering explanations from the perspective of a native Wyndian.

  So it was weird for Levi to be this sentimental.

  "What do you think happened to Ezra? Have you heard of anything like this happening before? A mana practitioner losing their mana?" Aida stared intently at Levi's thoughtful expression.

  "No," Levi admitted reluctantly. "But what's been happening with the monsters, and what happened with Suelina, also hasn't happened before. So I don't think a negative means much."

  Levi hesitated, lifting his head to look up at the sky as he slowly formulated his thoughts. "I'll also admit there's a bit of wishful thinking involved here. Because if Ezra survives this ordeal and comes out a stronger man, then...it would mean your theories might actually explain what's happening." He gave her a wry smile. "And that would make the world a significantly less fearsome place."

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  After several rounds of physical sparring where Aida soundly lost, Aida and Levi finally vacated the combat arena when several other third-year students trickled in, attempting to squeeze in some last-minute preparations for the second matches tomorrow.

  "Your reaction time is pretty good, but you should develop some strategies. If you fight a halfway intelligent opponent, you're guaranteed to lose," Levi intoned as they headed back into the school.

  "I get that, but I think I've improved a lot in seven moon cycles," Aida said petulantly.

  "You absolutely did," Levi said encouragingly, as if she was a child, which only served to make Aida more annoyed. "I'm just giving you advice to take your combat prowess to the next level."

  "Thanks, I'll ask for the advice when I'm ready to become an Adventurer," Aida said sarcastically. Levi clicked his tongue.

  "By the time you're ready, it will be too late. You need to be constantly preparing—"

  "Yeah, but combat isn't my priority," Aida interrupted. "As soon as I graduate, I'm off to Burston City."

  "You're not even going to stop by Buddington Town?" Levi asked in shock. "My parents would flay me if I never visited them to celebrate a major life event."

  Aida snatched Levi's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom, hurriedly glancing along the hallway to make sure no one saw them enter before she shut the door.

  "Okay, speaking of the parents...what do I do?" Aida asked plaintively. "I don't know anything about them - I don't even know where they live."

  Levi grinned uncertainly. "Yes, and it seems like parents would be more difficult to fool than your classmates."

  Aida began pacing the classroom, worrying her lip as Levi pondered.

  "Have you ever heard Aida say anything about her parents?" Aida shot at Levi.

  Levi lifted his hands, the universal signal of indicating he had nothing. "Please understand, I never wanted to be Aida's friend when I first met her. She was so passive and uninteresting."

  "Passive and uninteresting...maybe I just don't have to talk to my parents?" Aida mused.

  "Unless you can glean any information from Sue about how Aida behaved with her family, just keeping your head down may be the way to go," Levi nodded. "I'll see what information about your family I can get to you. In the meantime, have you looked through any of Aida's belongings to get a hint of the kind of relationship she has with her parents?"

  Aida shrugged helplessly. "I read her diary, but it...really wasn't helpful. She only talked about what her parents did, but nothing about how it - or anything, really - made her feel. It was all so dry." Aida sighed, rubbing her palms into her eyes. "That was the overall tone, anyway. I got no sense of passion or purpose from her, not even any hint of a hobby or anything."

  Levi nodded gravely. "Sounds like the Aida I used to know. A follower who was completely dependent on Suelina, and never was interested in pursuing her own self-improvement."

  Aida wilted against a desk. "Can I get away with only seeing them for one day? Is that culturally acceptable?"

  Levi winced, sinking Aida's hopes.

  "It wouldn't be a good look, and would honestly be a terrible way to start your career if people found out about it..."

  Aida frowned. She had expected that answer, given the Confucian slant in several of the history books she had read in the library; but based on how individualistic her classmates had seemed she had been hoping times had changed.

  Even though she had a good relationship with Healer Bokar and little competition when it came to the job he offered her, with Healer Vega and Weyn Bure's animosity towards her, she could imagine how quickly the sparks of a scandal could flare up and jeopardize her independence.

  She had to tread carefully until she better understood the cultural nuances of what she could get away with.

  "It will be fine," Levi assured her. "You don't have to stay at home all day, you can go out and about. As long as you see them at least a little bit during the star cycle there won't be anything too suspicious."

  Aida was dubious about that claim, but she didn't know enough to refute it. "I suppose I could use that star cycle to explore the rest of Buddington Town..."

  Levi snapped his fingers. "Exactly! That's the spirit." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'll put together an itinerary of must-go places for Buddington natives. That will provide you cover if your new coworkers ask you about your life before school."

  Aida wilted some more. She had been devising excuses for how she could feasibly cut her visit short (she had been hoping the Lorehs would appreciate the idea of starting work earlier so that she could start earning baen sooner), but Levi's offhand comment made it clear that she should spend as much time in Buddington as she could, in order to familiarize herself with Aida's background.

  This is getting so complicated, Aida thought to herself bleakly, resting her head on the desk.

  "Ah, chin up! You don't have time to sulk about going home when you have to face Dev tomorrow," Levi said cheekily. “Speaking of, perhaps we should work on a strategy for you?”