Book 2 of the original ln series, 'Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage'.
The fate of Xeleria hangs in the balance as darkness threatens to consume all that Nyima and her friends cherish. As the umber forces advance, Nyima, Lei, and...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Have you decided on who is participating?" Lei asked. In his hands were two cups of coffee. We had been given two hours to rest before the next event. On the table before me was a list of the possible five. "Do you need help figuring things out?"
I grabbed the papers and fixed them. "Sit down if you want," I said, avoiding looking at him directly.
Lei sat down and placed his second coffee on my side. He directed his eyes at the arena to the east. "Zelde and my siblings are the fastest ones I know on our team. Since this race has trust and teamwork as key components alongside being fast, we should pick members who are close to one another."
I wrote notes down. "Close? Well, the ones that fit that definition are Hikaru, Zelde, Wanikiya, Yen, Kun, and you. There's also Orion and Yuzuki. More so Yuzuki as she has a history with you all of you. Though, what is her power?"
"Yuzuki can use space magic just like Stella," Lei said as he raised his coffee cup to take a sip.
"Hey, don't mind me asking, but how did you two meet?"
"I thought you already knew," he said, putting his cup back down. "We lived together for some time. Her grandparents helped my parents out so my parents repaid the favor by taking care of their kids when they left."
"They left?" Right, I think I recall hearing something about on the harbor back in Nine Petal...
Lei mixed his coffee around with his straw. "Uh, we should decide on those five, we're running out of time. Hmm, how about Stella and Sirius? Those two are a married couple."
I glanced back down at my notes. He had a point. Assuming their marriage was a sound one, there had to be a crucial amount of trust between them. It also looked as if they shared similar roles when it came to caring for Astra's needs. Rather than dividing up the task into different roles like was usual.
"Having some trouble?" Stella walked over to us with her little girl following close behind. Astra held a pair of flowers, one blue and one green. "Oh, it seems Astra has something for you."
Astra shyly extended the green flower to Lei. Lei took the flower and smiled. "Thanks." Astra smiled back before turning to look at me. Still smiling, she handed me the blue flower.
I patted her head and smiled. "Thanks a lot, Astra."
"Are you unable to decide on who's going next?" Stella asked. While we were distracted with Astra's flowers, she had taken the chance to review my notes by looking over Lei's shoulder.
"Lei was just recommending your husband and you for the race."
Stella laughed. "My husband would love that. Despite his looks, he's actually great at running. But I'm not sure about it, he'll end up drawing a lot of attention to himself." She grabbed the paper and wrote down a couple of notes. "The ideal team I think would be you two, Hikaru, Yuzuki, and Orion."
