It was difficult, but Allen managed to get out of bed. He was unable to get much sleep last night. His discussion with William yesterday was on his thought the whole time that he wasn't able to fall asleep so easily.

The Council of Magic now being the Triumvirate, Solomon Windblade as the leader of the Triumvirate, Solomon being William's brother, the elemental families as well as possible issues with the upcoming tournament were all on Allen's mind last night.

Either way, this was his second day and he wasn't about to miss it. He put on his uniform, strapped his sword to his uniform, and finally got out of his dorm room.

Luckily, the academy served free breakfast for the students, as Allen was hungry. He headed over to the Cafeteria.

The Cafeteria was a little crowded. Several students of each year, element, and rank were all around getting food, talking amongst each other, or even just eating by themselves.

Just as he was about to get food, he saw two familiar faces.

"Hey over here!", Tom waved to Allen. He was sitting at a table with Lily.

Allen saw him and hurriedly walked over.

"Hey, wasn't expecting to see you here", Allen said as he took a seat.

"What do you mean? Of course you'd see me here, I mean everyone tends to be hungry in the morning", Tom said as he was in the middle of a bite of food.

"Oh right, didn't think about that", Allen laughed a little.

"Oh so by the way, what did the director want with you? Didn't you say he was your mentor?", Tom asked.

"Yes, he trained me in the past. That's how I learned to use my magic and fight. As for why he called me, that's a rather long story", Allen explained.

"Oh mind telling? I am rather curious and I think we have some time before class", Tom said with once again a mouthful of food.

"Sure I can tell you, just let me get some food first because I am hungry too. Also, learn to wait to talk until after you are done chewing", Allen joked.

"I- sorry I am just so hungry!", Tom exclaimed as both Lily and Allen laughed.

"Alright I will be right back", Allen said while he was walking away to get food.

He went up to the line to wait to order. There were only a few students in front of him. A few students gave him weird looks, most likely due to him being an F rank as it was clearly on his uniform.

After he finally chose which dish he wanted, he began walking back towards Tom and Lily's table, where he saw what looked like a few students talking to Tom and Lily. However as he got closer, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Just get out of here, you don't belong here"

"You can't do anything, you failures"

"What're you gonna do? Cry?"

3 students were harassing both Tom and Lily. Tom had a very angry look on his face, but it looked like he was doing his best not to react. Lily seemed to be scared out of her mind, as she just sat there with a terrified look on her face.

"Hey, mind telling me what's going on here?", Allen approached the 3 students from behind. They turned around and gave Allen a glare.

"Ah c'mon, we were just saying hi. After all, we have to be nice to our underclassmen", one the earth mages stated, with a smirk on his face. Allen looked at their uniforms. Two of them were earth mages while the other was a water mage. They were all second years with a C ranking.

"Yeah, I wouldn't call that a greeting. I would-", Allen was saying but Thomas interrupted.

"Allen it's fine, I got this. Don't worry about this, their problem is with us", he said even with his agitated tone. Lily still remained quiet.

The one water mage looked over at Allen with a similar glare to the others but a little different, as if he wasn't as stupid as the others.

"You, you're that F ranked kid everyone's been talking about huh? That one who beat that Rivertide"

"So? What of it?", Allen responded while in a defensive position in case anything goes wrong.

"I've heard about you. People have been talking about you. Seems like you're a little famous", he and his buddies laughed.

"I don't care what you think about me. Just leave them alone", Allen responded, raising his voice.

"Yeah yeah, whatever", he said and then leaned in closer to Allen, putting his arm on his shoulder. "I'd watch your back if I were you" he said in a sort of whisper so only he would hear. "C'mon guys, this isn't worth it anyways", he told his buddies as he moved back away from Allen.

"What?", Allen asked, but before he could get an answer, the three just left.

"Jerks", Tom remarked as he sat down, frustrated.

"Hey what happened? You guys alright?", Allen asked, sitting down.

"Pfft, giving us crap just because we are F ranks…", Tom scoffed.

"So what? Just because we are F ranks doesn't mean we can't do as well as everyone else. We just need to train harder so we can rank up", Allen explained.

"It's not just that, it's-", Tom tried to explain, but stopped abruptly.

All 3 of them sat there for a moment in silence. Finally, Allen spoke up.

"Is it because you are a Terrastone?", Allen asked.

"I- wait you know? So what if I am a Terrastone? So what if I didn't recieve the 'gift' my other siblings got. I can be just as powerful as they can! I can surely-", Thomas was yelling, but Allen stopped him.

"Woah woah, it's fine. It doesn't matter whether you are a Terrastone or not, F rank or not, or your magic is different or not. Just prove to everyone that you are strong with your actions, not your words!", Allen explained.

With the words he had said, it seemed Lily looked up at him for a moment, but then looked away again.

"I- I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's not your fault my magic is different and I am an F rank. It's just, I didn't like how those jerks were harrasing us and it got me really frustrated. Sorry", he apologized.

"Hey it's fine. Besides, they're gone now. Let's finish our breakfast and then head to class, alright?", Allen asked.

"Yeah sure. Thank you Allen", Tom grinned. Least he was back in his good mood again.

"I had heard from William a bit about what's going on", Allen explained. "I now know what the elemental familes are. Terrastone, Rivertide, and Windblade. Before I had no idea. So if I may ask, you are a Terrastone, correct?", Allen asked.

"Yes, I am", Tom explained. "I am a Terrastone. But I didn't get all the good magic my siblings got. My magic was different, and the way they assess your magic in the exam didn't help. I was put into F rank, despite the amount of mana I have"

"Ah I see. So I would presume Lily would be a Rivertide, correct?", Allen asked. Lily looked up at him.

"Yes, I am. That's why Tom and I know each other. The big elemental familes tend to talk amoungst each other. That's how I met Tom at a young age. But unlike Tom who is an exception, I don't really have that much mana. My family tends to call me a failure. That's why I was also put in F rank", she explained.

Allen was surprised. After all, that's the most he's ever seen Lily talk before. She isn't exactly the talkative type, and is more of the quiet and shy type.

"So then, were those guys bothering you because you are in elemental familes but you are F ranks?", Allen asked.

"Yes, that's right. Stupid jerks bothering us, just cause our magic is weaker and different. Must think they are all high and mighty being able to talk down to a Terrastone and a Rivertide", Tom explained in a frustrated tone.

"Then, prove to them you aren't weak. Show them despite your upbringing and your magic, you are as powerful if not more than they are!", Allen tried to encourage him.

"Thanks Al. I do train, and so does Lily. But we don't seem to be getting better. No matter how much we do, it still isn't enough", Tom explained.

"Then let's train together! I mean, didn't I promise you guys we would? I will help you guys get better!", Allen said with a smile on his face.

"Really? You'd help us?", Tom asked while both him and Lily looked up at him excitedly.

"Yeah of course! We're friends, right?", Allen asked.

"Yeah, we are", Tom agreed with him while both him and Lily nodded their heads in agreement.

"Great, let's finish this breakfast and then head to class. Then we will train and get better, sound good?", Allen asked.

"Yes great! I can already feel my blood pumping!", Tom said with a grin and arms shaking in excitement.

"Of course!", Lily responded with a smile.

"Alright then, time to finish this breakfast!", Allen said, putting a mouthful of food into his mouth.

"No way I'm going to let you beat me!", Tom said, also grabbing a bite full of food.

As both Al and Tom were chewing down their food fast, Lily just laughed at them. Out of the corner of Allen's eye, he thought he spotted William, but he wasn't quite sure it was him, because the figure was gone before he could get a better look.

After they had hurridly finished their food, they headed to their classroom where of course, they were met by their teacher, Ms. Florence, once again reading her book and the other two F ranked students quiet as ever in their desks. Al, Tom, and Lily all sat down at the desks they sat at yesterday.

"Now we wait for class to start", Tom said.

"Suppose so", Allen said, streching. He looked back at the other two students for a moment. "Have you ever seen the other two talk?", he asked Tom.

"Dunno, they won't say a word. We're the only people who actually are alive in here", Tom joked.

Just like yesterday, Ms. Florence saw them and got up out of her seat, going to the front of the room to teach. Although, it didn't seem like she was teaching today.

"Alright then, let's begin I suppose. Today is a training day. If you don't know what that means because you didn't look at your schedule, it means I take you all to the training room of the academy and let you guys train until the class time is over. Any questions?"

No one raised their hands, except Tom. But it seemed like the teacher ignored him.

"Alright then, let's head to the training room", she began walking outside of the classroom, where the other two students followed.

"Wha- she didn't even see I had a question!?", Tom said looking down in a slight defeat.

"No she did, though it seemed like she ignored you", Allen laughed, getting out of his chair.

"Ah what? Whatever…", Tom looked down in slight defeat.

"Let's get going then", Lily said as she got out of her chair and began to follow the other students out of the room with Allen.

"Wait for me guys!", Tom quickly got out of his chair to catch up to Lily and Al.

They finally arrived to the training room. It was a fairly large area, with various other students practicing about. There were various targets you could use as well. Guess we aren't the only class training here today, Allen thought. Some of the students just scoffed as they saw the F class arrive.

"Alright, train how you wish. You have a few hours until class will be over", Ms. Florence explained. "I will be sitting down over there if you need me", she said as she walked over to a seating area in the back.

"Alright! It's training time!", Tom exclaimed in his excited voice, while doing various streches. "What should we do first, just regular streches?"

Allen thought for a moment how they could train. Sure, they could just do regular things such as streching, but he had a different idea in mind.

"Say, how good are you guys when in a magic duel?", Allen asked them.

"Hm? What do you mean?", Tom stopped what he was doing to look at him with a confused look.

"I want to test you guys in a mock battle. Both of you have said that your magic is different, right? I want to see it for myself", Allen explained.

"Wait, you mean you wish to have a small battle with each other? How are we going to do that?", Tom asked.

Both of you are going to come at me however you want. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself in a battle", Allen explained while notioning to his sheathed sword.

"Hmmm this sounds interesting, I like this. But are you sure about this? I mean it's both of us against you", Tom smirked.

"Yeah I'm sure. It's just going to be a small test. I want to see how you guys fight. You don't need to come at me with everything you've got, just attack me how you wish. This will help me determine how to train you guys to get stronger", Allen explained. "How does that sound?"

"Oh, I see", Tom said, grinning. "I like this, I'll do it. But don't underestimate us. Sure, my magic is different and Lily's is weaker, but we can still handle ourselves in a fight. Just don't come crying to me when we beat you"

"Yeah, we won't go easy on you, even if it is a mock battle", Lily grinned.

Great, Allen thought. Both are excited about this. Even quiet Lily seems to like a good battle. This will help me test how strong they are.

"Ready?", Allen asked while unsheathing his sword and getting prepared.

"Ready", both of them exclaimed while preparing their magic.

"Let's begin!"