Join Iah, Lei, Nyima, Adela and their friends as they embark on a treasure hunt to uncover the secrets of the map found in the ancient ruins of Rios. But what they discover in Mina may lead them to regret ever finding the ancient tablet in the first...
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Mom and I went into our kitchen, which had a tiny table with four chairs.
"You made it in time," Enji said as he dried his hands with a blue rag. "I was about to start eating your food."
"Ji, you haven't even started on your own food," Mom said as she started to wash her own hands.
He coughed.
I ruffled his blond hair. "You don't need to act, little brother. I know that you were just rushing me to eat."
He huffed. "Well, I had to. You obviously can't take care of yourself without being nudged."
I gulped. He might've had a point there. Actually, most of the time, I felt like I was a dead-weight. I'd gotten captured by 'Kitsune' when we were dealing with the masked students. Thankfully, Hikaru managed to get us out of that situation. While at the games, Hal's team captured me. If not for Aban using his earth powers to make a fake marble, I would've gotten our national team knocked out early.
"Enji, don't say that. Ulissis did go to Nine Petal despite your dad pressuring him not to," Mom said as she dried her hands on the same rag that Enji had used.
I smiled. Yeah, I did. However, that was motivated by wanting to follow Arima. If Alto had stayed, I might've considered staying. Especially since I couldn't use magic. I was blessed to have passed the exam without it.
I took a deep breath. I didn't want to rely on others forever.
I ran over to the sink and quickly washed my hands.
"Are you alright?" Mom asked.
"Yeah," I said as I dried my hands and sat down on my seat.
"Why are you rushing?" my brother asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
"I want to hurry up and train," I said.
He leaned his hand against his right hand and sighed. "See what I mean when I say that you don't take good care of yourself? You barely woke up, and now you're rushing off to do training."
"I'll be fine. I know my limits." Unlike Lei, I didn't like pushing myself to the point of exhaustion. Whenever I did, it was usually by accident.
Enji sighed as he lifted a forkful of spaghetti. "Maybe I should accompany you just to make sure."
I smiled. "You, go out?"
"Hey, I'm not a total shut in!"
I laughed. "Relax, I'm just teasing you. I won't mind. Actually, having a training buddy helps."
Enji grumbled. "On second thought, maybe I should let you go on your own."
"Huh? Weren't you worried about me?"
"Yeah, but I don't want to train with you."
I waved my folk. "I see. You're still afraid of getting sweaty."
