Chapter 44: Timeskip, Part Eight - The Deal

After the initial shock had set in Elizabeth, she removed her dampener and dashed to the boy. Before he knew it she had placed her hand on the temple of his head and a bright orange light blinded him.

Ariadne hissed and pounced at the woman. Ciaran also launched a series of strikes in her direction. Elizabeth didn't block any of it, and the two got badly damaged.

The boy very nearly broke his index finger on his left arm, and now his hands were covered in burns. Ariadne, on the other hand, got three of her legs snapped and a portion of her setae was burned as well.

They screamed in pain, and at that point, the Maze moved and warped its walls around them. Elizabeth retreated and then sat down on the ground. Her eyes were wide, and her mind wondered.

"Shocking isn't it? I still can't believe that brat did what no one else could and he achieved it on pure dumb luck." Verdania appeared behind her and sneered.

The crimson-haired woman was not even giving her a glimpse barely being able to nod. She was still trying to process what she had just felt. A magicless person, with a familiar. The kid was an anomaly, this much she knew from long ago, but this was beyond her. He had broken the rules and spat in the norms others laid out for him, but this might be the single biggest achievement in his resume.

"Snap out of it Crimson, my brothers are going to be back soon. And just between us, I don't blame you for what happened, Ciaran and Ariadne attacked on their own. But Eleftherios is angry with you right now, so I would suggest keeping your temper in check, lest you go back with more holes than you came here with." The dryad warned her.

"I burned them! Oh my God, I burned them! Are they ok? We need to get them to a healer my flames are special they can't be -"

The boys returned, the spider with them in front of Ciaran. It seemed she would not let her get anywhere near the boy anytime soon.

The tall dryad looked at her, his eyes spewed venom, and his teeth were clenched. He didn't say anything, but anyone could tell that he was pissed.

"Are you ok? Are there any burns on your bodies? I get that you can heal but they might need more serious medical attention and- "

"We are fine. The only thing still burned is our pride, but we will live through it. Come now girl, don't be like that, she was just curious, you know she didn't mean harm, and besides, we attacked HER." Ciaran mitigated between the two women.

The spider was still staying in front of her partner but it wasn't glaring at the Fire Grand Mage anymore. Even Eleftherios sighted.

"I thought you how to fight kid, not how to PICK a fight with mages. We will cover that when you yourself become one, or at Rank One, whichever comes first."

"And you! I want to punch you in the face. You are innocent here, I get that, but my fist itches, and your face looks like a decent scratcher. Just wanted it to be on the record." He said and then he left.

Verdania followed close behind him. And now it was just the three of them again. Not that there was any dought that if even a spark was to fly, there would be blood spilled tonight, but at least to them it `seemed` that they were alone.

"By the way, you reacted I can assume two things. One, you want an explanation about, well us, and two you don't mind that your future student is a spider." Ciaran told her with a smile.

He then proceeded to tell her about his Summer Break. The more he spoke, the more Verdania was cursed out by both Elizabeth and her brother.

The boy downplayed how he dealt with the monkeys by saying he killed a few of them. The ones who were particularly nasty to him.

His teacher didn't like that the boy had spilled blood, but she understood. Those stains on Dyrta had the uncanny ability to bring out the worst in people.

She got swept up in the accident, and for a moment she almost forgot how much of a problem it was for a child to know about magic. Almost.

Then she was about to give him a lecture on how dangerous magic was but he just stopped her, before she began.

"I am a half-breed Liza, and I don't know what has been done to me, but by how much the medicine sucks I can tell you it's way worse than anything learning magic can do to me. Besides, I have a familiar it would be criminal not to become a Novice now." He laughed, and so did Ariadne, or at least it looked like she did.

Elizabeth didn't say anything, which created a pretty awkward silence. They stared at each other and then she sighed.

" Fine. But with strict supervision from your Big Brother or me. Verdania does not count, I don't care she is the best at it among us, she is a typical mage. She will push you too hard. As for Ariadne, our lessons will begin when she reaches the Novice Rank, AND so do you."

Ciaran wanted to bargain but a vine gave him a slap to the back of his neck. Even Eleftherios was telling him to let it go, so he did.

"So, a redhead huh? You know that makes a lot of sense, with your Fire attribute and all. Plus that temper you developed because of it is a big tell." He tried to make small talk, and she glared at him.

"My temper is because SOMEONE keeps doing ridiculous bullshit, and keeps getting on my nerves. Besides personalities don't get affected by your attribute it's the other way around." She said in fury and then froze.

The boy smiled, she just gave him a hint. A year of probing his Master had gained him nothing, but just pissing his teacher off, and a few very serious burns later, and voila.

His teacher rubbed the bridge of her nose and was about to say something, but then the kid was already being dragged back by his sister. He in her left hand, Ariadne in her right.

"Don't worry about it, the brat knows how to get under a person's skin. Hell, I am thankful for you breaking before me. Verdania is already making fun of me enough, as it is, if I had been probed by the brat I don't think I would ever hear the end of it." Eleftherios sighted.

"I can tell you what the old bastard doesn't want you to know. You have proven that you care for my brother. But I want you to promise not to treat him any differently than you do now, and for the love of God never tell him anything. Feel free to burn down Greyhound's door and cook him alive though."

She agreed to his terms. There was silence, and then there were tears. She was going to leave the Maze in her disguised form, but she didn't. She didn't go home either. She headed straight to the near mountain.

She couldn't hold back her fury, but incinerating half the city before finding the old bastard was out of the question, so she went hunting.

Meanwhile, Ciaran and Ariadne were whining that they wanted to extort the old woman more.

"Yeah, and I would let you, but your Master wants you safe, so we are here. Now, bed with or without me beating your ass? " She asked with a mischievous smile.

Ariadne knew how to choose her battles so she just went back to Ciaran's soul. The boy on the other hand took a stance.

"Nice try, but no Water lessons until you are ready, now ~sleep~" And he fell asleep standing.

She Teleported him to his bed and tucked him in. He was a shrewd kid, but a powerless one, at least to her.

'At least for now.' She finished her thought, surprising even herself. It seemed she had great expectations for the boy, and she was even a little excited to see him succeed.

Ciaran didn't know this, but she was the only one who shared in his desire for power. Eleftherios wanted him strong enough, so he could protect himself, but that was it. Both of them knew what reaching the top meant for a person, and only she was willing to let the boy try getting there.

'I will give you the means Rony, even if Eleftherios hates me for it. The hypocrite shared in that ambition once upon a time, but he is old now. You are not, we are not, and I will help you achieve what you set out to do. No matter what, your Big Sis will support you.' She thought, not even daring to say that out loud, fearing Eleftherios would hear her somehow. She just thought of the future as she gently caressed Ciaran's hair.