What deal?

Ashton fumed in anger at the latest conclusion he had resolved about Ulysses. Ulysses had won the fight by using magic which he wasn't aware of and wasn't even warned about. His breath was haggard as he stood up to his feet, his eyes killing Ulysses' in a formidable abyss. Without waiting for the winner for that round to be declared, Ashton dashed off away from the arena in frustration.

He didn't know his way around the academy yet but he did not stop in his tracks as he kept on running, far from the arena, far from the voices that would only course out the anger in him. After his momentary madness dash maxed up to about five minutes, he found himself in a lawned field of grass.

Without much hesitation, he fell into the grass willingly as he laid there, his mind kept reminiscing on his lost fight and how embarrassing he must have looked in from of everyone- Ulysses who he had boasted he would take down with one single punch, Damien who would have seen him as a premium weakling, Marcus who probably had no better expectations from him, Aurelia who would have pictures him as another loser who was trying to make wave in the academy.

"Fuck!" Ashton cursed. "I should have been more careful instead of charging first…I would have given out a better impression to Aurelia, I would have…" A sudden thought crept into his mind as he wailed.

'Alden!' He recalled abruptly. 'What the fuck did he do to me in the morning? Did he not heal me enough to repel a magical attack?'

"I'm going to rip you open Alden!" Ashton shouted out eerily, sending the birds that were resting in nearby trees out of their abodes.

He settled into the grass again, his mind still unsettled. He closed his eyes, resting his head with the support of both of his hands.

'What would Ercan think of me now? A failure? A loser? Fuck! What is wrong with me?'

A figure came lurching towards where Ashton was resting or rather hiding from the prying eyes of people who would name tag him as a failure who flopped hard in his first test to reclaim his position as a student Mage.

The intruder's imposing figure stood over Ashton blocking the scorching sun that was shining on his face and giving him a proper tan.

"Nothing is wrong with you." A certain voice said disrupting

"Huh?" Ashton mumbled, opening his eyes a bit to see who was standing above him. As his vision dimmed clearly, he realized this person was none other than Marcus.

"What are you doing here?" Marcus asked, his eyes fixated on Ashton. "I cannot believe you let that boy whoop your ass that bad."

Ashton rolled his eyes shut at Marcus' words before saying, "You called him smart does that not mean he has your support? You sounded like you were rooting for him in the morning and I am sure you really are."

"Yes! He's smart enough to have mastered how to use basic magic already unlike you."

"Well, I do not possess any elemental gist from birth." Ashton protested.

"And you think Ulysses has one too?"

Ashton's eyes shut open at those words wondering if what Marcus was saying made sense at all. If Ulysses does not possess any elemental ability from birth, how could he wield basic magic already? How?

"How is that possible?" He finally asked.

Marcus heaved a sigh that resonated how frustrated he was with Ashton already.

"Your greed got the better of you Ashton."

"And, what does that mean? The G-R-E-E-D card? The tablets form from the welcoming rituals?"

"No! You got help from Alden did you not?" Marcus asked rhetorically. "He healed you and in return he blocked the channeling veins to your basic magic." Marcus explained.

"Wait…what?" Ashton exclaimed in surprise. "You mean I had basic magic all along? And I could wield it?"

"Yes, you got a little elemental awakening at the welcoming rituals. Remember the oxyl you drank that night? It helps with reawakening."

Ashton paused for a bit before saying anything more. His thoughts were in a jumble as he tried to add plausible answers together so as to pick the fish out of the net in one piece. His eyes squinted as if he was solving a dark math problem.

"But..." he finally began to say, "Why would Alden do that to me? I did not do anything bad to him yet? We even got into a deal for him to heal me." Ashton said his tone expressing his confusion.

"Deal? What deal?"

Ashton paused for a minute again, contemplating on whether to spill the fact that he has gotten an advance allowance pay from Ercan or not. Since Marcus was revealing a bitter side of Alden to him now he should at least be watchful of how much information he spills into Marcus' hands. He couldn't quite trust him yet as he could turn against him as well.

"Why deal with Ashton?" Marcus asked again, his voice Kaden with heavy suspicion. "By chance, does it have anything to do with the letter you received from the Grand Mage?"

'Shit! He knows about the letter.'

Ashton finally got to a decision, he would spill the information as far as Marcus knew something about the letter already.

"For healing me he would get ten percent from my paid allowance." He blurted out.

"Did you seal the deal in a language you do not know?" Marcus continued.

Ashton raised an eyebrow wondering how Marcus knew so much about everything. Could his suspicions about Marcus being a mind reader be true? Why does he even bother asking these questions if he could just delve into one's mind and fish out the certain information he wants.

Ashton shrugged then nodded in approval to Marcus' question. Then suddenly, Marcus started to laugh out loud. It was the first time Ashton would see him do something like that ever since they had met and he felt really irked watching a guy like Marcus laugh over him. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he waited for Marcus to get hold of himself from his sudden outburst.

"How can you be so naive Ashton? Alden had blocked the pathway of your magic before the test so you wouldn't wield it even if you managed to find out about possessing little magic by healing your wounds." Marcus said.

"WHAT?!!!"