BRUISED FROM THUMB TO FINGERTIP
Red colored uniform clung to his stomach like a second skin and just like a snake, Asra was getting ready to shed it, leaving behind only a hollow carcass on the floor as a remembrance of the past only so that he could continue his life more freely than ever. Yet, it felt bittersweet, with sharp eyes locked onto the grand entrance in the distance, the one that had welcome him for so many years only to spit him out without a second though, with no regards for the bruises on his body, for his time and suffering or for the burn on the palm of his hand running from thumb to fingertip. A memory of his presence was left behind, a useless ring he had worn for the past few years, once shiny piece of precious metals and crystal and once one of his most prized possessions was now filled with only dirt, completely drained from the fight.
He touched the vacant spot where that ring had once made its home, a cigarette burned on his other hand leaving to the wind the task of sweeping the ashes away as his mind started to wander to what had happened an hour ago.
The day for the practical exam had finally arrived, only a few days after the written one that Asra had the pleasure of not succeeding in, however he was sure that this time he would be able to redeem himself, no matter how many happy or sad faces he saw coming out through that mysterious door, he was confident that he would succeed. Unfortunately, he was also wrong.
He had underestimated the wicked mind of his teachers as they stood there waiting for him as he came through that door, eyes focused on gaining a sense of his surroundings instead of the expressions on their faces. The place was enormous, a construction like any other Asra had ever seen and he wondered for a brief second as he looked upwards and sideways, what kind of being had been capable of creating all of this.
The student was standing at the center of the hexagon, a metal grid underneath his feet, fire already burning in the bottom of that pit as he looked down between the metal. The whole perimeter was surrounded by rocks of all shapes and sizes, mud and dirt placed at the bottom of the waterfalls that acted like the walls of what seemed to be a more luxurious fighting ring. Asra stood there for a few minutes, just a bit confused, but ready, waiting for the challenge ahead.
Everything proved to be much more than Asra had bargained for and at the end, he did the only thing that he had promised himself not to do. He surrendered, he gave up, and thus had to see the smiles on several of the teachers' faces as they claimed themselves victorious after witnessing his failure. The harsh truth was that he was at his limit and losing his powers again was not an option, even if he lost (and that was something that he would have to accept over the years) that was still better than damaging his mana channels again or going through the pain of something far worse than shame.
And so, he left. Tired and disappointed with the result, angry at himself and yet, at peace with the prospect of never having to set foot in that place ever again.
Yet, none of this felt right to him and none of it felt good.
However, as much as Asra wanted to continue thinking about what had happened and what he should do going forwards, especially how he should give his mother the sad news, a small voice interrupted that process by speaking up.
“Hello? Excuse me” the voice sounded like it was coming from near him, however Asra chose to ignore it anyways, his eyes still focused on the same point that had been staring at for the last few minutes. He was not in the mood for a conversation and he hoped that this person, whoever they were, would just understand that and go away. Blame the elementalist for thinking that he would get his way with anything today, because the only thing that he heard was some nervous movement as feet moved against the dirty ground as the small pebbles moved from one place to the other and then, this mysterious person decided to press even further, clearly not pleased with his lack of reaction. “I am looking for someone, I think -” there was a small pause in the speech as Asra turned his head to finally see who was talking.
His eyes roamed the figure, accessing it carefully with a rather cold gaze, assuming at first that it was just some annoying person. Instead, what he saw was frail kid, bare foot and dressed in clothes that were clearly too old, too big and too dirty for him. Asra had to force himself not to show any kind of interest, this was no uncommon occurrence in the streets, even in diamonds there were kids and adults like this everywhere, so he simply waited to hear what would come next.
“I think he might be in there” he pointed at The Academy entrance nervously, however his words did not waver, but neither did Asra’s.
“Look, I can’t help you, I don’t go there anymore” there was some disappointment in his eyes as he looked up at Asra and for a moment that seemed to bother the elementalist more than it should have, yet, he continued “and believe me, you don’t want to go there anyways, I don’t know who you’re looking for, but I bet that they would throw you away the moment you step in there” better to tell him the hard truth than build up his hopes, he could not take back the years that he wasted in there, but he could at least prevent this kid from experiencing any more pain.
Asra did not know what to do as he saw the kid standing there looking from side to side, fingers playing anxiously with a piece of paper, with a lost look in his face as if unable to tell where he should go from here after hearing that Asra was not keen on helping him the way he wanted. Asra would have offered to escort him back to his parents or his home, but judging by the state he was in, he doubted he had any of those and then as if to solve all those doubts, the kid reached out abruptly and Asra was shocked at the strength as he pulled on the sleeve of his uniform.
“You have to help me, I’m not going away until I find him” Asra scoffed, he was tired and upset, he did not need some kid bothering him right now, just because he needed to find someone. If he wanted to really find that person then he better do it himself, because Asra really could not give a shit. He was not setting foot in The Academy ever again.
“I already told you I don’t know who -”
Just before Asra could end his sentence, the little brat shoved the note he had been holding so preciously onto his chest, before declaring a simple “There” which left Asra with only the option of opening it. To his surprise the note was pretty simple and one that he knew too well, something that was written by him years ago, one that revealed only his name and species.
“Where did you get this?”
“Yeon Nen, but I wasn’t able to read it until a few months ago” Asra noticed that there was some shame in his voice as he spoke and in return Asra felt shame himself for not having considered that a possibility back when he wrote it, however it did not last long, because another feeling took its place, a much more awful one: responsibility.
He looked back at the kid, that little note in his hand. Asra had forgot about writing this, he had almost forgot that Yeon Nen and the gift he had left to those kids, but clearly the one that had received it had not forgotten and he had come looking for him. “I’m the one that wrote this”
As soon as the words left his lips, he saw the relief on that kid’s face, how his shoulders visibly relaxed even though his posture did not indicate that he trusted Asra completely, yet he did not question him, did not make him prove that he was really the one that had wrote it.
“You’re an elementalist?” Asra asked, receiving a small, even if unsure nod “What kind?”
Asra sighed, throwing his cigarette to the ground after one last drag. Gods, this was really not how he had planned for his day to go. Yet, he believed the kid and decided that for now he did not need much more information than the one he already had. So he simply crouched down, taking off his shoes before offering them. He knew that they would be way too big and not very comfortable, but at least it would be better than walking around barefooted and Asra could give up a little bit of his comfort until they got to his horse and back to his parents house where he prepare a warm shower, find some of his old clothes and give this kid a nice warm meal.
He hoped that his parents would know what to do and Asra really needed to get his shit together.
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