Markus woke up from his coma groggily.
"What... happened?" He uttered with difficulty.
"Boss!" Four familiar voices greeted him loudly. Markus supported himself and sat up against the bed's backboard.
"Where am I?"
"You're in the infirmary, Boss!"
"Take it easy. I'll go call the nurse."
Markus rubbed his eyes and looked around. After localising himself, he realised that he was currently in the Academy's infirmary. This wasn't his first time here after all - the four individuals next to him had sent him here one too many times before...
After stabilising himself, Markus evaluated his condition.
'Wow! I'm... perfectly fine?' He was a little confused. He clearly remembered breaking many bones and injuring a lot of his internal organs.
A realisation struck him, causing him to panic. "How long was I out for?"
One of the F4 shrugged and answered, "Barely four hours."
"But..." Markus inspected himself once again in incredulity.
"Don't worry, Boss. The nurse said that thanks to the Vitality and Regeneration Potion, all of the damage was attended to immediately. There is no after-effect or long-lasting damage done!" The boy said while flashing a smile and a thumbs-up.
"A Vitality and Regeneration Potion?" Markus was dumbfounded. He knew for a fact that the particular potion was extremely expensive in the market as it was able to completely regenerate any damage done to the body regardless of its severity. It was often advertised as being able to even regenerate limbs!
After perusing through his memory with some difficulty, Markus vaguely remembered being fed a liquid right as he lost his consciousness after the fight.
"Was it Master?" He muttered. The thought caused Markus to tear up involuntarily.
'Master spent so much money, just for me!' He quickly dabbed up the tears threatening to burst forth and centred himself.
"Oh right! Almost forgot," one of the F4 opened the drawers at Markus' bedside and pulled out a letter. "Teacher Way told us to give you this letter when you woke up. He came over to recruit you half an hour ago, but since you were still in a coma, he left this with us. Not only that, but a few other teachers also stopped by to check on your condition. I think they're also planning to take you under them!"
Another member of the F4 spoke with excitement, "You're so lucky! Did you know, Teacher Way was automatically promoted from apprentice to teacher after the match? Apparently, it was already in the works and the Headmaster was waiting until there was a guarantee that he would pass the apprentice tournament. He even got a bigger office and a bunch of additional resource allocations..."
Markus shook his head and interrupted the boys before they started their own tirade, "Right! Where's Mas- I mean Teaching Apprentice Larks?"
The four boys stared at each other in confusion, "Who?"
Markus gritted his teeth and spoke up with irritation oozing in his voice, "The person who brought me here!"
The four were intimidated by Markus' sudden change in temperament and scratched their heads in unison in recollection.
"Oh, I remember! The man who brought you here left a letter with us before he left. Where was it again?"
They began to look around until one of them reached into the trash can and fished out a crumpled envelope.
He bit his tongue in apology and handed it to Markus, "He didn't look like much so we thought he was being presumptuous by scouting you, Boss..."
Markus snatched the envelope and screamed, "GET OUT! NOW!"
The four scrambled out in fear. Markus didn't notice this, but his standing in their hearts had risen by miles. Before, they respected him for his superior intellect as well as his ingenuity. But after they saw him stand toe to toe with a monster like Gaige, and nearly win, they began to worship Markus.
Markus carefully flattened the envelope and opened it up.
As he read the contents of the letter, his eyes reddened and his eyebrows furrowed in distress.
____
Dear Markus,
I'm sorry that I had to leave you like this, but I couldn't bear to part with you face-to-face.
I am so proud of you, Markus! Teaching you has been the greatest pleasure of my life, and I will always cherish that memory.
When I saw you perform in the arena, I was so impressed by how far you had reached since we first met. But I wasn't surprised. I always knew you had a lot of potential and would amount to something great. I want you to always remember that! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
And don't fret about the loss. It wasn't your fault. You performed beyond my expectations, and I am extremely proud of your accomplishment. Sometimes in life, you are forced to face inevitabilities that you can do nothing about. Your opponent today happened to be one. No matter how much you prepared for this confrontation, I don't think you could have predicted the match to go the way it did. Such is life.
So, treat this as a learning opportunity for the future, and don't get hung up on the defeat. Your main focus should be to improve yourself and push yourself beyond your limits. If you get engrossed in trying to compete against others and going against the inevitabilities that are blocking your way, your obsession will only eat you alive. Remember, magic cannot solve all your life's problems.
Unfortunately, I can no longer continue as your teacher. I cannot stress this enough, but this isn't your fault. Don't think that you are responsible for my unemployment! I never placed that burden on your shoulders. What transpired was an inevitability in my life, and there was nothing you could have done about it.
Worry not, I've already discussed with Teacher Jeeves about taking you in as his student, and he agreed. Don't misunderstand, this wasn't because I didn't believe that you would win. It's just that there are many factors involved and luck is rarely on my side. I just couldn't bear leaving you out to dry without any backup should the worst-case scenario transpire.
Finally, it is time to address the elephant in the room. I know you consider me as your Master. However, I am not confident that I can support you and nurture you to the level you deserve. When I accepted you as my disciple, I was pretty excited. I was looking forward to working with you and growing together. But I realise that I was being selfish. I had no right, nor did I have the qualification, to become your Master. So, from here on, I step down as your Master. You deserve better!
Good luck! I am looking forward to the many achievements in your future.
Your loving friend,
Guy Larks
____
Markus lowered the letter and covered his face with his sleeves. His emotions were erupting uncontrollably; like the opening of floodgates after a heavy storm, he began bawling.
In truth, no matter how much Guy tried to dissuade him, Markus subconsciously felt responsible for Guy's dismissal.
'If only I had pushed harder instead of holding back my attacks.'
'If only I had prepared additional ingredients with greater power.'
'If only...'
He exhausted himself by formulating a list of regrets - errors that he could have avoided or alleviated in order to win his match.
Alas, they would remain hypothetical. He had screwed it all up, and he hated himself for it!
He whimpered and wailed, screamed and flailed. His emotions had completely overpowered his body - he was unable to contain himself.
"Master..." he sighed through his sadness.
For Markus, the previous year had been the highlight of his entire life. He had never felt happier, or more satisfied. For once in his life, he didn't feel worthless.
All of it was thanks to his Master, Guy Larks. His Master had helped him achieve something that was deemed impossible by everyone in this world. His Master had guided him and raised him in record time. His Master had placed his entire career on the line, for Markus' sake. Yet, Markus took that trust and squandered it!
Slowly, Markus' self-deprecation overpowered his psyche and threatened to pull him back into the well Guy had tried so hard to pull him out of.
But before Markus lost himself into the darkness, a corporeal string of light brightened and attached to him. It wasn't a metaphorical string, a literal string of light fastened itself on Markus' nascent cultivation and extended out into the world. It extended through the open infirmary windows and moved towards the city.
It passed through the commercial district, weaving through the crowd and buildings. It extended towards the dankest corner of the city, a place for the low-class folk.
The area was near the outskirts of Radiant City and was filled with aged housing. The string zig-zagged through the area and approached a run-down inn near the centre of this district.
The string extended through the window of an inn, and finally stopped. Abruptly, the slack string tightened and became taut.
What was weird about this connection was that it somehow felt as if it was already in existence. As if both sides of the string were already tethered in place, yet the string hadn't fully solidified. But now, it gained visibility due to a hitherto unknown condition being met.
Back at the infirmary, Markus suddenly reached an epiphany. His gaze sharpened, and his expression darkened. He picked up the letter written by his Master and carefully folded it back into the envelope. He then picked up the letter from Jo Way, crumpled it and tossed it into the trash. He cleaned himself up and rushed out of the infirmary door with a firm resolve.