Aron found himself cornered by a pestering Rumi who seem to have been especially intrigued by her daughter's words. At this point, she had sensed it from Aron's bashful response that there was some sort of truth in Ava's allegations.
"There is no one like that, Mrs. Rumi." Though frustrated at being kept out of the loops, Rumi directed her ire to her daughter. "Don't look at me like that. Things this guy did will be enough to be called a scandal at the academy. I can't possibly tell that to you." Ava defended her secret vehemently.
Aron was the one at the biggest loss in this peaky mother-daughter squabble. His name was really being maligned here. "Ahhh.. I am not telling, mum. Just know this.. he is not really into girls his age. So you better be wary about getting all touchy with him."
The slave boy wanted to hide his face somewhere. This girl was truly adamant about destroying the pious relationship he had with Mrs. Rumi, at least according to him.
"Huh.. what's wrong with that? Girls his age rarely possess any virtues. Ain't I right Aron?" Even after promising himself not to get himself involved in this parent-offspring fight, Aron found himself pecking his head like a chick as soon as he heard the question.
In case Ava missed the context, Rumi's arms folded across her chest made sure to act as a reminder to her. "Eehh.. you are nasty, mom. You really have to talk like this in front of guests?" Ava protested.
"Aron is no guest. He is one of us. Aren't you, my boy?" "For sure. As long as miss Ava doesn't mind that is." This was Aron's chance to get back to the girl for slandering him earlier. He stepped closer to Mrs. Rumi and deliberately put his arm around her waist, his actions more reminiscent of a man than a boy.
Rumi was spellbound for a second before she too held onto the boy possessively. "Who cares about her? You can be my boy even if she doesn't approve."
Seemingly being tag-teamed by both of them, Ava was on losing ground. "Enough messing around for today. You can't be here to flirt with my mum, Aron. Tell me, are you planning to cast another spell?"
"Oh.. yes I do." Ava was successful in distracting the boy who fished out his handwritten note and handed them to Mrs. Rumi. "I ain't here to buy anything. Frankly speaking, I have mostly burned through my reserves, but it will be helpful if I can get an estimate."
Ava walked behind her mother to take a look at the list the boy had prepared. With every passing second their eyes kept getting wider and wider. "Ah.. I guess a few of them can be rather expensive, I assume. But no worries, I will save up to buy them." Aron added with a grin, oblivious to the shock of the mother-daughter pair.
"Buy my ass..!!" Rumi slapped his back violently before shoving the paper to his face. "Are you joking with this mother here? Heart of a Red-bellied serpent. Blood essence of a great saddleback salamander. And what's this.. tusks of the nocturnal Rudell. Are you kidding me?"
Veins popped on Rumi's forehead in apparent anger at the kid. There is no way this is a list of genuine requirements for a spell. It was more like the brat compiled a list of the rarest ingredients and copied them as it is.
Aron had not anticipated such an agitated response. Was he missing something here? "My god.. what in the world do you need the fruit of the Grittine tree?" More than the surprise, Rumi was actually mad at the brat for wasting her time like this.
"Ahh.. is it expensive?" Rumi shook her head. "I don't have the time to play with you, brat. I am going to whoop your ass if you play a prank like this again with me." Passing him a menacing glare she handed the piece of paper to her daughter before taking her leave.
Ava took some time to recover, finding Aron directing puppy dog eyes towards her. For a second, he succeeded in winning her trust. "Are you sure about this?" Being a lot more aware of his background than her mother, she was a bit more accommodating to him.
"Hm.. I am positive.. I guess." The out-of-proportion reaction had Aron hesitate a bit. "Come with me. We will talk inside." Ava held onto his arm and dragged him deeper into the storeroom, under the befuddled gaze of Mrs. Rumi.
Making the boy take a seat in a shady corner, she crossed her arms around her chest. "This is related to another ancient spell isn't it?"
Her straightforward conclusion almost made the boy stumble headfirst to the ground. Another one? How did Ava know about this matter? He ever only admitted to Julia about this matter.
"Mhu.. You think I won't figure it out? I had seen that skeleton you summoned Aron. Even if Julia kept the details from me.. it was only a matter of time before I figured it out."
As if she was totally proud of her accomplishments, she pushed her hands down to her waist and put on a power pose. "You trying to decrypt some ancient characters, going on to summon an exceptionally strong skeleton in your very first spell and in addition the intelligence of your summon. Everything pointed to a single conclusion, there was a remarkable spell at play." Ava explained, aware of Aron's thoughts.
The boy was stumped. Having not expected Ava to be the bright one of the lot. "What's with the look?" "Ahhm.. nothing. I just didn't.." "Didn't take me to be too smart.. did you... hn?" Ava's power pose became even more prominent. Her only shortcoming was the lack of meat on her puffed-up chest which dampened her charisma.
"I appreciate your insights, but this is truly not an ancient spell like earlier, Ava. I came across this one in the lib.." "Stop lying, Aron. I can tell just by the extraordinary nature of the ingredients you need. I have helped my parents run this place for a while now, you know." The girl said as a matter of fact.
Her evaluation was clear, leaving not a single doubt. Aron knew he can't maneuver out of this sticky situation. *Sigh* There was no advantage in trying to deny it, rather he might as well try to get her on his side. "Yes, it is another one." Ava immediately narrowed her eyes at him.
"How can you do this? You promised Julia not to cast another one. Also, how exactly are you getting your hands on these? It's an ancient spell for heaven's sake? When did they become so common?" Ava can tell the boy was hiding many more secrets.
"I am not going to cast without proper supervision, Ava." Aron stood up and approached the girl, grabbing both her hands in distress. "I am only collecting the ingredients right now. Can you please keep this out of Julia's notice?"
It wasn't the case that Aron was unaware of his good looks and high charm. Rather, most of the time he will never rely on looks, instead keeping a low profile. But at times like these, he didn't think twice before attacking Ava with a mirthless smile that melted away her defenses.
One look at the dark watery eyes was enough to send Ava's heart racing. A blush appeared on her face looking at how close the boy was to her. 'Ahh.. I got a boyfriend..!!' She screamed in her mind, trying her best not to fall for Aron.
"You know how intrusive Julia can be at times. She will never allow me to even start collecting these items. I hope you can understand where I am coming from." Although it was the very first time Aron was banking on his face, from the looks of it, he seem to be doing pretty good.
Ava's mind had buzzed. All she wanted right now was to run away. "Ahh.." She parted her lips but no words came out. She was totally lost in that carved-out face, dripping with child-like innocence.
"Will you help me?" Aron gently caressed Ava's dainty hands, further aggravating the young girl who had been on a back foot since the boy displayed this 'vulnerable' side to her.
"Cough.." Shaking her hands away from him, Ava took two steps back. "Okay.. okay.. it's not like she doesn't keep me out of the loop whenever it suits her. I won't tell her, but you mustn't cast the spell. If you do.. this deal is off."
"Wahh.. Thank you so much, Ava." Arow would have embraced the girl, had it not been for her hand pushing on his chest. "haha.. sorry, I got a little carried away." He apologized with a snobbish smirk.
Ava rolled her eyes. "Listen to me." She cleared her throat multiple times, rearranging her thoughts. "I got something to ask of you as well." "Oh.. tell me. I am here." Aron patted his chest, his antics opposite to the serious tone Ava had set up.
"Mh.. I hate to admit it, but I am sure you would have guessed it by now." She fidgeted with her short hair, rolling it on her fingers. "I am pretty weak when it comes to spell casting. And from what I have seen, you don't face the same problem. So, I will keep your secret, but can you teach me a few spells?"
Ava was extremely embarrassed. She knew this was not a balanced trade. Yet, being the most useless mage among her group had always chipped away at her confidence. She desperately wanted to change her circumstances.
"You want me to teach you my spells?"
Aron questioned with a tilt of his head.
Thinking the boy might get the wrong idea, she raised her head to glance at him. "No. I don't need the ancient spells. I know how precious they are. I just need some extra lessons for the regular ones." She explained.
Aron was taken aback by her refusal to learn 'his' spell. She was truly a kind girl. It takes a person with an unmatched resolution to say no to Ancient spells. "You are such a sweety haha.." He forcefully shoved her hands aside and hugged her despite her protests.
Five minutes had passed and Ava's face still carried the flustered look from earlier. She did her best to focus on the list of ingredients in front of her, in a bid to forget the intimate hug she shared with Aron.
"Any ideas?" She heard the boy grow impatient and took a deep breath. "Each one of them is going to carry an astronomical price tag. The items you listed are not exactly specifically linked to necromancy discipline."
Ava exhaled and continued with her monologue. "These items can be used by almost every other type of mage out there, no matter his affinity. As such, the price is relatively high for these kinds of materials because of the demand. Even so, for this last one... I am not sure even a high price will fetch you this."
'Fruit of the Grittine tree.' Aron read in his mind, recalling the shocked expression of Mrs. Rumi for this specific fruit. "It's a very exotic fruit, always eyed by the alchemists. Anything that piques the interest of those eccentrics is sure as hell not going to be easy to find."
"Hm.. it's going to be complicated then, I guess." Aron remarked with an astute gaze, tapping his foot on the wooden floor. "Anyhow, at least I got the heads up. Thanks again partner hehe.." Aron laughed sheepishly, leaving Ava perplexed.
< Kudos!!>>