"Acensio Fria," she whispered low enough for Ashen to ear before pointing her wand at him, fixing his rumpled shirt and replacing the lost button of his pants, even going as far as to elevate his appearance a little,
In surprise, going as far as to touch his face to discover that it looked a little smoother,
"What spell is that?" Ashen asked with curiosity since he didn't know about it and he'd never used it before,
"It's mostly used by girls. Most boys wouldn't bother but since we're asking questions. Why did you walk into the cafeteria like someone who had just suffered a trainwreck?," she asked with genuine concern evident on her face as she spoke, which in turn elevated Ashen's mood since she was one of top ten people in her class and she still treated him like friends,
"It's nothing really. I just had a rough night and Iost my wand so I'll need to apply for a new one." Ashen said with a small smile on his face before continuing to take spoons from the plate in front of him, trying his best to act unconcerned,
"Your wand! That's terrible." Ara lamented looking at the first person she made friends with at the academy act unconcerned about the one thing that a mage was never to lose,
"Did someone steal it?" Ara went ahead to ask, knowing fully well Ashen's rank in his class and how he was always lightly bullied since it basically happened every year,
"Nope...as dependable as you might think I am, I was actually pretty careless with it," replied Ashen quickly, all the while not looking anywhere else but the food he was busy with,
"Hmmm...okay," Ara replied not willing to argue any further,
"But you do know they won't give you your old wand back right," she told him, watching him jerk his head up in surprise, dropping the spoon that had been halfway to his mouth, the moment he heard the words she said,
"Wh...what do you mean?" He whispered with a sense of urgency with no intention of letting anyone else know the predicament he was in,
"The consequence for losing your wand as a mage student is that they'll give you a wand belonging to the year below your current year as punishment," she explained with a worried expression on her face since everyone would know since every year had their respective wand colour and uniforms,
For the first years it was black, Second years wore Red, third years were to wear white uniforms since the headmasters considered that to be the most important turning point of a student in the academy and only a few student's made it there,
Fourth years were to wear gold, while the fifth and final year wore proud deep blue uniforms with black robes hanging on their backs,
"It's fine," Ashen finally spoke after a long while of being stunned into silence,
"It's not like I have a choice,"
"You could buy a new wand though from the store in your third year," Ara consoled thinking of ways to help Ashen but no more bright ideas even so much as popped in her mind,
"And you think I can get there with a measly first-year wand especially with the Headmasters exams coming up?" Ashen mocked with raised eyebrows before suddenly bending his head, ashamed for doing that to Ara who was just trying to help,
"Thanks for the information Ara," he suddenly said getting on his feet and packing his books as he did so, having lost every ounce of the voracious appetite he once had,
"Ashen," she softly called his name, not knowing what else to say after, as he stared at her with a sad expression on his face, admiring how nice she looked before turning around and walking away, knowing fully well that just being in his presence was a smear on her name,
Walking as fast as he could out of the cafeteria, trying his best not to pay attention to anyone or bump into anyone, since most people usually used that as an excuse to either use him or just insult him,
He had only little more distance before he would be out of the door when he suddenly felt something heavy crash into him,
Feeling the impact and watching a lot of books including his own suddenly hit the floor, the only thought going through his head was how many time he would have to apologize depending on the uniform the person was wearing,
Quickly areanging his books and the person's books as fast as he could picking both of them with a heavy stone in his heart and anwordasy expression on his face,
Ashen looked up only to suddenly see a gleaming white uniform always breaking into tears out of a grateful heart for the fact that the person wasn't carrying anything that could have stained her shirt,
Bending all the way to his waist while stretching out the books to the person who bumped into him, Ashen quickly apologized,
"I'm sorry for bumping into you. I didn't see you passing unless, I would have stayed out of your way," Ashen said with his head bent unwilling to raise his head until the books were accepted,
"It's alright," said an entralling voice feeling the weight of the books in his hand suddenly disappear from his hands, and even more surprised to see the third year that had spoken to him peacefully continue going on her way without saying another word,
Confused, Ashen immediately began wondering if her rank was also low when he immediately heard the whispers around him,
"How dare that dufus suddenly bump into a goddess like Sahandra?"
"I know right. Does he not know his place? Not only is she in the third year but she's also the second rank in her class,"
and the moment he heard how highly ranked she was, Ashen ran for his life knowing fully well that for whatever reason that he didn't understand, she might have let him go without any consequences but others wouldn't hesitate to make him suffer on her behalf,
As fast as he could, he was out of the cafeteria, walking towards the second year building was and towards his room when he remembered his missing wand and how regardless of how demeaning the wand would be, it was even worse to be a student of the academy or think of attending classes without a wand,
Determined, he walked past the five building built in a circle around each other, heading for the headmaster's building knowing fully well that he wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere but the lobby,
He had barely stepped inside with both his feet he suddenly heard a magical automated voice ring out loud enough for anyone who had been in the empty lobby to hear,
"Beep...Beep… You are Falorn Ashen, Born in the season of the wind, Second-year student of the light academy, Class B, Rank 50…" stated a deep male voice whom Ashen had never seen but was by now used to,
"The wand on the counter is yours since you returned without yours. Keep it safe. The loss of your new wand will result in your immediate expulsion," said the voice as it continued speaking before it suddenly ceased,
"It mentions expulsion everytime it talks about me. Just tell me you no longer want me in your school without telling me you don't want me in your school," Ashen whispered to himself as he went over to the counter to pick his wand only to discover that it actually wasn't red and neither was it black...