"Help…Help..."Ashen heard Natal shout even as his feet stood rooted, unmoving on the ground a couple of feet away from where the giant lizard was,
"... Am I to jump in and die along with them," Ashen thought wondering why Natal kept shouting for help, watching him continue to stand in front of Anared as he slowly drained the rest of his mana,
A poof of smoke from the tip of Natal's wand instead of a roaring fire spell was enough of a signal to the lizard to dash forwards towards the two targets in front of him as he attacked with his long tongue shooting it out faster than either Natal nor Anared could see,
"Sarairnus..." Ashen yelled casting the only other wind spell he knew instead of the fire spells he knew weren't going to work, loud enough and with all the focus he could garner since two lives bothered on it,
Just in time, unbelievably stronger than what Ashen was able to cast in the past, the spell was strong enough to slash the lizard's tongue in two as Natal and Anared immediately turned in his direction to see their saviour,
"Ashen..." They both chorused with obvious joy on their faces, Natal going as far as to drop to the ground on one knee in relief, having used every single one of his energy to resist the beast,
Ashen wasn't that lucky though as the beast immediately raged and screeched in anger from having its tongue cut off, directing its gaze at Ray who stood openly in the direction the attack came from without hiding,
A second was all he had to take in a sharp intake of breath before the lizard turned and dashed in his direction with all it had,
"Run…''Natal screamed in fear only to discover that Ashen was already scrambling away as fast as he could having dropped the heavy backpack he carried on his back, with no intention of being weighed down and swallowed by a giant lizard,
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Anared asked with a face full of visible concern for Ashen, after all, he had saved them and without whom they would both be dead,
"Apparently he seems to have been hiding his powers...did you see the powerful wind spell he threw?" Natal asked with shock on his face, watching Anared nod back in agreement even if he was still in pain,
"He is obviously strong, I just can't fathom why he's at the bottom of his class. I wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of spell," Natal said, trying his best to completely stop the blood dripping from his friend's hand while noticing how pale Anared's skin was,
"We need a place to hide and you need to recover," Natal said getting on his feet with the intention of carrying Anared on his shoulder along with every other bag they both had when he unexpectedly heard Anared speak,
"Thanks, Natal and don't forget to help Ashen..." said Anared with a smile in a sad tone, having already removed his bracelet from the only arm he had left,
"What do you think you're doing?" Natal tentatively asked not making any sudden movement with every intention of snatching the bracelet from his friend before he could use it,
"Not being a burden…," was the last thing he said right before breaking the bracelet he held in his hand open on the stone lying beside him on the ground, instantly vanishing with nothing but air to replace him,
*********
Internally screaming in his head while running as fast as he could with nothing but his wand in his hand and the egg he had forgotten to take out of his pocket,
Ashen ran as fast as he could in no particular direction, doing his best to put space between him and the beast intent on chewing him whole when he suddenly saw a light beam shoot up into the sky not far from where he was,
As quickly as could, he headed in the exact direction he saw it appear, considering how close he was to it and how high his chances were of being the first to reach it,
Seeing it from afar was enough for Ashen to increase his pace as he grabbed it as quickly as he could already heading in the opposite direction to the left of where he picked it up when he suddenly halted, a step away from bumping into someone wearing the same uniform as him with a staggering " 1" embroidered on the pocket of his shirt,
Still raising his head up to look at the person in his way when he heard a voice he was familiar with, familiar enough to put a shred of fear in his heart,
"What a gift? Tell me...What can I give you in exchange?" Makin asked with a big smile on his face, snatching the crystal globe from Ashen's hands in a heartbeat,