"Yes, me!" The Grand Mage said, with a smile of triumph spreading across his lips. "How are you Ashton? It has been quite a long time since I last saw you. I am glad you finally made it into this academy"
Ashton blinked rapidly. He was trying to process what was happening as he was not sure what he was witnessing was real. His mind was thrown into a pandemonium of confusion and questions- different questions he could not find urgent answers to.
'What the hell is he doing here? How did he get into this academy? Why is he adorned with such a fine robe? Why had Damien referred to him as 'SIR'?'
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Were the first words that tumbled out of Ashton's mouth. "Did you follow me all the way from the slum into this academy?"
The Grand Mage shook his head slowly at Ashton, severing how pathetic the boy sounded. He clicked his tongue against his teeth.
"Ashton," he started, now slowly striding towards him. His hands were still wrapped behind him. "You think you are all so special that I would have to come after you from the slum huh?"
Ashton's eyes widened as he monitored the movement of the Grand Mage subtly.
"You have always looked suspicious on that street! You always had questionable items in your possession. Old fool!" Ashton said, his voice taunting.
The Grand Mage seemed to be unaffected by Ashton's words, but Damien would not stand back and watch a little rat like Ashton talk back to his Master arrogantly. And with that, Damien ran towards Ashton, he grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the cold stony floor.
"Watch how you run your filthy mouth Ashton!" Damien sneered, his voice as cold as ice.
Ashton gasped at the sudden attack. He squinted his eyes in pain as he tried to overcome the unbearable pain he had felt from falling on his back with such great impact.
'That is a lot of fall today!' he lamented to himself in his thoughts.
"Enough Damien, let him go!" The Grand Mage commanded.
Damien reluctantly backed off from strangling Ashton any further. He knew he dared not defile his Master's command. The door slid open, revealing the faces of Marcus and Jamil.
"Ashton!" Jamil yelled, startled to see Ashton on the floor. He rushed at Ashton and helped him get up from the floor. "Are you okay?" He asked, his voice laced with genuine concern.
Ashton let out a small smile then said, "I do not think so, ahhh." He groaned in pain so Jamil could see how serious he was."I got knocked to the floor pretty bad you see."
"Who did this to you?" Jamil asked again.
"There you are, the other half of my boy Ashton, Jamil." The Grand Mage said, his voice interrupting Ashton who was just about to give a reply to Jamil's question.
Jamil looked up at the Grand Mage for the first time since he had entered the room. As he looked, his eyes opened widely in disbelief. His mouth got heavy suddenly as he tried to say something.
"Cat got your tongue too?" The Grand Mage teased, laughing at how shocked Jamil had been too on seeing him.
"But…how…why…" Jamil stammered trying to get his words right. "How is this possible? How can you be here?" Jamil finally asked.
It was the man Ashton had always referred to as a mad man. Whom he had named the street's old fool.
The man who always reeks of either cigarettes or an expensive gin, the man no one dared ask where he got those expensive items from. The one who always stinks and talks with a cigarette butt in his dirty mouth.
Who could have thought they would see him again in fancy apparel?. Seeing him there right now gave them the most plausible answer to how he got all those expensive treats he lived on.
"Pay your respects to the Grand Mage." Marcus said to both boys.
Ashton looked behind him finally noticing Marcus was also in the room with them.
"Cut them some slack Marcus, they are still smitten by my presence here." The Grand Mage said with a smile. "Ashton, Jamil." He called, now turning at them. "My name is Master Chen, not the street old fool you had always known." He introduced.
"Master?" Ashton asked rhetorically, snickering. "Jamil, he said to call him Master Chen."
Jamil was not finding the situation funny as he gaze was menacingly fixated on Master Chen. Seeing him in the academy was an odd out of a hundred.
"But, why? Why did you pretend you were someone else all along? Why did you deceive us about your identity?" Jamil asked, some worry and disappointment in his voice, a deep furrow appearing on his forehead.
"I do not owe you an explanation Jamil," Master Chen said, his voice husky. "And, I need not tell you about my identity and why I had decided to live in the same slum as you."
Ashton lowered his gaze at Master Chen, as a thought crept into his mind.
'He had always bothered me about not getting into the MTA quickly! What exactly is going on in his head? What exactly was he planning all along?'
"I have summoned you both here today for two reasons. One for the both of you and the other for Ashton." Master Chen continued.
"What is that?" Ashton asked, rudely.
"It is concerning your roles in this academy. I see one of you has an elemental power from birth." He said with a chuckle.
"One of us?"
"Yes, one of you. I prefer not to speak who has this power between you two. So, concerning your stay here, you both are not fully recognized as students of this supreme academy." Master Chen announced.
"Huh?" Ashton gasped in disbelief. "We have gone through the welcoming rituals process already, what more is there to go through to become a student?"
Master Chen continued, his lips curling up into a humorless snarl. "You have to prove yourself worthy by undergoing three different tests…"
Jamil cut his statement abruptly by saying, "Tests? What test?"
"Let him speak!" Damien sneered, plunging his eyes through Jamil's.
Master Chen let out a small cough and continued. "The first test is an examination on what the disciple had taught you. Heard Ashton missed the first part…umm..sorry boy, you're treading on the wrong foot already."
"It was…" Ashton tried to speak in his defense, but Master Chen didn't bother to listen as he continued.
"The second test has three phases, the first, second and the third phase is to test your physical strength. You will be engaged in physical combat at the arena. The last test, it is mainly to prove if you're worthy to wield the elemental system that would be granted unto you in the chapel."
Ashton and Jamil turned at themselves, a look of confusion in their eyes. Ashton gave Jamil a slight nod as if they had both read what was running in their minds. Jamil turned at Master Chen and asked,
"What if we fail to prove we are worthy to be students of this academy?"
An evil grin crept on Master Chen's lips as he said, "One of you will take the fall for the other."
"What does that mean?" Ashton asked, furrowing his brows at Master Chen.
"Only one of you both belong to this academy. Whosoever fails will be sent back to the slum from whence he came from and become food for those bestial mutants!"
'What?!'