After the Magus Game ended, the depressed Emery returned to Lord Izta's palace accompanied by his friends. The mood that should have been celebratory because of Emery's win turned into a sour one due to the mistreatment he received.
All because of the fact that there was no one from the fifty-plus grand magus present at the arena, willing to take Emery as their disciple. None.
The moment they arrived at the front of the familiar hall, Julian immediately launched the question he had held since earlier, "Has this ever happened before, Lord Izta? How could they do that to Emery? That's so unfair!"
Unexpectedly, Lord Izta, the one who was normally very emotional at this kind of situation, was eerily silent. He himself was speechless. Seeing Lord Izta was lost in his thoughts, Magus Xion proceeded to answer Julian's inquiry, "It does, actually. But it's a very rare occurrence."
Thrax screamed on top of his lung, releasing all the anger he felt. He then said, "What the hell! Why would this happen in the first place? Emery won the competition but didn't get the reward? What a joke of a competition!"
Emery grabbed Thrax's shoulder and tried to calm the fuming bull. Actually, he could understand why Thrax behaved like this. But in all honesty, he did not really care about this matter too much.
Thinking about the situation he was in, Emery was fine if he didn't get picked by the grand magus. After all, he had been blessed by several masters already.
Lord Izta had taught him about combat technique and its application in real battle. Magus Xion had attentively guided him through his study on his elements, training him to increase his spell control and power. There was also Grand Magus Zenoia, whose contributions were not less than the former two.
All in all, Emery did not think he really needed another master at the moment. He already had enough and he still hadn't learned all the things he had been taught. He only wanted to know why, what was the reason none of the grand magus chose him.
"Why, master? What could be the reason? Was I not good enough?"
Upon hearing Emery's question, Magus Xion thought he was disappointed no one took him. But when he saw the calm expression on his disciple's face, Magus Xion knew he was overthinking it.
"No, Emery. Your spell prowess was pretty decent, you also have exceptional combat skills. Most importantly, you have shown your tenacity, which was the highlight of your last match."
"Then, why? Is this about my bloodline, master? Is that the reason? Well, I did think I still depend too much on my transformation."
Magus Xion waved his hand and shook his head, "No... you do well on that, Emery. You didn't just completely depend on your transformation. On the contrary, it complements well with your spell repertoire."
Julian stepped into the conversation and spoke his guess, "Is it a political reason, then? They won't let us, 'lower realm people', to ever get into the privileged class, aren't they?"
Upon hearing Julian's words, Klea immediately said, "Well, Emery still got into the privileged class, right? He just didn't get a grand magus master, right?"
"Yes he should be" said Magus Xion
Seeing all his friends concern, Emery voice his thought "Friends, don't you all worried, I don't really need a new master, I already have Lord Izta and Magus Xion for that"
Hearing what Emery said, Magus Xion breathed a sigh "Emery.. it really is much different being a disciple of a magus and a grand magus, even more, an official appointed one... I really surprised my master did not take you in… maybe if I talk to her…"
While the debate was still ongoing, Lord Izta and Magus Xion's expression suddenly changed. They abruptly jerked their head upwards, looking toward one particular side of the sky.
Emery and the others were confused at first when they saw the strange behaviour the two esteemed magus showed. Fortunately, their confusion was quickly answered as they suddenly felt a strong pressure coming from their left.
"What is that?"
Before Emery and the others could say more words, they saw both Lord Izta and Magus Xion went to their knees facing towards the west. At the same time, some kind of powerful force made Emery and his friends kneel to the ground.
Lifting their heads, Emery and the others saw two figures coming from the west sky and slowly making their way to the group.
One of them was a woman with long white hair that flowed down till her back and dark glossy skin. The woman's eyes were as sharp as those of an eagle. Her figure was exuding a strong lightning element. Emery and the others could vaguely see lightning currents swirling around her body without her casting any spell. This woman was definitely a powerful lightning magus.
As if the first figure was not shocking enough, the second figure who was only a step behind the woman was even more so. A figure known to all people of the Magus Academy and probably all across the human-controlled universes.
An old man with a long white beard and a wooden stick in his hand, the headmaster of Magus Academy, Altus Dreyden.
"Welcome Headmaster Altus, welcome Grand Magus Ororo." Lord Izta and Magus Xion together said with respect.
"Izta, Xion... you two can raise." the headmaster said, as he walked closer to Emery and his friends. With every step he took, the five young teenager's hearts beat faster and faster.
Even though Headmaster Altus looked like a simple old man at first glance. The person walking towards them was the head of all the magus in the academy, one of the strongest supreme magus of humanity.
With a slight movement from him, Emery suddenly found his body forced to stand. The headmaster approached him and looked straight into Emery's eyes.
Emery, on the other hand, suddenly felt as if something, some kind of energy probing through his body until it stopped at his dark core.
"Dark core… Hmm… It's true then." Headmaster Altus murmured. He then sighed deeply, "Such a pity..."
He then turned towards the others and disclosed the reason for his arrival, "I am here to congratulate our talented acolyte and also bring unfortunate news."
Headmaster Altus once again set his gaze on Emery, "Emery Ambrose, it's my regret to tell you that even though you succeeded remarkably at the magus game, the academy unable to let you in the privileged class."
"!!!"
Dozens of questions immediately gushed into Emery's mind, not only because of the news itself but also because the headmaster himself had come in person to tell him the news.