Chapter 71: My Smile
Rays of light reached Raze’s eyes; his eyelids twitched before his eyes slowly opened as the rays of the rising sun entered them. The cold of the night before had vanished and he was breathing fine and normal.
"I survived? I really thought I would end up turning into an ice sculpture," he thought. He felt something wrapped around him and a warm feeling hugging him, so he turned his head to the side to see what it was; his eyes immediately met Ella’s sleeping face.
He was stunned to see her; he almost leaked in fright, but had to force himself to stay calm and not make any sudden movements. He took a deep breath. Whatever was happening now had to have a good explanation.
As if knowing someone was looking at her, Ella’s eyes twitched and then opened. Her eyes immediately met Raze’s gaze; she froze, the sleep in her body vanishing instantly.
"I think this is sexual assault," Raze stated. Ella shot off him and sat up; she waved her hands. "No, no, no, it was nothing like that. We needed to save you and the only way was a mana transfusion and I volunteered to—" she began trying to explain, but in the next moment Raze got up and leaned in, hugging her.
"Thank you for saving me," he said. Her face turned red; she pushed him off her. "Don’t make it weird. Why would you hug me?" she asked.
"Because I was going to die," Raze said, then slowly got to his feet and stretched his hands into the air to free his joints. "Waking up to see you beside me was a shock, but knowing what you did it for makes me happy," he said, and then looked at her. "Honestly, my greatest fear is death, death when I haven’t done everything I want to do. When you saved me, you saved my dreams and goals. Thank you." He said it again and bowed his head to her.
She got to her feet and looked away. "Stop, you are making me embarrassed. Besides, you are technically my teacher; you shouldn’t be bowing your head to me."
"I never agreed to be your teacher," Raze said. He folded his arms. "I agreed to help you understand magic."
"Tsk, you are teaching me, so you are my teacher. I don’t know why you hate the term so much," she said.
"Because the term ties me down. When you come to me for an explanation, I have to give it to you because I am your teacher. I have to correct your mistakes and pay attention to your growth, those are all things I don’t want," he explained, but she had a smile on her face.
"Wait, is that my smile?" Raze asked; he subconsciously took a step back.
"Since I saved your life and gave you my mana, you owe me one, and my request is that you be my teacher and give me all those benefits," she said, her grin getting wider.
Raze looked at her. "Oh come on, I just woke up from a life-threatening accident. Oh, and on that note, what about all my wounds?" he asked, scanning his body with his eyes; he couldn’t see a single wound.
"I handled that," Lady Terra spoke, coming in from behind Raze, her steps elegant as usual. "I have a lot of healing products that easily healed all the wounds on you and Gavin," she stated.
"Lady Terra, you have my thanks," Raze said with his head bowed. He looked up at her after. "I’m sorry I put you all in the trouble of yesterday. Gavin and I had no idea the issue would escalate to such a level. That black-and-white lady, she was terrifying," Raze said.
"Shadow," Ken spoke, coming out of one of the carriages. He leaped down and landed on the ground with a thud. "Her name is Shadow. Honestly, she is the best battle mage and mage I have seen in a while," he said and then started walking toward them.
"She had it all: speed, strength, a large mana pool, and all. Her strength is at least that of a peak fourth-star mage or early five-star, that’s taking into consideration that she didn’t go all out; she might be a lot stronger," Ken said.
"I see. I guess since you are here you defeated her," Raze said.
"Defeated, yes, but she escaped," Ken said. He folded his arms. "I can say for certain that if she is alive, the risk remains," he added.
By this time, everyone had woken up and gathered around. Gavin had also been treated and was completely fine; when he saw Raze, he nodded at him as a greeting.
"I feel you need to stay in the academy for a bit longer than you planned, to hide from whoever it is that wants you dead," Lewis said.
"It’s a good idea," Lady Terra said. "Gavin and Ken told us that you were the target. For someone to send such an assassin against you, then they really want you dead."
"Staying in the academy for longer? I have things I need to do in Ribest; staying longer will definitely hinder that," Raze explained.
"Your life is more important than whatever plan you have for Ribest, brother," Riker said. "You almost died yesterday, and there is no telling when that person would attack again. Sir Ken might not be there to stop her," he added.
Raze nodded slowly. "I understand, and this might be a little obnoxious to say, but I’ll be ready the next time I meet her. I’ll have the means to escape if I can’t do anything to her."
Everyone could see he wasn’t really budging; they admired his confidence, but they weren’t going to allow him to kill himself.
"I’ll have people stationed around Ravenhold for a month with your description, to stop and inform me if you ever try to leave. You must stay here for a while," Lady Terra said, leaving no room for discussion on the matter.
Raze listened and just smiled. "Tsk, I guess my hands are tied in this regard," His smile was innocent, but somehow they all knew he had a plan at the back of his mind.