Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol. 1- Novus Magus

[Revised/Edited] Episode 32- The End and the Beginning

- "Fly out, young crow."

*Alban*

Koukyuu snickered at our reactions. "And the last one is... Wanikiya Kohana!"

"Aban!" Alto turned around and looked at me as I got up.

I gave him the best smile I could in this situation. "Go. This is what you wanted."

He furrowed his brow. "Yeah, but... I wanted you to come with us four."

I laughed. "I'm not strong enough. Not yet. I..."

Arima ran over and hugged me. "You are strong."

"Then maybe I'm too dumb. I wasted your time. Those lessons you gave me on the way here landed on a field of rocks." Tears rained down to the ground and I hugged her tightly. "I wanted to go with you. To go to Nine Petal. To make something of myself."

Arima backed away slowly. "You're not dumb, Ban. You're actually intelligent when you focus on learning."

"Aban," Ulissis said as he grimaced. "You... deserve to go more than me. I'm going to go and talk to them about letting you go."

"Everyone, gather around!" Koukyuu called out as she made her way to the gate.

"Go," I said, wiping my tears with the sleeve of my t-shirt. "You made it, Uli. You can live out your dream and cultivate whatever strange power you have. I'll return to that cesspool we call home. I'll make sure that my brothers and the other kids don't have the same fate as me." I walked away slowly, joining the others.

"Ban!" Arima said, grabbing my arm.

"You'll miss the boat if you don't go," I mumbled.

"You three," Ms. Key said. She nudged them forward. "Go and get what you need. I'll talk to Aban for you."

"Okay," Alto said, keeping his head down as he and the others made their way to Koukyuu.

I kept my head low.

Sonata sighed and crossed her arms. "Alban, you might've failed, but this isn't the end of the road. You can still make something out of yourself." She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Deciding to clean up your ways is already a big step. Life throws you many curveballs. Sometimes, we get them, other times, our swings miss."

I lowered my head back. "I understand," I mumbled.

"Don't look so distraught. You can still spend a little more time with your friends."

I blinked. "I can?"

She looked up at the other failures. "Yeah."

*Wanikiya*

"Here you go," Koukyuu said. She handed golden tickets to all twenty of us newly-admitted Nine Petal Academy students. "You'll need your ticket to board the ship. You have two hours to say your goodbyes and bring whatever luggage you will be bringing."

Lei and Yen took their tickets, and ran out of the school gates.

"Don't run," Nyima yelled, chasing after them. "You're going to bump into someone, again!"

Iah laughed. "The ride to Kyuu Seishin will be more fun with these folks."

I snickered. True. I couldn't imagine life without them around.

"Sir," someone called out in a low voice. It was Nahimana.

The Minese prince grinned. "Ah, I see, you must've become an admirer of mine after seeing how strong I am.."