"Nobody of importance... A friend from long ago" he replies with his usual air of indifference.

"It didn’t seem like that to me!" I reply with a tough face.

"What? You’re not falling in love with me, right?"

"Eh!? What do you mean?" I reply, shaking my hands nervously.

"Nothing! Leave it! Anyway... We have to prepare for the next lessons."

"No, wait! You haven’t told me why you needed the tears of a dragon, yet" I say grabbing him by the arm.

"What’s the matter with you? You enjoy bothering me!" he exclaims, shaking my hand.

"You didn’t answer me. Also, know that I don’t appreciate your ways!" I exclaim furious.

"What, are you pissed off now?"

"What? Me!? You’re the one who’s angry 24 hours a day."

"If I’m not good for you, then change mate!" he replies with impassiveness. At that moment, an outburst of rage took hold of me. I grab him by the legs and throw him on the bed. Moments later I find myself riding him.

"Do you want to play? Well, let’s play!" he says amused and I feel, in his words, a strange note of madness and excitement. Shivers run through my body and the rhythm of my heart starts to accelerate suddenly. Maybe I made a move a little bit risky... I think swallowing. He looks at me closely and, shortly after, one of his hands grabs forcefully my hair. I try to resist, but in return, he ties his legs to my waist by holding me close to him with all his strength. It is a greedy kiss, full of passion. At first, I try to oppose all this however, when I understand that I want it as much as he wants, I stop thinking. I surrender myself completely to the pleasure that I am experiencing. His tongue slips over mine in a perfect dance and, as soon as he realizes that I am not trying to leave, he loosens my grip letting me breathe. I feel a strong taste of mint that mixes with mine and this strangely sends me into ecstasy.

Little by little I separate myself from him. I’m still gasping when suddenly he throws me to the ground. I look at him without saying a word because I still feel confused by what happened.

"Did you like it?"

"What?" I reply embarrassed, licking my lips. I can still feel his mint taste in my mouth.

"Don’t make a habit of this. I’m not like you!"

"But you kissed me!" I reply confused.

"Yes, but it doesn’t mean anything! I did it because I wanted"

"But then, how did you know that I was... Yes, well..." stuttering embarrassed.

"I didn’t know! You just confirmed it to me" he says casually and then leaves the room leaving me stunned and, for the umpteenth time, I ask myself this question. Is he serious?!

I left the room after recovering but was still confused by what happened. I have to stop thinking about it! Now I have to focus on the magic lessons.

-

When I arrive at the camp for training, I join my team. We are introduced to the new teacher, Professor Berton, and start our lesson.

"So, guys, the first thing we’re learning today is the levitation"

The first thing he makes us do is sit on the ground with our legs crossed in silence.

"Good! Now concentrate and think of a happy memory. Gather your energies and conduct them into one point."

We go on like this for twenty minutes until finally, we can do it. At first, we lift slightly, then more and more until we open our eyes and are thirty meters above the ground. Some people get scared and get nervous, and I'm no less. I start to wave like a madman. Damn!

"Calm down! Calm down! Keep control!" the professor urges us.

I panic and start to fall. How do I stop? Help!! I start screaming like never before but, just before crashing to the ground, the teacher intervenes blocking my fall.

"You’re a clumsy boy. You should be more careful!"

 "Sorry" stuttering embarrassed. Soon after, I resume my concentration and try to perform the exercises at my best.

-

At the end of the hour, we are exhausted and take advantage of the break to rest lying on the ground. The only one who doesn’t seem to be tired at all is Azel. I stare at him trying not to be discovered, but he notices and glares at me. I look away immediately, but I can’t help feeling uncomfortable.

"Yuma, what’s the matter?" asks Nick perplexed.

"Why? I mean... I have... Nothing" I answer, trying not to think about what happened back in the room.

"Mmm... You’re not telling me something!" he exclaims doubtlessly.

"I have nothing! I swear to you"

"Who were you thinking?" he asked curiously approaching me.

"Nobody! Come on, Nick, forget it!" I reply betrayed by a note of nervousness in my voice.

"You were watching Azel" he makes a mischievous smirk.

"No way! Stop it!" I say standing up.

"Guys get up, we’ll resume with the lessons" the new professor screams.

The next lesson is about the elements of nature. Aria and Terra help us to rule them because they have been doing so since they were little. They are twin sisters and I must say they don't do badly. We try to keep up with them, but it’s very challenging as we are still tired from the training.

First, we raise clods of soil and crush them trying to hit the targets with force. While I try to perform the exercise I lift too big and hit some of my companions in the head.

-

At the end of class, we are all tired and after dinner, we retire to our rooms to rest. Azel has been sitting on the bed for about half an hour and keeps reading that stupid book.

"What is it?"

"What?"

"Stop staring at me"

"I’m not staring at you!" I say annoyed.

'Tok, tok'

Someone knocks on the door. I get up and open it.

"Hello" says Ice on the doorway.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I ask surprised.

"I needed to talk to someone and, as I didn’t know where to go, I came here"

"Hello Ice! What are you doing here?" asks Azel more than happy to see him.

"I just wanted to ask you for advice"

"What advice?"

"Well... Since Nick’s in the room with Luke, I’ve been suspicious"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you laughing?" Ice asks.

"Because Nick would never betray you and, even if he'll do it, he would never betray you with Luke"

"Are you sure?"

"Sure!" I exclaimed confident of myself and my words. Ice seems to be calmer.

"You don’t have to trust him! How long have you known him? Three months? And then you think Yuma is a reliable individual?!" intervenes immediately after Azel.

"What?! Are you telling me I don’t know my best friend?"

"I’m not saying this, but if I were in the same situation as Ice how much do you think I could trust him?"

"What?! But you should at least try it! How do you think you can build relationships with someone if you don’t trust them?"

"Did Nick do anything to earn Ice’s trust?"

"Yes! I mean... I think so. Also if I'm engaged to you, I would trust you"

"Well, I don’t! Not even a little! Get out of the dream world sometimes, Yuma. How many people do you think would actually be near you? I'll tell you. None because there are only people ready to hurt you at the first opportunity and they don’t give a fuck about what you want! They want to use you for their purposes!" he says out of control.

"You’re so wrong..."

"Hey, excuse me... I remind you that we were talking about me!" Ice intervenes, trying to understand what is happening.

"Yes, of course! I’m sorry" I say nervously.

"What happened between you two?" he asks startled.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" answers Azel, still angry.

"Now I get it!" Ice exclaims as if he had the whole thing figured out.

"No, you didn’t understand anything and now you’re going away! You managed to make me even more nervous than before" exclaims more annoyed than ever.