CHAPTER 10 - Part of The truth.

Why did he want to stay in the Academy and become an Elementalist?

It was that same question again. Maybe he could convince himself by saying that he did not want to disappoint the expectations of his villagers, or because he viewed it as a dream to accomplish. But was that all?

"You must have some ambition or aspirations, right? Kids don't just one day wake up, thinking they want to be something. Even if it is a childish reason there must be one." Teacher Ren inquired. He could see the silent look on the kids face and decided to let him come out of his confused mindset on his own. As a teacher he understood how important it was for his students to be able to recognise and identify a reason to keep moving forward. He was able to see that Azyl was not clear about his own thoughts, and he was going to make it right, at least for now.

"From a young age I have heard stories of how Elementalist helped save our nation and even granted us the ability to become stronger and protect ourselves. These stories have made me want to become like them, like a Hero who can help others." Azyl replied in a barely audible voice.

After hearing his reply, Teacher Ren got silent for a moment.

"This is probably what those people were aiming for perhaps all along." He muttered to himself.

"First of all Azyl, you need to understand something. What you have heard and what actually happened might not always be true. But it is indeed true that the stronger a person is, the greater the responsibility lies with them to protect the weaker. As for how you choose to view this responsibility, that is a personal choice for each individual."

"Now as for the Elementalists that you heard of, they were outsiders who came here with not so great intentions. The situation of our empire has improved significantly, but now it is the same as becoming the pawns under someone else. But we were luckier than others who are conquered forcefully, as we, the inhabitants are treated much better. But even that is only because of reasons that are not so noble." Teacher began explaining in a calm voice.

"You need to remember one thing. Our people are still not free and safe in a true sense. This is only a temporary relief. We might be discarded the moment we become useless to the outsiders. The little balance we have is all due to the fact that our ancestral inheritance of yoga is a high level mental energy technique. Wanting to aim to be righteous is good, but don't mistake acts of suppression as kindness." He spoke. He knew he should not try to break a kids dream like this, but the idea of how those cunning people misguided and took advantage of their nation made him rile up.

Azyl listened to what teacher was saying with focus as he wasn't aware of this. Even thought he knew the relation of the empire with the outsiders, he did not think that they were under their control. So it was surprising and yet still confusing for him to hear this. The more he heard, more he felt like a glass world crumbling.

"Becoming a hero who helps other. Even though others may say it is a childish and unrealistic goal, it is very much possible. With enough strength everything is possible. But for that you will have to work hard. Extremely hard so that you can rise above all others. Remember that if our nation had someone strong to rely on from the beginning, we would have never fallen to this state ever. Someone strong enough to repel all those who eye us with nefarious intentions."

"I am incapable of ever grasping this strength, but you are different. You are young and still have the opportunity to change your own path. Your reason to become an elemental may seem like a joke to others, but treasure it deeply. Now make a promise to yourself to work hard to achieve this." Teacher Ren finished passionately.

Azyl looked at him with a straight face, as his words continued to revolve in his head.

Teacher had said that his dream was possible. It meant that it wasn't something that was laughable or pathetic. That he wasn't completely just some brat who was dreaming with eyes wide open. And that he was being acknowledged. He felt that maybe being a hero was not all there was to his dream, but it was the first time he had even thought about this question. And he felt as he walked forward, he would be able to understand and find more. A true reason to walk this path. Not necessarily something unique, but something he felt fitted him

Once again tears started welling up in his eyes, but he quickly wiped them off on his sleeve.

He looked straight at Teacher Ren and said,

"Yes sir."

"Okay get going then, even though your chances of getting into elemental class this session are too low you can still try next session. Till your third year, you get a chance to challenge and enter the elemental class. After that there no more chances so make sure you get in next year."

Azyl, who had stood up from his seat to go back to his dorm immediately stumbled when he heard this. Slowly turning around his head, he looked at his teacher, wondering if he was joking. But his serious face had not changed one bit.

"Teacher Ren, is there really no chance this time? With my nature and attitude at being lazy, I might lose my motivation if I had to wait that long." He scratched his head in an embarrassed manner.

Teacher Ren looked at him with his jaw wide as he looked at this shameless brat. By now he knew that even though this kid wasn't a disappointing student, he was an annoying, lazy and shameless brat.

"If you can't even have the patience to wait for one more year, then how are you going to achieve better results in meditation which requires even greater patience. Forget about fulfilling any of your dream and pack your bags away quickly then." He quickly berated him.

"I am sorry teacher, it was wrong to say so. I will definitely do my best this time and do even better the next time when I have a chance." Azyl immediately bowed and then left the room.

......

"There are still many children out there and even adults who are not aware of the situation our nation is in. I should talk about with Headmaster to include explaining this to the students about the current political scenario in our Empire so that they are not led astray. We can't let our people remain someone's slave and these kids are the ones who can make us achieve independence. This way it will be better, even if we can't announce directly to our people about the real situation."

Teacher Ren murmured to himself.

After Azyl had gone back, he slowly stood up from his seat and walked back to his apartment that was assigned to the teachers.

Today he had the chance to teach another wonderful student, shameless and lazy yet wonderful, he thought.