"THE FUCK?! TOP SPOT?! Are you joking right now?"

Inna couldn't help but scream as she stopped in her tracks.

Raghnall, who was trailing behind her, made a gesture for her to be a little quieter.

"C'mon. It'll be fun! Plus, there's a prize as well!"

Inna turned around and glared at Raghnall as she spoke.

"The last time you said something in the lines of that, I was almost killed with poison! And to think you were apologizing about it hours ago.."

She huffed in disappointment as she checked the time.

Okay, she has about twenty minutes left until she's officially late.

And the place is at the other end of the building which will probably take her about five minutes if she ran like usual.

But that's not including the time she's going to spend getting lost.

"Raghnall, I don't have time for this. Just tell me later, okay?"

Raghnall hurriedly grabbed her arm just when she was about to sprint.

"HEY WAIT! I can't meet you tonight. I have.. homework piled up."

Inna furrowed her brows as she looked at him straight in the eye.

"If you have homework to do, why are you even wasting your time with me, right now?"

Raghnall sighed as he spoke to her seriously.

"Just.. listen to me, please."

Inna sighed as well when she noticed Raghnall was serious this time. Hearing the urgency in his voice, she decided to hear him out for a few minutes, at least.

When Raghnall saw that she was finally willing to listen, he let out a small smile.

"So, remember when I got called out? Well, one thing led to another and now I'm supposed to teach you how to fight."

Inna furrowed her brows as she looked at him weirdly.

"And how did that arrive at me being in a top spot of that tournament whatever?"

Raghnall sighed again as he tried to explain again for the second time.

"It's the Yearly Assessment Tournament. It's held to measure how much the students in the academy have grown in a year of studying. It's also a good way to change classes, you know. Besides, all students in Eldora Academy are bound by the rules to take it every year. So, whether you like it or not, you're still going to participate anyway."

Inna huffed in frustration, showing how fully stressed out she is from the sudden pressure she's feeling.

"I get that part. But what I don't get is why I have to be on the TOP spot! I mean, did you even have a good look at me?! I can barely fight a twig with magic! How do you expect me to win against people like you?"

Raghnall snorted as he replied.

"Okay, first of all, no one is as strong as me. Let's establish that fact first. Secondly, the Rose class will be in a different department. And unlike the others, the Rose class won't divide the freshmen and the old students. So, others are lucky because they're only going to end up fighting their own batch. And lastly, I'm the one teaching you so no need to worry at all!"

Inna rolled her eyes at his arrogance.

"Even if I were to agree, it's impossible for me to train with you. My schedule is packed. And you should know that judging from the fact that you waited for me outside of my classroom door earlier. Seriously, how the heck did you know my schedule?"

Raghnall huffed in frustration as he agreed.

That's the thing he forgot about.

Her schedule.

But if one is determined, one will force a way!

"I know. So, uhm, how about we train for a short while every day? Like, for only an hour or two at most."

"By the way, I knew your schedule because of this."

Raghnall tapped her forehead lightly as he chuckled.

Inna looked at him in confusion, trying to understand what he meant.

"My forehead?"

Then, when she finally realized her stupidity, she quickly took back what she said.

"Oh shit, no, I meant my mind! You read my mind!"

Then, another realization came in.

"Holy shit, you actually read my mind, you dick?!"

Raghnall couldn't help but release a small laugh at the swift changes of her expressions.

But Inna wasn't amused at all.

"What happened to the right to privacy?! You can't just keep reading minds, you asshole!"

Raghnall cut his laugh off when he tried to make sense of what she was saying.

"Uhh, I don't understand. Though reading minds can suck up quite a large amount of energy, everyone can read minds all they want when they cast the spell. It's your fault for not having any barriers put up."

His tone made Inna more irritated.

How the hell did he expect her to know about these barriers?

And does that mean he can read her mind anytime?

Inna was about to burst out some complaints when Raghnall, sensing his impending doom, suddenly decided to change his attitude.

"B.. but if you really don't like me doing that, I can... avoid.. it out of respect."

He grinned shakily while Inna glared at him in frustration.

"I swear if you ever do that again.."

Raghnall held both his hands up as he nervously chuckled.

"Y-yeah, no more mind reading. I get it. So, can we go back to the topic now?"

"I'll just ask for an hour, or two at most after your classes."

Inna looked reluctant since she seriously didn't want her sleeping time to be drastically delayed because of this arrangement.

Seeing her hesitation, Raghnall decided to add a few words to convince her.

"You see, the reason why I forced this as my punishment is because I don't want you to get picked on for being weak anymore. And as I've implied way back, in this academy, if you don't find a way to strengthen up soon, you'll just going to be eaten by those stronger than you. And although you're superb at fighting, there are some instances that official fights would prohibit combat. So, let me help you toughen up at least in the magical aspect, okay? It doesn't hurt to get stronger after all."

He looked at her, pleading, as he tried his best to look pitiful and convincing.

Inna sighed as she looked at this handsome man's effective ways of manipulating her.

She couldn't look away from his pretty blue eyes so she could only glare at them.

"I'll... think about it. And I'll tell you tomorrow whether we'll push through with this stupid thing. But no promises so you better look for another way of punishing yourself."

Inna huffed as she tried to quickly get away. She covered her flaming cheeks as she tried to look as seemingly unaffected as possible.

She's only got ten minutes left and she knew staying would make her lose her composure one way or another with Raghnall's tricks.

Raghnall didn't chase her anymore. Instead, he just smiled lightly at the fact that she's trying her best to look unaffected as she walked away with red cheeks.