He looked at the student and asked, "What's your name and your house name?"
"I'm Malric from House Thornhelm," Malric, the one who had been scalded, said.
"Okay. And care to explain how this happened?"
"Of course. It's Lior that caused it. I just wanted to talk to him after his fight with Rovan, and he suddenly held my hand and burned me with his firecraft."
As he finished talking, Draven looked at him with raised brows, and Teacher Lyra also stared at him with shock in her eyes.
"But Lior had been confirmed to have a veiled root from birth, and unless a major event happened in his life, his root can never be okay."
"Then perhaps a major event happened. Are you saying you won't punish him? He used magic on school premises and even injured a student. He deserves to be expelled!" Malric shouted, pointing at Lior.
Lior sighed as he looked at him and said, "You are such a stupid liar. Why? Yes, we can agree that you've made a perfect lie from the onset—that you were trying to ask me what happened with Rovan, as though we were even friends or had ever talked before. I don't even know you. But you didn't stop at that, you had the guts to say I scalded you."
With a snicker gracing his lips, Lior continued, "I don't even have a root, how do I awaken a craft? You're overdoing it, Malric. You'll be the one to go home and rest."
Malric looked at him with shock written all over his face. Maybe from Lior's newfound confidence, or perhaps from the realization that he might truly be speaking rubbish. But he didn't let it show on his face for long.
He faced Master Draven and pleaded his case, "You should definitely test him for his craft. Check if his root is still veiled or not, and you'll know what to do next. And besides, it's definitely not veiled because, see, Lior has never been this open and outspoken, so why did he come back this way? Certainly, he came back with his roots. You should check and give him the right punishment."
Draven's hand graced his beard as he said, "Your words certainly hold knowledge… Lior is truly different, and the same could be said for his root."
As Lucan saw that Malric was about to influence Draven's decision, he quickly chipped in, "Master, you shouldn't believe Malric so hastily. He's just trying to get out of this. He started it and also orchestrated a way to scald himself. The only thing you need to do now is punish him for lying, tell him to apologize to Lior for disturbing him, and get them treated."
"Hmm… your words certainly make more sense than what Malric is saying. You're the most neutral in this conflict, so you have no reason to side with either of them. And if I recall correctly, Malric is your friend so you know him well," Draven said, and turning to the Highmaster, added, "What do you think I should do?"
The Highmaster removed his head from the book again and said, "Well, my nephew can't really say wrong. Just look into the matter again and resolve it. But for now, let them get treated. The burnt flesh isn't really palatable or well-received into the nose."
"Lady Lyra," Highmaster Corven called, "you should take the injured ones to the Health Center to get treated, and the rest should return to class."
"Okay," she said and turned to Lior and Malric. "You both should follow me. And Sid and Lucan, return to class."
Lior and Malric then did as told. They followed behind Lyra, but of course, one of them was itching to talk or perhaps seethe in anger.
"Lior, I'm certain you also can't lie about this. You truly did use a craft on me, didn't you?" Malric asked, his eyes on Lior.
Lior sighed as he looked him up and down. Then he said, "Well, even if my root did get unveiled, do you think I would learn to use any craft or awaken a craft straight away and use it on you?"
"Who knows? You might have feelings of grudge against me so strong that you'd straight away want to kill me. My fucking hand is scalded and ugly now and you caused it!" Malric said, his anger barely caged beneath him.
"I see," Lior said, then added, "But you know what? I don't even know who you are."
And Lior wasn't wrong. Yes, he did get the memories of his predecessor, but not the exact pictures or faces. So, if the memories said that Lucan took him to a place, he wouldn't exactly know what Lucan looked like unless someone pointed at him and said, "That's Lucan." The same applied to Malric.
Up until they started getting questioned, Lior never knew that the guy before him was the bully who used to torment him and make him lose his lunch every day. To his predecessor, they were called the lunch bullies, as they made it impossible for him and Sid to eat their meals at the cafeteria.
And they were surprisingly Lucan's cohorts, so Lior was completely confused and in between right now.
Why did Lucan testify for him? What is he playing at?
Lucan is obviously the chief bully, so if he thinks Lior will believe he suddenly had a change of heart just because he suddenly has short hair, then he's only deceiving himself.
He better drop the mask he's putting on and say what he wants straight away.
Shit, Lior sighed inwardly. Somehow, the world's drama was much more interesting than he thought.
Lady Lyra soon led them to the Health Center where their bodies were checked, they were treated accordingly, and they soon left the room to return to class.
Malric was the first to enter the classroom, and he went straight to meet Lucan—who was suddenly seated on his chair with a feather pen in his hand, swirling it around.
Lior watched as Malric held Lucan by the collar and said, "What exactly are you playing at? If you've got plans for him, tell us and we'll know how to react. Don't just go around playing alone in your own game."
He said this and left for his seat. Lior then walked up to Lucan, looked at him intently, then turned and dropped into his seat beside him.
"So, how are you doing?" Lucan asked.
"Please, I need to rest and think and I don't think I need a hypocrite's voice sounding in my head at the moment," Lior said, shutting him up.