The shawled man gave Anakin a red colored crystal, "oh, on second thought," the man then chipped a fragment of the red crystal and THEN, handed it to Anakin. "That'll do."

"What's this?" Anakin exclaimed.

"A mana revitalizer."

Anakin questioned why in the world is a mana revitalizer this color? Revitalizers come in many colors; usually, they come in orange and opal, and at most rare occasions, blue—but never red. And why would he give something to the Feuerlon girl that would help her? 

And then, it clicked to Anakin—"You're setting her up to fail,"

The man chuckled. "Concerned?"

"No," Anakin exclaimed. "If I give this to her, then I'll for sure, be in Ianua I? And won't Magierstadt sense this? I don't want to fail, after all."

"We guarantee that Magierstadt will not be able to sense the revitalizer. It is already modified by us, as you can see in its color.��� the man said.

"Well, you're right. It's unlike anything I've seen before." Anakin said. "I've seen several mana revitalizers, but this looks more promising." Anakin then slipped the crystal fragment to his pocket. "Be sure to fulfill your other side of the deal."

"You can count on us; if you make her fail, then you will surely get into Magierstadt's most elite cla.s.s. Trust us on this, Lord Disfriegro."

**

Anakin Disfiegro narrowed his eyes at Faustina, holding the crystal fragment in his other hand. Faustina was equally confused as the people behind her; even if Anakin took delight looking at them, he showed nothing on his face but sheer remorse for Faustina. 

The crystal he was holding was indeed a mana revitalizer, which was meant to absorb the mana of those around it—it was a gamble to accuse, but he trusted the shawled man's words. 

The mana that was absorbed by the revitalizer would be given to the person closest onto it—and that revitalizer accepts the mana of any living things. The crystals could absorb so much mana depending on their sizes and could end dangerous, which is why they are absolutely illegal. The one Anakin was holding was the size of a pea, but it was still able to absorb mana of almost everyone in the group. An hour they would be with Faustina, the revitalizer would absorb at least half of the half of their mana. That means around 25%.

And even if the crystals are indeed that dangerous, they are still sold on black markets (although very much rarely). But even the black market couldn't afford to sell them as a whole. They are sold per fragment, and small fragments the size of a rice grain could be considered costly as well. This is why Anakin knew that the shawled man was dangerous as well as capable. He got a whole, red crystal after all. That revitalizer could absorb all of the mana of the examinees around Anakin if he chose to. 

But then again, that was cheating.

"You . . . made them all fail," Anakin accused. "Back on the elemental race."

"What are you talking about . . . ?" Faustina scowled. 

"The mana revitalizer in your pocket. That size of a fragment absorbs 25% of the mana individually and then reabsorbs them back to you. Is that why you've trailed behind? To absorb as many mana as you can?"

Anakin wanted to smirk. Everything was just coming together flawlessly. The doubts on the face of the examinees behind the frowning girl were evident to Anakin, but not to Faustina. And those doubts were earlier pointed to him, but now, they were darted towards her. People were dubious of Faustina Feuerlon now. 

Honestly, Anakin was in so much pinch earlier. He was thinking about how he would frame Faustina and get away with it. People seemed to like her, after all. But then, it happened. Suddenly, as if he's on luck, Faustina's magic went out of control when she conjured a water whirlpool at the first level of the exam. That whirlpool made a number of students unable to take the impact and then fail. Students failing just because of a girl unable to stop her powers made people play the blame game.

And that event alone opened an opportunity for Anakin to slip the revitalizer to Faustina's pocket when she was unconscious, and then take advantage of the growing unease between her and the examinees. 

Two were accomplished. 

Now he just has to reveal the grand scheme Faustina allegedly committed.

"Faustina. I . . ." Anakin half - faked the pain on his shoulder. It wasn't that he wasn't feeling the pain—it was actually there from all those trolls he fought. But it didn't hurt as much; he was actually fine. But the bruises and the wounds he got would validate the exaggeration of pain he was giving. 

Anakin gritted his teeth.

"I'll be honest with you . . . I . . . I'm arrogant. I know I am," Anakin exclaimed with pain laced on the tone of his voice.

In Anakin's peripheral, he had seen the ones behind Faustina weren't as convinced as he was hoping; they had their doubts, but it seemed there was still a chance that they wouldn't bite to Anakin's words. They were dubious of Faustina; however, there was still hope. Anakin cannot thumb through a gamble of thinking about who they would believe—because he clearly wasn't winning.

"I'm sorry for that . . . and I'm not just apologizing to Faustina. I'm . . . I'm apologizing to you all. Especially you, Mich.e.l.le," Anakin said, his sincere eyes darting towards Mich.e.l.le. 

Anakin had thought about it on his way here—and when he arrived and accepted the sentiments these commoners made by heart, he realized one thing he ought to do.

He had to turn them to his side.

Anakin's tears poured to his cheeks as he stared at Mich.e.l.le. He was still on his knees—bruised, wounded, and shoulders slumped. These attributes made him look more pitiful. Anakin knew that he was above these people and he just acted like what a n.o.ble would act. He wasn't in the wrong, but he was willing to fake it and think that these commoners were right. 

"I know that my arrogance, selfishness, and audacity to even talk to all of you is aggravating," Anakin exclaimed. "I am owning up to my mistakes. I prioritized the n.o.bles such as I because I believed they are the ones who are more sheltered and must be saved first before all of you, who are much more experienced in life than any of us."

"Now you're kissing a.s.ses," one of the commoners exclaimed. "Don't think you can buy us with your honey-coated words, brat!"

Anakin was waiting for the teachers to have a magical circle summon Faustina back to the academe in order to fail her. Anakin's brows furrowed. Aren't they observing the students? Anakin already framed Faustina and showed the crystal on purpose—because any longer the crystal would be there would just help her—

Anakin's eyes darted to Faustina's arms. 

—or not. The nerves around her arm were still pulsating. It looks like the crystal wasn't even helping her at all.

"I'm not kissing anything," Anakin a.s.serted. "I'm just owning up to my mistakes. Please, forgive me."

Anakin clicked his tongue inside his mind; at this rate, they really won't believe him. And stalling longer with this much mana concentrated into one place would just call for more enemies. He had to land the finis.h.i.+ng blow before an enemy enters the scene. And before anyone could s.n.a.t.c.h up the glory all to themselves.

Anakin stood up and walked to Faustina.

"Apologize to them, Faustina."

Faustina's chocolate-brown eyes widened. "Apologize . . . ?"

Anakin sighed. "I know; we n.o.bles tend to be prideful. We are always praised by the people around us, that's why we became like this. But no, I don't blame anyone for being like this. We brought this upon ourselves, after all. And we need to own up to them. To our mistakes."

Darting both of his hands to Faustina's shoulders, Anakin stared right at her with a pair of gleaming, determined eyes. 

"It's not too late to apologize, Faustina. You manipulated these people, and you made many to fail earlier—but now you're caught. The teachers aren't failing you, meaning they're giving you a second chance. Now's your time to apologize to all of us—to the mana you've robbed, and the people you deceived."

"What . . . ?"

"Apologize now, Faustina."

**

Faustina couldn't catch up to Anakin. 

Mana revitalizer? Manipulator? Apologize?

Faustina remembers correctly that mana is something that couldn't be stolen! How in the world is there a gem that could absorb other's mana?

"I don't get it . . . I never stole any people's mana . . . th-that's impossible," Faustina said. It was true. She really did not know that mana can be stolen. But Faustina didn't deny that she was the cause of other examinees' fail. 

"You didn't," it was Mich.e.l.le who spoke. 

"Mich.e.l.le . . ." Faustina exclaimed, trying to smile.

"You just converted the breaths we are exerting and the energy we let out from our movements to mana," Mich.e.l.le exclaimed, looking at Faustina with pair of disappointed eyes. 

"You're a fraud, Miss Feuerlon."

 **

Will Faustina be able to prove her innocence?

Will Anakin face karma?

Are there enemies on Leviticus' path?

TO BE CONTINUED.

**

Chain's Corner:

I was doing samples for the art commission I will be opening next week, so if there're misspelled words, I apologize! I was sleepy when I wrote this chapter. 

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