He had noticed Layden's expression at the time and had meant to ask him about it in private when he had the chance. But one thing after another had come crashing down on him afterward, and he had forgotten all about it.
Ruger suddenly noticed the probing look in Mahama's eyes as he watched him from the side.
"Do you really have a teacher? I'm not talking about those stingy fellows at the wizard academies."
Mahama looked Ruger up and down.
"As the final one to qualify, I think you ought to have a powerful teacher," Mahama said in a deep voice.
Ruger rolled his eyes again, feeling as though he was about to use up in one day all the eye-rolls he had saved these past days. He glanced sideways at the big fellow. It seemed that failing that Demon Hunter Wizard assessment trial had dealt this guy a severe blow—it had truly left a deep impression on him.
"I wasn't the final one to qualify. I was eliminated in the last round."
Ruger spoke unhurriedly. He remembered saying something similar to Mahama not long ago.
Mahama looked somewhat puzzled, and Ruger caught it.
Ruger knew that the confusion was not about the trial he had casually made up. It was about Ruger himself—there was something about him that the big fellow could not quite figure out.
Then Ruger noticed a change in Mahama's gaze.
"Lord Ruger," Mahama said solemnly as he looked at him, "your teacher must have placed great hopes in you. I have heard of a special circumstance. Perhaps, in the eyes of those great wizards, you are far more outstanding than I imagined. So... they prefer wizard apprentices like you to create new possibilities."
Ruger rolled his eyes, nearly catching the hair on his face