It was the end of the first day of school and Alric was heading to his dorm room but he was stopped by Phannor and Lloyd

“Hey Alard, aren't you going to go to the library like the rest of the winners?”

Alric gave them a look of disdain, sure he had helped them during the entrance exam but that was just out of boredom but he certainly did not look at them as friends.

But most likely to Phannor and Lloyd who had been close to him in the exam and Colonel Clover’s little test they had already trauma bonded to him.

But Alric disliked this kingdom and everyone within it. The very air of the kingdom was putrid to him. The voices of the students felt like nails; their very existence felt like an insult to his bloodline.

Sure he might smile every now and then but it was just a façade to play the role of ‘Alard’ the real ‘Alric’ just wanted to watch this kingdom burn and then live peacefully elsewhere.

He just wanted him and his sister to be able to wear their family names proudly without fear. He wanted the world to remember how great they were and how much they sacrificed.

Alric never forgot the look of disappointment and anger on his father’s face when he found out the entire kingdom had betrayed them. His family’s sacrifice during the war felt like just a drop in the bucket. But those were still human lives they sacrificed for the kingdom.

He knew it was paradoxical to want to use his family name proudly while wanting to taint it as a family evil enough to destroy a kingdom but he didn’t care.

Alric tried as much as he could but he could never get the image of his mother being set ablaze from his mind. Years had passed but that specific moment was scorched into his soul.

He remembered the feeling of helplessness so vividly, and to some extent it was that feeling he knew he was running from. That’s why he strived so much to be stronger.

Not to prove to others but for himself, he wanted to know he wasn’t that helpless child again. He would never be that child again. Well that was his hope at least.

Alric was pulled from him thoughts when Phannor asked again

“Are you coming or what?”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Alric smiled

“Sorry guys, I have something important to deal with today.

I'll catch up with you guys another time.”

Phannor shrugged

“Told you! I knew he wasn’t a book guy like me!”

Hearing this even Alric had to chuckle inwardly after all he had to admit he liked reading as a child. He loved learning more mysterious and magical aspects of the world around him. Magic felt like he was discovering a new side of science, something his soul felt like it should always have been doing.

Even now as an adolescent too was his only escape from the harsh memories he was always tormented by.

“No, I never said that!”

Alric retorted trying to build some rapport,

“I love books in fact

I’ll definitely be there tomorrow.”

Phannor’s smile grew as he heard these words. As a commoner he didn’t have many books to read as a child so the few publicly available books were like his bible that he read front to back and back to front.

As a commoner the other children would often make fun of him and if it weren’t for his minor talents in magic he wouldn’t have had much in common with the other kids. But now that he heard he had another book worm in his ranks he was elated.

The only drawback for him was that he didn’t earn one of the library passes like Lloyd and Alric so he didn’t have access to the full library. But there were still more than enough books to fill his avaricious appetite for knowledge.

“Then we will meet up there tomorrow, about this time.”

Lloyd was the one to respond this time and Alric nodded and headed back to his dorm.

Lloyd didn’t want to admit it but Alric was ridiculously strong for his age. Lloyd never liked these young genius types of people. Afterall he had spent hours upon hours to get to where he was right now while someone like Alric was just born with so much strength.

He wanted Alric close by to measure his growth to him. Lloyd wanted to prove that hard work could overcome the sheer distance in abilities.

After all, even as a kid he beat all the talented nobles with pure tenacity, then what difference would one more challenge make. Lloyd was sure he would work twice as hard until he could defeat Lloy,

Alric closed the door behind and exhaled.

He turned to look at the magic door in his room once again and thought.

‘A few more of Lady Jinvire’s classes and I could use this space for something even more useful… or maybe…’

Alric thought while examining the space once again and looked at another x-ray crystal that he still had.

Alric spent a few hours inside the training space experimenting on his copies of the x-ray crystal and the original crystal that they were made of.

Before long Alric stepped out of the training space and looked at the time.

‘Alright let’s see if I can get that group of misfits to do some work now’

Alric thought as he placed his x-ray crystal at the center of his forehead and covered himself in a cloak of darkness.