"«Revelare»."

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STATS

Name: Lucius

Race: Halfbreed [Boon Unavailable]

Vita: 100%

Aether: 26/26

Virtus

112.2

Triforce

Corpus - 12.7

Sensus - 73.5

Animus - 26 (↑5)

Epithets

•Unremarkable

Level 2 - (15/20)

Triforce Points Available: 0

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Fantastic. I've recovered all of it overnight.

Lucius grinned after closing his stats window. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before sitting up on the bed, feeling energized and awake like never before despite sleeping late last night due to him casting Illuminate over and over again until he ran out of Aether.

Looking back, he was thoroughly surprised with himself.

What is it about magic that excites me so?

Lucius wondered for hours after he exhausted all of his Aether, but he eventually fell asleep trying coming to come up with an answer.

"I can cast spells now," Lucius whispered with a toothy grin, twirling his fingers as he made them shine with specks of light. He paused and chuckled inwardly at his own childishness before getting out of the bed with a shrug. He was making his way down his bunk when he saw Gilly—still asleep and snoring softly with little care in the world, as per usual.

Lucius frowned. He hadn't seen or heard from Gilly at all after PCM classes yesterday, and the latter was already asleep when he got back from his library daily run. They haven't got much chance to talk at all yesterday, and it was a bit unsettling.

Is this about Tissette and her friends? No. I might have said something wrong, perhaps. I did not forget to thank him for lending me his clothes, did I? Tsk. Either way, I must do something about this. I guess I shall talk to him once he wakes.

Lucius walked away from the bed with a sigh. He then stopped by the slightly-open window at the other corner of the room before stretching his body—cracking his joints and loosening his muscles as he looked outside with a smile on his face. He took in the chilly, morning air with a deep breath through his nose, then got down to the floor.

He started doing pushups.

...

*huff *huff *huff

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Stats Up

Corpus has increased by [0.1] through training.

Updated stats:

Corpus: 12.9 (↑0.1)

Virtus: 112.4 (↑0.1)

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F-Finally!

After approximately 35 minutes of doing the light workout, Lucius finally got off the ground unsteadily with a soft sigh.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

He almost cursed himself for coming up with such a routine right after he discovered the wondrous effects of physical training during his first PCC classes, but at the same time, he knew that he'd eventually thank himself for sticking to it in the long run. After all, he needed every increase in his Corpus that he could get, especially since he'd only be allocating one Triforce Point to it every time he leveled up in the future.

No one said becoming a hero was easy. Besides, I am certain that the hero aspirants before me had it worse. There was no leveling system back then, nor item crafting. Knowing that I have such an advantage over them, how could I complain?

Lucius nodded to himself before wiping the sweat off of his face. He rubbed his shoulders and arms—both aching and a bit swollen—before heading to the bathroom.

...

After enjoying a nice, warm bath, Lucius came out of the bathroom with clothes that barely fit him—something that Gilly called a 't-shirt', along with another odd article of clothing that barely went past his knees called shorts and a pair of comfy, brown sandals.

It was the first time that Lucius had to wear casual clothing since it was his first day without any classes, and he had to admit, he wasn't much impressed with Gilly's choice of style. He was satisfied with the sandals though.

Lucius caught himself. He shook his head, frowning as he remembered how Gilly insisted on lending him some clothes just so that he could wear something other than his centuries-old attire.

Tsk. I mustn't be a nuisance any longer. I'll buy some clothes as soon as I get enough gold. As far as I know, this could be why he's avoiding me, amongst other things.

A bit disappointed that Gilly still hadn't risen from the bed, Lucius was about to leave for his meeting with Elrond when he realized that he wasn't hearing Gilly's snores anymore. Not only that, but he also spied the slight change in his roommate's sleeping posture—now straight and rigid as opposed to being sprawled out just earlier.

Lucius then walked closer to Gilly, his brow raised as he said, "Gilly, are you awake?"

As he expected, there was no reply, but Lucius caught the slight twitch in Gilly's eyes which only confirmed his suspicion.

"Oh, have it your way. ‹Illuminate›!"

Despite his eyes being closed, three seconds of exposure to the oddly intense, blinding white light was all it took for Gilly to shoot right up from his bed yelling, "Alright! I'm—Oww!"

A dull, resounding bang sounded out as Gilly hit his head on the wooden frame of the top bunk, prompting Lucius to stop his casting his spell with a slight gasp.

"My apologies."

"I'm alright," Gilly replied with a shy grin while rubbing his head. "You've been casting that spell nonstop all night. Are you planning to use it every time now?"

Lucius lifted a brow before giving Gilly a lopsided smile."So you were awake."

Gilly's eyes widened for a split second as if realizing that he had just made a blunder. "Uh...yeah, why?"

"I wanted to talk to you, actually."

"Cool. A-About what?"

With his eyes slightly narrowed, Lucius went straight to the point. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Pff. I-I didn't—I mean, I wasn't avoiding anyone." Gilly shifted uncomfortably, forcing a smile as he continued, "Wh-Why would you think that? That's crazy."

"Because you were avoiding me." Lucius frowned. "I do not what it's about, but you seemed rather odd ever since that interaction with Tissette yesterday. Care to tell me why? Did I do something wrong?"

"N-No, it's not you at all!" Gilly shook his head, his eyes drooping as he quickly replied, "It's just that girl. She's..."

"Tissette? What about her?" Lucius asked, a bit puzzled as he shook his head. "She didn't do anything to you in the past, did she?"

"No, she didn't do anything bad, Lucius." Gilly sighed, his eyes glossing over. "That incident aside, I think she might even be one of the most well-meaning students here, but you just don't understand..."

Incident? Her?

Lucius let the uncomfortable silence hang for a brief moment before he continued, "What don't I understand, Gilly? Tell me. Please. Why avoid Tissette at all?"

"You already know why. You saw it yesterday too, didn't you?"

A sudden wave of realization came upon Lucius. "Yesterday? You mean—"

"Yes, Lucius! Don't you see? Hanging out with Tissette and her friends will only get you in trouble! I'm sorry, I...I should've warned you not to talk to Tissette and her friends sooner. What happened yesterday—"

"It wasn't your fault, Gilly. I chose to associate with Tissette on my own, and I will continue to do so despite Dario and his group breathing down my neck." Lucius huffed, balling his fists as he continued, "Besides I'm not the least bit intimidated by those thugs, quite honestly. They'll get theirs. You'll see."

Gilly hung his mouth in disbelief. "B-But why even take the risk? We should just stick together, no? If Dario sees you with them again—"

But Lucius wasn't having it. "Look at me, Gilly. You're my friend, are you not?"

"Y-Yes. Of course! That's why I—"

"Well, Tissette is too," Lucius said, looking right at Gilly's eyes with a resolute gaze. "Even more, I cannot turn my back on someone who gave me the chance to start a new life here in the first place. My pride and honor won't allow it."

"Pride? Honor? What do we even need those for?" Gilly said, his tone shaky and high. "I...I have managed to stay in this academy for as long as I did because I learned how to blend in and not stand out, Lucius. Dario and the others? You haven't seen what they were like without Aidan reigning them in! Weak students like me and you? We can't afford to get into trouble with someone like Dario. Please, Lucius. I know you get what I'm talking about!"

Lucius gave Gilly a moment to compose himself—the awkward and tense atmosphere that suddenly arose slowly dissipating with each second passing.

He couldn't help but frown as he looked at Gilly, a bit disappointed in himself for not seeing it sooner. The more he thought about it, the more he believed Gilly was right.

He felt a bit confused, however, as his disappointment wasn't directed only at himself...

So this is the reason why. This is...understandable. I suppose I can't expect people to behave the way I do, can I?

After a short while, Lucius sighed and finally said, "I do know what you're trying to tell me, Gilly, and I won't blame you if you'd like to continue keeping your distance from me while I'm around Tissette and the others."

Gilly gave Lucius a defeated look, "Lucius, you...Every time you go with them, I-I can't—"

"Ah, do not look so glum, Gilly. We'll still see each other here in the dorm every day, won't we?"

"...Right," Gilly said, his tone listless and weak. "That's right."

"Good. See? There are always compromises. All we needed was a good conversation, no?" Lucius gave Gilly a reassuring look before nodding and pointing at the door. "I must go for now. I made some arrangements for today. See you later, friend."

"See you later..."

While on his way out, Lucius stopped walking for a moment, and much to Gilly's surprise, he turned around and

"Oh, and Gilly?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for lending me your clothes. They're nice."

"O-Of course." Gilly grinned, his expression lifting slightly. The sad smile on his face, however, was still there as he muttered, "You're welcome."

"I shall see you later then."

"..."

Although a bit confused that Gilly did not respond, Lucius finally walked out of the door with a nod and an awkward smile, confident that he had done enough to put Gilly's concerns to rest.

A barely audible sigh from the other side of the door once he got out, however, told him otherwise.

Oh, curses. What did I say wrong this time?