Chapter 013

Out For A Jog

It was a fine evening, and whatever cold wind that blew outside could not penetrate the windows of Yarukok Hospital. Alevier sat on his bed sharing a burst of laughter with Jaysaun and Sinchiya, enjoying every bit of this warm environment. It felt like home for some reason…

“Man, it has been ages since I have laughed so much,” chuckled Jaysaun. “I will be honest Alevier, I never thought you would have a sense of humour.”

Alevier snorted and said, “I also did not know that you were not a degenerate.”

Jaysaun made a difficult expression. “Er- I won’t say that I am offended but, you should not say that to everyone even as a joke, so uh- mind your manners?”

“Look who is talking about manners,” snickered Sinchiya with a glint of mischief in her green eyes.

“...Okay,” replied Alevier meekly.

“But cheer up! I really mean you are funny! And you are going to be discharged from the hospital very soon,” said Jaysaun wryly trying his best to ignore Sinchiya.

“Yeah, I will have a lot to cover up,” he sighed. Although he had been studying after he got permission from the doctor, it was still difficult to cover a whole week of missed lessons in a few days. Well, he will eventually do it, he was not much of a procrastinator.

However, what he really was worried about was Jarkiso’s training. He had sent him his training plan the other day, and it was enough to give a placid Alevier a headache - he will now have to wake up every morning at four and the training - the physical one - would continue till the start of the school. Then, after school, he will do some magical training with Jarkiso until late evening.

He sure was grateful that his professor was training him personally despite his busy schedule, but Alevier could not help but feel that it was a bit excessive. Not to mention, he felt that he must get stronger if he wanted to achieve his dreams - he had read some grimdark novels in which the main character loses a lot because they were too weak to protect themselves.

“So I was thinking that we three should go out for a dinner, what do you people think?” said Jaysaun out of the blue.

Sinchiya made an expression which spelt disappointment.

“Eh- no, I cannot,” Alevier shook his head and rejected his offer.

Jaysaun rolled his eyes and said, “Let me rephrase that - we are going out for dinner, Sinchiya you want to come?”

“Duh,” she replied, distress was firm in her voice.

“Yeah! So it is set, let's do it tomorrow,” exclaimed Jaysaun.

Alevier held back the urge to smack Jaysaun with his lightly bandaged arm. With a straight face, he said, “I hate you.”

“Oh, I hate myself too,” replied Jaysaun merrily.

While the three continued to chat, someone arrived at the ward’s entrance.

“May I come in?” said a voice familiar to Alevier.

After a quick search through his memory, he replied, “Yes, come in.”

The person who entered made Jaysaun widen his eyes which made Sinchiya sigh. Alevier sure was surprised to find Methra walk through the curtains which covered the entrance.

“Professor Methra, good evening,” Alevier did not know how to react so he simply greeted her by default.

“Good evening Alevier,” she responded with a warm smile.

Jaysaun turned his head towards Alevier, in a daze because of the hot woman standing in front of him, and whispered to Alevier, “Yo, is she a teacher?”

Wow, and this person teases him for not having manners? Alevier sighed. “Yes.”

Being easily able to hear their whispering, Methra giggled and said, “Yes, my name is Methra and I am a professor at Yarukok, I teach alchemy to third and fourth years.”

“Nice to meet you professor Methra!” said Jaysaun with a smile. “Would you like to sit?” he said as he got up from his chair and offered it to her.

Alevier saw Sinchiya pout in anger. He still wondered why was Sinchiya putting up with him? It almost felt to him that their relationship would break any moment.

“Oh thank you,” said Methra as she humbly sat before conjuring a chair out of thin air with a wave of her hand and gestured Jaysaun. “You should sit too.”

4th Star mages…

After everyone had settled down, Alevier spoke to Methra, “What brings you here, professor?”

“I am your Oraculi,” she shrugged her shoulders. “As a proper mentor, I must keep a watch on my mentees.”

Oraculi were the masters of a specific subject. Much like the concept of mentors, Oraculi tended to their students personally. Although they laid more focus on one topic, they were capable of solving most problems that the students faced.

Alevier had chosen Alchemy as his major so he chose Methra as his Oraculi - there were other alchemy teachers too but, Alevier, after some enquiry, thought that it would be better if he had the same teacher for usual lessons and Oraculi sessions.

However, he could not meet her during the mentoring session as he was trapped in the hospital that weekend. Remembering that, he recalled his opinion that three hours of mentoring on one day every week was not sufficient to gain complete mastery over that subject, but that was how things were.

“Anyway, I did not know you were a battlemage too,” she said.

“Ah, I am not a battlemage,” replied Alevier.

“Is that so?” asked Methra. Then after a moment of thinking, she said, “Well, it makes sense since you ended up like this even with the aid of an artefact.”

Oh yeah, there had been some rumours that Jaysaun informed him - for some reason, everyone in his class was convinced that Lueirby had gone easy on Alevier during the duel and after he was cornered, he suddenly pulled out a magical artefact through which he was barely able to beat Lueirby. Well, to him it seemed most certain that Jarkiso was behind all this. However, he did not know that Jarkiso thought this to be the work of Waelecia.

“Yeah...” Alevier nervously chuckled while Jaysaun and Sinchiya remained silent. Sinchiya signalled something to Jaysaun with her green eyes, Jaysaun closed his eyes and nodded.

“Anyway, here, take this,” she snapped her fingers and a few notebooks appeared in her hands.

“What’s this?” asked Alevier in bewilderment as he looked at the notebooks which she thrust towards him.

Methra smiled and said. “These are the notes from all the classes you missed during your stay here.”

Alevier widened his eyes, “What do you mean by all?”

“I mean all the subjects you opted for. It wasn’t very difficult to run behind your teachers and procure it from them so don’t feel indebted,” she said.

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Alevier looked down bitterly and with a pang of sorrow of being a burden in his heart, he said, “I am sorry, professor.”

“It's alright,” she waved her hand in a carefree manner. “So, when do you plan on getting out of here?”

“In some hours.”

“Oh, that is great!” she said. “Do I have a class with you tomorrow?”

“Uh- I did not see this week’s timetable.”

In Yarukok, the timetable of each day changed every week. There was no reason given to the students for this practice, Alevier did have some speculations but they were too far-fetched.

Sinchiya spoke all of a sudden, “Yes, you have alchemy tomorrow.”

Alevier gave her a questioning gaze.

She brushed her bangs and said, “I checked your timetable, I was going to tell you about it when we were to leave.”

Methra giggled and said, “You have good friends.”

Indeed. Jaysaun and Sinchiya truly thought of Alevier as a friend.

“Then I will see you tomorrow, Alevier,” said Methra as she got up to leave. “I will teach some transmutation spells so make sure that you are present!”

After Methra had left, the three sat chatting idly. There wasn’t much to do anyway and so the hours ticked by…

* * *

Alevier was lying in his bed, completely healed and thus, sleeping soundly. He serenely dreamed about him becoming an Archmage and wielding awesome powers like lifting boulders and using tall pine trees as toothpicks… Well, dreams don’t make much sense anyway.

But alas! Good things don’t last long - he couldn’t even scream as a strong hand gripped his leg and yanked him off his sleep/bed. He saw the world turn and twist around him and before he knew it, he was standing in the deserted streets of Ambrosio.

Surprised he exclaimed, “What the heck?”

“Good morning Alevier!” said a cheerful voice from behind him. Alevier, still in a daze, turned trying his best not to trip and saw a woman standing in workout clothes, along with a smiling Jarkiso behind her. She looked slightly familiar with those decent looks and a bright blonde ponytail. Oh, she did fit the description of the female lead from Kirmiya Jast’s fantasy series.

He blinked twice, what medicine did he take last night?

“Good morning Alevier, let’s begin our training,” said Jarkiso.

Alevier blinked again and slowly looked around, he breathed in the cold crisp morning air. Real. The sky was still dark and he could still see the stars, the crescent moon was set above the high rising building in the distance which could be seen towering above the three-story houses which crowded this neighbourhood. His staggered and bent a little to touch the cold cement road.

He rubbed his eyes, he did feel a bit nauseous. Maybe this was another vivid dream? At least it was better than the one in which he was being chased around the town by a hoard of angry eggshells. Oh, that was a terrible dream.

“I think he is a bit sleepy,” said the woman to Jarkiso. Alevier suddenly sat on the ground.

Jarkiso rubbed his chin, “Let’s just begin.”

Alevier turned towards him and Jarkiso saw how he was trying his best to widen his eyes as much as possible. Then he fell on his back, lying down while stretching his limbs outwards before rolling on the ground.

Jarkiso frowned, with his scar and a missing ear, he did look like a villain from Frest Rostre's books.

asked, “What are you doing?”

Alevier looked around once again as replied, “Trying to wake up of course.”

Jarkiso planted his palm on his face while the woman giggled.

“Alevier this is not a dream...” said Jarkiso sighing.

Alevier got up and turned around once again towards Jarkiso before saying, “Then explain why I am in gym wear even when I don’t own any? And what is with these shoes?“

Jarkiso said nonchalantly, “It was four o'clock so I teleported you over here before transmuting your clothes. We had to begin our training session, remember?”

“Oh… sorry for my… unusual behaviour,” Alevier felt stupid now. “But weren't I supposed to meet you?”

“How does that matter now we are here?” Jarkiso shrugged his shoulders.

“And who is she?” he asked while pointing towards the woman.

Jarkiso turned and looked at her, “Ah, she is your… training acquaintance.”

Alevier made an expression saying excuse-me-what-the-hell?

“I forgot to inform you, just keep quiet about it,” said Jarkiso in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Sure...” said Alevier folding his arms, he still was sleepy and a lot of random things were popping in his head, it was not his fault he was acting weird.

“Anyway, let’s just begin our training! Alevier, you will run five miles for today. As for you Cale, you will run seven miles.”

“Who is Cale?” asked the woman, Alevier could see doubt written all over her face.

Jarkiso closed his eyes, whispered a curse and took a deep breath. Then he pointed towards the woman and said, “It is you.”

“Wait, you were serious when you told me that we’re going to hide my ident-”

“START RUNNING NOW!” shouted Jarkios, completely cutting off Cale’s words.

* * *

Alevier panted for breath as sweat dripped down his chin. The annoying sunlight made his face sparkle. He was bent forward and used his knees for support. Never he had run so much and he could already feel his muscles going sore. He stared at the grassy ground, they had run from the heart of Ambrosio to the fields near Yarukok.

He lifted his face and looked at Cale, she did not fare any better than him. Her face was flushed red and she was gasping for breath making her bosom bounce with each breath. Alevier quickly looked away.

“Good,” came Jarkiso’s voice as he emerged out of thin air. “Now you two start with the push-ups.”

“J-just give me one minute to rest,” panted Cale.

“You were the one who signed up for it, so no,” muttered Jarkiso.

“I want to r-rest too,” wheezed Alevier.

“You didn’t sign up for it so your opinion does not count,” smiled Jarkiso.

Seems like both of them were screwed.

* * *

“Hey Alevier, over here!” Jaysaun excitedly waved his arm at Alevier from the gates of the academy. Alevier was slowly traversing across the bridge with his shoulders drooping down.

Was it because his muscles were sore? Nope, they were alright. But that was the very thing that he was worried about, Jarkiso had given him a certain medical potion which prevented his muscles from spasming or aching or tearing, so he could continue his daily life without much problem. But it affected one for a limited time - all that pain would come once again by midnight when its effects would wear off.

Jarkiso had given the potion to him in very dilute quantities since it was quite potent thus, he could use it for a long time before his body developed a resistance to it.

Before he knew it, he had already reached Jaysaun. He was with his classmates. A few of them left immediately after seeing the perdant approach while a few remained.

“Good morning Alevier,” greeted Jaysaun.

“Good morning Jaysaun,” responded Alevier.

“Hey Alevier, is it true that you have a powerful artefact?” asked a boy.

Alevier turned towards the boy with a number of questioning gazes landing on him.

Alevier chuckled on the inside as he shamelessly used his sister again, “Yes, my sister had found it during one of her quests and she had let me borrow it for a day.”

“Cool,” said another person. “You have an awesome sister.”

Yeah, awesome… These people would have not approached him if it was not for the results of that duel spreading like a wildfire amongst the students. Lueirby was amongst the top fifteen best battlemages of their class after all.

“So where is the artefact?” asked the same person again.

“I returned it to my sister,” Alevier shrugged his shoulders.

“What a pity…”

After a small chat, all the other boys left, leaving Jaysaun alone with Alevier.

Alevier clicked his tongue in disdain.

“What? Don’t blame them, they were just curious and you’ve always had that vibe of ‘don’t-come-near-me’” protested Jaysaun.

“Seriously?” asked Alevier.

“Yeah, that and you were infamous for brawling in the first year, no wonder most people avoided you,” said Jaysaun bluntly.

Suddenly, a punch landed on Jaysaun’s flank, he had almost avoided it but the small fist had quickly adjusted its trajectory and succeeded in hitting him. Jaysaun groaned in pain.

To Alevier’s surprise, it was not him who had attacked but it was Sinchiya, who popped up from the crowd.

“That is not how you treat your friends,” chided Sinchiya.

Alevier was speechless.

“Apologize now,” she said threateningly as she raised her hand once again.

“Ugh… I am sorry Al,” said Jaysaun as he straightened himself while rubbing his side.

Alevier took a moment before saying, “Ah, it is alright.”

Jaysaun took a deep breath and looked at Sinchiya angrily, who shamelessly smiled. Then he turned his face towards Alevier and asked, “Anyway, where were you this morning?”

Alevier used the excuse that Jarkiso had taught him, “I was out for a jog.”

“Guess someone has been moving out of their comfort zone.”

“I did come back to the dormitory for changing into the school uniform and eating something,” smiled Alevier.

“Oh, don’t tell me Mr Kakol...”

“He said that you were running around the dormitory screaming: worried about my whereabouts, and then you ran out of the dormitory to search for me,” chuckled Alevier. “Seriously, why were you so worried.”

Jaysaun sighed in defeat. “Let’s just say, I care about you.”

Sinchiya nudged him. Jaysaun rubbed her head and said, “I care about you too.”

And Sinchiya giggled. Alevier internally thought to himself that they do behave like a couple.

Alevier smiled at them, “Now stop getting all cosy, the class is about to start.”