The Reborn Magus and His Prince

Chapter 8: Tree of Memory

Yulian put down his arms. That amount of strength infused in that attack was no joke. Does he plan on killing him for real? And what a scum of a prince, attacking him when he's still talking.

Alex's nowhere to be seen at his original spot. A heavy pressure showed up at his side and there was he. Armed this time with a sword.

He plans to kill me! And no one's stopping this craze prince!

Alex thrust the weapon forward, aiming at his ribs. Yulian jumped two steps backward but the attack kept on chasing him. Alex plans to keep the short distance to prevent him from fully using his fires. Another swish of the sword came on him, he ducked and swiped his foot. Alex managed to evade in time but he loses his footing at the uneven sand. He took advantage of it and with his quick reflex, he lunged. Fist engulfed with flames smashed down and shattered the wooden shield on Alex's arm.

The strong attack made his arm shudder. His fist burned his sleeves. While he's distracted, Yulian grabbed his other arm holding the sword, twist it until the long blade touched the ground.

"You're not a knight, you're too weak and  very clumsy at handling the sword." He let go of his arm after making sure he won't be able to pick up the sword at the moment.

Alex winced hiding his discomfort. "I did not say I'm a knight."

Yulian opened his mouth but the booming voice of Orphys interrupted him.

"Fritzburne down, Albertine wins! It's Class B's first-ever win!"

Instead of cheers, the victory was met of exclaimed of disappointment and boos especially on his class side, lead by mohawk.

"Shouldn't we be clapping?" A confused Tim didn't know where to put his hand after he saw how his classmates reacted. Compared to the class beside who were all much calmer at their defeat. Anyone who would walk to see this sight won't be able to tell the true victor.

"Go ahead, if you want to be mobbed," Emilia on his side, replied. No matter what the outcome, Yulian or even them would always be greeted with this kind of manner.

Fully knowing their standing in this place. Did they regret coming here? No one knows. Emilia never revealed her true feelings and Tim may be timid but there' a strong determination in his eyes. They watched as Yulian and the prince climbed up to the other end stairs. The two went inside the locker room.

"Hey, are you okay? Maybe you should go to the clinic."

Instead of getting back to his seat, Yulian followed Alex when he excused himself to change his burnt clothes. He saw the glaring burnt mark he left with his fist on the other man's arm.

"There's no need."

Alex peeled off the leather of his chest and lifted his shirt, revealing a narrow waist. His eyes wandered upward. Only four, back in his glory he had eight. Now, there's only an excessively smooth stomach, No matter what he did, not even one would pop out.

The prince's appearance was slender and elegant in the eyes of the others but underneath hides these lean muscles. Not too much like Desmond, just the right amount perfect for his stature. Though he did not understand why this prince is so weak.

"See?" A raised hand blocked his view from scrutinizing more of the body.

"I'm not peeping at you."  His immediate defense, not feeling guilty at all.

A bewildered look had passed on Alex's eyes. "I did not say anything. What I meant is this." Once again, he lifted his arm.

Only then Yulian had noticed the burnt mark was gradually fading away, restoring the smooth skin. Golden lights drifted where once the redness was.

"You're a healer."

"Yes."

What a hoax!

So that's why he's so weak! He's a healer.

 A healer never had a chance in one on one fight, especially against the attack type of ability just like his.

Pfft...

He didn't mean to laugh but what leading thousands of troops? A predator? Ha! This incident truly slaps people, not to base everything on appearance. A sudden light feeling came on him, all those insecurities are gone in a second.

"Your face looks ugly right now," Alex took another shirt and put it on while never taking his eyes off Yulian. "Go ahead and laugh."

He shook his head but the suppressed laughter can still be seen in his eyes. "No, no, I can't possibly do that to you, your highness."

The hands that had been working on the button of his uniform stilled. "Perhaps, I owe you an apology for the way I behave around you." Alex faced the shorter. The hostile glint in his eyes whenever they crossed paths was gone. Replaced with the same sincere eyes he saw that day they first met.

Suddenly, Yulian did not know what to do, faced with this kind of approach. He shifted his foot. "It's alright... I also owe you one, you know, that night, the underwear incident."

Remembering that memory, Alex let out a low chuckle. "Guess, we're even."

He offered his hand representing the restart of their friendship.

Yes, this is a good restart. The gentle prince is back but he knows deep down, there's something more than meets the eyes for Alex. The hands clasped firmly.

The two went back to the gym, fully reconciled. One was still on his leather shirt, the other deck in the standard uniform. Looking inexplicably clean.

The duel between the two classes even with their absence. They saw Luke down at the pit fighting with a student in class B. And by the looks of it, class A will take the win.

All it took was a lightning whip that came out from his hand. It wrapped around the weapon of its opponent and yanked it away bringing its owner to the ground.

And that was the start of class B's losses. Every single student the professor calls in their class all had been defeated except for Yulian. It would have continued to do so if Orphys had not intervened. announcing the class was over and tomorrow they will resume for those who had not been called. As she announced those words her face scrunched up in displeasure seeing her class' failure today and for tomorrow.

A light feeling had enveloped Yulian for the rest of the days that followed. The burden of being ignored by Alex that had unconsciously been worrying him was finally lifted. So every time, they would cross paths, Alex no longer frowned and instead would occasionally initiate little conversations with him about trivial things. Seeing his relationship with Alex, the twins also began to warm up to him but not so much to the point of calling them, friends.

 Most professors did not bother to pay attention to him except for that history professor who always nitpick everything he could see on him. His classmates' mean attitude to him and the other two had wane a little contributed to the fact that during combat class, the three of them brought the sole three victories against class A. Mohawk, on the other hand, had been declaring to the whole class that after the duel lessons, he will request permission from the professors for a match with him. Honestly, he's also been anticipating. He's itching to beat that annoying face of his.

"So what's your plan this weekend?" Yulian asked Friday night when the three were having their dinner at the usual spot in the cafeteria.

Many nights passed already and he had not seen even a bit of a shadow of Alex nor the twins here. His eyes casually scanned every table waiting for their response.

"Sorry, Yul. I'm going back home." Tim's reply.

Right, this guy's lived in the city so it's convenient for him to go back to his house.

"Uh, I'm going to visit my aunt. Her family lives here."

So he'll be left alone here for the next two days. Fantastic! He will have the freedom to move around and hear the other students plan, it looks the academy's ground would mostly be empty. He's just hoping that the other professors would also take a break.

"Will you be okay here alone?" Tim had stopped eating his favorite mashed potatoes and turned in concern at him. Julian had told him in passing that his hometown was a three-day journey from here.

He waved his hand. "I'll be fine. You go enjoy yourselves. Just don't forget to bring me any homemade snacks."

Saturday morning. Several carriages rolled over at the front of the two dormitories and one by one left the school ground carrying the students to their homes.

He waved goodbye at the carriage where Tim and Emilia had embarked. The dormitory became a silent place when the sound of the last vehicle slowly disappeared behind the trees that surrounded the place.

Finally, now's his chance but first, he had a place he'd been wanting to visit.

He walked and went around the back of the boys' dormitory. He passed through where he had met Alex the first night and entered the densely overgrown trees.

Twenty minutes after and he had not still reached his destination. Only relying on his memory to navigate his way. But the landmarks were all long faded. He leaned his arm on a tree and thought hard. He only needed one sign to serve as his direction, the long-abandoned dried well.

On his right foot, he saw thick vines crawling around a tree. Aha! This is it! He remembered the well was covered with this kind of vines. He followed the trail of the vines. Along the way, he stumbled on some stones and gets scratched on the face by some branch. But he persevered and the ground began to be even. He's seeing it,  not the actual well as it's almost not visible because of the vines covering the entirety of it.

Now, just south of this well were the beautiful meadow. He started trekking again and not long after broke out to the meadow he remembered from years ago.

But everything changed. The luscious flowers were all gone, the land was covered with dried grass. The vines were crawling on the ground. All was left except for a lone magnificent tree standing strong in the middle.

Yulian stroke the wide trunk of the tree, regardless of what happened to its surrounding, It was still vibrating with life. This tree he had planted when he first came here was still thriving.

He closed his eyes and touched the tree trunk with his forehead. Memories flashed on his mind.

He was the lone disciple of the headmaster of the top academy in the continent.

The first time he accidentally found this place after running from those people who tried to curry favor from him. He's young then, the same age as he was now. He was sent here as a representative of his former academy due to his outstanding performance.

At that time he also wanted to leave a mark just like his master who was known by everyone. With that thought, he had the silly idea of planting this tree for his first mark so that in the future when he gets old and tired, he would visit here and reminiscent his memory.

It happened alright. He had his mark right here and many others. And now he's here to reminisce old memories but in a completely different situation. One he could not imagine years ago.

"Yul? What are you doing here?"

The familiar voice of Alex drifted in his ears. He opened his eyes and there he was, standing on his right side.