“Well, you never asked.”

  The fact Liber reacted exactly how I imagined didn’t make me feel any less annoyed.

  “Well, this is me now asking. So tell me what you know about the Interclass event.”

  Liber’s dark green almost covered his eyes, yet even then I could sense the sharpness of his gaze.

  “You realize I don’t work for you anymore, right?”

  I shushed him, scanning once again the classroom—the space practically empty, save for a few students in the front rows. This morning, I had arrived earlier than usual for the sole reason of speaking with the boy without too many prying eyes. After all, as a new student in the class, we shouldn’t be close enough for me to meet with him privately.

  He rolled his eyes with a sigh, a mocking smile curling on his lips. “If it scares you so much, you shouldn’t have approached me in the first place.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Our past. Your past. If you think it’s so risky to be seen together with me, or for people to know we knew each other before, you should’ve left me alone.” Liber opened his notebook, the quill in his hand moving almost with a mind of its own as the boy’s eyes drifted toward the page, away from my gaze. “…it’s not like we had no means to communicate. I sent you messages, no?”

  Although we had been speaking in low voices until that point, Liber’s words felt more like whispers trying to lose themselves in the wind. And true to what he said, it did scare me. Not the thought of people knowing I lived most of my life in the underground, or that I was a ringleader for illegal races—

  But of the consequences that knowledge would bring. What it would take from me.

  It was all too clear, after my previous talk with áine, how the operation to take Jackal down had been planned by powerful forces. After all, people like Fredo wouldn’t dare to take the first step in such a convoluted plan. Someone had approached him first. The surprise, however, was knowing that the authorities were working together with them.

  Although I didn’t keep áine’s present to me, it was impossible to forget what I saw in the recording. The faint watermark engraved in the scroll, illuminated by the candlelight as Fredo’s signature was signed. A watermark with such a familiar image it made me clench my stomach as it revolted and twisted.

  Two manticores, one on each side, holding a shield enwrapped by vines. And within the shield, four creatures, each separated and wounded by blooded thorns—a fairy, a winged unicorn, a siren, and a giant.

  Echidna’s coat-of-arms.

  One of the oldest crime families not only in the kingdom, but in the realm. The family that not only first brought the Underground City project to life, was also one of its greatest investors. And to know, with certainty, that Echidna had worked together with the authorities to ruin Jackal’s…ruin my life…

  It’s frightening.

  Yet it was also enraging. And while they did succeed in erasing Jackal, I would die a thousand times before I ever gave that man the satisfaction of seeing me fall. Which was why I couldn’t let fear get in the way of getting what I needed, of where I needed to go, in order to conclude my revenge.

  For things would not end with Vex getting back on Alantra Harris.

  It would end with Vex slaying the fearsome manticore and taking its heart.

  As I pushed those thoughts back to the depths of my mind, I leaned closer to Liber. My words mirroring his whispers. “Messages can be tracked—voices cannot.”

  Sure, liquid silver captured its surroundings and allowed us to record and see things in real time. Yet it could not capture sounds. Which was why people who wanted to make sure their business would remain private, they made binding verbal contracts. Something that Echidna knew far too well—

  And, apparently, Fredo did not.

  Liber let out a short, tired sigh, without looking my way. “Whatever you say…”

  “So. What did they tell the class about the event?” There was no way I was letting the boy get away from the main topic here.

  “What if I don’t want to share? We are strangers, and I don’t like people.”

  Somehow, his words made me smile.

  “That would be quite stupid of you.” Before Liber could kill me with his glare, a chuckle escaped my lips as I continued. “It’s an inter-class event. Sure, there will be personal scores, but we’ll still be competing as a class. Shouldn’t be in your interest to make sure all your classmates are well-prepared?”

  Liber tightened his lips. Narrowed his eyes.

  “It’s not obligatory. Not everyone has to participate.”

  “Knowing Ergos, not everyone can participate. And my name will be in that roster, no matter what. Also, I will make sure to let everyone know I begged our class prodigy to become his pupil, and about all the help Ergos’ number one first-year student provided me after classes.”

  I saw as Liber clenched his jaw, his fingers grasping the quill so tight I thought they would snap it in half. Back in my days as Jackal, working with Emrys was never short of amusing. And though I would never proclaim we were that close, some things were easy to guess.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  For someone as prideful as Liber, having someone he personally taught embarrass themselves was almost as insulting as cursing Liber himself.

  “I’m not the only student here. You can ask anyone else, you know?”

  “I don’t like most people, either. Especially conceited and spoiled brats who never spent a morning without seeing the sunshine. Also, I know you better—so I would rather ask you.” More importantly, I knew he wouldn’t bother lying to me.

  Liber’s gray eyes pierced mine, his gaze cold. Intense.

  Understanding.

  The boy took a deep breath, turning back toward his notes—the quill going back to scribing the elegant, cursive letters on the paper.

  “I forgot how infuriating you are.”

  Unfortunately for him, I was too well aware of how infuriating I could be.

  And just how soft Liber could actually be.

  “We were just done with our final exams…! And I mean just finished—it hasn’t even been a month yet! How can Ergos do this to us?”

  Ceres let out a cry, the tears she didn’t shed transforming into the bitter and future exhaustion we would soon be sharing.

  “Well, nothing we can do now. We all chose Ergos for a reason—guess this is one of the prices we have to pay.” Jaya’s reply came as nonchalant as his posture, the man more focused on finishing and enjoying his meal.

  Which was a bunch of sweet-pepper pastries covered in dark chocolate.

  “Yes, I know, but…seriously, they could at least pity their students…” Ceres turned to me, her pained voice echoing the concern in her blue eyes. “You will start training soon, won’t you, Vex?”

  Did I ever stop?

  Still chewing a piece of bread, I gave her a brief nod.

  After my bet with Belenus, I started creating a new training plan for me and Styx. And with all the new information I got from Liber, if there was one thing I was certain was how I didn’t have a single moment to spare.

  Professor Kairon was right. If I wanted to have a chance—if I wanted to stand out and win—I had to improve my stamina.

  From what Liber told me, the inter-class event would be divided in “Challenges”. Each professor would prepare something based on their subjects—some professors teaming up for bigger tasks—while the students would choose which Challenges they wanted to partake.

  But since it was a clash between classes, and there was a limited number of seats for every task, the students who would represent their class would get chosen by their grades, and popular vote. Which meant only some selected students would be able to participate.

  And I have to make sure I’ll be one of them…for as many Challenges as possible.

  Jaya wiped some chocolate from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, putting it in his mouth before turning his head to the person sitting a few meters away from us.

  “You will participate in Professor Arke’s Challenge, won’t you?”

  Those unbothered eyes slowly looked up, meeting Jaya’s for a second before glancing away. “Yes.”

  “A-ha! Thought so, you’re the best in our class.” Then, like a mother boasting about her own child, the man turned to me and Ceres with a proud smile, his voice warm and joyful. “Liber was the only one who got a perfect mark on every single exam. Even Professor Arke was impressed.”

  Despite myself, I turned toward the boy—the fourteen old kid Jackal had only ever used for racing. It was impressive. Professor Arke Hesper was known for being great at explaining complex subjects, and Alchemy itself was already a difficult course. Yet even more so for her excruciatingly challenging questions. It was never a matter of memorizing or understanding the formulas, but the concepts in and out themselves.

  …I would’ve never known, huh?

  If Jackal hadn’t agreed to Ergos’ offer and given up on Emrys, I would have never known how talented the boy was in things outside racing. How passionate he was about Alchemy. And while I never regretted my choice back then, seeing Liber in that moment…

  I’m glad.

  To see him studying something he liked, to know he didn’t need to hide his talents anymore.

  “Why am I here, again?” The boy was quick to change the subject, and though his eyes were focused on the book in his hand, I could see his ears burning.

  A smile started cracking in my lips, one I almost couldn’t hide.

  Ceres and Jaya exchanged eyes, confused.

  “Why wouldn’t you be? You’re our friend.”

  The sheer bluntness and honesty in Ceres’ voice broke him, making Liber’s usual stoic and passive expression twist and bend into a look of pure bewilderment. Then, his eyes met mine—asking a question I had asked myself countless times until I gave up trying to understand.

  I gave him a hopeless shrug.

  His puzzlement did not lessen, at all.

  “S-since when?”

  It was very rare, the moments where Liber would actually act his age. Yet there was such an innocent ignorance in his voice, its faint tone hinting frustration and disbelief for not knowing something, that in that moment all I could see was a boy who was yet the experience the full changes a grown adult would bring.

  A boy whose only friend was a wingless dragon, and who got flustered when people complimented him genuinely.

  Jaya let out a loud, boastful laugh, wasting no time to close their distance and pull Liber closer by the boy’s shoulder.

  “Does it matter?! You are here now, so we can finally get to know each other better.”

  Liber leaned back, putting the book between himself and the large man. “I don’t want to.”

  “Oh? Which one, though?” The man asked with no malice or sadness, only genuine curiosity.

  Which, apparently, confused Liber even more.

  “W-what do you mean?”

  “Be friends, or share things about yourself—which one you don’t want?”

  Liber blinked.

  Opened his mouth.

  Then he blinked again.

  “…why would I want to be friends with you?”

  And to that, Jaya replied with a smile so bright, I could see it reflected in his laugh. “Fair enough! Let us do it like this then—we’ll keep sharing things about ourselves with you, so you can make your decision. Until then, stay with us! It'll be fun.”

  Even though I had known Liber for years, there was no way for me to know exactly what was going on in his mind. All the thoughts and feelings crossing the boy’s eyes at the mention of the word “friend”.

  I was quite aware of exactly what a friendship entailed, even when people like Jaya and Ceres were too naive and idealistic for their own good. Yet what about Liber? He always said he disliked humans. But people could dislike or even hate something, and still want it for themselves. So did Liber not let people get closer to him because he disliked interacting with them—

  Or was it because he was afraid he would come to care?

  and isn’t Jackal the same?

  isn’t Vex?

  The words that crept from within the darkest corners of my mind were so faint, so weak, I almost didn’t notice. Yet they carried such a pungent taste—such a dense and piercing quality to their weight—they burn. Each single one of them, like frozen blades soaking with poison, found their way into my skin until all I could hear was my own heartbeat.

  Growing colder, faster, restless.

  It was not Liber’s voice that silenced the voice in my head, much less the echoes of Jaya’s laughter.

  “It’s not like you have any other place to be, so stop complaining.” My eyes never left the scrolls in my hands. They kept glazing through the sentences, again and again, trying to latch onto something—anything—that could calm my heart. “And if it’s compensation you want, then we can work that out later, right? That way, it’s not like you are losing anything.”

  “Come on, Vex! If you say it like that, it sounds like you are paying him to be our friend.” Ceres’ voice reached me from a place too bright for me to look at, so I said nothing.

  And whether Liber gave his own answer or not, I didn’t hear it or see it.

  Because if there was one thing I was certain was how I didn’t want to hear that voice again. Much less feel its words carving their way into places that were buried so deep within, they would not survive the warm brightness of a morning sun.

  This time, I was faster!! I sooo glad.

  Since we are finally in November, I will once again partake in the 50K words challenge. So I will do my best to keep my inspirations and motivation burning all the way! Though I do have a project (SING SEASON II ?＼(￣▽￣)／? ), my main priority will be to keep posting BOTJ and AT at a constant pace (which may be around 1 chapter each per week......but who knows, I may surprise myself this time).

  May y'all have a great week ahead! Stay safe, warm, healthy, and goated.

  Happy Blessings,