As Caelum and Elias walked back to their dorm, Caelum felt an arrow hurtling towards Elias. With a quick, instinctive move, he pulled Elias out of the way. The deadly projectile whizzed past Elias' head, embedding itself with a sharp thud into the door behind them.
Caelum immediately drew his sword, the polished steel glinting in the corridor's dim light.
"They won't try again," Elias stated, scanning the area with wide, cautious eyes. "But take my hand. We're teleporting."
Caelum did not sheathe his weapon. He held the sword firmly in his left hand as he clasped Elias' outstretched one.
"That was close," Elias breathed, turning to face Caelum. "How did you notice that arrow?"
"I was practicing that air sensing technique," Caelum lied smoothly, the fabricated explanation ready on his tongue. In truth, the powerful air sensing spell was always active when he was outside the safety of their dorm. "I thought it would be good to practice. Besides, I've been wary of Aristotle. The way he glared at me was a strong sign that he would try something eventually," he explained, a genuine edge to his voice.
Elias nodded slowly, accepting the convenient lie without question.
'Sorry about that, I wish I could tell you the truth,' Caelum apologized in his mind, feeling a twinge of guilt but knowing he wasn't ready to reveal his hidden powers to Elias.
Even though they shared a bed every night, it was purely a survival measure to keep Elias alive. They had only known each other for a mere four days.
"At least they'll be busy the entire week starting tomorrow," Elias said, his expression lightening a little. "The other classes are said to be mentally tiring," he added with a weary sigh.
"Mentally tiring?" Caelum asked, looking at Elias with a raised eyebrow, curiosity etched on his face.
Elias confirmed with a nod. "According to my mother, who is a royal mage, the arithmetics, potions, literature, and alchemy classes were all mentally draining. She always said that the magic classes were far easier and more enjoyable for her."
Caelum nodded thoughtfully. 'Are they truly that tough?' he wondered internally.
"We have literature tomorrow, although those normal classes are only for three hours," Elias said. "We're free after lunch. Shall we go to the knights' training ground to work on our magic compatibility?" he suggested, a hopeful look in his eyes.
Caelum readily agreed. "Sure," he replied with a genuine smile.
In the evening, as they began walking back from the cafeteria, Caelum's innate sense of danger flared up. He immediately drew the daggers he kept hanging from his belt, the cold steel familiar in his hands.
"Why is no one around?" he asked Elias, his voice low and urgent. Elias also began looking around, his gaze darting nervously across the empty stone corridors.
Elias quickly moved to Caelum, placed a hand firmly on his shoulder, and instantly teleported them both back to the safety of their dorm room. "Caelum," he choked out, clutching desperately at his own chest as the poison's effects intensified.
Caelum let his daggers fall to the floor with a clatter and gently took Elias' face in his hands. He immediately pushed his powerful healing and fire magic into Elias, a warm, bright surge designed to calm the erratic flow of his magic and counteract the immediate effects of the poison.
Elias wasted no time, stripping off his clothes, then pulling off Caelum's, and urgently pushing him onto the soft mattress of the bed. "Four minutes, right?" he asked, his breath ragged.
Caelum nodded once, his eyes focused on Elias.
Elias then pushed two fingers inside Caelum, stretching him slowly and carefully.
"Last minute," Caelum reminded Elias, his voice a soft murmur.
Elias clicked his tongue in frustration as he quickly but surely pushed himself into Caelum. "Okay?" he asked, his voice strained.
Caelum gave a soft smile and nodded reassuringly. "I'm fine," he whispered. "Are you?"
"Fine," Elias gritted out, his jaw tight as he adjusted his position inside Caelum. 'That stupid brother is dead after this,' he thought, the dark promise a desperate anchor in his mind.
When he was done, a wave of exhaustion washing over him, Elias slowly dropped himself onto the bed beside Caelum. He closed his eyes, his breathing gradually evening out, as he wrapped his arms tightly around Caelum's chest.
"Did you see who it was?" Elias asked a moment later, his voice muffled.
Caelum shook his head against the pillow. "I only felt the danger. I couldn't sense anyone clearly," he said. "It was a very beginner level spell they used, so it wasn't strong enough for me to detect their magical signatures," he explained.
"I'm still so glad you're able to do that, whatever it is," Elias admitted, nuzzling into Caelum. "At least we're able to get away before they manage to land a hit," he said, relief coloring his tone.
Caelum nodded, a determined look settling on his face. "I don't know who's trying to hurt us," he said, his voice hardening. "But I might push a sword through their chest if they manage to hurt either of us."
"So will I," Elias echoed fiercely.
The next day, as they walked to their literature class, Caelum felt a faint nervousness flutter in his chest.
However, once the class began, he quickly realized that all his anxiety had been completely unnecessary. The literature class felt exactly the same as his university English classes back on Earth. The only real difference was that the poetry and plays weren't written by Shakespeare.
'I miss Julius Caesar,' he thought with a nostalgic sigh as he walked out of the class, a small, soft smile playing on his lips.
"How did you understand that ancient language so easily?" Elias asked, a genuine look of amazement on his face, after he had instantly teleported them back to their dorm room.
"I studied them when I was alone in the Sky Manor," Caelum said, maintaining his cover story. 'What an elaborate lie that is!' he thought wryly. 'That was Futhorc Runes. I was forced to study them relentlessly thanks to my sister being an archaeologist, not a loving mother.'
"But how did you understand them so well?" Elias pressed. "If you studied alone?"
"Before my mother died, she would explain them to me whenever she had the chance," Caelum lied smoothly, maintaining eye contact. "I got a good hang of it after reading a lot of the old texts, so now I can read it like it's a normal language," he finished with a shrug.
Elias nodded, satisfied with the explanation. "Do you have any knowledge in potions?" he asked, moving on to the next subject.
Caelum shook his head honestly. "That is one subject I didn't try to experiment with," he confessed. "I figured I might accidentally die if I mixed the wrong ingredients or put them inside the cauldron at the wrong time."
Elias nodded with immediate understanding. "I think that would be the only subject I can really help you with," he said. "Those rings, you made them, didn't you?" he asked, a sudden curiosity in his voice, pointing at the rings Caelum was wearing, after seeing a brief flash of confusion cross Caelum's face.
Caelum had melted down Artemisia's gold jewelry to create the rings, intending them to control and seal his overwhelming magic from his family. He had also added a permanent invisibility enchantment to them, so it was a genuine shock to him that Elias could see them and was now pointing them out.
Caelum sighed quietly and nodded. "I did," he admitted.
"Why seal your powers?" Elias asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't know much about alchemy myself, but I have seen those exact types of rings on my father when he participated in the monster raids. They are for containing immense power."
"I need to keep my true power levels a secret from my family," Caelum said simply, the reason heavy with unspoken history.
Elias nodded, understanding the need for secrecy. "What is your true level?" he asked, his voice soft with genuine interest.
"I don't know," Caelum admitted. "I didn't measure it before I put the rings on."
"When we go to my manor during the semester break, can we record your magic level then?" Elias suggested, a faint hope in his voice. "Just in case we're abandoned in the labyrinth and my poison acts up right when we need to run for our lives?"
Caelum agreed readily. "Sure," he said with a warm smile. "I would definitely like to know what my true level is."