Supreme Magus novel Chapter 188

Going back to the academy felt a bit odd to Lith.

He didn’t like being there, always forced to hide his true abilities while keeping the Ballot at hand.

After discovering that Warden’s arrays could seal off dimensional items, he didn’t feel safe storing it in the pocket dimension, so he took it out whenever he was going out of his room or of a classroom.

Lith had decided to enrol into the academy because he hoped to hoard knowledge and connections with powerful people, but so far only the former was proceeding smoothly.

Between the Specialization courses and the library, from which he never stopped borrowing and copying material, his magical knowledge was ever expanding.

As for the connections though, he was still at square one. Climbing the social ladder had proved to be impossible. The only choices were to either submit to a young lord/miss and become their gofer or get a Ballot and be isolated.

- "It was already bad before, but now I have lost even what little company I had. I knew that getting all emotional with a bunch of kids was a bad move. It’s just you and me, Solus. What’s worse is that without Quylla’s help, mastering dimensional magic will be much more difficult."–

It was one of those rare times when Solus didn’t know what to say. On one hand, she wanted to scold Lith for considering his companions like tools instead of people, but on the other one she was glad to see him back to his uncaring self.

It had been her pushing Lith to open up and share his burden. Now that it had backfired, Solus couldn’t help feeling partially responsible for the break up. At least with his cold attitude Lith would avoid further suffering.

That was one of the many reasons why she was really surprised when someone knocked on the door of Lith’s room, and even more when they discovered it wasn’t a clerk sent to deliver the new books.

It was Yurial.

"Hi Lith, can I come in?"

Lith opened the door letting him inside, while noticing that Yurial didn’t seem to be in good shape. He looked emaciated, paler than the last time Lith had seen him and had lost a few kilograms.

"I don’t know what the girls have in mind, but I prefer this talk to be private. I’m afraid I am not as good as you at public speaking." Yurial sighed, looking around the room like he was searching for something other than the courage he needed to say what had to be said.

"I thought a lot about what you told me. I’m not talking only about the part concerning how to face my current hurdle, but about everything we rubbed in each other’s face.

"You were right, I didn’t approach you looking for a friend, but I was really happy when I thought I had found one. You were also right about my apology. The only time I did it I wasn’t sincere. I was just trying to rope you into my group to make my life easier at your expense."

Yurial spoke while looking Lith in the eyes, his hands tightly clenched.

"I have changed, though. Everything we went through together turned me into a different person. Someone that maybe is a little too reliant on tranquiliser potions, but still someone I believe is a better person than who I was before."

Yurial extended his right hand towards Lith.

"Hi, I’m Yurial Deirus and I’m a murderer. I’m really sorry for what I did to you guys on the first day of academy. I treated you as a second rate person and Quylla as a pet. I am sorry for having always taken you guys for granted until it was too late.

I may be a little stuck up, but I’d really like to be your friend."

Lith smiled, shaking hands.

"Apologies accepted. We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it and not repeat our previous mistakes. Since we got ourselves a second chance, we should do our best to not waste it."

- "Are you serious?" Solus was flabbergasted by the turn of events.

"Yes. I too tried to manipulate them all for my own gain, so I can’t blame him for playing the same game. Since I’m trying to change too, maybe we can help each other.

"I consider him on probation though. Talking is always cheap, Yurial has to prove with his actions to have really matured, otherwise it would be like trusting a new year’s resolution at face value."–

Yurial was so happy that his face regained colour, turning the handshake into a hug.

"Thanks, man. I was really worried that you would just kick me out of your room. I’ve really been a sh*tty friend so far."

Lith patted Yurial’s back, waiting a couple of seconds before escaping the embrace.