I'm interested in you

"Let's bury the hatchet" said Alex as he extended a hand to Talia.

"Why are saying that all of a sudden ? You are preparing something, I can feel it" said Talia as she looked at his extended hand warily.

'Nope, you are feeling nothing, stop lying' spat Alex internally, but he didn't say it externally, he was trying to reconcile with her, he doubted that saying that to her face would help him in this endeavor.

"Am I so untrustworthy to you ?" Asked Alex with a bitter smile.

"Yes!" Bluntly replied Talia, not giving a fuck about his bitter expression.

"What bad thing did I ever do to you for you to-"

"Let's see, you once poisoned my food with a Puplix flower which disrupted my sight and caused me to wear glasses for a whole month; stole my money when I went to shopping with Amy and made me seem like a thief; you once-"

"Okay, okay, I may not have been nice to you back then, but it was just harmless jokes" said Alex in a convincing tone.

"Harmless? Then how about that time we went hunting, and you attached a blood stone to my horse which caused me to be chased by a pack of giants wolves, or that time when you released a flock of...." Talia then processed to remind Alex of all the 'jokes' he made that nearly caused her to lose her life.

"Okay, I understand, I was awful to you, I'm sorry" sincerely apologized Alex.

Even with that, Talia remained cautious since it was not the first time he had apologized for anything he had ever done to her, only to make another 'joke' right after.

"To show that I'm sincere, you can ask me anything you want" 

"Okay, what I want to know is how did you manage to become so strong In the span of a year" asked Talia the moment she heard his proposition.

"Ask another thing" replied Alex almost instantly.

He knew that Talia wouldn't betray his trust and divulge his secrets to everyone, even though she liked gossip. But it was better to be cautious and only inform those he was one hundred percent sure would keep it to themselves.

'I might consider informing her about the artifact later, but definitely not now'

"Hmm, I don't want anything of you beside knowing this information" replied Talia after hearing his refusal.

"Then let's proceed like this; you can ask me anything later when you have an idea of what you want," said Alex. Then he thought of something and added, "However, you can't really ask me 'anything.' If your request is reasonable, then I will comply. If not, then you would have to find another thing."

Talia thought about his proposition for a moment before nodding her head.

"Okay, let's bury the hatchet, but I warn you, if you try anything-"

"It won't happen" cut Alex.

"Okay, then from now on, we will stop picking on each other" said Talia as she shook Alex's hand.

"Glad that-"

Boom

The exact moment Talia shook his hand, an explosion sound coming from the arena rang out and a second later...

"End of the fight, Amelia wins!" Exclaimed Adrian.

"Well, I guess that's my cue to leave" said Alex as he turned and wanted to leave.

"Wait!" 

"Mm?"

"G-Good luck for your fight," said Talia with slightly red cheeks.

"Thanks" replied Alex with a smile as he exited the room.

The instant he exited the room, his smile was replaced by a serious expression as he made his way toward the arena.

'He is already here' thought Alex as he stepped into the arena and found Jonathan already waiting for him with the same interested smile as last time he was gazing at Alex.

'What is it with him?' wondered Alex as he walked toward the center of the arena.

"I never imagined when we came this morning that one of the semi-final battles would be between Alex and Jonathan," said Victoria.

She wasn't the only one to think that way; most people shared the same opinion.

It should be remembered that Jonathan was thought to be the strongest of his generation, at least in this branch of the family, while Alex was considered the weakest. No, in fact, he wasn't even classified due to his low level and strength.

However, here he was, about to fight the presumed strongest, and the showing thing was that no one knew if he would emerge victorious or not.

"I'm certain that the show is going to be entertaining no matter who wins" commented Grace with an excited tone.

"Are the both of you ready?" Questioned Adrian.

"You are at it again, old man, as I said-"

"If you mention this again, I will beat your ass right here," said Adrian with a menacing expression, yet Alex just chuckled at the threat.

'It's pointless to threaten this boy; he doesn't fear me in the slightest,' sighed Adrian, seeing Alex's reaction to his threat.

'Well, that's one of the reason why I appreciate him more than the rest' thought Adrian.

"I guess we are ready" said Alex as he glanced at Jonathan who nodded to him.

"Then, start!" Exclaimed Adrian before disappearing from the arena.

Contrary to what happened in their other fights, the two men didn't make their moves even after the signal was given and observed each other.

"Why do you look at me like that ?" Suddenly asked Alex.

"How do I look at you ?"

"Like you are interested in me" replied Alex.

"I'm indeed interested in you" replied Jonathan.

Alex felt a chill run down his spine and his expression became serious as he said :

"Bro, I don't swing that way"

"What are you-" Jonathan was about to ask what he meant before he realized what Alex meant.

"Hey hey hey, I didn't mean it in that way!" Exclaimed Jonathan while waving his hands.

"In what way, then ?"

"Well, you see, my master - your father - had once told me that he was certain that one day, you will stop being lazy, he said that when that day comes I need to help you in accomplishing your goals; at that time I obviously didn't trust in his words, but seeing you today, I realized that he was correct" said Jonathan.

'The old man told him to help me ?'

"What I mean by being interested in you is I'm interested in knowing what your goals are, and most of all, I'm interested in your strength and want to know how strong you currently are."