Letting Go A Little

After the discovery that the cave couldn't be accessed by anyone but Alec, Vincent put aside the matter. No one but the four of them knew about it in the clan. He had briefly toyed with the idea to see whether or not it was only available for those who possessed the Awakening Magitype to enter the cavern but put aside the idea.

It wasn't as if the place had any significance to the clan after extracting the bones and armour from within, so he would rather Alec had a place to go and hide for a few hours.

To be honest, Vincent hadn't thought that Alec's graduating mission, so to speak, would have caused such a discovery. Not only that, the three books that had been passed on to him were unable to be deciphered.

Vincent could only come to the conclusion that the ancestor's brother had done something to it. He had kept them in a safe place, where no one except the Clan Head was able to access.

With Alec's failure in his graduating mission, he missed the chance to venture out into the world on his own, but at the same time, Vincent couldn't help but feel a mix of relief at the results.

Alec was only seven, after all.

The previous few seven-year-olds who had graduated from the advanced course usually didn't make it back. Either they hadn't caught the subtleties or had been killed along the way.

He could tell that his sister was also relieved he hadn't passed.

As a Clan Head, it seemed better for the younger ones to pass because it meant that they had more potential for growth, but as a man, Vincent couldn't help but feel conflicted that they were sending children out so early.

Of course, he had also gone through the same thing when he was Alec's age, at eight instead of seven, but that didn't mean that he didn't worry. In fact, it was precisely because he knew about all the various difficulties that he was worried!

Vincent frowned, staring out the window.

-

Alec lay in the sun with Bunbun napping by his side. On his other side, Elias was lying in the grass as well, staring into the sky.

The two of them enjoyed a comfortable silence, just relaxing.

After a period of silence, Elias spoke up.

"Do you think that mission to come up with a way to use our Magitype was the graduating test? Or was it survival in The Great Expanse alone?"

Alec was quiet for a moment. "Are you asking because you want the answer?"

Similarly, Elias didn't say anything for a while as he thought about it. "You're right. I already know the answer. I just want to know… why did they have to leave in such a hurry?"

Alec sat up a little to look at the teenager, who wore a quiet, forlorn expression. "You know… there are some things in this clan that are considered open secrets. But no one in the clan talks about it. Do you know why? It's because its part of their training for the younger generation. They went through it. Their parents went through it, and so did their grandparents, etc. The point is, there are things that you should already know. You're just overlooking it."

There was a longer silence this time.

Elias smiled, feeling like a weight had been taken off him. "Sometimes, the way you talk doesn't really fit your age. It makes me feel like I'm talking to someone much older."

Alec smiled genially.

"Like that smile," Elias said, a little dazed. "You're actually not all that gentle, are you?"

Alec tilted his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Are you kidding? As if he was going to fall into that trap! He could not afford any OOC points deduction right now! Oh, god. He literally could not wait until he got to 1000 points, where he would (hopefully) be able to disable the OOC function.

Elias closed his eyes, smiling to himself, thinking about Alec's outburst around the time when they had first used the appraisal crystal.

Alec groaned inwardly. It was clear that Elias didn't believe him, but it wasn't like he could do anything about that. Luckily, it seemed like the Mainframe didn't count that as going OOC, so there were no point deductions.

This meant that he was relatively safe as long as he kept up the smile, right?

When he had more points, he was going to test it out on a stranger.

"So, what do we do now? Do we have to wait an entire year before we can try to graduate again?"

"Probably," Alec said. "It's just you and me now."

"I wonder how they're doing out there."

Alec looked at the softly drifting clouds in the sky. They were probably terrified out of their minds. He didn't say it out loud, however. He wondered how long they would take to realize. He hoped they were fine.

Alec narrowed his eyes in determination. They had to survive until they met again.

"Now that that's out of the way," Elias said, sitting up and looming. He cast a shadow over Alec. "Don't think you can hide what you managed to do with your Magitype back there."

"Ah," Alec said, surprised. "You realized?"

Elias held back the urge to roll his eyes. Just how unobservant did Alec think he was? "Of course I did. Teacher and Clan Head might not have realized because they were paying attention to the armour, but my attention was on you.

Alec thought about it for a bit, weighing the pros and cons about letting Elias know. He supposed it couldn't hurt, and it did get tiring trying to hide it from someone close to him.

Elias quietly waited. He had been about to say that Alec didn't have to tell him if he didn't want to, but changed his mind, because it looked like Alec was seriously considering whether or not to tell him. He wouldn't take any offence either way, leaving it up to his younger friend.

"Alright," Alec said at last, causing Elias' face to light up. It was only when he saw the way Elias was a mix of surprise and delight that caused him to wonder if he had been holding all of his cards too close to his chest.

Elias' expressions slowly changed from interest to wonder to something that resembled shock and awe.

The way he saw Alec changed drastically in a single afternoon. He hadn't realized just how much he had been overlooking from the younger boy. Whilst Elias knew that he was smart, he hadn't realized just how smart he was.

The way that he was looking at what so many considered a useless Magitype shocked him greatly. Once again, he felt like he was looking at someone much older and much more experienced rather than a seven-year-old boy.

It caused a feeling of inadequacy within him that made him feel like diving right back into the clan's library so that he could bring himself to such heights as well.

He wondered just how much more Alec wasn't saying, that he had missed as a result of not reading between the lines.

"You're amazing," Elias said at last, dispelling the small doubts that had sprung up in Alec at the long silence.

A small smile graced his face. "Thank you."

"Do you think you can help me think about various applications of the Defensive Magitype as well?"

Alec paused. "I don't see why not. We can research and experiment together."

Elias smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. Want to go now?"

Alec climbed up; his eyes gleaming. "Not today, but I'll show you the results of what my Magitype can do!"

Elias stood up. "Oh," he said, surprised. "Where to?"

Bunbun clambered up Alec's shirt, perching himself on his shoulder.

"I'll bring you to my apartment."

Elias raised a brow. "Sure. Let's go."

Alec couldn't help but wonder how his friend would react towards the various things in his home that would move by themselves and hid his smirk behind a smile.

"Let's."