getting a head start.

Marcus no longer looked like a street kid.

His long hair was wrapped neatly in a bun.

His face was clear and his clothes were sharp, making him look like a young noble, however, Marcus being this clean, made him look even more like a girl.

This guy.

Alex shifted my gaze towards Elise, she no longer wore her Pathfinder uniform, and instead, she was dressed in her usual servant outfit.

The radio was long gone, presumably in his room.

Elise bowed her head, "Lady Erica."

Alexander's mother nodded.

Elise then shifted her gaze to meet Alex's.

"Lord Alexander, I have come to present sir Marcus, he has been cleaned, and your radio has been placed in your room."

I completely forgot about that….

"Uhm, thank you, Elise, I'll be out in a moment, can you take Marcus to my room to wait for me?"

Elise nodded, as she and Marcus turned to leave the room.

Guess we better wrap this up.

Alex turned back to his mother, who had an unreadable experience on her face.

She then looked down at the book on her desk, she stared at it for a moment before finally shifting her gaze towards Alex, "You are one peculiar child."

She smiled at him as she closed the book on her desk.

I guess I've gotten too comfortable….

His mother then stood up, "Anyway, we can continue this lesson another day."

His mother helped me off the desk, "your new friend is waiting for you…"

Hold up, I'm still curious about a few things.

"Mother, can I take that book with me?"

Alex pointed at the book, but his mother only chuckled.

She traced her finger on the cover of the book, "This book, is far too advanced, but I'll find something more suitable for you."

She then looked at him with a smile, "Now unless you wish to spend more quality time with your dear mother…."

Alright, alright, I get the message.

Alex smirked and headed towards the door, "Mother, thank you…"

Alex turned around just as he reached the doorway, "I'll be back."

His mother smiled.

As he walked into the hallway, he couldn't help but look down at my hand again.

He closed it and opened it over and over again.

It was strange to him that he just had this ability.

How convenient.

As he finally reached my room, he began to hear the sounds of music and laughter, as he slowly pushed my door open, he was greeted by the sight of Marcus and Elise dancing, neither of them had any skill, instead, they looked like two headless chickens running around.

When they noticed Alex standing there, they gestured for me to join them, he took a step back and shook my head.

I don't don't mean to be a party pooper, but I'd rather not embarrass myself.

Elise chuckled as she shook her head, she began to walk towards Alex with her hands outstretched, "Come on, don't be like that, my lord….."

Elise's tone was playful, and her grin was mischievous.

Alex sighed.

Oh, what the hell, let's get this party started!

He grabbed Elise's hands, and she quickly pulled him into the room.

They moved to the music, shaking their bodies and hair, and waving their hands in the air.

They had no idea what they were doing, but it was the most fun Alex had had in a while, and he felt that applied to both lives.

When the music finally stopped, they all collapsed onto the ground and began to breathe heavily.

"We should do this again!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Agreed." Elise and Alex said in unison.

Two years had passed since that day, and Alex was currently on the front lawn, watching Marcus and Elise spare.

They'd been sparring since this morning, and Marcus was drenched in sweat, his movements slowly becoming more sluggish, and his exhaustion became increasingly evident.

Elise was slowly increasing her speed, each clash of their swords sent sparks flying, and Marcus reeling.

The past two years have been relatively mundane Alex, he thought that after learning about ether, he'd have been running around and blasting every single tree in sight.

but no, when his mother said he has limited ether, she meant it.

He has managed to learn a few tricks though, he can stave off hunger for long periods.

He can process things faster, allowing him to see things in a sort of slow-mo.

There is also the healing, but that's something he doesn't plan on testing out for a while….

For Marcus's side of things, he's mostly been training with Elise.

She's been teaching him sword styles and enhanced ether techniques, he's been surpassing every single test Elise has set up, so she decided to jump right into the actual combat.

And finally, the radio, as promised the Ambur kingdom has been constructing radio stations and transmitters, throughout the Fallen Kingdom.

Radio repair shops have also been popping up everywhere, so Alex has been able to keep his radio maintained.

"Done already?"

Elise stood over the collapsed Marcus, she had her hands on her hips, and she was breathing heavily.

Strands of her long hair escaped her ponytail.

Marcus had a large grin on his face, and his body was spread out, his breathing just as heavy as Elise's, "it's…. For the best."

He smiled as he spoke.

Alex got off the porch and jogged over, he stood over Marcus with Elise and he grinned, "Look at you, all beat up, I wouldn't let that happen to me, but I guess not everyone can be as good as I am."

Did he run over just to taunt him?

Yes, yes I did.

Marcus shifted his gaze to meet Alex's, he smirked and reached his hands up, he then wrapped them around Alex's collar, and yanked him down.

"Gah!"

Alex landed on the ground with a thud, Marcus then quickly shifted over, and pinned him down, his hands holding Alex's as he sat on his back.

"What was that? I can't hear you!" Marcus cackled as he held Alex down.

"Get off me, you smell like garlic and grass!"

Alex shouted as he tried to struggle out of Marcus's grasp, Marcus released his hands, but he continued to sit on my back.

"To war!" Marcus exclaimed as he slapped Alex's butt.

"I will bite your damn legs off!" Alex shouted.

"Language." Elise chuckled.

The language my ass!

"Something is wrong with this horse, perhaps he needs a bath…" Elise laughed at her Joke.

"Alright, I guess we do stink a little…."

Marcus giggled as he got off Alexander's back, he then reached his hand out to help Alex up.

"We?" He said frustrated, as he smacked his hand away, "I was clean just seconds ago!"

Alex shouted as he stumbled to his feet, before quickly falling again.

Marcus grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled him back up, "Come on, I know you wanna take a bath together."

He said with a smirk.

"Lies!" Alex yelled.

"My lord, you should calm yourself, his remark was only in jest." Elise grew closer and helped me up, "is there something bothering you?"

I guess I am a little grumpy, I should probably calm down.

"No," Alex shook my head, "I'm alright, I guess I just overreacted," he said sheepishly as he dusted himself off.

"Elise! I was just about to get him riled up!"

Marcus smirked and crossed his arms triumphantly.

I knew he was doing it on purpose!

"You little shit!" Alex shouted as he launched towards him.

Marcus quickly sidestepped, and caught Alex in his arms, "That's why you look like a girl, you goddamn tree!" Alex shouted as he struggled to get out of Marcus's grasp.

"Man! He can swear like a sailor!" Marcus cackled.

Elise approached them, she seemed to be in deep thought.

"My lord, why are you so angry?" Elise asked as she removed me from Marcus's grasp.

Huh?

"I'm not angry, he just really gets under my skin you know, like a creature of the night." Alex shifted his gaze towards Marcus and grinned mischievously.

"Hey!" Marcus said angrily.

Elise clapped her hands together, "Alright you two, let's get a move on, Marcus we'll take your bath first, then I'll do you, my lord."

Alex looked back at Elise with a confused expression.

"I thought we were going to have together?"

He asked Elise.

"I was just joking, you weirdo." Marcus smacked the back of Alex's head and quickly joined up behind Elise.

I'm the weirdo?

"But it was your suggestion!" Alex muttered under his breath as he walked behind them.

As they entered the mansion, Marcus and Elise headed towards the bathroom, while Alex headed towards his room.

As he entered, he was greeted by the sound of news playing on his radio.

"And this just in, the expansion into the demon continent has been successful. Our brave men and women have defeated the local emperor beast and Stafren tribes, so go on down and purchase some land rights, who knows, you may make it big!"

Interesting… I may have to talk to Father about getting some of that land. It'll be a great investment if I can convince him anyway.

Alex walked to the shelf on his back wall and grabbed a book.

Now this was no ordinary book, it was full of all the letters Ava sent him, he kept every single one inside, and sometimes when he felt overwhelmed, he would read it.

He walked towards his bed and climbed up, after settling down he opened the book and began to review all the letters it contained.

Ava's letters were a mixture of stories and drawings, it was all random, sometimes she'd go on and on about the smallest of details, other times she spoke about her friendships to her hardships, from her classes to her adventures.

However, she always ended every letter with three simple words, 'I love you.'

It always made Alex feel giddy, like a dog and a bone.

Sometimes he'd just stare at the words for hours on end.

it's just something about how she writes it, or maybe how he reads it.

Alex began to roll around in his bed with the book close to my chest, and he laughed while kicking his feet around.

Until his door opened abruptly.

He froze.

"My lord, should I come back later?"

Elise had a hint of amusement in her voice, her hand covering her mouth, her body quivering slightly.

"N-No, I'll be out in a moment. Alex managed to stumble out.

He placed the book down on his bed and slowly slid down, his face was beat red, and his eyes were darting around the room.

"It's ok my lord, I know you miss your sister, and it's perfectly normal to feel that way."

Elise smiled as she walked closer to Alex.

Whatever, It wasn't you who was caught rolling around in the bed.

Alex looked up at Elise, and he noticed she was completely dry.

Did she not bathe with Marcus?

"Elise, why didn't you take your bath with Marcus?" Alex asked curiously as he stood up.

Elise smiled and reached her hand out, "Well, usually you sleep when Marcus takes his bath, so I guess you wouldn't know this, but I only take baths with you, my lord, I only help Marcus clean her–, himself." Elise coughed, and we began to walk towards my door,

Well shucks, making me feel all special and loved.

As they walked down the hallway, Alex began to wonder about Marcus and his training, and when he began his training.

"Elise?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"You and Marcus have been spending a lot of time together," Alex's voice was firm, but it had a hit of curiosity in it, "and I've been wondering…."

Elise expression grew grim as if Alex was about to say something unpleasant.

"Y-Yes?" She asked.

"My training, when will it begin?"

Elise breathed a sigh of relief, she looked at Alex with a wry smile, "Whenever you'd like my lord…. Heh, ha."

Elise fixed her vision back down the hallway.

Well, that's suspicious.

As they finally reached the bathroom, Alex began to mull over my start date, he didn't want to start too early, but he didn't want to start too late either, it'll be a fine line to walk.

When they entered the bathroom, Elise closed the door behind them, "My lord, I'll need you to look that way and close your eyes ok?"

She pointed towards the wall with the sink.

Alex sighed heavily before complying with her orders.

It's not like I haven't seen her naked before, but I guess it gets weirder the older I get, pretty soon she'll stop talking and bathes with me altogether.

As Alex mulled over his thoughts, Elise had finally finished setting up the bath.

"I'm ready my lord," Elise said as the sounds of her dipping into the tub echoed throughout the bathroom.

Finally.

Alex turned around and began to remove my clothes as he did so, Elise began to prepare a sponge and soap.

As Alex entered the tub, Elise gently pulled him closer to herself and began to wash his back, her movements were swift, but her touch was delicate.

"Elise, I want to start my training as soon as possible."

Alex's voice was soft but full of determination.

"Of course my lord, we can begin tomorrow," Elise's voice was full of warmth as she stopped scrubbing my chest.

"I'd like to start with the hardest things first, that way everything else will seem easier in comparison, right?"

Elise chuckled softly, "Your mind truly is a wonderful place my lord, but perhaps we should begin your training with meditation." Elise chuckled.