[7 Months later]

In their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th months, the boys had a hard time. With such little food, the cold would chill them to the bone. It never seemed to affect Aleximus though. He would just say that he was used to the cold. 

But they persevered and managed to make it through. The boys were tougher than they knew, so in their 5th and 6th month they hunted wild animals, created a decent shelter with the ash tree wood, and trained. Training every day was the only thing that helped keep their minds off of what happened. Besides, uncle Matsuda told Jacender to keep getting stronger or else the Codex would eat away at him. 

However, Jacender still couldn't open the book. Its cover wouldn't budge. No matter what item he used, or how hard he tried to force it, it just wouldn't open. So, he continued training harder and harder in hopes it eventually would.

Aleximus still wouldn't talk about Anna. Though he definitely still missed her, he remained too scarred to speak about it. He instead focused his mind and time on trying to tap into the magic he had exhibited at the waterfall. 

A few days ago on their travels, the pair saw a small town in the distance. So they’ve been preparing to go down there soon to meet the people that live there, as well as inquire about Pendragon. If it went well, these will be the first people the boys will have ever met in the outside world. 

…

"You ready?" Aleximus asked Jacender, who was still putting on his boots. 

The boys had created a makeshift shack for them to live in. It was the best they could do with their limited supply of Ash wood, but still, the shack was resistant and durable.

"Yeah, yeah. Gimme a minute!" 

Aleximus sighed. "Sigh. It doesn't take that long to–"

"— Got it!" Jace jumped up, running out the door. "Last one there has gotta do the dishes for the week!!" 

"Wh-Wait!!" Aleximus ran after him. 

"You cheater! You started before me!!" 

The two ran through the distance, pushing each other along the way, hoping to get the other to fall.

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"Huff…w…why…don't…you just…give…up?!" Jace began heaving behind Aleximus, who continued his quick pace.

"Heh." Aleximus smirked. 

"Your stamina still needs work!" He told him, coming to a stop. 

"We're here." Aleximus pointed.

The town seemed small but it had some very noticeable features. Firstly, the huge iron gates that surrounded it. Secondly, the menacing guards at the top of the gate, staring down at a small figure in front of them. 

Their loud shouting and cheering made the two boys curious as to what was happening. 

—

"Stand away from the gate, you bastard!!!" One guard shouted. 

"You're not wanted, you defect!!" Yelled another. 

The rest of the guards threw similar insults at the young boy below them. 

Wrapped in a raggedy brown cloak, the boy himself had dark brown hair, as if to match his soot-ridden clothing. 

"E..waugh…mhm!!" The boy tried speaking, his words imperceptible, as he motioned symbols with his hands.

The guards went silent for a moment. 

"PFTTTTT!!!!" They busted out in loud laughter. 

The boy's face went red with embarrassment and his eyes welled with tears. 

"Didja hear that boys?!" A guard clapped. 

He stood front and center. "Sounds like the little retard wanted to say something, eh?" He asked them. 

"We sure did, Cap'n Upo!" The guards laughed back. 

Tears started streaming down the boy's face. 

"A…wahhhghha!!" He cried again, motioning furiously with his fingers, trying to get them to listen… But it didn't matter, his meek voice was being drowned out by the laughter. 

"Get going, or else I'll have to gun you down right here, right now!" Captain Upo smirked, making sure the boy was scared. 

"Eeuhk!" The boy gasped in terror. 

But he didn't move. 

Staring down the men, he stood unwilling to back down. 

Seeing it as a challenge to his authority, Upo drew a long metal looking object from a hold in his pants and aimed it at the boy. It was obviously a weapon.

 "Tsk! Stupid brat!!" He yelled at him. 

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" A voice emerged from behind the boy.

Jacender and Aleximus ran towards the boy, standing in front of him as if to protect him from whatever Upo would do. 

"Hm? Who're you brats?" Upo looked surprised. 

The other guards were shocked as well. 

"T-They're humans!!" They murmured. 

? What are they talking about? Aleximus wondered. 

Jace continued staring at Upo with contempt. 

Seeing adults bully a child didn't sit right with him. 

His uncle Matsuda always told him that it was an adult's job to protect children. Any adult who didn't do that, was scum.

"I could ask you the same!! Answer me!! What do you think you're doing to him?!" Jacender demanded. 

"Huh?!" Upo's forehead veined. 

Another attack at his authority. 

"You fu–" 

" —What's this?" a voice cut in.

The guards suddenly lined up, silent enough to hear a pin drop.

A figure walked onto the wall station next to Captain Upo. Much younger than him for sure. 

"M-Master Hisagi!" Upo bowed. 

"T-To what do we owe the pleasure, if I may be so bold to ask?" 

A young boy, just a bit older than Jace and Aleximus- perhaps 12- stood in front of the guards, looking down at the boys. 

He wore a brown and silver robe, bearing the insignia of a hammer on his back. 

His brown hair flowed down lusciously.

"You're too noisy so early in the afternoon." He sighed bored. "What seems to be the…" he stopped, his eyes falling on the boy below. 

"Hoho!" He chuckled slightly. 

What's his problem? Jace wondered.

The boy behind him whimpered slightly at the sight of the boy named Hisagi. 

Aleximus gave him a quick glance and then directed his gaze towards the guards. 

Whatever's happening here doesn't look too good. He stared at Hisagi. That idiot, Jace. What did he get us into? And it had to be the first people from the outside that we've ever met too.

"You know you're no longer welcome here, cousin Hidemi. What keeps possessing you to come back to the city limits?" Hisagi smiled, obviously making fun of the boy. 

Cousin? Aleximus noticed. 

Interesting…

"As for you two! Who are you and why are you here? Answer me or else!!" Captain Upo threatened the brothers.

Tch. Why does everything seem like it isn't gonna go well? Aleximus thought, nervously. 

"Hey Jace…" he started. 

Please…please don't do anything stu–

"HUUUUUH?!" Jace sneered at Upo.

Too late, ugh. Aleximus facepalmed.

"I should be asking you that!" Jace continued. "You greasy bully!!" 

Upo was shocked for a moment, but his anger returned. 

"Why you little–" Upo growled, ".... soldiers!! Aim!!" He commanded. 

CLACK CLACK CLACK

Each soldier readied similar metal poles at the boy's. 

What are those? Jace marveled.  

Aleximus stood front and center of the 3 boys, staring down the guards. 

"Aleximus!" Jace exclaimed, surprised.

Aleximus dropped his bag, taking out his wooden sword. "I don't know who you people are, or what business you've got with this kid, but aiming at my family is…" 

"...Disastrous."  He warned, glaring menacingly at the guards.

Some of the guards flinched. 

"Tch. You brat!! Don't look at me like that!!" Upo yelled, ready to attack. 

"Wait." Hisagi ordered, holding his hand up. His sword… I've never seen a material like it… he stares, looking at Aleximus’s weapon.

"Amusing. I sense a sliver of magic from you and yet you don't seem to be a Sanctum mage." 

Sanctum mage? Does he mean like uncle Matsuda? Jace wondered. 

Standing his ground, Aleximus responded. "And what of it?" 

Hisagi smiled.

"Interesting."

"Do you know where you are? This is Xastol City. Home of the Dwarven clan. You must know this, yes?" Hisagi asked.

"Dwarves? Like short people?" Jace asked, unwittingly.

"You brat!!" The guards yelled, taking offense to the remark. 

Aleximus shrugged, cutting in.

"Sorry, but we don't know anything about dwarves or the like. We just happened to be passing by when we saw what was happening, and we couldn’t just ignore it." 

"So they’re just travelers? But what kind of kids, especially human ones, would be out by themselves." Upo muttered.

“You think we’ll just believe you’re here for no reason??”

"Believe what you wish." Aleximus told him, rolling his eyes. 

You're dead meat, brat!!! Upo thought, clenching his iron pole with a hostile grip. 

"I'm afraid the reason you are here does not matter, friends. No human is allowed to set foot on our grounds. Your kind is found a bit... Repulsive." Hisagi spoke, this time turning away from Aleximus.

He focused his gaze once again on the boy below. 

"And what about him?" Aleximus asked. 

"He's not welcome either. Filthy half-breeds aren't tolerated here. Especially those who cannot Sanctum-Smith." Hisagi began walking away. 

"Hey! Wait!!" Jace called to him. 

"I will not. See yourselves out of my sight at once. You have been given a warning this once out of my curiosity for you, but that is a fleeting emotion at best." Hisagi responded. 

"Oh, and take that trash with you as well if you'd like." He chuckled slightly. 

Hidemi quaked, unable to look up.

"You bastard!!!" Jace yelled, running towards the gate, in frustration.

Aleximus tried to warn him. "Jace, wait!! There's something off with him–" 

DWOOM!!

An invisible pressure hit Jace's body like a truck, causing him to collapse on the floor for a moment.

"Argh!!" He groaned, as he brought himself back to his feet. 

The guards began to murmur.

"Idiot. I can't believe he got master Hisagi to use his Sanctum pressure." 

"But look! He’s getting right back up!! He's quite strong don't you think? Is he also a Sanctum mage?" 

"Stupid! Master Hisagi was just taking it easy on him! Besides, the Sanctum-Smiths aren't really fighters. They use their powers for Sanctum-Smithing. It's beneath them!" 

Not fighters? Aleximus narrowed his eyes.  

"Jace!!!" He refocused his attention on his brother, crouching near him and helping him up. "Are you alright?" 

"Y-Yeah. It was sort of unexpected, that's all. It's weak compared to that Hatagi jerk's powers!" Jace nodded.

They both looked up at the guards. 

They didn't expect their welcome to end up going so poorly. 

Aleximus stood, looking over at Hidemi.

He walked off. 

Jace stared at the ground. He knew what Aleximus meant, but wasn't sure if it was right.

"Arrgghh!! Damn it, fine!!!" He growled, scratched his hair and walked. 

 He stopped in front of the boy. 

Extending his hand to him, he spoke to Hidemi. 

"...?" Hidemi flinched. 

Jace exhaled. "Uh. This is a bit weird of me to ask but…"

Hidemi's tears halted with Jacender's next words. 

"Would you like to come with us?" He grinned.

Hidemi's heartbeat accelerated 

Only one other time in his life had he ever felt like he was wanted. 

His tears returned, but this time in bittersweet happiness. 

"W-wah?! Did I do something wrong?" Jace fretted. 

The boy shook his head and grabbed his hand. Who was this mysterious boy? And why did he feel at peace with his extension of goodwill?

"Oi, say something would ya?" Jace turned to Aleximus, beckoning him to come speak to Hidemi.

Aleximus sighed, cleaned out his ear with his pinky finger, blew off the earwax and walked on over. 

"Ahhh!" Hidemi exclaimed in a short surprise. 

Aleximus had slapped the back of his head. 

"Hidemi, was it?"

"You gotta have more backbone than that!! Quit being so timid!!" He jibed, warmly. 

"Aleximus!! Don't hit him!! What if ya hurt him?!" Jace pouted. 

Aleximus held his elbows up and held his hands behind his head. "Oh come off it!!" He said, kicking Jace in his leg. 

"Owwww!!!" Jace yelped, falling over dramatically. 

"Yeeek!!! I think I'm gonna dieeee!!!" Jace rolled around. 

Aleximus started kicking him as he rolled on the flood. "Lemme help you out with that!" 

Jace ran away, having Aleximus chase him in circles. 

The guards above were flabbergasted.

"Friggin weirdos…" they collectively murmured. 

Hidemi, too, was shocked at how laid back these two were. Just a moment ago, they were sticking up for him and ready to go against such scary guards. 

But now… they argued playfully without a care in the world. 

Who on earth were these two brothers? 

Hidemi smiled, running after them into the distance. 

"Ahha!!!!" 

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Hidemi's face showed that he was a bit scared of the boys’ shack. 

It looked haunted. 

"Ehhhhh…" he groaned, backing up slightly. 

"Aw come on! It isn't that scary!" Jace pouted. 

Hidemi still looked skeptical.  

Aleximus walked into the shack, removing his coat. "Jace, go hunt some deer." 

"Huh? Why me?" Jace nagged. 

"Because," Aleximus cocked his head sideways, "It's your fault we ended off on such a bad start with those people!" 

"Tah! Yeah right."

'Hidemi, if you're hungry, come inside and help me set up dinner." Aleximus commanded, ignoring Jacender.

"Mhm!!" Hidemi spoke, following Aleximus. 

"That jerk! Always telling me what to do and ignoring me…grrr…" Jace grumbled, walking off to search for deer. 

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 3 magic deer ran through the open plains, galloping for their lives. 

They were being followed with haste by a familiar small figure.

"Heh!" Jace grinned, jumping on one of their backs. 

“NRKKKKGGGHHH” The deer struggled, crashing to the ground. 

“Gotcha!” Jace smiled, wrapping his arms around the deer’s neck. 

He’d become bulkier in the past few months living in the wild. 

“SKKKKKRRRHHHH” It flailed around, attempting to break free 

Jace looked at its eyes.

The deer looked back with a very sad expression, as if begging. 

“Awwww–Oi! Wait! Stop trying to make me feel bad for you!!” Jace started tearing up.

The deer started to make its lip tremble, reinforcing pity. 

“F-Fine…” Jace caved in, letting go. 

"But only cause I'm nice, alright?" He muttered. 

The deer got up, looked at him, snickered and ran back with its pack.

“Y-You bastard!!” Jace yelled, running after him. 

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“How’d it go?” Aleximus said to Jace unenthusiastically as he stirred a pot of food.

Whatever he was cooking was very aromatic. 

The spices blended into the air so much that some of the animals came out to see. 

Hidemi was slicing vegetables. 

“I couldn’t catch the deer, sorry… he uhhh, got out of my grip. Yeah, he just managed to slip out somehow haha.” Jace smiled, scratching his head.

Jace turned his head away awkwardly chuckling, embarrassed to make eye contact with his brother. 

Aleximus rolled his eyes, picked up a bowl and extended his hand to Jace. 

“It tricked you, didn’t it? You tend to fall for anything that can pull at your heart strings.” He said. "Well, it can't be helped. We're having vegetable stew today."

Jace winced, knowing he couldn’t reply.

"Well, that's to be expected of an idiot. Even Hidemi here is more useful than you." 

Hidemi's face flushed red, but Jace was more embarrassed. 

…

“Mhmmm!!” Jace moved around as if dancing. 

“This is great, Aleximus!!” 

Hidemi took a bite, only to immediately regret it. 

"BWAFTRAAA!!!" He spit out. 

It was horrible. Aleximus didn’t actually know how to cook, but Jace’s taste buds don’t actually work that well. So he thinks pretty much anything tastes great. As for Aleximus himself, he’s just gotten used to eating whatever they could get their hands on out here.

The animals in front of them started to drool. They didn't care what it was, they were just hungry. 

GR~OW~L GURG~LE

They looked at Jace with sad eyes.

“Awww…” he thought.

“Hey ‘Lex…” he started. 

“NO.” 

Jace flinched, startled for a moment and then looked back at the animals.

He opened his palms, shrugging as if to say "I tried". 

The animals got even sadder. 

Alexmius got up, picking up the pot and handing it to Jace.

Jace made sure he was gone, looking around to make sure the coast was clear.

“Alrighty, he’s gone. Come on… hurry!” he whispered. 

He put the pot on the ground and the animals rushed it,  beginning to eat.

They chewed for a moment. 

"FTOOOWFTBBBAAA!!!!" They threw up. 

Hidemi was sorry for them, but surprised that Jacender gave them food in the first place. 

"Ao…owwaa." He urged, getting Jace's attention. Hadn't his brother just told him to eat all of it himself? Why was he disobeying?

"What? The food?" Jace realized, raising his eyebrow. 

"Mm!!" 

Jace whispered, leaning close to Hidemi. 

"You might not know, but Aleximus is actually a big softie. He doesn't care what I do with the food. But his stupid ego won't let him tell me up front. Gehehe." Jace smirked, poling his nose up and laughing haughtily.

CRASH!

“I gotcha now, you jerk!!” he grunted, holding the animal’s neck in his arms.

It was the deer that duped him earlier. 

“I remember you!! You got that cut on your tail from when we fell earlier!!” He tightened his grip. 

“NGGKKKHHKGHKKKEIIII!!!!” the deer cried, jumping for help. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t eat you right now!!” Jace ordered. 

“NKAY NKAY!!!” the deer nodded feverishly. 

“Huh…? You do…?” Jace asked, letting go.

"Gah!! That punk!!!!" Jace yelled after him. 

Hidemi snickered.

"Huh? And what's so funny, eh, Hidemi?" Jace said, his eye twitching.  

Hidemi shook his head as if to say "Nothing.", but covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile.

"Oi…. I can still see you laughing, ya know!" Jace chopped him on his head. 

"Come to think of it…"

Jace spoke carefully. "Hidemi… why don't you talk?"

"....." Hidemi didn't respond and instead clutched his elbows closer to his body and stared into the fire. 

Crap! Was I not supposed to say that? Jace thought worriedly.

Hidemi took his spoon and began to carve into the dirt. 

"...Huh?" 

Jace stepped closer to see. What's he writing?

His eyes went wide at what he read.

"CAN'T."

"Can't? What do you mean, can't?" 

"You can't talk?" He asked with a creased brow.

Hidemi shook his head "no", again. 

"Then what is it?!" 

The anticipation was killing Jacender. He needed to know. 

Hidemi carved another word into the ground. 

One that made Jace fall silent and look down at the ground in shock. 

"HEAR."

《Chapter 7: The Boy Named Hidemi》 Fin