Aurelius woke up groggily with his stomach growling in protest.

  Tiberius had not returned until 11pm, apparently having gone to the cinemas with Lucina earlier in the evening.

  This meant that he decided against going to the Rowdy Hog the previous night. Going into a tavern full of unruly crowds full of drinking and singing alone was, firstly, rather… sad, and secondly, would not have done anything too good for his terrible headache.

  Therefore, he had resorted to munching on his stash of dried foods, including a bone-dry piece of stale bread, a few pieces of beef jerky and a juicebox.

  It was definitely a rather small portion given that Aurelius had a rather small lunch with Tiberius and Lucina that day, with him having skipped breakfast.

  Tiberius stirred in the bed across from him, snoring away and sprawled in his bed.

  His friend’s glasses were dropped on the floor, having fallen off besides his head during his sleep.

  Aurelius clicked his tongue, as he picked up the glasses and placed them on their small bedside table.

  He groggily made his way to the bathroom, resisting the call of his bed with eyes that struggled to stay open.

  When he entered back into the room after finishing up with his morning routine, Tiberius had apparently just started his day.

  He was sat up on his bed, with puffy eyes full of drowsiness.

  “Don’t you have lessons this morning?” Aurelius asked him incredulously.

  “Nope. I keep telling you to drop a subject or two.” Tiberius replied, a yawn outlining his cavernous, pink and rather unsightly mouth.

  “Uh huh, I don’t need to remind you that taking 6 subjects in the Academy is the average it seems.” Aurelius remarked sarcastically.

  “Pft, what’s wrong with taking 4 classes? It frees up my time, and my 4 classes are actually relevant to my own elemental specialisation. Even my mentor said it should be fine.” He mumbled, the words seemingly coated with the desire to sleep.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Anyway, what’s up with your own sad, horrifying life?” Tiberius asked cautiously.

  Recalling their contracts with the Magic Commission, Aurelius scrutinised Tiberius, wondering if he would… just die on the spot or something.

  “Relax, I was already aware of your situation before we signed the contract. I’m pretty sure that these kinds of agreements activate only when someone new becomes aware of the information. Plus we both have advanced anti-divinations cast on us. Nothing we say will slip into the spirit realm… probably.” Tiberius explained casually.

  “Uh, no. ”They’ve pretty much locked me down to any SPECIFIC discussions about my life and my... benefactor.” Aurelius shot back.

  “Then talk about the general things in your life. You seem VERY stressed, like all the time now. Not to mention… haggard.” Tiberius remarked.

  “You would be if a crazy woman met you EVERY DAY and made you read for 3 hours straight. That’s not to mention the kind of DANGER my life is in.” Aurelius whispered.

  “But you have your… gimmick, don’t you?” Tiberius asked thoughtfully, getting rather close to breaching his contract.

  “Oh sure, try DYING. Great suggestion Tiberius. In fact, why don’t I just jump off this bloody building now.”

  “And have you gotten over your existential crisis so soon? Just how empty is your noggin?” Aurelius scoffed.

  “First of all, my existential crisis is still justified. At the same time, I will choose to bet on the… mechanics that assume the best for myself. And honestly, I’m quite happy with those particular… scenarios.” Tiberius remarked.

  “And if it’s not?” Aurelius asked, eyebrows raised in annoyance at his friend’s carefree attitude.

  “Then it’s just not.” Tiberius replied succinctly, rubbing his eyes as he yawned again.

  “I thought about that. And I realised that at the end of the day, we all eventually die anyway. I’m probably not going to be incarnated into a spirit, but I’m still living a decent life. I’ve got a loving girlfriend, a nice family, and lots of money. I’ve had a pretty sweet gig up to now and I still do, except with some unpleasant folks after my life thanks to you.”

  Tiberius glared at Aurelius with this comment which Aurelius found ridiculous. He was the one who suggested going to the Commission in the FIRST PLACE.

  However, Aurelius bit his tongue, sensing a grain of truth in his friend’s words.

  “But at the same time, they’re most likely after you more than me. And then there’s Mr. Tona and Ms. Yeltz to protect us. So, I’m not particularly worried at the moment about your little… gimmick. At least, for myself.” He elaborated, becoming rather philosophical in his rare moment of lucidity.

  “You must genuinely have the soul of a pig or something, Tiberius.” Aurelius sighed weakly at Tiberius’s rather nihilistic philosophy.

  “I’m more concerned about you, man. You’ve been less annoying recently, and I’d like for you to be less stressed than you are right now.” Tiberius comforted, shrugging his shoulders and staring at Aurelius with eyes that radiated innocence and benevolence.

  Aurelius stared back at Tiberius, wondering if he had become possessed or something. Firstly, he sounded coherent. Secondly, he was actually being sensitive towards Aurelius!

  “And honestly, your ti- predicament doesn’t sound too bad to me.” Tiberius commented.

  “What the fuck do you mean by that?” Aurelius asked incredulously.

  “Don’t you read books?” Tiberius retorted, his drowsy eyes filling up with a little excitement.

  “You have basically all the time in the world with virtually no consequences!”