Rebirth: Childhood friend of the heroine

Chapter 125- Exposed

"What are you staring at?" It was nearly dark, birds were flying back to their nests, and the wind had dropped beyond resistance unless one was wearing a sweater.

Alex approached Edric, who was standing in the backyard while looking at his hands for some reason.

The raven-haired didn't hide the reason for his astonishment from him, "My Soul Energy...after waking up, I found it has doubled."

Alex was surprised, "Maybe because you helped defeat that being?" Although not significant, Alex could tell that the monster has gone through one hell of a battle, by the condition of the battleground.

"Inflicting a few scratches wouldn't have granted me such a massive boost. This is shocking."

Edric's normal SE count remains around seven thousand, but now, it has reached nearly fifteen thousand—allowing him to maintain his elven form for half a day easily and switch transformations if he needs to.

"You don't feel any different, right?" Alex asked, gaining a shake of his head in denial.

The silver head heaved a sigh, and asked him, "Do you only absorb the powers of the beasts you consume? Or their basic body functionality as well?"

That question gained a perplexed look from Edric, "What do you mean?"

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Alex explained, "In my opinion, you have gained the ability of the elven people whose SE increases every time they exhaust it beyond a certain point."

Alex was baffled, "Can I do that?" He had no idea even though he had awakened this skill years ago.

Alex nodded, "From my understanding, your unnatural Soul Energy growth is the result of your elven transformation."

Edric hummed, still a bit unsure, however, that's the only explanation that seemed relevant to his current situation.

"Ah, wait! If I can adapt the basic features of other races, then won't I gain unnatural strength the more I practice my punches, like those of the beast tribe? And if I continue to hunt, my senses will further grow, like those of the Wolf kins."

Alex shrugged, "Can be possible. But right now, there is something more important you should be focusing on."

Edric, smilingly asked, "What is that?"

Alex informed him about the thing for which he approached him, "Amanda had woken up."

Edric's expression shifted, before, in a blur, he dashed past Alex and moved toward the mansion.

Left alone, Alex heaved a sigh, and called out,

"Garesta."

[Name: Alex]

[Age: 17]

[Str: 72] (Avg: 30)

[Spd: 93] (Avg: 30)

[Int: 84] (Avg: 25)

[Skill: Storage, Sword Arts, Rapid Regeneration, Heightened comprehensibility, Cursebind, Tempest Surge.]

[Soul Energy: 3276-> 20117]

[Upper limit: 500]

[Lower limit: 25]

....

Back when he utilized the Curse, he gained the ability of the giant a*s wolf he slayed back in Chainedvale. His Soul Energy continued to grow during those thirty or so seconds.

Alex was assuming that his stats would return to how it was before, however, it didn't change at all. And currently, he couldn't feel any influence of the Curse on his consciousness.

'Doesn't that mean I got power-ups and new skills worth ages in just half a minute?' Acquiring such benefits from the Curse was both elating and concerning. He couldn't trust the Curse, nor would he attempt to unleash it unless a dire situation arose.

"Hmm?" Alex suddenly felt someone looking at him secretly, urging him to turn towards the person, and indeed, the blond Princess stood there.

"Why are you hiding? Come here?" Alex invited, as he spotted Celestria peeking from the door.

She slowly walked towards him, with her face leaning down.

"Why are you being shy all of a sudden? Not like we are meeting for the first time."

Celestria clutched the sides of her dress as she said, "This scar...it's pretty ugly, no?"

There was a scar on her face that trailed from the left corner of her lip to her collarbone. It would heal in a few days but it is highly unlikely it would vanish completely.

Alex heaved a sigh as he inched closer to the girl before cupping her face and uttering, "You are beautiful, Cela. No matter what you or the world think, that scar doesn't look ugly to me. So never again, feel ashamed or hesitant to show your face."

Celestria's slumped shoulders gained some strength as she looked up at him, trying to find any deceit in his eyes. However, much to her relief, he was utterly honest.

She leaned forward, resting her head against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat calming her nerves, as she asked, "It's quite dangerous to enter Eryndor's territory. If you get captured, your reputation would be ruined, and Father would highly likely brand you as a criminal as well."

Although for Celestria, her father would have forgiven Alex for committing a crime in Grimland, being caught in a foreign land would leave him with no option.

"I am aware, Cela; however, I cannot leave the woman to suffer who has sacrificed everything for me. She has been stuck in jail for years because she tried to protect me."

Maybe it was because of the way Beatrice told him about his mother's situation that Alex couldn't stop himself from wanting to liberate her. He didn't know what he would say or do after rescuing her, but for now, his intentions were all he could think of.

Celestria softly whispered, "Don't even think of leaving me behind again. This time, I know your destination so be very careful."

Alex chuckled, "Is that a threat?"

"If a threat can keep us together, then so be it." Her small fists balling his shirt, and the way her cheek bulged, urged Alex to pat the small creature on her head. She was too damn adorable.

"Alex." Suddenly, much to Celestria's displeasure, someone interrupted them.

Turning toward the source of the voice, Alex found the Vampire Princess standing there, "I met Beatrice."She informed.

Alex nodded before he separated from Celestria and approached the girl, "What did you receive?"

"Everything. Here," She handed him the note she prepared in which all the information Rebecca gained from Beatrice was written.

Alex read the description with a serious look on his face.

Meanwhile, Celestria said, "You returned immediately. Could have stayed in Chainedvale for a few days."

Rebecca grinned, "Well, I was craving for my Darling's 'fluid' so I couldn't resist returning."

Celestria's brow twitched. She knew the 'fluid' in question was Alex's blood, yet the way she sensually uttered those words—and ended with that deliberate lick of her lips—was nothing short of infuriating.

Alex finished reading the note, before saying, "I will need your help in this one as well. Will you stay?"

"Of course, Dah~ling~" She sing-songed, making sure that Celestria hears her.

Celestria grumbled, "And me, Alex?"

"Of course, I will need you too. We are infiltrating the castle of a man who is anticipating our arrival."

Eryndor must have been informed about the disqualification; as such, he should be expecting Alex to use brute methods to liberate his mother. That begs extreme caution.

Soon the trio returned to the mansion. Rebecca didn't have much rest in these few days so she excused herself and asked for a room.

Once she retired, Alex, along with others, gathered at the dining table for dinner this time.

Lord Lockwood, along with his family, were all in Amanda's room. Strangely, Edric was here in the dining room, ushering Alex to ask,

"What happened?"

"Uh...nothing. It was just kind of awkward..." Edric was looking embarrassed about something, which urged Valerie to ask,

"Did you perhaps say something embarrassing in front of her parents?"

Edric shook his head, and under the persistent curious gazes of the people around him, he finally confessed, "Amanda....kind of revealed our relationship and now I could feel Lord Lockwood glaring at me all the time."

Alex was dumbfounded, "Didn't the man already know?"

Edric heaved a sigh, and with a shake of his head, he said, "We figured he might already know, considering Lord Lockwood saw us together at last year's tournament. Besides, plenty of people could have told him, so we assumed he was aware and never felt the need to make an official announcement.

Valerie was speechless and so was Alex. It was the blond Princess who said, "I can understand if it's you, but Amy as well? How can she not understand the severity of the matter and make time to officially introduce you to her family?"

Edric heaved a long, weary sigh, "I don't know....maybe she was nervous so she masked it in the name of some other reasons?"

"Or maybe she was embarrassed to reveal her relationship with you." Valerie joked but in his current state,

"...that also might be true."

"...."(Valerie). Now the redhead was feeling bad for suggesting it.

Alex rolled his eyes as he continued eating and told him, "No time is the right time, so just man up and formally introduce yourself to them."

Edric gave a stiff nod, and with a serious expression he muttered, "I will."

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A/N:- A little slice of life before we get into serious stuff. I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter. Drop a comment.