I Refused To Be Reincarnated

As they passed through the college's corridor, the five healers went to meet Thurin before healing the students.

Meanwhile, Beatrix, Elisabeth, and Adam continued, meeting Shepard a few moments later.

"Look at you!" Elisabeth said, shaking her head with a bitter smile as she glanced at Shepard's blood-stained robes and wrinkly face.

However, Adam could swear he saw something more. Disdain? Gloating?

'Is their relationship strained?'

The answer revealed itself after a tense silence lingered as sparks seemed to collide between the two arcanists.

"Cough. Did you come to heal or mock me?"

Shepard's voice resounded as a fit of cough made his body tremble, exposing the ugly burns hidden beneath his tattered clothes. Explore stories at empire

"Mhh. I'll heal you if you let your disciple study in my academy," she answered, her lips curling into an innocent smile.

Instantly, Adam crossed his arms behind her, showing he didn't want to and roaring in his mind for his mentor to refuse.

However, his soul almost shattered the next second as he heard the answer.

"Sure. Heal me now."

'Traitor!'

The thought rumbled like a thunderclap as he gritted his bony teeth. He had always done his best to help him. For what? To be sold without hesitation!

As Elisabeth moved to him, the noise of her golden staff colliding with the ground with each step echoing, his mind swirled into chaotic planning.

'Let's see if I won't make you regret it!'

Simultaneously, a blinding light forced him out of his pondering and to gaze at the spectacle unfolding before him.

"Emendatio Solis."

With those words, Elisabeth's figure turned into a light entity, releasing a soothing stream of warmth in the classroom. Then, she moved to Shepard, a gentle smile stretching her lips before she touched his hand.

Like an electric current, the contact sent a tremor jolt through the dean's body. The light spread, enveloping him like a chrysalis pulsing with life. His mangled and charred muscles recovered as new tissues weaved themselves together like living beings. The dark spots covering his skin turned whiter gradually until fresh, untainted skin replaced them.

Finally, new hair sprouted like healthy grass as his wrinkles disappeared, making him recover his youthful appearance.

"Ahhh."

A blissful moan resounded from within the light as Shepard lost himself in the pleasure of feeling his physical strength return for a second.

However, Adam's vision was different. Despite the grand effects and display of power, he only felt dread. Yet, he still couldn't figure out the reason.

'Did I make a mistake?'

He couldn't help but think about his enhanced intuition. Even if it saved him once, upgrading it had created a new problem: the annoying sensation would constantly scratch at his mind or make him feel dread!

Unwilling to endure even if he trusted it, he subtly stepped back and left the room as everyone focused on Elisabeth's impressive spell. Then, he returned to the Gate to wait for Julius and Nathan.

After a few minutes, Julius, Alina, and Alexander emerged from the mana veil, drawing his attention and breaking his dreary mood... for a second. Then, an ominous feeling gripped him by the throat, making him shiver because Alexander's smile reached his ears.

"Don't tell me you accepted!"

His voice cut through the night, his tone one of disbelief.

"Bother... I did. I don't want to see other kids suffer," Julius answered, fidgeting with his fingers and smiling bitterly.

"..."

He failed to answer, trembling in anger and glaring at Alexander.

The former duke glared back, finding solace in this incredible victory after losing all his possessions to him.

Finally, feeling the tension grow out of hand, Alina interjected, her worried voice cracking.

"Alexander really wants to make the country prosper. Don't be too harsh on him, and don't worry. Before starting anything, he plans to educate Julius for a few years."

"I don't care!" He yelled, gritting his teeth and turning to Julius. "Do you have any idea of how difficult it is to be a good leader? Do you know how many lives will depend on your decisions? At the slightest mistake, you'll doom thousands of people! Can you bear the burden?"

Understanding his brother's concern, Julius gazed at him, his heart calm yet his eyes firm.

"I know. But is it better to let Thorian and the corrupted noble destroy everything? Someone has to step up for the weak!"

"Yes! But not you!"

The more he listened, the more he felt his soul tremble. Yet, he didn't know how to convince him out of this folly, especially after seeing his determined eyes.

"If you really do, we won't be able to explore the world together! You'll be busy every day. Even now, you won't have any time between your lesson and training for anything. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Sorry, big brother... I know you want my happiness, but you also taught me to help others when possible," Julius answered, taking determined strides before hugging him with trembling hands. "I-I'm sorry, but I could have been among those kids, too. I can't let them continue abusing their power."

"Truthfully, I don't want you to risk your life and carry this burden either," Alina said, joining the hug to soothe Adam's trembling frame. "But I also respect Julius for his choice. It requires a lot of courage."

Contrary to her expectation, he pulled back from the hug, his lips twisting into a displeased grimace. A flicker of pain crossed his eyes before he quickly masked it with a scowl.

"Is that so? Do whatever you want since you believe you know better than me."

He blurred, rushing a few hundred meters away before jumping atop the library. Bathed by the starlights, he sat and hugged his legs.

Was his desire to spend time with Julius now that he could move independently egoistical?

Probably. But he also wanted to preserve him from the cruel reality. After all, he had seen it. People's hope, the threat surrounding their city, the rise of heroes, and their deaths.

'Even if he also chose not to remember, he decided to walk the same path... what an irony.'

All his plans and hope for the future had been shattered, too. Yet, he couldn't blame him since deep down, he admired him.

With a sigh, he dismissed his thoughts, knowing he would need time to calm down and accept his decision.

'I can't be depressed now.'

Searching for ways to uplift his mood, he remembered the blinking notification he had ignored until now. With a thought, he summoned it before a bitter taste filled his mouth.

[Tier 5 mage: Marquis Gabriel Ashford defeated. You have gained 100 experience points.]

[Enemy defeated while being at a much lower level, xp+200%]

Exp: 920/10240

"He was really a weak snake acting like a dragon. Even the xp he yielded was as terrible as his character."

He hissed, cursing Gabriel to rot wherever his soul went, preferably to the same fiery depths where the bear, Gaston, and Ignatius settled.

As he recovered a sliver of composure after venting, the Gate drew his attention again as Nathan emerged, followed by a sea of two thousand cheerful youths.

However, before he could even react, his mood dived again as he heard their yells piercing the silence of the night.

"Prometheus! Prometheus! Prometheus!"

"I'm not him!" He roared, stomping the ground before rushing before them to shut them up.