Finding Stardust

They kept working diligently and tried not to make mistakes. After he was satisfied by watching the s.p.a.ce outside their s.h.i.+p, the young man walked out of the bridge and down the long corridor. He stopped in front of the elevator and went two levels down.

He walked casually into a ma.s.sive empty hall. With one swoop, all the lights in the room were on.

"Hey .. Therius. Did you call me?"

Suddenly a man"s voice came from behind him. The young man did not turn to see who was coming. He only nodded. His face was devoid of any expression.

"Yeah. I need to exercise a little," answered the white-haired man. He waited until the second man came to his vision. Not long after, a really handsome young man with long golden locks stepped in front of him. Therius nodded slightly and greeted the person who had just arrived. "Xion, let"s practice!"

The man called Xion was not wearing any military getup, just like Therius. He only wore a simple gray outfit that looked comfortable. His face was handsome and dignified, but his pair of glowing purple eyes looked intimidating. It was as if he could read people"s minds and know their future if he stared directly at them.

"I heard that we"ll only arrive in three months," said Xion. "Other people will need this training deck. Don"t destroy it."

"I promise I will not use more than a third of my power. You can keep my words," answered Therius in a flat tone.

"Ouch ... I don"t feel like doing anything, Therius. Why don"t you ask one of the military officers to spar with you instead?" Xion grumbled with a lazy expression.

Nevertheless, Therius paid no heed to his friend"s protest. Without any warning, he suddenly waved his right arm, and soon all the doors on the ma.s.sive training deck were shut close. With a second blow from his hand, blue-colored flames suddenly appeared on his palm, which he immediately shot towards Xion.

Xion, who was attacked so suddenly, swiftly tilted his body. The blue fireball shooting at him landed on an empty s.p.a.ce. With a faint smile, Xion stomped the floor and shot toward Therius.

A powerful gust of wind surrounded his body as he tried to hit Therius with his fist. The target casually dodged the attack with an elegant swing of his body, while his right hand quickly swung to grip his opponent"s neck.

Xion tackled Therius" grip with his left hand, and soon, the two were involved in a close range altercation. They expertly launched their attacks, dodged their opponent, and tackled when necessary. The chilling gust and the blazing fireb.a.l.l.s were intertwined in the air as their bodies moved faster and faster. At some point, they both looked like two shadows flas.h.i.+ng inside a small typhoon and a blazing blue fireball.

For an hour, they kept attacking each other using one-third of their power, and after an hour, no one seemed to win.

"It is enough." Therius suddenly stepped back and raised his hand to hold Xion"s fist. There was no more flame in his palm, a sign that he wanted to end their sparring.

Xion immediately held back, and the wave of freezing air surrounding his body slowly disappeared.

"I told you I wasn"t interested in fighting. You wouldn"t listen," he grumbled.

His body slowly descended to the floor, and finally, he landed gracefully back on both feet. Xion fixed the creases on his clothes and walked to the right.

A sliding door immediately opened, and he entered the adjoining room, which was designed like a nice lounge. There were some comfortable sofas and various facilities for people to eat and drink. Some nice cups and bottles of wine were lined up neatly on the counter.

"On this s.h.i.+p, you are the only mage who could put up a fight against me. Training with people weaker than you is not interesting. Besides, you must obey my words while you are on this s.h.i.+p because ..." Therius did not continue his words, only stared at Zion with a meaningful look.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n it," hissed Xion. "Typical."

Therius just rolled his eyes and plopped himself on the sofa. "I see that you"re getting bored. I was just inviting you to have fun by training together. Isn"t it better than sitting for hours and looking at the s.p.a.ce until you fall asleep?"

"And whose fault is it that I got nothing better to do than sitting for hours and looking at the s.p.a.ce until I fall asleep?" blurted Xion. He poured water for himself and then sat across from Therius. "You know I get bored easily. You shouldn"t have brought me on an expedition like this."

"I need my best friend on this important journey. You know that I am not good with women," Therius grumbled.

Xion finally chuckled at his best friend"s words. He was reminded of some funny incidents in the past that proved Therius" point. His anger had disappeared entirely. "And you think I"m good with women? What you need is Aeron, not me."

"Tsss... he would never agree to go on a whole-year expedition and leave all his harem behind. Do you think I didn"t try to talk him into going?" Therius asked with an eyebrow raised. "There is no way he would come unless I provide him with women."

"All you have to do is order him.." said Sion with a shrug. "Your Highness."

"Xion! Shut up! What if someone heard you? There isn"t a single officer here who knows my real ident.i.ty," Therius grunted, taking the cup from Xion"s hand.

"If anyone heard me, you could just erase their memories," answered Zion nonchalantly.

"Tsss... in the academy, no one but you know my ident.i.ty," Therius said again. "I don"t want to force Aeron to join this expedition just because I"m the crown prince."

"Yeah, right. You didn"t wanna pull rank on Aeron, but you didn"t even bat an eyelid when you are pulling rank on me." Xion chided.

"I wasn"t pulling rank on you. In fact, I was giving excitement to your boring life. You"re too young to be a hermit in the mountain. It"s time for you to see the world," Therius commented. He had down his drink and handed his cup back to Zion.

The blond young man narrowed his eyes. "You took my drink and now you want me to get you another one? Don"t you have legs?"

"If you don"t want me to pull rank on you and make you my errand boy, don"t ever call me Your Highness again," Therius replied. He then rose from the couch and poured a red drink from a bottle on the counter into his cup. His face showed a faint smile when he tasted his drink. "Good thing we brought enough wine. This is nice."

Xion only looked at his best friend and shook his head. He waved his right hand, and the wine bottle and one gla.s.s from the counter immediately hovered towards him. He swiftly caught the two items and poured himself wine. After he was done, he returned the wine bottle to the counter in the same way. He then sat relaxed with his hands holding a gla.s.s of wine.

"After this, I want to go back to the sleeping pod. I will sleep for three months and only wake up when we have arrived. Don"t you dare wake me up," said Xion while sipping his wine.

"You dare to threaten your prince?" Therius gave him a sideways glance.

Xion did not reply. He only sipped his wine with a mysterious smile. The man then looked at Therius with a grin. "You know what I can do to little Therius, don"t you? I can take him to a brothel, give him a traumatizing experience, enough to make him hate women. Imagine ... that 5-year-old sweet innocent boy ..."

"DON"T YOU DARE!" Therius" usually stoic expression now looked irritated. Of all the people in this world, Xion was the only one who knew how to push his b.u.t.tons.

"I still remember how you called me Handsome Uncle ... ah so adorable. I don"t understand how could such an adorable boy grow up to be this annoying stoic man. Being a prince does not mean you have to be so stoic and boring."

Therius pressed his forehead. "I never called you Handsome Uncle. I would certainly remember."

He placed his cup on the counter and immediately grabbed Xion"s right hand. Therius looked closely at his best friend"s eyes. "Xion, from now on you must never think about going back to the past and ruining my childhood, ever. Now you may go back to sleep. Didn"t you say you were sleepy?"

Xion blinked several times and then let out a big yawn. "Hmmm ... you"re right. I really am sleepy. After was.h.i.+ng up, I will go back to the sleeping pod and rest."

"Good." Therius released his grip from Xion"s hand. "Go to sleep. I won"t bother you anymore."

Xion got up from the couch and walked lazily out of the lounge. Before he reached the door, the handsome young man turned his head and narrowed his eyes towards Therius. "If you dare wake me up before three months, I will visit the cute little Therius who called me Handsome Uncle and do things to him. I am not joking."

He then left with a chuckle. Therius" telemancy was so powerful that he could control a dozen people in one go, but apparently not powerful enough to affect Xion, who was a triple-element mage like himself.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n it," Therius hissed in annoyance. "Typical."