Draeyer Academy (Rewrite)

Chapter 19-Sanctuary

"Let's have lunch. What do you want to eat?" Gael asked him. They had just left the headmaster's office and were making their way back down to the lobby.

"Anything is fine," he said. "Actually, maybe that vegetable dish you made last night."

"You liked it? Sure, but my housekeeper would be the one preparing it this time."

After accepting the job offer, Alec spent the rest of the morning signing documents required for his graduation. Gael had promised, that with the help of the headmaster, it would be sent to Icefall Academy as soon as possible. Before the end of the weekend, he would finally receive his degree. He would still need to go under evaluation before being officially hired, but it was more of a formality. Gael had enough authority to do so, and he was not afraid of being judged for nepotism because of it.

"I trust that you'll do a good job," were Gael's words. Alec had no idea why Gael would trust him when the only thing he saw so far was his combat abilities. Gael had never even seen him teach. Alec tried to shrug off the pressure from Gael's trust.

He still could not believe it. While it was true, that he had worked hard to graduate early while fulfilling hunting requests, he held no hope of actually being offered a teaching-related job so quickly. He was young and lacked the connections to receive opportunities like that.

But an opportunity came knocking on his door, and from Draeyer Academy at that. Something he thought would take a while to come his way.

"If you think that an opportunity that comes to you is worth it, grab it. Don't let go. Don't feel unworthy about it and think it was just luck. Remember that diligence creates the conditions for luck to happen, and luck is like a reward for those who never stopped putting in effort."

Ever since he left Gelun, Alen's teachings would always appear in his mind often compared to before. He had learned so much from his brother, but it seemed that he had neglected those lessons because he had insisted on staying in his own bubble. Now that he thought about it, if Alen was still alive, he would have driven Alec out of Gelun to explore the skies. He would've sent him to Icefall Academy to be an actual student instead of to "make friends" like he always told him to. His brother would be disappointed to know that he had stayed miserable in his "comfort zone," because he was afraid that stepping outside of it would make drown him in even more misery.

And he really was miserable. Until Crimson came.

He clenched his fists. Thinking of Crimson would eventually lead him to thinking of the bastard. He hated that the happy memories he had of Crimson would always be stained with the memory of the thief. I wish that bastard would just jump over the Edge or get eaten by a drae—no. The drae might get an upset stomach. Maybe he should be hunted down and eaten by a pack of armor cats.

"Why do you want to be a teacher?"

He was broken from his musings of the thief and cats when Gael spoke. He also realized that they were in the lobby, standing before the large statue of black drae with jewel sapphire eyes. He resumed walking, heading out the doors with Gael.

"Because of my brother."

"Alen? What about him?"

Alec slowed his steps, before stopping just before the doors of the academy. He looked up at Gael as he answered. It would not matter much if Gael knew his reasons. It was not a big deal after all.

"I learned a lot from Alen in the short time he raised me. I learned all his knowledge, skills, and maybe a bit of his wisdom. I didn't want it to go to waste. I wanted to share it with as many people as possible. It's also my way of keeping his memory alive."