I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Ten minutes later, Shepard reappeared in the room, holding a pouch filled with materials.

During Shepard's absence, Adam inquired about the situation, questioning why Julius lay on the ground emitting such a foul stench that even a sewer rat would flee.

After the update, Adam gazed at the sleeping boy with mixed feelings. His promotion should have been a happy occasion. However, he felt a pang of guilt hit his heart.

"I prepared three sets of materials. Now, you are on your own. However, if you become my disciple... I can brew it for you." Shepard smiled at Adam before adding. "You realise that many dream to learn under an arcanist? After all, only nine people in the world reached this rank."

'Only nine? Why so few?' Adam thought, astonished by the information.

Noticing his perplexion, Shepard giggled, "It seems you died at quite a young age if you don't know about it. Most nobles only manage to become acolytes. They account for the vast majority of magic practitioners. Apprentices are less numerous. There should be less than five thousand around, I guess?"

"As for mages, their numbers are even scarcer. I don't have the exact number, but there should be no more than one thousand."

Adam's eyes widened in utter shock. He understood that the further you climbed, the fewer peers you had.

"There exist only one hundred adepts and, as previously noted, nine arcanists. Archmages, considered the pinnacle of magic, currently number only three."

'So, Kwame Adewal was at the peak? Why was he so sure of his defeat then?" Adam thought briefly before obtaining the answer.

"We consider the archmage the highest tier because there has only been one magus in history. He has lived for an extremely long time and is still protecting the world from behind the scenes. Well, that's what I was told. Never met him personally." Shepard shrugged as he ended his explanation. He wasn't really interested in this topic, only abording it to make Adam realise how lucky he was.

However, he couldn't guess that the seemingly common information he provided opened up new theories in the ghost's mind.

'Either Kwame fought against other archmages or... The magus!' Adam thought, fearing the implications this theory had if it was true. However, he was way too weak to think about those things. Right now, he had to improve himself, learn magic, and... and...

'What's wrong with me?' He thought, alarmed by how reluctant he became to think about certain things.

'I'll have to seclude myself for a month again to gather my thoughts and correct my mindset.' He made his decision. He would live in the dream place most of the time, leaving it only to attend classes until his mind was back to normal.

As he took some time, lost in his thoughts, Shepard sighed in disappointment. Despite his lengthy explanation, the ghost was still undecided.

"I'll take my leave. If you finally make up your mind, ask any professor to contact me." Shepard said before swiftly turning into smoke and drifting away with the wind.

As the arcanist left, Vikram, who stood silent the whole time, suddenly spoke. "I can help you brew your potion if you want. Consider it a repayment for taking care of the kids."

Adam pondered the offer and replied, using mana to write, "You can overlook the process and give me advice. But I want to be the one brewing it."

It had been years since he last concocted a potion. Even then, it would be the first time he attempted one of the third tier. Having Vikram to guide him was more valuable than asking him to do everything in his opinion.

Vikram nodded in approbation.

"Tomorrow, during my class, we'll brew it." He said while waving his hand as he exited the room.

Left alone in the room, Adam scrunched his nose in displeasure. The stench was really too much.

"Handle the rest and tell Julius not to wake me up before you are in classes." He wrote, swiftly closing his eyes to return to the dream place, fleeing the terrible hodor.

Arun gazed at the text in shock for a moment. Then, he walked to Julius with determination-filled eyes. He grabbed a towel and started to clean the thick black substance from his friend's body, noticing it became slightly different.

Julius' defined muscles seemed even more shredded. However, they looked less voluminous, and veins criss crossed them as his body fate ratio seemed lower.

He watched the sculpture-like human in awe. It was the first time he had seen a body cultivator with such a harmonious physique as they always had ugly, inflated muscles filled with mana.

After he was done and the stench somewhat alleviated, he noticed a faint but fresh scent emanate from his friend, astonishing him. Since when did natural body odor smell this good?

He pondered as he lifted Julius' body with difficulty, struggling to put him on his bed before finally returning to the desk. Since he couldn't attend classes, he would focus on learning his spells.

The shadows danced in the dimly lit room as the night slowly passed.

*******

"Julius... Julius... Julius! Wake up!"

Julius opened his eyes with difficulty after being shaken and called with intensity. He gazed at the culprit, thinking it would be his big brother, only to see the exhausted-looking Arun.

He sat on his bed, looking at his friend in confusion. "Didn't you sleep?" He asked, unaware of everything that happened while rubbing his eyes.

"I didn't. I can't attend classes, so I'll sleep now." Arun explained what happened shortly before walking to the sleeping space they had prepared for him yesterday.

After assimilating everything, Julius felt happy that his friend cared so much for him but sad at the same time. After all, he would be punished because of him.

Moreover, the news about his brother's decision saddened him even more. Just when he was finally starting to act like he did in the past...

With those mixed feelings, he exited the room, wishing Arun to rest well and promising to summarise what they did in class once he returned.