Xion froze. His eyes widened with disbelief.
Allen was kneeling on the floor. In his hand was a gleaming dagger
Even in the dim evening, a sharp light glinted off the polished edge of the metallic weapon making Xion's eyes watery.
While hiding his palm behind his back, Xion peeked at the clinic door. Much to his dismay, it was still tightly closed.
Noxian, hurry up! He internally screamed while hastily taking a step back.
"H-Hold on! Don't do anything reckless!" Xion stammered, his panicked movements catching the taller man's attention.
"Don't move," Allen stood up, his voice still as deep as ever, but his usual calm face was distorted with a frown. "I will start with a shallow cut."
The situation felt surreal, absurd even. Xion's mind raced. How had he ended up here, backed into a corner, with Allen of all people threatening him with a knife?
To understand, one would need to rewind the clock just a few hours...
After the tiresome surgery, Xion had been thoroughly drained. His fingers still ached slightly from a long time of precision work.
Controlling mana for nearly an hour was not as easy as holding a scalpel!
Hence, he had decided that was enough for the day- no more patients.
Considering the risk of infection, he had refrained anyone from going near Nikolai for the time being.
While keeping an eye on the sleeping patient, he started reading the new books he had bought from the system mall. This time, the books were for mana-related diseases.
It even included the Devil's spawn he had just treated. Surprisingly, there were quite a few methods to deal with the problem, and there was one approach that resembled his own.
Though other methods were more dependent on dealing with mana, it still made Xion smile slightly. It meant he was on the right track.
While he was immersed in reading, Allen followed his instructions to deal with the patient's guardians.
He was shaken out of his "daze" when a tall male suddenly blocked his sunlight. He looked up only to see Allen peering at him with such intense, dark eyes that, for a moment, Xion wondered if there was something wrong with the patient.
Nikolai was still fast asleep, well more like unconscious, but he looked peaceful enough and that made Xion look at Allen with even more alertness.
"W-what?" Xion almost stuttered while trying not to show how intimidated he felt by Allen's towering physique.
Allen did not reply. Rather, he was unsure how to utter the words dancing on the tip of his tongue.
"A useless person like you is no good! I am going to make your younger brother my heir!"
Those were the words Allen grew up hearing since he was a child. More than once he wanted to prove his worth, yet no matter what he did, he always could not compare to his dear younger brother.
Archery, swordsmanship, leadership, even the mana control he had taken pride in, he had always fallen short in the eyes of his father.
At sixteen, Allen was cast out. He was banished to the unforgiving, cold northern territories.
If it had not been for Raymond and the little archduke finding, and taking him in, he would have long since been buried in the snow.
Since then, Allen had never used his last name. With the help of the little Archduke, he wholeheartedly started learning the alchemy of mana.
In his more than thirty years of life, there was no one who could match his skill. And that had given him immense pleasure.
Just then, a tiny little healer barged in. With his fluffy smile and silly naiveness, he won over the archduke.
With a new healer in the group threatening to take his position, Allen would be lying if he said he was perfectly fine. That was until he saw Xion threatening His Grace.
How many people survived after talking to his grace like that? None.
And the number had changed to one now.
Allen gulped before kneeling in front of Xion, "Accept me as your student!"
His yell was so loud that it even startled the poor Noxian, who was dozing off on the counter. "What happened? Young master?"
The purple-haired boy darted to the corner, only to be met with the startling sight. The usually composed Sir Allen clung desperately to young Master Xion's hand in a death grip while his other hand clenched to his dagger tightly.
While trying to wiggle his wrist out of Allen's hand, Xion mouthed Noxian to call Berry. If there was someone who he could trust in this situation, it was Mister Berry.
Though extremely loud, the old man was rather nice and easy to approach.
Wide-eyed, Noxian bolted toward his destination. His breath hitched with each frantic step. He had never seen Sir Allen like this- desperate, unhinged, and dangerous.
"We just need to do the blood-sacrificing ceremony, and everything will be fine," Allen mumbled more to himself while pulling Xion's sweaty hand.
"Stop moving," Allen growled as Xion struggled before adding with almost laughable earnestness, "Please."
Xion, "..." No brother, do you think if you say please, I'll let you cut my hands?!
They are very precious, okay! They make food!
Teeth gritted, he braced himself and shoved Allen with all the strength he could muster.
The chair, Xion had been sitting, ricocheted off the floor. Its legs cracked under the force, and with a loud thud, it fell apart.
Xion nearly followed suit. With a desperate grab, he steadied himself against the wall. His breath came out in harsh pants.
His gaze landed on the taller male, who had somehow ended up sprawled against the opposite wall. His handsome face was now comically pressed into it as if attempting to plant a kiss on its cold surface.
"... I am sorry," Xion murmured, realizing he had unintentionally tapped into the residual mana, and now his knees were buckling under his weight.
Do something! Do something! his mind shrieked.
He expected to see an angry Allen, yet what greeted his sight made his breath hitch.
The orange-eyed male pushed himself off the floor. His tousled brown hair shone under the sunlight streaming through the window. His clothes were a rumpled mess, much like his turbulent emotions.
But none of that concerned Xion.
What held him frozen in place was Allen's gaze. Those vibrant orange eyes glowed with an almost feral light, brimming with unrestrained excitement.
They looked predatory, dangerous even, as if the man had finally found the perfect prey after a long, relentless hunt.
The sight made his throat parch.
Allen laughed, "Hahaha, you really are the only one for me." He took a step closer, and his smile widened.
He swung his dagger on his fingers, "Be good and let me cut you."
Trembling Xion was on the verge of cussing aloud again.
Cut me? CUT YOU! You know what? F**k you!