by Cloe D Frost
That put an awkward end to the conversation and the two professors let the disheveled Arion enter the room.
As soon as Arion walked in, Deora glared daggers at Elaru threateningly behind his back. I’ll remember this! Will never trust you again! He then “humph”-ed one final time before slamming the door shut.
As the door slammed shut, a sudden series of crashes was heard.
The three inside the room looked towards the shelf that was previously filled with glass jars. Apparently, each time the renegade cube created a crater it had jolted the jars closer to the edge of the shelf. But it wasn’t until Deora slammed the door that they finally toppled over to the floor.
Deora stared at the broken glass with bloodshot eyes. The strange eyeballs that were previously inside the jars seemed to stare right back at him.
When Elaru heard a miserable scream erupt from inside the room, she didn’t dare dally any longer and quickly made her escape by jumping off the railing, exactly where Arion had fallen off previously.
* * *
While Elaru was gracefully falling off the railing, she saw Kiel sitting at a table, peacefully reading a book, completely undisturbed by the commotion around him.
When the people around the hall saw her approach them, for some reason they turned pale and ran away. It made Elaru finally realize why people were running away. That they probably mistook her potion stains for blood.
She rolled her eyes. What a bunch of cowards.
Fortunately, Kiel didn’t show any sign of doing the same.
In fact, he only turned to look at her when he heard his name called in that soft and comfortable voice he was familiar with.
Kiel looked up, his icy blue orbs meeting Elaru’s teal ones. His eyes proceeded to drop down to Elaru’s shirt.
When he noticed the red stain, his eyebrows furrowed. “What the…? Is that…?”
Elaru’s eyes widened, and she hurried to explain. “No! It’s not…”
But before she could finish, Kiel’s next words silenced her: “…a healing potion?”
Elaru stared at Kiel dumbfoundedly before involuntarily nodding her head. “Yeah. It is.”
Kiel searched her face suspiciously. “Why is your shirt drenched with a healing potion?”
Elaru smiled brightly. “I am fine. Thanks for asking.”
Kiel’s eyebrow twitched. He barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. “Of course you are fine. I am worried about the other guy.”
Elaru scratched her head and grinned sheepishly. “The other guy has a giant hole in the middle.”
She only realized how wrong that sounded after she said it, but before she could elaborate Kiel raised his eyebrow. “You ruptured a healing potion tank?”
Elaru gaped at him, before exclaiming bewilderedly: “How did you know?”
Kiel snapped his book shut. “Why else would you be covered in a healing potion? It is drunk, not applied externally. The only way you could have it all over you is if someone spilled a bottle on you. And judging by how large the stain is, it had to be a very large bottle. Considering how it has ‘a giant hole in the middle’ and healing potions are common goods usually kept in tanks, it was obviously a ruptured tank.”
Elaru nodded, her eyes glittering with appreciation. “They could have been blood stains, though. Everyone else seems to think so.” She motioned her hands towards the escaping crowd.
Kiel’s eyes didn’t miss the approval glittering in her eyes. He didn’t know why, but it made him feel strangely satisfied. His mouth involuntarily twitched into a small smirk.
“Not everyone is gifted with common sense. You don’t reek of blood. You reek of medicine.” Kiel got up from his seat. “And also, if it was an ordinary liquid or blood, you could have Cleansed it.”
Elaru sniffed her shirt and frowned. “It doesn’t reek, it smells sweet. Like a perfume.”
Kiel’s eyebrows rose, and his smirk widened. “What perfumes have you been using?”
Elaru stared at him speechlessly. Her lack of response only made Kiel’s smirk grow wider and wider. He finally managed to make her speechless. It was such a glorious moment. The self-satisfaction he felt right now couldn’t be put into words. He didn’t know why, but suddenly he felt that today was a very nice day. It was almost… as if… he was actually… happy?
Finally, Elaru managed to respond with: “I see your point.”
“How did you end up rupturing a tank anyway?” Kiel raised one eyebrow inquisitively.
“As expected of a guy worthy to be my soulmate. Your deduction ability is marvelous.” Elaru responded with her trademark beautiful wide smile, that could make anyone forget what they were talking about. Anyone but Kiel. “Don’t change the subject.”
Elaru ignored his protest and gazed at him with a strangely affectionate gaze. It was as if she was looking at someone dear to her. It made Kiel feel strangely uncomfortable.
She spread her arms and exclaimed. “Come here, you.”
Kiel froze and stared at her dumbfounded.
She didn’t let him stare for long. When she realized he had no intention of coming to her, she moved towards him in an attempt to give him a hug.
Kiel’s heart skipped a beat, and he dodged her like a startled lunar, his eyebrow twitching. “Don’t you dare get that red stain on me too!”
Her honest smile suddenly turned into a cunning smirk. “Oh, so you’d let me hug you if there was no stain?”
“Of course not!” Kiel refuted right away, his eyebrow violently twitching. Elaru’s keen eyes didn’t miss the soft tinge of pink spreading over his cheeks.
Her grin only grew wider as she lunged towards him like a lupax attacking its prey.
Kiel reacted quickly, raising his hand towards her head. She slammed face first into his palm, and he grabbed her head with the soles of his fingers as if she was an airbalt ball. His slim fingers kept her at an arms distance, unable to come closer.
Since his arms were longer than hers, all she could do was flail about futilely.
Through the cracks between his fingers, he could see her giving him a somewhat disappointed and wronged look. A muffled pout reached his ears. “You’re so mean!”
Seeing such a strange look on her usually smiling face made the sides of Kiel’s mouth twitch into a smirk.
For a moment, he got an urge to pet her head like she was a child or a baby animal. She was a strange creature, but he had to admit, she was sometimes quite cute.
But then she would ruin it by doing something insufferable. Like licking his hand in revenge.
“ELARU!!!!”
* * *
Luckily there were not many people left in the White Quarters. So, no one witnessed the disgraceful exchange between the two. Kiel couldn’t calm the shivers going down his spine for a while. Imagine! This incident could have caused all his hard work in maintaining his image go up in smoke!
Elaru was dangerous. Very, very dangerous. He was slowly getting used to being himself around her. And that was too dangerous. A slip up in public was just a matter of time.
Kiel repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists the entire way towards the building where he was supposed to be taking the written exam.
He needed to distance himself from her. Pretend not to know her. He couldn’t let this continue.
This painful, suffocating feeling in his chest had to disappear.
He resolutely decided that as soon as they entered Muni, he would break his ties with her. He would pretend not to know her. They would only communicate in secret, mostly telepathically. From a safe distance.
Now that he had made the decision, there was nothing more that he needed to worry about. It was the best decision he could make. Everything would be alright.
So why is it that the painful feeling didn’t dissipate at all. Not only didn’t it disappear, it seemed to be growing more painful by the minute.
Kiel’s pupils shrunk and a chill went down his spine. It can’t be! Can it?! Could it be t
hat I…?!?
That I developed a heart condition??
Is it because Aetherneal bond put a strain on our bodies?! The negative aftereffects could include damage to internal organs!
Darn it!
He knew something so powerful had to have bad side-effects!
Kiel swore and cursed for some time inside his head. His resolve to find out more about Aetherneal bond grew by the minute. After all, now it had become a matter of life and death.
For all he knew, one day, his heart might fail in his sleep and he wouldn’t even know how and why he died.
Just as he was collecting his thoughts and noting down the changes so he could discuss it later with Elaru, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
These changes almost exclusively happened when he was thinking about how to deal with the troublesome redhead!
He resisted the urge to face-palm himself and chuckled wryly.
Why did his mind travel down to the worst-case scenario when there was a simpler solution? What heart condition?
For a smart guy, sometimes he was just too dense.
He shook his head. So, that’s how it is. It’s not a heart condition.
It’s just stress.
He should just take some time to meditate and drink some tea with relaxing effects.
Kiel nodded in satisfaction. Problem solved.
* * *
The last exam of the day was the written exam testing their knowledge and understanding of magic. The exam was filled with multiple-choice questions they had to answer so to prevent the leakage of exam questions, all examinees would take the exam at the same time. Which meant that all 5642 examinees had to be fitted into classrooms and supervised.
Luckily, Muni provided all examinees with a contract they needed to sign, that specified they would not be allowed to cheat in any way. Therefore, since they couldn’t cheat, supervising the exam became much easier.
Providing that many arcane contracts was, naturally, very expensive. Muni wouldn’t have opted to do it if they had any other choice. How could they ensure fairness and lack of cheating in a room full of argel whose eyes can see the hairs on a caterpillar 20 m away?
After realizing how many different things they would need to enchant and provide, that wouldn’t even solve the issue of cheat sheets, they figured that those arcane contracts were much cheaper than the alternative.
* * *
Coming up in the next episode:
Elaru burst into her designated classroom with glee.
It didn’t take her long to realize that everyone in the room was staring at her.
“Do you have any places you want to go to today?” Kiel decided not to beat around the bush and asked right away.
“To the Arena!” Elaru pointed to the distant building, grinning ear to ear.
Episode 66 – The Arena
Episode 66 – The Arena
Previously:
After the multicasting test, it is time for the written exam that tests examinee’s knowledge of theory of magic.
* * *
Elaru burst into her designated classroom with glee. Unlike the classrooms where she was previously taking the tests, which were small with movable desks and chairs, the current classroom was a big auditorium for large lectures with many rows of benches surrounding the podium in a 120-degree arc.
Elaru found the seat marked with her number and sat down, only to realize that everyone in the room was staring at her.
Was it because of her examinee number that was considered unlucky? Was it because she was a natural attention magnet with her beautiful, otherworldly appearance? Was it because she wore her quest seeking equipment full of weapons?
Perhaps it was because of her powerful, charismatic aura? Or because her excitement and glee radiated from her in waves through her mana?
Maybe it was because her body curvature was too eye-catching, especially for the male population?
No.
It was probably because of the large red stain on her shirt.
If it were any other girl, she would feel shy and uncomfortable being seen in stained clothes. Her cheeks would burn, and she would look down.
Not Elaru though. She wore it with pride as if it was a mark of honor. She looked at the people gazing at her and gave them a confident, brilliant smile. The smile that was more radiant than the sun and more beautiful than the night sky.
Naturally, everyone that saw it averted their eyes, pink and red blush spreading on many faces. However, many of those embarrassed looks were drawn back to her as soon as her eyes moved to scan another individual.
They couldn’t help but stare. However, they didn’t like being caught doing it.
Both girls and boys avoided her gaze. Both girls and boys equally blushed when she smiled at them.
But the attention didn’t bother Elaru at all. She could have been standing naked, and she would still radiate that confidence that disregarded anyone else’s opinion.
While sweeping the room with her gaze, Elaru’s noticed Arion sitting a few desks away from her. He waved at her and grinned widely.
She waved back and continued with her sweep until her gaze landed on the supervising teacher. Surprisingly, it was neither Zerel nor Deora.
It was a female elibu in her thirties with long wavy, marine blue hair. The woman was petite in build and very pretty. She seemed to be a patient and kind type of a teacher. When Elaru’s eyes landed on the lady, the lady smiled kindly and averted her deep green eyes away with a slight blush.
Elaru’s bright smile widened, her teal eyes glittering mischievously.
Elaru didn’t have the standard type of education, a written test was a concept unfamiliar to her. But luck seemed to be on her side this evening. If she didn’t understand something, she was sure that the nice professor lady wouldn’t mind helping her out.
* * *
The situation in Kiel’s classroom wasn’t much different from the situation in Elaru’s classroom.
Saying that Kiel was a devilishly handsome individual would be selling him short. He attracted gazes wherever he went. His cold charm attracted girls like fragrant flowers attracted bees.
Kiel sat straight, not scanning the room at all, as to avoid meeting the eyes of anyone he didn’t like (which would surely be everyone). Nonetheless, he still managed to meet the eyes of some bold females who didn’t quickly look away like the rest but smiled at him “charmingly” instead.
Kiel returned a polite smile. They swooned. He hoped they failed the exam.
A professor was already in the room when Kiel entered. He remembered him from last Friday when he came to sign up for the exam. It was that kind looking argel that reminded him of a pechuh, with chocolate colored hair and eyes.
He sat there, smiling brightly at everyone. Before Kiel had graced them with his presence, most of the girls had their fawning gazes on… what was his name? Ahon Tonrai? He was handsome and had a gentle, calming aura which made people subconsciously like him at first glance.
* * *
Kiel had finished his test long before the time ran out and spent the remaining time under a tree in the courtyard with a book in hand.
Elaru and him didn’t agree on a specific place where to meet. Previously, they had forgotten to set a meeting place after their mana control exam (the annoying presence of Arion Urwin was to blame). However, after the exam, Elaru still managed to find him without any problem.
That’s when he realized that agreeing upon a meeting place was pointless. Like a trackog, no matter where he hid, she would hone in on him and find him. To her, he probably looked like a burning torch of blue constantly poking her in the eye no matter where he was on campus.
Kiel almost didn’t notice when a large mop of red entered his vision. The red of her hair blended perfectly with the crimson red sky.
Kiel checked left and right but didn’t see any trace of Arion Urwin.
“Where’s your shadow?” He couldn’t help but wonder.
Elaru blinked her long eyelashes. “What?”
“I mean Arion.”
“Oh!” Her eyes lit up in realization, then she smirked deviously. “I didn’t know you’d miss him so. The next time I will definitely bring him along.”
Kiel glared half-heartedly and got up from his seated position. “Did you finally realize how irritating his presence was and decided to intentionally avoid him?”
“Yes.” Elaru nodded. “I dodged him because we can’t go out of Muni the usual way but instead have to turn invisible. Naturally, we can’t let him tag along.”
Ah, so that is why.
Kiel let Elaru latch onto his arm as she usually did whenever she intended to turn them invisible. The feeling wasn’t bad at all, once he got used to it.
It helped that Elaru never actually plastered herself to him, or acted clingily. Her way of doing it seemed… just right. Her grip was gentle but firm. Not too tight, not too light.
He never had the feeling like he was being dragged along. Rather, that they were walking side by side in a comfortable and relaxed manner.
It was a subtle, nonobtrusive feeling that one would frequently forget. In fact, often times, they would remain like this even after the invisibility had been lifted. Most of the time, Kiel would remember this comfortable sensation only after the warmth disappeared.
“Do you have any places you want to go to today?” Kiel decided not to beat around the bush and asked right away. Yesterday she had dragged him along to the ring shop and after that to Black Pearl restaurant. He hoped she didn’t have any similar plans today.
Elaru looked at him strangely before starting to laugh musically. The sound of her laughter was a pleasant sound like no other. People they passed by turned around in a daze, looking left and right trying to find the source of the soft heartwarming laughter.
“If that line came from anyone else, I’d think they were asking me on a date.”
Kiel shot her another glare. “Luckily, you know better. Now answer the question.”
