Aethernea

by Cloe D Frost

  It would be like a swords master trying to become the greatest blacksmith just so he could forge a greatest sword for himself.

  Kiel reached out his hand towards the table, but his hand stopped midair as if there was an invisible wall in front of him. The spell that the artifact activated created a protective barrier that locked down space on the borders of the barrier preventing anyone other than the original user from going in or out of it.

  He nodded in appreciation. Even though Elaru seemed to lack common sense and not pick up some obvious clues, when it came down to quest seeker related business, she was a pro. Even though the room was secure, one could never be careful enough.

  This protective barrier ensured that no one would be able to steal their items unless the thief could break it. And the people who had the capability to break it wouldn’t be interested in robbing them. It would be like an emperor secretly breaking into a peasant’s house to steal food. Ridiculous and utterly pointless.

  Kiel looked at Elaru from the corner of his eyes. She seemed reckless on the outside, but actually, she was pretty careful about things.

  He found her rather hard to understand. Her personality seemed inconsistent. He could never tell if she was going to take things seriously or not. She wasn’t like Kiel, who had a bad personality and pretended to be a good guy. She seemed to be true to herself. It was just that that “self” was hard to define.

  * * *

  The tavern was filled with people and indiscernible chatter spread into every nook and cranny of the place. The smell of roasted meat mixed with the sweet smell of caramel spread to every corner of the tavern.

  Kiel and Elaru were seated around a small table, sipping on honeymead, awaiting their meal. Honeymead was a popular nonalcoholic creamy beverage that melted on the tongue, leaving a mellow sweet taste similar to caramel or honey. It was a refreshing drink that could be drunk both hot and cold.

  Kiel expected Elaru to order some exotic alcoholic beverage, so he was surprised when she ordered just regular honeymead. She also ordered the “Chef’s special” as her meal of choice leaving him reluctant to do the same. While she did seem to have a similar taste in beverages as him, that didn’t mean she would have the same taste in food.

  Instead of ordering the same as her, he looked at the table next to them and ordered: “What that guy is having.”

  It looked like a kebab. The meat glistened and glittered brightly, dripping sweet smelling juices all over the plate. Kiel licked his lips. He liked meat. Especially this kind, which was juicy and melted on the tongue without much chewing.

  The waitress serving them was a thin elibu girl with pale skin and numerous freckles all over her face. Her shoulder-length orange hair did nothing to conceal the redness spreading through her long pointy ears.

  Elaru seemed to know the girl because she called her by the name “Pixy” and started up a conversation with her as soon as she arrived to take their orders, (which ultimately resulted in other customers complaining about the delay).

  The girl looked at Elaru with reverence and was very excited to chat with her. She threw many not-so-sneaky glances at Kiel, but she was too flustered to talk to him. Each time her eyes met his icy blue ones, her face and ears turned especially red. When he smiled at her, she almost dropped her tray. Luckily, she was standing next to Elaru, and she caught it so effortlessly, without even looking at it, that one would think she knew it would fall.

  Kiel continued smiling self-satisfied. Ah, now this was the reaction he was used to. This kind of girl was easy to deal with. So unlike the annoying redhead that seemed completely blind to his charm, who enjoyed nothing more than to tease him.

  Kiel even caught her “stealthily” giving Elaru a thumbs up when she thought he wasn’t looking. Elaru responded with a confident thumbs-up, her face saying “no problem, no problem”. She thought the girl was giving her the gesture because she helped her out with the tray, completely oblivious to the real meaning.

  He smiled wryly. Idiot.

  While they were waiting for their meals to arrive, Kiel thought about his day and the upcoming exams. There were less than three days until the start of the exams. And he wasn’t ready. He needed to get used to his new abundance of mana and learn as many spells as he could in this short period.

  The Ashar University of Magic was an academy that accepted only geniuses among geniuses. The difficulty of the exam could be imagined.

  Kiel wondered if Elaru had any skill in battle. If she was good enough, he could use her as an opponent to practice his own combat ability.

  He also needed to test out the distance he could be away from Elaru and what would happen if they passed it. He needed to test out the changes that happened to him as a result of Aetherneal bond. Aetherneal bond, Aetherneal gifts, what are they? His curiosity was piqued.

  He was surprised when the food finally arrived. That’s because both his and Elaru’s dish looked identical. Ah, so that kebab was actually the chef’s special.

  Kiel’s evaluation of Elaru immediately rose. They had similar taste in food and drink. Who knows, they might share some other similarities too.

  He waited for the food to cool down a bit, but she cast a temperature manipulation magic to cool it down and started eating immediately.

  He stared at her in silence. Does she do everything with magic? How close was she to levitating her meat with acceleration magic instead of using her hands? Where does she draw the line between convenience and abuse?

  Now that he had enough mana to abuse it, where should he draw the line?

  As he stared at her, his mind pinpointed an irregularity.

  He would have expected her dining etiquette to be lacking, but her eating manners were flawless. It wasn’t the same as the etiquette he was thought as a noble, hers was more practical. She handled her utensils as if they were weapons – with grace and precision.

  He had never seen anything like it before. If her eating was faster and more efficient than his but still had the grace and manner expected from a noble, would that mean the etiquette she was taught was of a higher level than his?

  Did she receive the education befitting a noble? Or was this skill gained through the usage of a specific weapon?

  “Elaru, what high school did you go to?” Kiel started out his excavation of her personal information with a simple question.

  She paused her eating briefly to respond. “I never went to school. Muni is my last chance to experience the joys of public education.”

  Joys of public education? Was there such a thing? All he could see were flaws. And besides, Muni wasn’t a public institution, it was privately owned.

  Kiel wasn’t surprised by her answer, well, the first part of her answer. Most nobles with high standing had a personal tutor.

  He didn’t let her off and continued his questioning. “Were you homeschooled?”

  Elaru didn’t respond for a while. She seemed to be pondering what to say. “All the things I know were either taught to me by papa or learned by personal experience.”

  Kiel paused mid bite. “Are you trying to tell me you weren’t homeschooled?”

  Elaru scratched her head. “Well, I can’t be homeschooled if I don’t have a home. I’ve been traveling with papa my whole life. So it was a somewhat unorthodox method of schooling.”

  Kiel’s expression darkened. How much can a single person teach? It’s not like her father is the most powerful mage in the land of Halnea. Experience is a great teacher, but there are certain things that experience can’t teach you.

  Elaru picked up on his worries. “Don’t underestimate my knowledge and ability. Adventuring is the best way to learn new stuff. For example, what better way is there to learn how to fight than fighting itself or watching other people fight?”

  Kiel nodded. Fighting was one of the subjects better taught by performing it than learning the theory behind it. She didn’t pause and continued with her high speech. “What better way to learn how to cook than to work
in the kitchens of a famous restaurant?”

  He continued nodding. Makes sense, makes sense.

  “What better way to train your own balance and coordination than to join the circus?”

  Kiel’s nodding froze for a second before he hesitantly nodded again. I guess… ?

  “What better way to learn about different types of poison and their antidotes then to try them out yourself?”

  Kiel’s nodding stilled, and his expression froze. Wait, what?

  Elaru paid him no attention as she continued with her self-righteous speech.

  “What better way to train your own mana weaving then to try to survive and eventually break out of prison which has an anti-mana-weaving artifact?”

  Eeeh?! Kiel’s face paled, and he blurted out. “Who would do that?! Isn’t that too extreme?!”

  His words brought her out of her weird mood, and she looked at him strangely. She pressed her lips into a thin line to keep her mouth shut.

  Oh for the love of fate… she couldn’t be talking about her own experiences… could she?

  Kiel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. What kind of… I don’t even… what?

  * * *

  Coming up in the next episode:

  Elaru finally noticed that her speech didn’t have the desired effect and she coughed to attract Kiel’s attention before waving it off and changing the subject. “My point is, I am a genius, according to papa.”

  He felt the chills traveling down his spine. Don’t give me that look! Didn’t you say that you weren’t romantically interested in me?

  She surprised her revulsion and steeled her resolve. “Has my fiancé been bothering you?”

  Episode 15 – Good Night

  Episode 15 – Good Night

  Previously:

  Kiel and Elaru leave their equipment in their room inside the inn and come down to have dinner. In their conversation, Kiel figures out that Elaru didn’t go to school nor was she homeschooled.

  * * *

  “What better way to train your own mana weaving then to try to survive and eventually break out of prison which has an anti-mana-weaving artifact?”

  Eeeh?! Kiel’s face paled, and he blurted out. “Who would do that?! Isn’t that too extreme?!”

  His words brought her out of her strange mood, and she looked at him strangely. She pressed her lips into a thin line to keep her mouth shut.

  Oh for the love of fate… she couldn’t be talking about her own experiences… could she?

  Kiel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. What kind of… I don’t even… what?

  Elaru finally noticed that her speech didn’t have the desired effect, and she coughed to attract Kiel’s attention before waving it off and changing the subject. “My point is, I am a genius, according to papa.”

  Kiel’s eyes flashed with cold light. “Do not change the subject!” He lowered his voice to be barely audible. “I thought you said you aren’t a wanted criminal!”

  She looked at him with a straight face. “I am not.” He expected her to continue, but she didn’t. When she noticed the chilling aura that started spreading from him, she decided to elaborate.

  “Don’t be silly.” She rolled her eyes with mirth. “I wasn’t arrested and thrown into prison.”

  Kiel let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. His lie sense wasn’t tingling. Thank the gods! He noticed his lips were dry and he took a sip of his honeymead.

  “Papa smuggled me in.”

  The honeymead that just entered Kiel’s mouth came out in a beautiful spray of shining liquid creating a colorful rainbow in the soft light of the tavern.

  It spilled all over his meat and even dripped down the sides of the table to the floor. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, doing his best to look like a dignified noble. But suppressing a coughing fit while choking wasn’t easy. His lungs burned, his throat itched, his eyes teared from his attempts to keep a straight face and not choke on his own spit.

  Yep. Her father is definitely the one to blame for her poor upbringing.

  Kiel didn’t know what was worse, the pain he was feeling, his dignity going down the drain, or that his spit didn’t manage to reach Elaru and pull her down with him.

  Elaru seemed oblivious to the murderous gaze aimed at her. She looked at him worriedly and flicked her fingers creating a sound barrier around them. “Hey, hey. There is no dignity in death, mate. If you worry about your image, you’ll choke.”

  Kiel couldn’t hold it in any longer and coughed it all out. He still did his utmost to cover it up. Luckily, they had chosen a secluded spot of the tavern, where they wouldn’t attract much attention. Since both of them were extremely good looking, Kiel was worried they would stand out like diamonds among regular stones and not have any peace and quiet.

  Since no one could hear him coughing, no one noticed anything strange.

  He wanted to aim his coughing at Elaru this time, but the vixen must have had an impeccable sixth sense because she quickly moved behind him (out of reach) and patted him on the back like she was patting a baby about to burp.

  “There… there.”

  “Don’t… touch… me” He growled in-between coughs.

  She let him be after that. Giving him a few minutes of silence to get over the experience.

  It would have been better if the expression on her face didn’t clearly state: “Let’s have a moment of silence to mourn Kiel’s tragic fate.”

  Kiel moved his hands to rub his temples and when his eyes refused to stop glaring holes into Elaru, he covered them with his hand. He stood there frozen for a while.

  After another few minutes had gone by, when Elaru’s senses detected the danger had passed, she spoke up. “Are you alright, mate? That was a nasty coughing fit! Should I cast some healing magic on you? What brought that on?”

  “What do you think was the cause of that?! Breaking into prison is just as illegal as breaking out of it!” Kiel hissed from between his clenched teeth.

  “Not if you don’t get caught doing it.” She smirked.

  “That’s not how the law works!!” He barely managed to restrain himself from slamming his fist against the table.

  She chewed on a piece of her meat and smiled. “Your meat will get cold. You can use magic to heat it up, but you shouldn’t be spoiled and do everything with magic.”

  I don’t need you to tell me that!!

  “Oh wait, I guess it already got cold. That honeymead you spewed over it cooled it down.”

  Kiel felt like banging his head against a wall, repeatedly. The last amount of restraint he had evaporated, he didn’t even care about being in public anymore. He couldn’t even remember what he was supposed to be acting like in this moment.

  In a swift motion, he picked up Elaru’s jug of honeymead and spilled it over her plate of meat.

  Elaru gaped at him in shock. A mix of “I did not see that one coming” and “Who are you and what did you do to Kiel?” was splattered all over her face.

  Kiel couldn’t remember the last time he felt such a strong sense of self-satisfaction than seeing Elaru’s stupefied expression. He finally managed to get back at her. He finally managed to usurp that calm that ruled over her. As her eyes grew wider and wider, the previous anger and humiliation evaporated into thin air without a trace.

  After recovering from her stupor, Elaru exclaimed in a tear-jerking voice. “Why did you kill my meat?! And why did you use my honeymead to kill it?”

  Kiel snorted, stifling a laugh. “Why would I waste my own honeymead? You killed my meat, I killed yours. Now we are even.”

  Elaru pouted, feeling wronged. “So petty! You were the one that spewed your honeymead all over your meat!”

  Kiel’s eyebrow twitched. “You made me spew it out.”

  “I can’t be blamed for that. If you accidentally ran into my fist, would you blame that on me too?”

  Kiel raised his eyebrow. “The only way I could accidentally run into your fist would be if
I was already moving and you formed the fist and put it in front of my face. Which is no different than straight out punching me. You’d definitely be the one to blame.”

  She refused to give up. “What if it was an accidental injury? You’d make me suffer too?”

  “I am not heartless. I’d probably pardon you on account of being a female.”

  As soon as he said that, he felt a sharp pain on his shin. Son of a… !!! The little vulpy kicked him!

  Almost out of reflex, he kicked her right back. But she was ready for it and quickly dodged while whining. “You said you’d pardon it.”

  “I said I would pardon it if it was accidental.”

  “How do you know it wasn’t? You didn’t even give me a benefit of the doubt!”

  “I am not bloody stupid!”

  Elaru pouted and gave him a sad look, like a child who got her sweets stolen. Her ears drooped down pitifully as she looked back at her plate. “Such a waste of fine meat. Something had to die for this.”

  Kiel rolled his eyes at her antics. She didn’t feel bad when his meat got ruined, and only when her own suffered did she start making a drama out of it. “Drowning in honeymead is not a bad way to go.”

  “Spoken like a true alcoholic.” She continued pouting and looking at him judgingly.

  “Except honeymead isn’t an alcoholic beverage.” Kiel’s mouth twitched. Elaru raised her finger to her lips and shushed him. “Shhh! Let’s have a moment a silence for our fallen comrade.”

  How childish! What brought this on? Where did the cunning demon disappear to? Kiel couldn’t help finding it amusing. “It’s a piece of meat. It would have ended up mixing with the honeymead in your stomach anyway. It makes absolutely no difference.”

  Her eyes were as round as saucers, looking at him as if his words contained profound enlightenment. She looked down at her plate and then stabbed a piece of meat with a fork, bringing it into her mouth.

  It was Kiel’s turn to be dumbfounded. Did she still intend to eat it??