It took a lot longer than I expected, but I guess it’s finally finished. I don’t think I can drag it out any longer. I’ll soon see her for real, so I guess it’s okay.

Adion turned away from his painting to look outside. The ground had a thin layer of snow on it.

It’s still not even winter for a week, but it already feels like we’re a month in. Hopefully, it won’t be too harsh a winter. It would make traveling to Cyalis a pain.

“Are you finally finished?” Quahim asked.

“You could tell?” Adion turned to his teacher and asked.

“I read your body language,” Quahim said, putting down his brush and coming over to take a closer look. “It took you months.”

“Well,” Adion hesitated, “It was nice to paint. And I wanted it to be perfect.”

“Hm,” Quahim nodded, “I suppose it’s good that you don’t feel any pressure to finish a painting before its time. That was something I used to struggle with. So, what is it called?”

Adion had thought of just naming his painting ‘Sell’s hair.’ It was how he had thought about it all this time, after all. And he knew he wasn’t good at naming things. But he felt it didn’t quite fit the painting and the feelings it represented.

As long as Adion could remember, his life had been a struggle. There was a lot of joy in his life as well, especially back with his family. But it had still been a struggle. A struggle to become a mage, a struggle to get out of the Endless Forest, a struggle to grow strong, a struggle to live. Until he met Sell, that’s what he just thought life was like.

“It’s called ‘Life is easy.’” Adion said, looking at Quahim nervously.

“Hehe,” Quahim chuckled, “It’s a fitting name.”

“Thanks,” Adion nodded.

They were quiet for a while, looking at Adion’s painting.

“Any ideas for your next painting?” Quahim asked after a while.

“I’m going to try to finish ‘A Mother’s smile’ before leaving, so I’ll start working on it tomorrow,” Adion said.

“Tomorrow?” Quahim asked.

“I think I’m going to head back for today,” Adion said, “I was thinking of buying Sell a gift…”

“I see,” Quahim nodded, “Why not gift her the painting of her?”

I knew he knew.

“That would be… embarrassing,” Adion said, “And I want to keep it.”

“Hm,” Quahim nodded, “Have you decided when you will leave?”

“I’m thinking about leaving in a few weeks, maybe a month. That should give me plenty of time to reach Cyalis, even if it turns out to be a harsh winter. I’ll hire a carriage from somewhere to take me and the brothers. I’ll probably arrive early, but I don’t want to be late.” Adion said.

“It’s always good to be on time,” Quahim said, “But I would suggest waiting for the worst of winter to pass before leaving. It will make for a much easier trip.”

“I’ll think about it,” Adion said, “But I’ve heard that the Academy can be very strict with their deadline for admission.”

“Your Gift and strength would make any deadline lose importance,” Quahim said.

“Even for the elders at the Academy? I’m not planning on revealing more than middle Bronze, you know.” Adion said.

“If you say so,” Quahim said, “But your Gift alone will impress them enough. It’s not every year a Gifted joins the Academy. Even if were, Gifts are all new and exciting types of magic for the elders to study.”

Will they want to study my ‘Gift’? Hopefully, I can refuse without causing a scene.

“Worried they’ll know you’re a space mage?” Quahim asked.

Adion was shocked. On instinct, he pictured the blackness of Atao in front of him, but he knew he was too late. He had been eased into a feeling of relaxation during the conversation.

“Gotcha,” Quahim said with a smirk.

“What are you talking about?” Adion acted as if he hadn’t been caught.

“If you don’t admit it, I’ll send the information to the Amyss family. I’m sure they’ll be very interested.” Quahim said.

“Fine, fine,” Adion immediately gave up. He knew there was no point in denying it. Quahim was too good at reading his expressions. “How long have you known?”

“A few seconds,” Quahim shrugged.

“How long have you suspected it?” Adion clarified.

“Since you used your ‘Gift’ on me,” Quahim said, “I am not immune to curiosity, so I wondered what type of mana could give you such a power. I’ve thought of wind first, but that didn’t feel right. Then I remembered something I heard once, a very rare and powerful element even during the Age of Wonder, allowing a mage to control space itself.”

“Is space common knowledge or something? Or did you hear it from the Amyss family?” Adion asked.

Quahim was quiet for a while, looking at Adion. “Sell told you, didn’t she?”

“Of course,” Adion said with a grin, “I’m a space mage, so what’s the harm in me knowing what they came to Shiora looking for?”

“Youth,” Quahim muttered, shaking his head, “Very well. Yes, I learned it from my brother.”

“And you managed to guess it just from knowing that the element of space once existed?” Adion asked.

“Well, I had a lot of time to think about it,” Quahim said, “And I knew you had more secrets, so I was ready to take some crazy guesses. Seems like I was right.”

“Well…Do you think others at the Academy could do the same?” Adion asked.

“I doubt it,” Quahim said, “Not many know of space as an element. And even if they did, they wouldn’t suspect you of being a space mage if you didn’t give them a reason to. Such as bragging about your secret abilities.”

“Alright, alright,” Adion said, “I promise not to do that.”

“You’re also a lot better at controlling your expression now,” Quahim said, “If I had not held my tongue for so long, and eased you into a casual conversation just now, I doubt I would have managed to get you.”

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “I guess that’s a little relieving.”

“But don’t get careless,” Quahim warned, “There are a lot of old monsters in that Academy. I have no idea what they can do.”

“I won’t,” Adion said, “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Do you think I will?” Quahim asked.

“No,” Adion said.

“Mm,” Quahim nodded.

That’s it? Not even a promise? Oh well, I don’t think Quahim is the type of person to tell my secrets. He has known other secrets about me for a long time without telling anyone, so I suppose I can trust him with this too.

“So…impressed?” Adion asked with a grin.

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“How? Were you born with a space spark?” Quahim ignored Adion’s question and asked.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Adion said, “And no, I was sparkless.”

“Now that, I didn’t think to guess,” Quahim said with his eyebrows raised.

“Even more impressed?” Adion asked.

“I suppose I am,” Quahim nodded, “So how did you go from sparkless to having a space core? A space core at such a level at that.”

“I had an affinity to space due to some circumstances,” Adion said. Quahim had never really asked anything about Adion before, so he didn’t know more than he had guessed and whatever Adion had let on.

It’s rare to see Quahim this curious.

“Even though I was sparkless, I was convinced that I could become a mage with enough effort. So I trained my mana control until I was able to form a core even without a spark,” Adion explained.

“How old were you when you managed that?” Quahim asked.

“I was 12. But I got a little lucky along the way,” Adion answered.

Wait. If his brother told him about space mages, he probably told him about the Celestial Phoenix too. I’m sure Quahim will make the connection.

“I see,” Quahim nodded. “Very interesting.”

Is that all he is going to ask? He always stops his questioning and turns to musing. It makes me feel like I have revealed more than I thought somehow.

“Well…” Adion said, “I’ll get going then. I’ll see you tomorrow, teacher.”

“Mm,” Quahim nodded.

Adion put away his painting and made his way out of Hevima.

I’m sure he’ll take more guesses out of nowhere to see my reaction. But I’ll be ready next time.

Adion practiced having Atao appear before him all the way back to the inn. The complete blackness erased all impressions that the city threw at him.

Once back at the inn, Adion knocked on the door where the brothers were staying. Perk had expressed his desire to explore the city more, so Adion had promised to relieve him of practice and take him along on a tour someday.

Since Adion was planning on going around to look for a gift for Sell, he thought he might as well bring his subordinates with him.

“Boss!” Perk smiled in surprise as he opened the door to see Adion. “You’re back early today. Did something happen?”

“I have something I need to buy,” Adion said, “I thought I’d ask if you two want to join me.”

“Of course,” Perk said, “Are we leaving now?”

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

“Let’s go, Tib,” Perk went to his brother who was sitting on the floor, “We’ll get to see Rethi.”

“I would like to stay here and train if that’s okay with you, boss,” Tib said to Adion.

“I guess that’s fine,” Adion said, “But it’s okay to relax once in a while, you know.”

“I need to form a core as soon as I can,” Tib said with a determined look.

“True,” Adion nodded, “But remember that shadow is an element that needs a lot of concepts to be of much use. You’ll need to experience things other than just sitting in a room all day. The city has a lot of shadows that might give you some inspiration.”

TIb hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Okay, I’ll come.”

“Let’s get going,” Adion said and turned to leave, Perk and Tib following close behind.

I should make sure they get out more often. I’ll give them some physical exercises to do so they get out more.

”Where are we going, boss?” Perk asked as they left the inn.

”To Emmelth,” Adion said, ”It’s a fancy jewelry store, so behave yourselves when we get there.”

”Mm,” Tib nodded.

”You’re getting jewelry?” Perk asked, scrutinizing Adion’s appearance.

”It’s for my girlfriend,” Adion said.

”You have a girlfriend?” Perk asked.

”Mm,” Adion nodded with a light smile.

”As expected of boss,” Perk said with admiration.

”Where is she?” Tib asked.

”I’ll see her in Cyalis,” Adion answered.

”I bet she is some kind of princess,” Perk said, nodding to himself.

How did he guess that? Is Perk actually smart? No. Probably just a lucky guess.

It didn’t take long before they found themselves inside Emmelth. Adion had never been inside the store before. He had just come to take a look during one of his nightly excursions.

Adion walked through the aisles of jewelry and precious accessories behind panels of glass. He knew a Gold mage was in the store as a guard through his mana sense.

It makes more sense than having a Gold mage protecting paintings that almost no one comes to see. Quahim has too much money to spend. He is a Diamond mage himself, after all.

“Can I assist you, young master?” An elven girl in her early twenties came up to Adion and asked with a smile.

“I’m looking for a necklace. Where do you keep the best ones?” Adion asked.

“We have a lot of precious necklaces for sale, young master. As for the best ones, we have a few special ones on the upstairs floor. But I have to warn you that they are very expensive.” The attendant said.

“How much are we talking?” Adion asked. He knew that prices could go crazy when it came to precious gems.

“Nothing less than 10 Vastro coins, I’m afraid,” The attendant said.

“That’s fine,” Adion said, “Show me them, please.”

Adion still had the Vastro coins from the robbery in Wender. He hadn’t bought anything particularly expensive since then. Now that he was going to buy something for Sell, he wasn’t going to buy anything cheap.

He had thought about perhaps painting something for her, but he didn’t feel confident enough in his skills yet to gift her something like that. And even if he knew that Sell probably had all the jewelry she could ever want. Adion knew that his mother always got very happy whenever his father gifted her something. No matter how much she already had.

She used to be happy just to receive flowers, though. Should I think this through again? No. Not many flowers will have started blooming by the time I get to Cyalis. This is safer. And I remember when she received a necklace from Dad, she bragged about it to everyone for weeks.

Adion was led to the second floor, where he was taken to a separate room and seated on a fancy couch. Perk attempted to sit down next to him, but was stopped by his younger brother and pulled to stand behind Adion.

“My daughter informs me that you are interested in the very best we have to offer,” An elven man said as he arrived in the room with an array of necklaces, “These are the necklaces we have in store for the moment, young master,” The attendant girl, apparently the man’s daughter, said as she showed off 12 necklaces of various design. The one that immediately grabbed Adion’s attention was one with what looked like a ruby, reminding Adion of Sell’s eyes.

“Is this a ruby?” Adion asked as he looked closer at the necklace. From a distance, it looked like a raindrop, but as he got closer, he realized it was shaped more like a small flame.

“It’s a Black Mountain Ruby, or Flame Ruby, as it is often called. A very precious gem that is not only beautiful but also said to help comprehend concepts of fire,” The man said.

“Really?” Adion asked, “That’s perfect. I’ll take it. How much?”

“Haha,” The man laughed, “Not one to drag decisions out, I like it. This one is 35 Vastro coins, young master.”

I’ll just have 7 Vastro coins left, but it’s worth it. Not like I’m spending it on anything else. And I can always get more money.

“Good,” Adion said and started digging through his backpack for the coins.

It’s a good thing that I reveal my strength at middle Bronze. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’d be thrown out just because of my clothes and poor manners.

“Are you paying so much for a necklace, boss?” Perk couldn’t help himself from asking.

“It’s nothing much when weighed against a girl’s smile,” Adion lectured Perk with a small grin.

“Ah. Of course, boss,” Perk nodded.

“She is sure to love it,” Tib said.

How would you know?

“I’m sorry. What was your name again?” Adion asked the attendant.

“Oh, my name is Emella, young master,” The elven girl responded.

“You would like to receive this necklace from someone, right?” Adion asked, wanting to make sure he wasn’t making a mistake.

“I-I would be thrilled,” Emella said, blushing.

Why is she blushing? She doesn’t think I’m giving it to her, right?

“Well…good,” Adion nodded, “Here are 35 Vastro coins.”

“A pleasure doing business, young master,” The man said, handing over the necklace in a small velvet box, “Please consider us for any future needs.”

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “Let’s go, boys.”

Adion placed the small box with the necklace in his backpack before heading downstairs again.

Hopefully, this will make her happy. I’ll try to look for some flowers in Cyalis, too. Just to be safe.