“So how long will it take to get to Shale Port?” Aida asked, once the novelty of riding Ezra’s golem had worn off. She had spent the first five minutes of the ride fascinated, marveling at how smoothly the two of them moved along the winding path. Once Ezra was certain Aida wasn’t going to lose her head and fall off, he had increased the speed, so that the forest fairly blurred around them. Aida had spent another quarter of an hour grilling him about how his golem operated, and why the ride was such a smooth experience. It turned out that Ezra’s superior control of Metal allowed him to effectively keep the platform floating above the ball underneath (Aida didn’t fully understand Ezra’s explanation, but understood it to be something akin to having the ball and platform acting like magnets and pushing and pulling against each other, allowing Ezra to roll the ball wherever he wanted while also carrying the platform along).
“Probably another half an hour or so at this rate,” Ezra responded, turning his head to make sure his words weren’t lost in the wind.
“What are the odds that we’ll be attacked by a monster?”
“At this speed? Not possible.”
“That’s reassuring. I blew all my mana this morning escaping a giant cat while walking down to the crossroads.”
Ezra twisted his head even further, eyeing Aida with surprise. “That was you? That’s impressive.”
Aida tilted her head, unable to keep the self-satisfied smile from her face. “You saw it? I thought it would have broken through the ice by the time you had arrived.”
“It had mostly broken free, and it was shivering because it was wet. It wasn’t in the mood to take me on, though, so it fled once it got its paws free.” Ezra looked at Aida thoughtfully. “You don’t look like you’ve exhausted all your mana.”
“I was Mana Cycling while I waited for you,” Aida said. She smiled shyly at Ezra. “I recovered enough to keep moving. My mana circulation and recovery time have improved a lot thanks to you.”
Ezra gave her a small smile – was it the first smile she had ever seen from him? – that made her heart thump before turning back to face the road. “Now is a great time to continue recovering.”
Not even bothering to hide her smile, Aida turned inward and began Mana Cycling again.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Shortly after, Ezra slowed the golem to a stop. He leapt down lightly, then turned around and freed Aida’s feet from the platform before helping her down. As Ezra molded his golem back into its gleaming egg shape, Aida took in the new location.
Ezra had stopped them about a hundred feet from the town’s gates, which were flanked on either side by squat little watchtowers made of bamboo. Each watchtower held a pair of guards, who for the most part were just leaning against the rails chatting with each other instead of actually watching the town’s entrance. Spanning between the watchtowers was a wooden sign reading WELCOME TO SHALE PORT.
“We still have a little over an hour before my appointment, so I’ll show you the exercise you should perform in order to achieve Mana Cycling efficiency.”
Aida nodded, following Ezra through the gate. The watchtower guards raised their hands, smiling amicably at Ezra; clearly they were familiar with him.
Shale Port was a small and bustling town. Ezra led Aida down the main street, a crowded cobblestone road packed with stalls, with proprietors preparing for the day’s sales. He stopped at a stall that displayed a red flag with a fish’s tail poking out of a bun embroidered on it, and spoke with the older woman manning the stand. She smiled at him as he passed her a few coins, handing over two paper bags and two paper cups in return.
“Here,” Ezra said, handing a bag and cup to Aida. “Breakfast.”
Surprised, Aida murmured a quick thanks and examined the two items. The paper bag held a golden bun, but instead of a fish’s tail poking out of it, the small opening showed what looked like shreds of tuna instead. A notification box declared it a Spiced Fish Bun. The cup held what looked like soy milk, and it sported a Legumilk label.
“It might not be what you need, but it’s the best breakfast bun I’ve ever had here,” Ezra said, taking a bite and chewing with relish. He closed his eyes in contentment after taking a sip from the cup. “That stall makes coming to port worth it.”
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“Even if it’s not what I need, it can’t be worse than not eating at all,” Aida agreed heartily. She took a cautious bite. The bun itself was sweet, with a crispy exterior, but an incredibly soft and airy interior. The fish meat was moist and savory, and mildly spicy. The combination of flavors and textures flowed across Aida’s tongue, rolling down her throat smoothly. Her eyes widened. “Oh, wow.”
Ezra smirked at her, taking another sip from his cup. “Try the beverage.”
Swirling the cup in her hand, Aida sniffed the drink. Slightly sweet, definitely fragrant. Sipping from the small opening, Aida felt her eyes widen even more. It was sweet, but it wasn’t only sweet. Somehow, the milky drink managed to taste like sugared, creamy milk, but with strong overtones of an earthy flavor that calmed the spice on her tongue. “That is incredible.”
Ezra nodded, leisurely strolling along. They had left the main street now, and were on a side path winding down to a pebbled beach. “Their legumilk is a family recipe. The owner said they actually started selling legumilk first, before they branched out to their breakfast buns.”
“I wish I was part of her family,” Aida said mournfully, her mouth full of bun. Ezra glanced at her, but didn’t comment.
They finished their breakfasts just in time for them to toss their trash into the last bin on the path before formally stepping onto the beach.
“The premise behind combining Mana Blast and Mana Cycling is as you said before: recapturing the mana you released into the environment and back into your body. However, the difficulty lies in whether you truly have control over that mana, for the whole duration of the exercise. Even the great masters who are able to Mana Blast and Circulate at the same time cannot do anything else while they’re doing it.” Ezra unloaded his golem from his bag as he spoke. He scooped out a small ball from the egg, holding the mass of metal in front of Aida. “So, we’re going to start with what we’re most familiar with. Go get yourself some water.”
Fumbling in her pockets, Aida pulled out her wand, pointing at the waves languidly lapping up the rocks. Water Manipulation. A small stream trickled through the air towards her, wavering uncertainly.
“...You might not get as far as I was hoping to go. For today, I’ll just try to get you to handle water consistently,” Ezra said, speaking stiffly. Aida looked at him, dismayed; however, after meeting her gaze for a few seconds he finally cracked a smile. Aida relaxed as well. Ezra had a really dry humor, but he still believed in her enough to try to teach her.
Ezra talked through his demonstration with the metal ball: he warmed up by changing the ball’s shape without actually using his hands, squashing the ball into a flat disk, then stretching the ball into a narrow rod; he then sped up, squashing and stretching the ball until Aida was certain the material would snap. Once he achieved what he deemed optimal focus, he sent the metal ball flying through the air, ping-ponging back and forth around them. After a few volleys, the ball thudded into the sand, and he shook his head as if to pull himself back to the present.
“Ideally, you’d have enough control to move your mana the way I could move my metal. The metal is acting as a focus item, because at the end of the day, I’m calling upon my mana to manipulate the metal.” Ezra smiled bitterly. “I had a master who was so powerful he could condense mana into visible form as a demonstration. You could see how clean and efficient his control was. Not a speck went to waste.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I believe your Lordship did an adequate job of explaining the concept to this simple commoner,” Aida said lightly. She pulled another stream of water to her, willing it to pour into a small sphere and stay. As the water maintained its form for a few seconds, Aida noticed that she didn’t have to think so hard to keep the liquid in position. Slowly, not quite daring to believe it, she looked up at Ezra, who was contemplating her ball of water floating steadily in front of her. “...is this for real? Have I been overthinking how to control my mana this whole time?”
Ezra looked up at her, surprise flitting across his face. “You mean…”
“Maybe I’m not such an idiot after all!” with a mere thought, Aida rolled her ball through the air, having it perform cartwheels over their heads. She let out a delighted laugh, and in that moment of elation, lost her focus.
Chagrined, Aida fumbled in her pockets, withdrawing the crumpled (unused) napkins from breakfast. She offered the wad to Ezra, stammering apologies.
Ezra was still, water dripping from his bangs. Moving slowly, he collected his hair into his hands, twisting carefully to wring the water from his silver locks. He swept his wet bangs back, exposing his forehead and making his features seem sharper than usual. Brushing the rest of the water off his bomber jacket (which fortunately was decently water-resistant), Ezra looked at Aida impassively.
Aida giggled nervously. “I guess I spoke too soon?”
“You know what to do now. I’ll leave you to it.” Swiping the napkins from Aida’s hand, Ezra wiped his face and neck down. He fixed gleaming silver eyes on her. “I’ll be back in about an hour and a half. I expect to see better control.”
Giving a tentative salute, Aida watched Ezra make his way up from the beach, heading back to Shale Port’s main road. She turned back to the water, trying to slow her heartbeat.
She was thankful Ezra didn’t go through the cheesy model motions of slicking their hair back before smoldering at her - she wasn’t sure she could handle it, despite being an adult woman who knew better. She wasn’t even immune to his wet look. Most boys (and men) she knew in real life looked flat after getting drenched, but if anything the water made Ezra seem more 3D. The water highlighted his cheekbones and nose, and the wet hair that got chunked together, contrary to ruining Ezra’s proportions, apparently just emphasized the texture in his hair, looking more like deliberately styled curls than just sticking to his head.
Male lead plot armor sure is powerful, Aida thought grimly. If she got herself wet, Ezra would probably just see her like the drowned rat she was.
Pulling herself together, Aida pulled another ball of water from the lapping waves, and began trying to find the balance between control and letting instinct take over.