"How is this of any help?" Alex shrieked angrily, looking at Elder Pyrus, who held a cheeky smile on his goofy face.
Walking the young Recen to the main gates of the fortress, the elder began slowly waving to Alex, like a father watching his son leave the house for how knows how long.
"Don't just ignore me." Alex pointed a forefinger at Pyrus as an invisible force pushed him out of the courtyard, through the main gates, and out of the fortress.
Pyrus continued smiling and waving as Alex desperately tried digging in his heels to stop himself from sliding further away. His struggle did nothing, though.
"What do you mean by ripping mana apart?" Alex changed tactics, trying to get a more unambiguous answer from this donkey-like teacher of his. "How do I even achieve this? What about magic types? Affinities? Anything?"
Alex continued sliding out of the fortress, digging deep trenches into the packed soil under his soles. Tears glistened in his large, puppy eyes and almost threatened to spill. This look of his works quite well with the ladies, especially older ones.
Pyrus stood unmoved, however, his face maintaining the same cheeky smile, as if it was carved in stone, nay granite.
"Please, elder Pyrus..." Alex begged, changing tactics again. Nothing under the sky was embarrassing enough if you got something of it. "You said you would teach me."
"That I did," He responded, somehow, without moving his lips at all.
"No, you didn't. You just said magic needs some input of effort, whatever that means. And that I can shape mana however I like."
"Correct."
Alex shrieked in frustration, his voice resembling that of a banshee's. "You didn't tell me how to use mana, though."
"Well, good luck with finding out on your own." Pyrus waved as Alex slid more than 200 meters from the main gates.
With a thundering creaking noise, the massive wooden gates closed behind Alex, cutting his direct view of the elderly Recen.
"Fuck. Fuck. Damn, you, Pyrus, you old wrinkly ballsack of a humpbacked impotent goat. You said you're gonna help me, you bald arse-fucker. Where's the help, huh?"
Alex shouted whatever profanities came to mind before spitting on the ground as though to rinse his mouth of Pyrus' name. He tightened the leather strap of his side pouch and turned around, only to almost kiss Ezek's lips, who was standing less than 20 centimeters away. Both recoiled at the same time, with Ezek recovering first.
Shooting a naughty grin at Alex, showing perfectly white teeth, he asked. "What's gotten you so worked up?"
Alex moved his mouth wordlessly, almost prepared to hurl some more insults at Larok's name, but his eyes caught sight of another person standing to Ezek's right.
The first thing that came to mind as Alex looked at who he could only presume to be Vaesa was... petite.
Alex was a tall young man, just like Ezek, who was standing a head over the average man. And both looked much older than they actually were. At first glance, they both could pass as fully grown men.
Even so, Ezek was half a head shorter than Alex, while Vaesa barely reached Ezek's chest. In other words, Vaesa stood a head and more shorter than the average man.
Compared to other women, she should be shorter still.
While Alex didn't pay much attention to Vaesa, he could tell she had a beautiful figure. Wide hips, narrow waist, a bountiful chest, you get the idea.
Alex looked at Ezek and subtly motioned towards Vaesa, but his hint passed right past his friend, unnoticed as an owl at midnight.
'Why did I expect this guy to catch my hint?'
Plastering a slight smile on his face, Alex asked politely. "Ezek, my dear friend, who might this fair lady beside you be?"
Suddenly remembering he wasn't alone, Ezek turned towards Vaesa and started speaking with a fair amount of pride.
"Vaesa, this is Alex, my friend and the man I've told you so much about. Alex, this is my girlfriend, Vaesa Windmight, also one of the most powerful Mages of Blackwater, teacher at the prestigious Royal Academy."
Ezek described his girlfriend the same way a merchant describes his goods, but Alex didn't mind it. Smiling slightly at Vaesa, he didn't seem bothered with probably the most embarrassing first impression he could ever achieve.
Those words weren't directed at her, first of all, and secondly, they kinda barged into a conversation Alex had with Pyrus, who wasn't around anymore.
Turning back towards Ezek, Alex grabbed his shoulder and squeezed a bit too hard for comfort. "There you go bastard, finally able to catch some hints."
Alex's compliment managed to squeeze a giggle from Vaesa, who then introduced herself, raising her hand towards Alex.
'Greeting the same way as nobles do, huh?' Alex thought to himself. Sighing internally, he placed his left hand on his lower back and bowed from his hip to kiss Vaesa's hand. Exactly what she wanted.
Vaesa didn't react outwardly in any way, like Alex expected her to, and spoke in a slow but polite manner.
"Ezek told me much about you. So much so, I wanted to meet you if I ever had the chance."
Wearing his own polite smile, Alex let go of the lady's hand and pointed towards the road ahead, implying they should talk while walking.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, lady Vaesa." He said curtly, not wanting to prolong the conversation too much. Ultimately, they were acquaintances and nothing more.
However, Alex didn't want this talkative atmosphere to end entirely, so he asked something he was genuinely curious about.
"Ezek, by the way, what made you come all the way here?"
The young man snorted.
"You were taking too much time, so rather than wait for you, we came here to drag you out." Remembering the scene a few minutes back, he continued.
"From the looks of it, we were a tad bit late. Pyrus took care of that, it seems."
The scene of Alex begging Elder Pyrus for answers replayed in everyone's minds, gathering laughs from Ezek and polite but amused giggles from Vaesa.
Alex coughed lightly, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit.
"There's nothing under the sky embarrassing enough if you got something of it."
Ezek's laughter boomed throughout the small copse that separated the fortress from the city and its vast fields of arable land and pasture.
"Well, did you get something out of all that begging?"
Alex coughed again, looking for ways to shift the conversation toward something less embarrassing.
Even after thinking for several long seconds, he couldn't find anything, so he could only walk in silence, enduring the laughter as best as he could.
At long last, the trio arrived outside the city, where a small but elegant carriage awaited.
Alex sighed in relief, not because they could ride in the relative comfort of a carriage but because the laughter and giggling had finally stopped.
"Remind me to thank your uncle the next time we meet him," Vaesa informed Ezek, holding the latter's arm as he helped the lady climb into the carriage.
"A fantastic morning we're having, Ezek, boy. Especially after seeing the lady..." The driver tipped his wide hat off to Vaesa, then spoke with a laugh to Ezek. "The lady's appearance would brighten up any day, haha."
Ezek laughed as well, not hiding his beaming face.
He then entered the carriage as well, leaving Alex to watch his back with a raised eyebrow.
"Uncle, huh?" Alex asked as he seated himself on the opposite couch from the two lovebirds. "Must introduce me to this uncle of yours, Ezek, as you've never told me about him."
Ezek snorted, pointing his nose at the sky and looking down at Ales.
"There're many things you don't know about me, Alex."
The Recen raised an eyebrow and glared at his friend until the latter deflated like an upset puppy.
"Alex, will you travel with us to the Royal Capital?" Vaesa asked, seeing the conversation steer towards silliness.
"Hmm? No, I'm afraid I will not accompany you two that long. I plan on heading to Novum."
"Aha." Vaesa nodded, then quickly continued. "So, you will stop at Vizin, then?"
"I'm afraid so." He answered in a mild apologetic tone. It was only polite to do so. After all, he was in this carriage as a 'guest' of sorts, and it wasn't the most polite thing to stop before the hosts without at least sounding apologetic.
"But enough of this teary talk. Ezek, what should we expect from this journey? Will there be any errands for a Recen guard?"
Ezek scoffed, but it was Vaesa who responded.
"There shouldn't be any problems until Newhollow, but from thereon, we'll pass through Coalstone Woods, where we might encounter some beasts but nothing too noteworthy." Furrowing her brows, Vaesa fell in contemplation momentarily before adding. "At least, not at this time of year."