>>Amber
My eyes went wide
My heart started pounding. Shock coursed through me like an electric current, my mind reeling as I struggled to process the suddenness of his actions. I had never anticipated this moment, never imagined that our relationship would take such a sudden and unexpected turn.
After all, for now I was only supposed to consider him.
There was a subtle thought in my mind that shocked me at that moment.
Ah,
But right as Ahin was about to reach my lips, a white flash moved from my feet upward, and engulfed me whole. The intensity of it made me close me mind and then I was zapped away
>>Ahin
???
I stared at the empty place in front of me where Amber was standing a second ago in utter confusion. I blinked in bafflement as the remnants of magic faded away.
The whole place went quiet since everyone witnessed the awkward scene. I was the only one left behind so I had to deal with that awkwardness. I couldn't even put it into words how embarrassing that was.
Going in to kiss a girl you like and she just vanishes from existence.
An embarrassed snicker escaped my lips as I sat back down on the counter stool. Placing my elbows on the counter, I buried my face in my hands and let out a muffled, "God..."
Everyone else decided it was best to just let me drown in my misery and they continued with their work, which I was very grateful for, because I surely couldn't have dealt with anyone, if they came over to console me or to talk to me.
But as I sat down though, Rika placed her back on my back and patted me for a second, then continued to sip her juice.
>>Amber
I landed a little above the floor so as the magic disappeared, I fell butt flat on the ground
"Ouch!!" The fall wasn't serious, but it did hurt my bum, "What the hell??" I blinked several times, taking in the familiar scenery in front of me. The wind fluttered the net curtains and it blew past me.
"Enjoying your time with an idiotic oaf I see," Hael's voice made me freeze up
!?!?
"How the hell?" I looked at him and it immediately registered in my mind that I was in his room. I looked at him as he walked towards the door
"Get up," His voice was stern, "We're starting your training." Is he annoyed about something? Wait-
What the hell happened??!?! How the hell can he summon me here at that exact time?!?
"Hael!" I stood up and glared at him, "What did you do?"
He paused and looked back at me, "What did I do?" As usual, he acted innocent.
"Why did you summon me here all of the sudden?" I shook my head at him, "It hasn't been a day."
"Why?" He folded his arms and looked at me, "Did you want to kiss him?"
!!!
My eyes went wide
So he knows!
But how?
"How do you know that?" I glared at him, "How are you spying on me?" I didn't need to ask him 'IF' he was spying on me, the only question was 'How'
"What even made you think I'm spying on you?"
"How else would you know?" I folded my arms
He rolled his eyes, "Is spying the only way to know?"
"What else is there?" I asked and he seemed to calm down.
He smirked, "Think about it," He grabbed the door handle, "The answer is even closer than you think." He opened the door, "Now, come on," He gestured with his head, "We're starting your training."
What??
"You're not going to tell me how you know?" I glared at him even more.
"You're smart enough to figure it out yourself." He let out a sigh, "If you want a hint, then I'll say it. No," He shook his head, "I wasn't spying on you. I have better things to do."
My mouth went agape.
What other way could there be? For him to summon me right when Ahin was about to kiss me, what else could there be?!?!!
***
His touch was gentle yet firm, his hands lingering just a moment longer than necessary as he adjusted my stance or corrected my posture.
I gulped
We were standing in his lab
"Is the posture necessary?" I asked, wanting him to move away from me
"No," He replied, "Not for a mage," He placed his hand on my hands that were clasped in front of my neck, "But for a saint," He pushed the praying hands downward, "The power comes a little differently," He stopped when my intertwined hands were in front of my chest.
He didn't simply remove his hands like one normally would, instead, he pulled them backwards, such that his fingers slid from my hands towards my arms. With each brush of his fingers against mine, a jolt of electricity seemed to pass between us, igniting a spark of awareness that crackled in the air like static.
"I didn't do this when I summoned my powers in the city square." I tried to talk my way out.
"And then you fainted." He's always so quick to shut me down!
Ack!
I clicked my tongue, "Tch,"
"This is the most effective way," He said, "You can do without it, but the prayer position has the least toll on your body."
"Okay," I said, and he finally moved away
"Try again now," He stood by my side, "Holy Power is channeled the same way magic is. You know how to do that, it shouldn't be a problem."
I let out a sigh
If it wasn't a problem. I would have done it by now! We've been at it for hours! But all I got was a tiny speck of light, which was gone before I could even see it.
"Focus," He said when he noticed me grumbling in my mind.
"Fine!" I closed my eyes.
"Thinking about healing," He said, "It's the desire that has to manifest."
Healing.... Healing...
I tried to focus on it
But heal what?
I opened my eyes, "I can't think of anything..." He stared back at me for a moment which unnerved me. I felt like a clown. After all, he was the master of magic and I was a noob. I pouted my cheeks, "Sorry,"
"There's no need to apologize, My Lady," He turned towards his shelves, "I'll just give you something to focus on." He moved
He's not mad.
Wow
Hael's got some amazing patience. If it was me teaching someone, I would have grabbed a chair and broken their head with it at this point. I glanced out the window, it was nighttime and I barely made any progress. But Hael wasn't angry with me, he kept guiding me through the whole thing.
I was once teaching my brother a subject. He was as awful at that as I am at this. And honestly, I lost it. We were sitting in his room, on the carpeted floor, parallel to each other with the low table for support.
He just wouldn't get what I was teaching him and I finally lost it. I grabbed the book and slammed it on his head saying, "You idiot! A goldfish has better memory than you!" And then he ended up in a fight.
I smiled at the memory, but along with it my heart ached as well. And then I felt tears wanting to well up in my mind. It's always like this when I think about my family. So I try not to think about them. And just like every other time, I distracted my mind with something else.
"This," He grabbed a box from the shelf and opened it, "I brought it back to study it."
!!!
I wasn't expecting what I saw in the box, it made my heart drop.
Hael grabbed the miasma infused finger from the box and showed it to me, "This will work as a target."
"What?" Looking at it made me feel weird. It was obviously a human finger but with the miasma filled it so much that it was hard to identify whether it belonged to a woman, a man, a youngster or an old person, "Where did you get that from?"
"The forest," He replied,
"You want me to use that?" I stared at it weirdly.
"You said you couldn't think of anything," He walked over and placed the finger on the marble table in which the tree stump was infused in, "Now you have a target." He then stepped away, "Try again."
I couldn't argue with him, this was my fault, I kept failing at it and I felt awful. Might as well just quietly try with a target.
I clasped my hands back together, keeping them in front of my chest, I focused on the finger that had black vapors seeping out of it.
Heal
!!!
I felt something inside me. A warm sensation. It was strong, I could tell it was strong but it wasn't moving.
Heal
I focused harder but I couldn't get it to come out.
Heal!
I put all of my focus on it, that I didn't notice when Hael had come and stood behind me.
"Hael?" I gulped,
I could feel the heat of his body on my back
"Focus," He whispered next to my ear, his breath on my skin
!!!
"I a-am," I stuttered.
Shit, why did I stutter?
He placed his hand on my stomach
!!!
Quite low on my gut at that
"W-what are you doing?"
"Feel it," He said, making my mind shut down. Feel it? What what? His hands on me?!? His touch on a dangerous place?!?
"Excuse me!?! What?!!" This is sexual harassment
"Feel the power surge," He said, making me freeze, "It starts from your gut."
Oh hell
My cheeks flushed up
That's what he meant!!!
The hand he had on my lower stomach began to move up
"You'll feel it," His hushed voice that hushed on my skin made me tingle, "Go up and move around your body. It's going to be a hot feeling but you'll get used to it. It won't harm you, not anymore."
Wait!
My eyes went wide in fear
He's going up! Is he going to touch my breasts!?!?
OH! GOD!!!
But he stopped right under my breast, yet his hands didn't leave my body.
"Are you listening to me?" He asked and I turned my face to look at him. There was an intensity in his moon-like gaze, a focus that seemed to pierce through the veil of reality and into the depths of my soul.
My heart beat rose.
That seemed to unnerve me, so I looked back at the cursed finger again, I couldn't look at him. My cheeks were hot
"...No...." I replied
".... And why not?" He asked