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Elaria

‘Gods there's nothing like sharing a bed with a warm blooded race. Leo’s like a furnace compared to any selarin and is even warmer than a dwarf, though my teasing probably helped with that. Oh and that kiss!’ Elaria thought in delight as she got dressed for the day, her tail swaying slightly with joy.

Elaria was hesitant to go for the kiss, thinking it was a hasty move at first, but the look on his face afterwards was beyond worth it. She wanted to push a little further, but she had some important things to do today. If she tried any more it would probably flip a switch, and she didn't want to accidentally make her injury worse.

As Leo helped Elaria up to the main floor to get some breakfast, he asked if there was a place he could start learning magic. Normally Elaria would tell anyone who wanted to try that it was a waste of effort, but with what Leo was, she wouldn't be surprised if he had the potential to become an arch mage later in life.

“If you want to get started, then we can stop by the bookshop after I've sold my armor at the market. They have free beginners pamphlets, and a decent booklet for a copper that gets published by the kingdom's academy.” Elaria told him, before she took a bite out of some of her grilled ham slices.

Leo took a bite out of his ham, and frowned slightly. “They just hand that stuff out for free?” He questioned skeptically, seemingly more displeased with his food than the academy's charity.

“Well it keeps every person and their mother from flooding the academy to check if they even have the ability to do magic. And before you ask, yes there are a few requirements to even be able to use magic. I don't remember the specifics, but the three major ones are being able to sense, manipulate, and have enough mana.” Elaria explained in between bites.

“How rare is it for someone to pass those three requirements?” Leo further inquired, but started choking on his first drink of mead.

Elaria asked if he was alright before she answered his question, but it just turned out that Leo didn't like alcohol. ‘Who the fuck doesn't like alcohol?’ Elaria thought disapprovingly before she continued.

“Well just meeting one of those requirements is rare on its own. Most mage’s have at least two, supplementing the third with magical tools and techniques. Having all three means you can get into any mage academy, though doing so is the equivalent of joining that kingdom's military. Some try to learn on their own if they can, it guarantees good coin anywhere on the continent.” Elaria answered before taking a swig of her mead.

After the both of them finished breakfast, they started toward the inn's exit, but before they could leave they were stopped by a heavy-set selarin female that was about a head taller than the two. The first words out of that woman's mouth sent Elaria’s emotions into a state of absolute rage.

“Hey there cutie, why don't you ditch the cripple so we could have some fun ourselves.” The selarin said with a cocky expression while she addressed Leo directly.

Before Leo could respond to the woman, Elaria spoke up in a mixture of anger and resentment. “Excuse me! But we ha-” She was cut off by the woman kicking the crutch out from under her.

The woman scowled at Elaria, squaring her shoulders before she spoke. “Was I talking to you, bitch?” The woman finished by spitting on her.

Elaria was overwhelmed by a torrent of rage, sadness, anguish, and overall helplessness. As the emotions spilled over, she began to cry. Leo tried to kneel down to help her, but the selarin woman grabbed him by the forearm.

“Sorry little man, but you're coming with me. You can go back to your pathetic partner, after I've had my fun.” The woman ordered while pulling Leo up and away from her.

When Elaria looked up at Leo, she thought she would see him with an expression between fear or anger. What she saw on his face made her freeze in place. His expression was that of cold rage, the kind that promised violence and only violence. Elaria also could have sworn that there was a faint glow in his eyes, before he started to turn to the woman.

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Leo

Leo didn't know whether it was the insult, assault, or blatant humiliation the woman inflicted on Elaria that set him off. All he did know was that he needed to comfort the weeping woman in front of him, and that the ‘bitch’ pulling him away from her was the cause of her current suffering. Leo had not felt such an overflow of raw emotions in a very long time, but it wasn't a chaotic mess because he had years to learn to control it. He could feel something underneath that storm of emotion though, something that wasn't there before and felt like it could be pushed and directed.

Leo would have realized what that ‘something’ was if he was in his right mind, but he was far from it. Leo turned to the woman's hand on his arm, and grabbed two of her fingers that were gripped around it with his other hand. He felt that ‘something’ run from his chest into that hand, then he pulled. A very audible snap sounded, followed by a pained scream from the woman who let go of him.

“AHhhh, W-what the fuck!” The selarin shrieked in pain, as she looked down at her two broken fingers, then looked back up at Leo and started to reach for her sword, but a familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

"I think that's enough.” Said the new arrival, followed by a large hand gripping the woman's arm.

The woman turned to let out her anger on the intruder, but she froze at the sight of them. It was Kesl, and he looked pissed. The woman may have stood a head taller than Leo and be able to bench press him with ease, but standing at seven and a half feet of muscle, Kesl was the definition of ‘absolute unit’.

Kesl stared down the woman with an intensity that warned her to just try something to give him an excuse, because as easily as she could bench press Leo, Kesl could snap her in half with little effort. “Get your things from your room and kindly get the fuck off my property.” He told the selarin as she started to shrink in on herself at his gaze.

“I-I-I still have at least two weeks left!” The now frightened selarin started sputtering, nearly tripping on herself as she took a few trembling steps back.

“Yes you do, and I'm keeping the coin, so leave. Or do you want to go crying to the guard, because I bet they would love to help someone who assaulted a former guard and tried to ‘abduct’ her companion.” Kesl all but growled at the selarin, as his anger at the woman's previous actions dripped off of every word, and then she started to retreat down stairs to follow the walking tanks orders.

Leo was about to thank Kesl, but Kesl held up his hand and gestured behind him, and Leo's mind instantly thought back to Elaria, so he turned around immediately to help get her to her feet and onto her crutch. Gazing back to where Kesl was, the man left the pair, as he seemed to want to give them some privacy. Elaria looked like she was in a bit of a stupor, rather than in the middle of a breakdown like he thought she would be.

Leo held a comforting arm over Elaria’s shoulder. “Elaria, are you alright?” He asked worriedly.

Elaria wore an expression of concern. “Yeah, I'm alright but… What did you do?” She asked him with a bit of a confused tone.

“Do what?” Leo questioned while raising an eyebrow.

“You snapped her fingers like they were twigs.” Elaria stated with certainty, and Leo paused with genuine surprise.

He finally took a moment to go over the situation in full and came to the realization that he, without a doubt, used magic. ‘That was mana I used then, so I can safely say I fulfill all three requirements.’ Leo concluded, before he explained it to Elaria.

Elaria gawked at Leo, her eyes going a little wide in disbelief. “You just used magic, just like that. No words at all?” She questioned critically, while she leaned forward and practically demanded a response.

Leo held his hand up defensively, not knowing exactly how he managed it either. “Words? You mean I have to chant or something?” He asked quizzically.

Elaria opened her mouth to speak, but furrowed her brow as she looked contemplative. “I thought, I mean I think that's how it's supposed to work. That's what healers do anyway…” She trailed off in thought.

Shaking the momentary daze, Elaria resharpened her focus. “Well if we want to know for sure, then let's get my armor sold so we can head to the book shop. The booklet should have all the info you need to get started, if the advertising is anything to go by.” She declared with a bit of enthusiasm.

Leo experienced a bit of whiplash at how she collected herself so easily, but he knew that she was just shifting her focus away from what just happened. Something that Leo was all too familiar with, and how unhealthy it could be. He wasn't going to push her on it though, now wasn't the right time.

‘I'm definitely going to get her to open up about it when it ‘is’ the right time though.’

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