Neda took a deep breath and felt the cool winds of the small, round man’s efforts to fan her, whoosh past her ears. Raising her palms in the direction of the breeze; she grabbed hold of the many, minute energies in the air and pushed them forwards- hastening them until a boom of fresh air shook the mattresses at the end of the hall. As always; she fell to a knee with pride- satisfied with the result. It might not have killed, nor even harmed, but... it was something. She turned over her shoulder to see Bess stand before the patient, handsome Gerathar with a pair of red-glowing hands. Pressing them together; she formed a white-hot, scorching ball that seemed to float just above her skin.

“Go on... throw it.” He instructed. Bess glanced at her disapproving, nervous mother before mustering the courage to go against her protector’s wishes and threw the ball forwards. Neda watched in awe as the scorching hot sphere of fiery energy turned one of the mats to cinders within seconds- melting the fabric pad in between blinks of her eyes. Gerathar clapped her shoulders proudly before jerking his head in the direction of the pillar of flame- sparking the loosely clad maid into action. Amy took a step towards the girl and raised her fingers to form a circle around her lips and with miniscule efforts; blew a white, freezing gaseous cloud of energy in its direction- choking the life from the flames.

“Your Gift pertains to quickening particles. To be specific; you quicken them to the point where you can spark an exogenous reaction- fire, as it is better known. Amy can counteract this gift by depriving it of its initial heat and, simply, nullify your expression.” Bess and Neda both stared at the maid with awe. The unbelievable ease with which she had snuffed out such a vicious fire was nothing short of astounding to both of them.

“Wow... are you as strong as her, too?” Bess asked the handsome man rubbing her shoulders. A confident smirk crossed his lips. He raised his right hand and formed a circle with his thumb and middle finger to a curious effect. The long curtain-rod above the wide windows began rattling with a life of its own- crackling maliciously as it sought to break free of the wood. Twisting his hand; he upset the rod until it tore free from its holders and soared through the room- stopping at a palm’s distance from the girl’s face. She, Maribelle and Barrel all yelped, whereas Neda continued staring at the feat of magic in awe as he explained; “Ferromancy. A rare gift. I can attract iron at will- a useless Gift, but one that serves to demonstrate the potentials of magic.” As soon as he uncurled his fingers, the rod dropped to the mats with a thud.

He wiped the sleeve of his shirt over his forehead and turned to address his companions; “Now, then. You must all be hungry, so I suggest we take a pause to eat- yes?” Barrel, the girl and Maribelle were all eager to depart from the chamber and head for the eatery-halls, but Neda stayed behind as Gerathar muttered his commands to his obedient maid. Once the maid turned to make her departure, the devilishly handsome man turned to glow his orange eyes towards his visitor and apprentice. “Are you not hungry, Neda?”

Her knees shook as the handsome lips spoke her name, but this was no time to be charmed by her Master. She shook her head and explained; “I am, but... I need to learn something more dangerous than blowing wind at stuff. I wanna protect myself if I have to.” Gerathar nodded his understanding- unsurprised, as if he had expected it. How could he not? He had seen her envious glances at the child and knew of her dependence on the unsightly necromancer and his protection. He touched his hand to his chin and nodded; “You are a potent magus and there are plenty of ways to weaponize your magic. For now, you should focus on the basics- I assure you, before long, you will be more than capable of defending yourself.” She sighed disappointedly before looking to the floor with a nod.

He stepped towards her and put a hand on her shoulder and used his other to raise her eyes by her chin to look at him. “Worry not, Neda. Until then, I am certain your companion will keep you safe.” Even his smell made her insides tremor with obscure excitement. She was helpless to resist her lips’ urges to smile sheepishly at his charms. He continued; “Perhaps, if you are so eager, I might be willing to trade you a weapon- a fine tritium blade that would work well with your magic.”

She thought about his offer for a moment, before answering; “I-I don’t have anything to trade. The only things I own are these clothes and it’d be cold without ‘em.” He laughed heartily and stroked her cheek patiently.

“No, no, nothing so material, my dear Neda. I will trade you one of the blades for a simple, candlelit dinner- just the two of us... tonight, perhaps?” Dinner? She had thought it was already a given she’d eat with the man- she had for the previous two days, after all... but this was something else- something more profound than simply consuming his delicious foods. She did not hate the idea of spending some time alone with those charming eyes, either- perhaps, in time; they could get to know one-another well enough to-… She excitedly nodded and accepted his offer with a; “I’ll do it!”