Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 5 Part 1 - Calm before the storm

Special thanks to OreOJunkIe78 and  LizPer7 for commenting and voting! 

You guys asked for shorter episodes so from now on episodes are going to be 30% shorter. Now hold on before some of you go into a rage and ask "which bastard asked for shorter episodes?!". This is not necessarily a bad thing. I'll often release two episodes instead of just one to make up for the episodes being shorter. If I release two episodes, that would mean that you actually profited by getting 40% more text to read.

In the previous Episode:

Elaru claims she ran into Kiel by accident and noticed his talent in magic. She reveals she possesses Aethernea of Sight - eyes that can see magic. She wants Kiel to become her partner, bound by an oath, which would solve Kiel's lack of mana and even allow him to cast arcane and transmutation magic. They agree to meet next morning to discuss the details.

* * *

The warm light rays dancing across Kiel's face awoke him from his restless slumber. The drowsiness was soon replaced by vigilance as he quickly got up and started his morning routine.

Last night, like a little child before a school field trip, he rolled and turned, too jittery to sleep, which resulted in him not getting enough rest.

Kiel dropped by the kitchen to grab something to eat. A warm smell of freshly baked bread combined with a sweet smell of hot cherry syrup made his mouth water. Bagels filled with cherries - his favorite.

The cook bowed down to him as he passed by. Kiel smiled politely in response. He grabbed two bagels from the rack by the window, careful to not get burnt, stuffing one in his food pouch and taking the other one to eat on the go.

He made his way out of the mansion into the surrounding forest. It was a slightly chilling morning; the sun had not been up enough to warm it up. The smell of dew lingered in the air, mixing with the delightful smell of freshly baked bagels.

He granted himself the luxury of using a temperature manipulation magic to cool down the bagel before biting down into its tender flesh filled with sweet cherries. The soft bread leaked warm syrup with an occasional large cherry that brought tantalizing pleasure to his taste buds. It slowly warmed him up from inside out.

Kiel tried to relax his nerves and get rid of the uncomfortable jitters. He distanced himself from the situation and tried to calmly analyze what had happened yesterday. One question repeated inside his mind in an endless loop: Who is Elaru Wayvin?

Was that even her real name? Wayvin was not a famous family name, yet she possessed a powerful aura and Aethernea of Sight. The possibility of her being born into a random family of nobodies was near zero. Using a fake family name to mask their affiliation was not new, most noble families did it; some more often than others. Nevertheless, why would Elaru need to hide her family name from him? Kiel was from a noble mage family himself, did she think he would be wary of her if he knew of her true origin? However, not knowing made him even more cautious.

Every little bit of information she provided opened up, even more, questions.

Elaru spent a week observing him from the cliff; he piqued her interest with his magic so she wanted to find out more. Assuming she sought to know more about him, she couldn't just casually walk into Beyd and ask around. That would cause too much attention and in a matter of hours, the whole town would hear of her interest in Kiel. Therefore, she climbed the highest point in Beyd from which she could monitor him.