Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 10 - Fury

I want to thank GaeaStorm, KatneigeDynar, labaniriya and anythingeeky for sharing Aethernea with their friends. Thank you guys! I really appreciate it!

And I also want to thank imposeidonsdaughter for drawing Elaru fanart! :)

Previously on Aethernea:

As an effect of the Aetherneal bond, Kiel had been marked with the mark of the bond which looks like a tattoo similar to Elaru's markings. Elaru said that it would grow alongside Aetherneal bond which is an evolving spell. Elaru mentions that if the mark starts shrinking it would become dangerous however she is not clear on how dangerous. Kiel and Elaru discuss how to disguise the fact they are under the influence of Aetherneal bond while still reaping the benefits. Elaru crafts the story which Kiel will be selling to everyone about his abilities and promises to get him a dummy artifact. Kiel finds out another after effect of the bond - they cannot be too far apart from each other.

* * *

"No problem, no problem. Like I said, we are going to the same place - Ashar University of Magic, so being close enough isn't an issue! And surely by the time we both graduate our bond would have improved enough already!" Elaru grinned. "Just like I said, no disadvantage at all!"

An indeterminate amount of time passed in which neither moved or spoke. The picture could have looked like a painting if it weren't for the grass waving in the breeze.

Kiel was fighting a battle within himself to calm down and not kill Elaru on the spot. His attempts finally seemed to have borne fruit when he noticed an additional problem:

He was going to have to put up with her for three years?!

Calm down, calm down. Kiel repeated to himself. There is no guarantee that what she is saying is the truth. Maybe they don't really need to be close at all. That sort of thing is easy to test. She did say that she doesn't know much about the bond. Maybe some of the things she knows are actually misconceptions? End even if it were the truth, if she indeed joins the university with him, he wouldn't necessarily need to hang around her, they would be close enough even if they avoided each other. Right?

"And what if one of us doesn't pass the entrance exam? What will we do after we graduate?!" Kiel's voice was slightly trembling.

"There's no way either of us would fail the exam. And as for what to do after we graduate, we have three years to solve the problem of physical limitations. That's plenty of time!"

Kiel was still silently fuming. Repeating "calm down" inside his head had little effect. She tricked him!

"You...you..." His words dripped with venom, the temperature around him continuing to plummet down, becoming icier than even his glare. Kiel struggled to find an appropriate word for her. It's not that he couldn't think of any, on the contrary, he thought of too many - monster, demon, liar...countless insults easily rolled around his head.

Elaru pouted. "Sorry?"

"Do you think apologizing half-heartedly is going to make it all better?" Kiel hissed through his gritted teeth.

"What will make it better then? Would you feel better if you hurt me? Do you want me to take responsibility for it?"

"In fact, yes. Excellent idea!" Kiel's face contorted into an undisguisedly false smile.