Pushing Limits (Yuki)

[Deleted]

Adrain thought for some time on a gift to get for Yuki for Midwinter, but a concern crept into his mind while he thought about her and her interests. While he knew that she was studying the book, the mage's concern was that she hesitated and suffered from a battered willpower from her life of control and manipulation. Without these attributes, commanding mana is difficult. While he is certain that she can gain those attributes with time away from her mother, she had to at least pass the entrance exam on her own power. For him to pull rank and just cause her to be accepted if she failed to meet the criteria would cause dissent with the senior mages and instructors and subject her to some form of unfair treatment which neither he nor Yuki would probably want.

So while he was creating the gift once he decided on it, he also decided he needed to push Yuki to reach down and grasp something from within her soul. She showed the promise in the garden, but she needed to go deeper yet. Thus the mage came up with a plan...

In the evening, Serai would invisibly make his way through the castle to Yuki's place. The trip was effortless for the large cat until he got to Yuki's family door which was locked. The cat debated trying to force it open or scratching at it, but opted a little more sneakily. He pushed a window nearby open and leapt from balcony to balcony until he found a window that it looked like Yuki was in. He pushed open the door which is conveniently unlocked and approached where Yuki was, nudging her with his head and turning visible.

Around his neck, there would be a parchment. Inscribed on it were glowing letters: Avad Archus Zeit Daseir

The fact Serai was here was evidence enough it was from Adrain, so Yuki would probably trust it.

When Yuki inevitably reads the letter, she will suddenly find herself transported (though with no flash or obvious signs of such from windows or cracks), to a mountaintop. The air would be warm and the region sunny. A significant wind would blow, while Adrain stood with his back to where Yuki would appear, his black cloak blowing in the wind. He would turn around, his silver hair blowing in the breeze as he took in whatever Yuki would be wearing and her appearance before speaking.

"Hello Yuki. I've called you here to see how you are going with your magical practice. I want to see what you've become capable of since we last spoke about your training." he says, waiting to see her reaction or actions.

Yuki D'Avranches

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki had been working most of the day having finish making Hawkeye's present, had gone shopping the day before for her mother's present and everyone else in the court since she knew they used this holiday as a way to showcase they wealth. Since the start of midwinter she had gotten presents that included jewelry, clothes and shoes all brought from a merchant either straight from the ship or from one of the shops in town, and not wanting to be different she followed the same sending gifts to the people she hates, love, and wish was dead. For the few people who had truly touched her life she had decided to make them a present, she was just crossed Hawkeye off her list since his present was done, she now only had to make a present for Kail the first person to take her in after she ran away from her wedding and one for Adrain. Deciding that she was going to make Kail a light cloak for the spring if she could get it done in time if not she would just make him a scarf, for Adrain, she still didn't know what she was going to get him yet.


Deciding to retire for bed she changed into a long white slip that reached her ankles, braiding her hair and doing it up into a bun so that's not a tangled messed to deal with in the morning. Blowing out the candle she slipped under her covers snuggling down into the blankets, slowly allowed sleep to take her away for the evening.


She was enjoy pleasant dreams of flying above the clouds, in simple short yellow sun dress. Giggling as she felt the wind pushing and guiding her away from Nova across the ocean, feeling the waves hit her reached her hand down to touch the water only to feel fur, trying once against only to feel fur, before she realizing that someone was trying to wake her from sleep. Opening her tried eyes she saw Serai, narrowing her eyes at him still having not completely forgiven the cat for what he did at the springs. Getting up she looked at him in the dark letting her eyes adjust before noticed the parchment around his neck. "I'm guessing Adrain sent you with more work huh." She said she took the parchment, before kneeling down and wrapping her arms around Serai's neck giving him a hug.


Opening it she noticed the glowing letters, tracing her fingers over them at first before she slowly said it out loud making sure she was pronouncing it properly since she did learn that she a simple mispronunciation could be the differents for a spell. Once the words were spoke she felt noticed her surroundings having changed from her room to sunny mountain top. Now she was really confused on what was happening she could have sworn she was in her bedroom just moments before. Looking around for some sign of why she was there when she notice Adrain.


Oh now she between two emotions one was embarrassment at her current state of dress and the other was anger for being dragged out of her bed. Her mind former as she cheeks redden a bit, once he turned and looked at her.


"Hello, Adrain." She said as pushed herself off the ground dusting off her clothes as she looked around them. She never been high up in the moutains before and this was beaifuil veiw of the valley below. "You couldn't wai till the morning." Now really confussed about why she was pulled from her bed if it was some kind of training she might really kill Adrain or maybe just hit him since she properly can't cause harm to him.

[Deleted]

When the thought that Yuki was in a poor state of dress came up, she would find her clothing instantly changed to whatever it would be she would prefer to see herself wearing right now, even if it was something she didn't actually own. She would also feel any signs of fatigue fade as she fully awakened mentally.

Adrain closes his eyes and sighs with a small smile at the inquiry of waiting til morning.

"I apologize if I caught you at a bad time. I was under the impression you were more of an insomniac and that this was actually the best chance to see you like this since you have no doubt royal obligations during the day and people who would question if you disappeared for a length of time." he says, as he then chuckles a little.

"I've wanted to see you again, for a few reasons. One, I have something for you once we are done here for the Midwinter holiday. Two, I wanted to apologize once more for Serai's...antics at the springs. He is a mischievous overgrown lapcat, but he does seem to actually care about you if you can believe that. Third..." he says as his tone shifts to one that is a little more serious.

"I want to make certain I do whatever it takes to make certain you pass the entrance exam. I know you've been studying, but that only gets you past the written part and the basics of action. The execution of magic weighs more in the display exam." he says as he pauses for a moment, his tone softening a little.

"I could tell you were bothered a few times about...something at the springs. It concerns me a little, one because I don't want to see you upset easily, whatever it may have been. Two, I know you've had a challenging life to say the least, and a demanding one on top of that. You have a lot of potential, but it is hard to practice if eyes always fall upon you in the court or others, yes? Think of this as buying private time for yourself." he says as he pauses. Adrain then looks at a patch of ground off to the side of Yuki, raising his hand as a dark green glow surrounds it.

A tree erupts from the ground, sprouting leaves and rising to a fully grown size in a matter of seconds. Adrain then turns to Yuki, looking at her expectantly.

"This will prove a suitable target for the first test." he says, then waiting.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki noticed that her clothes changed to dark brown trousers that hugged her hips slightly with a loose fitting shirt that had a slight v neck that stop just an inch above her chest not exposing anything and finally on her feet were a pair of black sandals. Minus the shoes, the clothes reminded her of what she saw some of the people in the town wear.


"No, it wasn't a bad time."Which was true it was just after everything that happened that day she had to focus herself to sleep early, cause as much as she loved wandering the castle at night, she knew people would start to talk if she wandered every night. Laughing a bit on that people would question if she disappeared for a period of time during the day. "Well I don't think too many would question where I disappeared to. After all the rumors say I am the troublesome adventurous lady. If I disappear most people would think I am just sneaking into town to avoid my work."


The mention of a midwinter gift made her a bit nervous cause she didn't have one for Adrain yet still wondering what she should get him. Deciding that she would worry about that more in the morning when she could go into town and look at a few shops. Maybe make Adrain a good luck charm or a scarf either way she would need to stop by a merchant and get some fabric for what she was going to make. "I don't have your Midwinter gift prepared yet. I also know that Serai cares about me, I'm still upset with him on how he handled it but I know he was just doing it because he wanted to see me happy."


That was her biggest issue that she wouldn't even admit, is that she had no safe place to practice without someone finding her. After Melda had said she would help her but only after she studied at the Arch she was lost on how she could practice in secret without having to drag Hawkeye outside the castle to a remote place outside the city where no one would see her.


Now she was wondering if Adrain could read her mind or if she was an open book to know that was one of the biggest issues for her finding time and place to practice without too many people watching her. "It is much that bothered me at the springs, just some old worries. Also, how did you know that it is hard for me to practice with all the watchful eyes of the court." Not that she minded the idea of private time alone with Adrain the simple thought made her blush for once wishing that Serai was there with them to distract her thoughts.


Watching him as his hand started to glow dark green, jumping a little as a tree suddenly sported from nothing moments ago to fully grown with leaves in a matter of seconds. She had to admit even to herself that it was amazing to see the different phases of the tree when through in a matter of seconds.


"By suitable target, do you mean that I have to attack the tree." She asked to make sure wondering how she was to attack the poor tree. Maybe blowing the leaves off of the tree but she didn't think that with everything she had learn in theory could allow her to create a small tornado or a strong enough gust of wind to blow the leaves off the tree but she wasn't that confident in herself to even create a small tornado like what happened in the garden.

[Deleted]

"All the same, with the way you describe your mother she would likely notice something going on after enough attempts or consistent effort on your end which is likely to be problematic to the end goal." Adrain says as Yuki waves off the initial concern that people would think that she's simply escaping her work. As she brought up the concerns about the Midwinter gift, he shook his head with a soft smile.

"Well, you take care of that in your own time if you see fit to." he says simply. Adrain thought about adopting the line that Aria had spewed to him but decided against it mostly for lack of originality. He decided not to address Serai any further. The lady's temper would calm in time.

"If there are worries I can help you with, then feel free to speak of them. As far as how I know, I have seen a number of mages afraid to practice their art in the eyes of the mundane people of the world. Yuki, I might not participate in the house of nobility, but I am aware enough of how people operate. If you have something of a reputation for causing trouble, and then you are observed conjuring wind, then it is only going to fuel the fire. Plus, you don't have the luxury of not caring what others think for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the King's icy at best demeanor towards the growth of magic in the culture. I do pay attention to you when I see you, I notice the small details that belie much about your personality, and thus I came to the conclusion I had to intervene a little more directly so that you are able to successfully grow as a mage and thus earn your reprieve from your unpleasant situation." he says, watching Yuki with his faintly glowing purple spheres.

He makes no visible reaction to the fact Yuki was startled, and the nodded his head when Yuki asked about having to attack the tree. "This is the rough estimate of a minimum yes, at least a first goal to work toward. Obviously, you should strive for more. This is a mana construct that in form resembles a tree, so if guilt tries to hold you back, don't." he says, having noted hesitation in tone and expression.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

She only nodded her head at the mention of her mother and the problem it would close if she found out that her beloved daughter was doing something that wasn't part her plan for her future. A small sigh of relief left her lips since she didn't have to worry too much about Adrain's Midwinter gift just yet, giving her more time to get it together.



As Yuki listened to everything Adrain said it was all true between the fact that she is known for being a magnet for trouble, if someone saw her conjuring wind it would make her life even more difficult as it is. It did seem that nothing in her life was going to be easy until she was away from the courts and able to breathe without everything that she did being questioned by one person or another person dictating her life. Adrain was right in more ways that one if he didn't intervene she wouldn't be able to grow as not only as a mage but as a person as well.



After comprehending that it wasn't in fact a real tree it allowed her to relax a little. Now it came down to her confident to be able to cause some damage to the mana-made tree. Taking a deep breath, as she pulls her memory of what she learnt prior, she just needed to trust in herself. Drawing the glyph for wind, as it glowed soft seafoam colour, directing it towards the tree only cause a small breeze to cause the leaves to dance before it quickly ended as soon as it started.



Yet another sigh left her lips, even after all her reading that she has done she still couldn't conjure anything more than a tiny breeze that could be passed off as a natural thing as long as no one saw her drawing the glyph. Compared to the night that she met Adrain where she was able to conjure a small whirlwind, now she felt like that was just a fluke. Taking a deep breath she decided to try once again.



Pushing everything of the day out of her mind leaving it a blank slate to fully focus, as she searches mind for her source of mana. Finding it she opened her eyes once again drawing the glyph for wind once again, this time, she was able to conjure a stronger wind blowing a couple leaves off the tree. It wasn't a huge accomplishment but it was better than she expected, turning to look at Adrain to see his reaction.

[Deleted]

Adrain watched Yuki patiently as she first cast a spell that only caused a strong breeze and secondly caused a stronger gust. He thought about it for a moment. The moments leading up to it, Adrain could see a lot of thoughts on her mind from the conversation leading up to that point. He knew that she had much more potential, but how to bring it out...

Negative reinforcement was definitely not the answer, Yuki dealt with far too much of that in her life. Positive reinforcement would be supplemental. Initially he thought the solution would be to have her as close to the edge as possible, but seeing her before him now he wasn't sure if he could do it, let alone the fact that it wouldn't be the right answer. He walks over to her, smiling softly as he got close to her.

"Nothing in the world can drag you down here. Let loose the worries that chain you because once you are in the Arch of Ages program you will have so much more freedom. I know you have so much potential just based on what I saw the night we first really got to know each other." he says as he then takes a seat on the grass next to her, smiling.

"I'll tell you what, if you are able to successfully blow the tree down, I'll do one thing you want." he says, hoping that would motivate Yuki to reach deep.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Nothing in the world could drag her down, her mind let those words repeat itself over and over for a moment. At that moment, most of her worried were lifted off of her shoulders and mind. Once again closing her eyes she slowed her breathing as she took deep breaths, searching her mind for her source of mana once again.


The swimming down the pool of her mind towards the center where she located the source. Once again quickly locating it she opened her eyes, staring at the tree taking another deep breath she drew the glyph for wind, this time, she was able to conjure a hurricane strong force of the wind it didn't blow the tree down as intend it pushed and blew it back with uprooting it a bit.


Scratching the back of her head a little as she laughed seeing the poor tree. "I wasn't expecting that." Looking at the tree she couldn't help but laugh more that she was able to do something like that. "So what is the limit on the one thing I get." Doing her best to die down her laughter, turning her eyes away from the tree to the grass under them picking at a few blades, her hands idly weaving it together making a ring as she waited for any type of reaction.

[Deleted]

Adrain admittedly wasn't expecting such a vast, sudden increase of output from Yuki and when the spell went off, Adrain had been just barely in the way of the wind gust, the mage flying off about twenty feet in the air and then landing fairly hard into the ground. He lay there obviously dazed for a moment, but as he came to, he looked at the tree which was partially uprooted and moved and then at Yuki.

"Ha..ha..hahaha!" he exclaims, a little pain drunk as he laughs fairly loudly as he rouses himself to sit up and then look over at Yuki, rubbing the back of his head with his one hand.

"Okay...I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that much of an improvement and didn't ward myself correctly...well done." he says then crouching up and more alert. "You'll be able to impress the entrance exam moderators if you keep up with that pace and can surpass that mark when the time comes." he says, then looking at Yuki as she asked about a limit. While technically she didn't blow the tree down, he couldn't bring himself to troll her by pointing that out. At this point he rubs his head again, not having thought that completely through.

"Well, tell me what comes to mind and I'll let you know if that crosses a limit." he says. At this point, he was deeply curious as to what the girl would want, thus not putting any firm lines up.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki looked at him noticing that a few blade of grass decided to take refuge in his hair, averting her eyes not wanting to laugh. "Well, I do have a wonderful teacher. Plus you were right when I let go of my worries I felt lighter." Her hands still idly weaving the blades of grass together, looking down in her lap noticing that she was weaving a small grass ring.


"Do you really think I would impress the entrance exam moderators at this pace?" Even with the simple question and after seeing what she just did she still wasn't sure if she could do it. She knew that if she could get in at the Arch then she would get the much needed time away from the courts, giving her time to rebuild herself not only as a mage but as a noble woman again this time without having the influence of her mother.


What came to her mind a few thing did come to her mind. "Just a few things. The first one is kinda personally but would you let me either brush or braid your hair. The other is would you teach me the glyph for flight. Finally... would you be willing to teach me to fight." Looking back down knowing that she might have been asking for the impossible with the request that she had asked for. The first was just on a whim even if she did want to pick the grass out of his hair and braid it at least once in her life long hair like his was ashamed not to braid. The other two were more personal cause if she could learn the glyph for flight she could find a way to out of any trouble that bothers her and maybe even finds a new hiding place, finally to learn self-defense was just so that she could properly protect herself and maybe help her de-bottle all of her emotions into health habit that wouldn't cause her to wander the garden in the middle of the night.

Taking a moment she finally looked up at Adrain wondering which one he prefer out of the three that she asked for, it was went one more thing came to her mind it was an almost impossible request but she did want to ask anyway. "Um... before you say anything, I also know that this one might be near to impossible. If it could happen... and your able to do it." Her bright ruby eyes looking to Adrain amethyst ones. "Can I get a Forever Fawn calf if it is possible, please." 

[Deleted]

"If I am able to get you here often enough to practice and if you are able to maintain your focus in an environment where you are being evaluated for your abilities, then yes I do think it is very much possible. Though I do need to confess something and it will probably explain quite a bit of what you may be confused about here. I pulled you here through a bit of an elaborate sequence of events to this place within the Arch known as the Alternate Reality Chamber. This is a place where mages can practice under simulated conditions and push their limits without risk to the body. It is sort of complicated to explain the full process, but the easy way of thinking this is that this is a very lucid dream...so if we are here and you want to try something that might be less than recommended in the real world this is a unique opportunity to do so." Adrain says, then taking note and listening to the requests of Yuki.

The first was easy enough, the second was probably a matter of due course, and the third was something that he was planning on doing anyway. He chuckled slightly, knowing that he was going to sound like a push over by saying he would indulge her in all three.

"You know, you are too cute and adorable to say no to about those three things, so this time I'll let you have all three. I figured you would look for the flight spell anyway and I wanted to teach you to defend yourself anyway in light of concerns for your safety." he says, then pausing and looking a little sad when hearing the last request.

"A fawn...well, the only way that could happen is if we were to find one that was abandoned for some reason like a hunter taking the mother or a wolf or something along those lines, and then I don't know it'd be wise to have one at the castle. When you are living on the campus and if there arises such a situation, we will look into it." Adrain says, then looking at the sky for a moment.

"Before we go too much further though, if you want to, I do want you to see your gifts tonight, I also don't want to push you too hard here when I know this was short notice, if we plan these sessions in the future then we can at least have a better idea of scheduling and how to make it work better." Adrain says as he then holds his hand up, a bright white flash emitting.

When Yuki comes to, she will find herself in her original clothing, but laying on a number of cushions and covered in a blanket. The area around her is a large chamber in the Arch of Ages with literally thousands of glyphs that had a fading luminescence. Next to Yuki would be two wrapped gifts, one larger than the other.

When Yuki opens the larger gift, she will find an exquisite gown with a colorless gem in the middle of the part where the bust meets the neckline, seemingly custom tailored to her size and specifications. It would be white, but as she touched it, it would seemingly shift to green. The cloth would feel of silk but seem considerably more durable and a very faint mana presence could be felt from it.

The second gift would be a gold necklace with an emerald-like gem in the ornament, a faint hum of mana coming from it. The gold would be of high quality, the ornament being a pair of gold wings wrapping around the edges of the gems, holding it in place.

Adrain meanwhile sits in a circle, holding the side of his head with his right hand.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

As Yuki listened to the explanation of where they were and if she could practice and remind focus she would be able to impress the examinators. The explanation of the place that she was brought to was a bit hard to comprehend at first, once it fully was in though her mind she understood, everything around them at the moment wasn't real. It did make sense in a way, but still hard to grasp the concept of it all being a lucid dream.


Her eyes grazed upwards from her little project, with a tiny bit of a glimmer in them as a light dust of red graced her cheeks at the comment of her being cute and adorable. Still she didn't expect Adrain to agree to all three of her first request, she truly didn't expect that he would allow her to groom him since it was a more intimate thing. A light laugh left her lips she knew that she was asking for the nearly impossible with a fawn but it was still nice that Adrain wanted to get one for her. "It is if I can not get the fawn in this lifetime, the first three are more than enough."


Closing her eyes to avoid the flash of the white light, slowly opening her eyes to find that her clothes had returned to her white night slip the right shoulder having slipped covering her hand full. Quickly adjusting it she pulled the blanket around her to cover her body not wanting a repeat of the springs. Taking the time to look around the room that they were in she notice that glyphs that sparkled like stars, it was breathtaking almost better than the seeing the stars during a clear night.


She almost didn't notice the presents until she turned to look for Adrain, deciding to open the smaller one first. Slowly unwrapping it she eyes widen when she saw that was inside, her hands slowly pulled the necklace out. Her fingers carefully tracing the wings from one tip to another her finger stopping momentarily on the emerald-like gem. It was a beautiful present but she didn't know if she could accept it.


Placing the necklace in her lap, before pulling the next one closer to her. Slowly unwrapping it knowing that nothing could top the necklace at this point, only for her hands to touch and see another equally beautiful present. She almost missed that it shifted to green as she traced her fingers over the grown then the gem. Fully taking it out of the wrapping she held it up to the light noticing that it was her exact size, it did make her wonder when he would have gotten her measurements at that moment it didn't bother her too much.


Refolding and placing it back into the wrapping paper, her hands once again tracing the necklace. Unseating herself she made her way to Adrain, as she threw her arms around him in an embrace as she kisses his cheek. "Thank you, there beautiful like the person who gave it to me." A blush quickly raced to her cheeks upon realizing that she just told Adrain that she found him beautiful.


Going back to where she left the necklace she picked it up, "Would you help me put the necklace on?" Her voice once again soft.

[Deleted]

"Well, I wanted to teach you to defend yourself anyway after your kidnapping incidents so that didn't happen again, and I figured you would want to pursue flight one way or another. The hair braiding is the only thing unexpected but I am more than happy to oblige if that is what you wish." Adrain says to the blonde woman with a warm smile, gazing into her crimson eyes for a moment as the dream state faded.

Adrain hadn't noticed Yuki fumbling for her decency. The mage suffered headaches from both channeling the complex spell and participating. It was only when he heard paper being unwrapped that he looked up and watched her opening her gifts, smiling broadly at her awestruck expressions and happy facial movements.

As Yuki pounced Adrain, he wrapped his arms around her waist as she did to his shoulders to return the embrace, smiling warmly at the close contact, then the compliment about being beautiful. It wasn't normal that he was called beautiful, usually another adjective of some sort but it was adorable coming from Yuki.

"Sure, I'll help you with it." Adrain says once Yuki hops off and goes to get the necklace, the mage standing up and walking behind her, gently cupping Yuki's hands for a moment to take the necklace and then moving behind her, draping the amulet on her softly, fastening the latch once it looked right.

"These gifts I got also have special uses. I could tell you really loved flying when I talked to you in the garden, so I made this pendant myself with an enchantment that will allow you to fly for up to five minutes at a time with a slow fall safety mechanism before the magic wears off completely. It will take some time to recharge in between uses, but the words "Aerus Verias" will trigger the magic." he says calmly, then looking at the dress.

"The dress is enchanted with little flecks of each elemental gem bonded with light gems such that it will change color depending on what kind of mana you've been using, since wind is your dominant element, it'll likely be green or white depending on how long ago you used magic last. When you get better with it, it will also change to other colors, and can even be completely prismatic if you manage to learn how to use a very small amount of each element at the same time. Further, it should feel like silk upon your skin, but it'll have the defensive properties of hardened leather so that if you get attacked, you will have some passive protection. Once you become a better mage, we can strengthen this enchantment to allow you to channel mana to give it the protective value of metal while allowing you movement and flexibility of spellsilk" he says, then looking at the necklace on Yuki with a smile.

"It looks great on you, I hope you don't mind that it's gold, I figured it would match your hair.'

[Yuki D'Avranches]

The reason she wanted to learn self-defends and Adrain's reason for wanting to teach her were almost one in the same, for my own protection and safety. It made her even more happy to know that he had wanted to teach her anyway in the first place. "Hopefully, it doesn't happen again; better for me to be prepared if it does right." She said smiling brightly, "Uh... Well... I kind of.... I just figured...." Yuki became tongue-tied as she tried to put the reasoning to why she wanted to braid his hair, struggling a bit for the proper words. "I mean I just wanted to do it at least once." Plus she did want to see if his hair was as soft and silky as it looked, also for personal reasons for her to do something for Adrain that would put him in a peaceful state of mind even for a few moments.



Yuki didn't want to admit at first but she had liked the way Adrain's arms felt around her. It was warm, loving, caring, safe, serene and much all in one and felt right compared to everything else in the world. Still she had to remind herself that not to let him claim a part of her heart, that she wasn't allowed to fall in love no matter comfortable and happy she felt around him.



Another blush reddens her cheeks as their hands touched briefly. She as thankful that it only was for a few moments, and also that she had done her hair up into a bun so that it was easier to place the necklace on her. Once on she touched the pendant as it rested just above the valley of her breast vowing to herself to never take it off.



The explanation of what the necklace and the dress did, started to have tears well up in her eyes, at the simple thought that when into making them for her. Even if the necklace wasn't enchanted with flight she would have still loved it because it was the thought that counted the most. The dress was even more breathtaking knowing that not only was it made with light gems that would respond to the element of the mana that she lasted used to change colours but also that it had some defensive properties to it.



Turning to look at Adrain her eyes now on the brim of crying. "Gold or silver or even a simple string wouldn't have mattered." Embracing him once again. "I would have loved it either way because it was from you." No longer able to hold back the flow of tears, expressing her overall joy and gratitude not only for the presents but for everything that Adrain had done for her. Giving her hope for a better future.

[Deleted]

"It's good exercise in any case. I still worry a little about your health when I first talked to you at the garden, you looked like you hadn't eaten. You had better be eating your meals properly if you weren't before." he mildly scolds, showing his concern for her well being. Immediately after he lets out a soft laugh, seeing Yuki's bashfulness about the question of braiding his hair.

"Then it's okay that you do it Yuki. Even if it is a small thing, it seems to matter enough to you to make it worth sitting there and letting you play with my hair to make you happy." he says to reassure the young woman who was stammering in a highly embarrassed state regarding the reasoning why.

When putting the necklace on Yuki, he could tell that she was high on emotion, as if something bottled up was about to be released forth. When she turned around and embraced him, he in turn wrapped his arms around her once more, one hand rubbing the back of her head soothingly as he closed his eyes.

"I'm glad then, but be careful, next time I might just get you something with string since you said that to make you laugh." he teases, then silent for a moment before he spoke again. "All I want is for you to be happy and to always look forward to the next sunrise and never once letting the thought that eternal night would be better. You are brilliant, kind, and have so much potential both as a person and a mage and I want to see it come to fruition."