_________________________________________

Elaria

The trio exited the inn after finishing breakfast, and Leo stopped Elaria to bring her in close so he could whisper into her ear. “So, I think it's time I paid back my debts and then some.” He said while handing her a gold coin.

Elaria’s eyes went wide as she looked down at the coin, completely speechless. It was one thing to talk about paying off her service, it was another feeling entirely to hold the key to it in her hand, and the gift literally brought a tear to her eye.

“Elari-A Mmmm?” Leo was cut off by Elaria wrapping her arms around him, bringing him into a deep passionate kiss, and breaking away only to take a breath before continuing again.

When Elaria finally broke off, she leaned in to whisper into his ear while excessively pressing her cool scaled body against his. “Well, I guess I owe you now, so I'll make sure I begin paying you back, starting tonight.” She finished with a sultry tone.

Stepping back, Elaria could see that Leo was beet red, and she giggled at his reaction. "But in all seriousness, thank you Leo. You have no idea what this means to me."

For Elaria it meant that she was once again free, free to spend her life with a man that she believed she was falling in love with. She felt a slight tinge of guilt though, because at the beginning she knew to some extent that she was using him. Now though, she was becoming exceedingly attached, not wanting to be anywhere else but by his side.

Leo broke into a warm smile that made her feel lighter, but she couldn't place why. "Well then, I guess you should go and make your leave of service more permanent." He told her before giving her a peck on the cheek.

Elaria beamed, bringing Leo into a tight hug while reflexively giving him a deep kiss, before turning to leave for the guard's base. "I'll meet you at the back gate when you're done at the market." She told them as she started to leave the pair.

Elaria thought about the future as she practically skipped to her destination, as for the first time in her life she actually had one. She imagined the perfect life of living with Leo and a dozen other wives in a large manor on the countryside, and spending every night in bed together. Adopting a few children to raise, and even naming one after her sister.

The thought of her sister caused her mind to halt on the topic. 'Crap! I need to tell her about Leo, not all the details though… She’s the only one in the family that knows where I am, and I don't want her to visit Telnar when I'm gone. Have to make her swear to not tell the rest of the family though, even if I missed some of them, I wouldn't know what a few of the family heads would try and pull. They could be sadistically manipulative and down right vile in trying to acquire more power, and they have and are more than willing to use me to that end.' She thought grimly to herself as her lively pace slowed.

“It's why I changed my name and joined the military after all.” She remarked coldly.

_________________________________________

Leo

Leo and Allis headed toward the back gate, after he submitted a few specific orders to the carpenter and blacksmith, as well as buying a box of handkerchiefs from the tailor.

While the pair were heading toward their destination, Leo caught the sight of Allis's clinic out of the corner of his eye, and then turned to her with a questioning look. "Hey Allis, I know you're helping me with magic today, but you haven't been at the clinic for the past couple of days. Won't you get into trouble or something?"

Allis snorted as she stifled a laugh." Maybe if I wasn't a mage, the most the local lords could tell me to do is start rationing supplies, they are paid for by the town after all." She answered a little full of herself, and it took a second for her to catch the snide behavior.

Leo cocked his head as he realized something. "Wait, so if you don't supply your clinic, then it's not yours is it?"

Allis nodded. "Correct, it's the town's, but I am the only one that works there, so." She shrugged.

Leo's expression turned a bit bitter as he remembered some familiar memories. "So you share profits with the town when it comes to medicines, but what about your healing magic?" He asked a bit pointedly.

Allis was initially confused by Leo's question, but then recalled their first meeting before shrinking in on herself. "Well, the pricing is up to me, and I get all the profits…." She responded with a little shame, while she seemed unable to look Leo in the eye.

Leo softened his gaze and sighed, pulling back some buried emotions that he had no right directing at Allis. “Sorry about that. I know your head was in a bad place, and that you were just going with what was expected. It's just that healthcare is a sore spot for me, I get a little heated when it comes to the topic.” He said while he sunk into a somber expression, his eyes growing distant.

Allis took notice of Leo’s shift in mood. “I’d be happy to listen, If you want to talk about it.” She told him as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Leo broke out of his thoughts and looked up at Allis. “Well…” He sighed, believing that getting it off his chest would be for the best. “My grandfather, he was a handyman, he liked to learn to do anything and everything himself. He was a stubborn man, never giving up on a project until it was done, even though after a certain age he should have just left things to the professionals. He- tried to fix something that was very dangerous and… He got hurt… He was patched up at the hospital, recovering there for a few months, but his insu- he couldn't cover the entire cost of the care.”

Allis slumped a bit. “Ah, is that why you were upset by the over pricing?”

Leo winced, knowing that he needed to finish the story for her to understand. “Well, it's what happened after that hurt the most. Much of the family chipped in to help, even though they had their own financial problems, and he didn't take that situation well, especially when he could no longer do much of anything on his own on account of his injuries… Many relatives visited him almost daily to try and comfort him, but I think he blamed himself for his situation. He just seemed to lose the will to live, and...” The words caught in his throat as he felt an unbearable tightness in his chest.

Allis stopped and lowered herself to spin Leo around while bringing him into a tight hug, it was only then that he realized the tears that were starting to stream down hid face at the memory. They stayed like that for a moment before Leo broke the embrace, becoming slightly red as he remembered that they were out in public.

Leo gave her a warm smile as he composed himself, wiping away the tears with his scarf. “Thanks Allis, I think I needed that. And sorry for dumping that on you, it's just that he was like a father to me, and how he spent his last few years really gets to me.”

Allis gave Leo a comforting smile. “I understand, it's difficult to lose family.” She finished somberly.

Leo mentally winced. ‘Ah, fuck. Compared to what Allis went through, I might as well have described a vacation. Now I kinda feel like shit.’

“Hey Allis, I really do appreciate you listening, so I’m here for you too if you want to get anything off your chest.” Leo offered with honest care in his voice.

Allis smiled softly as her hood perked up a bit. “You're very much welcome, and I think... I think it would be good for me to properly talk to someone, so I’ll take you up on the offer when we have some time alone.” She said while slithering closer to him, and they both traveled the rest of the way to the gate in peaceful, content silence.

Exiting through the gate, Allis and Leo were greeted by Elaria and Glia waiting on the other side. “Afternoon you two, so how did-” Leo was cut off by Elaria slamming into him with a hug.

Leo chuckled as he nearly fell backwards from her sudden embrace. “I assume it went-” He was cut off again by Elaria giving him a deep kiss, her tongue nearly snaking its way down his throat.

“Well…” He breathlessly remarked after Elaria broke the kiss.

Elaria looked into his dark brown eyes with a cheery mirth. “I'm officially relieved of service, so I can take up my new position. With. You.” She finished with a playful tone as she pressed a little more against him.

A sly smile crossed Leo’s face at the all too eager selarin. “So does that mean you wanna join us in the field while I practice?” He teased knowingly.

Elaria faltered a bit as she immediately broke away and took a step back. “Um, I think the physical distance can vary on occasion.…” She remarked sheepishly.

Leo stifled a laugh while he set down the box of handkerchiefs. “Alright then, you wait here while Allis and I go play with fire.” He told her with a sort of amused confidence.

Allis raised an eyebrow while giving Leo an apprehensive look. “If I wasn't your instructor, I would probably take a seat on the bench as well….” She sort of half joked.

Leo rolled his eyes, as fire magic was probably not all that dangerous. “Eh, I'm not planning on experimenting, so it should be safe.”

“Should be? What did you do while experimenting for it not to be?” Allis asked critically as her head tilted forward to study him.

Leo became a bit sheepish as he recalled his last and only experimenting session. “Well…. I learned how to wipe out an army with a pebble, and gained control over one of the fundamental building blocks of reality.”

“Oh.........What?”

_________________________________________

Allis

Allis and Leo strolled out onto the field away from Glia and Elaria, who stayed back at the gate to watch from a safe distance. The pair of mages stopped when they were close enough to the forest's edge to use them as targets if needed. “So what would you like to learn?” She asked a little hesitantly, as she was still not sure what she could possibly teach an arch mage.

Leo furrowed his brow as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, I want to know how to manage my mana. Also Is there a way to measure mana, because determining my limits is damn near impossible…”

Allis sighed a little irritably, as she realized that it was like he read through an advanced spell casting book, but skipped the beginner's introduction. “Well you would have to figure out what mana is if you want to measure it, and that's a question that every mage on the planet wants the answer to. It is written in every book that it's either some kind of life energy or power granted by the gods, but no one knows enough to manipulate it to the extent of drawing it into the body, or even how to make it's mysterious rune. You figure that out, and you’d be the most powerful mage to exist.”

Leo laced his fingers behind his head as he took on an easygoing attitude. “So let's just start with the basics then. I’d like to learn from someone with experience, just to make sure I haven't missed anything majorly important.”

‘The basics huh… I should make sure he's casting correctly, well, as correctly as someone who doesn't need words to cast.’ Allis thought before crossing her arms. “Ok then, show me how you spend your mana and cast a fireball.” She ordered, and Leo held out his hand as a ball of fire instantly appeared above it.

Allis winced as she witnessed the utter waste of mana. “When casting a spell that involves things like fire it's best to cast it small, then feed mana into the spell to grow it and better conserve mana. This applies to most spells actually, cast it small to save on an initial expenditure, since it's easier and cheaper to feed mana into a spell.”

Leo smirked as the ball of fire winked out. “See, things that I might have missed, just treat me like I'm entirely new to magic. Because I am.”

“Well, that's kinda hard to do when you can fly and don't even use words to cast….” Allis thought aloud irritably.

Leo crossed his arms. “It's really not that hard...” He trailed as Allis stared at him incredulously before he continued. “Uh, the not casting words thing, not the flying.” He finished while awkwardly breaking eye contact.

Allis narrowed her eyes, very irritated with trying to argue with someone who was both an expert and a novice. “Care to share your infinite wisdom then?”

Leo opened his mouth to explain, but completely blanked before saying. “Just do it....” Making it sound almost like a question.

Allis rolled her eyes and sighed. “Do you now see why It's hard to treat you like a novice?”

Leo groaned, apparently just as unhappy with no clear starting point for her to teach him. “Yeah, ya… So what other mana basics should I know?”

Allis shrugged. “Well that's it mainly, since you already seem to have a complete mastery over your mana flow.”

“Really, how can you tell?” Leo asked curiously.

“Well you can make a rune in seconds that takes masters minutes, and how you flowed mana through your body to strengthen it is something that I've only read about. There's really nothing I can tell you in regards to that.” Allis explained with a bit of an apologetic look.

Leo sighed heavily before scratching the back of his head. “This seems to have been a ‘very’ short lesson.”

Allis started to fiddle a little awkwardly with the scales on her hand. “What should we do now? Because unfortunately, you already have all the knowledge to do things way beyond what I'm capable of. So there's not much I can teach you besides a few tips.”

Leo wore a disappointed expression before he grinned. “I guess it's time to experiment then.”

‘I think I should have just sat back at the gate….’

_________________________________________