“Hey Sekh, how come you’re so cute?”

It was currently lunch and I was spooning a mixture of fish soup and rice into Sekh’s mouth, which she gobbled down happily. 

“I think it’s a combination of my wonderful personality and stunning looks,” Sekh joked, her tail lightly stroking my cheek. 

I reached my other hand over to Sekh’s head and started to gently rub her ears and play with her golden hair. And I’ll be honest, this is just as addicting for me as it is for her. 

“Hey Azel, you want a lap pillow after this?” Sekh asked me casually. 

“Can I give you one instead?” I suggested. 

Pouting slightly, Sekh playfully poked my cheek. 

“You’re already pampering me now, I need to repay the favor.”

“But what if I want to spoil you more?”

“Cute, super cute. In that case, I want to propose a trade. I’ll give you a lap pillow today and you can give me one tomorrow.”

“Deal,” I answered almost immediately. “Oh and are you free soon? I want to preserve the meat that you guys got from hunting.”

“Is it couple bonding time?” Sekh asked with a sly grin. 

“It can be whatever we want it to be,” I said almost cheekily, rubbing my face against hers. 

“Alright, but let’s not take too long since you have lessons with Zeph,” she replied.

After I finished feeding Sekh, the leopard girl sat on the ground with her legs crossed, patting her thighs for emphasis. Smiling, I rested my head onto Sekh’s lap, a firm feeling pressing against the back of my head.

Sekh promptly bent down, pressing her nose against mine. Giggling, Sekh raised her head for a moment before bending back down to shower me in kisses. All the while, I was taking full advantage of my current location to squeeze her chest. 

“Maybe this isn’t the best time to ask you, but how are you feeling about me being in a polyamorous relationship with you and Minerva?” I suddenly asked. 

Sekh sat straight up, her hand resting on her chin thoughtfully. 

“I don’t have any problems so far, especially since you’ve been spending plenty of quality time with the both of us. Though I am a bit worried that you might get worn out by the two of us.”

Patting her head, I gave her a reassuring smile. 

“You don’t have to worry about that at all. As long as you two are happy then I’m happy.”

“I feel the same way,” she giggled. “You might not have noticed but I’m really glad that you’re in a relationship with Minerva.”

“How come?” I asked curiously. 

Instead of laughing, Sekh suddenly turned serious, an almost somber look appearing on her face. 

“Because I really want to see you happy, to see you smile. When you were possessed for those two weeks, I’d always come to watch over you and it hurt so much. You remember how I told you that your body would move sometimes? But everytime, it just looked like you were trying to cry. Azel, I don’t want to see that again. I know it’s selfish but I just want to see you smile and I want to protect that smile of yours.”

I was at a loss for words then, my cheeks feeling remarkably warm at that moment. 

“I...thanks Sekh, I love you. But isn’t it a bit strange to approve of my relationship with Minerva just because she makes me happy. Even if it’s a cultural norm, that doesn’t mean that you have to go along with it. I know I wouldn’t accept it if our roles were reversed.”

“And I’m not asking you to,” she replied while patting my head. “Azel, relationships aren’t about creating a forced equality between both parties. It’s about compromising so that both parties are happy. I can’t speak for you, but I know that I’m happy with our arrangement and isn’t that what matters?”

“Of course,” I answered. “I’m just worried that you aren’t, but it seems like I was wrong. Still, if you ever feel unhappy, just let me know so I can change it.”

“You’re really sweet, Azel,” Sekh cooed. “I think you already know, but I want to reiterate it. I’m beyond happy that I fell in love with you.”

“I feel the same way,” I told Sekh before sitting up to embrace her. 

The two of us clung to each other in silence for a while before Sekh suddenly broke off with a cheerful look on her face. 

“I think we’ve had our little moment so let’s go take care of your meat.”

“Why’d you have to phrase it like that?” I sighed. “I don't even make jokes that bad.”

“That is up for debate,” Sekh teased, grabbing my hand to lead me towards the kitchen. 

There, the two of us got to work smoking, salting, and potting a variety of meat, most of which was either chicken or fish. While we were focused on working, we were pretty much behaving like a married couple. Well, we are a couple just not married yet. 

But my fun got cut short when Sekh reminded me that I had lessons with Zeph at the citadel. Although we still had plenty of work to do, Sekh promised me that she would take care of preserving the food since magic lessons were far more important. 

When I arrived at the courtyard of Damask’s citadel, I found Zeph diligently training with Gregorius, her arms weary from carrying the practice lance for so long. Instead of disrupting her, I decided to stand back and watch her finish training. 

Since Zeph was so focused on her lessons, she didn’t notice my presence and continued to practice with the quintain. It was only when Gregorius called out to me that she noticed. 

“Sorry Azel, but can you wait a bit longer?” she requested. 

“Sure, make sure to keep your form correct though,” I reminded her. “Even though you’re tired, this is probably the best time to learn to maintain your posture.”

A while after, Zeph finally finished her training, sweat now dripping profusely down her face. 

“You should go wash off first,” I recommended to her. “Or at least take a break.”

In response, she bowed down towards me, her long white hair tumbling down in front of her. 

“Sorry for wasting your time, I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Why are you bowing like that?” I wondered. “I’m the student today, remember?”

“Well you’re my instructor every other day,” she argued. “So it’s not like I can change my attitude towards you on just a whim.”

“I don’t know about that last part,” I commented. “You seem to be pretty capable of doing just that.”

“My actions aren’t a direct mirror of my feelings you know?” Zeph pointed. 

“Fair enough,” I said with a shrug. 

As if the conversation hadn’t happened, Zeph bowed once more before going off. After coming back from her short bath, Zeph motioned for me to follow her out of the city into a large open field. 

“We need to make sure that you’re far away from people who can’t use magic while we practice,” Zeph told me. “Especially since you should have a destruction based magic.”

Since the god that inserted itself into me holds power of chaos and destruction, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I would inherit some portion of his power. The other possibility is that I don’t gain anything other than trauma. 

More importantly, Zeph is one of the few people who could be around me safely since she can also manipulate atmospheric mana. So if I lose control of the mana I’m controlling and it reacts negatively with my ability, then Zeph can just push it away. 

“Azel, let’s go over the very basics of magic,” Zeph said when she finished determining that the area was safe. “You should know it, but I want to hear it from you to ensure you don’t have any misconceptions.”

Well that seems like the right idea.

“From what I learned, magic is the manipulation of mana which flows around in the atmosphere. As for how it’s manipulated it flows into us through our head and exits through extremities such as our fingertips or toes. After taking in mana, you can either send it out while using your personal elemental affinity or leave it in pure mana form. Either way when it leaves your body, it can move around the other mana particles in the atmosphere.” 

“And what happens when you overexert yourself?” Zeph asked in a bored tone. 

“Oh, that’s mana poisoning,” I recalled. “Supposedly there is a negative effect on the body from repeatedly taking in mana without resting. All I remember is that you start feeling awful and if you keep going you end up dying.”

“Yeah, that’s all correct,” Zeph sighed happily. “But that’s the easy part. The hard part is getting a feel for things.”

“That’s what every mage I’ve met has told me,” I said thoughtfully. “I guess it’s time for me to figure it out for myself.”

“Alright, I’m going to just move a lot of mana around you,” Zeph informed me. “Now I want you to focus and see if you can detect anything. Closing your eyes normally helps.”

Following her instructions, I stood still with my eyes closed and focused. Then I waited. And then I waited some more. 

“Zeph, is it normal to not feel anything?” I asked after around ten or so minutes. 

“Somewhat,” she said with a neutral look. “I guess we just have to keep trying. Still, if you don’t feel anything within a week, it’s really unlikely that you will be able to use magic.”

“Well there’s always the possibility of a late awakening,” I suggested, earning a frown from Zeph. 

Generally, most people find out they can use magic when they come into contact with another mage using magic, since their bodies can somewhat feel the mana moving around. Others might start using magic out of the blue, while some people spend their entire lives hoping to awaken some latent ability. 

Unfortunately it is not very practical to have mages scan people for magic by constantly using magic around them since a person’s magical awakening can be rather fickle. Still, the vast majority between the ages of 12 and 23. Then there was one recorded case where someone awakened at the age of 80 and promptly passed away within a few months. I guess the main reason most people aren’t hopeful is due to how rare mages are in the first place. 

For the next hour or so, Zeph and I repeated our exercise, trying to find out if I could sense anything. While I did feel some movement for a bit, there was also a strong breeze at that exact time, so we still don’t know for sure. 

“Sorry Azel, but let’s end it for today,” Zeph called out to me around two hours since our practice started. “I’m starting to feel pretty tired.”

“That’s fine,” I replied. “Thanks for putting up with me for today, even though nothing happened.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Zeph said to me. “Patience is key here.”

As the two of us were walking home, we passed by the bookstore that Minerva and I regularly visited. After strolling just past it, I suddenly remembered that I had made a purchase before I left to subdue the rebels. 

“Sorry Zeph, I have to go do something for a bit,” I told her. “You can head home first.”

Zeph stood still for a moment, looking as though she was pondering about what to do. 

“Do you mind if I go with you?”

Now it was my turn to consider my options. 

“Sure I guess. I’m just picking up a gift I bought for Minerva before we left the city.”

“You think she’ll like it?” Zeph asked curiously. 

“Most likely,” I answered.

When I went inside the store the clerk greeted me with a surprised look. 

“Sorry for not picking up my order earlier,” I apologised. “I had a bit of trouble the past few weeks.”

“That’s alright, but will Minerva be coming back soon?” she asked me. “She didn’t show up since the army came back to the city. Does it have to do with your situation?”

“Something like that,” I answered while rubbing the back of my head. “Well you don’t have to worry, she’ll be coming back soon. She’s just busy with work.”

Strange. I thought she would have come here a lot to relieve stress. Or does this place bring back too many memories of me for her? Regardless, I hope that I can come back here with her later. 

Despite picking up my order late, I didn’t get charged extra and only had to pay the original price of 1 solidi.

“That’s a cute gift,” Zeph remarked. “It looks really nice with the red embroidery and leather cover.”

“I like to think that I have pretty good tastes when it comes to gifts,” I remarked.

“I’ve only seen one example so I can’t form my own opinion,” Zeph commented. 

“Maybe I should get you something too then,” I teased her. 

“Get something for Sekh instead,” she told me. 

“I guess I’m getting two gifts in the future then,” I said cheekily. “Now let’s go home.”

After eating dinner that night, I decided it was a good time to give Minerva her gift. It was also quite convenient that we resumed our nightly massages. 

“Hey Minerva, you want to go with me to the bookstore this week?” I asked her while pressing my hands down on her shoulder.

“Sure,” she replied energetically. “I’ll try to make time as soon as possible. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know as soon as possible.”

“I look forward to it,” I said warmly.

Once I was finished with her massage, I went back to my room to bring her my gift. When I came back to the room we were staying in, Minerva’s eyes lit up at the sight of the book. 

“Did you loan that from the store?” she asked eagerly.

“Nope,” I answered. “I bought it as a gift for you a few weeks ago. I hope you like it.”

“T-thank you, thank you so much,” Minerva said happily before hugging me tightly. 

The moment she let go of me, I handed her the book which she immediately began to skim through. But after reading it through for around thirty minutes, a somewhat tearful look appeared on her face. 

Shit, I just remembered what the story was about. Two lovers that separated due to life and only got back together after a series of trials. Although I remembered that I got her a gift, I thought I ordered a fairly normal romantic comedy. And it even seemed like that when I skimmed through it.

“Hey Azel, do you believe in fate?”

“Not really,” I answered. “Honestly, I didn’t think much when I ordered that specific story. I just thought it was something cute that you would like. I’m sorry if it comes off as insensitive.”

Minerva put the book down and pulled me into another firm hug, her red eyes shining with tears which I desperately tried to wipe away. 

“No, not at all. I really love it. I honestly couldn’t have asked for something better.”

“I-I’m glad you like it,” I replied awkwardly.

“Sorry but I have another request,” Minerva told me while resting her chin on my shoulder. “Let me stay like this for a while.”

Smiling, I began to gently stroke the back of her head. 

“Don’t worry, I want to stay like this for a while too.”