Facing the door to Luke's room at the inn was Meredith, hesitant to knock for some reason. After sighing, she finally knocked on the door.
*Toc, toc*
"May I come in?" The girl asked as she already opened the door, not waiting for an answer.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw that the half-wolf was doing push-ups. He wasn't even showing any concern for his supposedly failing health.
Luke's body was sweaty, and the sweat that slid down his skin also reflected the light coming in through the window. When he saw and heard Meredith, he stopped exercising and sat on the floor, slightly out of breath.
"Luke, you need to rest!"
As much as seeing him shirtless was extremely tempting to the fox lady, the girl's heart filled with concern at seeing him panting. She immediately forced Luke to stop his exercises and promise that he would rest.
In the end, both the half-wolf and the half-fox laughed lightly at her tremendous concern.
After Meredith calmed down, they talked for a while, and finally the two then went down the stairs of the inn to eat in the dining hall on the second floor.
The dining hall was silent, and as expected, totally empty. There was a single table in place, and on top of that was a basket of rolls, a jug of milk, and two bowls of mushroom soups.
By the absence of people, Luke was able to eat alone with Meredith after a while. However, this tranquility was interrupted by hurried footsteps that came to the door of the empty inn. Luke and Meredith didn't even alert themselves, because in addition to smelling old age from afar, they heard the laughter of the old mage on the other side of the door.
"Hohohoho! I've completed the preparations, now we can walk on water!" Zhanid said as he opened the door with force.
At first glance this suggestion seemed impossible, however, Luke had already considered the possibility to be real and accepted this idea, after all he wanted to see more demonstrations of Zhanid's magical abilities. However, Meredith was bothered by the possibility of this going wrong, because pulling the salt from the seawater out of her tail hairs was extremely irritating.
Zhanid sat down at the end of the breakfast table, next to Luke and Meredith. The old man served himself some soup and a slice of bread, while talking animatedly about how excited he was. With movements of his hands, he naturally used his magic to serve himself, causing both the cutlery and even the piece of bread to come to his mouth.
The old man used magic so naturally, showing that he did not care about the mana expenditure. In fact, the many uses for magic demonstrated by Zhanid made Luke more and more interested in the subject. His focus in going to the Melki Academy of Magic was not exactly on learning magic, but the idea of venturing into the magical arts was becoming more and more real in the man's mind.
The book that the half-wolf was reading during the trip was left on the table and was called: Techniques of Elemental Magic.
This book had details of how to use the five basic attributes of magic, which were Fire, Earth, Air, Water, and last and most importantly, pure Mana manipulation.
While to Manipulate wind using a Gene Skill you would need <Vind>. However, with magic manipulating wind was a matter of concentrating your elemental ability and a little imagination.
For Luke, the idea of testing how far he could advance with magic had been on his mind ever since he started reading this unusual book of spells.
Looking down at the bowl of soup before him, Luke slowly began to try to perform a basic incantation, mimicking the directions he read in the book.
"Silph Concentris." He whispered.
Without much delay, a small swirl of wind appeared on top of the soup, which caused the thick broth of the soup to begin to swirl as well. The floating mushrooms naturally joined in this centrifugal movement. After this, the boy raised his hand a little and made the small tornado disappear.
Controlling the wind with mana was extremely similar to using skill <Vind>, but it took a little more focus.
'Maybe it just needs practice.' thought the half-wolf.
[Try to imagine the shape of the element next to the incantation, it will make it easier to master the spell].
Balance's unexpected voice caught Luke's attention by surprise. However, he didn't have much time to talk to her, because soon Meredith held the young man's hand, surprising him.
"Luke, eat at least some of your food. We don't know how far away the place we're going is. Eat while we still have time." She warned, not seeming to notice that he had used magic.
"Right..."
Since Zhanid was also engrossed in his own thoughts, he didn't quite understand what the two were talking about. After finishing his meal, he turned to Luke and said:
"I will put you in my research group at the Academy, but according to Hazor you are not very experienced with magic right?"
Luke nodded as he put a spoonful of soup in his mouth.
"Okay. Your area of expertise will be magical zoology. I believe I have a project that will suit you."
There were three ways to enter the Melki Empire Academy of Magic.
The first would be as a student, a process in which candidates are selected for their magical proficiency and ability, as well as important achievements or accomplishments.
The second, as a teacher. In this process, it would be necessary to have a deep knowledge of a magical discipline recognized by the academy, and to take tests to prove one's knowledge.
Finally, there is the research branch of the academy. This is the main branch of the academy and, according to Hazor, Luke could go undercover with no problems alongside Zhanid if he chose this category.
The man's goals at the academy were simple: to find a way to reduce the effects of his curse by treating the symptoms, and to recruit as many capable mages as possible for a possible revolution against the Melki Empire.
Currently Luke's main focus would be to gain the help of Megan, declared the strongest mage in the academy by Zhanid himself. If he recommended her, that meant that she should probably be the best person to help him in this situation.
After finishing their morning coffee, Meredith and Luke got up from the table.
"Finish packing up your luggage guys. I'm going to dismantle the labs I built." Zhanid said.
The two of them then went upstairs and packed their backpacks. Meredith didn't take long to finish, and then she arrived at Luke's room, knocked on the door, and entered without waiting for an answer once again.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure, is there something bothering you?" Luke asked, looking at the girl.
"Yeah... I mean, there's something I wanted to ask you Luke." Meredith's voice showed that she was afraid.
The man then finished packing his backpack, but stopped and sat on the bed to listen to her. Then Meredith sat down on the side, touched her hand with both of her hands, and said looking into his eyes:
"I love you, Luke! I want to be your third wife!"
Luke arched his eyebrows, surprised at such sudden words after so long.
"I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened, please accept me. I-I just can't forget that night."
Meredith began to cry a little, and it all moved the heart of the half-wolf beside her. Luke then hugged her, feeling her sweet perfume up close.
"It's Okay, I just need some time to think about it."
Even with that answer, Meredith's heart was soothed by Luke's calm voice. Something that was noticeable from the embrace. Her Pulse gradually calmed down, until the girl then stood up in a hurry, dried her tears and turned to Luke.
"I'm fine. Let's go?" She held out her hand to him and smiled.
The young wolf then smiled and kissed her hand.
"We have a long journey, right?
Again, Luke found himself drowning in thoughts as he walked down the stairs of the inn. No doubt he wanted to accept Meredith, for he loved her. But the real question would be how Alexis and Ayumi would react.
Besides, he was feeling submerged in problems, the amulet, magic, his wives, balance, demons. There were many different issues and problems to solve. Having a closer relationship with Meredith would help him think better.
Luke could imagine Ayumi and Alexis accepting Meredith, but part of him wondered how they would react to his return accompanied by yet another wife. This made him more apprehensive than battling demons these days.
[I don't imagine you'll have a problem, happy wolf boy].
'Why do you say that Balance?'
[At the time, I wasn't free to talk to you, but I watched what you did. Ayumi accepted Alexis with ease, and I don't think she is the type who will deny a wish of hers. Alexis was so afraid of being rejected that she wouldn't do it with another girl. I'm sure that after you complete your goals, your wives will welcome you with open arms, and won't even mind sharing you, as long as they each get a little of your attention].
'Until you are a good love counselor for a celestial entity.' Luke joked with her.
[Do you think so?]
'I know you're an existence or something, but still, it's been comforting to have your support, Thanks for being here with me, Ayla.'
In Luke's soul, Balance was sitting on the ground as she ran her hand through her blonde hair, and she smiled because of the half-wolf's compliment.
[I thank you for keeping my hopes in humanity, Luke].
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