The half elf placed her hand on her hat to keep it on as her silver locks swayed with the passing wind before responding, "When do you plan to head out again? I don't believe you plan on staying in Yullim forever."
"You're right. I don't plan on staying too much longer, it's just…after my last journey, there were so many times where I didn't know if I'd see my family again. I guess you can say I'm getting my quality time in…just in case something bad happens out there," Emilio said with a melancholic smile.
"Don't say things like that. You'll be fine," Celly lightly nudged him on the arm.
"I know, I know, just–dying and coming back changes your perspective on things, you know?" He said.
"I can't really imagine what that's like," Celly said as if not really wanting to know either.
As they sat there, peacefully feasting on the fresh sandwiches as the bed of flowers, ranging from soft azure, fiery red, or even a pale yellow, swayed around them, it came time for them to do what they initially set out to do.
"It's time to fulfill it," Celly said with a soft smile, holding her hand out, "--Our 'Rememberance Bond'."
"Yeah, now that we both fulfilled our goals," Emilio said, grasping her hand with his own.
The silver-haired mage's hand was as soft as silk, possessing a gentle grip that couldn't bring harm to even a summer ant. It was as their hands held each other, confirming their grip and closing their eyes did the "Remembrance Bond" seeded within their bodies unravel, unleashing a wind of mana particles that filled the isolated garden with sublime light.
"It's done," Celly said, opening her eyes again with a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts.
Emilio opened his eyes as well, nodding, "Yeah, it is."
As they looked at each other for a moment, they both realized simultaneously they were still holding one another's hands, bringing them to swiftly withdraw their hands out of embarrassment.
–Just then, something scurried through the bushes, coming from a small cavern across the isolated garden. Pushing through the foliage was a giant boar; dwarfing the size of an adult man with tusks that could bulldoze through a small cottage.
Plenty of such boars had been hunted by Julius, though Emilio knew well that even they on occasion nicked his father; all-in-all, they were formidable beasts.
'It's a big one–those tusks mean it's probably an alpha, but it's alone?' He thought.
"We've got company," he said.
"Yeah," Celly nodded, noticing as she stood to her feet, "Leave this to me."
The massive boar stood, huffing breath from its massive snout that left like steam from an archaic engine, dragging its hoof across the ground to signify its hostility. He remained seated on the ground, having faith in his former teacher, though curious as to how she would handle such a rowdy beast.
"Are you going to take it out?" He asked.
"That's not necessary," Celly said, holding her illustrious staff in front of herself as the mana became infused with the warmth of mana.
"Oh? I don't think our guest here is much for peace talks," Emilio said jokingly.
"Maybe not, but I have my ways," Celly said confidently.
The territorial beast finally charged forth, causing the soil of the secluded garden to rumble beneath the weight of its body forged for the sole purpose of rushing in with its mighty tusks.
The archmage summoned a cerulean air of mana, forming into particles of water that were guided by the rise of her staff as her cape fluttered along with her skirt.
As the tusked beast carved up the soil in its path, lowering its tusks like a vehicle of destruction, the silver-haired archmage held her staff forward, guiding the cerulean air against the boar.
'Incantationless magic?' Emilio recognized.
It flowed with a gentle veil of moisture, allowing the bubbles to pop around the beast as it was enveloped in the tranquil spell's hold. Just a couple meters shy of colliding with the lithe woman, the boar suddenly collapsed, sliding across the bed of flowers as it came to a grinding halt.
As Celly had assured, it was not dead, in fact, the boar seemed to be experiencing a beauty rest unlike any other, snoring heavily.
'Sometimes it's easy to forget–I'm not the only one who has been growing stronger and studying magic. If there's one person in this world I know for sure who loves magecraft more than me, it's you, Celly,' he thought.
"You put it to sleep? What sort of spell was that?" Emilio asked, standing up as he was intrigued by the unknown magic.
Celly turned to face him with a confident smile, adjusting her mage cap, "There is a whole world of magic out there that you have yet to scratch the surface of. If you'd like, I can teach you."
"Yeah, of course! I'll sweeten the deal for you," Emilio said with a smirk of his own.
"With what?"
"Hold that thought–looks like backup is here," Emilio said with a smile, facing over to where rustling came through the bushes.
As expected from the theory that the now snoring boar was an "alpha" of a group, a trio of less-than-peaceful looking goliath boars arrived, already preparing to rush towards the two.
"Don't kill them–please," Celly said.
"If it's a request from my precious teacher, I'll have to oblige," Emilio playfully said.
Standing between the archmage and the group of angry beasts, he opted not to draw his sword as he instead wanted to showcase magic of his own he had learned and developed.
"Bring it on, pork chops," Emilio said quietly.
As if accepting his provocation, the three boars rushed through the garden towards the Dragonheart, who remained calm and collected with a small smile before soft-blue light running through his metal arm changed to an emerald glow.
In a swift movement of his hand, he summoned a spherical cage of unseen wind around the boars, creating a vacuum around the space that removed all oxygen within it in totality. A devastating spell that, when used against enemies of lesser caliber, was an instant victory: "Absolute Air Lock."
The removal of oxygen in the space around the huffing beasts caused all three to collapse as a lack of air caused their brains to instantly flip their off-switch, temporarily, as he made sure for the half elf. Only one, glaring weakness existed with such a powerful spell: there was a delay that spanned from either one second to five, depending on the size of the vacuum.
'Amazing…That level of mastery of the element of wind is akin to the Element King himself–Emilio, just how much have you grown really?' Celly thought, proudly, though felt somewhat saddened for a moment, '...I have to wonder, though, Emilio…Just what kind of hardships forced you to grow this strong? Even when you smile, I can see it in your eye; there are scars unseen, yet always present.'
The half-elf found herself on the brink of tears looking upon his back of the man left unwhole; of the one she once knew as a happy, carefree boy–deprived of an arm, absent of an eye due to regretful curses, and experiences unseen, but felt.
"I've got a spell or two you might like as well. I haven't been slacking, you know," Emilio said, bashfully rubbing his upper lip, "So, let's teach each other."
Celly looked up at him, nodding, "I'd like that very much, yes."
For the two passionate connoisseurs of magic, the picnic itself was secondary to the knowledge of magecraft they shared with one another; the relationship of teacher and student had been washed away–now, the two were peers.
"Like…this?" Celly nervously asked.
Hovering just a half a foot off of the ground, the silver-haired half-elf was unsteady as a propulsion of wind emitted from beneath her boots to keep her afloat, though Emilio stayed near her in case of an unstable tumble.
"Yeah! You're getting the hang of it!" Emilio encouraged her.
What Emilio opted to teach Celly was his own brand of magic that was certainly unconventional in the eyes of traditional mages: a spell he dubbed "Aerial Wings". It was an efficient method of movement both inside and outside of battle, allowing for aerodynamic maneuvering, though it was a difficult spell to grasp.
The constant propulsion of wind beneath one's feet needed to be constant and equal between both feet; another flow of air was used around one's body for shifts in trajectory, also needing to be consistent.
"Waaah–!"
Celly suddenly slipped up as she lost balance of her wind manifestation, falling backward straight into the arms of the man behind her.
"I gotcha," Emilio told her with a smile, looking down at the woman he held in her arms.
Words were absent from the half-elf's lips for a moment as she looked up, for some reason taken aback by the handsomeness of the grown Dragonheart in that moment before her entire face became flushed with embarrassment.
"A-alright!"
Celly picked herself up, hiding her face as she turned the other way, brushing herself off to distract herself.
"Hm?" Emilio looked at her.
The archmage contained herself with a deep inhale and exhale before turning back towards him, "I think I understand the philosophy behind 'Aerial Wings'--it really is an amazing spell you've developed. I should be able to practice it on my own. It's time I repaid the favor: I'll teach you the spell I used on the boar now."
"Alright, I'm all ears!" Emilio excitedly said, dutifully listening like it was the old days of their teacher-student tutorship.
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