After learning the mana gaze, Darian was the biggest challenge: how to turn it off. Every day, his eyes were showing things he had never seen in his life; it was kind of irritating, yet he practiced to keep everything under control.
One afternoon, while he was training his agility in the dense forest with the elf, he saw something peculiar: a corpse of a wild boar, rotting. Darian has seen animal corpses many times in the forest. This time it was really, really not normal.
"Hey, kid, what are you looking at?" Faelynn asked Darian while chugging wine, "Have you ever seen a corpse in your life?"
Darain didn't answer. His awakened eyes were focused on the boar's heart, which was filled with black mana like his, and it was leaving the body, and the ground was sucking the black mana from the dead animal.
"Faelynn," Darian averted his eyes to her face."Can you see something on this pig?"
Faelynn walked around the corpse and inspected it. "It seems dead and smells bad, you, that's all."
"No, Faelynn, use your mana gaze, "Darian demanded.
"See?"
"See what? Nothing, it's just a corpse."
"I see" why she can't see it. Is it because of my mana? Darian thought to himself, he had so many questions, what truly is the black mana?
"Is there any problem, kid?" Faelynn asked with suspicion.
"No, maybe my eyes just picked up something, whatever, let's go back." Darian shrugged off her question.
"Yeah, right, " Faelynn scoffed. She was clearly not buying it but letting it go anyway.
Weeks turned into a month. The jungle became less of a prison and more of a home. Darian's muscles hardened, and his movements lost the last traces of royal clumsiness. One afternoon, the sound of clashing steel rang through the clearing.
CLANG! SHING!
Darian ducked under a fierce slash. His dagger scraped against Faelynn's blade. He spun and aimed a kick at her knee, but she jumped over it with annoying grace. "C'mon, kid," Faelynn laughed, "You think this much can stop me?
She lunged toward Darian with her dagger. He halted her blade with his own.
".ahh stupid elf." Darian thrusted his dagger toward her ribs, her she evaded it with ease.
Hehe, c'mon, your higgness, "she taunted him."Are you a girl?
"You stupid fucking elf hag".
Darrian channeled his mana to his legs, burst forward, and the speed surprised her. Her face lit with a grin of pride. She didn't dodge; she deflected the low strike with the hilt of her dagger. Before Darian could turn, he felt cold metal pressed against his side of his face.
"Checkmate," she whispered in his ear.
"I won again, prince idiot," she said, putting her weapon down.
"Okay, okay, I accept defeat."
"Good boy. Now go and cook the dinner," as punishment.
"fucking hag," Darain spoke with clenched teeth.
After both equating the dinner, Faelynn went along with Darian and chugged a large volume of wine and started talking. "Hey, kid, it's our last day together in this forest."
"Finally, I can eat proper food!" Darain's face becomes brighter.
"Yeah, yeah," Faelynn's expression became sad and desolate.
In the morning, both walked outside the jungle. Darian's training had been over. He's happy, but Faelynn's face has been down since yesterday night. Eventually, both reached the outskirts of the jungle. There was a carriage waiting there, and two familiar faces, including Reina, the maid, and Edger, the knight, both of whom were happy to see you again. Darian's face smiled seeing them.
"Kid," Faelynn interrupted Darian. "What now?"
She took out a dagger from her pocket. "Here it's my parting gift, it's an artifact I hope you could use it too its potential."
"Thank you, Faelynn."
She turned her back and started to walk backward,
"Hey, where are you going since you gave me? I shouldn't let you go back without anything in return; it would be a dishonor for me as a noble."
She turned back. Darian extended his hand. "Here," it was a necklace, and the pendant was a small carving of Faelynn's face in the wood. It's not great, but I can't leave you without anything."
Her face became red, and tears flew down from. She rushed towards him and hugged him tight, "ahhh, I can't breathe anymore, I am dying ". Darian screams, getting suffocated by the elf's assets.
"Oh, I am sorry," she laughed with happiness and joy, and took a step back.
"Anyway," he gave the necklace to her. Thank you for everything, teacher. He bowed in front of her.
She wiped her tears and smiled, "Take care of yourself, my stupid disciple."