"I-I have a way to help you…"
"Hmm? What is it?" Vaan questioned with an excited look on his face. Studying magic was hard and incredibly boring, of course, learning new spells felt great, but doing those hours of research to find the correct patterns…
"You have a strong gift of interpreting the Magic Patterns for yourself just by seeing patterns used by other mages. Unlike other mages, you do not have to delve deeper into Magic Theories of that certain spell, linking each of those theories to a certain magic pattern and then coming up with your own pattern after months of research. It would be a waste if you didn't use a gift like that up to its full capability."
"Then what do you want me to do?"
"Magic Duels."
Elara spoke as she looked into Vaan's eyes with a determined look on her face.
"Huh? Magic Duels?" Vaan frowned in confusion.
"What you need is a Spell Directory, similar to the one I gave you."
"Elara, no one is going to show someone their spell directory, not everyone is an angel like you." Vaan chuckled.
Elara, however, shook her head and, "Normally, no one will give it to you, however, it would be a different case if you win it fair and square."
"Huh?"
"Challenge other mages to a Magic Duel, with a condition of you getting their spell directory, or a part of the spell directory, as a reward for winning, while you can bet some Elemental Stones. This way, you can not only learn more spells at a quicker rate, but you can also get fighting experience, something that most mages lack." Elara suggested.
And suddenly, Vaan's expression changed.
'So not only do I get to beat some assheads, but I also get to take their Magic Spells?
There was a fun option like that? Why was I wasting my time in the library then?
Wait…'
Suddenly, Vaan frowned, then he glanced at Elara and, "If there is such an effective way to learn spells, why don't other mages do it? Even if they can't learn the spells with just the Spell Directory, it would definitely save some of their time and help them learn the said spell quicker, won't it?"
"Normal mages need to understand the theories behind spells in order to learn them, that's what takes most of their time, the spell directories are not as valuable to them as they are to you. Also, since the spell directories often have a mage's weakness, not many are willing to use it as a bet. So for other mages, finding opponents to do that is quite difficult as well.
You, on the other hand…" Elara suddenly turned silent.
And Vaan understood, "Because of my reputation, most mages would look down on me and would willingly accept my challenge just to 'defeat a Vesta'."
Elara nodded. "O-Of course, it won't be the same for a long time, as you start growing and getting stronger, other mages would realize how strong you actually are, and soon, they would stop accepting your challenges anymore.
But I believe that if you use this chance well, then by the time they all realize it, you will already be a decent mage with quite a high number of spells under your belt."
"But… won't it be a problem if I only know the required patterns to cast a spell and not the essential theory behind it? Won't it weaken my foundation?" Vaan asked what was bothering him for quite a while now.
"We study magic theories in order to find the required magic patterns and cast a spell. You have the gift to do that without knowing the necessary Magic theories, since you can finally jump to the final step, why would you force yourself to go back to the intermediate step? It wouldn't make sense.
Also, once a Mage memorizes a Magic Pattern for a certain spell, 7 out of 10 times, he forgets the magic theories he had learned after 5-6 months. Just take me for example, I know more than 40 spells, and I barely remember theories of 10 of those spells, the rest are all jumbled up in my mind."
"I understand." Vaan nodded in understanding.
Elara smiled, seeing her like that, Vaan smiled as well, "Just as I thought, my fiancé is indeed a genius, you have answers to every single one of my questions."
"I-I am not a genius…" Elara blushed.
"Oh Elara, how are you so humble? You know, I remember saying this before as well, start acting like the magic prodigy you are, walk like you own the place, and have some weight in your words.
Although I love the cute Elara, I would definitely want to see a confident Elara as well."
"I-I will do my best…" Elara nodded as she lowered her head.
Vaan started at her with a deadpan look on his face.
He had to do something about this… Elara clearly had some confidence issues, so Vaan has to help her out with it. He, who was overflowing with confidence, needed to teach his fiance.
"Ela-" Vaan was about to say something, but then, they heard a knock.
"The food is here." A soft voice was heard. Gabel had booked a VIP table for them, rather than a dinner table, it was more like a room where their privacy was ensured.
"Enter." Vaan ordered.
2 waitresses entered and started serving the food, once they were done, they left, and just as they were about to close the door,
"This Table was supposed to be mine! I booked it 2 months earlier and now you say that it is not free and are serving someone else!? Do I look like a pushover to you!?" Vaan and Elara heard a shout.
Elara panicked a little, Vaan, on the other hand, simply held her hand, looked into her eyes, and nodded. This calmed Elara a little, she tried to ignore the voices outside and focused on eating but then,
*Bam*
The doors of their room were burst open and a man barged in,
"I don't care who you are, but I am already in a bad mood so piss off!" A man shouted. He didn't even bother to look at who he was standing up against, but when he finally opened his eyes and realized it was Vaan, a big smile appeared on his face.
"If it isn't Young Master Vaan."
He then noticed how Vaan had held Elara's hand and, "Are you assaulting another woman right after Lady Seraphina?"
Vaan's mouth twitched. To dare say that right in front of his face…
People here sure were gutsy.
Thinking about that, Vaan's eyes fell on a plate, then, however, he saw Elara, who was looking at him with a nervous expression on her face.
'I can't ruin this dinner.' Vaan thought inwardly, then, he glanced at the restaurant guards who were standing outside his room.
"What are you waiting for? Someone is clearly interrupting your customer's meal, throw him away." Vaan ordered.
The guards, however, were hesitating. The family this Young Man belonged to wasn't simple either, they can't move recklessly here.
Vaan, who understood the problem just sighed, then, he activated his bullshitting mode and,
"The Vesta City is just and upright, no one is going to do anything to you as long as you are in the right, no matter what family he comes from, he is not allowed to ruin your business, I am also willing to be your witness in this situation, so don't worry about anything and do what you want to do."
Translation: Throw him out and fuck him up.
Hearing those words coming from the Vesta Family's young master, the guards' expression changed, the Vesta Family was on their side, who did they have to fear? Without thinking anymore, the guards moved forward and grabbed the young man.
The young man couldn't believe what was happening, "Are you people out of your mind!? Do you kno-"
Vaan, of course, couldn't care less and focused on eating, he signaled Elara to do the same.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself."
Then, Vaan heard a familiar voice. When Elara saw who it was, she froze as past memories started to haunt her.
Seraphina Stormweaver, the woman who created a wedge between her and Vaan's relationship.
"Seraphina," Vaan called out.
"I heard you were involved in an accident."
"It was some crazy dog coming after me, I handled it though, so no worries."
"That is good." Seraphina nodded.
Then, completely ignoring Elara's presence, she stepped forward and,
"Actually, I have been meaning to talk about a few things with you, I think this is the perfect time."
However,
"Sera, I have no clue how you can think this is the perfect time. Can't you see this beautiful lady here? Oh wait, have I not introduced the two of you yet? My bad.
Sera, meet Elara Flameheart, this lovely lady here is my fiancé, someone who would be stuck with me for the rest of her life.
And Elara, this here is Seraphina Stormweaver, she is uhh… a woman? A borderline friend maybe? We are quite distant, so I don't know what to call our relationship. Let's just say she is an acquaintance. An acquaintance who likes playing with some fun rumors in her free time."
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