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Last of The Fae Chapter 71: Progress
🕑 Added 2024-12-01 21:28:05 +0000 UTCThe following month passed Thane in a blur as his schedule filled to the brim. Though for the first time, instead of lamenting everything that found its way onto his plate, Thane enjoyed his newfound duties.
Thane's most time-consuming activity was tending to his new garden, which had gone even better than expected. By the second day, every single seed had sprouted. From that point on, Thane began to collect data on every sprout, recording the number of leaves and the average dimensions of each plant, along with stem height and diameter.
The only bottleneck Thane had to deal with was keeping a steady supply of mana fed into the formation, which would typically be passively absorbed from the surrounding environment. Fortunately, Thane took the problem and turned it into a solution, which helped with his second time-consuming activity, training the girls.
After explaining and demonstrating intrinsic magic to the three of them, Daphne, Rose, and Luna were eager to start learning. Unfortunately, Thane had to burst their bubble when he told them that their mana pathways were far too fragile to actively train the taxing form of magic—even Daphne, who possessed far more magical talent than most students in her year.
Thane had the girls take turns sitting on the formation, which placed a constant strain on their mana reserves and pathways. Just like a muscle, over time, their bodies would adapt and grow stronger.
It was the same method that Thane used during his first year, though he had been lucky to undergo the awakening ritual, which had transformed his body from that of a human into a Fae. A ritual that Thane would one day have to perform for the three of them as well, a difficult task to accomplish, seeing that Thane didn't have any Elixer of Life left from the philosopher stone. However, Thane didn't need the elixer, just a concentrated source of life essence. Something that he had no idea how to create or obtain at the moment, so he pushed it to the back of his to-do list.
Still, even then, the girls' progress was undeniable and startling as each quickly ascertained their strengths and expertise.
As Thane's beast had predicted, Daphne was fierce through and through. Her offensive spells created an oppressive barrage that aimed to put anyone she faced on the back foot. Even more so, Daphne one day asked about Thane's bladed wand, remembering how it caught Professor Flitwitck's attention last year during their first class.
Once Thane explained how a spell blade worked, and its functionality, Daphne demanded that they duel without him holding back. Thane was hesitant at first, but Daphne was persistent, so they fought. Daphne lost handily with Thane's spellable resting against her neck.
Instead of being discouraged, however, Daphne insisted that Thane teach her how to fight like he did, something Thane was happy to do. After conversing with Elara during his sleep, Thane was given a training regiment for Daphne and what weapons the Fae queen thought might fit the heiress best.
After a week of trial and error, Daphne settled on a Guan Bao. A Chinese polearm with a thick curved blade suited for sweeping slashes and brutal chops, perfectly complementing Daphne's aggressive style.
However, without the means to make a proper spell blade, Daphne had to settle for a training weapon so she could at least familiarize herself with how to wield the polearm and train the various martial forms Elara had provided Thane to instruct. Still, Daphne took on physically demanding training like a fish to water, quickly improving and constantly demanding to spar with Thane.
Their shared dedication to training only deepened the bond between Thane and Daphne, which was already supported by the shared magic that entwined their souls. Somewhat predictably, only a week later, Rose demanded that Thane teach her to fulfill the promise he had made after protecting her from Malfloy.
While Daphne was furious and unrelenting, Rose had developed in a different, though still dangerous, direction. Instead of an unrelenting barrage of attacks, Rose preferred a more methodical approach, using spells that hindered and confused her enemies, sowing chaos and opening windows for her to exploit.
Before Thane could even tell Elara about Rose, she immediately suggested twin daggers, and Thane had no choice but to trust the Fae queen, seeing as Rose was her reincarnated soul.
Needless to say, Rose excelled, displaying a frightening talent that made it seem as if she had been born to fight. When they fought, Thane had trouble keeping Rose in his line of sight, as she darted back and forth, constantly keeping him off balance before dashing in with a testing blow. Thane could already see how her style of magic combined with her fighting style would turn into a dangerous combination.
Once both Daphne and Rose had reached a somewhat proficient level, they spared each other as well, which Thane was a little cautious about at first. Rose clearly had some type of grudge against Daphne, who fortunately took it in stride and even encouraged Rose's competitive nature.
With his time freed up somewhat, Thane turned his attention to Luna, asking her if she wanted to learn how to fight as well, an offer she immediately turned down. This didn't surprise Thane. Even picturing Luna wielding a weapon felt wrong. Which was reflected by the spells Luna had learned. Almost all of them were defensive or utility spells, but it left a hole in her reputation that needed to be filled.
Thane went to Elara for advice, and she suggested healing magic, a field that relied not only on magical talent but also on scientific and scholarly understanding. Two things that Luna had in abundance.
Like Rose, Luna demonstrated unbelievable talent and affinity with her chosen field of magic. In less than a week, she had mastered a few minor healing spells and began to use them on Thane Rose and Daphne whenever they were injured during their intense sparing. Luna even theorized that her healing magic allowed their muscles to recover faster, leading to accelerated growth and development.
By the end of the month, all three of them had progressed to a startling degree, which only encouraged Thane to work harder as well.
But the most startling result was the garden. In only a month, most of the plants had reached maturity, starting to flower or produce the harvestable parts of their biology. Even more so when Thane harvested the alchemical ingredients and created a series of potions, he found that their potency was far greater than most publically available. This meant that Thane could either reduce the ratios for the recipes, reduce costs, or create more potent potions that lasted longer and were more effective at a markup. Hell, if Thane planned his business right, he could do both and corner the alchemical market.
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Thane sat up in his bed as he gazed at the window and the pitch-black sky, which had been deprived of light by the new moon.
'Finally,' Thane beast muttered as Thane got out of bed and walked into the common room, 'I'd never thought I would see the wilderness again,'
'Shut up,' Thane muttered back before stopping as he heard a pair of footsteps. He looked over to see Daphne shuffle into the common room, wearing a scarf, leather gloves, and a heavy jacket.
"It's not that cold out tonight," Thane noted as Daphne walked over and stood next to him.
"I'd rather be safe than sorry," Daphne replied before she grabbed Thane's collar and pulled him down in a hungry kiss.
After a long moment, Thane pulled away, leaving Daphne panting, "Careful now, let's not get caught before we even sneak out."
Daphne's only response was a mischievous smirk, which made Thane roll his eyes as his silver cloak spread out and expanded to cover them both as they disappeared into thin air.
