The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 70 The Memories of a Soul

Chapter 70 The Memories of a Soul

Aurora stared at the enchanted gateway in front of her. She rubbed her re-growing eyebrows as she planned her next course of action, her nearly bald head covered in black silk like the rest of her body. Healing even by Ent sacrifice only went so far.

She knew her hair would grow back, and she was never one to care too much about appearances. But the simple thought of some mage doing this to her brought about an amount of anger uncommon in the Abyssal Elves.

The fact that said mage could also have the power of the Void gave fear with that anger but she pushed it away. Were it not for the sacrificial barrier created by the Cultist, she had little doubt she would have succeeded. To her, the fact her target was an unreasonable existence only mattered to the point where he was an interesting specimen to study if she had time.

While it was pointless for Void Lords, Abyssal Elves were no different from most Elves, in that they often had talents for Mana. Figuring out how to use magic as a Void Lord would almost be as large of a power increase as the bounty for him.

His use of [Appraisal] and the dangerous magic blade set her back as well. But those issues only slightly added his ability to use magic and the Void.

Their Overseer of the Void had offered a reward for the death of the one that stole from it. A gift that would lift even the weakest of the Void Lords to prominence. And Aurora was determined to collect it.

She had even killed off several Void Lords who were a part of her team after the target had been found.

And even the result of her near-death experience would not stray her from her goal. She sensed now the touch of Void she placed on the thief. Unable to fathom why the Cultist hadn't removed all Soul traces after a week, she merely assumed their alliance was temporary and counted her good luck.

But either way, she would be prepared for a trap. Hence her use of an enchanted gateway to empower her Void-Traveling abilities. As the enchanted path charged with power, she thought over the magic used by her future opponent.

She had only seen such Arcane Magic used by the elementals, who held one of the seven planes of the Abyss. Which made him all the more baffling. Compared to anything else the Void and Arcane Magic were quite contrary.

And yet, they seemed to have trained whoever this man was in their skills and he then somehow learned to use the Void as well. The Void Lords' advantages over magic relied on most magic's inability to counter the powers of the Void in any real way. But with his grasp of the Arcane he tore apart her called Void Orbs as if they were paper.

Were Aurora one to care for her race, she'd be far more worried at the implications of this. But as of now, she only sought to end him and collect the reward.

The gateway rumbled with power as a darkness blacker than the night sky appeared within its arches.

She could feel the massive distance to her target, but simply assumed him to be hiding at the edge of one of the planes. The laws of space were always distorted in such places and so she logically assumed that was the cause of it seeming so far away.

And with a single step, the elf ventured forth, using her powers of the Void still attached to her target's Soul as a beacon.

But with a ragged cry, she found herself colliding against a barrier, and only a last second act with much of her power before reaching unconsciousness had allowed her to survive.

She slammed into the ground of a world she never intended to land on. That she never knew existed.

The snow cushioned her fall but not her mind.

The unconscious abyssal elf shivered in the cold surrounding her. For the moment, blissfully unaware at just how far she traveled. In the distance a massive tree loomed untouched by the falling chill unlike the mountain-side town a distance away from it.

Shortly after his first success with [Absolute Rebirth], Rainer woke up to a knock on the door. Waking up Kara with a kiss on the forehead, he went to answer the interruption. She quickly remembered why he would wake up in such a manner and covered herself and Luna. No reason to show her slight blush at the reminder of that embarrassing memory.

"Furtak?" Rainer asked confused. The older Goblin seemed slightly bothered by something.

"I believe your apprentice is dealing with some nightmares. I was out in the hall and noticed, but sensing no one else in the room, I figured it best someone of my kind not to be the one to wake her," Rainer had warned the older Goblin to be careful around his apprentice, even if she seemed to show no outward fear or malice toward him. Furtak also knew beforehand that Rainer had raided a nearby mine, but couldn't care less about the Goblins inside.

And so, Rainer agreed. For all Lilia seemed to be okay with the older Goblin, being woken up by one after a nightmare would not be the best.

"See you in the morning," Rainer said to Kara and Luna, shutting the door behind him.

"So, what were you doing out here anyways?"

The slightly awkward shifting by the older Goblin answered that question.

"You know the Prince fully expects you to help them with their Ruler's Trial, right?"

The Goblin merely shrugged.

"I do not mind. Until their most recent Queen, the Trial of theirs was practically casualty free. And other than that blade of yours there isn't much that can kill me. It is a small price to pay for someone who genuinely enjoys my company."

"Among other things," Rainer added with a smirk.

Amer as well seemed to be enjoying the Fae's focus on Mana and Magical power rather than appearances as well. The Devil changed his plans for leaving the Fae Realm right away and instead opted to stay under the guise of learning the required languages of the world. Having a Mana Pool of nearly 700 made the old Devil an eligible bachelor.

Rainer decided not to bring up Yulia nearly killing Furtak. After all, that was just a huge mismatch of powers. In reality, most of those touched by magic had a pseudo immortality limited only by their Mana pools and a rare few weaknesses. Such as a massive tornado and a vacuum made by a Wind-Touched Fae Queen who's intelligent enough to create a Fae Homunculus. Or an [Arcane Blade] that cut through Divine roots like they belonged to an ordinary tree.

"Have your fun then, I won't tell your wives," Rainer joked.

"Actually, they are only my apprentices now," Furtak added, quite embarrassed at how easily he agreed to Laneth's niece's demands of monogamy. It was only a matter of telling them, though he doubted the far younger goblins would mind since he'd still be teaching them magic.

In truth, Furktak's relationship with his wives was like a King's Harem rather than anything romantic. The main difference being they were also all his apprentices as well and none were forced to be there. Their lives wouldn't change much.

The [Archon] entered his apprentice's room soon after, expression turning serious.

Rainer sat at the edge of the bed as he opted for a solution other than waking up his poorly sleeping apprentice.

Letting out a long breath, Rainer encased the room in an almost invisible violet. [Arcane Presence] had always interested him since he first witnessed Yarik using a Mana-based version. The sheer emotion it elicited in its targets proved impressive, as if bringing humans back to the time when they purely existed under the rule of animal instincts. Fear being the primary emotion.

It was a leveraging of one's resource pool rather than a use of it. All it required was focus to use, the power drain was all but non-existent. A focus easily achieved given Rainer's now [Harbinger] improved Intelligence and Affinity as well.

And far different this time, he wrapped the weight of his Arcane not to pressure but to uplift. The auburn-haired Lilia moved a bit from the wash of magic but settled down completely. Whatever had been plaguing her sleep as well, seemed to simply vanish.

After all, he doubted her nightmares were scarier than an [Archon].

It left behind a sleeping girl who showed none of the signs of the experience she went through.

He knew doing something like this was a temporary solution. But he wasn't a psychologist, even if he likely knew more than almost anyone about psychology in this world due to his modern education. If one ignored any possible racial differences.

The best idea he could come up with was getting her started on magic as soon as he could and to listen if she ever wished to speak about what happened.

He imagined it was hard to be afraid of mine-dwelling Goblins when you could tear apart their Souls with a few words. Given her Talent, he wondered if she could manage to learn [Devil's Soul Language] before any of the runic variety.

He glanced around the room and saw several stacks of books containing Fae stories. After a small explanation from Kara and a thorough examination with [Arcane Sight], Rainer let Lilia use the skill orb. The intelligent girl had managed to use that knowledge to learn reading in just a day. And, having little else to do, enjoyed the wide selection of Fae leisure reading.

For the orb the sacrifice required, of levels higher than he could gain with [Archon], along with the rarity of the items themselves had Rainer sideline the study of them.

Now with her ability to read the [Fae Language], Rainer was left to start teaching Magic. Not that he knew it himself, but he could easily write in the [Fae Language] with Luna's translation skill shared with him.

He had already decided to opt out of her being a test case for Affinity unlocking. Leaving her only to learn [Faraan Runic Language] without a direct teacher. Fairy Dust would handle the mana part. in Rainer's view, the earlier one without a Mana Affinity got started on [Mana Manipulation] the better.

He decided to wait till he left the Fae Realm to give her the dust. No reason to bring up unneeded questions.

As he thought over ideas for how to enchant a book similar to the ones in his Trial, he went back to his own study of the language.

Compared to using Mana for the first time, Rainer had learned the language he only knew as Runes quite quickly. The first step was relatively easy, one needed to memorize a simple spell formula and what every rune in that formula did. As well as the relation of the runes to each other.

No different than learning a normal language, but such a thing would not let you see the magic behind the runes no matter how much you stared.

The second was having a Mage not only repeatedly cast a spell with the runes you learned, but to understand which parts of the physical spell the runes pertained to. To witness and comprehend them in use.

The final and partially optional stage was casting that spell step by step through an expenditure of Mana till success. A step that accompanied one's teacher manipulating the Mana within in their students to assist this. In truth, Rainer was clueless as to the last step and it was time consuming enough that he couldn't really ask anyone else, which partly influenced his choice to test learning from solely a book with Lilia.

After all, it was this last step that saw Mage Guilds considering those without a Mana Affinity to not be worth the effort of teaching. He mused too, that this particular step might actually be far less effective on someone without an affinity for Mana.

Rainer's thoughts flashed to witnessing his Grandfather cast [Arcane Bolt] for the very first time.

He recalled his grandfather as a tall man with grey hair and beard to match. It was hard not to view him as a stereotypical wizard. Yet at the same time, thinking of the memory it was disappointing as well. From his grandfather's finger, a small burst of Arcane shot forward and hit a paper target burning the center.

Rainer laughed for a moment, recalling his own surprise at how much stronger his [Arcane Bolt] became upon entering this world before he suddenly felt a surge in his soul. Souls were naturally improved as one's Mana or Aura grew. And added on was Rainer's attempts at learning Theodore's Soul strengthening skill, considerable growth was made.

Gripping his head, Rainer grimaced in pain as more memories flashed by. His first viewing of his grandfather's [Arcane Bolt] flashed and changed to another scene entirely. Overlaying his teacher's gray-bearded form was now a clean-cut middle-aged man.

No longer were they in a small room, but instead a wide-open basement. And no more was it but a simple paper target, but a large golem-like figure. The [Arcane Bolt] launched from a hand, and became a bolt of pure destruction as it exploded the golem effortlessly.

Rainer's soul surged further as more and more memories were altered, or rather returned to original form. His grandfather was not a simple wizard of two spells, but akin to an Archmage. A younger Rainer could only watch in amazement as he tore apart the stone golems in the basement with numerous spells of Arcane and a magic Rainer did not recognize immediately.

The memories flashed by quicker and quicker skipping to an end point as Rainer become lost in the memory right before they were altered.

A teenage Rainer lay semi-conscious on a hospital bed as his family stood at the end of it. Pain surged through his body as he woke up, remembering how he ended up here. A botched kidnapping.

"You can't just do this without his permission, it's not right!" Rainer recognized a 12-year-old Sarah Nvos yelling at his now 30-year-old looking grandfather.

"Do you think it's so simple?!" Fredrick Nvos responded before calming down, "He's not like us. It doesn't matter how talented he is if he fails at the most important point. Look! Sense him. This is the result of years of training."

Sarah glanced over as the 16-year-old Rainer shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep. She focused for several seconds and did what was considered quite rude by mage-kind of Earth.

"But…how…"

"I've been hiding it. Remember how far ahead you were of your peers learning Runes in only 3 years?"

She nodded.

"He did it in a month and a half. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter he was the only one of my line to ever wield the Arcane as I do. It took me years to get his Mana to where it is now, and even then, I had to use outside resources."

"But still…it should be his choice."

Rainer's mom, red haired and green eyed unlike the similarly colored brother and sister spoke out.

"We wish it was that simple honey. But you know what they'll do once they find out about him. The Council already knows and they are constantly pressuring grandfather."

"But-"

"He will be safer this way. I will use the fact that his Magical strength is sealed as a temporary sacrifice. Not only will he be protected by the deal I made with the Council, but with his strength in the Arcane the seal will make him all but immortal so long as I pour in the needed power."

"It should be his choice. We've never been in danger even though we carry your blood. Why should it matter!"

"His choice to what? I cannot protect him every hour of the day. Fear of me keeps you safe because you are not worth it. Even at risk of death to pick apart a true Arcanist, to leave him no more than living organs tied to a table to study will be worth my wrath. His life would be a living hell and there is nothing we can do without the Council's help. It may take him longer than he has to live to be strong enough to defend himself. We were lucky today. We could have lost him to a fate worse than death. I will not take that chance once more."

Sarah looked down, tears in her eyes. She knew how much her brother loved magic, even if to everyone else he seemed to take it for granted with how he used his ability to learn in his Sleep. Her mother hugged her as Fredrick went over to Rainer, starting to cast another sleeping spell.

"It's okay. He'll still have Sleep Learning. He'll live a life better than anyone else. It'll just be without any real magic."

The teenage Rainer could not even resist as he fell sleep and his memories started to alter, the very scene before his eyes fading as well.

Rainer shot up with a start, feeling a hand on his shoulder. Lilia looked over to him with worried eyes. Sweat dripping down his forehead, he calmed himself down not to scare her before speaking.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's alright Master Nvos," She said before speaking quietly, "Though it was a nice dream for once."

Rainer sighed, letting his apprentice distract him from his still rumbling Soul and the lost memories coming into his head. He wasn't prepared to deal with anything that just happened right now.

Master Nvos…

He thought for a moment. She had insisted on calling him that after she read a Fae book series involving a Mage and his Apprentice. It made her happy enough that Rainer couldn't bear to tell her not to.

He noticed Tiamat now on his lap, in her full size. Nearly 3 feet in length, she grew quite a bit in the Miasma-laden Abyssal Plane.

Lilia sat back down against the headboard of her bed as she called the little dragon over, wearing magically constructed pajamas reminiscent of Earth. Apart from the Eldritch Dragonlings wearing the purple clothes.

"Come here Lesha," She said, having been convinced by Kara that it was the better name.

The dragon happily obliged shrinking down to a smaller size and curling up in the little girl's lap.

"Well, I just came to tell you we'll be starting magic practice this morning."

Her green eyes lit up at the prospect.

"Ah, but don't look so happy. It'll just be memorizing Runes before we can get anywhere else." Rainer explained though the cheerful 11-year-old didn't look bothered in the slightest by that newest revelation.

"So, go back to sleep, okay. You'll need the rest. It's more complicated than it sounds," Rainer said but just as he made to leave he heard Lilia make a small noise.

"Ah, could you stay until I go back to sleep," She asked sheepishly.

"Sure. You want Tiamat to stay as well?" Rainer asked before she nodded. Recalling her earlier mention of nice dreams for once, he imagined it might be better if the Dragon stayed with her over the nights. Even if pretending to be a young boy had spared her a worse fate, working in a mine had still left more scars than just physical.

Even unable to clearly feel it like monsters such as Delilah can, Tiamat was a peak existence. Young or not. He hoped it'd help her, chastising himself for not thinking of her having nightmares earlier.

Preparing to lay down, Tiamat returned to full size as Lilia held the little Eldritch monster of legend like a body pillow. Just as the physically impossible flight of a Dragon was governed by magic so too was the strength of their scales. The little dragon felt far more pleasant than even those of a fluffier variety.

Rainer sat on the edge of the bed and turned [Arcane Presence] back on. Lilia was startled for a moment, before falling back to sleep only a few minutes later, comforted by the magic.

Rainer took out one of the empty books he had Laneth get for him. He took out an enchanted quill soon after, one that magically produced ink from the user's Mana, similar to the magical construction Fae are born able to use. After all, he needed a normal book to properly enchant it.

While he still needed to go over his memories of his Trial and how to replicate those books that held the [Draconic Runic Language], there was no harm in starting her on memorization.

He started writing down the Runic formula for [Arcane Bolt] as well as explaining each part afterward. Compared to all his magic, this was the one he knew best. Even more so as he partially thought over his recently acquired memories. They were still jumbled as old memories were overwritten and entirely new ones entered his mind.

No longer sleepy in the slightest, Rainer did his best to keep his mind away from the still incoming lost memories and instead focus on a mystery that may have just been solved. How he ended up on an entirely new world using only 14 Mana.

The [Archon] was all too familiar with Magic malfunctioning, such as his own armed [Arcane Bolt]s when he first met Kara, and her boot waking him up.

If the seal had automated defense systems, Rainer could only assume it took [Void-walking] as some sort of attack. Perhaps an enemy Mage attempting to teleport him away, confusing the seal which was likely made by someone who only knew of teleportation rather than any form of traveling across the Void.

And in that confusion not only was the seal removed, but it's power flung Rainer across the Void. Rainer ventured it may have even made sure he arrived somewhere safe. In truth, he had no idea how the Seal was affected and then likewise affected [Void-walking] apart from the fact it was gone.

It also explained Rainer's confusion when he first arrived in this new world. He thought it was a product of the system as to why his laser pointer strength [Arcane Bolt] became more akin to a cannon. But it was likely a product of the seal suppressing his magical power being removed.

He inspected himself one last time to make sure there was nothing else on his Soul through a long use of [Arcane Sight]. Already having checked his Soul after Amer did the ritual to break connections a half day after coming here, he found nothing else as expected.

Ever since learning of the existence of the Soul through Gunthar, Rainer was left with many questions. Clearly, Gunthar had both a memory and personality without a brain, so what exactly existed in a Soul?

Was a brain merely a temporary storage and translator of what existed in the Soul? Were the now violet flames in Gunthar's skull a replacement for that?

Rainer twisted his Soul Storage Ring as he thought over one of the Souls in there: Yulia's. He kept it for many reasons, and with the thoughts of revenge dying down he really only wanted her knowledge on how Luna was created. If he ever planned on using his healing spell on the violet-eyed Fairy in the future it would do to know her unique qualities, among any other problems that may be related to her creation.

With both her and Tiamat sharing the same transformation ability it also brought up a huge interest for Rainer in discovering why that was. No other Fairy could transform like Luna could.

It was lucky for him that forcing the information out of Yulia wouldn't make him feel guilty either. It was now only a question of creating a medium to interact with her Soul and preserving the memories she had when she was alive.

Sighing, he went back towards finishing a Runic primer for Lilia and thinking over his experience with the book enchantments in the Trial. He wasn't quite ready to tackle all the lies he endured over the years, despite himself agreeing with the reasoning.

A small smile was brought to his face as he thought of his sister being on his side. He'd have to use tracking magic again soon and see if he could at least use [Void Seer] to see her.

Kara stood face to face with Laneth in the courtyard of the mansion. Different from her usual attire she changed to black leather pants and boots, but along with the usual white buttoned shirt tied higher up.

Two average enchanted blades, provided by the Prince, spun in her hands as she readied for the duel. Through her magically constructed clothes, enchantments glowed as her mind accelerated in preparation for her body to do the same.

Launching at a speed far surpassing anyone in the first tier, she lunged forward. Two blades clashed with a single sword.

Rainer sat off to the side watching the two. Luna in her smaller form slept on his head. It was still a few hours till they needed to get ready for the festival. Lilia sat next to him, but with their duels being a regular scene she was far more interested in the book Rainer wrote for her. The otherwise absolutely silent and unmoving girl only spoke when there was a word she didn't know, taking much delight in questioning Master Nvos as his apprentice.

Looking at Kara it was hard not to notice the sheer joy she had from the duel. She belonged in battle, that much was as clear to Rainer today as it was when he first saw the whirling dervish that would become his partner.

It wasn't so long ago he stood opposite of a Wyvern-riding [Lich] and with sheer exhilaration struck him down with a spear of arcane and light. Not even the [Arcane Rage] tearing apart his body dampened that mood. But as time went on it was harder to enjoy battle when the death of those you loved hung in the balance. At least for him, no matter how much he enjoyed his magic.

Rainer stared down at his hand as he thought over the next body enchantment he was preparing. Similar to the one Mira used for storing her weapons he'd create the same for Kara. But the goal here wasn't that exact enchantment. It was to open a way forward for his eventual target, Void-walking.

Unintentionally, the Body Enchantment created by the Fae to store items, often only a single one, created a separate Void-like space. And just as Rainer created [Void-walking] from the Runes involved in [Sleep Learning] so too did he plan to use the Spatial enchantment to create a [Void-Walking] enchantment.

To him, this was the only way he'd feel content with Kara taking her Trial early. With her massive Aura pool and class bonuses to body enchantments, he had little doubt she couldn't abuse such an enchantment to its full potential. Though, he ventured, he'd likely have to create something to simulate [Void Detection] as well.

Which to him was only a bonus rather than another requirement.

Compared to every detection skill he has, [Void Detection] stood above them all. Using the Void to glimpse all around him not only had the greatest accuracy but due to his Void-related bonuses had by far the greatest range.

Clashes of magic and aura covered weapons rang in the background. It took only moments before a heavily aura clad blade hit Laneth in the gut and sent him down. Even with his superior level it was hard to compare to both Kara's powerful dual classes as well as her demonic aura and physique. Then there was her Aura pool surpassing most tier 2 Aura users.

"That's 13-67" Kara remarked, giving Rainer a surprise. But Kara wasn't in her Werewolf form. Though he doubted a duel in that state would be as friendly as this one.

And Laneth after all only leveled one of his tier 2 classes with a Fruit. The other was earned. Even with a possible physical stat disadvantage, he wasn't a pushover. After all, his strength lay as a [Spellsword(2nd)] not a pure warrior.

And the next duel showed that, after a quick burst of a Mana shield sent Kara to the ground and a sword threatened her neck.

"68" Laneth said with a smirk.

The duels continued. Though eventually they switched to less competitive practice and more of a training of skills. Laneth even switched to a dagger to mimic a common Fae Assassin's fighting form.

Rainer thought for a moment of a perfect date for Kara, given Luna's choice for tonight. And seeing how much she enjoyed this battle he imagined going out and fighting when their lives weren't on the line might be just the perfect thing. Especially if she had a new Void-walking Body Enchantment to test out.

A few hours later Rainer stood outside his shared room as he awaited his two dates. Wearing an attire no different than usual apart from nicer looking fabrics that made up his boots, pants, and a now violet shirt matching the runic lines on his coat, he hadn't had much to do in terms of preparation.

In the end, he'd never leave anywhere without his enchanted overcoat. Which left picking a different outfit for the festival a moot point. Combined with [Arcane Awakening] his Constitution was high enough that it took a real effort for even his own aura strong party members to hurt him. Let alone actually cut through his overcoat, an armor in its own right.

And in the middle of battle, landing such a clean hit was quite difficult. Even just his natural skin represented the equivalent of plate armor, where anything other than a perfect hit would only be a glancing blow.

At this point, little of Rainer's abilities brought jealousy to the party. Except for his Constitution.

After all, any gains an Aura user had in that attribute were hard earned from years of difficult training. And they needed to, for it wouldn't do for their own arms to break after a casual swing of the sword. And Aura Enhancement and Aura Cladding only went so far.

Rainer looked down at his hand for a moment as [Arcane Awakening: Storage] flared to life. A chain of Arcane exited from storage and whipped around the hallway before returning. He had filled the created Void with over-strengthened chains soon after he woke up, and as he hoped they cost nothing while inside.

Being woken up in the middle of the night, Rainer opted for a few hours of sleep shortly after watching Kara training. Having the thought of the body enchantments on his mind, he couldn't focus on anything else during his short [Sleep Learning] session.

With his experience of creating the black Void opposite to his white one, so that he could use Void abilities in [Sleep Learning] the enchantment went easily enough. Bolstered by his [Archon] class bonus it was almost too easy.

The rest of the time was spent figuring out a way to Void-walk through the use of [Arcane Awakening]. While mostly for Kara he soon realized the benefit of it. Whether it was the [Arch-Lich] or Matheus, neither's ability to stop him from casting magic affected [Arcane Awakening].

And having such a teleport, fueled as well by Arcane Power, could one day be the difference between life and death.

He studied examples of Fae movement skills alongside his own recently created storage skill, but he accomplished little else other than exploding his legs from influxes of mana and magic. The [Archon] bonus required both a closeness to the actual skill as well as often a concentrated effort in learning it.

Several hours of refreshing his body on account of immense pain and missing legs showed him just how much he lacked any closeness to such a skill. But as always, he did not doubt it existed.

He was brought back to the present as the doors opened. Shaking away the fog slowly creeping from repeated nights in [Sleep Learning], he returned to full attention.

Luna walked and quickly did a spin, showing off a black strapless and backless dress. Her hair was done with a circular braid going around her head and the rest of her silver hair let loose.

Kara exited soon after, her hair tied up in an elegant bun, wearing something reminiscent of what a lot of the Fae wore at the past Ball. At least, if you ignore the two blades still at her side. Only a few wraps of red silk covered her chest, and she wore a similar colored red skirt reaching half-way to her knees. Luna wore decorated sandals but Kara opted for nothing on her feet, not uncommon for the Fae.

He smiled at the Wolfkin remembering just how underdressed she was when they first met and figured she had been leaning towards the opposite only recently. Perhaps another factor of their last night's conversation for her to feel more comfortable?

That, and maybe the fact that the Mana-obsessed Fae actually didn't really hold much towards physical appearance. Clothes for them were often an expression of, utility, fun, and taste rather than a means of showing attractiveness or status.

"Beautiful as always Luna," He mentioned taking the Fairy's hand, as Kara went to the other side. Rainer glanced at Kara for a bit longer, opting her to say the words for him.

"I'll accept the stunned silence in place of words," Kara grinned, "Luna has always said variety is important. I suppose that's for compliments as well."

"The most important," The Fairy remarked, not even paying attention to what was actually said as she lead the two joining hands with each other forward.

Rainer and Kara shared a smile, before letting themselves be led forward. Both were familiar with Luna's comments about needing variety and not another Fairy since he had her. And both hoped for a wonderful time for Luna's first outing.

Neither bet on it going without a problem though.