Attached?

  Aida was alarmed by the line of questioning. She had been expecting him to have somehow seen something that might have made him question her identity - Ezra had insisted he couldn’t tell that she wasn’t Aida, but if anyone could tell it surely had to be the master who spent all his free time seeking to connect to mana, right?

  But talking about attachments with a third party sounded, for some odd reason, a lot more awkward than having to lie about who she was.

  “I don’t think we’re ‘attached,’” Aida said carefully, looking at Dev for him to back her up. “Other than Spark Day morning, we haven’t spent too much time together.”

  Bruce looked at her keenly before drilling his gaze into Dev, who continued to say nothing.

  Uh oh.

  Aida felt an unpleasant shiver run down her spine. She wasn’t feeling attached in any sense of the word - but if Dev was feeling attached, that was demanding complications to arise.

  But then again, would it be a dating game if there wasn’t any relationship drama? Aida winced at the smug voice in her head.

  “You’re not in any trouble for what you did,” Bruce said, continuing to watch Dev like a hawk. He seemed to be talking to him more than Aida. “Because as I said, it’s an understandable risk to take. And any…potential developments are understandable as well.”

  Dev finally shook his head firmly, refusing to exchange a flabbergasted look with Aida, completely focused on Bruce. “My apologies for the delay in responding. It was just a shocking statement to be confronted with. We aren’t attached in any sense of the word. “

  Bruce and Dev stared at each other, neither one blinking.

  “If that’s the case, excellent work. I had my concerns because I have never seen two people’s mana waves be so complementary.”

  Complementary mana waves? Aida frowned at Bruce, and he had the decency to explain.

  “It’s a phenomenon similar to mana compatibility, except it’s less about mana types and more about individual energies.” Bruce paused, backtracking as he noticed Aida’s brows furrowing more deeply. “I call it mana waves because, much like waves in a pond, two - or more - people’s mana can add or subtract from each other if they were to come together and perform a complex technique. Obviously, complementary waves add, allowing the pair - or group - to perform techniques that far exceed an individual person’s capability. Noncomplementary waves would destroy each other, causing the pair - or group - to cancel each other out, no matter how skilled or talented they are individually.

  “Of course, this is assuming everybody’s ability level is equal.” Bruce’s voice had fallen into the monotonous lecture voice he used in class: great for easing them into a meditative trance, but utterly unhelpful as Aida attempted to absorb Bruce’s lesson. “In the case of two individuals who have the same ability level, but don’t perfectly complement each other, they can still achieve things that would normally be difficult for them individually - but not with the precision and perfection that you two have managed.” Bruce’s voice had sharpened with the last sentence.

  “You could tell what was happening with us that clearly?” Aida asked suspiciously. “Even though we were so far apart?”

  “It wasn’t a very clear and precise image,” Bruce admitted. “But years of experience allowed me to put together a reasonable conclusion for what I believe I detected in my meditations. Either my suspicion for what happened is correct, or you two were just incredibly lucky with what you have managed to pull off. That is why I questioned your mental state, to fill in some more details of my suspicion.”

  “What do complementary mana waves have to do with emotional attachment?” Aida asked. Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly at her, suspicion tingeing his face. Aida tried to keep her expression innocent, hoping he would recall Aida was supposed to be a dim student.

  “…it’s an addicting feeling. You can sense and make sense of everything at the same time. It hasn’t been done in living memory so our information is limited, but the writings of the Metal Masters have described the euphoric sensation in great detail. All is well if you two are feeling normal, but as your instructor it falls upon me to ensure nothing goes awry from your dabble in a technique intended for those far older and more experienced than you…” Bruce’s normally smooth forehead wrinkled, making him look incredibly vexed. It looked like he had more to say, but he finally shook his head, at a loss.

  Making a mental note to look up the Metal Masters' writings - all she knew was that they were one of the first mana practitioners to bring mana knowledge to the masses, so to speak, and therefore influenced a lot of literature - Aida nodded obligingly, keeping her expression bland. Beside her, Dev had also relaxed. Looking between the two of them, Bruce finally nodded, though his expression was still somewhat dissatisfied.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Very well. I’ll let you two go back and enjoy the rest of your rest day. If either of you find yourselves…distracted, please do not hesitate to ask for help. Whether from me, or from another professor.” His tone made it very clear that he preferred they find another professor to talk to.

  Without further ceremony, Bruce showed them to the door, looking exceedingly relieved as he finally shut the door behind them.

  “That was weird,” Aida finally said as they headed towards the staircase, hefting their bags over their shoulders. She kept her gaze forward, avoiding Dev’s gaze.

  “Agreed.” Dev’s footsteps matched her pace. “It’s humorous how he expects us to admit we have feelings for each other.”

  Aida laughed. “In front of each other, no less.” Aida stopped in her tracks, looking at him warily. “We don’t have feelings for each other, right?”

  Dev met her eyes steadily, unblinking. A fraction of a second later, he smirked. “Don’t worry, as far as I’m concerned we’re just classmates who managed to pull off an incredibly challenging technique.”

  “Good,” Aida said in relief. “At least now we don’t have to worry about any awkward resolutions Professor Bruce comes up with to try to fix any consequences of that technique.”

  Dev shook his head as he chuckled. “For being a Water practitioner, his approach towards emotional matters are on par with that of an Earth or Metal practitioner.”

  “I don’t know about that - Professor Gemma is much more approachable and inviting,” Aida said, shaking her head. “Although I find I can have more candid conversation with Kozu.”

  They continued chuckling about Professor Bruce’s heavy-handed attempt to mediate potential emotional strife between the two of them until they finally reached the third floor, with Aida waving goodbye at Dev as she turned towards her door.

  “Aida…”

  “Yes?” Aida turned back towards Dev, a smile on her face.

  Dev was looking at her thoughtfully, his head tilted to the side so that his pale bangs hung out of his blue eyes. She squinted at him. No way. He has sparkles now.

  Before she could react - whether to step back in horror or crack a joke, she didn’t know - Dev straightened his head and gave her a small bow. “I’m glad we were the ones who got sent on this assignment to North Ocean Village.”

  “Me too,” Aida squeaked out, trying to keep her voice steady. “Can you imagine if Myk or Shon replaced one of us? Class 2 would be doomed.”

  Dev laughed lightly. “More evidence that everything happens for a reason, I suppose. I’ll see you later.” Without a backward glance, Dev departed, leaving Aida with her heart thundering in her chest.

  Making a beeline for her room, Aida slammed the door shut behind her, thoughts racing.

  Objectively speaking, she really wasn’t enamored with Dev. But the manifestation of the sparkles worried her - because she couldn’t recall the last time she had caught sight of such whimsical twinkles.

  Not since she had started dating Ezra.

  And then never again once he broke up with her.

  She had been so distracted on keeping her life moving forward that she hadn’t even noticed that the boys no longer sparkled at her. Even Sue’s sparkles had been few and far in between - though she supposed it made sense, given how everyone had been under immense pressure for the past couple moon cycles.

  She thought back to Professor Bruce’s words - foreshadowing Aida and Dev’s emotions potentially intertwining, and felt a shudder run through her body. But I don’t feel anything towards him.

  Aida sank to the floor as she ran through her interactions with Dev from the past star cycle, feeling her panic steadily build.

  After they took down the eel, they had been far too busy to have had anything more than terse exchanges as they coordinated which households they’d be at, which villagers needed help; evenings had been quick and quiet, and not at all private, as they made camp outside of the village with the other Strongholders; they had given up their rooms at the inn to allow the displaced villagers to have a place to stay while their homes were cleared and rebuilt.

  That conversation they had just now was literally the first time they had spoken with each other one-on-one after they came out of their ice bubble.

  And Dev said he didn’t have any attachments towards her; but they had just been poking fun at how Bruce expected them to declare any feelings for each other so easily. Look how hard it was for me and Ezra to admit we liked each other in the first place…

  Aida pressed her hand to her forehead. She was confident in her assessment of her emotional state towards Dev. No matter what she said to Sue and her other girlfriends, a not-insignificant part of her was still raw whenever she saw - or even thought about - Ezra. She refused to admit it out loud, but there was no other way around it: she wasn’t feeling attached to Dev, because she still hadn’t gotten over Ezra.

  Dev’s emotions were less clear, and Aida worried the small clues she noticed - eyes lingering just a little too long on her to be natural, just a little too much hesitation in his responses - were her conjuring illusions because of Bruce’s concerns, but there was nothing she could really do about it either way. She would start spiraling into overthinking if she tried to tease out the truth from faulty memory.

  What she really needed was to know more about the Metal Masters’ writings on complementary mana. Bruce’s explanation was just as helpful as his lectures in class - he clearly knew what he was talking about, but he also didn’t provide enough context for Aida to fully understand the point he was trying to make.

  This isn’t the first time I had to find the context on my own, Aida thought grimly as she collected her notebook and dip pen set. She had been looking forward to a restorative nap in her own bed before dinner, but it looked like she had to go to the library instead.