For a few long monts, Adrian couldn’t speak.
His eyes, betraying his mind, wandered over her naked form.
Elana stands bare under the faint golden light, her silver hair spilling like moonlight over her flushed shoulders.
A warm blush spreads across her cheeks, down her throat, and softly over the swell of her full breasts. Her skin glows with heat, smooth except for the delicate battle scars — thin silver lines that trace her left shoulder and curve along the gentle dip of her stomach. They only make her look more strong and beautiful.
Her breathing is a little quick, lifting her chest in slow, tender waves. Long, graceful legs shift slightly, the faint tremble in her thighs betraying a quiet mix of shyness and secret thrill.
Every curve of her body — the soft roundness of her hips, the elegant line of her waist — seems to catch the light and invite his eyes to linger just a mont longer.
So shy that she could not et his gaze, she still forced herself to speak, unwilling to be misunderstood.
"Professor said that obstruction during the second and fourth thread makes the process difficult, so..."
Adrian drew several steady breaths and lowered his head before removing his glasses.
Pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose, he said, "Elana... revealing your naked form to anyone but your husband is... deeply inappropriate."
Elana slowly stepped closer and replied, "I agree with that, Professor."
Adrian went rigid as he grasped the aning behind her words. Arguing now would only stretch the mont further, so he steadied himself and said, "If you are truly comfortable with this... then please lie down on the observation table and allow to begin."
Elana studied him for a brief second. The way his ears had turned red, the way his hands remained firmly placed on his lap, as if hiding a clear sign of his unconscious reaction.
She knew she had affected him.
And that knowledge made her smile brightly.
He did not see her as a child.
For her, nothing about this day could have been better.
Slowly, she made her way toward the observation table when Adrian suddenly said, "Wait."
He rose with a small piece of fabric in his hand and, doing his best not to look at her, added, "Let ... clean it first."
Elana gave a small nod and stepped aside, still shy, her bare skin exposed to soone for the first ti. Yet beneath the embarrassnt, there was a quiet contentnt in her chest. The person before her was the man she adored.
Adrian briskly brushed away the layer of dust, and soon the air turned hazy.
Elana leaned back slightly, but a few stray particles still found their way to her nose.
"Achoo!"
The sudden sneeze made Adrian instinctively turn toward her, only to see sothing jiggling
Crap.
He snapped his head away at once, heat rising to his face. He had not expected this to be so difficult.
Keeping his gaze firmly averted, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and extended it toward her.
"Here."
Unaware of the storm she had just caused, Elana accepted it quietly and dabbed at her nose.
Soon, she lay down on the observation table, lightly holding Adrian’s shoulder for support as she settled herself.
Adrian drew in another steady breath before finally turning toward his subject.
He adjusted his glasses and looked at her properly this ti, forcing away any trace of hesitation. He had work to do.
Taking out his runic pencil, he carefully drew the Wheel of Elents and asked, "Can you wield a lance?"
Elana nodded. "Yes, sir."
From his inventory, Adrian retrieved a custom-made lance crafted from refined silver, one of the purest conductive materials. He placed it beside her before inscribing the first rune in the Confluence dialect, linking it to the first thread.
First step, complete.
He proceeded to the second.
Mana nodes.
As he focused, he realized that compared to the contest, when she had worn minimal attire, this clarity was different. Now, without any obstruction, he could perceive every mana node with far greater precision.
Twenty-eight.
An impressive number. Two fewer than Annabelle, yet six more than Ariana.
As he tuned the nodes to the two runes, Elana suddenly asked, "Professor... am I special to you?"
Adrian paused for a brief second, surprised. "Yes. You are one of my favorite students. But why do you ask?"
Elana’s voice softened. "I an... you must have t other people with ice affinity before. Yet you trusted with such a major operation."
A faint smile appeared on Adrian’s face. "Aside from the fact that you are the strongest ice user I have encountered, what makes you special is the faith you place in . That trust matters. So yes, in that sense, you are special."
In truth, Adrian had used Elana as the primary subject for tuning armants and artifacts more than anyone else.
She had been the foundation of many of his experints. The artifacts he had sent in bulk to Scarlette were possible largely because of her cooperation and endurance.
Elana mirrored his faint smile, then fell silent, allowing him to continue his work without further distraction.
Soon, he began tuning each node to ensure seamless mana transfer between her body, the armant, and the runes. He followed a precise pattern so the flow would not strain her system.
Mana nodes were delicate. Each one had to be treated as an individual entity. He never forgot that.
Not long after, he completed the second thread and briefly glanced at her face.
Elana’s eyes were closed. Her body lay relaxed.
He did not warn her before proceeding to the third thread. If he had, she would have tensed the mont she knew he was entering her mories.
Adrian closed his eyes and released a fragnt of his consciousness into her body. Resonating with her magic flow ca easily. He had done this with her several tis before.
Once inside, he navigated through the river of mana and approached the most complex information unit of a human body: the brain.
Taking a steady breath, he stepped into her mories.
He had prepared himself for anything, so he remained composed when he found himself at the center of most of them.
mories of the Arcane Anvil Cup, when he had hugged her. What she did afterward beneath her blanket once she returned to her room.
He was her crush. She was young. It was understandable.
Then another mory surfaced. Him holding her hand as they walked through the garden. She had refused to wash that hand until she returned to her room.
Adrian would be lying if he claid he was unaffected. He lacked experience in this field, and these mories revolved entirely around him.
He forced those thoughts aside.
Instead, he reached sothing recent. Sothing from last night.
His brows slowly furrowed.
What he saw did not belong to Elana.
Faces. Twisted. Monstrous. Even he felt a chill looking at them.
Before he could examine further—
"Ghuk!"
A hand clamped around his neck.
Air vanished.
His eyes snapped open.
Elana was the one choking him.
Dark, ancient markings glowed across her face. Her gaze was cold, devoid of warmth.
And when she spoke, the voice that left her lips was not hers.
"It is about ti you die, Professor."
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