Christian sighed deeply. He put his book away before looking at the person opposite him. "Miss Sesha, what can I do for you?"

"How did you do it?" Sesha asked, her beautiful eyes fixed on him. "That creature was horrifying, but it seems perfectly suited for the emotion of fear. How did you protect yourself from your own emotions?"

"Do you know about the Law of Equivalent Exchange?" Christian asked.

"It's one of the fundamental laws of Alchemy," Sesha replied.

"Good. You tell how you dominated my friend's spirit, and I'll tell you how my spell works."

Sesha was immediately silent. "I can't do that."

"I know," Christian replied before focusing on his book. He completely ignored her for the rest of the day. Sadly, she was determined and would often visit him, trying to change his mind. Her attempts were pointless.

However, when her cuteness and other forms of flattery failed, Sesha switched tactics to bribery. She enticed Christian with money, followed by some basic knowledge of the Mesmeri Clan's Occlumency and Charming Magic. Unfortunately for her, Christian was confident he could develop these applications by using his understanding of the Confundus Charm and studying Kallista's Veela Charm.

Christian expected she would trouble him for a while, but news about a war between the Crystalia and Ignitus Clan soon spread. He did not have to think for long to understand this was the result of handing Aurelius to Aurora. However, this war had nothing to do with him, and he acted as such.

Three months passed, and Christian finally memorized all the books that Vincent had chosen for him. A sense of relief emanated from Christian as he walked Kallista to her dormitory.

"Something is off. You're different."

"I am?" Christian looked at his hands and feet. "I may have grown a few inches."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Kallista shook her head. "You seem more relaxed."

"Really? It's a good thing to relax once in a while."

"No, I have a bad feeling about your current state," Kallista said sincerely, making Christian pause slightly.

"You're overthinking things."

"You think so?" Kallista asked, looking him directly in the eyes.

"I am."

"...Alright."

Christian walked her to her dorm and watched until she entered. "Her intuition is too sharp," Christian sighed before returning to his room. After a deep shower, he meditated before continuing his soul training. After three months, his soul could barely move five inches to the side after intense effort. To say that progress was slow was an understatement.

The next morning, Christian asked Kallista to take the day off and spend it in the city. They went to a restaurant, listened to numerous bards singing, saw a play, and even visited an underground fighting ring involving wizards battling magical creatures for money.

Christian found the entire thing barbaric, especially considering most of the participants are poor and struggling bloodless wizards. However, Kallista was happy, and her mood was infectious, so he enjoyed himself. In the afternoon, around six o'clock, these two ended their little outing, returning to their dorm.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Kallista said. Although it was early, she was a little tired and wanted to rest for the rest of the day.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Christian smiled.

Kallista hesitated for a moment before she quickly reached over and kissed him on the cheek, before running away like she was being chased. Christian caressed his face as he looked at her, shyly running away. She was more beautiful than ever. Unfortunately, there was no happiness on his face.

He sighed deeply before returning to his room. Christian went straight for his bag of holding, checking on a few things. In the past few months, he had built a small garden to raise a few precious herbs. He had bought the recipe for the Language Potion, and by now, he had already learned Old Chinese, Ancient Egyptian, Sanskrit, Phoenician, Punic, and the Anatolian language. He even learned their grammar and syntax independently, meaning he could now write fluently in these languages.

Besides the herbs for the language potion, Christian also planted a few materials for the Morphsoul Potion and the ones to make the Soul incense burner. Unfortunately, he was unable to locate all the materials for either of these aids, including the cheaper burner.

Christian wanted to buy and plant even more herbs. After all, they were probably extinct during his period. Sadly, these merchants did not sell seeds and manipulated these plants to ensure they could not be cultivated. It took him so much effort even to learn how to properly tend to the herbs in this small garden.

After checking on his plants, Christian returned to his room and took the time to write a letter to all his teammates. Menes had followed his advice and left the kingdom, meaning Christian could not contact him. However, everybody else was nearby and had a letter.

He enchanted them to fly to their destination, leaving only Kallista's. For her, he sent a letter and a small package. As Christian watched the conjured owl fly away with the package, he muttered: "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can say goodbye in person."

His resolve to leave was slowly diminishing as he spent more time with Kallista, and he did not want to look her in the eye to say goodbye. 'I hope she forgives me.'

Christian took a deep breath before holding his wand in his right hand and Odin's Eye in the other. 'Take me home,' he thought. A space portal manifested before him, and Christian steadied himself before entering. He did not wholly trust this thing, so he was ready in case he was not taken to his desired destination.

…

Kallista read the letter with tears uncontrollably falling from her eyes. "You coward!" She ran out of her room, forgetting that she was basically wearing pajamas and had no shoes on. Ignoring all these things, she rushed into Christian's dorm and banged on the door. Sadly, no one answered. The neighbors popped their heads to give her strange looks, but nothing from Christian's room.

"Coward, I hate you, I hate you," Kallista sobbed as she lay limply on the floor. "Why did you leave me?"

Lucretia, who had arrived not long after her, looked at the dejected Kallista. 'Maybe this is for the best. At least, now, no one can have you.' She immediately felt bad for having such thoughts, but soon ignored them. Lucretia took one last look at Kallista before silently retreating.

After lying on the ground for more than ten minutes, Kallista supported herself to return to her dorm. She ignored her bleeding feet and slowly opened the package, revealing a cloak and a ring. She gently caressed the cloak, and she could tell it was made from Demiguise's hair.

The crafting skill is subpar, but the Disillusionment Charm that Christian enchanted on the item made it extremely valuable. Kallista took the ring and slowly put it on her finger, then activated it.

"Triple Shields," she muttered, the tears returning. "Always worrying about my safety." Kallista crawled into her bed with the cloak tightly held in her hands. Her sobbing echoed in this empty room, continuing deep into the night until she fell asleep.