Sisters and the Arcanist

Half a month after he sent off his results, a reply arrived.

Arcanist Shane Dawnblade:

Rejoice! You have caught the attention of the Royal Arcane Society. If you wish to achieve anything in the arcane arts, take this letter to the library at Sun Sail Harbor and report there. Otherwise, ignore the rest of this letter.

Having read this far, I trust you have chosen to pursue higher arcane secrets. But let me remind you: if you grow complacent over your current achievements, your final fate will be to become seaweed in the harbor. Arrive here after twelve sunrises but before the thirteenth. Remember, neither early nor late.

Librarian: Aldorron

"Success." Shane flicked the envelope and smiled. It was a wonderful feeling to have his efforts recognized. "I should find Vereesa and celebrate with her."

"Magic Message." With a second-circle spell, a sheet of paper on the desk automatically wrote out its contents, then folded itself into the shape of a paper airplane and flew out the window. Its destination was Vereesa's secret cottage.

As for the letter being intercepted, Shane could not think of anyone bored enough to intercept mail bearing the Dawnblade insignia. Besides, the route passed entirely through remote, uninhabited places.

Before Vereesa arrived, a family envoy came to convey the family's decision: the nursery outside Sun Sail Harbor would be given to him as private property, and he would also be entrusted with managing the harbor's logistics business.

The family had a tradition of investing in promising members. Shane accepted it with a clear conscience. He was now a modest property owner.

All that remained was to wait for Vereesa's arrival.

Every Windrunner possessed a temperament like the wind, and Vereesa was no exception. They disliked restraint and loved roaming about. Receiving the message might take three to five days, leaving Shane plenty of time to prepare.

Apple pie, golden ginseng stewed rainbowfish, roasted lynx ribs, and wine from the neighboring estate.

Vereesa arrived the very next day, but Shane could not bring himself to be happy, because another Windrunner stood beside her.

Half a head taller than Vereesa, she carried herself with greater maturity. The same hair color and ears, a face with similar contours.

"Ahem, I mean..." Shane looked toward Vereesa, hoping for a hint. Vereesa said nothing, but Shane saw her subtly raise her thumb.

"Lady Alleria! Welcome to my humble home with Vereesa."

"..." Alleria folded her arms across her chest and said nothing as she looked him up and down. Shane felt like a poacher being stared down by a mother tyrannosaur protecting her young, and the atmosphere abruptly turned tense. He saw sweat forming at Vereesa's temples, while his own heart began pounding.

Is this where I get shot through the heart with an arrow?

Yet just as the atmosphere was about to reach its breaking point, the female elf who had placed Shane under such immense pressure broke into a radiant smile.

"My little sister's hidden sweetheart doesn't seem too bad?"

"He's not my sweetheart!!" Vereesa's face instantly flushed red. She took two steps past her sister, grabbed Shane's hand, and said, "Come on! We're not talking to her."

Though the opening had been earth-shattering, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Shane and Vereesa entered the house, and Alleria followed them in. Without ceremony, she found herself a seat. "While searching for my sister, who had run away in a huff, I found this?" She held up the paper airplane in her hand.

Shane did not need an explanation to know what had happened. He wanted to slap his forehead and curse his rotten luck.

"Do you know the original purpose of Magic Message?"

Shane and Vereesa fell silent, while Alleria's lips curved slightly. "It was courtship! Yes, courtship. The spell was invented to pursue one's beloved, though that was a technique from ten thousand years ago. I never expected anyone to still use such an old-fashioned method. What do you say, Mage Shane?" As she spoke, her emerald eyes glanced toward Shane.

"Ahem... regarding that, all I can say is that the friendship between Vereesa and me is pure."

"Yes, yes, the friendship between Shane and me is pure." Vereesa nodded along.

"Really? Then why do I see someone completely smitten?" Alleria glanced at her younger sister.

"I'm not completely smitten!!" Vereesa was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her hackles practically rising as she glared furiously back at her sister.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Truer than the radiance of the Sunwell?"

"Truer than the radiance of the Sunwell!"

The sisters stared at each other for a while before Vereesa gave in.

Like a victorious rooster, Alleria lifted her chin slightly, making her fair, slender neck appear even longer. "Then that only leaves Mage Shane's matter."

"Please, go on." Shane felt uneasy.

"May your friendship with my sister remain pure forever."

The words carried a deeper meaning. Or had he passed the test? Shane did not know what words could describe his feelings at that moment. He forced himself to smile, then carefully steered the conversation toward the meal. Noticing that Vereesa also looked relieved, he felt somewhat reassured and began cooking.

The two sisters had similar tastes, and both praised Shane's cooking without reserve. Halfway through the meal, Alleria even raised her wineglass and declared, "Fine wine and fine food are indispensable embellishments in life. And you, Dawnblade, are quite different. You've made me revise my opinion of you a little."

The meal was pleasant, so it passed quickly. When Vereesa left with her sister, she gave Shane an apologetic look.

He had thought his relationship with Vereesa would develop naturally from then on, but while clearing the dishes, he found a small note beneath Alleria's plate.

"You foolish, ignorant male, my sister is one of Silvermoon City's noblest and most beautiful flowers. Countless males wish to pluck her, yet not a single one has succeeded so far. Do you know why?"

Probably because you drove them all away, Shane thought.

"I'll tell you. Those who were not outstanding enough were naturally dealt with by Vereesa herself. As for those who believed themselves outstanding, I dealt with them before they could reveal even the slightest intention."

Just as I guessed, Shane grumbled inwardly.

"Think carefully. You are merely a small-time Dawnblade, a lousy mage. If I find out that you approached my sister with even the slightest impure motive, I will tie you to a ballista in Silvermoon City and launch you out alongside an arcane bomb."

A large red cross had been drawn at the end.

"Sisterly love is as heavy as a mountain!" Shane joked as he continued clearing the table. "Wait, what's this? Ha! They really are sisters—both of them left notes."

Shane found another note beneath Vereesa's plate.

"I'm sorry, Shane. I knew my sister would definitely threaten you, but please forgive her. She is my sister, after all."

"What a good girl."

"This time, my sister came to drag me back for ranger training. I don't know when I'll be able to get out again. I heard things have been very unsettled among the trolls lately, so be careful if you go near the Ghostlands. What am I even saying? You're only a third-circle mage. Once I finish training, I'll smash your head in."

Once everything had been put away, Shane sat on the balcony and enjoyed the tranquility brought by the night sky. Three differently colored magic orbs slowly revolved above his head, their overflowing arcane energy illuminating a space several meters wide. He opened the spellbook on his knees. Inside were complex structural diagrams and the title, <Explanation and Applications of Basic Construct Creature Structures>.

Entering the library represented a transition from a grassroots mage to a core member. It meant the higher-ups were willing to spend resources cultivating you, and such an opportunity was exceedingly rare. Every newly admitted mage could begin learning magical disciplines, and the first discipline Shane chose was Magical Construct Studies, because the two raid-wiping gatekeepers from the Sunwell instance in his previous life had left too deep an impression on him.

He turned the pages one by one when suddenly—

"Repairs have reached activation requirements. Converting from conceptual form to quantum form."