Mikyle had just picked up his practice sword after the invigorating run he and the rest of the class just had. Well, probably not the Half-wit since he had a nice little tumble earlier.

As soon as his hand gripped the hilt of the wooden sword, a strong wave of fear and an icy-cold pain that knocked the breath out of him overcame him.

And the strange thing, none of these emotions were coming from him.

Mikyle inhaled even though it was difficult since his lungs weren’t working properly due to the chilling sensation filling him. He instinctively and intuitively followed the flow of emotions pouring into him to find the Mana connection he shared with Adrien.

Without a second thought, Mikyle ran over to the fence that separated the training fields from each other. In one fluid motion, and uncaring of the instructor calling out to him, he jumped over the fence.

That painful pull of Mana that was tugging on his own Mana guided him where he needed to go. Something was happening to Adrien and he wanted to be there to help him through it.

When he arrived, the tugging on his Mana felt painful, but not as painful as the sight before him.

Adrien was crouched over and his body was visibly shaking like a leaf caught in the wind. Sweat was pouring down his ghostly-pale face to the point that even his shirt was soaked. His eyes were open but looked vacant as if Adrien was unable to see what was in front of him. Adrien’s arm was stretched out and a large, thick stream of water was blasting out of his hand with the force of a cannon. At the base of the water that was forming in front of Adrien’s palm was a hazy-black mist that was slowly circling around it.

Mikyle took in the sight before him without stopping. He reached Adrien just as his knees completely gave out. Mikyle caught him before he could reach the ground.

The water and that black mist that had been forming through Adrien’s Mana died as soon as he lost consciousness.

"Let’s take him to the nurse’s office," suggested the teacher. Mikyle, who had completely missed the man’s presence even though he had been standing so close to Adrien, continued to ignore him as he lifted Adrien up into his arms.

He carried the passed out Adrien as quickly as he could to the nurse’s office. Once he was there, he laid Adrien down onto a vacant bed after removing the freshly clean bedsheet from it. He then fished out the Portal Communicator and dialed the number assigned to Meredith Howell and Mabel Verne. He wanted people he could trust to examine Adrien.

Once the call was over, Mikyle glanced down at Adrien. The boy was completely pale and dark circles were forming under his eyes. It was a sign of Mana Exhaustion.

Mikyle gently brushed away the wet hair stuck to Adrien’s forehead. "It seems I was correct about you being a dual-wielder and the fact that you possess more Mana than your body can handle." Mikyle’s words were quiet and his voice was bitter.

His hand dropped from Adrien’s forehead and grabbed one of his limp hands to hold. Mikyle silently urged for Meredith to hurry so that she can relieve Adrien of the stress and strain his body was currently under.

Mana Exhaustion was a pain Mikyle was all too familiar with from when he too had a hard time releasing his own Mana when he was younger. He gently and slowly sent a small wave of his Light Mana into Adrien’s body, hoping that the healing ability that came with the element could help relieve some of the stress from Adrien’s body.

. . . .

Adrien was sitting down on soft, green grass. The toes of his shoes brushed against the walkway in front of him. An open sketchbook sat on his lap. Its white pages were filled with intricate and detailed drawings, all featuring the same model.

And that very same model was before him. Prince Mikyle Velron held a sword between his hands and his feet were separated and his knees were bent slightly.

Adrien found the pencil in his hand pausing as he watched the subject of his admiration. Ever since he started attending Tris Academy and met the prince for the first time, he had felt as if he were living in a dream.

A few minutes before Prince Mikyle’s class was set to end, Adrien packed up his things and made a quick exit. He had been watching the Prince for the past month, without having the courage to talk to him.

A hand that was far larger than his own wrapped around his arm, halting his movements. "Running away again, My Shy Little Kitten?"

Adrien felt his eyes bug out as he recognized the voice coming from behind him. Out of reflex, he tugged his arm out of Prince Mikyle’s grasp. . .and nearly stumbled forward with how easy it was to dislodge his arm from the hand that had been holding him.

Adrien spun around to face the prince while keeping his face and eyes low. Which was a mistake since it gave him a great view of the tight pants and the open, billowy shirt that his highness was wearing. Even worse, was the thin droplets of sweat that were slowly trailing down the Prince’s skin through the opening of the shirt.

"Gr-greetings, Your Highness, Prince Mikyle." Adrien stuttered over his words as his eyes lingered on the sight before him.

"Tsk." Prince Mikyle clicked his tongue and Adrien felt himself redden with embarrassment. "My Shy Little Kitten, you don’t seem to be that shy. Hmm? My eyes are up here."

Adrien felt his face heat even more and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole. And what was even worse was the strange heat that was pooling low in his body ever since his highness had grabbed a hold of his arm. Adrien swore he could still feel a searing heat from where Prince Mikyle had touched him.

"I-I’m sorry!" Adrien shouted out before darting off.

"That’s not how that happened!" Adrien bolted upright into a sitting position as the words tore through his mouth.

"That’s not how what happened?"

Adrien felt his heart thump wildly in chest. His eyes instantly found Mikyle, who was sitting beside the small bed while holding his hand. Standing behind him was a girl around their age with brown hair tied into a braid. Her green eyes were wide, causing her freckles to show even from underneath the round glasses that she wore.

A small chuckle came from the other side of the bed. Adrien turned to find a middle-aged woman with brown hair that had a vibrant pink hue weaving throughout it. Her blue eyes looked at him kindly. "It’s common to have nightmares after experiencing Mana Exhaustion," she explained kindly.

"Mana Exhaustion?" As the question left Adrien’s mouth, the events from his class came flooding back.

The hand holding his gave it a squeeze. "No one was hurt," Mikyle assured him after seeing the twisted look that appeared on Adrien’s face.

The woman with brown and pink hair came closer. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "Good. Your fever seems to have broken." After turning away for a few minutes, she came back with a cup filled with a strange green liquid. "This will help replenish your Mana and stamina."

Adrien stared questioningly at the strange liquid.

"You can trust her. This is Meredith Howell, and she is one of my own."

Howell? Isn’t that the name of the acting guild master for Dor-Shey Da’at? There was a small passage in the book where the guild master had introduced himself by name to Prince Nathaniel. Adrien wasn’t sure how he remembered such a small detail, but he had.