The almost startled look on the other man's face actually helps Akito calm down a little, a bit of his true feelings seeming to finally shine through as he follows the shock up with a smile. Still nervous however all he can do is nod and murmur, “Yes, it was lovely.” He lets his gaze wander around the room, snapping back to the prince when he speaks before going back to examining the room. [i]'I don't see why they would not be interested. Even though father knows nothing of animals and art, he at least would sit with me sometimes and talk about them. . .'[/i] He smiles a little wider and nods with the offer to be shown again. “That would be nice.” His voice is soft, but not quite as timid as before. Having something in common is nice for the poor soldier.

[i]'I don't doubt you there. You have the determination and the time to master them all. Most magic users can only do a few elements at most since they take so long to learn and they still need to make a living. You on the other hand won't have responsibilities that will take you away from your studies overly long for quite some time according to you'[/i] When silence falls once more Akito tries to some up with something to say, however Hiro soon brings up a new subject and for a moment Akito panics on the inside. Having determined that he doesn't want to talk about the mages he's killed, he has to think of how to talk around that.

Looking back to the prince his gaze drops and his timidness seems to return. “Once a year a mage would come around and test all the new soldiers of the right age group for magical aptitude. If a soldier showed promise they would be taken away for training and returned after they had mastered enough to be useful on the battlefield. Our unit never had a magic user, though, we did go up against quite a few during the war.” He fidgets a bit before going on. “Our enemy used magic more often than our side, but we had a fair few powerful mages.” His smile returns, though a bit dimmer and he looks back up at Hiro briefly. “I was tested and found wanting, though I never lost my fascination with the craft.” Coughing lightly he looks over at the water and without thinking murmurs, “If I recall the natural progression properly then the next element that should be learned would be wind. . .”