Hearing the emotion in his voice, Tzirret had Ma’tanza’s full attention throughout his explanation. Knowing how he had obtained it, and what he had been through, told her what it meant to him. He said that she deserved to have it, which, given the context, was flattering enough to briefly bring a smile to her face. However, there was one word which he said that gave her pause. Her expression became nervous, almost frightened. 

“L-loves?” Ma’tanza repeated. She looked down at the pendant, clutching it tightly in her hands as she went over again in her mind what he had just explained to her. “Give it to someone you…love? Ma’tanza likes the pendant; it is beautiful. And…she likes you. Tzirret is kind, and treats Ma’tanza differently from a lot of boys. But…love?” 

Ma’tanza was now breathing almost as heavily as Tzirret himself, though her fear was of a slightly different source than his. “Ma’tanza…cannot say she loves Tzirret. She doesn’t know you that well. It has only been a few…weeks since we met. She…she doesn’t want to disappoint you, Tzirret. Ma’tanza doesn’t want to hurt you. It’s just…love is a lot, Tzirret. This one likes you, a lot, but she doesn’t want to say she loves you if she doesn’t know that it’s true.”

---

Meesei observed the wave of ice Sabine produced without any particular reaction, until it had dissipated. At that point, Meesei gave her an encouraging smile. “Exciting, is it not? To push yourself to your fullest limits, just to test your potential. Though, despite the…theatrics of such spells, they are far from the most impressive displays of magic possible, at least in my opinion. Adding more raw power to a spell is something that any mage can do. However, it is good for providing a good visual demonstration of where you are in your training. You have accomplished much in the past three or four years, likely more than you give yourself credit for. With enough time, I have no doubt you will become a mage to surpass even me.”

After giving Sabine a few moments to take in her words, Meesei’s smile turned to more of a grin. “Now, you have likely just drained most of your magicka, and have not had much time at all to restore it, so…put up a ward.” She instructed as her hand began to glow with the light of a restore stamina spell. It was not a damaging spell, but a ward would still block it all the same. 

“While it is something you should do your best to avoid, it is inevitable that you will find yourself in combat while low on magicka. Wards are great defensive spells, but can be draining on your magicka reserves. You recall the previous lessons I have given you on how to make your wards absorb some of the energy of the spells they block, yes? Now, we are going to practice that technique. You will need to use the energy of my spells to sustain your ward.” Meesei explained.