before she heard the quiet creak of the front door opening, followed by an almost inaudible male sigh and the door finally slamming shut. The young woman hastily sat up and slipped off her coat to show her master the merits of her white dress, scolded herself for it as soon as she remembered her own decision, but before she could fix her mistake, the door opened Already a crack to the bedroom.

"Akane?" The young man breathed softly while carefully pushing his head into the room to see if his apprentice had woken up and froze when he saw the young woman sitting in his bed. He had gleefully observed the change in their nature during their time together, the fading of their wild beauty in favor of a well-groomed grace whose charm eclipsed the glory of all the noble ladies in the king's courts, the taming of their stubbornness by the awakening knowledge of themselves , the occasional flicker of a tremendous fire in her eyes that underscored her potential, but the sight it presented itself surpassed any of that.

While she answered his unasked question by tilting her head, the young man inhaled the unmistakably feminine charms of his apprentice in amazement. Her ruby ​​red lips, which she licked sensually to prevent bursting due to the dry air, gave him an enchanting smile, her velvety hands clasped charmingly as she stretched her arms extensively in front of her, so it was obvious to her within the last month Her larger bosom was emphasized even more than the dress already did, while the left strap of her dress slowly slid down her shoulder until the black-haired man's gaze stretched along the woman's narrow, but rounded hips to her white, uncovered ones Legs dropped and he tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat when he thought he saw the dangerously licking fire in her flashing eyes.

"I see you are awake," he said slowly, ignoring the rapid pounding of his heart.

"Yes," she replied with a smile, since she hadn't missed his eyes, and got up a second time on this strange day. "What actually happened yesterday?"

"You have solved the most difficult task that awaits you in your apprenticeship," he said proudly, entering, clad in a black shirt that was unbuttoned at the top so that the young woman could see his broad chest, the sight of which she a delicate one Red on the cheeks conjured up his bedroom, went up to the young woman, and caringly put his cold hand on her cheeks."Unfortunately you overdone yourself a bit and developed a fever, so I had to keep you here for the night. Everything seems to be fine now, because your temperature has fallen again. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you, I slept wonderfully, better than ever," she babbled to cover up the soft touch of his rough hands on her cheek that made her blush more than the sight of him. "But where did you sleep?"

"Well," the young man hesitated, taking his hands off her cheeks, and Akane thought he could see a slight shade of red on his cheeks as he continued: "I didn't have enough straw left to make a new bed so I just lay down with you. I hope you don't mind. "

"This is wonderful!" The young woman burst out, as it meant that her master had not slept with the mysterious woman, but realized too late the implication of her exclaimed words in connection with her statement that she was still had never slept better, possibly had a completely wrong meaning for the perplexed silent young man, but she did not know how to get the misunderstanding out of the world. "I mean, I wanted to say that, how should I put it, in, okay!"

"Eh, well," said the wizard hesitantly and finally suggested after a short silence: "Why don't you freshen up a bit and I'll prepare breakfast in the meantime?"

Nodding gratefully, she followed the young man into the kitchen, where she washed her face and arms with cold water while he was cutting the bread, and out of a tiny room she had never seen before, there the small wooden door next to the water pump was almost invisible to the untrained eye, and probably served as a refrigerator, butter, meat, fruit and milk for breakfast. The two young adults sat in silence at the wooden table in the cool living room, since Ranma had not lit the fireplace, both deep in their thoughts, and ate the meal until Akane broke the silence with a question.

"I know it's presumptuous to ask, but could I go home earlier today? I didn't come home yesterday and my family is certainly worried about me," the young woman asked carefully, the wizard's reaction exactly observing.

"No," he answered her slowly, and for the first time since breakfast began, he fixed his gaze on the young woman sitting across from him and silenced her silent protests with a smile. "You won't leave earlier, you will go home right after breakfast, because I have to go to the village today to buy some more supplies. And on the way to the village you can ask me all the questions that are on your mind lie."

"What? How?", The young woman stammered, puzzled, and watched as the young man cleverly cleared the table and brought the empty plates into the kitchen while he answered her."Your aura gives you away", his voice, muffled by the water that ran on the pump in the kitchen, wafted from the kitchen. "People can hold back questions, but their aura mostly suggests the person they want to ask the questions; and before you ask: yes, there could be other reasons, but you've been lost in thought all morning, so I knew something was bothering you. "

"Can you teach me that?" Asked the young woman, impressed, when her master returned with two coats in hand.

"Of course, this is the next level of your training," he said and helped her put on her brown coat before the master and apprentice left the hut by the lake to visit the village on the edge of the forest.

The two young adults ran unanimously through that venerable forest, which had changed so much since the black-haired woman's first visit that she could hardly believe she was walking in the same forest. The low-hanging, once so threatening branches of the conifers were now covered with a thin layer of pure powder snow, and seemed to greet visitors to the forest in a friendly manner, the strong roots of the trees seemed to form a path for them on which they would be undisturbed could wander, and the closely lined up trunks opened a passage for them, while the young woman asked her companion question after question.

"Take it easy, Akane," laughed Ranma as his apprentice took a breath to ask more questions, interrupting their marathon of questions. "I can't answer a question if you ask me so many at once! But since it seems to interest you so much, I will explain the basics of your further training to you: first of all you will learn to control your aura, because without control you will not be able to understand and use all facades. That you have managed to call the animals to you already shows a certain control over your aura, but in order to become the master of all your traits, we have to steel your spirit and thus your body, because a healthy spirit can only dwell in a healthy body. "

"Good," the young woman muttered, embarrassed, her cheeks flushed from the memory of the animals she had called before she kissed him, the kiss he hadn't mentioned a word.

"There is no reason to be embarrassed about a compliment," said the black-haired man friendly, since he saw the reddened cheeks of the young woman, but could not understand why she was embarrassed. "After you have learned to fully control your aura, I will teach you how to use it purposefully in a variety of areas."

"What areas?", Akane asked tense, not looking for a second from her Master's face.

"With a little practice, for example, you will be able to spot a liar with ease if he is not in perfect control of himself," answered her new question patiently, pointing to a wildcat scurrying past the edge of his field of vision, which appeared to be on the late hunt for prey was."Do you know why cats are always so skeptical? They are able to see the aura of the living beings around them and therefore recognize that every living being lies. That is why they prefer to spend their time alone or with those who are good to them, because they know whom they can trust. This little one only approached us without taking cover because she knew we didn't want to harm her and so she was able to kill her prey unimaginable advantages of mastering one's aura. "

"I can imagine that very well," agreed the young woman and thirsty for knowledge asked the next question: "What else?"

"For example, you will recognize when you have reached your destination," whispered the wizard and stopped to look his apprentice in the eye.

"How is that?", She asked tensely and stopped next to him, her gaze fixed on his azure eyes.

"By opening your eyes," he said jokingly, pointing to the simple wooden wall with which the small village, from whose chimneys attached to the huts, spiraled smoke, indicated the activity of the farmers at such an early hour. "We're here. I'll just buy a few things, and then come back to my home. Please come to my hut at the same time tomorrow, then we will continue your training."

Before the black-haired man could make the rest of the way to the village, however, he was held back by the narrow hands of his companion, who held his coat embarrassed while she looked at the ground at his feet. Heart beating wildly, hoping that she would not cross a line, she took a deep breath to calm herself down in the cold morning air, which she had not noticed until then, since they had captured the words of her wizard, and spoke into herself giving her mind the courage to ask the next question.

"If we're already in the village together, you might want to, I mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to, but maybe you would like, I mean, maybe you like with us tonight, I mean, with mine Family eat, as a