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"Don't count the days, make the days count."
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Jade could tell that something was up, it wasn't just that she overheard Seto's and Brice's conversation, but he was distracted, losing his focus a lot. She looked at him, she didn't need to see both of his eyes to tell how distant his eyes were. She pulled the book away from him, he not making an effort to stop her. She closed the textbook.

"Are you okay, Seto?" She asked. Seto nods.

"Yeah...just have a headache is all. Reading with only one eye is challenging." Seto said making her smile.

"Well, I think I got it," Jade said. Seto looked at her.

"Show me, I want a five-layer barrier," Seto said making her almost stand up in shock.

"What?! Three—"

"Jade, you're a fifth-year apprentice. You can do it, five layers. It's okay if you don't get it the first time, that's what practice is for. Now, five layers." Seto said leaning back in his seat. She stood up, moving away from the table, she feels nervous, she doesn't remember the last time she did magic for Seto, he's been on the front lines so long that she's forgotten how much she enjoys his teachings. She put her hands up, feeling herself shaking as her eyes closed.

"Jade," Seto said as he stood. He touched her arms, her eyes opened. "Remember what I said, arms straight. Your air barrier magic can only be strong as you are in believing yourself, deep breaths, calm down. You can do it. Now, focus and channel your magic to your hands." Seto let go of her arms, take a few steps back from her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Seto smiled seeing her hands glowing, a breeze hitting him. "That's it, now chant the spell."

"Stratum quinque Obex: Ventus!" She chanted. Seto smiled feeling the wind picking up around them and seeing a blurry outline in front of her. His left eye glowed, he put his two fingers together and swiped towards Jade, a spell fired towards her, but before it could hit her, it hit a wall, the spell ricocheting off and hitting a table, making it crash and break. Seto looked at it and back at Jade. He smiled. 'Five layers in only five years, especially air magic barriers, those are dangerous if not focused. I'm impressed.' Seto thought. Seto lost his smile seeing something cut Jade's arm, Jade gasped, grabbing, her arm, Seto snapped his fingers, the wind ceasing immediately. Jade fell backward, sitting on the floor. "Dang it." Seto kneeled down in front of her.

"Let me see," Seto said as he took her arm, blood running down her wrist and hand. He looked at it.

"Sorry, I'll do better next time," Jade said making Seto look at her.

"Better? Jade, that was great. You should be proud of yourself, air barrier magic is hard, it's something that even I had struggled with, you ricocheted my spell completely with no damage to the outer barrier." Seto said. Jade looked at him.

"Wait, really?" She asked. Seto pointed to the broken table, she looked at it.

"Yes really," Seto said letting go of her arm, he ripped off a part of his sleeve, tying the strip around her cut, tying it tight. "That's a deep cut, let's get that tended to first." She nods before they heard a gasp.

"My table!" Seto looked over at the broken table.

"Oh no."

"Master Harvey Azdel! Why am I not surprised you had something to do with this?!" Someone shouted. Seto stood up as Jade smiled. 'Here we go.' Jade thought. Seto put his hands up, looking at an old woman. He smiled a bit.

"M-Miss Ellice, it's nice--" The old woman walked over to them, she planted her finger on Seto's chest, pushing on him, shutting Seto up.

"Shut your mouth! Fix that table now! I'm not dealing with your careless destruction of my library like I did before. There are many priceless artifacts in here now and I don't care if you are an Elite, break something and I'll break you piece by piece! Am I clear?!" She shouted making Seto tense up, nodding.

"Y-Yes ma'am." He said. Miss Ellice looks at Jade.

"Keep an eye on your Master, would you Miss Jade? He says he has control over his chaos magic, but every time he comes to my library, he causes chaos." She said as Jade stood, nodding.

"I'll keep an eye on him." She said. Miss Ellice lowered her finger from Seto's chest, she looks at him.

"I'm keeping my eye on you. And this is a library, a place of learning to put on a goddamn shirt. And fix the table!" She snapped before she walked away. Seto flicked his wrist towards the table, the books the fell off floating off the floor, broken wood going back into place as the table stood back up on the four legs, the books settling on the surface. Seto looked at Jade.

"She got scary," Seto said making her smile.

"She got used to you not being here, she was used to you breaking something but when you left for the front lines she was basically celebrating because she didn't have any mess to clean up. But you should have cleaned it up before she saw it." Jade said. Seto crossed his arms, looking at her.

"Technically you broke the table--"

"It was my barrier but whose spell hit the table? Because it wasn't mine." Jade said. Seto stared at her, frowning.

"Why can't you just let me blame you? You blame me." Seto said making her chuckle.

"Actually Master, people just assume it is you, I don't have to say anything at all," Jade said. Seto stared at her, he smiled a bit. She tilted her head a bit. "What are smiling about?"

"Nothing I just...I guess I got used to being on the front lines so much that I forgot how much fun being at the Academy was." Seto said which made her smile it.

"Well, things aren't the same here without you guys...no, seriously, they aren't," Jade said losing her smile. "We all miss you guys, not only that, it was always entertaining to watch first years being scared of Master Waglington, Master Phil, and of you since you're Elites. Not only that...I miss the ways things were before this war started." Seto loses his smile.

"Yeah--"

"And I bet you miss Master Kallee," Jade said smirking at him. Seto looked at her as his cheeks redden.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" Seto asked her. She grinned.

"Oh come on, you're my Master, I know you like the back of my hand. I also know that you and Kallee never fight each other even though you both on are opposite sides. Truth be told, a lot of people were hoping you and she would end up together before Jandine came along and ruined it." Jade said. Seto stared at her.

"What did you think about Jandine? And I want an honest answer from you." Seto said. Jade loses her grin, she looked away, thinking.

"Brutally honest?" Jade questioned. Seto nods.

"Yeah." He said. She looked at him.

"I...I hated her. I only tolerated her because of you. I only became your apprentice when you two were dating but when I first met you, I knew something wasn't right since I heard such great stories about you, about how apprentices love you and how you were one of the strongest wizards...but when I met you...I couldn't see that with how much you tried to cover up from me and your depression. You aren't very good at hiding your emotions from me, even now, I can tell something is bothering you, you're just trying to change the subject so you can shut me out again. You don't understand how hard it was for me to not protect you from her." Jade said. Seto looked away from her. She puts her hands behind her back, looking at him. "You wanna know why I've advanced so much in my barrier magic?" Seto's eyes looked at her. She bit her bottom lip for a second. "Because I had to protect you from her a lot, don't you remember how many times I had to step in because I didn't want you getting hurt? Because I do."

"Of course I remember, and you shouldn't have," Seto said. Jade stood up straight.

"I did it to protect you, I--" Seto looked at her.

"An apprentice shouldn't protect their Master, the Master protects the apprentice--" Jade's hands tighten into fists for a second, staring at Seto.

"Yeah, sure, but the Master isn't protected by magic laws like the apprentice is. Just because you are more experienced and more powerful than I am doesn't mean you don't need protecting too. You need it just as much as I do and I don't care how much you are gonna complain and reject it, you always protect me and have gotten hurt because of it before. So I'm always gonna protect you, that's what you said my magic is for, right? Protecting people, so don't you dare think I'm not gonna protect you just because your reputation as an Elitist would be on the line of ruin if you were protected by an apprentice. I would rather have your ego be tarnished then have you die on me." Jade snapped at him. Seto looked away from her, not speaking. Her eyes soften. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. But you told me that my magic is a shield to protect the people I care about from getting hurt and you are someone I care about, I'll always be there to protect you, no matter the costs." Jade sighed a bit, she picked up her textbook. "Thanks for the lesson, Master--" Seto grabbed her wrist when she was about to leave, she stopped, looking at him. "Master?" Seto's staring at the floor, thinking of what to say without it hurting her feelings at all.

"Y-You think I care about being an Elite that much?" Seto asked. She stared at him, not answering. Seto looked at her. "It's just some title, Jade. I care more about you then my pride or reputation, I rather get hurt then to have you get hurt." Her eyes soften.

"I know you do, but...even the strongest people need a little backup every once in a while. I'm not the first year anymore, you don't need to protect me as much anymore." She said. Seto's eyes flicker to hers.

"Even if you were a Master wizard, I would still protect you, it doesn't matter how much experience you have, I still would protect you," Seto said.

"Why?" She asked. Seto smiled a bit.

"Because that's what being an Elite means, protecting the people in our lives and outside of our lives no matter the costs or consequences. And you're my apprentice, I'll still protect you even if you were a Master wizard." Seto said. Jade smiles a bit at him, Seto returned it before fast footsteps approached them.

"Seto! There you are! Ashton wants you to the front lines, now! It's an emergency!" Tom said. Seto and Jade looked at him, shocked.

"What? But Taralynn's graduation is—"

"The Dark Mage Elites directly attacked our campsite last night," Tom explained. Seto's eyes widen a bit while Jade looked worried.

"Is Master Wag and Master Phil okay?" Jade asked. Tom looked at Seto.

"You don't need to fight or anything like that, but he wants you there and wants you there now," Tom said. Seto nods.

"Alright, I'll leave now," Seto said. Seto walked past Jade, Jade grabbed his arm.

"Seto—" Seto pulled his arm out of her grip.

"Stay here, Jade. Continue your studies, I'll be right back. It isn't like I can stay there since I'm still under strict orders to take a vacation after all. Just a check-up, after all." Seto said. Jade still looked displeased, Seto looked at Tom. "Does Taralynn know?" Tom shakes his head.

"No, we're keeping this from her. Which means you can't say anything either, Jade." Tom said looking at her at the end. Jade nods.

"Okay." She said. Seto sighs a bit, disagreeing but looks back at Tom.

"Teleporter functioning?" Seto asked. Tom nods before Seto walks pass Tom. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Wait." Tom said making Seto stop. Tom turned to Seto. "They were able to capture one of the Dark Mage Elitists."

"Who?" Seto asked. Tom smiled a bit.

"It's isn't someone who was an Elitist before this war started. James captured Micheal Scarlet." Tom said making Jade gasp in shock.

"Wait! How?! Isn't Master Micheal the most powerful illusionist wizard to ever live?" Jade asked. Tom looked at her nodding.

"Yes, that's him. But he made James mad, nothing good happens when you make him mad. Illusions can only go so far, they are a type of support and defense magic, you need powerful offensive magic when you make James mad at you." Tom said. Seto smirked a bit.

"Well, things just got fun."