The Rank 3 Magus, Nylian Feno's, mana was like a tidal wave as it swept towards Adam through their handshake. All the while, the elf continued silently gazing at him, wondering how he would fare.
Adam was initially startled, but then it suddenly dawned on him when he sensed no hostility from Nylian.
He couldn't understand why he would need to go through so much. He was only trying to take the man's daughter out to a formal event, yet he felt like he was asking her hand in marriage.
This whole situation felt incredulous to Adam. If it weren't for Qamara being a councilor's daughter, he would have perhaps never even bothered to ask her out.
Alright then, he thought to himself as his grip around the elf's hand tightened. He drew mana from his large reserves and guided it toward his hand.
At once, the foreign mana that was entering his body was suddenly met with his own mana. The collision between the two types of mana caused ripples of air to project outward from where the two men were standing.
The black carriage Adam had arrived in started to sway gently, and the horses hitched to it started neighing in alarm. Even the guards stationed at the entrance of the manor felt their skins tingling.
"Hmm?" Nylian's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly when he felt his mana being pushed back.
He glanced at Adam and saw that the youth was looking at him with a faint smile—a provocative smile.
Oh? Nylian's eyebrows rose in amusement. You're cockier than I expected.
With just a simple thought, he increased his mana output through his hand. Earlier, he wanted to simply test the raven-haired youth a little.
After all, as a father, he was curious about what sort of man had asked his precious daughter out on a date. He wanted to see if the man was worthy.
But he didn't expect Adam to put on airs before him. It would appear that the youth thought that he could take him, a Rank 3 Magus, head-on in a battle of mana.
A few more ripples of air were produced, spreading outward with the two men standing at the center. By now, the horses were in a frenzy and it took a few guards to calm them down and ensure they didn't run off.
Adam expertly managed to counter Nylian's tsunami-like mana that was trying to flood inside his body. He even directed the clash between the two types of mana to take place where their hands met.
Now, Adam had not only managed to stop Nylian's mana from entering his own body, but he had also diverted some of his attention to enclose their hands inside a small, invisible dome of his mana so that their clash didn't cause any disturbance in their surroundings.
At once, the strong winds that were being generated from their clash had ceased. The horses stopped panicking and even the guards involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief.
It felt as if everything had returned to normal, but the clash between Adam's and Nylian's mana had reached a new height as both of them decided to turn it up a notch.
Nylian's eyes flashed with a bright light and he couldn't help but smile a little. "Your control over mana is quite something, young magus."
"Thank you, my lord." Adam smiled as the two continued to clash with their mana.
Their grips around each other's hand tightened and veins started to bulge in their forearms. Yet, both their faces revealed nothing but a calm demeanor.
"Brigham spoke very highly of you," Nylian added. "But seeing it with my own eyes, I can confirm that you really are a talented young lad."
He slowly retrieved the mana coursing in his veins and let go of Adam's hand. "I would have loved to chat with you more, but it would seem that we're out of time."
Nylian stood with his hands clasped behind his back and looked toward the entrance of the manor. A few seconds later, a group of women opened the door and exited out of the building.
Adam turned his attention towards them and found only two of them familiar. One of them was Enzana Feno - the Rank 2 Magus and owner of the famed Garden Cafe. The other one was naturally his classmate, Qamara Feno.
The third woman was a middle-aged woman who bore a striking resemblance to Qamara. Adam presumed that this woman was Nylian's wife and Qamara's mother.
While the last person in the group was a little girl who seemed no older than ten. But considering how the aging process of an elf worked, Adam had no idea how old she truly was.
She had a similar appearance to Qamara, making Adam think that they were very likely to be sisters.
"My, oh, my!" Enzana was the first to approach Adam and greet him in humor. "My dear Adam, I would have never thought that you could appear so charming and elegant."
"Good evening, Lady Enzana." Adam slightly bowed. "All credit goes to your clothing designer. They really did a great job with my outfit."
"Hmm." Enzana's eyes squinted as she observed Adam closely. "Well, it's not entirely the clothes, to be fair. Why do I feel like you've gotten taller and… younger? Hmm, you definitely seem different. Did you come up with some kind of new age-reversing potion?"
Adam's lips twitched and he couldn't help but ridicule inwardly, Of course, I look different. I've had the fortune to bathe in the Sacred Waters of Lustrum not once but twice!
"Hmm, anyways!" Enzana switched subjects. "Don't forget your end of the deal, dear. You promised to paint a mural of Baja in my cafe."
Adam chuckled, "Of course. Of course."
"So this is how you tricked my aunt?" Qamara chimed in suddenly, her tone irritable.
"Now, now, my love." Enzana gave her niece a side hug. "You must know that Adam is one of the finest artists in Ravenfell. Besides, it's not so bad for you to go out with a handsome and capable young magus such as him."
"Auntie, I'm not going out with him!" Qamara blurted out in a fluster. "I'm only doing this for you!"
"Yes, yes, whatever you say, love." Enzana patted the elf's head.
Qamara's cheeks turned red from sheer embarrassment at how her Aunt treated her in front of a stranger.
But when she secretly cast her gaze at Adam who was dressed in black and bathed in the ethereal glow of the twin moons, she couldn't help but admit that he was a fine young man.