Chapter 62: Someone Very Dear In His Heart
Ten minutes later, Ethan started to pant for breath. He was still in a trance, but his body was reacting subconsciously to the runes that were circling around him.
Luna, who saw this, became a bit worried. However, she couldn't stop the ceremony mid-way because it might create a backlash that would hurt her, and Ethan as well.
Five more minutes passed, and Ethan was already crouching on the ground on bended knee. He was still clutching his chest, and his breathing was now very ragged.
After saying the last part of the chant, a red rune appeared above Ethan's head and slowly descended until it melded with his body.
Time seemed to stop as Luna watched with anxiety as Ethan ceased all movements.
One by one, the runes that were still circling around Ethan's body also moved to merge with his body. Only when the last rune was gone did Luna hurriedly move to check Ethan's condition.
"Ethan, are you alright?" Luna asked worriedly as she crouched down and gently rubbed Ethan's back, as if helping him recover his senses.
For a while, Ethan didn't show any reaction. It was only after an entire minute had passed did he slowly raise his head to look at the angelic beauty beside him.
Crimson eyes that glowed faintly met the angelic beauty's gaze, making her body stiffen.
A moment later, Ethan slowly stood up, and even helped Luna to stand as well.
The two then gazed at each other for nearly half a minute before Ethan's arms slowly wrapped around Luna's body, pulling her closer to him.
Luna, found herself unable to resist Ethan's gesture, and simply gazed into his eyes, which seemed to hold an infinite amount of magic power that made her heart skip a beat.
The handsome young man then lowered his head and pressed his lips over Luna's own lips, which were very soft, and filled with promise.
After she was kissed by Ethan, Luna regained a bit of her sanity and tried to push him away.
However, a part of her wanted to remain in his embrace, which made her unable to muster any strength to genuinely break free from his hold.
Soon, Luna no longer thought of resisting, and surrendered to Ethan's soft, yet gentle kisses that made her innocent heart beat wildly inside her chest.
As the moon hung over the moonlit sky, two people kissed on the small island located in the middle of the lake.
Although the night was cold, a certain kind of warmth kept it at bay, and only the sound of soft kissing echoed silently, creating faint ripples of magic in the surroundings.
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When the rays of sunshine passed through Ethan's window, the teenage boy slowly opened his eyes.
He was still half asleep as he looked around his surroundings. It took him a moment to figure out where he was.
Stifling a yawn, he walked towards the table where a jug of water, and a bowl was placed, in order to wash his face.
After a few more splashes, he became more awake and tried to recall what happened a few hours ago.
The last thing he remembered was standing in place, as Luna started the ceremony.
That was as far as his memory went, and that was all that he could recall clearly. He also had no recollection of how he returned to his room. He simply assumed that Luna brought him back after he passed out during the ceremony that they had done in secret.
'I had a nice dream,' Ethan thought as he vaguely remembered brief flashes of him kissing Luna's lips. In that dream, he kissed Luna many times, and she also kissed him back in return.
Ethan knew that this was impossible to happen in real life because Luna was a shy person at heart. She only opened up to him since they were in the same manor, and he helped her test the latest creations of her club.
'For some reason, my body feels very light,' Ethan mused as he did a bit of stretching to get his blood pumping. 'It feels as if I'm full of energy.'
Ethan then suddenly had a thought, so he took out his wand from his storage ring and pointed it in front of him.
"Lux Aeterna!"
He had used this spell many times in the past, but it was all for naught. Since he wasn't expecting any results, Ethan chanted this spell in a carefree manner.
However, what happened next nearly made him drop his wand in shock.
A small white orb of light, the size of a small marble, hovered in front of him. Although its light wasn't that intense, it still gave enough light to make Ethan pinch himself in order to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.
"It hurts…," Ethan muttered as realization finally dawned on him. "It hurts!"
Ethan nearly laughed out loud after confirming that he wasn't dreaming. He then tried to cast Lux Aeterna again, and again, and every time he did it, a small orb of light appeared, making him feel giddy.
Soon, Ethan's room was filled with balls of light that gently floated in the air, giving off light, similar to that of fireflies.
"The ceremony worked!" Ethan made a fist pump out of happiness. "I can now use magic! I need to look for Luna and thank her."
Without even changing out of his pajamas, Ethan decided to look for the angelic beauty, and tell her the good news.
However, he had just opened the door when he saw Henry who had a solemn expression on his face.
"Ethan, you have to come with me," Henry said. "Chloe has challenged Langston in a duel. From what I heard, Langston was insulting you in public and Chloe overheard it. Because of this, she became enraged and challenged Langston in a duel to shut him up. Hurry, you need to go to the Training Area and stop her from going through with the duel."
The earlier happiness that Ethan felt after awakening his magic disappeared, and was replaced with anxiety.
He knew how powerful Langston was, and even though Chloe was a decent Witch, her chances of winning against one of the Pillars of the First Years was very slim.
Without even bothering to change his clothes, Ethan sprinted out of the Dud Manor and ran towards the Training Area where a dueling arena was located.
No matter what happened, he had to stop his cousin from fighting against Langston. There was no way that she would win against him.
If anything bad happened to her because of him, Ethan wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
Chloe was very dear to him, and the mere thought of her getting hit by one of Langston's black fireballs was enough for him to feel as if his heart was being squeezed inside his chest.
Luna, who had also just woken up, saw Ethan running past her in the hallway, followed by their Head Prefect.
Just a glance was enough to tell her that something was wrong, so she hurriedly followed behind them to understand what could have happened to make Ethan look as if he was about to murder somebody.