"Don't touch me"

…

Ivory's fair skin was illuminated by the bright full moon as she laid on the surface of the earth. She shivered from the cold air, which made her hug herself. "Where am I?"

Only wearing a thin, brown linen night dress, she helped herself up and looked around. Finding herself in the middle of the forest, she was certain that it was not in Greensteid. Her town had pine trees, but surrounding her were oak trees.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" her voice echoed as she walked on the damp soil with her bare feet.

The bushes suddenly rustled behind her. When she looked back, several wolves in the shadows, which were all staring at her, sent shivers down her spine. They slowly walked towards her and as the moonlight shone and revealed their white fur, she helplessly fell on her knees and hugged herself in fear.

One of the white wolves approached her slowly. The two of them gazed at each other's light blue eyes for a moment until it sniffed her hair. It made her startled, but she somehow felt calmer after that.

The wolf snuggled to her, and she eventually patted its head. She stroked its fur and said, "Does this mean we're friends already?" and the wolf licked her cheek.

But as soon as she embraced it, it turned into a palm-sized glowing white orb, which entered her chest, making her body feel intense pain.

…

"GAAAAAHHHH!" Ivory screamed as she woke up drenched in sweat. She touched the front of her dress as she panted.

"Sigmund?" she called out. It was odd that her Servant was not in the room. She quickly got out of bed and gazed at the window, realizing that it was already late when she saw the sun up in the sky.

"It's already noon? And nobody woke me up?!" In a panic, Ivory ran downstairs.

"Dear, you're awake! How's your sleep?" Anne asked her daughter, who still seemed sleepy. "Why don't you take some more rest?"

"I have classes today, but…"

"Sigmund told us that you depleted most of your mana when you practiced yesterday. He suggested not to wake you up," Anne placed the bowl of acorn soup on the table. "If you're not sleepy, why don't you eat first?"

She smiled and nodded at her mother. "Have you seen Sigmund?" she asked as she sat on the chair.

"No, I haven't," and she went to the sink to wash her hands.

Ivory furrowed her eyebrows in worry. She couldn't remember what happened last night. The last thing she remembered was her crying at the back of their house after attempting to do Conversion Magic because she felt frustrated about her unruly mana.

"Oh, maybe I passed out after that," she murmured. Then, she thought, what if he ran away again because he found out that she's hopeless? What if he decided to give up on making her stronger? And what if he concluded that she would never be a great Master?

"I have to find Sigmund as soon as possible," she told her mother, and after apologizing to her that she did not finish her food, she then headed out.

As soon as she got out of the cabin, she saw his father and asked if he had seen her Servant.

"I asked him to help me chop wood in the middle of the forest. There's a sudden large order of firewood from Alpharion, and-"

Gordon had not finished his sentence yet, but Ivory already ran ahead.

She ran swiftly past the pine trees as she followed the trail, not wanting to waste any more time. She was relieved that Sigmund was only helping out her father and that he did not leave her.

She arrived in the middle of the forest where her father's workshop could be found. Logs and chopped wood were stacked outside a tent, and in the middle of the cleared area was a tree stump.

Sigmund, who was topless and drenched in sweat, was lifting the axe up and piercing the top of the chunk of wood on a stump. In Ivory's sight, he was very hot, and his exposed and firm six-pack and muscular arms made her gaze at him for so long.

The Vampire dropped his axe beside the stump when Ivory approached him.

"Sigmund," she panted, "I was looking for you," and was about to touch his arm...

But she was shocked when he shoved her hands away.

"I am… sweaty. Don't come near me," he looked away and stepped back.

Sigmund saw Ivory's confused expression, which was already expected. He has decided not to touch his Master until he forgets what happened last night.

He couldn't look straight into his Master's light blue eyes, because he could still remember the way she gazed at him as they kissed. He could still remember the taste of her soft lips, and that strange yet pleasurable feeling when her body leaned on his.

Sigmund shook his head, trying to shoo away these weird thoughts. He sat on the tree stump and stared blankly at the chopped wood.

Wondering why her Servant was acting weird, she asked him, "Uhm… Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course, dimwit," he responded, avoiding her gaze. "I am the great Vampire, Sigmund, and I am always okay."

"Ah, yes… You're right," she murmured and continued staring at her handsome Servant. "By the way, Sigmund, thanks for bringing me inside the house. I can't believe I passed out without doing any Conversion Magic. I'm so pathetic."

"I'm glad you know about it," Sigmund smirked. "So don't force yourself anymore. It's dangerous-"

"No! I have to be really strong, so that you can use a better mana quality and have stronger magic," Ivory said with conviction. "I will definitely do my best. I will help you with your problem at the Silverblade Castle, and let's win the Servant Competition!"

"You're all fired up," Sigmund almost patted her head, but quickly withdrew it. He then walked forward towards the trail, "Let's head back."

The whole afternoon, Ivory was practicing her magic at the back of the cabin. Like last night, she placed a bucket of water in front of her, and held the two sticks in separate hands. Sigmund stood at a distance, watching her very closely, but also feeling a bit nervous because she might be out of control again.

But when Ivory concentrated her mana onto the water inside the bucket, her two sticks glowed with a white light.

As she lifted the sticks up, the water also floated in the air. At first, it was a simple Water Elemental Magic, but as she continued moving the wooden sticks, it was as if the water danced with the motions of her hands.

Sigmund stood there, dumbfounded, as he had already seen it last night. Even though this time, it was only the stick that glowed and not her whole body, he noticed that her light blue eyes glowed momentarily. And surprisingly, the mysterious mana was not overlapping her normal mana, but fused with it instead.

But he still readied himself if there would be a sign of her normal mana getting overlapped by her unknown kind of mana.

Compared to last night, she felt lighter when using magic. Perhaps it was because her long sleep had helped her rest her body and relax. Ivory also felt that she had already done her way of Conversion Magic before, so she didn't have a hard time this time.

And finally, when she stopped moving her sticks, the water turned into fog.

"I did it…" Ivory uttered. She widened her eyes in awe, "I can't believe it! I did it, Sigmund!" She ran towards him and without warning, she embraced him.

Sigmund sighed, as he was very confused on what to do in that situation. He promised not to touch his Master until he forgets about the kiss, so he grabbed her arms that were around his waist and pushed her lightly away from him.

In a cold tone, he said, "Don't touch me."