Adrien suddenly lifted his head, as if prickled by the sharpness of Valerion's question. He sat deep in thought for a while, searching for an answer. At last, he grasped on something at the bottom of his abyss - a loathsome thought that made his eyes widen in horror, but that he needed to bring back to the surface and expose.

"My own incompetence", he said.

"Why do you think that?".

"Well", Adrien muttered, his head low once again, "you asked me to make a working spell, and I can't even do that. I should be able to figure that out. I'd think that I would have managed to do that, by now. Maybe I just -- maybe I just -- cannot do it". His voice broke; his throat tightened. As he tried to suppress his tears, he found himself thinking that he should start packing his things, go home, and never speak of this again. "I am sorry -- I am just wasting your time", he whimpered.