Adamagika: The Spirit Within - 22. Ch 22: The Struthius Squad

CHAPTER 22: The Struthius Squad

“Wow,” Jacob said as we made our way through another set of steps up away from Lady’s Helena’s quarters. “What’s it like having a Mage Lord as a mom?”

Brian gave us a wan smile. “It’s a little tough sometimes. I can’t break as many rules as I’d like to and people always expect a little more from me. Even as a squad leader, they expect more from me than other squad leaders.”

“Uhm, don’t take this the wrong way,” Jacob said, “but you look a little young to be a squad leader.”

I was worried that Jacob might have inadvertently insulted Brian but Brian merely laughed. “How old do you think I am?” he asked.

Jacob’s face scrunched up a bit as he thought of his guess. “Uhm, I’d guess nineteen.”

This caused Brian to laugh harder. “Thanks, but I’m actually twenty-four.”

“No way!” I looked him over again and he looked impossibly young. Anyone could have easily mistaken him as a year or two older than me.

“Uhm, afraid so,” he laughed. “I suppose it’s something I should be grateful for. All the boys look at me like I’m fresh meat out of school.”

“Don’t you mean all the girls?” I asked.

“Those too,” he said and then winked at me again. What was with all the winking?

He opened another set of double doors though these did not have a gryphon seal on them. Instead the number 131 was on a plaque overhead. It opened up into a large room with multilayered steps on the sides as though they were meant for an audience. There were dozens of people waiting inside and scattered around the high seats. The people seemed to be divided across the room. On one side was a mixture of young boys. Though most were quite possibly our age, a few were much older. Across them on the other side of the room were a mixture of boys and girls who were undoubtedly older than us by several years. Some looked old enough to have children. There were way more boys than girls though and they were all wearing clothes similar to Brian’s, minus the mage robe on top. I realized it must have been the standard clothes for recruits. Both sides of the room were in chaotic discussions.

“Alright ladies,” Brian yelled in a deep commanding voice over the chaos. I could have sworn I heard a grunt from the group. “Formations!”

Immediately, the two groups stopped talking and rushed down from the steps to organize themselves in the middle of the room. Each side had three rows with each row having no more than ten people in them. Each side mirrored the other and every one of them had their legs spread slightly apart and their hands behind their backs with their elbows jutting out away from their bodies. They looked surprisingly intimidating, even the younger group.

One of the younger looking guys broke away from the group and was now standing a short distance away from Brian. They gave each other a nod before Brian turned back to the group. I assumed that this was Brian’s apprentice.

“We have new recruits today.” He placed one hand on my shoulders. “This is Adam. He will train with us as an Aerophalanx recruit. I would like you to welcome him and treat him as such.”

He waited as though to see if anyone would say anything. The others didn’t even look towards our direction to check me out.

When the silence continued, he placed one hand on Jacob’s shoulders. “This is Jacob. He will train with us as an apprentice.” Brian looked them over for a moment before turning towards Jacob and me. “The group you see to your left,” he said, “is the apprentices while the group opposite them is the recruits. Today, you are not required to form in yet but by tomorrow you shall be assigned at the very end of the last row opposite one another each time we are in formation. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” I replied with a nod.

“Yes, sir,” Brian said.

“Huh?”

“While we are in training, you shall refer to all senior officers as ‘sir’ unless there are multiple officers being addressed. In which case, you shall call them by their appropriate title and name. That is why you shall refer to me as ‘sir’. Here in the Aerophalanx, we refer to each other by their first name which is why for instance we refer to our Mage Lord as Lady Helena rather than Lady Knightly. As such, you shall call me sir or Squad Leader Brian.” He then leaned almost conspiratorially near me and with a much softer voice added, “at least until we’re much… much closer.” He then winked at me before continuing in his normal voice. “I shall refer to you two as Jacob or Apprentice Jacob and Adam or Recruit Adam. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” Jacob and I answered.

“Good.” He then turned towards the groups of apprentices. “Apprentice Stanley, come here please,” he yelled.

The boy at the very end of the third row of apprentices turned and headed towards us. He had light brown hair and a freckled face with a smile playing on his lips. He looked like he had a very kind personality. “Yes, sir?” he asked.

“I’m afraid there has been a change of plans,” Brian said in a low voice. “You will have to return to the Apprentice Master as our new recruit here has been assigned a different apprentice.”

The boy named Stanley looked over at me. His smile turned into a frown and his eyes looked deeply sad and unhappy. Although this was the first time I met him, I felt truly sorry for him. “Of course, sir,” he whispered softly. He then turned towards the doors then marched out without another look back.

Brian turned again towards us. “Now why don’t you take up seats on the side and observe. I will allow you to sit together this time but starting tomorrow you must sit according to your group. I will call you once you are needed, Adam.”

“Yes, sir,” Jacob and I both responded then headed up towards the side of the recruits. We went three steps up on the side and sat down to watch.

After giving us a brief nod, Brian turned towards the center of the room. “Alright ladies,” he said but paused again as there was a grunt from somewhere at the back. Brian seemed annoyed at the interruption before he continued. “We have a new recruit today. Why don’t you show him what an Aerophalanx is capable of? First row, basic offensive-defensive training in pairs. The rest of you, observe.”

The first row of each group then broke up in such an organized fashion that they looked like they were doing some weird synchronized dance. Five of the recruits went to the other side while five of the apprentices crossed over. Now there were five pairs of recruits and apprentices on each side facing one another.

The rest of the rows dispersed casually into the steps on the sides and sat down.

The recruits that sat down on our side sat at a distance from us. I had a distinct feeling that they were doing it on purpose. I looked over at Brian. I could see him frowning towards the recruits near us. He didn’t say anything about it though and merely turned his attention back to the ten pairs in the middle of the room.

“At arms,” he yelled. The ten apprentices who were standing behind their respective recruits pulled small six inch sticks from within their robes. They swung them forward in a rainbow pattern and the short sticks expanded into two feet long maces with varying elaborate patterns. Some maces looked like they were made of gold and had intricate symbols etched along the shaft. Others looked like they might have even been made with iron or even wood. Each mace though had a large pointed crystal at the tip that glowed and hummed with white energy. Some of them had more elaborate designs that reminded me of candlestick holders while others were plain with just the iron handle and the cut crystal.

Brian watched as each mage got into a battle stance with their maces in hand. “Your objective is to incapacitate your opponent. Begin now!”

The room suddenly burst into a torrent of light and exploding energy. Each mage sent an array of spells across their opponent. From the mage closest to us, orange flames sprouted at the tip of his mace and surged forward to the other side. The mage on the receiving end raised a dark shield that absorbed the flame. He then swung his mace downwards which made his shield condense onto the floor. The ground ahead of him exploded forward making its way towards the opposing mage. It looked like the floor was coming alive and surging towards his opponent.

Another pair decided to take a different path. The air between them was shimmering as though two invisible forces were pushing against each other. It looked like water was rippling across the surface and when any of the vibrations touched the floor, cracks would appear. The faces of the mages were contorted in concentration.

The third pair was swirling through the air. Blades of light extended from their maces turning their two feet long weapons into three feet blades of pure energy. They were jumping, flying, and slashing through the air with unbelievable agility. Their movements though seemed so relax and effortless that I had a feeling that magic was somehow propelling them, giving them speed and power. Their blades sparked electricity whenever they made contact.

The fourth pair looked like they were fighting with animals. A large animal that looked like a bear made from pure white light surged from the mace of a burly looking mage. The other mage twisted his mace and a long serpent of pure energy was channeled from it. The bear was attempting to smash the serpent beneath its paws but the serpent was steadily wrapping its length around the bear’s torso.

The last pair was dueling with pure beams of energy. One had a red and white streak of lightning curling forward from his mace while the opposite mage was using a blue and white beam that curved downwards from his raised mace. Where the two beams met, a ball of white chaotic light was emanating and slowly destroying everything within its reach. The floor around them was cracked and smoking.

The dueling mages continued for a good minute, maybe even more. The one with the bear made of energy had managed to pummel the snake into disintegration. It charged the opposing mage before the other could react and knocked him clean of his feet. His mace flew out of his reach. He was thrown to the side and considered defeated.

The mage who used the fire spell managed to control the wind around his opponent which knocked him into the air and then smashed to the ground. Surprisingly, the fall didn’t seem to be as devastating as it should have been considering the distance he fell. However, he was sent in such an awkward position flying through the air that his shoulder was twisted out of place as he rolled on the ground. He squealed in pain and his apprentice rushed straight over and began what I assumed was a healing spell on his crooked shoulder. The one who threw him into the air rushed over and apologized profusely.

One of the mages who had a blade projecting from his mace managed to kick his opponent straight into the shimmering wall between the other pair locked in combat. As his opponent’s weapon made contact against the wall, sparks flew and almost immediately extinguished his blade. The other mage must have lost concentration because the wall started moving towards him rapidly. Before he could concentrate again, the shimmering wall smashed straight into him knocking him four flights up the steps on the side. Everyone moved out of his way as he crashed into the steps.

The only mages still left in combat was the last pair furthest away from us who seemed to be struggling with their energy beams. Both seemed equally matched and were both sweating profusely. You could tell from their appearance and I guess… something about their aura that they were both quickly weakening. I don’t know how I knew but it was almost like I could sense magic leaking from them. Whatever spells they were using seemed to be draining their magic rapidly.

Brian raised his own mace and projected the silhouette of a white gryphon high above the middle of the room. The last two mages immediately ceased using their spells.

“Good,” Brian yelled and then with a disbelieving voice said, “in fact that was a lot more violent than I had expected.”

“Well, we didn’t want the kid to think this was a game,” said the burly looking mage who had conjured a bear made of energy. He looked a lot older than us and right now I was starting to feel very young and small. He was walking towards us with his mace in hand. He looked us over and his eyes clearly said he was unhappy about something. “What’s this anyway? Are we so desperate now to be recruiting before they even graduate from the Academy?”

“I see,” Brian said. He was looking at the other mages who were in combat moments earlier. They were all eyeing us curiously. Each pair of eyes said something different but somehow I didn’t like most of them. Brian then looked towards the group who were sitting away from us. They seemed to be whispering among themselves and giving us curious looks.

“Bruce,” Brian yelled. The burly man who asked the questions earlier looked over at Brian. “Why don’t you oversee the training of the second and third group? I’m going to have a word with our new recruits.”

The large man named Bruce looked surprised for a moment before nodding towards Brian. He faced the rest of the room or at least what was left of it. With his mace in his right hand, he made a semi-circular arc in front of his feet. As he moved his mace, bits of stone that were upturned earlier from the floor started flying back into position. Within five seconds, the whole room was repaired as though nothing had happened.

“Adam, Jacob,” Brian gestured to us, “follow me please.”

He then led us out of the room and closed the door behind him. He then turned down the hall and went through the next set of doors which I assumed was an adjacent room. When we entered, it was the exact same room as the other except it was completely empty.

As soon as we were all inside, he closed the door and faced us. He had a very somber look on his face. “I was afraid of this,” he said.

“Afraid of what?” Jacob asked and then added, “sir.”

He gave Jacob a small smile. “It is rather unusual that we recruit an undergrad from the Academy. In fact, Adam will be the very first undergrad to be training with the Aerophalanx. The youngest recruits we usually have are at the very least twenty years old, have completed their non-combat studies in the Academy, and have undergone at least one year of combat training before applying. You are only seventeen.” It wasn’t a question. “I’m afraid the others are a bit… threatened by your presence. I was worried that they would think you were unprepared and had somehow managed to join through… connections,” he finished after a brief pause.

“What?” I asked and then I understood. “Oh. But you know I didn’t.”

Brian nodded. “Yes, I do. But they don’t. As far as they are concerned, you are a young recruit who is entering into their squad perhaps through merits that you did not personally earn. It gives them the opportunity to easily hate you. I must confess to you that it was probably influenced a little by my presence. As the son of a prominent Mage Lord, it is quite easy to… make assumptions. It was difficult for me to get where I am today and I had to work doubly hard at it to prove that I was here by my own doing and not by some hand working up there in the ladder.”

He looked me intently in the eyes and I could see that he was empathetic of my situation and that he really was worried about me. “I’m afraid that you have the same burden on your shoulders.”

I nodded. “What do I have to do?”

“I was…” he began but had to stop as we heard the door to the training room move. It opened slightly as a head peaked in. It belonged to an elderly looking man. He was a bald headed man with grey streaks around the sides. He looked very kind though.

“Aah, there you are Brian,” the head said.

“Master Dorian,” Brian said as he bowed towards him. “Come in please. I didn’t expect that you’d come here, yourself.”

“Aah, yes, yes,” he said as he approached us. He was wearing loose fitting green robes around him with a dark blue shirt within. He looked muscular. As he got closer, I noticed that he was at least half a foot taller than Brian. “Well there have been… rumors you see,” he said. At this he looked me over. “So this is Adam?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Brian said. “This is Adam Lowry. Adam, meet Mastersmith Dorian Kreg. His blacksmiths craft most of the maces we use in the Aerophalanx.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” I said with an offered hand.

He took it and we shook hands. “Oh no, pleased to meet you, yes, yes,” he said with a smile. As we let go of each other’s hands, he continued. “So shall we get on with it?” he asked Brian.

“Yes, sir, of course,” Brian said. “Adam, he’s here to get your measurements so that he can start working on the mace you will use for training and combat.”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly.

“Just stand still,” he said as he stretched out his hands. “This will only take a moment.” From within his cuffs, small red ribbons started stretching out. Two tied themselves tightly around my wrists while a third much longer one stretched out around me. The two strings that were tied to my wrists expanded outwards, pulling my hands away from my body. They then stretched across my arm then down to me legs and up again. They twirled in the air and stretched from my wrist to my head and then around my head then behind. It felt like every measurable part of me was being taken. I wondered with a chuckle if the strings would stretch into my boxers also. It came as a shock when they actually went in there and started measuring.

As all this was happening, Master Dorian was talking as though he had my undivided attention rather than squirming under the movements of the red ribbons. “Mage maces are fascinating things. They’re capable of storing magic for extended periods of time. The crystals we use for mages actually come from the Hallean Mountains. I believe you were there quite recently?” I nodded before squealing as the ribbon passed in the space between my butt cheeks.

“Yes, yes,” he continued with a laugh as though enjoying my discomfort. “They are blessed by the Seer herself. Fascinating things these crystals – they’re capable of imprinting like human memories. It will take awhile before you are able to fully utilize the crystal of your mace but once it has been adjusted to absorbing your magic, things will go smoother, uhh, eventually. Yes, yes. That is why it is ideal for mages to have their own maces and not share them. Other than having to power your own mace every night, the more frequent you use the crystal the more apt it becomes in channeling magic for you. You could always use another mage’s mace but you’ll likely encounter resistance for awhile until the mace adjusts to you. Yes, yes.”

I really wasn’t sure what he was talking about as I was trying to maintain whatever dignity I had left in the face of the red ribbons. By the time my body was fully violated, the strings pulled away from me and re-entered Mastersmith Dorian’s robes. I noticed though that numbers were now etched on the red ribbons. I presumed they were the measurements.

“Well, that didn’t take long, now did it?” he asked with a contented look on his face and a pat to his stomach as though to indicate that he had swallowed the strings. “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Adam,” he said with an outstretched hand.

“It was a pleasure meeting you too, Master Dorian.”

He waved his other hand in the air as we shook hands. “Please, call me Dorian. Master is such a formal thing to say. Mastersmith is worse, such a mouthful even I don’t introduce myself as that. Yes, yes.” He then took a glance towards Jacob and he looked almost surprised as though seeing Jacob for the first time. Apparently, that was the case. “And who are you?”

Jacob who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange smiled and raised his hand. “I’m Jacob, sir, Jacob Langley. I’m Adam’s apprentice.”

“Are you really?” Dorian asked as he shook Jacob’s hand. He turned with an inquisitive look at Brian. “I thought Stan was to be Adam’s apprentice?”

“There have been some changes,” Brian said. “Jacob will be Adam’s apprentice-in-training. If he passes, he will become Adam’s permanent apprentice. It’s quite possible that he could become a recruit too if he shows the potential for it.”

“I thought all apprentices needed to undergo intensive training in Life Magic? I don’t recall the Apprentice Master telling me of any recently graduated apprentices.”

“Jacob is… an exception,” Brian said uncertainly.

Master Dorian looked at Jacob with a somewhat hungry look. “Interesting,” he said and then stood there just staring at Jacob who after a few moments started fidgeting in place.

“May we know when Adam’s mace will be ready?” Brian asked as the silence stretched on.

“What?” Master Dorian asked as he seemed to come out of some kind of trance. “Mace? Oh! Mace! Yes, yes. It will be ready in a week’s time. Have... uhh… Jacob, pick it up when it’s ready. I’ll inform you when it is.”

“Thank you Master Dorian,” Brian said. I noticed that even he didn’t call Master Dorian by his name only. “If there’s nothing else, we should really start training our new recruit here.”

“Yes, yes of course!” Dorian said. “And I must get to work. Lots of things to prepare for.” He then turned to me. “Yes, yes. I shall leave you to your training.” With a bow and a last glance at Jacob, he turned and left the room.

“He’s kinda weird,” Jacob said in the wake of Dorian’s departure.

Brian chuckled. “He’s also quite a gossiper so his personality tends to match his curiosity in other people’s lives. If you want to spread juicy news or a very juicy rumor, just tell Master Dorian. I assure you, the whole city would know before sundown. I’m sure the whole city would know by tonight that you are Adam’s new apprentice even if the news wouldn’t really interest them much.”

“Hey Brian, I mean sir, what were the rumors he was talking about?” I asked.

Brian smiled nervously at me. “When we’re in private training like this, just call me Brian. In fact, once you are settled in the squad, you may call me just by my first name. I run a somewhat relaxed squad which is why I think people hardly want to leave it. However, in the presence of people from outside the squad, most especially the officers of other squads, you must always call me sir. Now, as for the rumors, all I heard was that the incoming recruit was an absolute stud. I’m sure he wanted to see for himself.” He then winked at me as though for good measure.

I blushed at his comment even though I knew they weren’t true. I could see Jacob inching closer to me though as though preparing to snatch me away. I gave him a small smile and decided not to push the thing further in case Brian said something else that Jacob might not like. “So what do we do now…?”

“Well, I was hoping to demonstrate your abilities in front of the others,” Brian said. “But now, I think that might not be a good idea until I’m sure of what you can do. I will try you out in private for now and let’s see how much you can do to impress the others. What’s your specialty?”

“My what?” I asked although I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about.

Brian looked confused. “Your specialty. What branch of magic are you strong at? I’m sure the mages at the Academy would have told you during your early formation.” Brian’s forehead wrinkled. “They’re still doing that, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are,” I said nervously.

Brian nodded. “Good. So, what were you good at when they tested you?”

I recalled the testing period I endured back in the Academy when I was younger. It was something all young mages underwent. It was known and accepted that all mages were capable of practicing magic from all branches of magic to some degree. However, it was almost always the case that a mage would excel in one or maybe even two particular branches of magic almost as if their bodies were attuned to spells that belonged in that tree. Usually, it made performing magic from that branch almost effortless.

All of my classmates were tested with me. I knew Marcus, for instance, was dubbed to be strong in Life Magic. I only knew that because he somehow managed to find a way to sit next to me during the different testing sessions, probably so he could continue torturing me outside the classroom. It wasn’t that I was curious or anything about him. I mean I absolutely hated the guy for the trouble he gave me in school. I just found out his results by proximity. No big deal. No real curiosity or anything…

Anyway… when it was finally my turn and I went through all the different tests, the mages couldn’t find a single thing that stood out from me. In fact, they could hardly see any magic from me. I still remembered the look on the instructor’s face when he asked me to make a fireball and all I could produce was a wick of flame at the tip of my finger. He had Madame Rooste called protesting that I was being uncooperative.

“He’s not being uncooperative,” Madame Rooste said. “That really is all his magic can do. He’s quite useless as a mage.” She said this in a room full of other students which made the whole testing phase worse for me.

“So, what did they say?” I heard Brian ask which snapped me out of my recollections. He was looking worriedly at me.

“Uhm, they said I wasn’t strong in anything.”

Brian smiled over at me. “Everyone’s good at something. Come on, just tell me, I won’t laugh or anything. Your specialty is nothing to be ashamed of.”

I decided to just tell him. “Well… they said… they said I was good at reading.”

Brian had a confused look on his face. “Reading? Like detecting magic?”

I shook my head. “Books.”

“Books?” Brian said with a chuckle. And then he must have realized that I was being serious and he actually laughed.

“Hey!” Jacob said with a raised voice. I could almost feel his temper rising. I reached over with one of my hands and clasped his in it. My skin tingled where our hands touched. He looked at me for a moment, confused at the gesture. And then realization seemed to dawn on him. He turned to Brian and with a much softer voice said, “you said you wouldn’t laugh.”

Brian who was by then just chuckling a little got a bit more serious. He glanced briefly at our clasped hands before he continued speaking. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just the first time I’ve ever heard that. Did they really say that?”

I nodded shyly at him.

Brian looked sympathetic. “Alright. I think we might be in trouble then. Let’s just see what we have to work with, okay? Now, have you heard of the phrase like drawing water from a well?”

I nodded. “Nyphylym’s well,” I said.

Brian nodded. “Exactly.”

“Who’s Nyphylym?” Jacob asked.

Brian looked at Jacob as though he was deciding something and then finally nodded. “Well, Nyphylym is a character from a fairy tale. She is said to be the mother of all magic. In the fairy tale, it is said that she was the first mage from whom all magic came from. Of course we know that can’t be true because magic sprouted across the world simultaneously. However, she’s a popular character in children’s stories."

“Oh wait!” Jacob said. “Magister Va’aelua told me about Nyphylym’s well. Now I remember.”

Brian smiled and seemed to get lost in his thoughts. “I still remember my mom telling me many stories about Nyphylym’s life or supposed life anyway. There were stories like The Parable of the Weeping Lilac and Mysterius Enigmatus. I remember my mom telling me that there was a rumored second book to Enigmatus that no one has found yet. I spent like two weeks in the library looking for it before my mom finally told me it wasn’t there or anywhere in the city. After I kept looking out the window and thinking about going out there into the world to look for it, she finally explained to me that it was all a fairy tale.”

“Sounds interesting,” Jacob said and he sounded like he actually meant it.

Brian looked over at Jacob as though trying to gauge how sincere Jacob’s words were. Apparently he decided that Jacob was sincere. “When you have free time you should check them out. I particularly enjoyed the stories involving her two children, Austin and Rowena. They were supposedly the Masters of Water and Earth magic, respectively. The fairy tales say that all Earth and Water Magic came from them.”

“Well, I will,” Jacob said with a smile.

“Alright, enough talk of fairy tales,” Brian said with a chuckle. “Now, Nyphylym’s well. What did the mages in the Academy tell you about it?”

“Well, it’s a story they used to explain how magic worked,” I said. “Nyphylym was teaching her two children how to use magic and compared it to drawing water from a well using a pail. The more water you pull out at a time, the heavier it is and the harder it will be on your body. The same goes with pulling water out faster. It will tire out your body faster. That’s how magic works. The more magic you use or the faster you expel it, the faster the body will tire out until you can no longer draw magic with the strength you have.”

“I see that hasn’t changed,” Brian said with a smile and nod. “Nyphylym’s well is an excellent way to explain magic. Now, here in the Aerophalanx, we will train you to be able to draw magic from your body without tiring as quickly. We will also teach you to draw magic for two separate spells at once or ‘two separate pails’ as Nyphylym would say if she were real. In the Academy, they teach intensity and control. However, here, you will need more than that. You’ll need to find your balance and make sure that you can cast and control several spells at once. It’s a fundamental principle in combat magic. You cannot win a battle if you are locked on defensive spells only. I was hoping to start with the magic you are strongest at. However, since you don’t seem to have one, defensive magic is as good a place as any to start.” With a mischievous smile he added, “and no, reading does not count as a branch of magic though I’m sure it’s quite informative.”

I gave him a chuckle although I could feel myself getting more nervous as the minutes ticked by.

“Do you know how to generate a shield?” Brian asked.

“I’ve managed to do it once,” I said.

Brian frowned. Clearly it wasn’t what he was hoping for. “Ok, why don’t you stand over there and show me what you can do?”

I went over to the middle of the room where he pointed. I tried to remember what I did back in the Hallean Mountains. I tried imagining the blue bubble around me. I focused on reproducing the same spell and hoped for the best. Slowly, a blue shield manifested itself in front of me. I smiled as relief rushed over me.

“Good,” Brian said as he took a position opposite me. “Now, shields are excellent protection for most elemental and physical magic. It won’t protect you from spells attacking you from a different direction, nor will it protect you against spells that target the will of the mage. It is a very good defense in most cases though, especially against non-mages.”

Brian placed one of his hands, palm facing up, in front of him. He then placed his other hand, palm facing down, parallel to his other hand. He twisted his hands as though he was opening a jar and a whitish ball of energy appeared in between his open palms. “Elemental magic is some of the easiest weapons we can use offensively and defensively. Some elements are easier to manipulate than others. We can use wind, fire, water, and earth magic to our disposal with wind being the easiest and earth being the most difficult to control. If you had stayed in the Academy a few more years, they would have taught you that the closer an object gets to being solid, the more difficult it is to manipulate. One of the pairs you watched earlier was fighting with varying degrees of fire, earth, and wind magic.”

He then pulled his hands away from each other and the white sphere grew. Looking closer at it, I could see a miniature clouds swirling in the middle of the vortex. “This is wind magic,” Brian continued. “Wind magic is my specialty. It is not as destructive in small quantities unlike fire can be. However, it can be deadly when concentrated. If you progress further as an Aerophalanx, I will show you how to combine different elements to yield even more powerful spells. In the meantime though, we will practice defensive magic with this. I will attempt to break your shield with this spell and we shall see how strong it is. Are you ready?”

I nodded and focused my magic into the shield before me.

“Here it goes,” Brian said as he closed his hand together. The white ball flew into the air towards me rapidly smashing into my blue shield. Waves caressed the surface of the shield in the same way that a pebble created waves when it was dropped into still water. It held though and the ball dissipated.

“Good,” Brian said, “that’s at least something we can work with.” Those particular words didn’t bring much comfort to me. He then repeated the hand movements he did earlier but this time a grayish ball appeared between his hands. “I’m going to try with something stronger, alright?”

“Sure,” I said. Before I could even concentrate further, the ball flew out of his hands and shattered the blue sphere around me. I felt wind briefly on my face before I was hurled backwards several meters into the air. I landed with a loud thud on the concrete floor. Oddly though, it seemed to soften on impact and hardened again once I was no longer moving.

“A little too strong?” Brian asked as his face came into view. He had a smile on his face and I could detect a little concern there, maybe even worry. Jacob was standing next to him with a clearly concerned look on his face.

“Sorry, I wasn’t ready,” I choked out as I struggled to my feet. “Was it just me or did the floor become soft?”

Brian nodded. “It’s not just you, don’t worry. The floors in all training rooms are enchanted to soften when any physical object approaches it at certain speeds. That means if you’re hurled into it or smashed into it, they will absorb the impact. Don’t get too used to it though because if we had to go out there for the real thing, you won’t have the same luxury.”

“I don’t suppose our enemies will ask me if I was ready either,” I humored him.

“Good, catching on quick,” he said with a wink, “though I hope that shield earlier only broke because you weren’t ready. That wasn’t a very powerful hit yet. It can and will get a lot worse.”

I sighed. I wanted to say I wasn’t ready for this. I didn’t know what Lady Helena saw to be honest but whatever it was, I wasn’t seeing it at all.

“Don’t give up,” Jacob said. He was smiling at me but his eyes look troubled. They told me that he knew exactly what I was thinking and that he wasn’t going to let me quit so easily. I offered him a smile of my own.

“Let’s go at it again,” I told Brian. The older boy nodded appreciatively at me and we got back into our positions.

I focused again willing a stronger shield to manifest itself before me. I even imagined pulling blue glowing water out of Nyphylym’s well and tossing it around me like a shield. I almost chuckled to myself if I didn’t suddenly feel something odd. I definitely felt something different that time. It was like I could feel someone else in my head channeling magic into me. It was someone who wanted to help me. Someone with great power stored in him. I could feel him nearby. In fact, I was sure he was standing there in the room at the side.

“Are you ready?” Brian asked as he manipulated the grey sphere between his fingers.

I locked eyes with Jacob. He had a perplexed look on his face which told me that he was feeling it too. I could sense him in my head and I could almost hear him faintly as though he was whispering very, very close to my ears. I could feel his magic coursing into me.

“Adam?” Brian had a curios look on his face.

I shook my head. “I’m ready,” I said. I poured magic into the shield and it was strengthened by the combined magic coursing through me. The blue shield solidified around me and I knew that it was without a doubt stronger than earlier.

Brian hurled his wind magic towards my shield. It collided with the blue and spread out dissipating into the air around me. The blue shield didn’t even shimmer like earlier.

Brian smiled. “What did you do?”

“What?” I asked as I let the shield fall.

“Your shield. How’d you get it so much stronger than earlier? My spell didn’t even reduce its potency a bit.”

I looked over briefly at Jacob before turning my attention back to Brian. “I don’t know. I guess I concentrated harder?”

Brian looked over at Jacob suspiciously as though he expected something. “Well, whatever you did, do it again. If you keep doing that then we won’t have any problems with the others after all.” He smirked and gave me a smile I found absolutely adorable.

He asked me to return to my spot. “Do you think you can handle something much stronger?”

“Uhm, I don’t know,” I replied uncertainly.

“Well, I’d like to find out if you don’t mind. Generate that shield again.”

I focused on creating a shield again and looked over at Jacob. He nodded at me and again I could feel his magic coursing through me. I raised my hands and the blue sphere surrounded my spot again.

Brian spread his hands widely. His right was in front of his pelvis and the left was just below his chin. He twisted his hands and again a grayish sphere appeared in the middle but this time it grew darker and darker until it was almost black. I could distinctly see little streaks of lightning coursing in the middle of the dark sphere, making it look menacing. It almost looked like a storm was trapped within it.

Brian’s hair and clothes were being pushed backwards by the wind. I no longer had any doubts that his spell was indeed much stronger.

“Get ready,” he yelled over the rumbling. He twisted his hands in an elaborate pattern and the tiny storm surged forward. I braced the shield before me with all the magic coursing through me.

When the dark sphere made contact with my shield, little bits of electricity sparked everywhere forming jagged cracks along the floor. The dark sphere expanded along the sphere like a storm covering the land. It expanded outwards almost violently. I felt the shield shimmer and I could feel wind in my face but nothing too threatening.

The floor however was not as lucky. The floor in front of my shield was cracked in several places. That was surprising considering it was the result of a wind spell. In the distance, I could see Brian looking at me with a smile. Jacob was sprawled on his back, almost as if he was the one hit by the spell. He was just now getting on his feet again.

The shield around me was for the most part intact although I knew it had been severely weakened. I lowered my hands and the blue shield flickered before finally disappearing.

Jacob was back on his feet. “That was…”

“Amazing!” Brian yelled as he came closer to observe the damaged floor. He then turned towards me and smiled the widest smile I had seen him do yet. “I don’t think we’re going to have any problems after all.”

“You’re just saying that,” I said in a winded voice. I suddenly realized that I was so tired that speaking was starting to become a challenge.

“No,” Brian said, “that was a decent-sized wind storm I hurled at you. Most mages that I’ve trained have a hard time deflecting it on their first try. That was impressive considering you didn’t have any combat training before this.”

“Sure,” I breathed out. I was only half paying attention to what he was saying really. Somehow, the primary thought in my head was getting into a bed.

“Hmm,” Brian said as he looked me over. “Looks like you might have tapped into more energy than I thought.” He almost sounded disappointed when he said that. “Are you feeling tired?”

“Very,” I said.

Brian nodded. “That should be enough for today. Why don’t you head out? I’ll teach you the rest in the following days. It’s not a whole year of combat training but we’ll be able to cover the basics at least within a week.”

I nodded as Jacob and I made our way to the door. Brian stayed behind and placed his hand over the scar in the floor. I could see bits of stone slowly making their way back into the holes we made.

It was only when we reached the door that I realized that we didn’t know the way out. “Uhm, Brian, how do we get out of here?”

Brian laughed and gave us directions, a series of lefts and right. The directions were easy enough to follow. The way seemed a lot more complicated when we were headed to Lady Helena’s quarters first.

Jacob and I made our way out of the room and down the hall. Behind the door next to us I could still hear mages practicing magic. We walked in silence all the way out of the Armory. It wasn’t until we were almost to the Academy that Jacob spoke.

“Did you?” he asked and let the question hang.

“Yeah.”

“What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know, Jacob,” I replied as I looked into the sun flying high in the sky. It looked like it was well past noon. The Seer’s words came back into my mind to haunt me. “Whatever it is, I have a feeling we’re going to find out soon enough.”