Chapter 7: Close Combat! First Training!

Getting hit by a snowball in the face is not cool.

I waited so long for this moment, and I can’t believe that it would happen. Today, would be the day, of my first training.

After a few days after I got my Ice Element, I kept waiting until Claude’s mood will signify that it would be time for my first training. I can’t keep the crystal out of my sight, it is the most precious thing now, I can’t let it go missing. I kept keeping an eye on it for every ten minutes, and sometimes, even when I’m minding my own business, I have to take my crystal with me.

And till today, Claude had agreed to take me to a place for our first training. I was so excited and nervous, that I leaped every time we walked. I followed Claude, as he took me into a rainforest.

The trees were abnormally tall, at least eighty meters for the tallest ones. Once we entered, it went silent, with the only noises being the chirpings of birds and insects, and the calls of primates from miles away. Light barely shined down to the forest floor due the huge trees, the plants here were barely the height of my ankles.

I felt nervous about this place, and I’m worried that a wild beast will leap out from the shadows and tackle us. Claude seemed to be reading my thoughts, as he said, “Don’t worry brother, there aren’t many aggressive beings around here, the only things that are dangerous here are probably… tigers and elephants.” “Tigers?” Just after he had finished that sentence, an insect just flew passed by my face, and landed on a tree. In a heartbeat, a gecko just appeared out from nowhere, and caught the insect in its mouth, and started crunching it. And again, a small figure appeared from the branches… a mantis then snatched the gecko with its pincers, and it started to bite onto the poor reptile.

I panicked and flee the unsettling scene, and caught up with Claude. “Why do you have to bring me to this place? Can’t we just go to a garden instead?” I asked, I do not want to see a predator and prey moment again. Claude already had an answer for that as he replied instantly, “I used to practice magic here when I was about your age, and I would like, to introduce you here.” We came out from the forage, and I was surprised to see what was in front of me.

A temple.

There, stood a temple made out of rocks, it has at least two storeys, and it must had been hundreds of years old. We stepped in, and light shined down from a hole in the ceiling, blinding me for a moment as I didn’t see much light in the forest. And in the middle, something that looks like a staff, laid on the floor.

Claude stepped forward and took the staff, “Before we begin, you would need a magic staff, and I had prepared one for you.” He tossed the staff, and I caught it. “Hoped you liked it.” The staff looked like it was made from bronze, the head of the staff was a head of a tiger (don’t worry, it’s not a real tigers head), it felt a bit heavy, but I still can lift it with barely using my strength. “Yeah! It’s awesome!” I called out.

Claude nodded and smiled, “As for your knowledge brother, there are seven positions for the Element of Ice. To form each position, you will need to concentrate.” I scoffed, “Concentrate? Bro, you know I am a pro at concentrating.” “Yeah, yeah.” Claude replied. “But for this, you really have to concentrate to your potential.” He raised his staff, and closed his eyes, and spoke out, “Element of Ice, First position, Snowball.” The eagle head of Claude’s staff barfed out a snowball, and my jaw dropped. “Oh. My. God.” I muttered. Claude took the snowball and began tossing it in the air, catching it every time he thrown it. “Now, I would want you to concentrate, remove every thought in your head, and only think of,” He showed me the snowball, “A snowball.”

I don’t think it was that hard to concentrate, and thinking only about snowballs. I took a deep breath, and said, “Element of Ice, First position, Snowball.” Nothing happened. I looked at Claude, confused. What could I had done wrong? “Aw shoot, I forgot.” Claude said, “Do you have your Ice Element with you?” “I always bring that thing along wherever I go.” I replied, and held my hand into my pocket, and took out the crystal.

“Alright, now turn your staff to the back, and you might see a hatch there.” I did exactly what Claude told me, and I saw a hatch and the back of my staff. “Found it.” I replied, “Now open it.” I opened the hatch, and I saw something in there, and that is: empty. I don’t know what I can put in there, but the size seems similar to… “Now place the crystal in there.”, I took the crystal, and put it in, with fits just right in there. I closed it, and turned to my brother. “Good, now try again.”

I concentrated, I took a deep breath, and spoke again. “Element of Ice, First position, Snowball.” I looked again, but still, nothing happened. “Huh?” I asked. “I don’t get it bro, I had already concentrated, did I make an-” As I spoke, a snowball bounced out of my staff, and landed on the floor. I gasped, I did it, my first spell!

“Oh that, um. For beginners, it might take a while to cast your spell.” Claude added, “But hey, that was your first spell! Congratulations!” I smiled, pleased with myself. “Now, let’s start our first lesson.”

“You will need to defend yourself when you face against threats. For your first lesson, you will need to learn how to fight with magic.” Claude said, “As for today, how about let’s play a game.” “A game?” Seriously, what does games have to do with magic? “But using the snowballs with our magic, and with our own rules.” Okay, well, that changes everything. “We will have to produce snowballs bigger than the opponents one, and the ball must hit the opponent. And you will have to dodge it if you can if your snowball is not able to defeat the bigger one.” “Just like dodgeball?” I asked, “Just like dodgeball.” Claude agreed. “Now, shall we begin?”

We took our corners, nodded at each other, and raised our staffs. We both casted a snowball, and thrown it at each other. However, Claude’s snowball easily overpowered mine as my snowball clearly got destroyed when in contact with his, and it flew straight towards me, and splattered in my face. It doesn’t hurt at all, but the temperature was sub-zero when it splattered. “Gah! Grah! Son of a-” My face was freezing right now, “You alright?” Claude asked, “You think?” I yelled, “Dang, that’s cold.”

And guess what, we have to repeat it again and again. And honestly, it’s fun to do this. But on the other hand, I don’t like it when it hits me on any body part, the face was bad enough, but the chest was even worse. I can’t even land a hit on Claude, even if I managed to throw one on him, he just evaded it almost instantly.

Time passed, and it was sunset before we knew it, I was drenched the cold from the snowballs, I collapsed on the floor, panting. “That,” I said, “Was awesome! Except for the hits from the snowballs.” Claude laughed, “Yeah, it does not feel good to be hit by those.” He sat down, and placed his staff down. “So brother, do I have to play this game until I’m ready for The Magician Games?” I asked. “Yup.” Claude answered. “And how long will this take?” “For me it was about… three years.” “T-three years?” “Yup. Practising magic till to perfection might take several years to do that, but it depends on their users, and what training they did, as well as what position they are learning.” Oh gosh, I don’t know whether I can handle magic or not, if it was three years for Claude, it might be four years for me… “Well, can we go back now? I’m exhausted.” Claude must had understood how tired I am. “Sure, let’s head back.” He lifted me up, and assisted me as we headed back to our palace. And I was thinking about magic, will I actually make a perfect form of my Ice Element?