I climbed of my bed, using the smallest movements trying to prevent myself from making any sound,I was so focused that I did not notice the doorstep while leaving the room, this made me trip and fall over on the ground with a loud thud.
*thud*
"ouch... I hope Yami is still asleep."
Not wanting to wake Yami who was already sound asleep. This worried me, as I had made a lot of noise. To my surprise when I stood up to check on her she seemed fast asleep. Relieved I closed the door behind me without a sound, I turned around and sat down on the floor with my back against the door allowing me to take in the scenery. Crystals in all different forms and sizes giving the building a different feel to it at night, seeing everything with the glowing light.
Finally arriving at the bathing place. I prepared for a long dip inside. Cleaning off my body of the acc.u.mulated sweat and dirt. Finishing the preparation I made my way to the public bath as it had a large circular shaped stone in the middle of the pool, perfect for calming one"s senses and gathering energy.
Entering the premises no one was there, the bath place was so silent that the sounds inside got enhanced, hearing the water stream echoing through the entirety of the room.
This would heighten my senses allowing me to notice the slightest of changes in the water as droplets rippled the water from time to time. Even the slightest movement outside of the water should be noticed.
Taking in the sheer silence of the room, I made my way to the rock in the water. Sitting on top would allow me to stay warm from the water yet, cool down enough for me to stay in place without worry.
I closed my eyes, taking my stance and gently breathing in and out. Just like was instructed during training this week. Doing so calmed me down as I allowed my body to relax. I noticed something slowly approaching me, streaming even. Lighter than the water it began flowing inside of me as my mind took on a state of trance.
In this state I cleared my mind allowing the energy to flow through my entire being, replenishing the energy, I had lost during the day. As this process was coming to an end, I heard the wooden door slide open, followed by light footsteps and a sigh of relief.
*sigh*
"What a day... I am glad I can finally relax. Thankfully n.o.body followed me here. Or else a G.o.ddess like me would never be able to relieve her body of stress, Hihi..."
Not leaving the rock I sat on I tried blending in,
hoping I wouldn"t be spotted or that the seemingly approaching female wouldn"t mind my presence.
She started cleaning off her entire body before entering the fast and large pool of natural hot spring water. It is said one"s fatigue, stress, and wounds would heal remarkably faster after soaking in these waters. I too had concluded this was true, as my energy gathered faster than normal, while my fatigue and stress vanished into nothingness.
The woman finished cleaning herself off as she heads towards the large pool I was sitting at. Upon entering she noticed me sitting in the center and giggled.
*giggle*
"It seems I"m not the only one who couldn"t sleep tonight. What might bring you here, boy?"
The woman asked as she gently lowered her voluptuous body into the water. Sitting down with her arms covering the edges of the pool. Leaning back to relax she waited for a reply, which I didn"t provide.
To focus on the energy that flowed through me I completely ignored the woman. Knowing I was almost done this took priority. The energy gently twirled around me as entered my body re-energizing all the fiber in my body, muscles, cells... even my breathing felt more calm yet energetic.
I broke my stance lowering my arms when the woman grabbed me from behind. She didn"t seem pleased by the fact that she got ignored and tried to grab my attention pulling me in the water.
"Young man... I haven"t seen you here before, who might Helena, the G.o.ddess of trading and beauty have the pleasure to share a bath with?"
I looked up straight in the eyes of the G.o.ddess, Golden... orange and red, burning like the sun, her hair shared the same shining golden characteristics.
At the moment I realized how beautiful she was I felt something soft touching the back of my head,
soft and bouncy. I had to say it felt wonderful,
but knowing what happened the last two times I jumped up trying to avoid escalating the situation.
Trying to escape I rushed out... but before I could even stand up straight the woman grabbed hold off me again.
"Don"t be rude Young one... you haven"t even introduced yourself yet... not to mention,
are you part of a guild?"
The woman pressed her impressive chest against my back pulling me into the side of the pool. Knowing I couldn"t escape I decided it was best to look for an opportunity later.
"I am Michael Shadowfang, lady Helena. It"s a pleasure to meet you. But... could you please rev reign from holding me so tightly?!"
Helena licked her lips as a silent laugh escaped her mouth.
What"s wrong? Afraid someone might find us?
It is just the two of us dear... no one else...
Not to mention it"s rather late. That"s why I always sneak out around this hour to enjoy a relaxing hot bath alone, without anyone to bother me."
"You know... that"s exactly why I went for a bath just now. Lucky for you I finished my meditation and energy gathering for the day. I"m good to go for tomorrow haha. By the way what was that you mentioned about being in a guild or more importantly, you being a G.o.ddess? Are you serious?!"
Helena closed her arms around me once more, making it impossible for me to escape. As she gently blew air in my ear whispering to me.
"Little boy... I am Helena, the G.o.ddess of prosperity and trading. The Spetra guild is looking for recruits like yourself."
Helena said teasingly lowering her arms.
"I am honored by your offer lady Spetra, but you see I am but a lowly peasant as of now. My goal is to attend the Hunters Examination to become an adventurer and hone my skills and abilities. To find never before seen treasures and even allies along the way. Please... let me think this over. Allow me to honestly answer after the expedition."
"The expedition? Did they ask you to come along too?"
Helena sounded surprised. She loosened her grip allowing me to break free. Now standing at the edge I turned around as her words had a peculiar ring to it.
"Have you heard of it?"
I asked as my excitement reached a new peak.
Helena shrugged, worried as she was.
"Yes... you see, I was the one who issued the expedition in the first place, hoping to find things that would give this kingdom some more riches.
But... taking you the one who hasn"t even finished his training... what to do, what to do?"
Worried Helena left the bath leaving me alone in the cold evening breeze. I went back, hoping to catch some sleep, which had proven to be difficult as her worry sparked interest in me.
Deciding to find out on a later date I turned around in my bed and steadily fell asleep.
The next morning Chiara barged in unannounced pulling me out of my bed, being all excited.
"Get up Michael!! I made the preparations for the last lesson of the training. Before your examination match. It is time we found out what kind of magic dwells within you."
Chiara pulled me along with all excited about today"s lesson. Barely awake, it dawned on me as we entered our training room.
Waiting for us in the middle of the room was a familiar face. It was from Alex, her friend.
"Alex decided to join us today and help with the preparations of the match following tomorrow.
She even offered to guide you through today"s lesson.
And as a bonus, we will be having a sparring match to demonstrate the use of projection."
Alex stood up and walked towards us.
She slammed me on the shoulder excited about today.
*smack*
"Ouch, can"t you be a bit more gentle, Alex?"
"Oh, don"t worry, I"m just so excited about today and tomorrow. Make sure you show William who is boss."
She said, smacking me again.
"Tell me, Michael... you do know the basic principles of flowing energy, right?"
"What do you take me for... Alex... I have been working me as off this past week to master it entirely."
"I can vouch for that Alex."
Chiara said proudly of her pupil.
"That makes things easier for us, knowing you understand the basics. Well then, let us begin."
Alex made us sit in a larger circle than the previous days. Giving her enough s.p.a.ce so that no one could get hurt and she could demonstrate what was meant to be done today.
"First let be go through the steps as I show you how we both found our way with this technique.
As every part is important, nothing is more important than clearing one"s mind, allow it to become empty, this, in turn, allows the energy to flow within you completely naturally.
Gather all the energy around you and release it in the palm of your hand, like this;"
Alex opened her palm and slammed it to the ground, rocks began emerging creating sharp stone shards to rise from the ground.
Most importantly for the energy to be projected outside of your body, you need to visualize how it will be emitted. This is where the meditation comes in.
Never losing focus, you should be able to antic.i.p.ate a feeling of your inner mana.
Releasing this flowing energy from the inside allows the user to see what kind of magic they could control."
Taking the advice and demonstration into account, I gathered the energy on my own, letting it flow throughout my entire body while clearing my mind and focussing on the flow. Guiding it steadily towards my hands. The first time it gathered... nothing...
Again... I tried... but again nothing...
"Have you perhaps used magic crystals before the young one?" Alex asked with a questioning look on her face.
"Yes... the Mages Ember provided me with a few to look into my potential use of magic."
Alex shrugged her head.
"That would explain why nothing could be coming out right now. Still... there should have been magic essence inside those crystals. Try thinking back to when you used them and call upon those elements.
Then maybe you"ll be able to?"
"I shall do my best Alex."
Thinking back I gained a fireball crystal from the magic guild, yet another from one of the monsters, a lighting crystal. Looking back I even remember the sensation. As I held up my hand the energy started flowing out creating tiny sparks around my hands.
Slowly ebbing away, my hand felt numb.
Knowing the energy had fused with my own it should be possible to also summon the flames?
I gathered more energy from inside, releasing it in my hand as a small black flame emerged from my palm.
The lighting had the same color... what could this mean?
To be honest I didn"t care at the moment, as the excitement became overwhelming as I indeed was able to conjure elements!
"Look, Alex! I have both fire and lightning magic!"
"Wonderful Michael! But be careful, you will find that it will be rather exhausting to call upon this elemental prowess in the beginning.
Now let us see how much control you have as you break the pillars I made of rock."
Alex held one of her arms down and moved the over upward with an open palm, with this movement raising stone pillars from the ground.
I then summoned black flames and hurled them towards the pillars one by one, just to find out the flames were so intense they melted down the pillars from below.
"As you see, there are unlimited different ways to use your magical abilities. Only to find everything would be possible. Now let Chiara and me demonstrate some different uses during our sparring match."
I backed away giving both of them enough s.p.a.ce to spar. As the air around them heated up their energies collided. Strengthening their bodies as the energies became visible to the naked eye. They dashed towards each other. Colliding, blocking and attacking whenever a chance presented itself.
Then... they suddenly jumped back and both punched the ground creating spikes to rush towards them.
Chiara slammed her hands together holding them to the ground creating a huge wall of stone blocking off the stone spikes. Alex quickly rushed behind her striking her seizing the most out of the opportunity.
Yet Chiara blocked her strike holding her fist back and making a roundhouse kick.
Alex jumped back dodging her counter strike as they both began to sweat heavily and laugh in excitement.
"Hahaha, you are still such a challenge Chiara, no wonder I acknowledged you as my rival. My dear friend."
"Right back at ya, Alex, no wonder we became so strong haha."
They both stood in place crossing their arms downwards and bowing down.
"That was refreshing, hope you learned a bit from us, Michael, cause that is all we can do for you to prepare for tomorrow. Try to harness your energy and rest up for the day, tomorrow will be important for the rest of your journey. The tournament might be more important than you think."
Alex and Chiara left me to tend to my rest as they went on finishing the last of the preparations.
They did specifically say I needed to rest for tomorrow, yet if possible I should also look further into the uses of my magic. Knowing I could both summon black flames and lightning this should come in handy later on in the tournament.
Like for example how I enhanced my abilities by covering myself in that specific element. Where lightning was more for mobility, speed and crowd control. The fire was more of a damaging over time kind of thing. Knowing I could only summon small amounts I shouldn"t overdo these things.
Probably sticking to what I did back when I still had the crystals. I decided to think of a plan while going out for a stroll. Thinking back I should be able to summon a large number of fireb.a.l.l.s, enhance myself with both elements and even stun others with my lightning.
Using both fire and lightning for far away, while enhancing myself for close combat... that is my strategy for tomorrow. When I finally snapped out of my strategizing for tomorrow, I noticed I was close to the forests, the edge of Sharoo so to speak.
RustlinThe rustlings could be heard all around me,
As the wind blew past, carrying fallen leaves with it.
Thinking it was for the best that I could trust my strength, the silence her broken by howling in the distance.
*howl*
One of the wolves from earlier revealed itself from within the shadows and bowed down. Just then Yami jumped out of my shadow greeting her fellow pack member. Bigger than before, the other wolf took me by surprise as he excitedly closed in, jumping on me and licking my face as I fell with a loud and heavy thud.
*thud*
"Haha, I am happy to see you too boy."
I scratched its chin gently calming him down and allowing myself to stand up again.
"Tell me, found anything unusual within these forests?"
The wolf looked at me intently and spoke in a rather high-cla.s.s manner.
"No, sir! As of late we wolves of the Shadowfang tribe have yet to find anything out of the ordinary. No signs of hostility either!"
The wolf said proudly twirling its tail around.
I thanked him by scratching behind his ears, a while later I sent him toward the entrance of town to keep a close look on who might enter and leave the town, hoping this would give us some kind of information. I said my goodbyes to the proud wolf, turning around and heading back towards the Guildhall. Tomorrow would be an exciting day!
Who knows what might happen?