Each and every day, mother made sure I trained my balance. Besides the balance training, I still had to run around the house, do the push-ups and whatnot. Mother changed another thing for me. She increased the amount of weight I had to carry during exercises. Thankfully, she didn't tell me to carry all that set up during my balance training. Altogether, the weight I carried increased to fifteen kilograms. This was not little by any means.
Months went by, and my tenth birthday arrived. A few people visited us to celebrate, and brought some gifts with them. Uncle Lazar, aunt Alicia and Suly gifted me a bracelet with a Formation. They knew how much I struggled during the contests, and so aunt Alicia and Suly created a Formation that would protect me. The Formation was rather simple, and didn't require my energy to activate. I just had to focus on the Formation, and think about activating it. After a few tries, I was able to do it. The Formation produced a strong blast of wind, pushing outwards anything coming my way. The Formation would recharge itself after a while, but that meant I couldn't use it consecutively.
It was a great and very thoughtful gift, I liked it a lot. Uncle Ulon brought Tara with him. Although Tara was not his daughter, uncle knew she was my friend. I was very happy Tara could come over to celebrate with me, but I was also sad that Dawn didn't come. Uncle Ulon gave me some medicine and other concoctions of his, but mother took them away saying I didn't need them. I didn't mind, mom always kept my stuff. Uncle Harlin came for a visit too, and this time he wasn't alone. He brought a friend with him, and it was a female too. She was a bit cold towards him, but warm to me or mother. I suspected that uncle did something wrong, but decided not to probe. Uncle Harlin and his friend Jira, brought me a beautiful stone called Obsidian. Obsidian was black in colour, but shiny like a piece of metal. Of course it wasn't a simple lump of stone, they had it sculpted into a Fire Element Rune. This sculpture reminded me of studying with mom and the lessons from Suly. It was the basic Fire Element Rune that she taught me at the beginning after all.
Uncle Crow and aunt Lira on the other hand, gifted me a sword. Mom gave uncle a deep stare when he handed me that sword. Uncle's excuse was, "Better to have it than not". I never owned a weapon. There was no need for me to own one either, but I wanted a sword, it looked nice. "Can I keep it mom? It was a gift after all", I asked. Mom agreed, but under the condition I learned how to use it properly. I guessed that she didn't want me to get hurt. That wasn't the biggest surprise though. Aunt Lira and uncle Crow brought their son with them. Everyone got a big surprise when they showed up with a bundle in aunt Lira's hands. Mom was so surprised, she laughed at the fact they managed to keep it hidden from her. Drak, their son, was very small but cute. 'Probably all babies look cute', I thought. That was the first time I saw a newborn Shade too.
Aunt Lira was really protective of him though. No one was allowed to hold him, and even uncle Crow laughed drily when others asked him. 'Aunt really loves Drak. She treats him like a treasure…', I thought. We had so much fun that day. I met all my uncles and aunts, but also played with Tara, Suly and Leran. Drak was too small to play around, besides aunt Lira probably wouldn't allow it. Most of the guests stayed over for a few days. Although there was no space for everyone to fit inside, I gave my room to aunt Lira and uncle Crow. They needed to take proper care of Drak.
The exciting days quickly passed though, and my training with mom resumed. I asked her to learn about the sword, but she refused. "I will teach you after you master your balance. Focus on one thing at a time, alright?". Since I couldn't learn about the sword, I had to focus on the wooden poles. My balance wasn't that bad, but the exercise was beyond difficult. Mom really knew how to make me struggle, and struggling I did.
A few months after my birthday, I finally managed to travel across all the wooden poles. I thought that would be done and dusted, but I was wrong. Mom told me I had to master that, and repeat what she did. I had to admit, going across those wooden poles was a bit of luck too. Out of ten tries, I would succeed about four or five times at most. Although reluctant, I agreed to continue.
Besides my daily training, Tara came for a visit a few times. Apium was not that far away from where we lived, therefore she was able to visit me more often. Dawn came for a visit too, although she only came once. I guessed that she was shy, or perhaps the distance between us was too big. I asked mom if we could visit, but I was met with more conditions. 'Mom became much more stingy than before... ', I thought. The condition was to perfect my balance, and learn the sword on top of that. At that stage, I didn't even touch that sword. 'Dawn will have to visit me a few more times it seems, before I can ever go to Sedon… I will ask her to visit more often, next time she comes over', I thought.
Mom's demands were not fun at all. As soon as I got used to my weights, mother tried to double them for me. In other words, I had to carry around thirty kilograms when doing exercises. That wasn't something I could carry. "Mom, this is wrong! I can't carry that much!", I complained. To my surprise, she actually agreed. Since then, I only used the heavy boots and the special vest. Although five kilograms might seem like little, it wasn't.
Since the increase of weight, I would drop dead tired onto my bed every night. 'Mom used to be so nice… Why did she change so much?', I asked myself. She made it so difficult for me, but that wasn't the case when I was younger. I could play around or do whatever I wanted. 'Nowadays it's just train this, train that… It's not like the North is that dangerous. Does mom want me to take part in the endurance contest or something?', I asked myself. That was a possibility. The contest was really difficult and dangerous for those unprepared. I experienced that first hand, so her efforts to prepare me would be well founded.
'I mean, I want to be as strong as her… but I'm only ten years old', I thought. The next morning, I decided to ask about it. "Mom, why do you push me so much? Do you want me to take part in the endurance contest again? Because I failed, and you had to save me?". She looked at me confused, "No? You don't have to prove your strength to anyone, mommy doesn't care about such displays". "Then why?", I asked, confused. "Hmm… For one, you asked for strength yourself, right? More importantly though, you will grow up one day. One day, you will leave my side and pursue your dreams. I'm making sure you are ready when that time comes", she replied with a smile. "I don't want to leave mom's side, can't we be together?", I asked.
"Knowing myself and your father, you will. You are ten right now, but you are not going to be ten forever. I know it's difficult sweetie, but believe me when I say, it will pay off in the future", she explained. "I will never abandon mom like he did!", I replied angrily. Mom picked me up, "Abandoning and leaving are two different things. Your father never abandoned me. I'm sure you will never abandon me either. You will grow up though, you will find friends and perhaps someone you love. I can at least have my mind at peace, when you roam around the North chasing your own dreams".
"... Do you mean, I will be able to travel around the North? Meet with friends whenever I wish?", I asked unsure. "Of course. Did you think mommy would actually tie you down? You are simply too young for those things. If you want to travel, you have to have strength. What if someone or something tries to attack you? I will not be there to stop them, right?", she explained. "... I wasn't saying I don't want to improve myself… I only complain because it's hard…", I said quietly. Mom kissed my head, "You know, your father never complained about that. It was always hard for him, he never had it easy. Perhaps you are more like me… 'The worst thing that can happen to anyone, is when they stagnate'... That is what your father told me a long time ago. Struggle should be part of our lives, otherwise we can't improve at all".
I thought about what she said, but I had a hard time believing those words came from my father. "Of course I'm more like you, mom… I'm not like him at all. You are right though. I shouldn't complain anymore. For one, I don't want to be worse than him…", I said but then shook my head. "No, I refuse to be worse than him!", I added. Mom smiled, "Then make mom proud. Show me your resolution, and prove to me you can take this". I nodded and resumed my training. 'If he didn't complain about hardship in his life, I won't either', I thought.