As they walked home, Jake and Claire fell behind.
"So how long did you train for?" Said Jake, starting the discussion.
"I trained for five years, I only just stopped last year"
"Why"
"Dad was called in for work at the MAC"
"What's the MAC" Jake questioned.
"The Magic Affairs Committee. They are the body that registers mages and assign certified mages to missions. They are also in charge of recruiting mages for the protection of important personnel"
"So, there's such a thing?"
"As important personnel?" Asked Claire
"No, as the Magic Affairs whatever"
"Of course, they maintain order and balance. There are also others who can't use magic, the presence of such committee does not allow those with magic oppress those without, and also it makes sure people don't use their magic to carry out acts of terrorism and many other functions they carry out."
"Oh" Jake nodded in understanding. "Nice moves back there, by the way"
"Thanks" Claire blushed "Yours aren't so bad either"
"I guess I haven't trained hard enough"
"You still have a lot of time. But have it in mind that if you slack off you'll keep getting beat by me".
"Ha" he chuckled "Very funny. You won't be so lucky next time"
"Oof, it's the big bad wolf. I'm so scared" she taunted.
Jake was immediately after her as she took to her heels. Liz laughed uncontrollably as they ran past.
Mike was so happy to see the children get along so well, but he felt he had to break the news and it had to be sooner than later.
After they had gotten home and had dinner, Mike decided to share the news with them.
"I registered Jake at School of Magic"
Jake didn't know if should feel excited or disappointed.
"School of Magic?" Jake asked him, with a look of uncertainty
"Yes, it's a school for young prospects who are able to use magic or those who are yet to manifest their magic. They undergo training and master the use of their magic" Uncle Mike answered
"I guess that's nice right?" Jake was relieved
Jake excitement turned sour when he realized that he might not see them for a while and he had to leave soon.
"Resumption isn't until a month".
Uncle Mike seemed to have read the situation in the room as even Claire and Liz were beginning to seem moody.
A sudden wave of relief washed over their faces, though they weren't still happy that he had to go.
"Jake, were gonna have to take training a lot more serious. There isn't much time left. We're gonna be training everyday."
"Sure" Jake was fired up. At the moment, the only thing that occupied his brain was getting stronger.
The next day, it was business as usual, Jake observed that his Uncle had carried another bag, he had already started to unpack it's contents.
"Today we're going to begin weapons training. And to handle a weapon efficiently you must become one with the weapon. And to do that you'll have to meditate. So starting today, before training commences, you'll have to meditate for an hour"
"How is that, do I just close my eyes, and do nothing for one hour?" Jake asked. He had only seen a few people meditate and sincerely wondered what they did while their eyes were close.
"You have to close eyes, ears, nose and any other thing connecting you to the world around you.
You have to block out the world around you. You have to discover your inner self and connect with it.
Only when you become one with nature can you hear the faintest of sounds" he stretched out his hand, drew it back and opened it and there was a butterfly in it. "you sense the slightest of movements" closing his eyes, he sliced a falling leaf.
"Woah" Jake stares in disbelief
"But it takes a great deal of time to learn. And I'm afraid time is one thing we don't have. So we have to get started. One hour, go.
Jake found a spot beneath a tree. He sat down and closed his eyes trying to discover what his Uncle meant by his inner self.
But nothing was coming to him, he shut his eyes tighter and even tried crossing his legs but still nothing.
He then decided to relax. He calmed his tense muscles, loosened his stiff joints and closed his eyes then he blacked out.
After an hour Mike walked to where he sat, his head rested on the trunk of the tree his eyes were closed and he looked like he had mastered the art of meditation.
"Jake" his Uncle called in an almost high pitched voice. Jake quickly scrambled up, wiping the drool from his face.
"Were you just sleeping" Mike asked him.
"I was meditating" Jake answered him with a straight face. "I must have fallen asleep in the process."
Mike couldn't control his laughter as he almost choked while laughing. "That's not meditation, that was outright dozing off. Okay, come on"
He handed Jake a wooden sword and had him swing it around. Jake grabbed the sword and moved around with slight difficulty he swung in a distorted arc.
"Hold with both hands" Mike called out. Jake moved his left hand to join his right at the hilt of of the sword and swung, it was a better performance than before.
"Now try to hit me" Mike told him.
"Alright" Jake trudged forward in a straight forward attack, he swung hard at his Uncle, but without much effort Mike flipped his sword with a single hand blocking Jake's attack, Jake quickly struck again, this time raising his sword over his head, he brought it down on Mike. Mike instantly sidestepped leaving Jake slicing the thin air.
He had already seen what he wanted to, which was to assess Jake's ability to move with a weapon. He then had Jake work through a series of attacks while moving around and slicing the air.
Mike sat back and watched Jake go at it for a couple of hours. He was supposed to teach Jake to shoot an arrow, but he decided that Jake would handle a bow better if he could handle a sword.
What Jake didn't know was that Mike was among the King's guard. He was the captain of the King's guard.
The King's guard consisted of Seven mages who were the top tier battle mages who were taxed with protecting the King and if need be, they were usually called the Seven.
Mike was the only person who was not a mage to have made it into that position, he was known for his calmness and ability to think on his feet, thus he was made captain of the Seven.
He was well respected among the Seven, as his ability to take down hundreds of enemies without magic was acknowledged. Though he announced his retirement, he was still called every now and then to carry out a mission or an assignment.
One of which when returning from, he ran into Jake and Liz in the forest.
Jake had been swinging for over three hours, he felt like his arms would fall off. He let the sword drop to the floor and he also dropped to the floor, too tired to even move.
"Tired already?" Mike asked.
"I can't go on" Jake said in between gasps, he was breathing quite heavily.
"Here" Uncle Mike threw him a bottle of water. Jake caught the bottle and quickly gulped down it's contents, he lay back on the sand, his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. Mike decided to let him rest for a while before they continued training.
"Jake, twenty minutes break"
"Alright"
Mike knew the dangers out there and he knew Jake was no where near ready to face them with his current skill level. That's why he kept on pushing him even beyond his limits, he had so little time and so much to learn.