I pant as I grip my sword, exhausted from this training. Now I understood what my father meant by; he was going easy. I am learning how to use magic in combat, but he is a grueling taskmaster that I am stuck dealing with now as another slash of fire comes at me that I block with a wall of ice before sending that ice back at him as shards, just to watch him melt it all before any of it touches him.
"Using my opposite element is good, but it works both ways, try something else." He charges at me, using his fire to help propel him forward as I go to block but then get an idea and cause a wall of earth to rise with spikes on it facing him, only to see it slashed in half. Still, I was ready, using the visual interruption it caused to go for a stab, only to see my father jump over me.
"Better, but try using more than one. For example, if you had used lighting after the wall of earth, that would have been much harder to avoid."
I sigh. "That's the opposite element; I can't use them at the same time."
"Did I say the same time? Using one after another is much easier. And won't cause the clash that using two of the opposite element at once. You are blessed, Sendria; you just need to be creative."
I know he's right, but it's also annoying that I have not touched him even once with how much I have improved. I know he's hundreds of years older, but I thought I'd get at least a hit in, and my dragon being amused by all this is even more annoying. "Why aren't you upset that we can't beat him?... I know he's our father, but...well yes, he's never beat Saphire...fine." I sigh again; talking with her is annoying as she never says anything, but I understand what she means anyways.
I look at my father again to see him talking with Mother. I guess this is the end of the training session today. I sheath my sword and go to a bench to sit down. These sessions were always the most exhausting out of all my training classes.
But now was further training with my grandfather. So I go to find is office.
I eventually get there and knock on the door. "Are you busy?"
"No, no, come in; we need to get back to your training." I heard him chuckle, so I enter. And see that he was reading something. "I normally don't see you doing research. You normally seem to know most things at this point."
"Oh, this? I was checking some things on dragons; I don't know everything, after all, just that which I have discovered, and sometimes things that I think I need, like details on dragon powers, now ready to begin?"
I sit in the circle and get ready; last time, we focused on using each element one at a time.
"Today, we will work on getting you to use multiple at once." He sat in front of me.
"Huh? What do you mean? I barely managed to use the others last time, and my father doesn't make it any easier."
"But learning to use multiple at once will be good practice, and soon I hope you can use all of them. But first, do you remember what I said about using multiple at once?"
I sigh and nod. "Using opposites at once is nearly impossible because of the clash, but having an element of some kind added in to bridge the two other elements makes it much easier."
"Correct, and that is why we will start with your mother's elements, light, and fire, then move to including earth, and slowly go from there."
I nod, it did make sense, but I knew it would be annoying and challenging.
I first make fire, holding it in my hand before moving it to only one. Then, I try to focus on keeping the fire as I try to make a ball of light in my other hand, focusing on my light power, but as I do, I see my fire start to die out and refocus on it, just to lose the small ball of light I had made. "Mmmm."
"Don't try, feel. You must let it happen, not force it. So many make the mistake of thinking they are forcing magic to do a certain thing, but all you are doing is guiding it."
I sigh again. Annoyed, but he is telling the truth; I never forced my fire; it just happened..so why am I forcing my power? I need to stop thinking.
As I close my eyes, I feel my magic and let it come up, dividing it into the elements of the dragons, the elements I use. I feel heat to my left and cold to my right, but in front of me, I also see light through my closed eyes.
"Well, so much for taking it slow, but this is good, great honestly, and it shows the natural talent of dragons."
I open my eyes and see what he means; I had all six elements around me. It felt so natural; why had it been hard before?...ok yes, I was trying to force it, but...sometimes I dislike that you're in here with me.
"You know it is pretty obvious that your talking with your dragons, Sendria. You make a face and react like your talking with someone."
I blush, embarrassed, and look away. "Um...she's annoying and always pitching in at the worst time."
"Sounds like what I heard from your father when he was younger, but just like with him, I am guessing that you also like her, and she is very helpful when you need her."
I sigh again, annoyed that he is right.
"Now, let's see if you can use them like this yet." He points to a target. "Hit it with more than one element; I don't care how."
I focus on the target and try to send them all at it, but nothing happens. I try again only for them to extinguish. "Huh? What? But I was…"
"You tried it all at once and tried to direct it, huh? But, Sendria dear, you don't make it happen, you feel it happening, and it will. Don't forget that this is the key to wordless magic."
"But I normally just...will it, and it happens." So I make fire and send it at the target, as easy as ever.
"You have been doing it for years, and so it is as natural as breathing, but with the others, you are more conscious about it, not instinctive."
I growl and then feel the world go dark, and I go weightless. "Huh, what?!"
"Sendria dear, I am patient and tolerant of a lot, but one thing I don't like is my students being hostile, and I don't think you'll get it any easier as my granddaughter."
I realized that he had pulled me into a pocket realm for growling at him. "I..sorry, I'm just annoyed at all of this." I sigh and try to meditate.
"I understand, Sendria, but you can not let your emotions rule over you."
I create the elements around me again and simply let my instincts guide me before I feel reality again and open my eyes to see my Grandfather amused.
"Well, that is certainly something. Possible for sure, but most don't do it that easily..that's a dragon, I guess."
"So I got out of your pocket dimension on my own? You didn't let me out?" I knew it was possible on my own, but interdimensional travel is difficult from what I have learned. And I did it easily? Granted, he wasn't trying to keep me in there but still.
"You imagined what you wanted, and your powers responded. It was a bit on the sloppy side, but you did it. Now that you know the feeling, we can work on focusing your magic tomorrow; for now, enjoy the day. Try not to cause trouble with your new power, and no drastic experimenting."
I get up and head out, hugging him as I leave. "I won't cause trouble."
I go to find Retsuko's room, knowing she'll be fun to play with. As I get there, I see Dylan inside with May and Retsuko. They looked to be talking about something, so I knocked on the door and waited for them to be done.
Once Retsuko sees me, she goes over and hugs me. "Can we go flying? Dylan started teaching me after he learned how."
I look at Dylan while hugging Retsuko, who shrugs. "You know how to fly now?"
"I was sparing with May, and she sent me flying; next thing I know, I was actually flying. I practiced, and then Retsuko saw and…." He shrugged and walked over. "So I taught her, and now she wants to do it with you and learn more."
I laugh and pat Retsuko's head. "Well, let's go then, this can be fun, and maybe I can teach you a few things."
"I will be talking with Delco for a bit but be back for dinner at least." May goes to the door and pats my shoulder. "Also, they aren't that good, so keep them safe."
I nod and then head out with Retsuko and Dylan.
Once we get to a landing pad, I let out my wings and see Retsuko and Dylan have energy spark off them as they start to float. "So you can fly; well, this will be fun."
I watch Retsuko take off, and Dylan chase after her. I laugh and follow, wanting to see how good they can be and how much I might be able to teach them.
I watch them fly, a bit sloppy, but they were flying and seemed to be ok, but how do I teach them? They had no wings.
I play with them a bit and watch them slowly get better, then Retsuko decides to dive through a cloud only to get soaked and have Dylan and me laugh. "Don't you know what clouds are?"
She shakes off. "Yes, but people make them sound soft, not just...wet."
"Those people don't fly, and children's tails are meant to be fun, not always realistic."
"I can tell, but flying is fun; they got that right." She seems happy about this.
"You can also use flying to get to places fast, but storms can be a real pain."
"So, Retsuko, anything you want to do?" Dylan seemed to have mastered flying a lot faster than Retsuko, who mostly just played around.
"Hmm, flying is fun, but it's not as fun as I imagined, but I guess we can go do something else." She seemed to have calmed down, thankfully.
"How about we go watch a movie or play a game?" I start flying back, and they follow me as we reach the landing pad.
"We can do that, I guess..there isn't much to do, huh?" She seemed to only really want fun. I understood that, but you can't always have fun in life, but hopefully, she will understand that with her time here.
"No, but we can just enjoy things. Not everything is fun, Retsuko." Dylan pats her head, and she pouts but follows us to his room, where May is waiting.
"Figured you go here after you were done. Am guessing little miss pouty wants a movie?"
We both laugh while Retsuko rolls her eyes, obviously annoyed but sits by May and leans against her.
I sit next to Dylan, next to Retsuko as we watch the movie, for Grey to come in as we start a second one, and I cuddle with him.
My mother comes in later and signals us that dinner is ready, so we stop the movie and go to meet her and my father at the dining table.
I tell them about my training today and that Retsuko and Dylan can fly now as we eat, and I talk about how my dragon is helpful but annoying, getting a laugh from May, my Mother, and my Father. I don't like it and roll my eyes, but Grey is supportive.
After dinner, we go back to finish the movie, then after I go to my room and enjoy the bath, Grey joins me, and we cuddle a bit.
"So you're doing ok since it seems you've been doing well, and I can always be here to help, but my magic is tied to my hammer."
"I've seen that, but you're pretty good too, and your training with my father has gone well from what I have seen.
We cuddle some more, then eventually get out and get into bed, cuddling till we fall asleep.