Cody put his books back, the study hour was almost over.
"There are still so many mysteries circulating in the world big brother, especially beasts and demons, they are among the greatest mysteries of all. Very little is known about them, my biggest dream is to set out on a journey around the world, like the Elder, to discover all the secrets and mysteries!"
Cody's eyes shone with their own light as he said this.
Rada sat there watching him, his kind expression showing how much he was bonding with him. The curly-haired boy's enthusiasm and energy inspired anyone watching to give it their best shot.
"Great dream kid, keep it up!" he said ruffling his hair.
"Eheh!"
Though at the mercy of his constant assaults, Cody showed no reluctance of it indeed. Talking to someone about his dreams and having their approval somehow instilled courage in him.
The second part of the study session went smoothly and soon evening fell.
"Rada, I'll wait for you downstairs," the Elder's voice reached his ears.
After finishing dinner, Rada escorted the boys out and headed downstairs to complete the last part of the day's training.
(Apparently I'll have full days ahead of me from now on...) he thought with a whiny streak.
Although he felt he was much stronger than before, his body was still sore, the stress of the day began to weigh on him.
At home on Earth, Rada was mostly a lazy person, but when he was outside he didn't let it show, he tried to be active and energetic. But when he returned there, much of his time was spent reading or sleeping.
Knowing that he no longer had that possibility made him a little depressed, but everything has a price.
In this new world with unlimited possibilities, could he miss such an opportunity?
The answer is no!
With these thoughts, he found himself once again full of vigor to take on whatever test was in front of him.
"Come forward."
After arriving downstairs, he heard the Elder's vibrant voice coming from one of the rooms not far from him.
"Here I am," he replied.
He arrived in the vicinity of a huge room, it was circular in shape, looking at it more closely it seemed to have entered an arena.
"Mm, sit here in front of me" the Elder was sitting in the center of the room.
He had assumed the classic meditation position.
Rada sat in front of the old master without a word, seeing the atmosphere he decided not to interrupt him, and thus not to cause the master's wrath.
"How did you feel about this first day of training?"
The elder broke the silence.
"There is much to work on, much to know, but I am confident!"
Rada heaved a sigh as he thought back over the whole day, he was in a hurry to learn, at the same time apprehensive, after all, there wasn't much time before the test. But he was still full of enthusiasm.
"Don't be in a hurry to learn boy, it may prove counterproductive, let life take its course."
The elder's wise words, emanated a sense of peace and tranquility in his mind.
He nodded silently.
"From today, I will guide you in the use of your pearl, I can only guide and advise you, but thereafter you will only have to rely on yourself. Because the power of the spiritual pearl is strictly linked to its owner," he explained.
Then he took out a crystal ball, at first glance there didn't seem to be anything special about it, but since it belonged to the elder it must surely have something special, he thought.
"This is a revealing sphere, very common, it is used to visualize the type of element or characteristics of the Pearl you have, for example if it is a fire pearl the sphere will become red, if it is a water one it will become blue and so on" the Elder continued to explain.
"Put your hand on top of the sphere, make the symbol touch directly with it."
"Okay."
Rada slipped the glove from his hand, placed his hand on the sphere and waited for the next directions.
"Good, now focus on the symbol on your hand, imagine as if the power contained in your Pearl, is in a glass of water and you need to pass it into another glass, can you see what I mean?"
The Elder knew that he was completely ignorant about the use of the Pearl, so all he could do was explain it to him, as simply as possible.
"Um, I think I understand," Rada closed his eyes.
He tried to imagine the scene of a Pearl imbued with magical power being transferred inside the crystal ball.
The Elder observed him with the sphere in his hands. At first he did not expect anything. It was not easy for a novice possessor to channel the power of his pearl, but he wanted to bet on the pupil anyway.
See if he could surprise him once again.
The outcome was positive, after a few minutes of silence, the sphere began to shine brightly. From its bright light appeared the symbol that was on Rada's hand, the Elder began to smile in excitement.
Subsequently however, his smile disappeared and gave way to a serious and thoughtful expression.
"Um, strange..." said the Elder wrinkling his eyebrows.
Rada opened her eyes and saw the Elder's serious expression.
"Is something wrong? My fault?"
"No son, you were remarkable, it is difficult to see among beginners someone who can channel the power of the pearl on the first try, you on the other hand succeeded. However, something happened that I did not expect" he said in a serious tone.
"What?" asked the student.
"Generally, when you succeed in infusing the magic power into the sphere, it should light up and let the symbol of the pearl appear along with its characteristics. Like color, or the type, indications in short, that you can subsequently work on," explained the master.
"And it didn't?"
"Initially yes, the symbol on your hand appeared, however nothing else came up, really strange..."
The Elder took the sphere in his hand.
"Although I haven't used it for long, I don't think it's defective."
After a few seconds, a black cloud came out of the sphere and enveloped it, paying closer attention, strange symbols could be seen inside.
"Wow! Should something like this happen to me!?" asked Rada shocked and excited at the same time.
"Everything seems to be working perfectly, the problem does not lie in the sphere therefore."
The Elder put down the sphere and thought of a probable answer to this.
When he saw the sphere again in front of him, Rada wanted to try once more, maybe he had done something wrong, he thought involuntarily. He took the sphere and concentrated again, the process was exactly the same as before, the sphere began to glow letting his symbol emerge.
However, this time something unexpected happened.
"What the hell is going on!?" exclaimed the Elder.
Rada jumped suddenly, letting the sphere slip from his hands, but he promptly managed to catch it. He noticed that something was happening in his hand.
The crystal ball changed completely, leaving the same black cloud that the Elder had shown him earlier to emerge.