"Good…" He slapped his hammer in one of his palms.
"I've been told that you are a prodigy, I'd like to see what you can do on the field."
I readied myself, I'll wait for him to attack and observe his attacks.
"I'll start, haha. Here I come!" He charged at me, he wasn't that fast. But he had his hammer ready for a swing that'll go down.
Ok, what'll stop him from stroking me down? I mean I could move out of it, but I want to see how well I can use magic.
Quicksand, an earth magic that'll sink the floor. That might do.
Immediately, I put my palms to the ground and imagined the ground sinking.
I felt the tingles again in my finger as I concentrated on where I would put it.
There. I casted the spell silently in my head as I saw the ground beneath his feet almost turning into mush.
"H-hey, what the?!" He was taken by surprise as he found his right leg stuck, sinking into the ground.
Alright let's follow it up with something else. He's distracted. His face is open.
A rock. I'm going to throw a rock at his face.
Putting some dirt in his eyes.
Technically, this is called a stone ball. But I'll be making it a bit softer to not really hurt Derrick. But it'll still hurt.
"Hrrngh. clever kid, huh?" Derrick grinned and he slowly got his leg out.
I ran up to him full speed, forming that ball in my hands. I'm going to ram this in his face. And hopefully. Maybe I'll get him with just this spell.
Suddenly, he managed to pull his leg out of the quicksand, now his eyes focused on me.
Change of plans, I'll need to throw this.
Or…
As he readied his hammer, the ground underneath him slowly went back the way it was. He's probably thinking I'll head straight at him with this and strike me.
I was just a few feet from him when he swung.
And I slid right under his legs, and thrusted with all my might at his nether region.
"Uugh, pahh" Derrick groaned. He let go of his hammer as he clutched down there.
Didn't see that, huh? Now for my final attack..
As soon as I got up behind him, I jumped and spun around to give him a kick to his head.
Only somehow, he caught it. His right hand stopped my leg. Grasping it tightly now.
He swung me from behind and threw me.
I ended up hitting on the trees near the front gate, which took the breath out of me.
That shit hurt, but somehow the cloak eased the pain.
I could hear Gerald laughing, not at me. But he was laughing at Derrick saying "haha, he really hit you down there, you didn't expect that, hah!"
"Ah, a move only done by the likes of you, Gerald." Derrick spat out, he was not amused by what He said. But the look on his face he gave me showed appreciation.
And then he ran.
I didn't even have time to mentally register it, but my body's reflexes were faster. I rolled to the left as the hammer swung horizontally, smashing the tree.
That would've fucking killed me if I didn't move.
I panicked now, I got to my feet and ran towards the center of the garden.
But Derricks was faster, he was already on my tail.
Think! What else can we use?
I turned around, my feet sliding and I went backwards.
Seems really dumb, but let's combine some spells? That's an intermediate level thing. I'm not even confident I'll even come out correctly
What's something that'll take this guy down?
Ice? Maybe I can slow this guy down.
What else?
Something that is so cold it'll just stop them in there place.
I got it!
I Held my hand out and imagined something colder than ice.
Carbon dioxide from the air. Pressurize it. a lot.
Combine it with the Ice spell, Freeze it.
I felt the coldness run up my arm, I can see this white ball in my hand, it's intense coldness freezing my fingers at this point.
Thank god for science class. I think I just made Dry ice.
Derrick even looked surprised as he stopped where he was.
Synthia gasped as I could hear Gerald yell "what the?"
I don't think anyone has done this? Thank god for science.
Then I threw it, I threw it as hard as I could.
Derrick was so caught off guard that he didn't see it coming. It made an impact on his chest and he stumbled back.
"A-arrrgh, it burns!" Derrick panicked as the dry ice's effect hit him. He was feeling frostbites al over his chest.
Now that I'm thinking of it, it feels like my magic powers have been amplified, I don't think my magic spells are usually in this much control.
It's gotta be this cloak, something about it is amplifying my magic powers and reducing damages.
I watched as Derrick slapped at his naked chest, rubbing off the dry ice, only having it affect other areas.
I think the fight has been decided.
Or so I thought.
I saw that Derrick had a grin on his face as he puffed his chest out, and then all the ice that was on ice slowly slid off him.
What the fuck?
"HAHA, kid. You got some talent, any normal man would've been killed with that, HAHA." He slapped his chest, showing that he wasn't harmed.
"Uh…I got talent?" I asked, I've never seen someone just shrug off anything like that.
"Yeah, talent. Never seen anyone do that before! Lucky for you, I've trained this body to be resistant to anything!"
…not sure what is happening. Did I win? Did I pass?
I looked at Gerald and everyone, and they were all smiling and clapping.
I guess I passed.
"Gerald, you raised a fine boy! I can tell he's going to make waves out here!" Derrick walked up to Gerald, his hand out asking for a handshake.
"Hmph, realizing my bloodline is truly something, huh? Derrick you sh- Arrgh haaah, that's cold. THAT'S COLD" Gerald was enjoying the praise before he was hit by the frostbite that Derrick hid in his palm.
Derrick laughed, as did everyone as Gerald struggled to get his hand loose from his grip.
"Aargh, get that shit-eating grin off your face!"
"This is for laughing at my sacred place. Feel my pain!" Derrick laughed as he said that. He really did have a horrific grin.
As those two were bickering, Synthia came up to me and hugged me, Lilith ran up to me too.
"Wow, that was amazing Kota! You were like a real mage user!" Lilith jumped in excitement. I think this is the second time she's seen me use magic in this way.
I gave her a smile and a thumbs up, showing my acknowledgement.
Synthia stopped hugging me and held me by my shoulder, looking at me with a teary smile.
"Looks like you're ready, kota. Keep that pendant on you as a reminder of us. I have something else for you to keep on your journey." She let me go and headed back into our house.
I wonder what else she's keeping for me?
"Kota!" I looked up and saw Gerald walking towards me, still holding his hand in pain.
There was a smile on his face, even when he winced in pain.
I gave him a thumbs up, but he held his uninjured hand out in a fist.
A fist bump.
I looked up at him, did I just become bros with him?
No, I think this is his own way of showing his appreciation.
I smiled at him, and gave him his fist bump.
"You did good kid, I think you're ready." Gerald quietly said.
Huh, you know what?
I did it. I didn't think I'd get the magic stuff together. But I managed to get a hang of it. That's a whole miracle on it's own.
I heard the front door open again, and Synthia came back outside with something wrapped in white cloth.
"Is that for me?" I asked, as she came over to me and Gerald.
"Yes, I had this made for you when you began studying magic. I was going to give it to you when you were ready, but I didn't expect it to be this early.." she held it out to me.
I gently grabbed it with both hands, this is some fine cloth. What is this?
I gently opened the wrapping for it, watching the cloth slowly fall to reveal this present.
A staff. It had a silver coating to it like the one synthia has in her room, though this one has a handle in the middle of it that was leather. The base of it has a blunt bottom. At the top of it, there was a blue crystal that looked to be wrapped around by three silver branches. It had its name etched into the leather handle.
Incongruity.
I eyed the staff in awe, this was my own staff for me to use. Question is…
How would I even use this? I don't think synthia told me about using a staff.
Lilith got next to me, lookin at at it as well.
"This is a cool staff, it looks expensive.."
"It costs us a lot, so don't break it. Also Lilith, we got something for you." Gerald also suddenly had a wrapped gift as well.
I could tell by the size of it that it was some sort of short sword, something Lilith used for a bit when she sparred with Gerald.
"Me?" She asked, shocked.
"Of course, your mother thought it'd be nice to give you something for the journey. It was originally your fathers. But now it's yours." Gerald handed it to Lilith, who carefully held it.
Lilith unwrapped hers, face blushing as she did it. And when she finally finished unwrapping it. She gasped.
It was a short sword, but it was a black steel that had white edges to it. The hilt had a dragon mouth, the blade looking like it was coming out the mouth. And that the handle had a dragon scale pattern to it.
"Your father had this in our room since we moved here… I'm not sure why he never took it when he…" Sarah said from where she was standing. She stayed near the front door this whole time. Just standing there quietly until now..
Lilith looked down at the sword, a frown plastered her face as she looked.
She probably still despises her father. Maybe it might not have been a good idea to give her a possession of his.
But, she turned that face into determination when she looked up. It seemed like her left eyes flashed red for a second before it went back to amber.
"I'll take care of it, mother. Thank you." She said bitterly.
Sarah looked taken aback, before finally nodding.
"Well, are you all done with the gifts and wraps? We got to get going to Prusha!" Derrick was sitting on the carriage that was outside the front gate along with the other man.
I felt a kiss on my cheek.
Synthia gave me a kiss goodbye and Gerald gave me Wave.
Lilith kissed her mom goodbye as well.
Once we said our goodbyes, I looked at Lilith for confirmation that she was ready for this journey.
She had her own backpack over her gray cloak, the short sword she was given now belted to her waist was now holstered behind her hip. She nodded with determination.
I put my backpack on, holding my staff in my right hand. I took one last look at our house.
This'll be the last time I'll see it in a while. I've spent eleven years here. I was reborn here. It feels weird to call it home, but it somehow… I already felt nostalgic looking at it.
I looked at Gerald and Synthia…no, I looked at my Father and Mother. This'll also be the last time I'll see them in a while. Somehow these eleven years with them flew by. I don't see them as my real parents, but…
I want to.
I took one more chance to wave goodbye at them both, and they both waved back their goodbyes.
As we headed to the carriages, Derrick opened one of the doors to the inside of it.
"It'll be a long ride for you two." He said softly, he looked at me with respect.
I've gained the respect of a giant man who I've just met like two hours ago.
The other man looked at us as well. He gave a small smile before looking back at the road.
"That is Edward, don't worry about him. He doesn't do well with children at first." Derrick said as he helped us in the carriage.
Inside the carriage were two benches facing each other, there wasn't a window, but the back of the carriage was open. The front of the carriage did have a window to see the driver.
"If you two need anything, ask away. We'll keep Gerald's promise to keep you both safe and out of harm's way along the way there." Derrick closed the door and climbed up the driver seat alongside Edward.
Me and Lilith decided to sit on the back bench, putting our backpacks on the front bench.
As soon as I sat down, I felt a heavy weight on me.
I didn't realize it now, but that test with Derrick really exhausted me. I found myself slumping against Lilith out of tiredness.
"Oh..erm..are you tired, Kota?" Lilith was blushing as I slowly sank into her shoulder.
It feels nice sitting next to her.
I can feel myself drifting to sleep when I feel her head settle on top of mine.
"Kota, can I ask you something?"
"..yeah.."
I couldn't hear her question, just muffled voices as I fell asleep.
I wonder what she was asking me?