"Uh-oh! Not this time girl." He grinned while he conjured a small fire ball in his left hand. He really meant to scare the hell out of her.
Seeing Clifford suddenly coming out of the shadow with a fireball in hand to grab her really scared her.
"Mom....!" Lyla shrieked.
"Shut up or I'll force this fire down your throat." Clifford threatened with an evil grin.
"Mmmm...!" Lyla closed her lips with her fingers and nodded repeatedly, her big cute eyes wide open due to the fear Clifford imposed on her.
"Now, you do everything I tell you and you mustn't tell Mom my secrets anymore. Do you understand?" Clifford grinned.
"Yes...! Lyla whimpered.
Clifford looked at her fearful expression and was satisfied. The evil grin still on his face which creeped out Lyla. She has never seen this side of Clifford.
"Hahahaha.......!" Clifford bursted in to sudden laughter. He dissipated the fireball and clutched Lyla to his chest.
"I was just joking with you kid sis." Did you sleep well?" He asked.
"Leave me alone! You're evil." Lyla screamed, forced herself out of Clifford's arms and ran out to meet their Mother.
"Uh! Did I went too far? Clifford scratched the back of his head.
Clifford quickly had his bath, freshened up and went to get his breakfast from the kitchen. He met his Mother preparing their breakfast of sausage rolls and hot tea. Lyla was also at the table eating.
"Good morning Mom." He said while he sat down at the in front of Lyla. He winked at her while the other latter blows raspberry in response.
"Good morning Clifford." Mrs Harrison replied with a sweet smile. She brought some sausages and a cup of tea and placed it in front of Clifford.
"Where are you off to this morning?" She asked.
"I'm to meet John, he's going to help practice my magic spells." He said and took a gulp of the hot tea. "Fuck! it's hot, my throat is burning." He lamented.
"Serves you right." Lyla jeered at him with a sneer.
"Hmm...hmm! You want some fire down your throat?" Clifford chuckled.
"Shut up Clifford! That's too harsh to say to a little girl." Mrs Harrison retorted.
"He's evil." Lyla gave a displeased look at Clifford.
"Your evil brother is leaving for Sun City very soon." Clifford grinned at Lyla.
"Mom, Clifford's leaving? Lyla asked.
"Yes sweetheart." She replied while she continued to wash the dishes.
After confirming Clifford is really leaving, Lyla looked at him. "Will you take me with you?" She asked with a hopeful expression. Even though she nagged with Clifford a lot, she always wanted him around her. She would be really sad if he doesn't take her along.
"I'm sorry kid sis, I wish to but I can't." Clifford signed. He really wanted to take her along with their mother, but he couldn't for now.
Lyla was sad Clifford couldn't take her along, she ran out of the kitchen sobbingly.
"Poor little girl." Mrs Harrison shook her head and followed her to console her.
"Huh....! Maybe I should take my leave too." Clifford shrugged his shoulders, took his backpack and left for John's place.
John's place is about fifteen minutes walk away from the the Harrison's place so it didn't take long for Clifford to get there.
John lived in a small cabin house not far from the woods. Having lost his parents to the war and having no siblings or relatives, John lived by himself.
Clifford got to John's house and knocked the door but there was no response. He knocked again a couple of times but still no response.
"He's supposed to be home today, he's having a day off. Clifford thought. He checked if the door was locked and surprisingly, it wasn't. He entered the house and checked if John was inside but he wasn't. He took out his phone and dialed John's number. A phone rang in John's room, Clifford went inside to check and it turned out to be John's phone.
"Damn, where the hell is this boy? He thought.
He decided to go back and wait for him in the living room. When he was about to come out of the room, he heard a gun being cocked by a hooded man and pointed right at his face. He quickly vanished into the shadow beneath him and equipped both gauntlets inside the spacial ring unto his arms.
He came out of the shadow behind the armed man, grabbed his neck from behind with his left arm and placed the blade of the gauntlet on his neck.
"Who are you before I slash your throat?" Clifford threatened.
"Hey hey mate....! It's me, John."
"John?" Clifford recognized the voice, it's truly John. He unequipped the gauntlets and pushed him away.
"Hey...! You almost blew my fucking head off." Clifford shouted at John
"And you almost ripped my throat!" John yelled back.
"I only placed the blade on your throat, I didn't slash it."
"Just shut the hell up!" John said while he went to sit down on a chair in his living room.
"Were you in the house the whole time?" Clifford asked.
"No, I went to buy groceries, I just got back and I noticed someone was inside. I thought it was a burglar." John signed.
"Burglar my ass! What if you've blown my head off?" Clifford still complained.
"Well..., you're a shadow mage now, a gun shouldn't be much threat to you." John shrugged.
"What? At point-blank range.
"Please shut up Clifford and let's work on what you came for."
"Alright." Clifford grunted.
"I've been working on stabilizing my Mana whirlpool and I've done quite a good job on that." He said.
"That's good, but your Mana is still fluctuating. You haven't work on that?" John asked.
"I worked on it, Lyla interrupted me at the Crucial stage. He lamented.
"Let's start from there. Now starting meditating on that." John instructed.
Clifford sat down and started meditating. He imposed his order on to the Mana in his whirlpool but the mana is tough and wouldn't hearken to him. He continued in this state of battling the Mana with his will to submit to his order for a while. With the help of the meditation law that was in his mind, he finally imposed his order on the Mana. It took him about six hours to do this.
"Phew." Clifford wiped away his sweat.
John was surprised to see Clifford relaxing, he did not expect him to finish so quickly.
"Hey, why are you relaxing? You've gotten interrupted again? He asked.
"Interrupted? No! I'm done mate. The Mana is now under my control, no more Mana fluctuations." Clifford said proudly.
"Hahaha.....! John bursted in to laughter. You're so naive mate. Putting your Mana completely under your control isn't something you can achieve in a few hours, it takes weeks mate. And you....." He stopped talking suddenly and widened his eyes. "Are you serious? I can't feel Mana fluctuations from you anymore. He asked with a shocked expression.
"What? Weeks? But I've done so in some hours." Clifford was shocked.
"Your level of comprehending is extremely frightening mate. Tell me, how many words have you comprehended in your meditation law?" John asked.
"Words? I've comprehended a whole chapter bro. Clifford replied with a confused expression.
"A whole chapter!" John said bewilderedly. He was scared at how quick Clifford was able to comprehend his meditation law. The faster a mage is able to comprehend a meditation law, the faster and stronger they become. Clifford's level of comprehending is just too frightening.
Comprehending a meditation law in two months is already considered frightening.
Major forces are known for fighting over mages that has high level of comprehension because great power lies in their future if they are nurtured well.
John tried to feel Mana fluctuations from Clifford but he couldn't feel any. He couldn't even feel any presence of magic from him. A basic ranked mage that has absolute control over his Mana, how frightening would he become when he continues to rise up the ranks?