I followed as instructed and was simply amazed at my sense of direction. It is literally the only chamber on this level. Before walking through the corridor, I glanced around the entrance. No sign. Sure. That makes complete sense. I made it to the heavy door at the end. XXIV. Perfectly written on the doorknob. I rolled my eyes and thought it through. Uncle did say three floors down. Of course. Twitching my left eye, I walked in.
The metallic door slammed shut, and it vibrated through the whole chamber. I turned around and was in awestruck. This room had to be the size of the whole level. One door. Across from the door were a range of different types of targets. On one side were columns of weaponry. Each column rotated clockwise and shelved or pinned a distinctive type of weapon. Parallel to the columns were six triangular sections. The one I quickly noticed was the ceiling height shelf that carried glass containers of nearly all elements. I glanced at all rows and noted that not all of them were there. Primary elements are always easy to attain. The others not. The next section had the same shelf but with ingredients for a green witch apothecary
The sheer pitch of metal clinging to one another vibrated to my ears and woke me from my observant trance. Glancing around, I saw my uncle. "You are late." He didn't even turn around. He finished his swing and turned to grab a drink, "I hope there was a good reason to that."
I glanced around the room again, "Sorry Theo. I couldn't find the room."
"You went down two floors?"
"Yeah," I moved my hair behind my ears and continued, "Another elf directed me this way."
"Priest?"
"Good. He's one of the good ones. Listens very well." He faced me, "unlike others I know."
I changed the subject. "This is not as spacious as the Academy's training room, but it's by far the most diverse in application."
"I'm sure there is a difference between adult weaponry and youngins weapons."
I licked the bottom of my top teeth. I felt the heat on the tip of my ears. "You're right Theo. I guess that's why I'm so astounded at the fact that I am here."
"The upstairs chambers will be an upgraded version than the academies, but inferior to this one."
"I see." I stretched out my arms and wiggled my fingers in the air. Consistent flow. I looked around and noticed behind the columns were a slim, thin holes. That must lead outside. "Thanks for getting this for us. I appreciate uncle."
He reached me in the middle of the room. "I know that this is your first day here. I understand that it must seem exhilarating. I also know the last time we contended one another was before your acceptance in the Academy."
I looked at him, and excitedly nodded.
"I also know that this and I quote, 'nor have you been on this vessel'. I am assuming you have never seen these grounds. This specific chamber must be requested, and approved by majority vote. The timeslots are overseen by the priest you met earlier."
I lost my smile and forced a sadden chuckled, "who told you."
"Does it matter?"
"I guess it doesn't." It does. I want to know if it was Queen Usha or one of their Order's leaders.
"And what does matter?"
I raised my eyes, lowered my head, and glared at him, "That you found out."
"Excuse me."
I rubbed my eyes, "Uncle, am I not allowed to look around the ship? Am I only supposed to stay in our room the entire trip, unless instructed by you?"
"No."
"I don't understand. Why am I in trouble?"
"There are some places that…" He stopped and looked at his stopwatch, "let's just train. We will talk about this later." His tone sounded exhausted.
I smiled, "of course."
He started walking closer to the entrance and motioned me to follow. "My plan is to practice both assaults and defense. I do not want to doubt your academic training, but I am sure that we will only be able to practice one mode for now. The other will have to be another day."
I held my breath, flattening my smile, delicately glowered with my eyes, "whatever you say uncle."
"Show me what you can do to that straw dummy." He pointed out the farthest target, but easiest to manipulate.
I breathed in deeply and dropped my hands to my side. My thumbs were the only ones in the pockets.
I could hear the exhale of boredom, "hurry this along Sapphire."
I snapped my thumb and middle finger through the cloth and looked at Theo annoyed, "Please don't rush this. This does actually take time, practice, and patience."
"That should not be an excu-."
I cut him off, "Also, Theo. Weren't you the one who always taught me to always have your eyes on the target."
"You are right. I have always advised you of this. Why are you not doing it?" He glanced over and saw the dummy burning away. I saw a quick drop of his lower jaw. He quickly adjusted himself, "How did you do that?"
"This is what I do. This is what I am good at." I looked at him, "I understand that you're helping me, but instead of just diminishing my gifts, I think it would be more beneficial to understand my level of competence.
"Not many newly graduates are advanced enough to attack without sight of their target. I am pleasantly surprised."
I quickly noticed that Theo's expectation of elementalists is flashy movement. I'm sure there are many who waved their hands, stomped their feet, increased their bodily vulnerabilities, but not I.
Theo's focus was solely on me as a whole. He wouldn't have noticed a slight movement of my fingers. This also meant that he didn't notice I took a portion of the fire essence from the vase and created a flickering flame targeting the dummy. Once hit, the spark will become a disease and spread throughout the body. This will result in the bodies' muscles and bones to be burned on the inside. Well, that is the theory if done on a real being.
"Wow. Where did you learn that?"
"At the academy," I bluntly pointed out. "I may have missed many of my classes Theo, but I had a lot of late-night trainings."
He sheathed his sword and put it on his waist, "Show me something better."
Better? How can I possibly have something better than melting your internal organs. I nodded and looked around.
Thank you, salamanders. I looked over again at the vases, "thank you for your use sylphs."
This time I didn't want to let Theo's expectation down. I waved my arm from the waist to above my head. Throwing a long slash through the wind, I was sure it was going to cut that wooden target. It will be exactly how it's done at the academy.
Except, I quickly realize it was not going to cut off his arm. The piece moved. My wind touched it. I saw that much of it. In a matter of a second, that thing absorbed my attack and redirected it right back to me.
I wanted to show off before understanding my enemy. Pathetic.
I glanced at the elemental shelf and continuously jogged in place. I panicked. I threw my hands toward any of the elements that would listen, and glasses cracked.
Looking back at the target, I saw shards on the ground leading to the wall between us, covering my body. Once the gust clashed with the earth, the spell lifted, and the shards were scattered on the floor.
My legs wobbled to the floor. I touched the essence. And I suddenly felt grounded.