She followed the corridors, leading Izrun to a large covered hall. The upper parts along the wall were glass. Anyone who passed could watch those who trained in the hall's center.
Alba walked into the training area, the ground glowing as soon as her presence was discovered. A tiny thread of magic suddenly appeared from Alba's hands and followed a small symbol in the hall's center. Izrun watched as the magic touched the mark, and then a thin whitish barrier appeared, creating a giant dome around him and Alba.
She then turned to Izrun and motioned for him to come closer.
Izrun walked towards her. She then reached his hand to her right side, following with her eyes where the magic was directed, Izrun saw a stone table rise from the ground, and on this table, some magical weapons were arranged.
Alba smiled when she saw the boy's eyes sparkle with excitement. Then, she asked as she led him over to the table – Do you have a weapon?
Izrun shook his head.
Alba nodded and began to explain – All these weapons were used by significant figures of our empire. They, before leaving this world, asked that their weapons be donated to our institution so that they could receive new bearers.
Izrun looked at each one of them, looking at Alba with shining eyes – Can I touch it?
Alba nodded, agreeing with her request, and as Izrun stood up and observed each of the weapons, she spoke – The weapon of the former guardian Isaac, do you know what it is?
– A ring – Izrun replied, still entertained with the magic items in front of him. Isaac was his grandfather, who died during an accident related to the former king.
Looking down at the table, his gaze was drawn for a moment, the ring... Alba took it before Izrun's astonished gaze and held it out to him.
Izrun picked it up carefully. Up close, it looked like it was forged from pure diamond. Its length was almost transparent and full of small gold details. Alba reached her hand over the ring, and it crumbled to dust.
Alba, with a movement of her hands, caused this small mound of dust in Izrun's palm to float and then for a while before being sucked into the boy's hands.
Izrun felt the item adapting to his power. Finally, Alba asked – Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?
Izrun shook his head – I feel like… it's like it's part of me now…
Alba smiled – This is right.
Izrun continued to look at his hands. For him, it was as if now, his grandfather's power was part of him, as well as his powers inherited from his father, finally knowing a part of his history and his family that he did not know left him a little happy, his father didn't talk much about his grandfather.
His weapon, as simple as it looked, was mighty. His grandfather was a great dragon.
Izrun closed his eyes and then thought of the ring. Every feature came to mind vividly. Alba was stunned but overjoyed when she saw the ring materialize again in Izrun's hands. She didn't even need to teach him how to do it.
Izrun held him tightly. His excitement could be seen, and seeing him like that, Alba decided to start with some tricks right away.
– Well, let's practice some defense – She suddenly disappeared, scaring Izrun, who started looking everywhere for Alba. A sense of danger came from his back. His body acted on its own as he bent down while holding the ring tightly. With his eyes closed, he heard an explosion in front of him. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a completely black area in the barrier in front of him.
Still crouched, he looked back, finding absolutely nothing. Alba was still missing.
The hall was completely silent. Izrun was nervous, not knowing what would happen next. Then, suddenly, the same feeling as before hit him again. Turning to where that feeling was coming from, he saw something coming towards him. His eyes widened, 'too close' – he thought.
Izrun threw himself to the ground, and then another attack came. Rolling to the side, he got up desperately, hearing Alba's voice echoing in the hall shortly after - Don't dodge. Defend yourself.
Izrun took a deep breath. Then, putting the ring on, he remained alert while waiting for Alba's next move. Then, feeling an attack coming again, he closed his eyes and raised his arms in front of his face as a form of defense, again an explosion.
The impact pushed him so hard that his body fell into the air. He rolled once, his ear ringing. Izrun didn't have much time to recover when the feeling of the attack came again. Afraid, he got to his feet, unable to think of other forms of defense. He again put his arms in front of his face. The attack hit his little shield again, and the same situation occurred. His tiny body flew backward, as he had been thrown before. This time his back hit the barrier, and he fell to his knees. He coughed a few times.
The attacks stopped for a few minutes, Izrun took the time to take a deep breath and try to calm down. Once he recovered, Izrun stood up and looked around. He strolled back to the center, waiting for the next attack, and when he felt danger again, Izrun positioned himself to defend himself.
This time, Izrun didn't close his eyes. Instead, he faced the attack, raising his hands again, and a shield rose again. When the attack hit, he was pushed back by the impact, but this time his feet remained on the floor, stumbling a few times due to lack of balance.
Alba wouldn't wait for him to recover his balance, launching another attack in the boy's direction. Izrun raised his small shield again. This time he didn't stumble. With one leg in front, he held up his small shield as best he could. He hoped that Alba would cease her attacks from every possible direction. Izrun was a little dizzy. The explosion sounds and impacts he felt on his shield made them bewildered.
Not supporting the attacks anymore, Izrun undid his shield, and feeling his power being channeled more easily in his body because of the ring, he cast a spell in the direction that the last attack was coming from.
Attacks coming from opposite directions brushed past each other.
Alba frowned as she saw an attack coming towards her, her figure finally could be seen, and a shield appeared around her. Izrun's attack hit and completely fell apart.
Izrun wasn't so lucky, or more accurately, he didn't have those skills. Alba didn't even need to move. Her magic would defend her without her having to think about it.
Izrun had only thought about the attack. Blank for a moment, he could only watch Alba's attack coming towards him, hitting him. He flew further and hit the barrier again, feeling something in his throat. Izrun coughed. A thick red liquid ran through his nose and mouth, his ear buzzed, barely hearing what Alba was saying – This is a defensive magic class, not an attack one. You must think about your safety first. Do not hurry.
Izrun struggled to his feet. Some blood spattered the floor. His hand was completely stained with blood from covering his mouth with it. A handkerchief was extended towards him, and without refusing, he took the cloth to his mouth and nose to clean the blood that continued to flow.
Alba narrowed her eyes and looked away. She didn't hit hard. Her attacks were relatively light. What a fragile little boy – Go to the infirmary. We will have this class again next season.
Izrun nodded, his eyes stinging while breathing hard when he suddenly noticed that his ring was stained with blood. He tried desperately to wipe it away, and as soon as he did, he looked at Alba.
Alba pursed her lips, sighing – Don't remove it in the corridors, during class hours, or near the students. It's yours now. You can keep it.
Izrun nodded again, relieved. He ran his fingers over the ring, which fell apart and disappeared in Izrun's hands like the first time. He held the scarf to his nose with his left hand, not forgetting to bow to his tutor – Thank you for your teachings, miss Alba.
A little embarrassed by his performance, he ran from the room. Alba looked around the room for a while.
Feeling that she was being watched, she looked up. Many teachers were there. Their smiles and expressions showed how excited they were about what they had just watched. They seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Alba narrowed her eyes when she found Aruna, who was feigning seriousness among the other ladies. As soon as the teachers saw they were caught, they quickly left, leaving only Aruna and Maia behind.
– What are you doing here? – Alba asked, uninterested.
Aruna smiled – It's a break. The fight was fun to watch, well… actually, I wouldn't say it was a fight, more of a beating.
Alba narrowed her eyes – Aruna.
Aruna suddenly made a surprised expression, raising her hand to her lips – Oh, sorry, sorry, look at the time, the break is already over, I should go prepare the next subject – Leaving, she waved to Alba – See you later Director – Aruna pulled Maia away.
Maia felt quite complicated as she watched the fight, she had seen worse but that was because her brother was a general, it was normal for him to train steadily in his skills, she knew that one day she would see her nephews suffer a lot when they are trained to become soldiers , her brother had already said that they would be part of the royal guard, thinking of her nephews she felt distressed, they were only two years old, but their fate had already been decided.
Alba sighed irritated, leaving the room she ran into the maids, they were already ready to clean and organize the hall, there were several parts stained by the explosions, Alba looked at the small damage thinking that maybe she had been too rough with Izrun , she forgot for a moment that even if Izrun was the guardian's son, Ikalles was a terrible instructor for him, so the boy didn't have much experience. Well, she didn't forget, she just decided to ignore that fact.
Frustrated Alba went back to her room, while Izrun was lost again in the corridors, but this time not alone, as it was break time there were many girls in the corridors, they looked at him scared, feeling all these strange looks directed at him made him want to shed some tears in despair, he felt cornered, not knowing what to do.
– Ive!
Hearing a familiar voice, Izrun turned around, Kenzy walked hurriedly towards him – How was the training? – As soon as she asked, she looked at Izrun's dirty clothes and then at the scarf he was holding to her face, out of curiosity, her hand automatically pulled the scarf away, seeing her face stained with blood, Kenzy despaired – What was that? Was it during training?
Dalji and Huanxue had arrived at the exact time and they could also see the blood on Izrun's face, who, having tightened the cloth on his face, ended up spreading the blood over his fair skin, in short, he was a complete mess.
Huanxue quickly grabbed Izrun's free arm, pulling him through the corridors – Quick, let's go to the infirmary.