...
"Cheers!"
A few guys cheered as they clinked with their glasses of beers. Neoma just sat between them, holding a glass of some fizzy drink as he smiled, clinking his glass with the rest of his teammates.
The group of college students wearing white and gold coloured tracksuits lifted their glasses up to their lips and took a few big gulps.
The brown haired youth slammed his glass of beer down on the table and smiled at Neoma.
"I knew you could do it. It was a good decision to place you last in the marathon. Do you see how much your win got the guys excited?"
He chuckled as he poured the white haired youth more of the fizzy drink.
"No, you're wrong, Captain. It wasn't my win. It is our win. If you all hadn't run your best, it wouldn't have mattered how much I tried. We all won. With all of our efforts."
He smiled back at the leader of the track and field club.
"That is true. But the way you raced and overcame all of them did stir up everyone's feelings. I think they all finally realised what it feels like to be a team. Everyone stayed by the finish line and waited for you. They cheered you on. Even —— began to shout on top of his lungs. Can you believe it?"
The captain chuckled again as he glanced towards the blonde guy sitting at the other end of the table who was quietly drinking his beer and listening to the conversation the other few guys were having.
Neoma smiled and slowly nodded.
"It really is quite hard to believe it. However, they weren't the only ones who felt what it meant to be a team. Captain… When I was running, I could only hear your and their voices. I think that's what motivated me to give it my all. I wasn't running just for the win. I was running for the team. I wanted to bring our team first and for us to win."
A small sigh escaped past the white haired youth's lips.
"Thank you for allowing me to run last, Captain."
He thanked his club leader while smiling. He gently gripped the now full glass and looked down at it.
'Thank you for allowing me to become part of this team.'
"There's no need to thank me for that. This is just what a captain does. You should start learning from me, future captain of the track and field club."
The brown haired youth smiled as he gently patted Neoma's back.
"Now cheer up and let's go back to drinking! Well… You keep drinking your soda."
He chuckled once again as Neoma just blankly stared at the wall in front of his eyes.
'Future captain…'
He repeated what the team leader had told him in his mind.
...
"Hm? Why? Oh, it's because I'm interested in you."
Just as the dark haired elf said those words, a memory of that day resurfaced in Neoma's head. Silence filled the training grounds as the two just stood there, staring at each other for a good minute or so.
'Why did that sentence just bring back that memory… And why can't I remember their names? Or their faces… But it hasn't been so long since I died…'
Neoma slowly shook his head, deciding to worry about this later than now. After all, he had another problem standing right before his eyes.
The white haired youth began to frown after he fully realised what the elf had said.
"You really need to stop joking around like that. How am I now supposed to see you as my mentor?"
"But I was being completely serious."
Neoma's eyes darkened slightly as he looked up at Juno. He began to slowly raise his left hand which held the whip.
Juno, yet again, put his arms up, as if he was scared to be whipped by the novice.
"Enough with the teasing. If you don't stop, you will get to see just how strong and dangerous I can be."
He threatened his instructor.
"But I really wasn't teasing you. I mean, who wouldn't be interested in that power of yours. A human suddenly appeared who created a shield which ate up the lightning magic. This piqued my interest quite a bit."
Neoma couldn't see it, but he could sense that Juno was smiling as he spoke. He could also tell from the way the corners of his eyes slightly went up.
The white haired youth lowered his whip and sighed softly. He decided to just leave it at that.
"Hmm… But who knew your weapon was actually a whip. It's quite rare, if I say so myself. How did you… conjure it? Did you want your main weapon to be a whip?"
Many questions came out of Juno's mouth as he continued to ask Neoma. The human slowly began to frown again out of annoyance. He slowly shook his head.
"I didn't want it to be a whip… I just thought of what would fit me best and it just began to form in my hand."
Neoma explained as he looked down at the whip. He resorted to lying. He couldn't reveal Alvis even to his mentor.
'Interesting. Was he a fighter before? If he was, he definitely would've been well known.'
Juno's eyebrows went up slightly as he thought of this possibility. He slowly nodded and gently rubbed one of his temples.
"It is odd though. There are only two types of people who use magic to fight. It's either mages, who use spells to fight. They fight by using magic in itself. There is another class of fighters though. Those who use magic to enhance their own bodies and weapons. I'm the latter.
"But you are quite an odd case. You use magic to create a weapon for yourself. However, you were also able to create a shield covering the entire capital of Aekodora. It's no wonder I was interested in you. And I wasn't the only one as well. Many were interested."
The dark haired elf explained as a small sigh escaped past his lips, glancing over at his whip.
'That whip completely devoured my wind magic that was on my throwing knife. What a scary power… But now I completely understand why His Majesty is nurturing him.'
"I don't know what my preferred style of fighting is… But I have a weird feeling that I will be able to learn both. I think I have enough of that power in me to be a mage and an augmenter."
Juno nodded in response to Neoma's words. He agreed to what the human was saying.
"Since this power is purely unique to you… How do you wish to name it?"
The elf asked as he looked down at his student. It didn't take long for Neoma to answer this question.
'It already has a name, after all. A quite well fitting name.'
"Anti-magic. That will be the name of my power."
The human answered and Juno nodded in agreement.
"Perfect. It suits your power perfectly."
Once he finished speaking, after a few seconds of silence Neoma spoke up again. He looked up at his mentor.
"The lessons will happen every day and will start at 9 in the morning, right, sir?"
As he asked, Juno's eyes widened and he shook his head. He put his hands in his pockets and sighed softly.
"Don't call me sir. It makes me feel quite old. I am only 182 years old. But yes. We will meet tomorrow at 9 in the morning. Be sure to not be late."
The dark haired elf instructed his student who just rolled his eyes.
"You are old compared to my age. I've only lived 21 years. You are almost 9 times older than me. I think the word 'sir' is not even enough to fully express my respect for your seniority."
Juno frowned as he heard the insults coming from the human.
"Hey, I am a young adult. Elves can live up to 500 years. Some lived even longer if they were blessed by dragons. You humans can't even make it past 100 years."
The two began to bicker for absolutely no reason.
"But humans can also live longer if they're blessed by the gods or practise a specific type of magic."
Neoma retorted, showing off his knowledge.
Their arguing took a few more minutes before the human decided to leave his instructor standing alone on the training grounds.
...
9th of Junious, 1503
Current time: 08:41:03
Neoma walked towards the training grounds, wondering what Juno will tell him to do and how their lessons will go. Out of habit, he had woken up even earlier and had nothing else to do, so he decided to just wait for his mentor.
As he approached the training grounds, he stopped in his tracks and looked up at one of the taller trees. He saw the dark haired left sitting on the branch, tossing a few knives up and then catching them a few times.
"Why are you already here?"