There was a flash and an abrupt halt in her movements, she couldn't move and there was no avoiding the blinding golden light that struck her square in the chest and sent her rolling.
Tumbling through the foot high snow and Crusch erected a barrier behind her to bring herself to a stop, striking it hard as she gasped for breath.
"Excellent use of that spell, I'm a little impressed" said her teacher, a little ways away now.
She grunted what was supposed to be a 'thanks' but was inwardly fuming, 'He's turned into the monster he is!!' were her thoughts. Redfield was a man who knew only a certain kind of teaching that didn't exactly make him a popular pick among students and parents.
"Now, come at me more seriously!" Crusch brought herself to her feet quickly and dashed forward while followed by several deep purple orbs that morphed into thin blades as she sent them hurdling his way.
Redfield was ruthless, his form of teaching didn't come with the usual patience and kindness of an instructor raising a child through the basics but a commander that saw it fit that progress grow through relentless beatings.
Fluid motions and a body enhanced by magic, he dodged and took a few of her attacks head on without as much of a scratch or a gasp for breath. As angry and enraged as Crusch was, she couldn't deny that watching him was enthralling. Most notably was she learning how swiftly one could simultaneously cast spells and attack at the same time, he didn't so much as utter a word yet the nature and potency of each counter and attack of his was quick to change at a moments notice.
"You're too distracted" Crusch's eyes widened as she realized that Redfield was behind her now, she twirled but the movement wasn't fast enough to block the hard kick to her stomach that sent her rolling and crashing into a puff of snow.
"Analysing your enemy is good, never let it have you miss the details around you however…" Redfield spoke, the reprimand was piercing to her chest.
"What…what did you even do…?" Crusch asked between pained breaths, the pain in her stomach still squirming.
"A charm spell can be useful in many areas, Ludmilla" explained Redfield, "Throughout our entire interaction you had your guard raised for any underhanded attacks from my limbs and not just my wand yet you were so enthralled by my movements, why?"
Crusch frowned, "I was…" her frown deepened as she realized that the admiration she felt for the fluidity in his movements and counters shouldn't have lasted so long since she was well aware she was battling and not witnessing a performance yet she'd been completely awe stricken to the point that she'd ignored everything around her except for the movements showcased by her teacher.
She clicked a tongue in displeasure, "You appeared behind me too…you used two charms spells…"
Redfield smiled, evidently pleased that she'd noticed, "Excellent observation, the illusion was to distract you while the real me went in for a more lethal attack"
"Even so, the illusion itself had a charm on it! That…—"
"Multiple spell casting, an advanced form of magic control" Redfield simply explained, "That, however, is far out of your reach at the moment"
Crusch was stunned, multiple spell casting? She'd never heard of that, on more occasions than one were mage's usually able to cast spells consecutively and fluidly like her teacher but never at the same time and most definitely not as expertly as she'd witnessed, such a showcase of skill and power made her salivate and wish to learn it; perhaps a fantastical desire of hers with all the stories from her past to stand above the rest but her teacher seemed adamant on not doing so.
'Bummer…' She sighed inwardly as Redfield turned to face her properly once more.
"Now that you're more aware of these things, let's go again"
XX
The door to Crusch's bedroom opened with a small creaking noise, her movements were dragged and her eyes seemed especially exhausted. Redfield was no slouch in his training, something that she'd long come accustomed to over the weeks but never physically. What he couldn't explain with words and he explained through forcing her into situations where she had to come up with an intuitive understanding.
"It's all in good intentions, Master" she heard her wand comment, the bear side of it.
"Even so, a little restraint would go miles" She crashed onto her bed and stretched her sore limbs, the pain although dampened now still caused winces and she was brought to a sense of reminder of her teachers earlier words.
"How brutal this world coul be…" She frowned, what exactly did battles in this world that weren't spar's or friendly bouts look like?
Her teacher was creative and ingenuitive, she despised the man's ruthlessness but couldn't deny his prowess and it was obvious that everything he showed her thus far wasn't even the surface of what he was truly capable of. His use of Multiple spell casting had given her only a glimpse and one could only imagine what kinds of combinations he was capable of accomplishing that went beyond his use with charms and even that was an eye opener, battle in this world didn't sound so bland anymore and it most definitely didn't sound quite exhilarating.
"It must be quite dangerous out there, huh?" She spoke to her wand, gazing at the ceiling with an unusual expression.
"Dangerous and terrifying…" It was the feminine voice that spoke.
"Right" Crusch laughed a bit, "I might not be as cut out for this as I thought I was…"
"Far too early to say" The bear said, "Warriors aren't called so till they've graced upon the horrors of the battlefield"
Crusch scoffed in a playful manner as she shook her head, "The battlefield sounds too much for me already, haha, I'm a little less excited as I was before"
"Despairing so early is no nature that my dear owner should have" the feminine voice countered, "I expect us to do great things! One day the Magus's of old and new will know our name, carving it into the pages of history itself!!"
Hearing this and Crusch chuckled then laughed in a jovial manner, "Our names? That reminds me, you two don't have any huh?"
Crusch now realized how the two had never registered in her mind with names, she'd just known them by appearance and voice. The beautifully malicious and malevolent winged woman and the fiery beast of a bear, it couldn't continue like this and especially not when the two were tethered to her for what sounded like eternity, she was growing quite fond of them too.
"A…name?" Crusch could hear a sincrinisity in their voices, they were both surprised.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, a little confused that they didn't seem to immediately jump on the idea; most items with a conscious in stories usually loved this part.
"No, no" she felt them mentally shake their heads and happiness spread over them, "Not many Mage's name their wands, put it simply…there's no reason to name tools…"
"Well, you two aren't my tools you know?" She reassured them, smirking while she did "We're partners till the end!"
She thought of how dangerous this world would eventually become for her, the battle's she'll face, the challenges and losses where these two would never leave her side.
'Never leave me huh…' Crusch thought, an unmistakable smile creasing her face.
"So what do you say? Are you two willing to accompany me till eternity," She turned to her wand, almost able to witness the mental visage of their images, "Abssynia and Beryl?"