Rielle's lab
"This is too hard" Timothy said as he stared at a potion he made "I've done three trials and I haven't gotten what I'm looking for. It's frustrating"
Rielle walked over to the area he was working and picked up the potion. It was as gooey and looked like a purple slush. "What exactly are you working on?" she asked as she inhaled it and shivered
"A food source for vampires" Timothy said "Priya left a tube of blood for me to use as a base for my experiment. This is meant to act as a blood substitute that gives vampires the same or more strength than they receive when they consume normal human blood" he pointed at the potion in Rielle's hand "That was meant to be red in color and it's meant to be more liquid"
"So, you're starting with the vampire food source first" Clark said as he took a look "The potion mixing is annoying. That, I can agree with" he sighed "You have no idea what mixes with what to find what"
"I myself...don't make potions much" Rielle said "My mother was more into it but, since there were no wars here and healing magic is quite common, there was never a need to concoct strengthening potions, or make poisons and stuff used for war. It was only when someone was ill and couldn't afford a healer that a potion was made for that illness"
"I wonder how Priya does it" Timothy said "She doesn't have a high attention span yet..." he clenched his fists "...I can't believe I'm losing to a human"
"Werewolves seem to have a lot of pride" Rielle said
"I'm frustrated too. It just doesn't show" Clark said and then, a beeping sound went off in the lab
"Well, that's enough for now" Rielle said "Dante is calling you both to the training field"
"Good thing we've eaten" Clark said as he tapped Timothy on the shoulder "Let's go"
"Yes" Timothy got up and left the lab with Clark
Rielle looked at the purple slush again before dropping it back on the table. She grabbed her lab coat and left the lab.
******
Out on the training field
Clark and Timothy jogged to join the rest who were lined up and in their gym clothes. This time, they had been lined up according to age and opposite them, were their dolls.
"When did that leave my room?" Allen murmured
"The dolls were originally created by Rielle. It's an easy task to move them here with a controller she created" Dante explained
"Get to what we're doing today" Nathan said
"You haven't even passed yesterday's training" Dante said "Today's training was meant to be a mixture of hand to hand combat, and what I thought you yesterday"
"How so?" Allen asked
"I'll explain" Rielle said "You'll be using magic to strengthen and accelerate your body movement. The sign you're using magic to do such, isn't meant to be visible like usual. It's more difficult than it sounds"
"The exact reason why you all had to complete yesterday's training" Dante said
"Honestly speaking, I couldn't understand a single thing you were saying" Alexa said
"Me neither" the others agreed
"I wasn't there" Mackenzie said
"Well, Mickey, you actually learnt it. Can you give us some tips?" Alexa asked
"It's actually simple. You're just not meant to think about the circle" Mackenzie said "Or, think about the circle but don't think about making it visible to others"
"That's it?" Jerald asked surprised
"So, there's no need for stupid poses? And other stuff?" Brianna asked
"Yep" Mackenzie said "That's why I told you guys that you were forcing it. Act like normal"
"Dante, is that really all there is to it?" Nathan asked
"Yeah. I guess" Dante said with a shrug "However, the difference is, she's a kid. She can think about other stuff and still form a spell without the circle. But, you guys are different"
"Nothing ever works as planned with magic" Rielle said with a shrug "Though, Mackenzie is on to something, not everyone might catch on even with such a simple explanation"
"So it's pretty much hopeless" Josey sighed
"Not exactly" Clark said "We haven't even tried Mackenzie's method and right now, anything would do"
"He does have a point" Nathan said as he stretched his hands in front of him "I'm not meant to make the circle visible am I?"
"Yes" Dante said "If it's visible, one can tell which spell you plan to cast. For now, think of someth-"
"Wait a second" Jerald interrupted
"What is it?" Dante asked a bit annoyed
"Doesn't that mean Sloane was the first to cast a spell without the magic circles?" Jerald said and everyone looked at him oddly "Think back to when we discovered Mackenzie was a freaking dragon keeper" he said
"She figured it out on her own?" Dante asked "Talk about talent"
"But because of her condition, it put a lot of strain on her body" Alexa said as she took a deep breath before doing what Nathan was doing
"Back to the lesson" Allen said "We can't keep falling behind people who just started using magic recently" he said as he also stretched his hands forward and the others did the same
"I just had a horrible thought" Timothy said "What if Priya does it before us?"
"Then, you all would be pretty pathetic" Rielle said "For now, try to cast a spell you're used to"
The field went into complete silence as everyone concentrated. Mackenzie had already formed her dog made from pink energy but, it was bigger and had the characteristics of a wolf.
"It's so cute" Giselle said "I want a bird" she thought and slowly, purple lights began to gather in front of her hand. However, it had formed a bubble instead of a bird
"Baby steps" Mackenzie said and Giselle noticed Mackenzie's hand was on her shoulder "Unlike you. My magic power is quite large"
Giselle looked towards the others and noticed they had also formed bubbles of different colours. Well, except for Alexa, Nathan, Clark and Allen.
Clark had formed a dark green staff, Alexa's had wrapped around her arms like gauntlets, Allen was carrying a bear cub and Nathan had a bird on his shoulder.
"Looks like their magic power is also large" Lilith said
"This is unfair" Rosco frowned
"Well, it is expected" Dante said "Alexa and Clark both have a devil's bloodline, Nathan has the demon seed and Allen is in level twenty. That's enough"
Everyone cancelled their spells and few of them were breathing heavily
"Well, now it seems you guys are ready for today's lesson" Dante said "I taught hand to hand combat two days ago, magic yesterday, we'll be doing a mixture of the two today, and weapon mastery tomorrow. We'll do this for a year while following the same pattern with three days of rest"
"Sounds fair" everyone agreed
"You can teach yourselves spells that require magic circles. Right now, you'll be using magic to strengthen and accelerate your body movement with spells that lack magic circles" Dante said "For this, you'll create and cast the spell inside your body and there's not meant to be a single sign you're doing such"
"Now that's crazy talk" Mackenzie said "I'm out of here" she added as she pulled her doll and went over to a different area. Everyone looked at Nathan when she did this but he didn't spare them a glance
"Kenzie, do whatever you want. Come to me if you understand nothing" Nathan sighed and she waved at him. "There, problem solved" Nathan said
'No wonder he's single' Timothy thought before glancing at Mackenzie 'No matter her talent, she most likely won't be able to figure it out herself. Why didn't he just tell her?'
******
Beginning And End Library
Underground training room
Priya was on a high platform with her eyes glowing violet. In her left hand was violet energy in the shape of a bow and as she pulled her right hand from her left, a purple energy arrow was formed.
Her target, was Sloane who stood at the center of the room with no weapon in hand.
Earlier
Priya finished eating and returned the plates to the tower library in the palace. When she came back, Sloane was standing at the pillar with a hand mould.
"Is there a training ground in this library?" Sloane asked after she put her hand in the mould
"There's no way-" before Priya could finish what she was saying, the pillar moved aside and the ground where it once stood began to sink in and stairways that led down below appeared
"Priya, let's go" Sloane said with a smile "I'm going to teach you to dance with weapons"
"Sure"
Present
'I know I agreed to this. But...' Priya thought as she let go of the arrow and as it headed towards Sloane, silver light began to gather in Sloane's two hands before it hardened and sharpened until it formed two swords. '...Sloane is far more skilled than me' Priya thought
Sloane spun around and swung one of the swords at Priya's arrow. It cut through the arrow and continued one. Priya then jumped from the platform she was on and landed on the ground below
Due to the terrain of the training room, there were several high platforms attached to the sides of the room. And target dummies had been moved aside on the ground below to create space.
As Priya landed safely, she started to run around the room and shoot out arrow after arrow. Another sword appeared in Sloane's hand to replace the one she had thrown. Then, with slight fancy footwork and a bit of flexibility, she dodged most of the arrows only to do a spit at the one coming at her head.
Shocked, Sloane's head turned towards Priya
"Hm. Pretty good" Priya said with a shrug
"Was your father a hunter?" Sloane asked
"Nope. I was in archery club in highschool" Priya said as she ran towards Sloane "Seems like the lessons paid off" she raised her bow and was ready to swing it down on Sloane
However, Sloane instantly closed her legs and Priya who was already in between them, lost her stumbled and fell on her butt. With a little movement, Sloane was back on her feet and moved away from Priya. Priya stood up and tossed away her bow while Sloane tossed her sword away.
They both ran at each other and met at the center. Priya tried to punch Sloane but Sloane changed the direction of Priya's fist using her palm. She then slammed her palm on Priya's shoulder before moving her leg to sweep Priya off her feet.
Before Priya could touch the floor, Sloane grabbed her hand and pulled her up
"Well done" Sloane said as Priya was back on her feet and she let go
"Thanks" Priya said with heavy breaths as her eyes returned to normal. She looked at Sloane and noticed Sloane wasn't breathing as hard as her "Your...stamina...never ceases...to amaze me" she said
"I'm a tribrid and I have the spirit seed in me" Sloane said "It's expected"
"It's unfair" Priya said before sitting on the ground "Let me catch my breath a bit"
"Don't spend too much time here. It's almost time for lunch" Sloane said with a smile as she sat with Priya
Priya looked at her for a while before asking "What was it like when you lost your parents?"
"You're asking the wrong person. I don't even remember what they look like....not to talk of the emotion I felt when they died" Sloane said
"Sorry" Priya said
"Why were you asking?" Sloane questioned
"My mother was murdered when I was eight" Priya said "The man who killed her mentioned something about her not being a dragon keeper but a mage who didn't even know she was one. I'm just realizing that I'm a mage too however, what is this dragon keeper?"
"Mackenzie....is a dragon keeper" Sloane said "According to Dante, they inherited the will of the dragons which was to keep demons from pouring into the human world through the gates of hell" she said "If someone killed your mother because they thought she was a dragon keeper, then, either there was one last dragon hunter that Dante failed to kill...or-"
"There was a crazy demon in the human world, who wanted a devil to pass through the gates of hell" Priya completed