"We're off to save the world! We're off to save the world! We're off to save the world!"
Khione and I hum in synch as we continue to march through the abandoned, apocalyptic desert wasteland, onwards to our next destination, the next village on my map.
"So what's the name of the next village we're headed to anyway?" I ask Old-Man F.
"Brokolyn Village," Old-Man F answers.
"Brokolyn Village, huh?" I ask, "What a dumb sounding name…"
"So Noah, how old are you?" Khione asks with a smile as she hops in front of me then spins around to face me.
"I'm not sure!" I answer, "But if I had to guess…maybe early twenties…or so…?"
"Oh, so you're a little older than me!" Khione exclaims.
"How old are you?" I ask.
"Nineteen!" Khione answers.
"And how old is Old-Man F Flint…?" I smirk as I peer over at the Old-Man F.
"DON'T!" Old-Man F grumbles.
"I don't know, Master F won't tell me…" Khione signs, "But if I had to guess…Master F is probably in his mid-fifties!"
"Not true," Old-Man F answers, "I'm forty-nine years YOUNG."
"No you're not," Khione snickers.
"Oh yes I am," Old-Man F replies.
"And how old will you be next year?" Khione asks.
"Forty-Nine," Old-Man F answers, causing Khione to sigh.
"So how long until the next village?" Khione excitedly asks, changing the subject.
"My answer hasn't changed since sunrise," Old-Man OF sighs, "We still have a four or so day walk."
"Four days?!" Khione cries, "We have to walk for four days?!"
"Oh, only a short walk!" I exclaim.
"THAT'S short?!" Khione asks as she peers over at me.
"Yeah," I answer, "It took me around eight days to reach Tanhatam Village from my previous village. I don't know how I didn't starve to death!"
I laugh, and Khione sighs.
"I thought the quests were supposed to be fun…" Khione grumbles, "I'm so BORED!"
"What do you mean, this is fun!" Old-Man F exclaims with a beaming smile, "We're the saviors of the world!"
"My feet hurt…" Khione grumbles.
"Well in that case-" Old-Man F begins to say as he slips off his backpack and drops it to the ground in a puff of sand, "Let's take a break!"
"A break?!" Khione and I excitedly exclaim as sparkles light up in our eyes.
"A TRAINING break!" Old-Man F continues, causing Khione and I to groan.
"I need a BREAK break, I'm tired!" Khione wines.
"And I'm hungry!" I add.
"I thought you two WANTED to learn E-Charge…" Old-Man F sighs as he rubs his forehead, "Khione…you CAME to me to learn how to use your Ice Charge, and Noah, you only agreed to come along to LEARN E-Charge…"
"I know, but we're tired!" Khione groans.
I nod fervently.
"Alright, if this is going to be how you guys act throughout our entire quest, then this is going to be a LOOOONG journey," Old-Man F sighs, "So let's set a CONDITION."
"A condition?" Khione and I ask.
"Yes," Old-Man F answers as he cracks his neck from side to side, "We will begin our training now, and every day going forwards, we will train from sunset to sundown. HOWEVER, if either of you two manage to land an attack on me by tomorrow's training session…then I will allow you to take as many breaks as you'd like."
"REALLY?!" Khione and I cry, as sparkles light up in our eyes.
"Really," Old-Man F smirks.
"Well…where do we begin?" I ask.
"Although Khione already knows this information, I shall begin by teaching you the basics about E-Charge, Noah," Old-Man F answers, "As I've explained, E-Charges spawn from the original four elements, water, wind, earth, and fire. The four elements have interbred over the years, which led into the elements fusing together, and creating new elements, such as Khione's ice element, which was birthed through the conjunction of water and wind. Most children of E-Charges inherit a fusion of their parents' elements, while others only inherit ONE of their parents' elements. The elements that make up another element we call 'Compound Elements.' For example, the Compound Elements for Khione's Ice Charge are water and wind."
"Yeah, you told me all of this," I reply.
"So now we will move into E-Charger combat," Old-Man F continues as he brings his heels together, then brings his pointer and middle fingers together with his two hands.
"Hey…I know that stance!" I exclaim as I point to Old-Man F's feet, "That's the stance you resume everytime you E-Charge!"
"Very good, Noah," Old-Man F smirks, "This…is called a CHARGE STANCE. While you can weidl your Water Charge without a Charge Stance, that is probably because you wield one of the four original elements. Everyday E-Charges such as Khione and I need to resume a Charge-Stance if we want to E-Charge."
"What's the point of a Charge Stance?" I ask.
"A Charge Stance is a familiar stance that you feel comfortable in, which helps an E-Charger to channel their E-Charge into the form of powerful spells," Old-Man F explains, "Once you develop a Charge-Stance, Noah, you will be able to wield powerful attacks with your Water Charge too."
"I see…" I replied.
"Khione," Old-Man F orders, causing the purple-haired girl to perk up, "Demonstrate."
"Y-yes, Master F!" Khione stammers as she takes a deep breath in…then out. Khione then resumes her Charge Stance. Khione spreads her feet out a little past shoulder width as she holds a palm out, and places her fist on top of it.
"Ice Charge, Level One…" Khione begins to say frosty-blue sparks of energy burst from and swirl around her body.
"Woah…" I marvel.
"-Permafrost!" Khione shouts as she swipes both her arms outwards, and freezes a sand mound in front of me.
"Woah, awesome!" I yelp as I hop away from Khione's eyes.
"Don't you mean COOL?" Khione smirks as she rubs her nose, "Impressive, huh?"
"Very good, Khione," Old-Man F smiles.
A wide grin spread across Khione's face.
"THANK YOU, MASTER F!" Khione booms as she spins arodun to face her master and bows to him.
"You sure hold Old-Man F on a pedestal, huh?" I ask.
"Cause he's the COOLEST!" Khione booms as she spins around to face me with an excited smile.
"So basically…the reason why my Water Charge is so weak is because I don't have a Charge Stance?" I ask Old-Man F, "Once I develop my own unique Charge Stance, I'll be able to use powerful attacks like you and khione?
"Exactly," Old-Man F smirks.
"But I have one more question-" I continue as I raise a hand, "How come you and Khione shout all that crap when you E-Charge? It sounds…DORKY."
"Ah, I had a feeling that you would ask," Old-Man F says as he holds a finger up, "We call it chanting. E-Chargers use a sort of MENTAL CONDITIONING that comes through verbal cues when E-Charging. Take Khione for example. By chanting 'Ice-Charge,' Khione conditions her mind to summon her Ice Charge everytime she hears the words. By chanting 'Level One,' Khione conditions her body to summon the appropriate amount of strength that she wants to use. And by chanting 'Permafrost,' Khione is granting a unique identity to her spell, and the word 'Permafrost' as such be associated with that freezing attack, allowing Khione to use the spell like it's second nature."
"I see…" I reply, "Still sounds dorky."
"The reason why MY spells don't have fancy names, is because I'm so experienced at using E-Charge that I don't REALLY need a brother with mental condition," Old-Man F explains.
"So how come you keep calling your attacks 'spells'?" I ask.
"Dunno," Old-Man F shrugs, "That's just what everybody calls 'em."
"Also, what's up with the 'level' part of your spell name?" I ask.
"Each spell has its own level associated with it," Old-Man F explains, "The higher the level, the stranger the spell. So Khione's level one spell is stronger than her level one spell, and so on. Average E-Chargers have two to three levels of spells, whereas advanced E-Chargers -such as myself- have much, MUCh more."
"Despite being new to E-Charge, I already have TWO unique spells," Khione proudly boasts.
"Cool!" I answer, "And how many spells do you have, Old-Man F?"
"A ninja never reveals his tricks," Old-Man F smirks, "And don't call me that."
"Aw man!" I complain.
"Well then," Old-Man F smirks as he begins stretching his old bones, "Let's begin!"