"Um...right now?" Selena asked, having the feeling that Rai basically rushed into things.
"Yeah right now." He replied making his way towards the back of the house.
"Wait." She rushed following him from behind, it became obvious Rai wasn't much of a conversation starter nor was he interested in partaking in any conversations that wouldn't provide any benefits to him. This is the result of the relentless training and hate directed to him in his old life, now it has become one of his biggest drawbacks.
"Wait!" Selena exclaimed and moved right in front of him. She was visibly annoyed by the attitude displayed by Rai and couldn't help but feel she was being used.
"First you save me, then completely ignored the gratitude I showed you for helping me, I asked you to train me and now I don't even get a chance to rest from all the craziness that has occured do far? I mean I don't even know your name!" Selena exclaimed with frustration.
Rai sighed softly, he never knew the hassle of training a woman would begin this early but it was something he had to endure. If he thought about it, considering the feelings of a woman his actions were not tolerable in any way.
"The name's Rai, Rai Voltia. And secondly you're the one who persuaded me to train you and that's what I'm about to do. Today's basically over which means both you and I have less than 34 hours to prepare for the exams. With that less time why do you hope on taking a break being fully aware how slim our chances are?" He asked before walking past her and out the door into the backyard of the apartment.
"You don't have to be rude about it." Her eyes rolled in response as she followed him out the door.
In the backyard of the apartment were several flowers such as roses and daisies and as well trees which beautified the environment. It was a calm and attention seeking surrounding an individual would crave in order to have a nice and relaxing evening.
"Alright then, let's see what you can do." Rai addressed her standing at least five meters away from her.
Selena nodded and swiftly crouched placing her two hands on the ground and yelled "Arcane Art: Stone Golem!" A blue magic circle manifested out of thin air in front of her, and from it's center a small beast like image created from stone emerged from it. It roared out and it's roar sent a bit of chills down the spine of Rai.
He tried to get used to the supernatural occurences that took place in this world, to them it was a pretty normal thing but for someone like Rai it was alarming.
"She transmutated the properties of the ground into a stone beast, alchemy? I guess I shouldn't be surprised she did say she belonged to the Alchemist type." He said in his thoughts as he smiled softly.
Selena scoffed, the mass and size of her creation was so little that it wouldn't even pose a threat to an average commoner let alone the nobles at the exams.
"Why...no matter how many times I try.... this is always the best I can do." Selena complained with teary eyes. "I'll never pass the exams with this." She added.
Rai approached her slowly with a smile on his face, he placed his right hand on top of her head and said "Focus, that's what your lacking Selena. Try again and focus."
Selena wiped her tears and nodded as she attempted the technique once again. Rai stepped backwards to give her space. After several tries it all ended with the same result, a stone beast the size of Rai's left foot.
"It's not working..." Selena spoke a bit frustrated as she attempted the technique again. Rai sighed and crouched to his feet before grabbing Selena's hand gently to stop her.
"Look at me." He inquired.
As Selena complied and looked Rai in the eyes, he stared into her eyes as though he was penetrating into her soul. "Your afraid... your afraid that the more you make use of your essence the more it takes a huge toll on your body because of your status. By doing this you are limiting your true potential." He withdrew back and stood to his feet. As he spoke he remembered the words of his mother to him as she trained him.
"Do not let the fear of death and failure hold you back from achieving your true potential, face it and embrace it. Now do it Selena." As he spoke he could hear his voice and as well the voice of his mother's.
Selena nodded and attempted the technique several times over but it was to no avail. "It's not working.." She said as she kept attempting it.
"Fight that fear, fight the doubts and break those limiters like your life depends on it because that's all you can do. Fight!" Rai exclaimed in order to motivate the insecure Selena.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as she opened them back she slammed her hands into the ground and exclaimed "Arcane Art: Stone Golem!"
A huge circle far bigger than the ones from earlier manifested on the ground in front of her and from it arose a huge beast with four legs and a tail. It roared out loud and the wind pressure from it's roar took out all the flowers in it's path.
"Oh come on!" Rai exclaimed seeing as it slowly destroyed his mini sanctuary.
"I did it...I did it!" Selena exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and hugged Rai who stared down at the creature with annoyance.
"Yeah you did, now get rid of that creature before it destroys anything more precious to me." He said.
Selena chuckled softly and reversed her technique which turned her creature back to dust.
Relieved that the beast was gone, Rai sighed as he turned to face Selena with a smile on his face. "Congratulations, you have shattered your limiters but that's only the beginning." He said.
"It is?" Selena asked.
"Yes, when it comes to alchemy the limits of what you can do is bound by your imagination. Normally I'd assume a transmutation circle is necessary for this but seeing as you didn't need one, it's the latter that applies to you." He replied speaking from the knowledge of the alchemy movies and novels he read and watched back in his old life.
"How do you know so much about alchemy?" Selena asked.
"I know a thing or two about chemistry." Rai responded.
"What's a chemistry?" Selena asked again.
"Oh, forget about that. You're on your own from now, there's only so much I can help you with as we don't share the same essence type. Remember what I said, alchemy is only limited to your imagination." He replied in order to throw her mind off the topic of chemistry, it became obvious this world wasn't as advanced as he had hoped as chemistry hasn't been invented yet.
"Thanks.." She replied with a smile on her face.
With only 24 hours left, Rai knew he had to go all out if he was to prepare for the exams that was to take place after tomorrow.