*ELOWEN*
It's been two days since we arrived in the capital and showed off our new haircuts. Therius and I returned to training.
Therius was training in hand-to-hand combat with Otto, and I was with Atheria, who also wielded a greatsword and helped me train with it. Sara was helping me control earth magic, teaching me some incantations for spells.
Sara gave me an evaluating look and then spoke: "Well, miss, I can see you're just starting to handle the element, so don't worry. While you're here, I'll help you."
Scratching my cheek, I thanked her: "Thanks, sister." She clapped her hands loudly. "Very well, let's begin," she shouted. "As you already know, earth is everywhere: in the air, in your shoes, clothes, etc. Earth is always there; you just can't see it," she said, crossing her arms and explaining.
"Close your eyes, dear," she instructed, and I closed my eyes. "Let your mana flow freely," I did as she said.
Releasing mana slowly from my core, she spoke again, "Once the mana is released, start focusing on your surroundings. You can feel the ambient mana flowing through this room," she continued explaining.
Still with my eyes closed and focused, I began to feel the mana in small brown specks. "I can see from your face that you can see something. Tell me, what do you see?" she asked as I concentrated.
Without losing focus, I began, "I can feel, or rather see, brown snowflakes in the darkness. I want to think that these flakes are earth mana," I expressed. "I can feel them moving with the current, and more mana is coming from the ground."
Sara did something, and I felt the mana in the ground move abruptly. "Did you feel that disturbance?" she asked. "Yes, the mana in the ground moved violently," I replied.
She touched my shoulder and spoke, "You can open your eyes, dear." I did as she said and opened my eyes, seeing her standing behind me.
She extended her hand, "Get up." I took her hand, and she helped me up. "Now, with your eyes open, focus on a direction where you felt the earth," she instructed. I looked at one of the benches where I had felt the mana being static.
Looking in that direction, I spoke, "I can feel the earth in those benches." Sara gave me another instruction, "Very good. Now that you feel the earth in the benches, try to attract it, as if you were drawing ambient mana to you when meditating."
I did as she said, feeling my body meditating. I opened my mouth to recite a spell, but Sara stopped me, "Don't recite any spells. What you're doing is attracting the mana from that direction." I turned in her direction, then looked back at the benches, feeling the earth approaching.
As it got closer to the palm of my extended hand, I began to see the earth accumulating in my hand until a noise from Therius and Otto's direction caused the earth mana to move forcefully in that direction, making me lose concentration.
I turned towards Therius's location and saw him on the ground, on his back. "Ahhh, I fell again," he complained as Otto lifted him by the waist.
Otto was laughing, "Oh, come on, kid. I'm bigger than you, so there's nothing to complain about," he said, leaving Therius standing on the ground. Sara shouted while Atheria went towards them.
I jumped in surprise. "Idiots, we're busy here. Make less noise," I heard her shout for the first time. She turned in my direction and smiled again.
"Sorry about that, dear. You're the first one I'm teaching, and I was having fun," she said, and I just smiled at her.
Shaking my head, I refocused on the earth mana around me. Sara looked at me again, "Very well, yes, focus once more. Feel the mana, concentrate, and when you feel it, don't attract it. Focus it on a point away from your hand," I listened to her and did as she said.
"Good," I responded. Once again, feeling the mana in the ground, I attracted it and concentrated it on a point. "I did it. Now what?" I asked. "You can feel it now. Slowly lift it, like you would with a yo-yo, letting it fall and making it come back to your hand."
Listening to her example, I did it. With my hand directed towards the concentrated earth, I lowered it calmly and felt the mana sinking. Then, with force, I lifted my arm, and the mana rose, creating a one-meter-high mound of earth.
I got excited and turned my head towards Sara, smiling. "Oh dear, that was excellent," Sara cheered and hugged me.
"That was great, and this was your first time controlling earth," Atheria returned to us, praising me.
Rubbing my nose, I smiled, "Of course, at my age, I should be able to do that," I said as Sara let me go.
"Most kids your age are just purifying their mana to reach the red stage and reveal their element," Atheria said.
"Well, I'm awesome," I said again. "Yes, yes, yes, my little sister is awesome," I turned to see Therius coming towards me.
"Alright, little Emwind, now it's time to work on your swordsmanship," Atheria spoke to me. I lowered my head in resignation and summoned my sword from my ring.
I noticed that the blade's color had changed from red to a lighter shade. "Hey, Wen, did only the blade of your weapon change color?" Therius asked, noticing the change.
I inspected it carefully as Otto arrived and spoke, "Yes, some weapons forged with special metal can change the color of their blades depending on the wielder." He extended his hand, and I realized he was asking for the sword, so I handed it to him.
While Otto inspected it, he gave a brief explanation, "I imagine and believe I can confirm that as you're advancing in your control of the earth element, your weapon is resonating with it, tinting itself with the same color. That's why it changed shade. As you improve your mana control, your sword will continue to change color until it reaches brown," Otto finished his "brief" explanation.
He handed the sword back to me, and I thanked him, "Thank you, Uncle. That cleared up a doubt I was starting to have."
I moved towards Atheria, "Can we start now?" I asked. "Yes, we can start," she replied.
*****
*AETHERIUS*
Leaving my sister alone with Atheria, I returned to my training with Otto.
Returning to our area, Otto spoke: "Alright, Therius, let's warm up and exercise again." I just nodded, stretching my body from right to left, then twisting my waist from right to left as well, and finally stretching my legs.
After finishing stretching my body, I did 50 squats, 30 push-ups, 100 jump rope skips, and another 50 sit-ups, all to train my body.
I felt my arms burning from the push-ups, my legs hurting from jumping and the squats, my hips aching, and I couldn't move much. After three hours, I finished my exercises with Otto, and with my body still warm, I jogged for 10 minutes around the area and did 20 minutes of lunges to complete my training and rest.
Leaving the training field, I went to sit down and ended up lying down, placing a damp cloth on my face to cool my body temperature. My mother arrived to check on Elowen's and my training. After looking around several times, she spotted me.
I felt her approaching. "Hey, Ther, are you alright? Your body is hot," when I heard the word "hot," I got up and, despite my sore body, raised my hands to calm any signs of concern from my mother.
"I'm fine, Mom, really. It's just that after training, my body gets hot, and I'm resting to let it cool down," I explained something she already knew, and she laughed.
I relaxed when I saw her laugh, as there was nothing to worry about. "Alright, son. And your sister?" she asked about Elowen, and I pointed in her direction. I saw that she was also lying on the ground.
When Elowen turned towards us, she got up and headed our way. "Mom, my arms hurt," she complained.
My mom laughed and wiped away a tear, "That's normal, honey. If you train your magic and sword skills, your body gets tired and hurts. But over time, you'll get used to it," she said as Elowen sat next to us.
Atheria, Sara, and Otto arrived. "Both of your training sessions are done for today. Rest for the rest of the day and tomorrow," Otto said. "But don't forget to practice your mana sense," Sara added. Finally, Atheria spoke, "Don't forget your light training, nothing more," and Mom dropped the bomb on Elowen, "Don't forget we're still training your healing magic, dear." Hearing that, Elowen groaned.
Calming down a bit, we thanked them, "Understood, and thanks," Elowen and I said in unison. I couldn't move, so Otto helped me up, and Atheria helped Elowen up, assisting her to stand. I laughed at the scene, knowing that as Elowen grew, she would train more.
****
The week passed quickly due to Elowen's and my training, while we prepared for Trevor's graduation ceremony. "Mom, have you seen my tie?" I asked.
"It should be with the suit... oh, never mind, it's here with me. Let me finish up here," she responded. While I finished getting dressed, I started combing my hair, tying it back, leaving part of my bangs loose.
Dad entered my room while fixing his tie and holding mine. "Your mother told me to give you your tie. Come here, I'll help you." He sat on the bed and began adjusting my tie until it was properly in place.
My mother entered and whistled when she saw Dad and me in suits. "How elegant," she said as she put on her earrings.
She then left the room and went to help Elowen with her dress. After finishing getting ready, I left my room with Dad and went downstairs to the dining room.
Fredic and Valentina were there and noticed us. "That's elegance," Fredic complimented as we struck elegant poses. "And that's beauty," Valentina said, looking behind me at Mom and Elowen, who were dressed in matching light blue dresses.
The color matched Elowen's tanned skin and Mom's fair skin, while Dad and I wore dark gray suits that complemented our complexions, especially mine with my parents' combined hair colors.
The four of us stood together as Nora arrived with the camera to take some photos. We posed and looked very elegant in the picture.
Otto, Fredic, Valentina, Sara, Nora, and Atheria were invited to the graduation by Trevor, each dressed in outfits that suited them.
We then took a group photo with the help of a guild employee and headed to the academy. As we left, we saw many well-dressed people arriving for their children's graduation.
We handed over our invitations and passed through the reception to enter the hall where the ceremony would be held and where the guests would be seated.