"Aal"
Boom!
A soft explosion could be heard as a fiery projectile impacted a rock pillar.
"I'm impressed, you're the fastest learner I've seen so far!"
Sitting a few metres away, Mordhal applauded Reed's success.
He did not reply, for he was concentrating on his own mana.
'That took about a tenth of my mana, counting waste.'
He focused on the damage caused by his attack, before turning to Mordhal.
"With some practise, I should be able to throw at least 12 of these before running out of mana."
He received a nod in response.
"You have about half left, want to learn another, or just practise some more?"
Reed did not hesitate before responding.
"I want to learn ice bolt."
"Alright, but take it slowly, the ice type spells can freeze you from the inside if you're not careful."
"The chant for ice creation is 'Leyhya', to cast most spells with an ice attribute you need to..."
...
Twenty minutes later.
'Up the shoulder, down the arm, pool in... the palm. Now... SHOOT!'
A white projectile flew from his hand and disappeared, and crystals of ice appeared on his palm as he inhaled sharply.
"You let it pool too deep, keep it closer to the surface."
His teacher held up his arm, and pointed his wand to it.
The wand let out a soft blue glow, and the crystals disappeared.
Then it let out a white glow, and Reed felt a warm current flow over his palm, making his discomfort vanish.
"Try again." Mordhal moved backwards, giving Reed space.
Reed positioned his arm to aim at a target, and started again.
"Leyhya" He softly murmured, and the mana in his body moved.
'Up the shoulder, down the arm, pool in palm, and SHOOT!'
Another projectile was fired from his palm, and instead of disappearing like the previous time this one flew and hit the target.
"Success."
Reed smiled as he looked at the icy formation on his target.
'Very lethal on vital point hits.' He confirmed.
'And if I can get it into a mouth... Huuuuu' He felt giddy thinking about what he could do with this new power he had obtained.
"Hey, I have an offer for you. How about you join us as a student?"
Reed was pulled away from his thought by a proposition from his teacher.
"At my age?" Reed questioned.
"We have no age limit, and you are still quite young, like maybe 30 at the most, most late joiners are in their fifties or so, one guy I know joined at 73."
Mordhal sighed.
"He didn't learn a single spell."
"Anyways, how about it?"
"I'll think about it."
"Take your time, let me know your decision when the mission ends."
'Maybe I can learn advanced spells there, but that's for later.'
"That's enough for todays lesson, and your mana is almost all spent. Meet me here tomorrow morning at about... 10 o'clock seems good enough."
With those words he turned around and left, leaving Reed in the makeshift training area.
'There's still a few hours before dark, let's get some training in.'
He made sure that he was alone, before summoning some items from his arsenal and beginning to train.
...
The next morning.
Reed looked at the vastly different ground in slight disbelief.
All the grass had been removed, along with any rocks and the like that may have been present.
The small open area had been expanded to over thrice it's initial size, and there were logs stuck into the ground neatly, with more logs set aside.
'Did he do all this alone?'
Reed looked at Mordhal, who was grinning at him.
"What?" Mordhal asked him.
"Did you do all this? Reed asked incredulously.
"Of course not, I don't know the ground clearing spell. I just hired a few mages to do it for me."
'Is he trying to gain goodwill from me in this manner?'
"So! Let's get started, wall or gust?"
"Gust, please."
Mordhal nodded.
"The chant for wind creation is 'Udhwa', and different for the two you've learnt, this spell requires spread, so..."
...
Reed stretched at his table in the restaurant.
'That was good exercise.'
He rested his hands on the table, waiting for his food.
A minute went by, and some customers entered the store, grabbing his attention.
It was the three players.
The one who wounded his shin was still limping, showing that his injury was still not healed.
They quietly made their way to a corner table, across form where Reed was seated.
There were no one else present in the restaurant except for Reed the three players, the owner, who also served as waiter, and one of the two chefs.
The three did not start talking until the owner took their orders and went away.
Then, they started to whisper amongst themselves.
Reed listened in to their conversation.
All of his five senses had been slightly improved when he broke through to tier three, and the lack of sounds between him and them allowed him to listen to what they were talking about.
Outwardly, he showed no sign of interest in them.
'How did they get so lucky?'
His thoughts however, were running about.
'If what they are talking about is true, then...'
His food was delivered, and they shut up for a few moments as they waited for the owner to leave.
But he did not, instead he sat down on a chair close to them.
One of the men frowned, but did not say anything.
They were quiet until Reed finished his meal and left.
Reed did not head to his room, but instead took off towards the dungeon at a brisk pace.
'If that information is correct, I cannot waste my time, I need to get there now!'
'If those fools let that matter spread, I won't have much chance!'