Alexander's training with the mana shield went smoothly, and as the year went on, Alexander worked on various different applications of the same spell. He manipulated Wind Torrent in so many ways that it was almost a different spell. He practiced compressing it down to a single point the size of a baseball. This took a crazy amount of control, and the more particular the modifications of a spell, the more taxing it is on one's mana. In order to make stronger modifications, he had to get his mana sea to calm a little bit more. His mana went from a raging ocean to a raging river, which is an astronomical difference. This allowed Alexander's focus to sharpen and caused his control of mana to improve. When it came to mana shields, Alexander realized that depending on the affinity he was using, the results were different; with earth, he could expand it. The more he expanded it, the more mana it cost, and the more difficult it became to maintain the spell. Alexander was confident he could defeat a lower-ranked monster like a goblin. . Alexander hadn't been slacking off on his physical training either; he kept up with it. Every now and again he would slack on it, as it wasn't a true commitment of his. He respected his father enough to give him peace of mind seeing him training, but Alexander's father has been off to deal with an incident at the border town of Blair. He has been gone longer than expected, which was frustrating Elizabeth to no end. Alexander met back up with Amelia in the usual training spot as Amelia gazed at Alexander and one of her eyes shined a golden color; she gasped, saying, "How? How is this possible? Alexander puzzled said, How is this possible?" Amelia never stopped her appraisal of Alexander like she usually did. Amelia finally answered him back, saying, Your mana capacity exceeds those of any Nomad children. I would say you have at least 3 times the normal capacity of a Nomad child your age.
Alexander balled up his fist as he flexed his muscles, saying it's to be expected when your master is a goddess. Amelia's face turned red as she said, "Flattery will get you nowhere. Today we will spar as mages, but because magic is so complex, spars between mages are referred to as duels. You will strictly use mana. No physical movement is allowed outside of the circle I will draw for you." Amelia drew 2 circles about 20 feet apart. Amelia explained how the duel would work. Amelia said, "This duel will continue until I deem it over or one of us is unable to continue. We will start once this coin hits the ground." Amelia flipped the coin, with it sailing to the center as it hit the ground. Amelia began casting a spell that appeared to be a fireball spell. Alexander was compressing wind torrent into an almost unrecognizable spell as it was compressed into a small point, sending it sailing at Amelia as he chanted wind torrent. Amelia put up a wind mana shield expecting to block it with relative ease, but to her surprise, his spell penetrated her wind mana shield, causing her to lean her head to the side to avoid the tremendous force of his spell. Melia reached for her cheek, feeling the wetness of a cut. The shock was evident as she looked down at her bloodied fingers she laughed. She said, I'll admit your spells are packing quite the punch, but let's see what your defensive measures look like. Amelia's fireball spell had been generating fireballs, and she was at 5 fireballs. Alexander responded using a water mana shield. The first 2 fireballs impacted simultaneously, causing a smoke screen to appear. Alexander used the smoke screen to his advantage, using an earth mana shield, expending a lot of mana to make it grow like a pillar shooting towards the sky, with the last 3 fireballs destroying his earth mana shield as he shot mana torrent at Amelia again, causing her to unleash a force that made Alexander's detect mana crazy, with Amelia looking to be a pillar of mana. As she produced a thick earth mana shield, she hopped on top of her mana shield and pointed at Alexander as if her hand was a gun, saying Zap cannon! Alexander got zapped, paralyzing him for a brief moment, hitting the ground. Amelia said, "I'm going to end the duel there. I have seen enough to know that you will do well. She then said hesitantly, What was that spell you attacked with? Alexander said it was WinTorrent, but I compressed the size more. I realized it became more powerful focusing on a single point.
Amelia pondered momentarily and said, "This combat style is not sustainable with your current capacity. Everything you did today drained your mana significantly. If it were someone else, it would have ended quickly, but considering your adversary was none other than yours truly. You should have planned for a long, drawn-out duel. I ended the duel because you had nothing left. I do admit that your tactics are rather witty. When 2 mages fight, it should be a battle of wits; even the strongest man in the room can come up short of the little guy if he is not smart. Think of magic as a canvas and your brain as the paintbrush; your mana capacity is only the amount of ink you have available. Just because you don't have as much capacity as another mage doesn't mean you can't win; it just means you have to adjust your strategy. Sometimes the most beautiful paintings are the ones with the simpler features." Alexander likes the way his master pulls together words. It was like listening to a composer pull together a masterpiece. Alexander nodded his head and said, "Thank you, master. I feel as if I have a clearer understanding…" In Alexander's head, he put it in terms of strategy; he never forgot strategies in his old world. Some famous card game strategies were to mill someone until the deck was dry. Magic was essentially the same way. Amelia patted Alexander's head and said, "It's ok; you're only 6; this much is fine for now." Amelia whispered to herself, "It's worrying how good you're doing." Alexander wore a determined look on his face as he said, "I will stand side by side with you one day, master." Amelia cast a pitying look at Alexander and said, "Life is not so fair." Alexander fiercely retorted, "I don't care; I will find a way." Amelia's eyes sparkled, brimming with a newfound feeling as hope finally touched her wavering soul. Amelia smiled and wiped away a tear, saying, "I expect no less from a student of mine. Very well then, there is nothing left to say other than I shall lead the way.