A week has passed since then. I was in my dorm talking to Cassiel when we heard a knock. I get up and open the door to reveal Laila and Sera. “Hey, what’s up, guys,” I say with curiosity. “Everyone changes into swimwear,” Laila says with a cheery smile. “Uh, why?” Cassiel answers back. Sera sighs before Laila says, “We are going to the beach.” I ask why and Laila says “To help Cassiel train and relax of course.” I put on black swim trunks and a tight-fit black shirt. Cassiel comes out in blue swim trunks and a blue loose shirt. We all walk out to Laila’s car. Sera sits in the front passenger, and Cassiel sits in the backseat. Laila starts driving, and about ten minutes into the drive Cassiel leans over to me and whispers “Amon, you know what this means right?” I look at him with a confused face and answer, “What?”. He gives me a scary smirk before saying, “Bro, Sera and Laila in swimsuits.”. My face glows red and I look at Cassiel. *CLAP* we grab hands and smile. “What the hell are the two of you plotting back there.” “Oh, Nothing Sera.” “I got my eyes on you Cassiel.” “Why not Amon?” “It’s Amon.”. The rest of the ride goes smoothly. We arrive at the beach and run to the water. Cassiel in particular is excited. I guess this is his type of scene. Laila walks over and says, “Cassiel part the sea.” Cassiel looks at Laila with a face of confusion. “Huh?” “You heard me.” “But miss Laila I can't do that.” “Then practice until you can.” Cassiel lets out a deep sigh and begins chanting and moving water around. Laila points at the sand and a six-foot deep hole appears in the ground. She snaps and water appears in it. “Sera evaporate the water.” “All of it?” “Yes.”. Sera lets out a sigh and walks over to the hole. She puts her hands into the water and starts chanting. The water begins to bubble slowly. “Now you two. No more chanting. Learn to manage celestial energy without enchantments.” “HUH?” the both of them scream in unison. “I can’t even command water with enchantments. It’s more like I apply force to it.” Cassiel states. “Time to learn, then,” Laila says with a smile. She quickly looks at me with a devious grin. I begin to sweat at the thought of some tortuous training. “Amon I want you to follow me,” Laile says. She turns to take a step and out of nowhere, we are in the forest. “How did you do that? How did you make the sand hole? How did you fill it with water?” I say with confusion. “As you know, my specialty is darkness, but my clans have its specialty we pass down from one generation to another. It's called warping.” “Warping? As in teleporting?” “Yes, I teleported the sand over the ocean and for the water, I’m sure you can figure that out. Amon your mission is to hit me. If you can land a single hit, I’ll teach you the most basic warp technique.” Without hesitation, I jump at her, throwing a punch with my right hand. She warps behind me and pushes me down. “Amon, try boosting with shadows.” I channel energy and use shadows to help me up faster. I continue attacking her, one punch after another, but no luck. There is no sign of warping. She just disappears. It’s like I'm playing a game and the opponent is lagging. Their body just appears at their next location. When we warped, I didn’t move at all. I blinked and we were here. I begin to chant, but the words won’t come out. It's like something is in my mouth, I look down and see black ooze leaking out of my mouth. “No chanting. Channel the energy yourself,” Laila says looking at me. I dash at her, holding out my hand. I send a shadow the size of a string at her, and the wind blows it away. “With your current level, you can’t do much without chanting. We need to change that. Chanting slows you down and makes you an easy target.

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