The mid-morning sun beamed brightly upon Elianna as she stood upon the lush green grass in front of the garrison's headquarters building. The crisp air blew around her, carrying her silvery-white hair in the wind, a few strands falling upon her face. She stood poised, staring at her father, who stood several feet before her.

Lucian had a playful grin on his face as he twirled around the short wooden bat he was holding in his right hand. "Are you ready, Elianna?"

Elianna nodded determinedly, "I am."

"Good," Lucian said as he took a brown leatherbound ball out of his spatial ring and stopped swinging the bat around. "Remember. This is a movement and reaction drill. Amplify yourself with mana, just like I showed you."

"Got it."

Elianna watched her father unblinkingly, waiting for him to make his move. This was her final test to prove she could push mana through her body to make herself stronger and faster, and she didn't intend to lose.

Lucian tossed the ball into the air, and Elianna prepared herself. She felt the warm power of mana flowing inside her mana core and, just like her father showed her, pushed it out throughout her body through what he called mana channels and mana veins. He had told her that while the mana channels were like rivers that flowed out from her mana core throughout her body, the mana veins were like streams that flowed into the muscle, allowing for augmentation. It was incredible, feeling the warmth of the pure mana expanding from her core and flowing through her entire body. She could feel herself becoming lighter, yet also stronger.

The ball began to fall, and Lucian swung his bat hard, striking it and sending it to Elianna's far left. Elianna's eyes tracked the ball's movement and dashed toward it at incredible speeds.

Amplifying her body with mana made her faster, so much faster that Elianna was able to shorten her one-mile run time significantly. She loved this feeling, the mana flowing through her body and the wind brushing against her skin as she ran.

Elianna quickly moved into the ball's path, watching it bounce off the ground. She swiftly picked it up with her bare hand, and with the mana flowing through her right arm, she threw it back toward her father.

The baseball flew rapidly through the air, directly toward Lucian. Lucian smiled, lifting the bat and getting ready to hit the ball again. "Good accuracy! Keep it up! Four more!"

Lucian struck the ball again, hitting it to Elianna's far right. Elianna burst to the right, stumbling a little but remaining on her feet. She stretched her right arm out and grabbed the ball just before it passed her. She slid to a stop, aimed, and threw the ball back toward her father.

Elianna watched the ball as Lucian hit it down the middle in a line drive. Elianna sped towards the ball as quickly as she could, determined not to let it get past her. She reached out and nearly had to jump to catch the ball at the last second. Skidding to a stop, she quickly turned and threw the ball back to her father.

This time, however, Elianna mentally scolded herself as she threw it too far to his right. She had nothing to worry about, though, as Lucian quickly adjusted and dashed toward the ball to hit it again.

"Don't get sloppy!" Lucian yelled, striking the ball again and hitting a grounder to Elianna's left. "Keep a clear mind and stay focused!"

Elianna nodded in response and burst toward the ball. She reached down and caught the ball swiftly before skidding to a halt. She twirled around, focused, and threw the ball back toward her father. Elianna smiled contently, seeing she was far more accurate on this throw than the previous one.

"Better!" Lucian called out and prepared to strike the ball again.

Lucian's eyes flicked to her right, and Elianna got ready, thinking that was where he was going to hit the ball. But to Elianna's surprise, Lucian hit the ball high, directly over Elianna's head.

Elianna stumbled to the right before she was able to regain her footing. She pushed more mana into her legs, squatted down, and jumped as high as she could, jumping a few feet into the air. She reached her arm out and almost yelled with glee when she caught the ball. She landed on the ground safely and looked at her father with a wide smile.

Lucian smiled proudly at his daughter, "Very good munchkin. Now relax."

Elianna let out a breath of relief, and physically relaxed, cutting off the flow of mana in her body. She immediately felt physically tired and collapsed on the lush green grass beneath her. She breathed heavily as she laid on her back, feeling the sweat rolling down the side of her head, her hair clinging to her face, and her hands stung a little from catching the leatherbound ball repeatedly. She stared at the beautiful clear blue sky above her, feeling the wind flow over her as she calmed her breathing. Footsteps caught Elianna's attention, and she looked to her side, seeing her father approach.

Lucian chuckled, seeing his daughter lying there, "You did well." He stored the short wooden bat in his spatial ring and laid down beside his daughter, looking at the clear sky.

Elianna looked at her father curiously, "Any suggestions on what I can work on?"

"Just one," Lucian looked toward his daughter. "Do you know why you stumbled on the last hit?"

Elianna thought for a second, "Well, I thought you were going to hit the ball to my right."

Lucian smiled, "Exactly. I did that on purpose to see what you would do."

Lucian sat up, and Elianna followed his lead. They sat cross-legged, looking at each other.

Lucian gestured to his daughter, "You anticipated the hit."

Elianna brushed the strands of her hair away from her face, "Anticipated?"

"It means you thought I was going to do something, so you were preparing to react to it."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Lucian grabbed his chin, trying to think how to answer, "Yes and no." Elianna looked at her father, confused, so he continued. "It's good to anticipate for something to happen; this way, you are prepared. However, too much anticipation can end up hurting you in the end. If you expect something to happen one way, but it happens another, it could cause some trouble. Like how you stumbled today."

Elianna looked to the side, processing her father's words. "So, It's okay to anticipate, but always be ready for something else to happen?"

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Lucian nodded and smiled, "Precisely. We will go over anticipation more, but for now, we will focus on something else."

Elianna looked at her father curiously, "What?"

Lucian stood up and reached out to his daughter, "I'm going to teach you how to form a mana guard."

Elianna took her father's hand, "Mana guard?" Her father pulled her up to her feet. "What's that?"

Lucian smiled, "You're about to find out." His eyes flicked to the ball in her hands, "Here, I can take that." Elianna followed his gaze, seeing she was still holding the ball. She placed the ball into his hand, and he stored it in his spatial ring. Lucian smiled and jerked his chin, "Follow me."

Elianna followed her father as he began to walk toward the first battalion building, where knights and mages were outside training as usual. Lucian stopped and turned to face Elianna fully, gesturing to the knights, "What do you see?"

Elianna looked to where he was gesturing and saw several knights of different races training together. They wielded a variety of weapons coated in different elements. She observed a tall male elven knight with green hair who was wielding two short swords in his hands. The elven knight was surrounded by a white translucent barrier and raised his swords, getting into an attack stance. Before him stood a tall human male wielding a spear, also with a translucent barrier around him, standing in a defensive stance.

The elf coated their two short swords in fire magic before dashing toward the male at incredible speeds. Wind magic began to quickly form at the tip of the human's spear before he thrust it forward, unleashing an intense beam of wind magic toward the elf. The elf quickly jumped into the air and spun around in a circular motion, releasing two crescents of fire magic from his swords toward the beam of wind.

The wind and fire magic attacks collided in an explosion, which rang loudly in Elianna's ears. Elianna watched the display of power with a wide smile, as she always loved watching the knights train.

"Elianna."

Elianna's head snapped to her left when she heard her name, and she saw her father watching her with a humorous smile.

Lucian knew and always adored how much she loved magic and watching the knights train. Seeing the bright smile on her face and the sparkle in her eyes always brought him a sense of joy.

Lucian looked at Elianna curiously, "So? What did you see?"

Elianna shrugged, "They were training like usual. One had a spear and used wind magic, while the other had swords and used fire magic."

Lucian nodded, "That's correct. But what did they both have in common?"

Elianna looked confused, not knowing what he meant. She looked back toward the elf and human, seeing that the elf had now closed the distance to the human. The elf repeatedly slashed his fire-coated swords at the human while the human parried the attacks with his wind-coated spear.

Elianna watched both of them closely, trying to figure out what they had in common. She noticed they moved differently, used different types of magic, and had different weapons. Elianna was confused and was about to ask her father what he meant until it clicked. Her brows raised in realization, seeing the translucent barrier around both of them.

Elianna looked at her father excitedly, "The barrier!"

Lucian chuckled and nodded, "That's correct." Lucian stepped back, and Elianna was mesmerized as a white translucent barrier formed around her father. Lucian gestured to himself, "This is called a mana guard. It's a technique used by augmenters."

Elianna looked around, seeing the knights that were sparing with each other or hitting training dummies did indeed have a mana guard around them.

"The mana guard serves several purposes," Lucian continued, and Elianna looked at him. "It is like a second skin. It wraps around your body and acts like armor. The mana guard will also protect you from being directly manipulated by mage spells or even cancel an active spell effect, such as transformation spells."

Elianna looked at her father curiously, "Transformation spells?"

"It lets a mage change their own or another's appearance," Lucian explained. "Our mana guards can prevent that. It can also protect augmenters from attack spells. However, our mana guards are not perfect. Spells or attacks can pierce them, like any type of armor. The stronger your mana guard, the more damage it can take. Any questions?"

Elianna shook her head, "No."

"Alright then," Lucian said as he canceled his mana guard, and the barrier faded away. He sat cross-legged on the ground, and Elianna followed his lead, sitting in front and facing him. "I'm now going to teach you how to form a mana guard."

Elianna smiled and nodded in excitement, "I'm ready."

Lucian chuckled as he loved how excited his daughter got during training. "You already know how to push mana through your body to enhance yourself, which is the first step to the mana guard. Now, go ahead and push the mana through your body, like you did before during the movement drill."

Elianna nodded and did as her father said. She focused on her mana core and directed the mana through her body, feeling it course through her channels and veins.

"Good, now the mana guard stems from the channels inside your body and wraps around you. Focus on the mana flowing through your channels, and push it out."

Elianna looked confused, "Push it out?"

Lucian nodded, "Push the mana past your channels. We augmenters can direct the mana coursing inside us and form it around our bodies. That is how we form the mana guard."

Elianna nodded and closed her eyes. She visualized the mana coursing through her, seeing the pure white energy flowing through her channels like rivers. She focused on the mana, remembering what her father taught her. Magic was based on willpower and intent. You must concentrate on the mana and, through your intent and visualization, can direct it.

Elianna focused on her mana and breathing. Because she was so deep in concentration, she stopped hearing the sound of the knight's training, and she felt the mana coursing through her channels begin to fluctuate.

The mana flowing through Elianna began to expand, and she visualized it pushing out and wrapping around her. Her skin began to feel warm, the same warmth she felt when she pushed mana through her body, and she stopped feeling the wind brush against her skin.

"Elianna," Lucian said, and Elianna jumped slightly in surprise. "Open your eyes."

Elianna slowly opened her eyes, seeing her father smiling proudly at her. Her vision was clear, and she didn't see anything different. Elianna looked down, her eyes widening with surprise, seeing a white translucent barrier around her, and the mana barrier fluctuated a little.

"Keep your concentration," Lucian said gently.

Elianna took a breath, concentrating on her mana guard, and it held firm.

"Very good, munchkin," Lucian said contentedly and stood up. "Go ahead and stand up."

Elianna slowly got to her feet while concentrating on holding her mana guard.

Lucian gestured to Elianna, "Now that you know how the mana guard feels, go ahead and dismiss it."

Elianna nodded and canceled the flow of mana through her body. She felt the flow of mana stop and watched as her mana guard disappeared.

"Good," Lucian said and shifted on his feet. He placed his left foot in front of his right and held his hands up in fists. "Now, get into this stance."

Elianna beamed with excitement, "Are we starting combat training?"

Lucian smiled, "Yes. Now get into this stance." Elianna quickly and excitedly mimicked her father's stance. "Good," Lucian said and stood straight. He took a pair of sparring pads out of his spatial ring and put them on. He held his hands up, "Go ahead and give the sparring pad one good punch. We will work on technique later. First, I want to show you something."

Elianna nodded and punched his left pad with her right fist as hard as she could. Her fist and wrist immediately throbbed, and she pulled her arm back, "Ow."

Lucian chuckled and smiled, "Punching can hurt. Especially with the wrong technique. Now, apply your mana guard."

Elianna nodded and concentrated. This time, she kept her eyes open and pushed the mana through her channels. Like before, she focused on the mana forming around her and watched her arms with a smile as her mana guard formed.

"Very good," Lucian said happily, seeing his daughter grasp the training quickly. "Now, punch with your right hand again."

Elianna nodded and got back into her fighting stance. She moved just like before and punched as hard as she could. However, this time, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise when her fist connected with the sparring pad, as she felt the physical connection but no pain.

Lucian smiled, seeing her surprise, "Your mana guard reinforces your body through your mana veins and makes it highly durable. While you will still feel the force of something striking you, the mana guard will block some of the pain but not all, especially against strong attacks."

Elianna stood straight, looking at her hands in awe. She flicked her left arm, taking note that she could feel the slight pressure behind it but felt no pain.

Lucian held up his sparing pads, excited to teach his daughter, "Ready, munchkin?"

Elianna smiled, looked at her father determinedly, and got into a fighting stance, "Ready."