It had been 2 months since River had started doing the back and forth runs from the rock to the tree. He ran 5 times a week and the other 2 days he used that extra time to read the books the old man gave him. He had just started the 7th book.
This one fascinated him the most since the first book. It had to do a lot with wind magic which for some reason he found himself more drawn too than other forms. There was no single best magic; Each had its own strengths and weaknesses. River liked the idea of being able to move around quickly and the freeing feeling movement could give you.
This also marked his sixth month training with Al. He had become a pretty decent fighter and grown a little physically in the past 6 months making him just a bit bigger than Al was. Still he was no match but he no longer felt that Al was going too easy on him.
The fact he felt his sparring partner now had to try to block his attacks and escape his grips was a great accomplishment. Just a few weeks ago he was walking home from the old man's place and had a run in with the bully who held him under water before.
He was no doubt looking forward to the chance to get Lee alone and by proxy take out his aggression on Al; who he had decided to steer clear of. Lee was able to fight the bully off without taking a single hit. When he thought in his minds eye of what he saw Al do when Al was serious he still knew he had a long way to go.
That fight looked smooth and effortless; his looked anything but smooth. It was still effective enough in either case. Lee never got bothered from those bullies again after that day.
While sparing with his friend Lee decided to let the cat out of the bag about the old man. The old man didn't say that he couldn't tell some people he was learning magic. He had to however promise not to say who was teaching him as the old man didn't wish to be bothered by anyone.
Lee said “Al, if I tell you a secret will you promise not to tell anyone?”
Al said “I will promise as long as it isn't anything bad. Is that okay?”
Lee said “It isn't bad, it's just something I don't want being spread around”.
Al shrugged, still sparing with River while they talked “okay, what's your secret?”
Lee hesitated for a moment “I am learning magic from someone”.
Al stopped on a dime “You're really learning magic? Who are you learning it from?”
Lee said “I can't tell you, I was sworn not to say who was teaching me. I was also asked not to spread it around too much. I was told it was okay if I told a few people as they might be curious where I am and my teacher would rather I not have to lie about it”.
Al said “Well don't just stand there! Show me some magic!”
River said “I can't actually do any spells yet. I have been asking about it but he has said it is safer now just to read and build up my body's energy with running. He told me they are things I would need to do anyway and may as well do it now so when he does teach me some spells they are safer to use”.
Al now sparring again said “So how do you know he isn't just lying to you about the whole magic thing?”
River said “I saw him actually do magic. I don't think he would have me do all this just to lie to me and tell me it is all a joke. What would be the point? The books he gave me to read are the real deal too. I don't know how I know, but I can just tell. When I read them the words and ideas fill my mind. I don't know how to describe it except to say when I read it, it's like I feel the magic in the words.
Al said “That is pretty amazing. Do you think he would teach me? I think it'd be fun to learn!”
River said “I can ask but I don't think so. Maybe he wouldn't mind if I teach you a little though. I can ask”
Al gave a wide smile “thanks Lee, you're the best!”
River kept sparring “I don't know why you need magic though. If I was as strong a guy as you I wouldn't worry much about learning magic”.
Al looked confused “what do you mean by that?”
Lee said “I just mean if I could be just as strong as a guy like you I think that would be enough, that's all”.
Al gave Lee a strange look while continuing to spar “Lee, don't you know I'm a girl?”
Lee said “What?” and dropped his hands in shock. This resulted in him getting a bloody nose and hitting the ground.
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Al was in distress seeing what she just did to Lee. She never thought he would leave himself so open. “Lee, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't think you would drop your guard like that”.
Lee checked his nose; it wasn't bleeding all that bad. He was mostly stunned by the news. “Are you just messing with me? Al is a boy's name after all!”
Al crossed her arms and said “I told you I hate my full name and to just call me Al for short!”
Lee said “So what is your full name than?”
She looked at him “You need to promise not to laugh!”
Lee said “I promise I won't, now just tell me. I told you a secret too you know!”
She blushed and said “Alura”
Lee was puzzled “Why do you not like it? It think it sounds really pretty”.
Alura said “I don't like it cause it's too girlie! I wanna be able to fight and run and do all the fun things I see boys do! I don't want to be all worried about flowers or dancing or stuff like that!”
Lee guessed that made sense. He didn't much like that stuff either and couldn't figure why other girls did. He said “well, I'll keep calling you Al if you want but it seems kind of dull in comparison”. Lee thought for a moment and said “wait, you said your house name is Flowers before right?”
She said “yeah, my did isn't a big fan of it but my mom loves it”.
Lee smiled and said “So you're name is Alura Flowers? That's funny. It almost sounds like an alluring flower. Like a rose that is so beautiful you can't help but want to pick it or something.”
To Lee's surprise Alura got really angry at that and cracked her knuckles “haha, that is pretty funny right? I'm just such a dainty little flower aren't I? How about we spar a bit when I'm serious then?”
Lee said “Wait, I didn't mean it like that! I just... Ahhh!”
Lee had been training very hard. That turned out to be a very good thing. He managed to dodge most of the punches Alura threw at him in her rage. Most of them....
Later that day he was at the old man's place. The old man saw a few more bruises than usual. “Did those boys beat you up again boy? I thought you said they weren't a problem anymore”.
Lee said “No, this is from my friend Al. She got really mad at me today”.
The old man said “She? You always talked about her like she was a boy?”
Lee said in defense “I thought she was. She dresses like one and acts like one and has short hair like one. She should have made it more clear!”.
The old man sighed and said “maybe you aren't as sharp as I once thought. At least about some things anyway. You are still young though”.
Lee said “I'm not that young. I am 8 and a half now”.
The old man laughed “Oh yes, how could I forget how old you were. No doubt you will get married soon and have kids of your own in short order. Before you that how about you pick up the pace! If you can talk this much you are not running hard enough. Today lets do 500 laps. A big strong man like you should find that to be no problem”.
The old man in the past few months has become more social with Lee. He had decided as long as he was letting him come here he may as well practice a bit of conversation with him. It has been a while since he had someone to talk to and he could hear a little news about the outside world as well.
Lee was on the ground panting after completing his 500 laps. He remembered only a few months ago how hard 200 laps was. 500 was certainly no easier but he was able to do it now without having to stop to walk at all.
Lee said “By the way, I told Al that I'm learning magic and she wanted to know if you would teach her some. I told her you probably wouldn't want to but she asked me to ask you so...”
The old man said “Why would I take her on as a student when I'm not going to take you on either? As I told you before, I am only teaching you a bit until we find you a more suitable teacher”.
Lee had heard him say this over and over. Though it didn't seem to make sense with what was going on he knew better than to say anything.
Lee asked “would you mind then if I teach her some of the stuff you showed me?”
The old man thought for a moment and said “That is fine, if I ever teach you anything I don't want you to show her you must promise not to do so”. Lee agreed to this. The old man crossed his arms and said “I'll not be giving out the books again either. If you are to teach her it must all come from your memory and knowledge. If you truly know those book it shouldn't matter, correct?”
Lee figured this was some kind of trap just to make him work harder. He wasn't worried in the least as he knew those books cover to cover.
Now the old man decided to touch on a more difficult subject. He'd mentioned it in the past few weeks but now really had to put his foot down. He said to Lee “now that you are spending so much time here I want to be sure your parents know what you're doing. I don't like doing this behind their backs.
Lee had put off telling his parents. He was worried they may make him stop thinking it was too dangerous or if he had this much time to learn something else it was about time he helped around the farm more. Lee said “I haven't told them yet. I am just waiting for the right time”.
The old man said “I see, well the right time is tonight. And just to be sure you told them I'd like you to ask them to invite me over to meet them. This way I'll know you are not pulling any tricks”.
Lee said “what if they don't want to have you over?”
The old man said “Then I'll take it that they disprove of me teaching you and your training will have to stop”.
Lee could not let that happen no matter what. Lee said “I'll talk to them and make sure that doesn't happen. I'll also see if I can convince them to have you over for dinner. My mom is a really good cook”.
The old man said “If that happens I would like to bring them some food instead of them cooking for me. With what you told me about your family they don't have much to spare and I don't want to put them out. Tell them if they want me over for dinner then I would ask for the honor to bring the food for you all as an apology”.
Lee said “Yes sir! I know they'll want to have you over and have you keep showing me magic!”
Lee after his training left to return home for the day at his usual time. He greeted his mother who was cooking dinner. His father was still finishing up his days work on the farm. He thought of telling her then but thought it would be better to do it when both were together.
It wasn't until he was sitting down to eat that he broke the news. “Mother, father, there is something I want to talk to you about. I want you to promise to not get mad though”.