Chapter 13 - Magic training

*Poke*

"Onyx wake up!"

*Poke*

*Poke*

*Poke*

"C'mon Onyx you promised I would train you today!"

As I'm being woken up from my deep sleep, I slowly open my eyes to see Sophy no more then inches from my face.

"G-good morning Sophy" I said awkwardly

Why is she in my room on my bed? Did my mom let her in, or did she sneak in?

"Idiot, why are you such a hard sleeper." She pouts puffing out her cheeks and looks away

"I'm sorry Sophy" I said defeatedly

"Y-you better be... now come on its time for your magic training." She gets up off of my bed and heads for the door

"O-okay just let me get ready and I will join you"

"I'll be in garden!" She replied before closing the door behind her

That was awkward, did I really sleep in that late...

{Good morning master} Ember shined noticing I finally woken up

After talking with each other last night we are on better terms. Albeit what the Dwarf told me was true, he did have some details wrong.

The Legendary equipment do have egos, and with that they have their own goals and wants. But they would never go against their master, they may lead them into that direction but that is all.

Personally I don't mind fulfilling their wishes, if they aid me on my own goals as well. That seems like a fair trade to me, so me and Ember have decided to make amends and work better together.

{Good morning Ember, it seems we over slept... let's go}

I put Ember into my belt and head for the door. I still need to buy a sheath for Ember, but for now my belt will have to do.

I make my way to the garden to see Sophy standing there waiting for me. Abby is on the other side of the yard practicing her spirit magic.

To my surprise, she seems to finally be getting the hang of it. I wonder what changed those stubborn spirits mind to finally work with her.

"Are you ready Onyx?" Sophy asked me smiling

"Yes Sophy, please teach me well"

"Sophy? That just wont do, call me Teacher or Master" Sophy said while laughing

"You're so funny... Okay Teacher where do we start"

Sophy starts grinning ear to ear then walks closer to me

"Sit and cross your legs, close your eyes and just try to feel the mana around you"

She sat in front of me doing it herself as well, so I quickly copy what she is doing

"How should I get a feel for the mana?" I said curiously

"Just take deep breaths, and focus on everything around you. Mana is everywhere, it's up to you to gather and manipulate it"

"Manipulate it? Don't you just unlock skills as you rank up?" I asked, I definitely saw skills linked to my space attribute

"Think of those as guidelines, meant for people who lack imagination and control... You can do so much more with mana then you could ever imagine" She looks up at me and smiles

Then a light green mist starts swirling around me, I remember this feeling when she used heal on me. But how is this possible? She didn't use any skills...

"Are you still not understanding Onyx, pay close attention to the words I'm saying." She looks me in the eyes

"Everything you believe about skills is a lie, where as they help you control the skill by giving you basic abilities attached to them... But that's all it is, think of them as training wheels. You can do so much more then you would ever believe, you just have to use your imagination and bend them to your will." Sophy is staring into my soul right now

But I never thought of it like that, training wheels huh? I guess that makes sense

"I understand, so basic skills are training wheels. It's up to me to take control and master it?"

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"Yes this is why so many people never rank up their skills, where as you've done it through brute strength using swordsmanship... Magic is something entirely different, if you can't master it and make it your own it will never rank up."

That goes against everything I've been told by master, but I guess I cant compare Swordsmanship and Magic can I?

I begin to ponder all the possibilities, could I also manipulate my swordsmanship? I'm getting completely off topic here, but I will definitely be testing this theory later.

"Okay Sophy so say you are correct, how should I go about gathering and manipulating mana?" I asked curiously

Sophy sits up straight and takes deep breaths, I can sort of see the air around her start to warp. Almost as if it's being completely sucked into Sophy throughout her entire body.

"Sophy what is going on around you?" I asked completely shocked by what I'm seeing

"This is how you gather mana to your core, the more you do this the larger your core gets. You will see it increase through your status screen once you practice enough."

I only thought you could train basic physical skills, but why was I so oblivious. Of course you can train the other skills naturally, why would it just be limited to a select few

"idiot" I murmur to myself for being so dumb, I wasted so much time

"Okay I understand, please guide me" I start to close my eyes and envision the everything around me.

After concentrating a while longer, I start to sense dark black whisps floating around me. They must be the mana representing space

"Sophy question, do you need the attribute in order to perceive it?" I ask curiously, as I only see the ones related to my attritbute

"At first yes, but as you practice you will be able to see all mana. There are stories of people gathering them and gaining their attribute, but it's all dependent if the mana accepts you. I have yet to gather any attribute other then holy, but I do not mind they just aren't ready to join me..." Sophia is looking extra determined

"Got it, I think I'm starting to understand"

"Then I shall leave you to it, I promised to help Abby with hers as well." Sophie stands up and walks to the other side of the garden by Abby

"Okay I got this!" I said full of confidence

I close my eyes and start meditating, just pulling in the mana closer to me but not absorbing them. I had a crazy idea and want to see if it is possible

I gather them into a giant concentrated ball

"Storage"

My storage opened up in front of me exactly where I concentrated the mana. Now for the moment of truth

I check my stats to see if my mana drained during this experiment, and to my surprise it didn't drain.

So if I manipulate mana on the outside of my body, I will be able to control it without a limit. There would be no need for me too ever run out of mana, but I shouldn't rely on it. I should still try and raise the base mana of my body, but this is ground breaking to say the least.

*Magic: A > A+*

This is the first, I never had an ability rank up. To be honest, I didn't think it was possible to rank up abilities. But I think Sophy just opened my eyes, I wasn't making them my own.

I was just using the training wheels, and thinking that was enough... I was foolish

For the next few hours, I just kept gathering mana into one place. Opening and closing my storage and repeating, by the end of it I let the mana flow directly into me

I've never felt something like this, my breathing was easier and it's almost refreshing all the fatigue I've gathered the last few months training

This... this is crazy, is this normal and if so why has no one told me about it

"How are you holding up, I can see you are finally gathering mana into your body" She said almost impressed by my rapid growth

"Y-yes actually my Magic ability ranked up."

"W-what did you just say..." Sophy took a few steps back looking at me curiously

"Yes it ranked up to A+. I don't understand it either, I just used the mana outside of my body so I wouldn't spend my own mana" I said almost like it was common sense

"I-impossible, I don't believe you. Y-you cant control mana that isn't in your body Onyx... stop joking around" She gets a pouty look on her face

"H-here I will show you, I don't really understand it either" I stand up and hold my hand out

I gather all the mana in front of me, then manipulate it to go next to Sophy

"Storage"

In a split second, a tear in space opened next to Sophy.

Her eyes go wide, and she falls down on her butt

"I-i don't belie.... No how?" I see her start trying to mimic what I've done with her magic

After around two to three minutes she gives up and stomps her feet on the ground

"N-not fair Onyx, MAGIC WAS MY THING" She is getting really upset while staring at Onyx

"It's okay Sophy, you were my amazing teacher! This would of never been possible without your help" I walk over and give her a big hug

Sophies cheeks turn cherry red, before she start squirming for me to release her

"I-idiot... at least warn me before you do something like that... I wasn't ready" She stares at the ground twiddling her fingers together

She is visibly flustered now, but I can't help but laugh. I honestly can't picture my future with out her at this point

"Hey calm down, you are an amazing teacher." I pat her head to calm her down

"I-i guess I am huh! And don't you forget it once you become some bigshot mage!" She looks at me puffing her cheeks out

"That's not my style, I would much rather travel the world with you and Abby by my side" I said full of confidence

"Y-you cant just say stuff like that Onyx...D-do you promise that's what you really want" She is staring at the floor avoiding all contact

I give her another hug and whisper in her ear

"I promise Sophy, will you stay by my side?"

"Y-yes.." I can see tears roll down her cheeks

"MASTER Why did you make Sophy cry!" Abby must have seen us, and is now in front of me stomping her foot

"Hey Abby shut up!" Yelled Sophy

"H-huh... I was just protecting you from master" She said curiously

"I-i don't need protection, Onyx was just confessing his love for me... Idiot, you ruined the moment" Sophy is pouting again while tears are still visible on her cheeks

"Confessing my love... did I just do that?" I said curiously

"Y-you asked me to stay by your side forever, of course you did..." Sophy punches my arm

Oh I guess I did just do that didn't I... Well since we are here

"Hey Abby, will you join her by my side" I wink at her

She just stares back at me with a mischievous grin, what is the masochistic elf thinking

"Only if you beg me master" She points at the ground asking me to get down as she walks closer

"Y-you've got to be kidding me" Gasped Sophy

I can't lie I wouldn't mind exploring this avenue if we were older, but I should probably nip this in the bud while its sprouting

"Never mind, I will just take Sophy and leave you here.." I grab Sophy's arm and start walking toward the gate knowing Abby will give in

"W-wait! I was just kidding" She runs behind me and grabs my other arm

"O-of course I'll stay by your side... Idiot" I feel her pinch the inside of my forearm

"I'm happy to have you, we are going to have one hell of an adventure in the future. Are you sure you both are up for it?" I asked giving them one last chance to back out, although I'm hoping they don't

"Y-yes please" Sophy said shyly

"I'm all yours master" Abby said while smirking at me

{Me too master} Ember added into the convo

"Haha well consider it done."

I slowly walk them back home as the sun was starting to come down

It's going to be a hard journey in the future, but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else...