I lost the argument, as the other four members of my group all wanted me to learn some degree of magic. It ranged from wanting me to augment my swordsmanship with magic to replacing the sword entirely. Logan and I decided to ask Faith to teach us the basics of magic, as the only other option was the prince. She said we should ask a mage still here to get the basics.

The range of spells they came up with seemed small. I honestly don’t have much knowledge on magic for reference. Solidifying footing, making the ground weaker under your opponents’ feet, creating indents in a wall, creating a large wall, throwing sand or dust into an enemy’s face… Truthfully I am not sure if that last one was a spell idea from Logan or something he’s done before.

I cut off the conversation there trying to move away from magic, but the saintess Alice called over a mage to try to teach Logan and me the basics.

It was the adult that came with the omni-elemental mage, who upon second thought is likely to replace the prince if he dies. The man was lean, had long white hair, and was wearing a dark robe with a bright gold lining. He was also wearing a very stern teaching face.

The basics were dumbed down for us non-mages simple enough. Get a clear idea of what you want your magic to do. Understand what your elements can do. Create a fully realized idea of how what you need could be done with what you could do. Channel the magic through your body through these magic veins that already exist in your body. Magic.

He put a hand on both of our necks and pushed what felt like fire throughout my body. That was supposed to help with magic, somehow. Logan jumped half his full height into the air. I failed to cast a single spell nor get any reaction. At that point, I tried to get out of it again.

“Logan, want to spar with me?”

Both he and the mage looked at me with confusion. The mage was the first to open his mouth though.

“You should spend more time trying to cast magic. I think you are stuck on the want aspect, as you don’t want to cast magic. You want to solve your problems with a sword.” His stern face turned downright angry. “You did not become a swordsman but a spellsword. Accept this and move forward. Magic is a powerful tool and I will not take time later to teach you. Don’t reject what you will one day need.”

He was speaking the truth, but… I couldn’t accept it.

“I learned the sword and the shield. I learned how to be a knight. I never learned how to cast large scale spells and I won’t have time to build walls in between sword swings. I also refuse to fight without a shield to have a free hand.”

He stopped to ponder for a few seconds. “I take it you would be confident in your stance then, right? Take off your boots and socks for a second and let me test your stance.”

It was an odd request, but I wasn’t going to back down from a challenge on something I took confidence in. The second I had my boots off and stood up, a gust of wind knocked me to the floor.

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“Again” was the only answer I got from the mage as to what he had done.

I knelt as I prepared to stand up, only for the dirt under me to pull back, knocking me onto my hands again. I pushed off with my hands and feet to rush towards him, only to get one of my feet grabbed by something in the ground. I barely caught myself with my hands before I got a faceful of dirt again.

He smiled at me.

“Magic. Maybe you should start wanting stable footing.”

He offered me a hand, which I took to stand up. He made me feel a fire go down my body. He gave me a second to get into a stable posture with my feet spread and knees bent. I felt my legs and feet get hotter than the rest of me. He finally released my hand and took a step back. His robes were blowing in a wind that was centralized on himself. The wind quickly died as he looked at my feet.

“Congratulations, you're a spellsword.”

I was more confused than ever. “Aren’t you going to shoot another spell at me so I can use magic to stabilize myself?”

He responded by pointing at my feet, which had dirt raised around them half burying my ankles. I suppose such a dirt formation would help me, but it also looked like a way to break an ankle. I was beginning to see why the mage didn’t cast another spell at me.

He smiled at us. “My job of teaching you guys how to use magic is done. I’ll be leaving now. Enjoy your spar, or whatever you decide to do. Though do make use of us elders tonight.”

With that, he walked towards the prince and away from us.

Logan looked at me with an audacious grin.

“Want to fight a bout? Enough priests are here to practically reattach somebody’s head.”

I match his grin.

“Grab a shortsword from a guard and we’ll get started.”

“Already grabbed one from someone else. Do go easy on me since I’m not wearing armor like you.”

His grin kept widening. Unlike the prince’s grin which looked down on others, he made me want to punch him for a different reason, but I was surprisingly ok with him in comparison. I just hoped that he hadn’t stolen that sword from someone else. Also, that green shirt wasn’t going to do nearly as much as my splint armor.

As we stood in a corner of the courtyard, a few people moved a few steps back when they saw us draw our swords. Logan shot forward. He didn’t ask me if I was ready, and that already told me he fought back alley style. I moved my sword to block above me as he swung toward my shoulder. Reaching my free hand forward I attempted to grab his shirt. Before I could grab him, a strong burst of wind knocked him to the side. He rolled twice before getting his feet under him again. I smiled at his sloppy attempt at magic. He came running forward again and took another swing at me. I parried the blow, taking a step forward to elbow him before he could escape. The gust of wind pushed him back a half step, but not enough to get out of my range. I swung at his dominant forearm, hoping to get a deep but nonlethal blow on him. I saw both of our clothes flutter before he began to look pale. My sword bit into him almost to the bone. I grabbed him, slamming him onto the ground.

He was breathing hard, so I decided to speak first while letting him catch his breath.

“Your form could use some work, your recovery from rolling didn’t leave yourself defendable, but you did a good job.”

“Not bad yourself, my veins feel like fire is coursing through them. I think I need to get better at magic. And a different weapon. And a better escape strategy than pushing myself with the wind.”

“For having less armor and strategies, you did well against me.”

“Weren’t you also going to practice using magic?”

I left his question unanswered, turning away. The truth was, I still didn’t want to use magic. He gave me an understanding nod and went to someone else to get advice and a priest before everyone left for their carriages later.