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Chapter 8: Time to Relax

This is really a nice café to cleanse your worries.

After I gave them my phone number on the day that I got my element, Felix called me and told me that he wanted to arrange a hangout together. And obviously, I wouldn't want to miss out on an event with my two friends.

On a warm and relaxing day, I convinced Claude to allow me to take a day off from my training so I could venture into the city to have a hangout with Felix and Aisha.

We decided that we would meet at a popular café in the afternoon. Since it was a hangout, I decided to wear clothes that are a bit more... fancy. I looked in the mirror, deciding which clothes would suit me the most.

I thought of covering up my blue hair by wearing a cool top hat on my head. I planned to wear something that didn't look that royal-like. Why? Well, for two reasons: One, I'm worried that the citizens would recognise me as the prince of Paxsalam and would want an autograph from me. Secondly, I need to steer clear of any potential assassins seeking to harm the new prince.

It was almost time. I decided what I'm going to look like. I'm going to have a top hat, a pair of regular green jeans, and a turquoise-blue shirt with a white jacket. And my appearance is, wow, I look awesome! This new look is definitely my new style.

Claude had told me to take the nearest subway station, which wasn't that far from the one that we had taken to the Cave of Elements. It's also because Claude was also a bit lost in the city. And there, I was alone for the first time. But, no worries, I'm not even scared of going alone; it would embarrass me in front of Felix and Aisha for bringing along some company, even if it were for safety reasons.

After a few moments, the subway train had stopped at my destination. I hopped off and walked towards the surface. Now, I would have to find a café named 'Retro's Café: Let all your worries be cleansed! Which is probably going to be difficult since there are a lot of cafes here... And it's a good thing they have a map.

Maps are technically easy to use to navigate to places you want to go, and it is definitely important that everyone learn how to use one. Otherwise, you might end up being a lost and clueless soul like me. I managed to find one in the Paxsalam souvenir store, and as I opened it, I was shocked that I didn't know that we had such a huge city in our kingdom. And by the fact that I have to navigate through all this,.

Being a prince doesn't mean that you'll be good at everything. I got confused multiple times just by looking at it. I first used the easiest method: to search for restaurants (cafés are technically restaurants, right?). When I found Retro's Café, I turned to find the word on the map. Even though finding the place was easy, navigating there is the complete opposite. From my place, I would need at least 20 minutes to reach there, longer if I screw up...

Calm down. I told myself. I started to memorise the routes and started following them. If only Elements were able to allow people to teleport to places without ease... Seriously, did Circe or Heka actually think of that before giving those two sisters their elements?

After a lot of twists and turns and some minor mess-ups, which involved ending up in backways, ending up in the wrong cafes, and even getting back to the place that I had been before, I've finally made it.

The sign, 'Retro's Café: Let all your worries be cleansed!', was hanging above the café, and guess what? Aisha and Felix were standing at the entrance, waving at me. I smiled as I waved back and rushed towards them. "It's about time, you know!" Aisha called, "We were waiting for about half an hour!" "Sorry!" I replied, "I had some miscalculations with the map." Felix grinned playfully. "Not used to maps, huh?" I nodded. "They're really confusing." I admitted. After a short while of greeting each other, we finally decided to head into the café.

It was quite cold inside, since there are lots of air conditioners. The café was crowded; almost every table in the café was occupied, and radios blasted relaxing and dance-worthy café music, which can contribute to the cafe's motto. The scent of pastries and coffee filled the air, which is extremely pleasurable, and I automatically thought of food as I kept inhaling the scent.

Felix and Aisha must have been telepaths or something, because they have the same thoughts as me. "Ah, the classic smell of cafes." Felix said, "So refreshing, so enjoyable." "I think I'm about to drool." Aisha joined in: "And this is from a girl who has never drooled in her entire life."

We were lucky to find an empty table that is right next to the cafe's window, especially in a near-full-house café. A waiter came to our table immediately after we sat down. "Good day to you kids! Anything from the menu?" He asked, and he placed down three menus for each of us.

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We found our desired delicacies and returned the menu to the waiter. I turned to my friends and observed their attire; Felix had worn a purple buttoned shirt along with an orange scarf. Aisha had an aqua-coloured cloak (a colour that people don't seem to recognise and often mistake for light blue) and a shirt that was emerald green. They must have had the same thoughts as me before meeting me here too.

I can't wait to tell the two about my first training; they got interested as I kept on, and they giggled when I told them how I reacted when I got hit by the snowballs. (Thanks a lot, bro.) Then, our meals arrived. They were simple, like those regular things that you would order at a typical café. Felix had ordered a cheesecake, Aisha had chosen a mushroom stew with some garlic bread, and I had selected a chocolate cake.

Felix and Aisha had told me about their first training, too. Felix mentioned that he had used the first position of the fairy element to make a rock levitate, and that rock must weigh about hundreds of kilograms. And that is more interesting than snowballs. "Element of Fairies, First Position, Elusive Floating." Felix replied when I asked him what the position was called. Aisha continued that she had learned to create some pretty sick stuff with the first position of the water element. "I even made a usable rifle!" Felix and I were awestruck when she said that. "And if you're wondering, it's called Element of Water, First Position, Aquatic Forgery." Aisha said.

"So, how long do you guys think that you both will be ready for The Magician Games?" I asked them. Felix and Aisha looked at each other. "Well, in probably three to four years." Felix replied. "It also depends on our progress in our training." Aisha added. "Alright." I said, "When that time comes, let's just hope that we're ready to pass. And the representatives of those magic jobs will notice our talents." Both of them nodded. "Yup, it will be fun when it happens." Felix agreed.

After a few more minutes of talking, we decided that it was time to leave. I gave both of them a fist bump and waved at them as we parted ways. And now, to go back... I had totally forgotten about how to get back to the palace. "Aw nuts." I mumbled, I guess this could topple stairs over the title of the things that can strike stress into me. I sighed as I began to retrace my steps.

The next training was insane.

I would have to do laps on a dirt road in the rainforest, and at first, I was wondering what could go wrong. I could just blast snowballs at anything that came to harm me; I'm sure they can't stand the cold. However, it doesn't work out that way; it was revealed that Claude had set some traps in there, and I would be an easy prey for the traps. I remembered almost getting swiped away by an incoming log, then a boulder came falling straight at me when I stepped on something that activated the trap, and I remember falling into many pit traps.

I came back to Claude, panting and limping from my injuries. "Whoa, that's something." Claude said that once he noticed my leg, he rushed towards me with a medical kit. It looks like he was expecting this to happen. "Bro, I have two questions." I said.

"Which is?"

"WHY IS THIS TRAINING SO DANGEROUS!? ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A DEATH SENTENCE?!"

Claude hushed me, "Please be quiet; you could disturb the animals here. And bro, that's how magic training works; you would need to go through insane training." I groaned, wondering what kind of more harsh training I must go through to master my element.

"And the other question is?" My eyes widened; I had forgotten that I had mentioned two questions. "Since this is a sanctuary, why is it a good idea to design these traps? There could be probabilities for the animals to get killed."

"Well, those traps are set on an abandoned dirt road that we built for some vehicles to transport some necessary items for the animals, and it was abandoned due to the poor design." Claude replied. "And don't worry, no matter which biome, all the animals here know to avoid all the roads in this sanctuary."

Well, that was a relief. I guess the animals would be safe from these traps, and the only animal that would fall victim to the traps would be a young little prince, which is me.

The other positions were also more tricky to practice than the first one; I would need to fully concentrate, which involves ignoring anything that would disrupt me. Claude would decide that we meditate in front of the temple. I mean, I don't hold any grudges against meditation, and you can say that I am good at it, but it is annoying and horrifying that some animal will disturb us, or worse, decide to think of us as a threat and lunge at us.

As an example, there was one point where a band of mountain gorillas appeared from nowhere and came closer to check us out, which also caused me to lose my concentration. "Calm down; avoid eye contact with them," Claude whispered in a barely audible voice. "Try not to make any sudden movements." I initially wanted to object to him and flee, but since this was coming from Claude, it is wiser to obey him. And after the gorillas lost interest in us and left the area, and once Claude said that we're safe, I let out a scream of relief, which caused a variety of birds to fly out of the canopy. I hoped that this would be the last time an incident like this would happen.

I still have to go to the library to learn about more facts about the history of magic, which involves even more books to read and more stories to listen to. However, I have gained an interest in books now thanks to those times in the library, and you can say that I might have become a bookworm.

I kept having snowball-fight training or games with Claude, which involved me losing every time. And after a few more weeks of training, Claude decided to teach me the second and third positions of the ice element. I started to get the hang of the second and third positions, and by getting the hang, I mean more messed up, incomplete forms. I still need to do laps in the rainforest, and I need to evade more traps. Do I need to suffer even more? I wondered, but if it was for the sake of magic and avenging my parents, that would be worth it.