The sun was on his shoulder as Anthony entered the ring of this makeshift arena. Although it appeared well kept and maintained he could tell that it was used regularly by the impressions of the dirt and covered up scourge marks from fresh regrowing grass. From her stance Anthony could tell she was more than just a retired healer, but a trained fighter as well, it made sense since the secret of elementalism was much physical undertaking. This is why he trained every day to harness the power of mind, body, soul and spirit energies to call upon the elements within one signaler point. One of the first fundamentals of fire mages relied on the power of soul to create physical fire in the environment, the first and eldest of elements.
“What’s the matter kid, afraid, I will give you a whipping?” Zoe asked with a laugh.
“I noticed from your limp that you have some trouble with that left leg of yours.” He pointed out with his keen senses. “From the sound it makes the distinct smell of no native materials in the air, I assumed it’s a prosthetic.”
“You really are sharp with a sword.” She lifted the left side of her dress and revealed a long wooden leg that went below her knee. “I got this when I was fighting in the mainlands, and right before I became a professor.” She knocked on it in an amusing fashion and laughed. “It’s amazing they’ll let you train future fighters but they won’t let you fight, you still have three perfectly good limbs.”
“With all respect Ms. Zoe, I feel like there would be a slight disadvantage on my part.” He contested.
“...You know something, you’re absolutely right.” She nodded her head before putting her leg hand behind her back as well. “Okay, kid now, give me all you got.”
“I was referring to your wooden leg...”
“...Let me worry about my leg, you worry about landing a punch, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll start you at Second Circle.” She summoned a ball of fire in her right hand without barely a breath and tossed in Anthony’s direction.
With barely any time to react he managed to dodge the fireball, but the second and third one grazed his cape as he rolled on the ground to extinguish the light flames.
“You gotta be quicker than that kid.” She summoned five fireballs into the air and launched all the fire in different directions.
Knowing he could not avoid a hit no matter where he jumped his only choice was to make a sacrifice play, taking off his cap and allowing it to catch fire. He jumped straight, unsheathing his knife, and using his jagged edges to deflect any other upcoming hits. Seeing that his knife was glowing in a way that made the fire's heat dissipate she quickly adjusted her strategy.
“Very impressive, let’s take it up a level.” With her five fingers extended, she released a wave of fire like a torch that shot out straight and long enough so that he couldn't deflect. The only way to dodge is to roll and avoid its direction, tracking the direction of her arm’s incoming movements. Not wanting to yield he braved the fire inching every close to his target. When he was midway on the field to her, she decided to change things up.
“How about a little third circle power?” She put index and middle finger together and her thumb was like a trigger.
At the end of her finger tips, Anthony saw small light forming and knew exactly what power she was forming as he quickly tucked and rolled to avoid what was to come.
Boom! A zap of electrical energy was discharged from her fingertips the second her thumb hit her index finger. From its size and discharge Anthony knew it was a short range attack, a Bolt attack could deliver a shock powerful enough to render him disabled. With only nanoseconds between each charge, he had to predict where and when the lightning would strike. Each shot narrowly avoided him as he could feel the electrical charge passing by every hair on his body. Just when he was in range to land a blow, he barely had time to react when he saw her bony hand turn into a fist.
“Circle four.” She whispered as small sparks escaped the grip and then released into the air as she let them go.
BOOM! She opened her hand to the sound of mighty thunder resonating across the field, the force of which was so great that it blasted him flat on his back. If he hadn’t exhaled at the last moment, he might have been stunned by the electrical discharge but in this line of work he had fought great beasts with the power to wield thunder magic. Still, there wasn’t much he could do to retaliate but tuck and roll, until after the shock and ringing in his ears wore off. When he got his head straight he found the strange familiar light beam aimed straight at the center of his chest. As his vision returned he gazed at the smiling face of the old master aiming her index and middle finger at a point blank range at his chest with malicious intent.
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“You’re familiar with circle 5 magic, but I think you might need a little reminder of exactly what it is you’re dealing with.” Her thumb slowly began to lower like a hammer to make the connection.
One movement was all it would take to turn her hand into a sizzling fiery beam of death and he could practically smell the leather of his vest sizzling from the increase in temperature. At the weakest potential it could leave him with a setting it could sear burn his leather chest, maybe leave him with 1st degree burns. At the highest the beam could burn a whole right through him, until it turned his bones and flesh to ash. At the last possible moment when he index finger and them connected, she tilted her hand to the left to a target right beside him.
A stone that had marked the edge of the make-shift arena, was caught in the bright hot heat of the holy wrath that rained down from her fingertips. The surrounding grass was scorched and burned to black as well as the dirt and rock beside it. Anthony would only watch until it was completely blackened and be thankful that had not been him in the path of that powerful light beam.
“You’re just like your father.” She put her finger down, turning off the light magic resonating from the bony old fingers. “That’ll make you a good hunter or soldier, but you wouldn’t last five minutes against a demon, I can tell you that.”
“I’ve been told my meticulous and ritualistic nature can often be an asset.”
“That’s good for Great Beasts, they're a little smarter than animals, but with more fire powers. A real demon, has multiple attacks, sometimes multiple tactics, worse than fighting humans because they can even have more than one brain, so they’re harder to kill...All that being said, you’re still pretty tough and quick, a little straight forward but with a little training I might be able to make a sickle of your sword method and put you to good use.” She limped over to his side and extended her hand in friendship.
Anthony knew the battle was tough, but it had been very insightful for future education. As he grabbed the hand of the old master Zoe, he decided to watch her carefully, for in her madness there might be hidden wisdom to achieve. Before they left the field, he first had to retry something very important left behind. As he thought, his cape was completely rendered to scraps and ash, but the broach that was attached was among the debris. He dug through soot and dirt and brushed it off as he picked it up in his hands and examined to see if there was any damage or ruin.
“What’s that little bobble?” Zoe asked.
“It’s a gift from a family friend.” He smiled. “I don’t think it’s ruined but I’ll have to wash it off to make sure.”
“Hand it here kid, I can’t waste clean water on your personal wardrobe. We’re going to need that when we take off tomorrow.”
“We’re leaving tomorrow?” He asked as he handed the object carefully in her hands.
“What, you thought I lived in that old shack?” She sounded insulted by the notion. “That’s just a field office, one of several I used around her in the slums. When I need a place to hang my shawl as it were, my main office is on the edge of the Low States, in the city of Gourd. I’ll introduce you to the whole staff when we get there.”
“You have a staff?”
“I’m sure even a two year hunter like yourself knows that this is more than a one woman operation. I’ll explain it to you after dinner, but first.” She cuffed her hands around the charred piece of bone and closed her eyes to concentrate.
Anthony watched a light begin to form beneath her palm, it started out a brilliant shade of white but then started to move rapidly from side to side in her palm buzzing around like a bee in her grip. Sparks of blue and purple released from her hand as she opened them to reveal the old broach that was now sparkling in pristine condition. While Anthony was completely amazed, Zoe gave a sigh of relief and handed the broach back to him.
“Alright, what do you say we have some dinner, you’re cooking.” She said walking passed him in a casual manner. “I’d do it myself, but I've been exercising muscles I haven’t used in a while, so I am bushed!”
“Wait, how did you do that?” He looked at the condition of the broach in the setting sun and noticed it was better than new.
“I’ll tell you later, Bios. Right now, dinner, chop, chop.” She commanded as she continued to walk nearly out of sight.
“That’s the second time you've called me that. What does it mean?!” He called his new master.
“Like I said, I’ll tell you later!” She called out.
Anthony knew about light magic, but not enough to know how to clean a broach that had been singed by fire. All his information had been for practical application of war and combat from his family library or from his time at the National Archive. Clearing there was much to learn, so he attached the broach to his leather coat and walked back to the old cabin. It was a silent dinner that night, not even a compliment on the stew he made from the various herbs, meats and other fixings available. They ate, then slept, with her on the bed and him on the kitchen floor. Not that he wasn’t used to it, since he had spent some time as a hunter, but it was still a restless night, one with many questions and much to ponder of the travels that awaited.