Chapter Sixteen: Training Days

"Now Alex!"

A curved line of purple lighting spread across the field. The lightning was coming from a curved sword called a tachi that was being used by Alex. He had slashed his sword while channeling his magic into it in order to create such an effect.

"Good, that will be useful in case there are multiple enemies nearby. Now I want you to create a chain of lightning. Your target is a small bale of hay behind the tree. You are not allowed to hit the tree, am I understood?"

"Yeah, I understand, old man." Alex replied.

Alex pointed his sword straight out in front of him.

"Remember to channel it to the tip of the blade and manipulate the energy to hit where you want it to go." Alex thought to himself.

A small ball of purple lightning started to grow at the tip of the blade. Soon Alex unleashed it; however, it hit the tree nearly dead on.

"Dammit!" Alex yelled out.

"Well, that was an utter failure." The old man said.

"Sorry, I'm really bad at precise aiming." Alex said, sighing.

The old man sighed in response, "I know, I tried to see if I could teach you my way, but you just have too much magic for that at the moment. Well anyway, let's move on to casting with your hands; you won't always have a sword by your side, so you need to learn how to fight in any way you can."

"As my mother can attest, casting is not exactly my strong suit." Alex said.

"You will learn how to cast; it is the only way you can advance your magic and, most importantly, your talents." The old man said.

"Hey, before we move onto this, can you finally tell me what to call you? It's been two weeks, and you never mentioned your name before." Alex asked.

"I don't really have a name I go by anymore. Just about everyone I knew before I put on this mask is gone from this world. So my previous identity is nothing more than a ghost." The old man explained.

"Ghost, that's what I can call you." Alex said.

"Ghost? If that's what you wish, then sure." Ghost said. "Anyway, get back to casting."

"Alright, just be patient with me on this one." Alex said.

Alex held out his hand and started to move his mana to his arms. However, to Alex's surprise, it was working. His lightning was not only under control, but he could feel as if the lightning was part of him instead of an outside force.

"Good Alex, maintain your control." Ghost said. "Now hit that big bale of hay."

"HYAAAH!" Alex screamed.

The lightning he created hit the bale of hay right in the center of it.

"I DID IT!" Alex cheered."

"That you did, congratulations Alex; however, it's getting late, and no doubt your family is searching for you already. Head on home; we will continue tomorrow." Ghost said.

"Oh shit, you're right, Mom is going to kick my ass if I miss dinner again." Alex grabbed his stuff and started heading home. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Alex said as he waved goodbye.

Alex disappeared as he reentered the woods, leaving Ghost was alone with his thoughts.

"That kid has potential; maybe I need to push him more. There's not much time left after all, and he needs to be able to handle the origin soon."

*Meanwhile, back at the house*

"And where were you, young man?"

"Uhm...would you believe me if I said—"

"No, I wouldn't believe any excuse you try telling me; not only did you skip out on training but you also nearly missed dinner, and when you finally come home, you come back covered in dirt."

"Sorry Mom." Alex said.

Anna sighed. "Just go clean yourself up and get ready; Mary said dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Understood." Alex said as he walked to his room. He didn't tell Anna about his training with Ghost because he knew she didn't trust anyone she didn't know and wouldn't let Alex out of her sight.

After Alex cleaned himself up after a shower, he went back downstairs. Raven and Anna were already seated while Mary was serving the food plates and Veronica and Eve were cleaning up the dishes they used to cook with.

"Good you're finally here. Sit down; it's time to eat." Anna said.

"Are you upset with me, mother?" Alex asked.

"Am I upset that for the past two weeks you've gone missing for multiple hours of the day, not telling anyone where you go, even ditching Eve, who I had follow you once during your trips and come back every day looking battered and bruised? No, not at all." Anna ranted on.

"Yup, she's pissed." Alex thought to himself.

"Mother I know you think Im skipping out on training, but there is a good reason for that. I've been training alone with my magic in order to not blow up the house or something while learning how to control my mana." Alex explained.

"You can do that here; Eve can make sure that doesn't happen."

"Trust me, mother, my personal training has worked. Watch."

Alex then started to create a small ball of lightning on his palm, much to the amazement of Anna.

"How did you learn how to control it?" Anna asked.

"A lot of hard work; that's why I come back hurt every day." It wasn't easy being able to do this." Alex said.

"And here I thought you were going into town and picking fights." Anna said while she was still shocked.

"Fine, you can keep self-training, I suppose."

"To be honest, I was going to do it with or without her permission, but this makes things easier." Alex thought to himself.

"Now it's time to eat. Veronica and Mary worked hard to make this, so make sure to thank them." Anna said.

"Thank you." Alex and Raven spoke in unison.

After dinner, Alex went up to his room and began reading a novel he picked up during one of his few visits to the main town. He got hooked on the first volume and kept reading the series.

"Cursed Bloodlines is a damn good story." Alex thought to himself while reading it.

The supernatural always intrigued him. The story was about a vampire who lived in a very similar setting to Alex's previous world. The Vampire had to fight just for his right to survive, which made Alex even more interested in the story.

However, his reading time was interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Come in!" Alex said while closing his book.

Mary walked inside Alex's room and greeted him, "Good Evening, young master."

"And a good evening to you, Mary. What might you be doing here at this hour?" Alex asked.

"Well, I know your 16th Birthday was almost a month ago, but the gift I wanted to give you finally arrived after many delays." Mary said as she handed over a small but long box. "Happy belated birthday, young master!"

Alex opened the box to reveal an intricate dagger with a black and red handle, and the blade looked to be made of fine steel with carvings on each side of the blade.

"Mary, I'm speechless; how could you afford this?" Alex asked.

"I get paid well by your mother, young master, and as I don't have any family or reason to spend money, I have a lot of savings." Mary explained.

"Well thank you, Mary. I really appreciate this; it's beautifully crafted." Alex said, looking at the blade.

"Im happy you enjoy it, young master; if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen tidying up." Mary said as she left.

Alex looked at the blade some more before he went to bed. However, there were some thoughts that haunted him. I'm sixteen now, and it won't be long before Edward starts his plan to sell me and Raven off. Soon I will have to act, and my story will truly begin."

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