31 Training at the Castle

Waking up feeling anxious Alice made her way to the Mage's Guild to learn more about her Elements and how to better use them in combat. Trying to quietly make her way out the front door Alice came face to face with one of the Royal Mage's, "Hello Miss Alice, my name is Geoffrey and I was instructed to wait for you to begin your training. " he said with a smile.

"What happened to the Mage's Guild? " Alice said curiously wondering why someone from the castle was here so early to train her. "The Guild has been deemed untrustworthy and the King is currently having a team investigate, for now I shall be training you. Like you I also have more than one Element so the King thought it best that I be your Instructor. " Geoffrey said motioning Alice to follow him.

Following her new instructor Alice tried asking him many questions about the Guild and what the current status was only to be met with silence until he finally spoke out. "Miss Alice I am sure you are aware that the kingdom has just found out of a Demon spy so all matters regarding this are being kept under wrap, we can talk more about this when we reach the castle were there are no prying ears. " He said hiding his annoyance.

Walking though the stalls Alice once again stopped in front of the ring that caught her attention before, "Geoffrey, the King said I could make requests for equipment if I thought it would help me is that correct? " Alice said picking the ring up.

"That is correct, how much is the ring old man? " Geoffrey asked the stall owner.

"The ring is rather useless but I am selling it for 300 silver. " The stall owner said holding out a hand knowing the sale was made. Taking out a large pouch of gold and silver Geoffrey gave the man his money and continued the walk to the castle. "If you want anything else I can give you a spending allowance later, you will just have to document what you purchase and turn it in at a later date. " He said as they reached the Castle and made their way to the training grounds where multiple Guards were sparing.

Seeing Alice and Geoffrey the other Guards moved to the side line wanting to see her capabilities, "For today I will be having a mock battle with you so I can get a better feel for how to train you. You may start whenever you wish and use whatever weapon you have. " Geoffrey said while holding a shield and a long staff.

'That's new, ' Alice thought trying to remember if she has every seen a mage use a shield with a long staff. Pulling her scythe out Alice put some mana in changing the blade to a glowing red color while she used 'Rift Warp' to close the distance.

Seeing Alice starting Geoffrey moved his staff slightly causing a barrier made from ground in front of him to quickly raise up blocking Alice's attack while he jumped to the side striking Alice lightly in the ribs. "Not a bad start but you will need to be quicker if you want to land a hit on me. " He said while launching himself in the air.

Looking up Alice lost sight of him due to the sun making her give a pout before sinking into the shadow cast by the barrier still standing narrowly avoiding a 'Wind Blade' attack she was barely able to sense coming.

Coming out of the shadow's near one of the Guards outside of the ring Alice watched as Geoffrey seemingly hovered in the air looking at her waiting for her to enter the ring again. 'Bastard if only I had my wings, ' she thought as she ran full speed at the barrier kicking off the top sending herself at Geoffrey.

Moving to the side and swinging his shield to block her attack he almost instantly hit her in the stomach with the staff sending her flying back at the ground. Thinking quickly Alice used her 'Rift Warp' and appeared above the shadow instantly sinking into it to avoid the fall damage. 'Thank god that worked or I would have been out for the count. ' Alice thought once again appearing by the Guards only to hear them give applause to her quick thinking.

"That was very good, your battle experience is above average and you are able to make very good use of your Shadow Element. However you greatly lack in defending yourself as well as knowledge in how to effectively use your other Elements. " Geoffrey said landing with a loud thud on the ground.

"Are all Royal Mage's as good as you? " Alice asked. "No, most Mage's are only able to use one Element, while being strong they don't have the variety of attack and defense that I do. It can be said that the more Elements you have the stronger you can be, this is because while a Fire Element user has high destructive power they lack in defense, now if that Fire Element user also had lets say the Earth Element then he would be many times stronger due to being able to defend himself while also dealing out heavy attacks. For someone like you when it comes to a ground battle I am almost certain you would have put up much more of a fight because of your Shadow, Fire, and Wind Elements even if two of the three are at early beginner stages. " Geoffrey said trying to teach Alice the difference in value between a single element user and a user like her.

"Now lets say that you were level 50 and had a strong grasp on all of your Elements, not only would you be virtually untouchable your attack power would be on a whole other level compared to mine. I hope you take this into thought, because the stronger someone like you gets the more of a threat you are to enemies. " Geoffrey said while offering her a HP potion to recover from her wounds.

"I see, thank you very much for helping me to understand that. With that being said though would it not make more sense to kill me rather than let me go to the Demons? Alice asked ready to escape if she needed to.

"No need to be on edge, while some Royal advisers do in fact wish for that route the King is a smart man thus he formed an alliance with you, with you at the Demon kingdom we will have plenty of warning if the demons plan to attack our kingdom which will greatly increase our odds of winning. Not to mention I do not think you would betray the kingdom that is home to your friends. It is indeed a risk but it is a risk that has the potential to pay off vastly, if you were to die due to our Kings orders it would be the same as waging war on the Demons seeing how they sent their prince to come and get you. " He continued to say as he put his weapon and shield away.

"Now that we have spared and had this insightful talk can you teach me more about the Wind Element, I would love to be able to fly honestly, " Alice said not able to hide the excitement in her eyes. "Yes, I will teach you more of the basics. I have heard from your other instructor that you are already able to sense the mana in the air which is a great start. " Geoffrey said bringing a hand up and making the air in his hand swirl around rapidly forming a ball.

"This is your first assignment, much like you did at the Mage's Guild I want you to control the mana and recreate what I am doing. Instead of controlling the mana around your body I want you to concentrate it to you hand and nothing more. " He said while walking away with a wave.

Letting out a sigh Alice sat down putting out her hand while closing her eyes, sensing the flow of mana around her Alice tried to move it in her hand. Slowly making progress Alice opened her eyes to see a small ball of wind dissipate as soon as she opened them. 'Damn, ' Alice thought to herself while repeating it over and over while it dissipated every time she opened her eyes.

Trying this time with her eyes open not wanting to miss it, Alice concentrated on the flow of mana and was surprised to see the ball of wind slowly take form in her hand. "I did it! " Alice yelled out happily. Not noticing Geoffrey sitting net to her he leaned over and blew the ball of wind causing the mana to be disrupted and dissipate again. "Why did you do that?!? " Alice asked upset.

"Don't complain and do it again until you can move the ball without it falling apart like that, don't even think about stopping. I have a supply of MP restoring stones with me so even if you run out I will get you filled back up to start again. " He said laying back and juggling a few of the wind balls mockingly.

"No need to show off, cant you be useful and you know INSTRUCT ME! " Alice said annoyed while quickly forming another wind ball and trying to move it only for it to fall apart again. "Control your emotions Alice, you will never be anything more than a failure if you let your emotions get the best of you all the time. " He said poking at her wanting to teach her she needed more than control of her mana to use the Elements properly.

Ignoring his attempts to provoke her Alice started to concentrate again this time forming a more solid Wind Ball and being able to move it with ease. "Good job now throw it, " Geoffrey said throwing his as well hitting a target.

Alice gripped the ball which was surprisingly firm and threw it hitting the target as well. "Good with this understanding of the Wind Element your wind attacks will be more solid and do more damage, now take your scythe out and try to use the Wind element with it to preform a "Wind Blade" attack. All you need to do is control the mana letting it solidify and release as you swing. " Geoffrey said giving a demonstration with his staff.

Using her mana she controlled the flow of mana around the blade of the scythe causing a small vortex around her weapon, "Stop. Do not rely of the ornament you have attached to your weapon Alice do it alone by yourself. " He said not letting her take the easy route.

"Ugh, fine. " Alice said while concentrating to control the mana around her blade and swinging her scythe causing a small gust of wind. "Almost but remember how to properly control the mana and to solidify the attack otherwise the only thing you will do is knock your enemy back a little. " He said while eating an apply enjoying his free time.

Sending attack after attack at the target the only thing Alice was able to do was send wind out which was gradually getting stronger. Taking a deep breathe Alice swung hard like she was actually attacking a monster and sent a Wind Blade crashing into the target cutting through it a little.

"Hooo, you actually managed to cut the target that is quite good. " Geoffrey said giving her a small applause. "You have came pretty far today so we will end our training for now, I set the bag of money next to your belongings remember if you buy something you need to document it and turn it in. For now you're free to go meet with your party and go on an adventure, meet me back here as soon as you get back and we will teach you the starting stages of using your Wind element to hover off the ground. " He said knowing that would make her come back in a good mood.