3 Bullet Hell

Before I could even land, another blast of flame was hurdling toward where I would be in just moments. Forced to act quickly I dispersed mana to my legs and discharged it as a pulse of wind that changed my trajectory just enough to dodge the fire blast midair, allowing me to finally hit the ground safely.

A burst of laughter brought my attention back to my mentor who was already in combat mode. When Sebastian fought, his cane had a mechanism that extended it. Normally it looked like it was collapsed, with the shaft split into two. The longer shaft was always there as part of his walking cane, but a much smaller one was held against the front of the shaft by an ornate metal fixture that slid down and fixed the new heel of the cane to the bottom, extending it by several inches. The major difference however was that the new heel was made of a substance that created sparks with just a little bit of force ground against it. These sparks were a problem in combat, as Sebastian used them to start small flames, and could expand and use them as he willed.

Three taps of his cane later, and fragments of flame split in all directions around Sebastian before forming into small wisps. He favored this kind of offensive magic, as it created a home field advantage for the Flame caster. More importantly it was a very large quantity of them. Any one of them could incinerate their target if taken badly. He earned his mage title, The Ignition Battalion, because he was a one-man artillery force that annihilated whole platoons of enemy mages during the previous war with the Skelian Empire.

No, he would not be going easy on me. I could hold my own against relatively simplistic spells such as this, but I knew that Sebastian held back just as much as I did. Around his arm were several leather bands made from a special material. He told the story to me once, during the last war he expended too much mana during his last fight with the Crystal Warden and suffered from an affliction called Mana-Burn. When a mage exceeded the limits of their mortal body and sickened themselves with mana expenditure. He was now prevented from going full throttle without harming himself. So the bands inhibited him. Should he remove one, he would be stronger, but it would be a risk.

I myself had bindings on my own magic. But this was by my own design for reasons explained by my master.

"Let's try a little endurance match today. Quick and easy!" He shouted from the top of the hill. "If you can survive the onslaught for three minutes, I'll let you off the hook for skipping classes. If I can break your defensive aura, you run laps around the grounds until dinner!"

Not easy, not easy. In response to his challenge, I prepared small gusts that formed rings around my lower arms and legs. Like this I could discharge them as Flash-Spells without having to form them. I could change them at will in response to Sebastian's attacks. This configuration of wind magic served as my natural form for combat, allowing me full control over small but effective Flash-Spells and quick responses to any kind of situation.

Flash-Spells were quick casts that were the bread and butter for most Incursor mages. They were easy to manage spells that could be flung out without too much preparation. A Mage firing a blade of wind, or a hailstone of rock was using Flash-Spells.

Sebastian's wisps, however, were another form. The wisps were generated and continuously absorbed oxygen to continue burning and will do so until Sebastian commands them otherwise. These were done with advanced level spell casting, which followed and acted with multiple commands on cast. This was called Compound-Casting. The act of layering different spells into more advanced magic.

Finally, as master felt he had given me enough time to read the situation, roughly about 2 seconds, he snapped his fingers. About twenty of the wisps seemed to expand in size until they spat out fireballs aimed in my direction. I immediately thought of an escape route; however, Sebastian knew to cover his bases.

More wisps spat fire in other directions, specifically any other direction I could have gone. This meant that my master wanted me to account for when an opponent would anticipate my movements.

With a huff I kicked out to the left to avoid the initial onslaught of projectiles, putting me in the path of a second volley. In response I shot a blast of wind consuming one of the prepared circlets around my arm, attempting to extinguish or change the direction of the fireballs. All but a couple were fizzed out or deflected. These were homing in on me with great speed.

"What will you do now Drace, think ahead of yourself!" I heard my master advising.

I knew he was right; this volley wasn't the issue. It was always what came after because Sebastian was adept in multicasting, so I always had to prepare in advance for the next set of attacks. I kicked off with my back leg, using a Flash-Spell to launch over the incoming fireballs with a burst of air. I was clear of their trajectory, but I wasn't done with them. Coating my hands with wind mana I clasped either side of one of the fireballs, containing it in a small sphere of my magic. I had to make sure to continuously feed it oxygen inside without disturbing it enough to extinguish it.

More volleys followed, and even some of the wisps had launched themselves like arrows aiming for me. They would be more difficult, as they were closer to Sebastian's commands than the fireballs, they could change directions at any given moment. They also had larger explosions if they hit.

Keeping the contained fireball at my side, I held my other hand out like a shield when fireballs were about to collide with me. I willed my mana to surge out like a spiral, engulfing the air in front of me like a spinning shield of wind which the fireballs crashed into and fizzed out soon after. Just as I felt the defense was strong enough, one of the wisps collided with the shield and exploded.

The force kicked me back a few feet, but I did not lose my footing. The wind shield I had erected was gone, the magic disrupted by the explosion and could no longer keep its form. Thrusting the contained flame forward I allowed a hole in the container, then fueled the flame with my own wind. Naturally this forced the flame out like dragon's breath, erupting and roaring, aiming at my opponent.

I would have thought Sebastian to get out of the way, but he was too good for that. With a snap of his cane, several wisps collided with the flame, collecting it together before absorbing the blast. When my attack was finally rendered inert, the three wisps that had absorbed that fire were now larger. Another swish to the cane and they speared through the air in three directions.

I was really on the defensive now, even if I attacked. Figures that would be the kind of a fight you would get from a renowned war hero.

"Shit." I muttered to myself as two of the wisps came down in striking motions, attempting to smack into me. I had already back wheeled onto my hands and pushed out of the way of the two, nearly getting grazed by the second. They superheated the air where their trails led, causing me to sweat from the heat.

Already the constant barrages of fire were beginning to take their toll, the hot air feeling heavy in my lungs. Willing my mana to circulate calmly, wind buffeted the heat from my body and cooled the air around me as I moved, dodging more of the projectile attacks, and two more attempted strikes from the larger wisps. My lungs now cycled cooler air, enabling me to continue despite the heat.

Sebastian was being persistent. With his wisps, he only needed to expend mana to change their forms or cause them to explode, so he was using very little while I was busy using mana just to deal with the heat from these attacks and to move. He's gonna make me work for it isn't he, I thought to myself.

Several wisps shot down from their pack in the sky to just hover over the ground, not making any moves after that. I memorized their locations with a glance as I weaved through more volleys and wisp strikes. One of them had come down and burst apart in a shower of embers, like grapeshot. I was forced to backpedal as I shielded against the specs of burning flame. But my mistake was not realizing I had just been pushed back in range of one of the hovering wisps. When the flame flared brightly I dove out of its reach as the ground and air were superheated instantly. The gravel underneath it had turned to ash, the air distorted around it like a mirage.

So, he was leaving controlled zones around me in case I slipped up and got close enough to roast like a turkey. The aura of mana coating my body would not be able to sustain that kind of intense heat for even a second before it broke. This would be tricky.

"What will you do now that your surroundings are closed off to you? Will you turtle up in the center and defend against everything?" There was a hint of displeasure at that suggestion. I knew I couldn't withstand a continuous barrage with nowhere to go. Sebastian would easily break my guard without breaking a sweat if I stood my ground. He knew that I knew better, so he was expecting me to counter this scenario.

With another swish of his cane, multitudes of wisps descended upon me. Now I would be spurred into action.

Discharging the mana I had gathered into my legs I launched forward, carried by the gusts in my wake. The wisps changed direction, angling to catch me in my path, but I had already displaced them with well-timed bursts from the circlets on my arms. The three larger and more dangerous wisps had shot at me now faster than I currently was, and I knew they would catch me.

When the three projectiles came upon my rear I spun to knock one away with wind-clad leg and caught the other two with smaller spiral nets of wind from my hands to keep them from advancing on me. Their heat is incredible, I thought to myself with a grimace. If I let them get past my wind shields their heat would fry my mana aura.

Behind me I knew there would be one of the stationary wisps to flare as soon as I got close, I couldn't let these two push me in too close.

Remembering the first time I had gotten close; I knew it would flare up then ignite the air around it with intense heat that radiated from it. Radiated…

I had the answer I needed, if the heat radiated out from the wisp itself almost like a wave, then it wasn't an area effect spell. It could be blocked.

With the other two wisps colliding with the buffers, I let them push me faster into their intended target. This time I did so willingly. When I was in range of the stationary wisp, I launched the ones pushing me above with strong gusts and buffeted the ground below my back with wind to keep me from hitting it as I was pushed into a wind assisted slide below the stationary wisp, which had begun to flare.

Aiming my arm above me at the offending flame, I discharged two circlets of wind as Flash-Spells to connect with the outward surge of heat as a combined shield against it. With the speed I currently had and the shield lasting just long enough against the flare up before breaking, I emerged from the other side of the danger zone unscathed.

Counterattack! I shouted at myself internally, spinning to meet the ground with my boots the right way up and flung my hands in the direction of my mentor and opponent, who seemed to not react fast enough to my speed earlier as he hadn't turned his body to face me just yet.

Willing a large amount of my mana into my arms, I shot out wind mana like a cannon with a high mana expenditure. It wasn't a clean spell due to this, nor was it very imaginative. But with the amount I had put into it and the spiral I had forged it into, the force tore forward with a howl, tearing apart the gravel and air with a frenzy.

Sebastian made no move to change his direction or almost even react. Until his cane shot down at his side, colliding with the ground and igniting sparks. "Not even close." He said with a chuckle, before a spout of explosions erupted from the ground where his cane struck and surged forth to cleave my wind attack in two and slam into me, rending my aura apart.

The match had ended with my loss.

…

"You didn't actually expect a victory against me did you?" Sebastian was laughing at the opposite end of the dinner table that every evening. "I wasn't even really trying." He speared a piece of the roasted chicken on his fork and brought it to his mouth.

Admittedly, no. I did not expect to win that match seriously. But after the long running session I recently just showered from I at least expected to enjoy my meal without the gloating.

I was sitting at the opposite end of the table happily NOT enjoying my roasted chicken seeing as how I felt adequately roasted myself. I swear my hair was longer this morning. "You could have at least congratulated me on my skills today, master."

"Now," the fork was set down on the table gently, "why would I be doing that when you tried skipping out on lessons."

"Fine! I won't skip my lessons anymore. You know I could have won if I really tried." I groaned from where my face was currently planted on the table, resting my cheek on the cloth. I only knew he wouldn't say anything about my current position because it probably amused him seeing me this annoyed about the duel.

With a wipe of his mouth from a black linen napkin, Sebastian finished his meal and addressed me with a more subtle tone, earning my attention again and sitting me up straight. "You know full well you have to practice with your abilities inhibited or you'll never learn otherwise."

He coughed into his hand.

"The new academical semester starts in three weeks. Once you finish with your lessons and embark for Arcadia, I have a merchant friend there who will take care of one of your major necessities in the city. Things like clothing. You'll get that stuff sent to your suite.

That sounded curious, "I thought that the academy had its own dormitory?" I questioned Sebastian. I had studied up on Arcadia itself some time ago and concerning the academy it said that it was almost like another citadel sequestered on the edge of the city near the cliffs. Naturally this meant that the royal citadel and the residential districts were somewhat removed from the campus. This also meant the school had its own dormitory to help with the distance. "I won't be getting a room in the academy?"

"I do not mean that you will be staying outside of the dormitories, no. The academy has separate dormitories for both Nobility and Commonfolk. Naturally the noble dormitories are larger and are suites instead of rooms."

Of course they are.

"The aforementioned merchant will help with new dress clothes and formal wear for special occasions."

"Formal wear? How much is all of this going to cost? I'm just some fifteen-year-old kid from nowhere that just so happens to be able to use wind magic. Are suits and ties absolutely necessary?" I countered.

Sebastian brought his hand up to his lips and cleared his throat before continuing, more like a gesture than actually doing the act. "You are apprenticed to the war hero Mage titled: The Ignition Battalion. My very title carries significant weight in mage society and in Arcadia itself. There are already very heavy expectations set upon you because of your apprenticeship alone, let alone the talent you show as one who awakened so early. Regardless of your original social standing, you are basically nobility, and the academy will treat you as such."

Sebastian sat quietly drinking from a glass of red wine, allowing me to process a little of what was going to become of my life.

Basically nobility, he had said. While I wasn't against the idea of a change in social class, I knew there would be challenges ahead involving being considered one. One's social standing was another way of saying the manacle to which you were fastened, if Sebastian's responsibilities were any indication.

"This is to say," Sebastian had started up once more, "that you are also under the protection of the academy."

"What do you mean?"

"Noble status makes you a target, as does your status as a mage. You're valuable to the rest of the world in ways you may not even imagine. The academy was built as a way to both safeguard and nurture young mages until they graduate. It is important that you remember this, you already know why." Sebastian warned.

I understood this completely. The slavers that killed my adopted family knew what they had when they took me, and their eyes shown still in my nightmares. I was like treasure to them, just a valuable possession to sell. "I do."

Sebastian nodded, satisfied with my answer, before standing from the dinner table. "That will be all. Goodnight." He called as he was leaving. I replied with much the same.

Sebastian vanished into the hallway joining his suite to the main building, allowing Miss Fennec and the maids to sweep into the room after his leave. I scarfed down the rest of my food as hunger reemerged like a ravenous beast after my workout today, before taking my leave with a few words of thanks to the maids for their work for the night.

…

Later that night, I lay thinking about how my life would soon be changing. About the noble status I was soon to acquire just by the name of my mentor. It was a heady thought, but it brought uneasiness to my mind.

The silver pendant hung from my fingers by its silver chain, suspended above my head which rested on my bed pillows. Moonlight filtered gracefully through the windows behind me, and brilliantly shined against the silver of the pendant like illuminated glass.

I wonder what my adopted parents would say about my becoming nobility. Would they be happy for me?

No, I knew they would be. I was alive and well, soon to pursue an education at the most prestigious academy this side of the continent. My previous thoughts of wariness faded as I came to this conclusion. This was my way forward. So that I could be strong enough to protect what was mine next time. Never again.

I'm going to become the world's most powerful wind mage. Bet on it.