54 Chapter 54

Training with Thunder king was brutal. Aaron was dull of scraps, bruises and lightning burns. Thunder king didnt held back at all. He taught him to dodge using his body. He was physically more fit than most people. He hadnt used in magic combat thinking it was useless.

Thunder king taught him to anticipate spells and dodge them to reduce their effect.

Next he worked on Aaron's gate.

"What so you think, can you use a gate to attack? "

"No. Althouh the edges are sharp, its stationary. "

"You are wrong. I have seen space mages use it in ways you can't imagine."

"How long does it take you open a gate?"

"3 seconds at the minimum."

"What if you shorten the distance to a couple of metres? And open it with a size as big as your head. Try it"

Aaron tried and found it took him only about a second this time. He had never tried it like this. To him, gate was for transportation only.

"Now what if you attack through this gate?"

"Attack? How? I don't have any attacking spells."

Thunder king looked at Aaron as if he was an idiot.

"Activate that blade of yours and hand it over. "

Aaron did as asked.

"Now open a gate in front of me and put the exit near that wall."

Aaron again did as was told.

Thunder king made a stabbing motion towards the gate. The sword went in about a foot in and came out the exit and stabbed the wall. Since it was the atomic blade, it neatly entered the wall.

"That was a kill. You have created one of the deadliest spells. You just need to find a way to utilize it. "

Aaron was amazed at the display. He remembered the experiment he had done long before with a stick. He had totally forgotten it. He now thought of various possibilities. He could use his telekinesis to fire atomic bladed projectiles. That would be devastating. It was a blow to Aaron's ego as well. He already knew the parts of it. He just never thought of putting it together. He wasnt as intellegent as he thought himself to be. He might know more of modern science, but he lacked the practical knowledge of how to use magic. He only followed what he was taught.

"I see you got some ideas. Now, do it again. Make a gate. "

Aaron repeated. This time instead of the sword, Thunder king fired a thunder bolt.

It travelled through one side and exited in a different direction directly smashing the wall.

"Spells could be redirected as well. You open a gate big enough, you can escape any spell with a small range. Ofcourse the bigger and faster moving spells wouldn't provide you much time. "

Aaron knew he could have saved Ron by this trick. Damn be the consequences of not being allowed to open a gate.

"Space mages are one of the most versatile mages. They are a nightmare to fight on a battle field. You just have to open your mind to the possibilities."

"Now try attacking me with a gate."

Aaron did. He chose a random exit near Thunder king's shoulder. The exit gate couldnt be seen with naked eyes. He thought of getting back for all the beatings he took.

Just as he put a stick in to stab Thunder king, thunder king somehow sensed the direction of the attack and moved to avoid it.

"How did I do it? No clue?"

"This is one of the best abilities of a space mage. Although strong enough mages find different ways to do it, but no one is as good as a space mage."

"Its called a detection spell in general. "

"I can use the static energy present in the air to find slight disturbances caused. The second you tore apart the space, I knew where it was."

"Space mages have their own ways. But theirs is the best. They can cover the widest area and they have the best accuracy over large distances. Space mages have saved so many lives at the border because of their detection skills."

"You know the best way to learn this skill?" he gave Aaron a nasty grin.

Aaron knew, he was going to get more bruises.

Thunder king made him close his eyes and threw small pebbles at him. He had to find the trajectory of those stones and avoid them.

Aaron tried to percieve the space around him. But all he got in return was pain and mockery from Thunder king.

"Alright. You wont improve in a sitting. You need more practice to start sensing space. Start with the area closest to you. Then slowly expand. "

"I will leave you to practice. And I always use one part of my mind to observe my surroundings. So, if you harbor any thoughts of attacking me when I am not looking, I would ask you keep those thoughts on hold. You wont get a second chance. "

Aaron was really thinking of finding an opportunity. But looks like Thunder king was wary enough.

Aaron put all his effort into training. There was no free time for him. He had already learnt more about using magic in these few days with Thunder king then he had in all his life. He wasnt planning on wasting any time.

One day, as Aaron was sitting and trying to space, he was thinking about what was space? How to define it? We always consider empty place to be space. But does it mean that if there is something present in that location, space cease to exist? No, its just occupied space. Aaron thought that's where he was wrong. He was trying to percieve the empty space alone. That wasnt his surrounding. His surrounding consisted of everything present. Matter and the empty space as well. That approach breached the walls Aaron was facing. He started to sense his surrounding. He felt the continous changes occuring. The gentle passage of breeze. The small things which were probably insects moving around.

This feeling opened a new world to Aaron. He opened a gate and tried to feel it. He could feel a sense of emptiness at the point the gate was opened at. If needed to feel a gate, he would need to get familiar with this feeling.

Aaron practiced more with this initial success. He could only sense an area of about 10 metres around him for now. But according to Thunder king, he could easily achieve a radius of 100 metres.

Other thing he improved in was shortening the time taken to open the gates. He had really not worked on it since he had left the academy. He had thought himself to already be fast enough. But he learned he could be faster. Gates with a distance of one metre was possible in a second now. Although one metre wasnt much, it could prove to be the difference in difficult situations.

He was improving at a fast pace under Thunder king. That was the difference between a mage fighting at the border and a mage staying at peaceful environment. They were powerful at a whole different level.

The two months were nearly up. Thunder king said it was time enough to learn just one more trick.