The Art of Control

Chapter: 10

As I approached our usual training spot, the familiar sight of Abeni and Alex deep in practice greeted me. Abeni was honing her control over wind and fire magic, her favorite elements. She danced with precision, moving gracefully as gusts of wind swirled around her, feeding into flames that hovered above her outstretched hands. She twirled the elements together, creating arcs of fire that followed the path of the wind like a burning ribbon, twisting through the air before dissipating into the sky. It was impressive how far she had come, her determination never wavering despite the complexity of mastering two elements.

Meanwhile, Alex stood off to the side, face scrunched up in concentration as he struggled with fire magic. A small, flickering flame hovered above his hand, growing and shrinking erratically. He was still learning, but he was determined to get the hang of it. He repeatedly conjured the flame, trying to control its size and shape, but it fizzled out more often than not. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but he persisted, silently mouthing the steps I had drilled into him.

Abeni noticed me first, stopping her practice and walking over, making sure not to disturb Alex. Her eyes fell on the musket slung over my shoulder—a difficult thing to miss considering it was longer than my body.

"What did you do?" she asked, her voice low and suspicious as her eyes narrowed.

I shrugged casually. "I dealt with a problem, nothing more."

Abeni sighed, crossing her arms. "I hope you know what you're doing?"

"I do."

"Fine," she muttered. "So, when are we starting earth magic?"

"Oh yeah, we can start today if you want," I said.

She hesitated for a moment, then, a bit embarrassed, asked, "And… could you teach me healing and barrier magic too?"

A grin spread across my face. "Oh, finally giving in, huh?"

"Shut up," she snapped, punching me lightly in the arm with an annoyed look.

"By the way, where are you going to hide that?" She nodded toward the musket.

"Oh, this?" I glanced at the weapon, now almost forgotten on my shoulder. "In the tree. Why?"

"Of course," she said, shaking her head.

We walked over to the large tree nearby. I hopped up into its sturdy branches, securing the musket among the thick limbs where it would be hidden from prying eyes. After making sure it was well-concealed, I jumped down, landing softly next to Abeni.

"Okay, wanna get started?" I asked, brushing the dirt off my hands.

"Let's start with barrier magic," she said, surprising me.

"What? You do realize that barrier magic is way harder than elemental magic, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

I sighed. "You're stubborn, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah," she waved me off, clearly unimpressed with my concern.

"Alright, let's get started then," I said, resigned. "What should I do first?"

"Hold your horses. We aren't doing anything major yet." I raised my right hand and focused my Mana, creating a small, translucent blue box that hovered just above my palm. The barrier was simple, but stable. "This is what we're doing for today."

Abeni blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "What? That's it? This will be easy."

I smirked, already anticipating her reaction. "Really? Okay, we'll see about that."

"Just tell me what to do already," she grumbled.

"Fine, fine. First, picture your Mana condensing into the form of a cube. Don't use so much that it's opaque; you want it to be see-through, but also durable enough to withstand a hit."

"Oh, okay." She nodded confidently, already diving into the exercise with that signature determination.

I crossed my arms and leaned back, watching her with interest. This should be fun.

Abeni closed her eyes, focusing her Mana. A faint glow surrounded her hand as she attempted to create her first barrier. It formed quickly but was completely opaque, a solid block of energy rather than the translucent box I had shown her. She frowned, glaring at it as if sheer force of will could fix the problem. She gave up on the first attempt and tried again.

The second barrier was transparent this time, but it was flimsy, practically falling apart as soon as it formed. 

"Damn it!" she muttered under her breath.

I chuckled, earning a glare from her. "I told you it wasn't going to be easy."

Abeni huffed, clearly frustrated. "It's just a cube! Why is this so hard?"

"It's not about the shape. It's about balance," I explained. "You're putting too much Mana into form and not enough into stability."

She groaned but didn't give up. Abeni always hated when things didn't come naturally, but she had a fire inside her that kept pushing her to master whatever she set her mind to. She tried again, this time managing to make a barrier that was closer to what I had shown her. It wasn't perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.

"That's better," I said, nodding. "Keep practicing like that, and you'll get it."

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, her focus already back on her next attempt.

I turned to check on Alex, who was still practicing with his fire magic. His flame had grown a bit more stable, but it was clear he was still struggling to keep it under control. His forehead was creased in concentration, his hands trembling slightly from the effort.

"You're overthinking it," I called to him. "Let the Mana flow naturally, don't force it." I said throwing the kid a bone he deserves it by now. 

Alex glanced at me, nodded, and tried again, this time relaxing his posture a bit. The flame in his hand steadied, glowing a soft orange as it hovered above his palm.

"Good," I said. "Keep that up, and soon you'll be able to shape it."

For the next hour, we continued our training, the sound of the wind rustling through the trees mixing with the crackle of magic and the occasional frustrated groans from Abeni.

Chapter 10: End