28 First Training

"..."

Green paused for a while as he remembered the events of the previous day, he didn't feel that it was wise to tell Ryan about it so he replied,

"Yes I have"

"Are you going to be there?"

"Maybe, I have someone in mind"

Green said and looked up at Ryan,

"Who?"

Ryan asked and looked back at him.

"Sam"

Green replied simply,

A brief frown appeared on Ryan's face for a moment then he burst out in laughter, attracting the attention of the two girls.

"Hahahaha please tell me that you're joking Green, my sides are aching from so much laughter"

Ryan said loudly as they walked, when he saw that Green had a serious countenance on his face, he sobered up and said,

"Wait, you're serious?!"

"Dead serious Ryan"

Green replied,

"Bro, of all the girls in our class, you had to choose Sam?! With her violent attitude and all?"

Ryan said fiercely to Green,

"Bro, I'm telling you this because I care about you. Stay away from Sam, she's too domineering, she's going to make your time at the party like hell.."

They heard a sound of a choking throat and both of them turned only to see Sam looking at Ryan with teary eyes, he didn't know that he had been speaking very loudly and that she had heard everything.

"Sam wait! It's not what you think"

Green tried to say before she quickly turned and ran away towards the restrooms.

There was an expression of regret on Ryan's face but he tried to hide it by saying,

"She'll get over it. But don't say I didn't warn you about her. The fresher's night is on Friday night, try and make a better choice before then"

"..."

Green didn't say anything as he continued walking with Ryan.

'Sam may be domineering but I think Ryan's been a bit too harsh on her, I'll try to talk to her later'

After that, Green, Ryan and Laura walked to the cafeteria in silence.

***

The Security Room,

Wilhelm and Bernard observed the many screens on the four walls of the large room, on each of the screens was the security feed of each and every part of the massive school.

Bernard was focused on one of the screens that showed three students, a student with green hair, a student with blonde hair and a short girl with black hair that were walking towards the cafeteria.

"Is this him?"

Wilhelm asked Bernard and handed him a file, Bernard opened the file and read;

Student Name: Green

Student ID-Room Number: 707120-042

Class: Year 1-A

Dormitory: White Lion House

Social Defect: Abnormal body features

"Yes, him and Carl's son were the ones who visited Jameson in his office"

Bernard confirmed,

"Hmmm... Nothing seems to be special about him, but we can't be too sure yet Make sure you continue monitoring them and let me know if anything happens.... I have some other matters to attend to"

Wilhelm said and left the room.

Bernard frowned and squinted his eyes at the three students walking on the screen,

"Just you wait. I have a master plan to expose you and that teacher"

***

The school bell for dismissal had been rung and the students began to mill out of the building. Green was packing his books in a hurry so that he would head to Jack's office for his first magic training.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the person standing in front of him,

"Hey"

Green looked up from his desk and saw Sam standing in front of him,

"Hi... Look, Sam I'm sorry about what happened earlier with Ryan, he was just ann..."

Green started but Sam interrupted him,

"It's okay, I've forgotten about it"

"Really?"

Green asked skeptically,

"Yes, so... About what that stuff I asked of you yesterday, do you have a reply yet?"

Sam asked as she held her hands behind her back, it was a subtle sign of nervousness.

"Oh... That. It's fine, I can go with you"

"Really?"

Her face brightened up as a smile instantly adorned her lips.

"Thank you so much Green!"

"You're welcome"

He said and slung his bag over his shoulder, silently hoping that she wouldn't hug him again.

"Alright, I'll be going now"

"Okay, bye"

She said and made way for him to scurry away.

"Bye"

***

[Battle Arena: Land of Snow]

Once again, Green felt the familiar arctic feeling as the cold gusts of wind whipped against him.

"So today, I'll teach you the basic use of magic"

Jack said confidently,

Green's face lightened up in happiness and he said,

"I'm ready"

"Hahaha"

Jack laughed heartily,

"You're still far from ready Green. Magic isn't all about formation of spells and similar things. Magic is simply a combination of physical strength and magic strength.."

He paused to look at Green and make sure that he wasn't confused before continuing,

"...After today, you'll enrol at the gym and take a heavy weight course to complement the magic training that we'll be conducting"

"Ah!"

Green's mouth hung open in surprise,

"The gym? I can't even carry a damn dumbbell and you're telling me to enrol for the heavyweight training"

The look on Jack's face changed to a stern expression,

"Do you want to beat Derek or not?"

"..."

Green paused for a while before saying,

"Yes, I want to beat him"

"Then do what I say"

Green looked at Jack and clenched his fists in determination, he knew that Jack was right, if he really wants to become strong enough to defeat Derek, he needs to train harder.

"Let's do this"

Green shot back at Jack who now smiled satisfactorily,

"The very first stage of developing your magic energy is to determine your affinity but since you don't have an affinity, we can just develop your energy as it is..."

Green nodded to him to signify that he was following,

"Now, I want you to stretch out your hand"

Green stretched his hand out,

"Close your eyes, clear your mind and maintain internal silence...."

Green took a deep breath and followed Jack's instructions, his chest heaved softly as he stood there with his eyes closed,

"Listen to your body, you'll feel a little energy flowing through your blood stream. That energy is your magic, try to move it to your outstretched hand"

Green closed his eyes tighter as he felt the magic circulating inside his body, the magic energy was easy to feel but wasn't as easy to move as Jack described, but after some time, he managed to move it to the outstretched hand. There was a light tickle in his arm as the green energy formed on his palm and began to spin very quickly.

"Good, very good"

Jack said while smiling,

Green opened his eyes to see the swirling ball of green energy on his palm and a smile of joy appeared on his face but the smile was short lived because the energy ball disappeared immediately because he lost concentration.

"Yes! Yes! I can do it! I can control magic!"

Green said while running and jumping around in joy.

Jack couldn't help but smile at the innocent soul jumping around in happiness.

"Mr Jack, i will defeat Derek and prove that you're the best teacher ever!"

Green was beaming with smiles.

"Yes yes, now try it again"

"Okay"

Green said as he stayed still closed his eyes in order to gain the focus required to form the ball again.

By the end of the training session that day, Green's earlier happiness was replaced by disappointment and fatigue, he hadn't been able to form the energy ball after that first time but he could feel the energy swirling around in his body though he couldn't manage to transfer it to his palm.

Attempting to use his magic repeatedly ended up wearing him out and he looked very tired as they ended the session.

"Don't be disappointed Green, honestly, I was surprised when you formed that ball of energy on your palm because even the most talented of mages found it difficult to form an energy ball even in their first week of training. At this rate, you'll be able to beat Derek by the end of this term. Keep it up"

Green's eyes brightened up as he heard Jack's motivation and he said,

"I won't let you down Mr Jack. I promise"