It has been a few months since I started my lessons with my Tutor, Alphonse… and now, at long last, I will be having my first actual fight!
It was boring for the first couple of weeks when Alphonse began teaching me the basics of magic. They were stuff I already knew, so I just had to endure and hope for a more thrilling curriculum as time passed.
Fortunately, my expectations were met. Upon seeing that I caught on quick to his words, and my knowledge was far beyond what he taught me since I made use of my house library, Alphonse acknowledged me and decided to take things to the next level.
He began by teaching me to cast staple spells, the basics of spells.
While it was still a far cry from the experience I wanted, having practical classes was far better than just sitting and hearing a bunch of stuff I already knew.
When it came to knowledge, I was certainly better than Alphonse. However, what he had that I desperately sought… was the experience of using magic.
And I finally got it.
“[Fire Ball]” I chanted.
Imagining what I wanted to bring forth, as well as channeling the power from within my mana core, I emitted mana and produced the desired result in the palm of my hand… a stable ball of flames.
“A-Amazing… you got it on your first try!” Alphonse beamed.
I was certain that from his perspective, he viewed me as a genius, however that was far from it. It was only easy for me to display such a result since I had a very in-depth idea of how it worked.
Plus, even before our practical magic lessons began, I had been practicing on my own while reading various books on basic magic in order to refresh the knowledge I had of them.
Of course, things would have been a lot simpler if I used SPELLCRAFT, but I wasn’t going to give away my trump card for some petty trick like a Fire Ball.
“Can we do something more complex?” I asked him.
The faster we progressed with the basics, the closer I would be to performing truly incredible spells. Although, everything that was going on… was pretty exciting!
‘Ahhh, fire on the palm of my hand, just like I wanted in the past! This is so wild, so amazing. I’m doing magic. Hehehehe!’ I laughed internally.
As much as I wanted to do so much more, the little magic I had been able to do was enough to send me into shivers of excitement.
Truly, learning and practicing magic are two different things.
And so, months after our time together began, it was time to take another drastic step in my magic training. This time, it would be a combination of knowledge and practice, a point where they intersected… a magic battle!
“[Earth Golem Summon]” Alphonse chanted.
Immediately, mana particles flowed from his body and affected the ground where we stood. It was no longer covered in little grasses, unlike when we had started. Because of all the time I practiced my magic, the ground had now become bare, having only soil as a covering.
From the brown soil emerged rock formations that joined together rapidly. They had the faint glow of mana, clearly being affected by my tutor’s spell.
The rocks were coming and by the time they were completely joined together, they formed a golem. The golem was humanoid in shape, though having none of our features and possessing somewhat beefed-up arms and legs. It had no face, but the small rock that signified its head dangled atop its broad shoulders.
In size, one could say it was about my height, perfect for sparring.
‘My first battle at seven years old… let’s see how it goes!’ I beamed, as my body trembled slightly in excitement.
My mother was also present, a small distance from the field as she watched what would happen. From the corner of my eyes, I also spotted multiple maids and servants staring excitedly as their young master fought his first opponent.
Most of them had worried expressions though, It seemed my excited throbbing got misinterpreted to be quivers of fear.
I wasn’t scared, though. So long as I stuck to what I knew, this Golem wouldn’t be a challenge.
“Are you ready, Jared?” Alphonse asked, ready to activate the golem to fight me.
I stood uprightly, calming my overexcited body, and took a deep breath.
“Yeah. Let’s do this!”
He smiled, snapping his fingers. The Golem whirred to life as the small rock on its head suddenly developed two glowing eyes to see.
I wasn’t surprised, I had seen my fair share of golems and knew how they functioned.
Not to brag, but in my past life, I developed many golem designs as well.
Vwoosh
The rock contraption dashed toward me, moving its quick body very nimbly.
I smiled, instantly opening up my palms as I focused mana on them.
“[Fire Ball]”
Throwing the orb of flames at the golem, I leaped backward, preventing it from drawing too close to me.
BOOOM! My magic exploded on the golem’s body.
Smoke emanated from its body as it continued approaching me, seemingly unharmed by my attack. Alphonse sure made it durable.
“Heh, as expected.” I grinned.
I expected this much. Magic Ball was a weak spell, it wouldn’t even cause much damage to a sturdy object. Its main strength was in the heat it generated, so when it came to power and impact it was lacking greatly.
“[Fire Balls]” I chanted, creating two spheres of flames on both my hands and throwing them at my opponent.
As they were launched, I ensured to take constant steps backward, creating an even greater distance between us.
BOOOM!
BOOOM!
The flames hit the golem at multiple angles, causing smoke to emanate from its body.
‘Its body temperature should have risen to a considerable degree.’ I smiled.
The spectators weren’t too convinced of my victory.
“Is he panicking?”
“Fire Ball won’t do much good against that Golem though…”
“Can’t he use something else?”
Hearing them whisper amongst themselves made me nearly burst out in laughter.
Of course, I could easily overpower it with a higher spell, but what would be the point in that?
I wanted to savor and enjoy my first battle properly. Plus, there was something I wanted to try.
‘It’s about time to wrap things up!’