For the last months, I have trained exhaustively to improve my control over mana. Since Blue mother left, White mother has trained me in a different element: Wind. Unlike water, to cast a wind spell, I have to imagine myself turning into wind instead of imagining the wind itself because-seriously, how the hell am I supposed to imagine air?!
"Think as if you're floating, Ryker. Remember all those times the wind hit your face? How it moves you hair and clothes? Imagine that you are that wind" White mother would tell me patiently.
After several attempts, I finally managed to cast a small gust of wind. Little by little, I improved it until I could create a concentrated burst strong enough to push a target away. In this case, the "target" ended up being our dog, Leo.
White mother seemed very surprised by that, so I asked her what was wrong.
"Ryker, the spell you just caste is called Sonic boom-and it´s an intermediate-rank spell," She said while studying me carefully.
"Does that mean I´m an intermediate-rank magician?!" I asked, my eyes shining with excitement.
"Actually, you were already an intermediate-rank magician," She said with a gentle smile.
"Eh? I was?!" I couldn´t believe it. When? Did all those little water spheres I made with Blue mother really make me an intermediate-rank magician?!
"Remember the first time you cast a water sphere? That spell is called Water Cannon, and it´s an intermediate-rank spell" She said, giggling warmly
I couldn´t suppress my excitement; I was already an intermediate rank in two elements. White Mother, seeing my excitement, patted my head gently but firmly to make me pay attention to her.
"You should be proud, Ryker, but never let your achievements go to your head and make you arrogant. You will always have more to learn and understand"
Her warm voice was comforting, but it also had a firm tone to emphasize the importance of her words. No matter how strong I get, I will always have more to learn and understand. I won´t be arrogant; in order to get stronger, I will seek the things I don´t know and learn them.
I kept practicing my wind and water magic for the rest of the day. White Mother couldn't help me much in showing me the spells because of a condition: she was pregnant.
Her belly looked about 7 or 8 months pregnant. I was going to have a little brother! Well, technically it would be little step-brother, but still-a little brother! Actually, now that I think about it, I already had a sort of little brother in Ars. Over this time, Ars had grown and started to take small steps around the house. He already knew some basic words, but at the end of the day, he was still a little baby-and he kept punching my head with his tiny fist.
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A few weeks passed. Father, Blue mother and Red mother returned from their trip. I wanted to show Blue Mother all my progress, but Red Mother caught me and dragged me to the yard of the house.
"Since today you will start training with me, Ryker!" she said, with her usual arms-crossed, legs-separated posture.
First we started running around the house. I don't know how many times we ran around the house-I stopped counting after the 50th lap. When we finished, I collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat. For the first time, I was completely exhusted; not even while training my wind and water spells had I felt so tired.
"You have good stamina, Ryker," Red Mother said while wiping a few drops of sweat from he forehead.
"Good stamina?! I'm drowning!" I replied, looking at her. She just gave me quick glance before turning around
"Norn only lasted 30 laps before collapsing from exhaustion" She said in a low voice.
Wait... Does that mean...?
"On your feet!" Red Mother's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
The rest of the day, we kept doing push-ups, sit-ups, running again, more push-ups, some shadow boxing and finally, more running.
"I thought we were going to train in swordsmanship" I said, using wind magic on my face to get some oxygen.
"Before swordsmanship, we need to train your physique; then we'll train with the swords," Red Mother said while entering the house.
When I entered the house, I felt like a zombie. I took a quick bath, and as soon as I rested my head on the bed, I fell completely asleep.
The next morning, Red Mother woke me up very early to start training. When we walked through the living room, I saw my father getting ready for his own training session. I escaped from Red Mother and ran to him.
"Dad! Save me! I don't want to go training" I said, desesperate, while wrapping myself around his leg.
"Eris, don't you think you're going too hard on him?" My Father asked, looking at Red Mother with a hint of concern.
"He has potential; he just needs to make the most of it," Red Mother said firmly while dragging me by the neck of my shirt.
I looked back at my father, hoping he would do something, but he just gave me a couple of thumbs up and a nervous smile. Idiot! You're supposed to help me!
The session was the same as yesterday; the only difference was that today I wasn't completely drenched in sweat. It was almost as If I could feel my muscles adapting to the new workout.
The following days, my routine was: Waking up, eating a quick breakfast, training with Red Mother all morning, taking a bath and eating lunch, then training in magic with Blue Mother and Lucy, attending reading and writing lessons with White Mother or Lilia at night, and finally go to sleep. It was difficult, but I could handle it.
One day, I was training with Blue mother when I noticed something important. I was already practicing intermediate-rank water spells, most of which involved transforming water into ice. Magicians would usually tried to transform water directly into ice by altering the density of the water and the mana. I found this technique complicated and inefficient, so I tried a different method.
Since I could also cast intermediate-rank wind spells, I decided to combine both water and wind. First, with my left hand, I would create the water sphere, then with my right hand, I would cast a concentrated ball of wind. The wind would lower the temperature of the water enough for it to transform into ice.
I practiced first with a single sphere, then with multiple spheres, and finally I mastered the technique enough so I could shoot multiple ice shards in different directions. Blue Mother told me that my method was actually more difficult, but if it was easier for me, I should do it that way. Then she stared at me.
"Ryker, follow me. I want you to see something," Blue Mother said seriously.
We got a horse and prepared to leave, but we saw my father at the entrance.
"We're you going?" he asked curiously. Blue mother whispered something to him.
"Are you sure?" He asked at Blue Mother, with a puzzled expression. Blue mother nodded. "Then I'll go with you" he finally said.
The three of us went outside the house and headed to a distant place. I was amazed of how vast the world was. We finally arrived at a wide, empty field. I still didn´t know why we were here.
"Ryker, I want you to pay attention," She said steeping in the middle of the field.
She raised her staff and began to recite a chant, I was too far from her, so I couldn't hear the words, but Blue mother raised her head and shouted, "Cumulonimbus!"
As she did that, a huge thundercloud formed above us, and torrential rain and strong winds began to fall. A truly magical spectacle. My father held me firmly so I didn't get blown away by the powerful gusts.
When everything settled Blue Mother approached us. "Ryker, I want you to try that"
"Eh?! I can't do that!" I exclaimed, alarmed.
"Just focus and try" Blue Mother said calmly.
I hesitantly walked to the middle of the field, intimidated by the challenge. How am I supposed to do this? I closed my eyes and began to focus-not on imagining a storm, but on finding one. I could feel the remnants of mana left by Blue Mother's spell, the multiple strings lingered in the air.
I raised my hands and started to connect them. I imagined the clouds forming from those tiny mana strings. I opened my eyes. The thundercloud was taking shape. Sparks flew from my body. I looked up and shouted with all my strength:
"Cumulonimbus!"
The torrential rain hit me. The powerful gusts, whipped around my body. More than that-I could control them. I increased the intensity of the rain and wind. I imagined a lightning bolt striking a nearby tree. It actually landed there. I was elated.
Finally, I released all the strings. The rain stopped. The clouds spread and vanished.
I looked back at my father and Blue mother. They had their mouths half-opened in shock. Blue mother got closer and patted my hair.
"Congratulations, Ryker. You're the officially a Water Saint," She said with a smile.
"Eh? What do you mean?" I asked, confused
"Cumulonimbus is a Saint-rank spell," Blue Mother explained, taking off her wet hat. "And you did it."
My father got closer and lifted me into his arms. "Youngest Water Saint," he said with a smile, kissing my forehead.
I looked up at the sky, where some clouds still lingered. I smiled. Things were starting to get interesting.