"We're already pretty strong. I doubt we'd lose to any other apprentices our age," I boasted to Mari and Prince.
"Pfffft," Alwyn laughed, appearing behind us. "Strong? You haven't even mastered half of rudimentary magic."
"Rudimentary?" I asked.
"It means the most basic..." Prince said.
"Basic!? My fire serpent of hell is basic?"
"Soooo basic. You really think you're the first wizard to try and make a basilisk out of fire? It's not like it's all that advanced a spell, you know," Alwyn teased.
"So what's 'advanced,' then?"
"You shouldn't be worried about advanced magic any time soon! The three of you have been practicing magic for nearly two months and have only mastered rudimentary fire magic. At the tower, rudimentary magic as a whole is covered in a month, and that's only for the people who couldn't already use it."
"If I can explode bad guys with rudimentary fire magic what's higher magic even for, then?"
"Tsk tsk tsk. Do you seriously think that explosion of yours is impressive? How many times do I have to tell you... it's useless. At least compared to higher magic. It's really only comparable to a late beginner stage spell. Maybe early moderate stage."
"Beginner stage...?"
"How don't you know this?" Prince laughed. "The tower has a standardized grading system of spells and wizards. It goes rudimentary magic, then beginner, then moderate. After that is semi-advanced, advanced, and expert. Beyond that... well I guess that's not really classified!"
"Good job, Prince, that's right." Alwyn patted him on the back. "It's not all your fault. I've taught you very important fundamentals that even some moderate magics fail to grasp. Fundamentals that will help your comprehension and advancement to be much faster than your peers once you reach the semi-advanced level and above."
"Levels? Semi-advanced? Advanced?"
Oh man, I'm confused! What is Alwyn? An expert? Or above? How much more special can spells really get than what I've already seen? That one wizard, back in Corvailles, his butterfly magic was quite strange, but...?
"Don't worry about it, I said! Today, the three of you will officially learn how to cast the three other rudimentary magics without problem: wind, earth, and water. Fire is a strong first element to learn, but you're limited with what you can do simply due to its properties."
"By the end of today!? It took an entire day to learn fire magic!" Mari said.
"You're way better at manipulating mana now. Or, I hope you are...?" he coughed. "I'm sure you'll be fine!"
"Isn't it kind of... impractical? To leave Liora out, I mean," I asked.
He had previously waited to teach Liora and me any magic until all four of us were under Alwyn's apprenticeship, so I was surprised he wanted to teach us something so important while she was still incapacitated.
"...I'll be honest with you three, so don't tell her I said this, okay!? Liora, she's... slow. Not in that way, of course. Her mana pool is just so large, but her mental talent can't keep up. I'll have to instruct her 1-on-1 regardless, so this makes no real difference."
Woow. Harsh.
We sat in a circle and followed his instructions. I was already able to conjure rocks, so earth magic came naturally to me. Water and wind were quite difficult, and the three of us were struggling specifically with wind late into the night.
"It's no different from water or fire or even earth, really. Why're you three having such trouble?"
"GRAHAAA! It doesn't work!" I groaned. Mari and Prince were about ready to tap out, too.
"Hmmm, you're not trying to manipulate the air around you, right?" he asked.
"What? Isn't that what we're doing?" we asked.
"No! Of course not! Are you serious? How'd you even get that idea in your head!? I was just asking to be sure... but, seriously!?"
"Why're you so offended!?"
"I said they're all the same! All magic is the same! You're not manipulating anything but mana. Why would it change for wind?"
"Well, people say—"
"Let me put it this way. Just copy the flight enchantment. It uses wind magic. There, it shouldn't be that hard."
"Oh, I did it!" Mari cheered. Prince was shortly after.
"Ahhh... I see!"
How did I forget that?! I'm a fool... a failure... a disappointment!
I focused on the inside instead of the outside. It was quite foolish for us to think that we were manipulating the air with mana rather than creating air with mana. But, to normal folk, that's kind of what we thought...?
A wide slash of air shot towards Alwyn, causing him to bend over backwards, narrowly dodging.
"So you're copying me, now?" he laughed.
"Copying? What, you created slashes of air?"
"...Well,"
"Seriously!?" I shouted.
"Of course not! You seriously thought I invented basic wind magic? Who do you think I am... perhaps I was too boastful."
The day ended, but we were back up before the sun had fully risen.
"Start!" Alwyn shouted.
I rushed at Mari and held my arm up. I materialized a large rock in the palm of my hand and it slammed down above her. She stepped back and sent a gust of wind at my legs, making me face plant onto the rock.
I rolled over and saw a block of ice hovering above my face. I cast a fireball, shattering the ice into pieces.
"Hey, that's against the rules! No fire magic!" she shouted.
"Ehe... my bad," I shrugged, rushing at her again.
She raised her sword and swung it through the air. Gusts of air followed its arc, and I had a feeling that I'd be cut into pieces if I didn't dodge. I jumped into the air and shoved my arm elbow-deep into my hat.
I tore out my staff and swung it, striking a hopefully cool pose.
It's time to get serious now, isn't it? Heh.
"Oh seriously, get this over with already," Alwyn jeered. "I said it was a spar, not an action sequence!"
I spun my staff around and pointed it at Mari. The obsidian orb glowed orange and twelve small balls of water appeared in a circle. I shot them forwards, elongating them into spears and having them track her in a similar way to my magic missiles.
Unlike magic missile, though, when she blocked and parried, the spears only bounced back. She battled with the spears while I prepared my next spell.
Mud serpent of... MUD SERPENT, GO!
I combined earth and water and attempted to create a large, mushy, muddy serpent. It didn't quite turn out as I'd hoped, and a massive amount of mud shot from the front of my staff.
"What the hell is that!?" Mari screamed.
She jumped into the air, dodging it. In the air, she twirled around, destroying the water spears. Wind enveloped her sword and she threw it at me. With the wind's reinforcement, it shot through the air at barely visible speeds.
I aimed my staff at the sword in that split second, but the flowing mud could only slow it down. It did cover Mari, though.
The sword wouldn't stop, and was tearing through the serpent. I increased the output by forcing more mana out, but the sword persisted.
Damn! Why is that wind so strong!? It's because of that damn sword!
The sword struck my staff and the two weapons flew in opposite directions onto the ground.
"Draw?" I asked.
"Hell no!"
A sword-resembling object made of stone formed in her hand and she flew towards me. I raised my arms in defense, but she whacked me with it, sending me into the dirt.
"Okay...?" I said. "I would've just forfeited if it mattered so much."
"No you wouldn't have. And you covered me in mud. I have to wash off now!"
She stomped off.
"Hey, you won in my eyes," Alwyn grinned.
"I'm really your favorite, aren't I? Just admit it already."
"Pffft, as if. You just used your new magic more impressively. As soon as you learn to efficiently combine and use the four elements together, you've mastered rudimentary magic."
"I've already mastered rudimentary magic!?"
"What? No?"
"Oh."