It had been a few months since I'd started my lessons with my master Alphonse... and now, after a long wait, I was going to have my first real battle.
The first two weeks were dull when Alphonse started teaching me the basics of magic. It was stuff I already knew, so I had to put up with it and hope for a more exciting curriculum as time went on.
Fortunately, my hopes were met. When he saw that I understood his words quickly, and that my knowledge far exceeded what he had taught me since I'd made use of my home library, Alphonse acknowledged me and decided to take things to the next level.
He started by teaching me how to cast basic spells, the fundamentals of spells.
Although it was still a long way from the experience I wanted, having practical lessons was much better than just sitting and listening to a bunch of stuff I already knew.
When it came to knowledge, I was definitely better than Alphonse. However, what I was really craving was the experience of using magic.
Finally, I got it.
"Fireball!" I exclaimed.
I visualized what I wanted to achieve, channeled the power from within my mana core, released the mana, and produced the desired result in the palm of my hand... a steady ball of flame.
"A-Wow... you got it on your first try," Alphonse smiled.
I was sure he was looking at me from his perspective as a genius, but that was far from it. It was easy for me to demonstrate such a result since I had an in-depth idea of how it worked.
In addition, even before our practical magic lessons began, I had been practicing on my own while reading several books on the fundamentals of magic in order to update the knowledge I had about it.
Of course, things would have been much easier if I had used Spellcraft, but I wasn't going to give up my trump card for a trifle like a fireball.
"Can we do something more complicated?" I asked him.
The faster we progressed with the basics, the closer I got to performing truly amazing spells. Although everything that was happening... was pretty exciting!
Ah, fire on the palm of my hand, just like I wanted back then! This is so wild, and so amazing. I'm doing magic. Hehehe, I laughed inwardly.
And as much as I wanted to do so much more, the little magic I was able to do was enough to send shivers of excitement through me.
Indeed, learning magic and practicing it are two different things.
And so, months after we started our time together, it was time to take another radical step in my magical training. This time, it would be a combination of knowledge and practice, and that's where they intersect... a magical battle.
"Summoning the Earth Golem," Alphonse exclaimed.
Instantly, mana particles flowed from his body and affected the ground where we stood. It was no longer covered with small grasses, unlike when we started. And because of all the time I had been practicing my magic, the ground was now bare, with only the soil as a covering
From the brown soil emerged rock formations that quickly coalesced. They had a faint glow of mana, and from.
Together quickly. They had a faint glow of mana, and it was clear they had been affected by my master's spell.
The rocks were taking shape, and by the time they were fully joined together, they had formed a golem. The golem was human-like in form, though it lacked any of our features and had somewhat enhanced arms and legs. It had no face, but the small rock representing its head hung over its broad shoulders.
In terms of size, one could say it was about my height, which is ideal for sparring.
My first fight when I was seven... Let's see how it goes," I smiled, as my body trembled slightly with excitement.
My mother was there too, a short distance from the field, watching what was going to happen. Out of the corner of my eye, I also saw several maids and servants staring eagerly as their young master fought his first opponent.
However, most of them had worried expressions, one of them in particular. She had always been kind and friendly around me, so I thought it made sense
What was her name again? Liliana, wasn't it?
Anyway, my excited thumping seemed to have been misinterpreted as a tremor of fear. I wasn't scared though; as long as I stuck to what I knew, this golem wouldn't pose a challenge.
"Are you ready, Jared?" Alphonse asked, ready to activate the golem against me.
I stood up straight, calmed my excited body, and took a deep breath.
"Yes. Let's do this!"
He grinned as he snapped his fingers. The golem sprang to life as the small rock on its head suddenly developed glowing eyes for seeing.
I wasn't surprised; I'd seen my fair share of golems and knew how they worked.
Not to brag, but in my past life, I'd developed many golem designs as well.
Whooshboom! Boom! Boom!
Flames struck the golem at multiple angles, causing smoke to billow from its body.
"Its body temperature should have risen to a degree.
The flames struck the golem from multiple angles, causing smoke to billow from its body.
"His body temperature should have risen considerably." I smiled.
The onlookers weren't too convinced of my victory.
"Is he panicking?"
"The fireball won't do much against this golem, though..."
"Couldn't he use something else?"
Hearing them whispering amongst themselves made me burst out laughing.
Of course, I could easily defeat it with a higher spell, but what good would that do?
I wanted to savor and enjoy my first battle properly. Besides, there was something I wanted to try.
"It's time to wrap things up."