Elemental Training

Max had a relaxing night with his family. He told them about the fact that he awoken this 'rare' element named Darkness and the fact that he didn't know what to do. If there wasn't anything for him to read on about this element he will be in big trouble.

"I will try to do something about it, but for now until you get into a Magic Academy it won't change the fact that you have to do the basic training of feeling the elements around you. From tomorrow onwards pursue on the path of a Magician Max, I, your father, will aid you with the most I can in the meanwhile." Igor reassured his son. It was a path that even he had no experience in.

He maybe could teach his son how to wield an axe or a sword whatnot but he can't teach him anything about magic as he didn't have the privilege to study it himself.

"Thank you father, I will be going to sleep early then." Max finished his food in the meanwhile, he got up from his seat and walked towards his room.

While walking he remembered that he forgot Matt at the table, he reached out his hand and as of responding to his call, Matt, in his physical form, shot towards Max and equipped himself on his hand.

It was a neat trick which Max discovered that Matt can do, the shield would be attracted towards Max at high speeds and what happened if you were in the path of the shield would matter on what Max wanted. If Max just wanted the shield back it would avoid any obstacles, but if Max wanted to hurt the creature between him and the shield, then it would leave some serious damage on the creature.

He used this trick in the past a few times but it wasn't that reliable, especially when fighting against stronger opponents who would be able to sense the shield coming.

'So can you help me with that?' Max asked Matt after getting a hold of him.

'Yes of course! This is one thing we will be best at hehe' Matt laughed as a spoiled child, he now could show Max his full potential.

Max closed the door to his room and then sat on his bed in a meditating position, closing his eyes. 'I don't know anything about the Darkness element but I know about magicians, they meditate like this and gather the power of their awakened element like this...' Max was interrupted by Matt.

'That is right, while I was stuck inside that tomb two years ago I would be meditating constantly. So I have brief knowledge about it so hear me out for now. You know that when you want to enter the soul realm you have to concentrate on my physical form right? When you meditate you have to do quite the opposite, don't concentrate on one specific spot but everywhere around you. It will be hard for the first time but then it will become a lot easier.' Matt began instructing Max and he was listening earnestly.

***

'Try concentrating on my physical form then begin spreading your concentration around, try to feel the element of darkness that I draw around myself.' Matt recommended to Max. He has been trying to concentrate on his surroundings for a while but felt nothing while Matt kept constantly telling him that he was doing it wrong.

Max began concentrating on the shield then as recommended by Matt tried to concentrate on the outer edge of the shield, then the outside perimeter of it. Instantly as he did, Max felt a strange feeling he never felt before. He accidentally opened his eyes when that feeling appeared and looked toward the shield. He couldn't see anything. It was completely dark outside and inside his room, no light could be seen from anywhere.

'Stop looking around and concentrate once more! You almost had it!' Matt was almost in an uproar. He filled the inside of Max's room with a lot of the Darkness element to make him get a feeling for it faster, hence everything was black and no light could be seen inside of his room.

Max once again concentrated on the shield and as before began extending his concentration outside of the shield, and the strange feeling once again could be felt by Max but this time he didn't panic. Inside his mind he could see the shape of the shield and around it were white particles around it floating, emitting light in the endless darkness that surrounded him.

'Don't panic now Max, you are really close. Don't move your hands and don't approach them. These are all Darkness magic particles and they are invisible to the eye. To absorb them you have to pull them inside your body and into your bloodstream. Call for them Max, they will respond to you.' Matt was beginning to get excited.

He knew that Max was a fast learner or he just had a high affinity for magic, but this was the last step and he reached it in just a few hours. This took him personally a few weeks to do, the only thing that might've also affected his progress would be that he didn't have a teacher like Max telling him what to do along the way.

'Call them?! Umm... come?' Max said doubtfully, he really didn't know what to do, he thought that magic particles didn't have any intelligence so what good would it do for him to call them.

But then, he was proved wrong. The ten or so particles that were floating around the shield slowly made their way towards Max's hand, entering through his fingers and wrist, accompanied by another strange but soothing feeling.

'Congratulations Max! You completed the first step in becoming a Magician!' Matt, as his teacher, was extremely proud of Max and he congratulated him instantly.

Max heaved a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes, the boundless darkness inside his room was no more. Instead of it, the sun rose and began filling his room with light dissipating any shadow in its way.

'I-I did it!' Max felt accomplished over his achievement but he didn't have any time to celebrate, a headache suddenly appeared and he closed his eyes while his body began falling on the bed. A night full of meditating and learning exhausted him like never before.