Chapter 7: A Little Training

*AETHERIUS*

Upon arriving at the training area again, Octavious speaks first, "Well then, Dorian, give me permission to have a little training session with your son. I want to see his skills at such a young age."

"Don't ask me that, ask Altea," says my father. It seems Octavious was nervous, but he still asked the same question to my mother, "So, Altea, can I have a little training session with your son?" Octavious asks, shoulders slumped.

"Of course, as long as Ther agrees." My mother looks at me and I just nod, "Sure, I have no problem," I reply to Octavious. "Excellent, then come here and show me your skills. You can take out your weapon; I'll use mine," Octavious says, activating his ring and pulling out what seems to be a nunchaku with three sticks connected by chains.

My father calls me, saying, "As long as you're in this area, any damage you receive will heal by itself," and I simply nod my head.

"Very well, Aetherius," I interrupt him mid-speech, "you can call me Ther or Therius, whichever you feel more comfortable with." The four of them are surprised and look to my parents for confirmation, and they nod. "Alright, thank you for the trust," they all say at the same time. I won't be able to get used to their joint phrases. "Well, as I was saying, Therius, since I know you're of the lightning element, I'll tell you mine. I am of the fire element, although I normally use mana to strengthen myself, and my core is in dark yellow. You can call me Otto. Well, finishing with the introductions, shall we begin?".

In response, I say, "I don't see why not." I insert my mana into my ring as instructed and say the word "manifest" in my mind, and my scythe appears, astonishing everyone with the type of weapon I handle at my age and its height, which is much taller than me.

Suddenly, I feel something pulling at my mana, and I feel the scythe shrink to fit perfectly to my height and the balance I can handle.

I start spinning my scythe around my arm and body, with a smile on my face I say, "Alright, let's begin." Having spun my scythe, I imbue my attribute into my weapon and launch a white lightning bolt towards Octavious, surprised by the attack, he manages to dodge it.

Surprising everyone present except my parents and Elowen, Sara, and Valentina ask my parents, "How can he do that at just 12 years old and barely entering the stable red core?" My parents smile and puff their chests with pride, "That's a family secret," Fredic intervenes, "Seriously, how did he manage to do that? When you barely enter the stable red core, you have to train it to exhaustion before reaching the brown stage."

My parents look at each other and finally say, "We really don't know," they say with embarrassment. "From one moment to another, Ther was able to do that apparently when he started showing signs in the dark stage, he began training it, then Altea instructed him a bit, and the rest was on his own," my father finally says.

"But well, let them finish their encounter first, then we'll talk," again at the same time, the four of them say, "okay," and we resume the fight.

Otto starts moving, spinning his nunchaku quickly, and I try to match his speed, or at least I try to since my body is small. Then we both charge towards each other, clashing my blade with one of his metal rods, which are very tough. Otto, spinning his nunchaku, starts launching his fire magic one after another. Spinning my scythe, I block the attacks with the blade.

Once again strengthening my body, but now instead of mana, I do it with the same lightning magic, causing the element to adhere to my body, making me feel lighter and able to move faster.

Every time we get close enough, our weapons clash, making sounds that remind me of my old life. Every time I clashed my spear against someone, I feel my face starting to cramp up because my smile spreads across my entire face, showing how happy I am.

After entering this state of assimilation with magic, causing my hair to stand up and my eyes to have a lightning gleam as I move, I can move at a speed comparable to someone at the brown core stage. I appeared behind him, raising my scythe over my shoulder and spinning it quickly to strike him. But before I could even reach him, he glanced sideways and at that instant, he spun his nunchaku towards his back, where my attack would land, completely blocking it and causing my weapon and body to recoil.

I recover, and one last time, I charge my magic attack, spinning my scythe as much as possible, using my entire body, twisting slightly. Finally, I release the lightning bolt, making it resonate throughout the room, but failing to hit Otto, making this my defeat.

"Wow!" everyone shouts in the training room. I feel exhausted, about to fall, but Otto manages to hold me in his arms.

I return my weapon to my ring, "Excellent demonstration, kid, and ready to commit officially," says the guild master amidst laughter, who entered the training room at some point.

"What a demonstration you gave us, Ther. Thank you for that," says Fredic. Sara and Valentina come to my side, "That was amazing, Therius," says Sara. "I'm sure you have a bright future," says Valentina. "That can't be judged," says Otto. "Son, are you okay?" My mother asks me, "Yes, Mom, I just think I emptied my mana, haha," I calmly reply to reassure her.

"Well done, son. For now, try to get some sleep and regenerate your mana before we can leave," says my father. "Wen, did you see that? Your skills should reach that level if you're not slacking off in your training," I tell Elowen before falling asleep, taking my father's advice and sleeping.