Skia had felt stronger and more alive than she ever had. Training with Onyx was intense but well worth the effort. She was ready for the light test again. Entering the room starting out in pitch black aside from a very faintly glowing orb in the center she calmed her mind and prepared herself.
Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and waited.
"Are you ready, Skia?" Onyx spoke calmly. Worried she might be taking things too fast.
"Do it, I can take it this time!" She responded without hesitation.
With the flick of her wrist, Onyx lit the orb in the middle of the room and it quickly almost instantly filled with a bright light that engulfed everything from all angles of the room. Removing and normal shadows.
She felt the sting of the light as it permeated all over her body. She tried so hard to hold still but her body was feeling weaker by the minute.
"Hold yourself together Skia! Remember what I taught you! Onyx called out as she formed a shadow around her own body to protect herself from the light.
"I'm trying but it's not working!" Skia felt ashamed. She was the one who begged Onyx to take the test again. She was the one who wanted to prove she was doing well.
They had all been training for a week now and she could not let her friends down. Taking everything she had learned into her being she forced her powers to form around herself despite the light.
For a moment a wisp formed on her forehead. Flickering in and out she was beginning to get lightheaded. But she pushed on.
"Ahhhhhhhrrrrrr!" She yelled out as she finally formed a very light film of shadows around her very person. She did not see it happening because she fell unconscious in the process. The lights turned off immediately and Onxy caught the young girl in a cradle of shadows. Laying her down gently Onyx smiled.
"You passed the first test, congratulations." Onyx felt a bit of joy for the first time in a while.
Skia gave a weak smile as she came to just barely awake. "I'm getting stronger…" She whispered before she fell back asleep.
—--
Doric was beginning some more serious training. Welsher was really enjoying his quick understanding of things that would normally take people many years to pick up on.
A week had gone by but Doric was finally able to lift the rock over his head 1000 times and because of that Welsher cleared his throat and began speaking formally for the first time today.
"We are finally ready for the next lesson but before we do I want you to see something."
Welsher pulled out a mirror and pointed it toward Doric. Doric looked into it and saw himself.
"Nothing has changed I still look like I always do," Doric responded continuing to look at himself.
"For someone who is bright like yourself you sure are dumb sometimes." Welsher belted out a laugh and made a circular motion near his eye. It clicked with Doric and he made sure to cast his monocle spell. the moment he did his jaw dropped.
Doric, Magic Spell Level- 1135
"Holy cow, I shot up in power so quickly in just this one week!" Doric exclaimed with a little crack in his voice. Welsher continued laughing and sat down.
"Alright, are you ready to try the test again?" He asked seriously and without humor in his voice.
"Just know that if you don't pass this one and die you will lose a lot of your progression. Once you reach a certain point in life, Dying sets you back a ton. But it also means you can die and be willful enough to come back. But the stronger you are the weaker you become when you revive."
Doric looked confused for the first time in a while. "Wait so strong people can revive themselves if they are killed. That is insane!" He contemplated it for a moment and before agreeing to the test he asked. "What are my odds of succeeding on this test now?"
Welsher grinned and stared Doric down. "You died before taking the test while very weak. Imagine what that did to your power. Now imagine what you can do now."
Doric contemplated it for a moment. It did not really answer his question but it gave him a really good idea of what his power level was at that time. He nodded and clicked his teeth.
"Alright, give me the test again."
Welsher gave him a cautious look. "Are you sure? If you fail it you will lose an entire week's worth of training."
Doric without hesitation, looking as determined as he ever was responded. "I am ready, I can do it this time."
Welsher stood up and slammed his foot on the ground. A large piece, About 2x as large as the last test came out of the ground. Instead of grabbing it and throwing it at Doric he instead kicked it like a soccer ball going in for a winning goal. The speed and size of the rock scared the hell out of Doric and he panicked for a moment.
"What the hell, man are you trying to get me to fail this?" He cried out as he tried everything in his power to catch the giant boulder coming at him. He felt the weight of the rock in his psychic grip and it was heavy. He used every fiber of his being to force it to come to a stop. He imagined himself being a goalie trying to stop the ball from getting in.
Closing his eyes he gritted his teeth as hard as he could. He was certain he was going to be smashed to bits again and lose all of that hard work. "Dammit…" He thought to himself as he felt the rock's weight pressing against his powers.
But then it dawned on him. He was feeling the weight but it was not pushing against his powers.
Opening his eyes he looked at the rock.
It was floating in the air completely stopped by his psychic powers. It had been grabbed and halted only a foot away from where Welsher kicked it. He saw the expression on Welsher's face.
The face of a mentor who was beyond proud of his pupil.