Finale of Practice

Banter was traded between the household during breakfast. Detailed conversations of how the kids would be fighting in the tournament were discussed. Elijah brought up many important details that all related to his first line. "A beast is a beast, and a human is a human."

The tan letter sealed with a teal wax was indeed another mission from Amaris, but also detailed his plan after the mission was over. Instead of blindly sending Elijah on mission after mission, Amaris wanted to help him train his one on one fighting skills. A mission would be given every four days, and in between, Elijah would join Amaris in a private Training ground that he would be shown, and not given the location to.

Elijah found himself on the rooftop of the Western Hunter Guild. A small one foot fence lined the area where the steep roof and flat floor met, and small wooden rectangles filled with different vegetables lined the roof. There were only two spaces for seating, and Elijah had pulled the wooden chair with no cushion to the edge. 

The grand stone castle with four tall towers at different heights magnetized his attention. The beam of a golden colored light shot up into the sky as a creator of protection. And beyond the rim, was a cold wind. The violent blizzard had come to a halt, and the only thing making a ruckus was the growling of beasts as they ate their own dead kin.

…

With a quick step to his right, Elijah dodged a frosty and blunted icicle being thrown directly at his face. The cold temperature of this exact instance used to shock the massive amount of temperature receptors within his head. But after more than an hour of feeling the drafts of temperature across his body, it felt like nothing more than a breeze.

A black short sword clanged against a thick spear of ice that almost instantly appeared in the hands of Amaris.

However, Elijah had another trick up his sleeve that Amaris had seen many many times, but still worked on him almost every time.

A small wave of water appeared from underneath Elijah's feet. The water quickly reached up to Amaris' ankle, and he just barely slipped as his momentum was not able to pick up as fast as he wanted.

It was either he was slow to get away, or he became stuck with the freezing of the water that Elijah would have jumped in anticipation for.

Half of the ice shield Amaris erected from his wrist fell to the floor with a clean cut across the middle. "Ha! Good job, I think that this specific tactic won't work on every affinity, but will still slow your opponent.

Elijah dropped his sword into a portal as he was walking back to his starting position. A shattering sound was heard along with the washing of water. "Whoops, I forgot I had water in there…"

A five thousand square foot room made of one hundred percent stone, and only magitech lights that lit the area was the training ground. Amaris had blindfolded Elijah on the way to the location. Although, Elijah had a rough guess as to where he was. The Underworld. The only question in his mind was why Amaris had a secret training ground here.

"Elijah, I really enjoy the idea of you zipping around your opponents with your water magic, but I do think you should use it in a way similar to how I use an ice path. Temporary, of course." Amaris said as he backed up into his starting corner. A long spear was the size of his six foot body with his left hand staying free. "I want you to shoot yourself in the air, only ten feet up, with a strong blast of water. It will create an unpredictable current, but also give you the advantage. Everyone participating on your level will only think horizontally, but if you add in vertical aspects to your attack, it will give you many moments of surprise."

Elijah thought of the idea in his head, and while it was dangerous, I think Amaris was implying for Elijah to slow his fall with flight. In a way that isn't noticed of course.

Blades of water with small amounts of space slammed against the ice shield that didn't even budge. 

The whole idea of the past two weeks of missions and one on one training is for Elijah to battle against anything that is stronger than him. Amaris truly wanted to mold Elijah into a future judge, or really someone who would be a leading figure of power. That is of course without Amaris knowing Elijah's intentions or future.

Blunt icicles flew straight through the large and thin barrier of water. Once the mana disappeared within the spell, the water splashed to the ground and quickly froze due to the small iceberg Amaris was conjuring. Elijah felt this was his best chance at using this spell. It was definitely set up by Amaris, but still, this was a chance to see the potential. The force of the water felt like it had intended the floor beneath it. One thing was for sure, Elijah would need new shoes. His body bursted into the air with a lukewarm feeling underneath his feet. The iceberg kept on slowly expanding, but by the time Elijah had let go of his spell, he was well above the iceberg, and just barely beneath the tall ceiling.

"Excellent!!"

Coming from a blind spot would be a surprise to anyone. Elijah, with a couple of waves of his hand, sent blades of water directly towards Amaris. Easily, they were frozen right in front of his face, and when Elijah landed on the floor with ease from over ten feet in the air, he was surprised by a chilling ice sword in front of his neck.

"I hope you know you shouldn't just let your guard down like that. Other than the fact I could squash you like a bug, that was a perfect representation of my imagination. You are mainly going up against the three main elements besides water, and you should especially use this against earth mages. They are going to be your biggest weakness because the principles of both elements won't clash like they will with fire and wind."

"I understand. I know I can win, especially in the qualifiers, but I am worried about what will happen if I win. Lorsen… Hates me. And I am scared to even look him in the eyes…"

Amaris walked close to Elijah and set his hand on his shoulder. Without talking face to face, he quickly said words of grace. "You have something I resonate with. If anyone decides to harm you, I will destroy that person. You have my pendant imprint, and it's in the easiest place to press. So If you ever get yourself into a precarious situation, call me."

Amaris continued to walk past Elijah and held the door open. "Good luck, I won't be there for the qualifying matches obviously, those will be easy. But I will be there for the finals."

"Amaris, I know I have said this so many times already, but I can't thank you enough for your help. I hope that you can bring me to Gion eventually."

Amaris closed and locked the door after Elijah walked through it. "I know, kid. And I'll be honest with you, I have no idea when I can go back. I don't even know the problem with this Kingdom. Everything seems normal besides the lack of innovation that isn't magic related. How about I draw you a landmark map. That way in case something bad happens, you can leave for Gion."

Elijah looked at Amaris in confusion. If something bad happened?