18. Growth (1)

"Ignis Engulfium!"

Drax's voice echoed in gasps throughout the entire span of a grassy land.

A magic circle manifested in front of him and from it, a large burst of flame fired forward and travelled at a notable speed toward the one whom Drax was targeting.

Time flowed like the grains of sand inside an hourglass and now, Drax was fourteen years old.

He had come far and had a wonderful grasp of his world now as well as a reasonable amount of experience with magic.

Right now, he was training with none other than Madame Coletta.

The old elf maid stood still and raised her arm in the air.

Her posture mimicked that of one who was about to exhibit some dancing steps and this left Drax staring, with all the focus fixed on Madame Coletta as he plotted his next move.

The old elf moved her arm with a practised, fluid-like motion as she drew a circle in thin air with a thin, glimmering strand of mana, which she released from a fingertip.

A magic circle manifested from this very act, and a few offshoots of what looked like thick tree branches projected from it, travelling forward to meet Drax's flame head-on.

Watching this, Drax smirked.

His facial expression spoke highly of his confidence in winning the spar. It was almost as if Coletta had fallen for his setup.

Madame Coletta seemed to be playing perfectly into the script which he formed inside his head.

The fact that their spells were going to collide was enough visual blockade for him to utilise.

As he thought about the aftereffect of this collision, he smirked as he had planned to use it as a screen to hide his movement.

Madame Coletta's tree magic spell was nothing short of class and Drax was glad that despite being older and more experienced, Madame Coletta was not holding back just because he was younger or the prince.

The flame hit the tree trunks as both spells struggled for the right of way.

Naturally, the battle between fire and wood depended on size and number.

If the fire was larger and had to raze down a few chunks of wood or trees, it would.

However, a spark, existing on its own, would not easily burn down a massive forest if it were to remain the size of a spark of flame.

The same principle applied in this training exchange between Drax and Madame Coletta, but in their case, the deciding factor was mana.

The amount of mana funnelled into a magic spell determined how strong that spell would be.

Mana and the strength of a magic spell were directly proportional to each other.

Right now, it seemed to Drax like his magic spell was getting stronger than Coletta's as he channelled even more mana into the circle.

Madame Coletta's tree magic seemed to possess the same strength since when it was manifested.

Drax's Ignis Engulfium managed to overpower the chief of staff's tree magic spell and a cloud of smoke followed after the clash, but the mana left in that spell was not enough to sustain it until it reached Coletta as it dispelled before doing so.

Nevertheless, Drax was not going to be stopped by that.

It was at this moment that Drax stepped away from his position.

He was not going to take Madame Coletta for granted and move before then.

After all, without a covering cloud of smoke, the chances of the old elf catching a whiff of him were quite high.

Drax paced towards his opponent, hoping to catch her unawares and as he planned, he did.

With a tap on her back, Madame Coletta's eyes widened with shock.

As Drax had accounted, she kept a distance from a cloud of smoke, knowing to expect a surprise attack.

However, the Elf Prince took a different approach.

Drax smirked again.

"I win."

Coletta relaxed her face and smiled as she lifted her two arms in the air.

"You are getting better, my prince," she commended the young elf on his combat skill.

"Well—"

Just as Drax was able to take pride in defeating her spar partner, his words got stuck in his throat.

The Coletta in front of him started to dry up and slowly turned into a structure formed entirely from wood.

Drax tried to move but it was already too late.

'Shit!' he thought as his eyes were directed to the ground where he was standing atop a glowing magic circle.

"...but you still have a lot to learn," the real Madame Coletta said from behind him as she resurfaced from underneath the ground.

She proceeded to do a similar thing to Drax by placing her palm on his back.

"I win," she announced with a smile that caused Drax face to twist with frustration.

"...again."

The captured Coletta dismantled into chunks of wood formed from tree magic before they dispersed into nothingness.

Drax clenched his teeth and surrendered before walking away.

'How does she always do that!' he lamented inwardly.

Drax was not at all happy with the outcome of this battle, even if it was just a practice spar.

He was yet to get one win against Madame Coletta since he started training with her a few years ago.

"My prince…!" Madame Coletta tried to call him back but Drax had already reached a far distance, almost making his way back to the castle grounds.

As Drax walked away, Madame Coletta stared at her palm with which she cast the defensive tree magic spell against Ignis Engulfium.

She looked at the disappearing prince far ahead of her and back at her palm and then smiled.

Drax's flame had not spontaneously disappeared.

Even though the mana had reduced, Coletta had been forced to also contribute in stopping its procession, else she would have had her hands full by the time Drax came in with his surprise attack.

Coletta's palm was markedly ashen, a side effect of trying to counter Drax's fire magic.

'Just a little while more, Prince Drax,' she thought as she kept her eyes on her blackened hand.

'Seems your time with me is coming to an end.'

******

While the teacher was impressed with how far the student was coming, the student was about to go and scold himself for incompetence.

Drax returned to the castle, managing to reply to a few of the greetings he heard as his mind was somewhere else throughout.

He entered and met his mother, Freya, talking to a few staff and said nothing.

Drax halted and looked at them for a few seconds before walking away.

"Sweetie!" Freya called but the prince did not answer.

The staff surrounding the Elf Queen already knew what was going on.

They were familiar with this particular mood, and Drax never wore such a face whenever he trained with the other staff.

One of the staff looked at the queen and Freya returned the act.

"He trained with Coletta today?" she asked.

The staff nodded. "Yes, my Queen. Madame Coletta had chosen to have an impromptu spar with the prince, Your Majesty."

Freya smiled. She now understood why her boy was feeling that way.

He had lost to Madame Coletta again.