Chapter 5.3 - Midnight Training

The weather outside was very pleasant.

People were walking home and establishments were closing their doors. Adam missed going to sleep. Ever since he got to Vulcan Town it felt like only two days had passed but it didn't feel right. 

Will my days be this long forever? I gotta find a hobby. 

Thinking to himself while flying down to the garden of stones he grabbed a torch on his way to make it easier to read. 

"I was waiting for you." 

Adam jumped with the voice that came from within the darkness. 

"Shit! Are you trying to kill me?" His heart had crashed against his chest, making his whole body shake for a moment.

"Impossible." Calder came out of the shadow caressing his long beard

"Hikari told me she met you here the other day." 

Adam looked at him with contempt, his satisfied smirk made the young God feel embarrassed. 

"Yeah, she showed me some katana moves and then gave me some moral lesson about self control or whatever." Dropping his books on a bench, he positioned the torch next to him before sitting down to face Calder. "You are not here to gimme the same lesson, right?" 

"No." Unshaken with Adam's blunt disrespect for their teachings, the old goat halted in front of him, hands behind his back. "I just wanted to let you know we are leaving for Merinia tomorrow night." 

Adam's relaxed posture on the bench shifted to a more concerned position, leaning on his knees looking up at Calder. 

"Why? Have you found anything new?"

Questions and worries flooded the boy's mind. Time was ticking, his mother wasn't immortal like he was. Every second counted for her. 

"Not yet, we are going there to find out." Maintaining a calm expression, Calder moved to take a sit by the Playboy's side. 

Going back to his rigid posture, Adam lowered his head, holding it in his hands. How long had it been since his funeral? He didn't know, probably days. The idea of his mother starving in some dark dungeon made him clench his teeth. 

"The scholars here have exhausted their immediate knowledge. They'll have to go through hundreds of books analyzing each one, searching for any hints of the Xenothar's existence." The Water God looked up at the stars. "It will take longer than we can wait." 

It was hard to say anything to Adam, because nothing they had to say was what he wanted to hear. Solutions were in the future, and none of the Gods could see it. 

"And what are we gonna do there?" Pushing beyond his desolation, the young God turned to Calder, expecting a clear objective.

"Look for the origin of the song and consult the shaman about the Xenothar." He met the boy's eyes, trying to show confidence in the plan. 

"Shaman?" 

"It's a person of great spiritual power, sometimes bigger than ours." The grizzle God leaned back to watch the stars again. What they were doing was beyond their capacities. "This shaman can feel the Universe's energy, they might be able to help us." 

"And why don't we go right now?" Adam didn't demand or acted reckless, he simply asked in the most sincere way he knew how.

"Because we have to say goodbye to the scholars that helped us. It's not polite to leave in the middle of the night like burglars. After dinner we are taking off. The people of this town helped us immensely, don't you think?" 

With an audible complaint, Calder stood up stretching his back.

Adam didn't answer instantly, he took a moment to remember some of the people and things they had done for him. Not to mention the efforts he didn't see personally. 

"Yeah…"

Noticing Calder wasn't acting like someone who was just passing by to drop a message. Every time he stretched, Adam knew he was up to something. 

"What are you really here for?" Inpatient, the Playboy asked. 

Extending his arm and fingers, a bright twisted smile formed on his face.

"More materialization training and an extra if you don't pass out again…" 

That old goat was an expert on teasing Adam to make him do whatever he wanted. Aware of the older man's strategy, the Young God stood up to disprove his method, even though he was just getting ready to start the training. 

"The last part was uncalled for." 

Never in his life Adam felt so free next to someone older than him, in exception to his grandmother. A year after he was born, his grandfather passed away, leaving his grandmother as his only elder role model.

Of course, the Playboy would never admit that, but he enjoyed Calder's company. 

All the Gods were pushing him to train and improve—he admitted that and was grateful. Without something to focus on, he would have gone mad.

In the belly of the Volcano, Adam and Calder were face to face at arms length.

On his hand, Calder had his orb of water, moving like the waves of the sea. It was hypnotizing to watch. 

"Well, try again to materialize something. The goal is to make it as big as mine." 

With a subtle movement he lifted the water ball, it was the size of his palm.

After getting the idea of what he had to do, Adam turned his gaze to his own hand.

Materializing wasn't hard but the energy drain was intense. The craziest part was that Adam had to first feel the element in the air, sense each particle and then push them. It was a slow process since the newbie didn't have the ease the older ones had. 

For particles they were heavier than one would imagine. Adam used all his strength to pull, making his body temperature rise and his head hurt with the pressure. It took the Playboy a solid hour of uninterrupted effort to get a nugget the size of his thumb. 

"You're trying too hard." Calder broke the dense silence, causing Adam to lose his grip. "Right now you're dragging the particles by yourself."

Feeling his legs weak, the Young God looked up, pulling air to his lungs. The explanations didn't make any sense, of course he would have to drag them himself.

"What are you saying? How can I gather them without having to spend energy?" In the air, Adam leaned on his own knees to take a break, while Calder explained.

"You are doing the work manually when you can use a "cart" - so to speak- to do it for you." From above the Water God watched the boy struggle to lift his head up. 

Once they locked eyes, Calder punctured his soul with his indigo eyes. Adam tried to evade the gaze but he was being drawn to it.

"You can't be afraid of letting go, son."