Patience: Page 3

"Alright Evan, spill. What the hell has been going on?"

"So, I don't think I'm actually strong enough to cast Greater Teleportation and have been ending up in... strange places, because of that."

"Where have you been ending up? And you definitely didn't cast Greater Teleportation yesterday morning."

"Right. Well, that's because... uh... Ok, I don't know, but I'm fine, so let's just drop it, please."

Emma looked at me with equal parts confusion and annoyance.

"You're lucky I don't actually care that much."

"Thank you?"

"Ahem."

Forester oh-so-subtly announced his presence.

"If you are going to be staying put, can we, oh, I don't know, get back to my lessons, or is 2 days not enough of a delay?"

"Yeah. My bad."

"Good. Now all of you, eat your breakfast, and be outside in 10."

About 600 seconds later

Forester had us all stand in two rows, facing each other.

"Now. Padawans, you have learned all of the spells I'll be teaching you. So, it's time you learned to use them in a real situation. And, equally as importantly, you must know how to fight against those spells."

I looked at Mika, who was across from me. Her expression told me that she, like myself, had guessed what was about to happen.

"Now, you will spend today alternating between using a spell against your partner, and counter-spelling the spell they use against you. Use whatever spells you like, but try not to actually hurt them."

He walked away, taking a seat in a rocking chair on the porch. I looked back to Mika, who was pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You can go first."

"Thanks."

She lazily threw a hand out, sending a conjured stone my way. At the speed she sent it, I probably could have caught it. I said counterspell and cast Conjure Weapon as I would normally. It felt like I was casting a reflection of a spell, identical and yet the opposite. The stone vanished a few feet in front of me.

"Wow, Mika, my expectations were much higher."

"Oh, I see how it is. Why don't you show me how it's done then?"

I lobbed a ball of fire her way, which she counterspelled.

"Ha. That was it?"

She sent a magic missile hurling towards me. I said the words in my head, but nothing. A second too late, I realized something rather important. You can't counterspell a spell you can't cast.

The bolt of magic thumped me in the chest and knocked me onto my ass.

"Way to drop the ball, Johnson."

"Yeah yeah, I can't cast Magic Missile, leave me alone."

The rest of the day went more or less smoothly. We both eventually felt comfortable attacking at full speed, and by some miracle, we didn't accidentally kill each other. At 5 ish, Forester dismissed us to eat dinner, which we did with minimal arguing. Lexi and I walked to our rooms, being the farthest back. I turned back for a moment, in time to see Emma looking at us with a bemused expression.

As we separated to go to our rooms, Lexi flashed me a smile before closing her door behind her. I flopped back onto my bed, glad to have a normal day for once. Go figure, I was counting my chickens just a little too soon.