Practicing lighting magic with Elora

Both Rina and Larisa settled right in. Since they had undergone training, they knew exactly what their duties were. They were responsible for preparing our clothes, cleaning our rooms, coordinating with the kitchen staff, and any other requests we might have for them.

Two years go by swiftly. I didn’t even notice how fast the time flew. Arti and I turned 15 recently. We still have our plates full of studies, and physical and magic training. Larisa and Rina were a huge help to us. Not only were they great at doing the chores, but we finally had someone to speak to close our age. We became quick friends with them. They also are no longer all stiff and formal with us when we are alone. They joke and laugh with us. They had a blast teasing me when Sabrina finally got married to Erik. That sucked.

In these two years, my fire and wind magic reached an expert level as did my water, gravity, and illusion magic. I am very close to reaching an expert level in lightning and teleportation magic. Light magic also leveled up. I usually use it to heal myself up after my training sessions with Owen. I guess all the bruises were worth it. Speaking of my training sessions with Owen. He says that I have outclassed most of the knights with my sword skills. I am also very good with the bow and polearms. My archery and throwing weapons instructor described my skill with throwing weapons as deadly. My studies in Governance, Law, and Military Strategy have been completed. We now moved on to Economics and Diplomacy.

I also reached the adept level in plant magic but decided to stop pursuing it for now, primarily because my earth magic has been progressing very slowly. A new tutor arrived a year ago. He is our instructor in ice magic. Tia and I could finally start learning it. It is going good so far.

Speaking of Tia, she had her debut ball a couple of months ago. It was a bit smaller than ours was, but still quite big. The more or less the same guests attended. The representative of Castrevia changed. It was one of Alissia’s older sisters this time. The ball was fun-ish. Arti and I were being asked to dance the whole time again. I did manage to share two dances with Tia. She was ecstatic at dancing with her big brother.

I am currently practicing lightning magic at the training grounds with Elora. She just turned 34, though she hasn’t changed even a little since she arrived at the palace. Her own training in lightning magic goes well. She estimates that she will reach the master level in three years.

“Hold it, Zen. Don’t give up on me now,” she screams at me.

I am attempting to perform an expert-level lightning magic spell, Twin Lightning Serpents. It is a devastating spell that can break through a solid castle wall. My problem is in controlling the spell. I am good at powering it up and maintaining it, but I can hit the target. A large wooden target is standing 50 meters from me. If I hit it on purpose, it would mean I am an expert lighting magic user.

Two large chains of lightning stretch out from the area in front of my hands. They move around and crackle as if they were real serpents. I concentrate hard before willing the serpents to shoot up into the sky and descend into the center of the target in an arc. The two lightning energies do as I command and hit the target right in the center, obliterating it completely. I cancel the spell and drop my hands. My body feels pain from exhaustion.

“Great job, Zen. Knew you could do it. Congrats on becoming an expert-level lightning magic user,” she comes close to me grinning and patting me on the shoulder. Rina is applauding from the sidelines. She has been accompanying me to all my training sessions.

“Thanks, Ela. I wouldn’t be able to achieve all this without a great teacher like you,” I grin.

“Yeah, you would. Perhaps not as fast, but you would. You are a prodigy,” she grins back.

“You better look out or I will become a master in lightning magic before you do,” I chuckle.

“We will see about that,” she punches me in the shoulder and laughs. “Alright. This is a good point to end today. Go to your lady friend,” she smirks teasingly.

I roll my eyes and start walking. “If you need a boy friend, you know where to find me,” I tell her over my shoulder. She smirks and snorts at that.

I walk to Rina. In the past three years, she grew her hair back to how they were before those girls mutilated them. She now has long wavy red hair that goes down to her waist. They truly are beautiful.

She hands me a towel. I wipe my sweat off my face. “Thanks, Rina.”

“You are welcome, Zen,” she beams at me.

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