Training with Phara

This chapter is long and mostly combat but I'm setting up a lot of stuff. I'll really try to keep wordcount lower for following chapters.

Recently the training with Phara had ramped up, you were both growing in power and skill. Ail was more naturally skilled in magic manipulation, using it to compensate his weaker body. You don’t have the finesse to cast anything, but you can feel your magic power inside you, the goblinettes had insisted both of you had a great potential for magic. You may not be able to cast magic, but you felt the power surging through you. You think that using it would give you the advantage you need to defeat your sister, maybe even finally surpass her. If you can’t cast that power out, maybe it could be channeled a different way.

When your sister arrives for you training session you’re ready, or at least you have a plan in mind, you didn’t exactly test it before. You let Ail have a turn sparring with her first. Both of them grabbed a wooden sword, Ail used the sword more for defense and to keep a distance while he casted something, his repertoire included some low level water and wind magic, elemental magic was very basic stuff at least the kind he used for sparring, he knew fire magic no doubt but it wouldn’t safe.

The match goes as expected, your brother puts up a good fight, better than usual even, but eventually he can’t defend against your sister’s superior combat skills. She dodges his spells, closes the distance and after a couple of blows strikes his sword out of his hand . She swings a final strike against his head, he protects himself with his arms but she stops before hitting him. When he uncovers she ruffles his hair with a warm smile.

“Better. Still a long way to go, you should at least be able to parry while you cast, you can’t do just one thing at a time if you want to be an independent warrior, otherwise you should be a backline caster.” She told him.

She went over the parry movements as she explained to him, moving his body and limbs into position and giving him general advice. You see him barely hide a smile and a little blush as she touches him, moving him around.

You get anxious as your turn finally arrives, you really should have tested what you’re about to try. You pick a training sword and stand in front of Phara, getting into a combat stance. The match starts with your sister and you around the same level but you know she’s holding back, you manage to keep on the offense, Phara ramping up to meet your skill level every time you get ahead. You’re giving it your all but she’s obviously better than you. You decide it’s time to give your idea a go.

You summon the power you have inside you but instead of trying to launch it at her, you channel it to your arms. Your eyes glow, giving them a fiery look, and you can feel your strength increase as your arms are covered with red energy. Your new power makes Phara take a step back with every strike against her sword, her parries leaving her open for longer. You have her against the ropes, maybe this could be it!

“What the hell is that?!” Your sister grunted. “You had a nice surprise, little brother.”

Phara ramps up her level, using her nimble legs to outmaneuver you and dodge your attacks. You channel you power to your legs, trying to close the gap again. You start pushing her back again, though she still dodges or parries all of your attacks.

Your mother and Ail watch silent from the sidelines as your fight goes faster and faster. With a sideway glance you see your mom’s worried face and your brother’s awe.

Your new technique makes you about equals with Phara but it doesn’t give you enough of an edge to defeat her, that is, until she trips. You press your attack, making her fall flat on her butt, and lunge downward, straddling her to stop her from moving, you block her sword with the back of your arm and stab the ground next to her. She’s down.

“You’re full of surprises today, little brother.” She says with a proud smile. “I wonder if you have anything else to show me.”

You turned your power off, your muscles screaming about the they’d just endured. Your body relaxed and you held to the sword as you slouched to avoid falling head first into her, coming very close to Phara’s face, your body resting on hers. You were close enough for your noses to touch, you could feel your sister’s deep breaths in your face and the fast bumps of her heart in your chest, now resting on hers. Her heart rate wasn’t going down, and neither was yours. When had your sister become so small? You wondered. It was you who had changed, almost reaching her at some point.

“Gyntaf!” You looked at your brother, he had taken his sword again. “Let’s have our match!”

You know that Ail is only demanding your match because you’re literally all over Phara, but if his crush on her makes him want to get his scheduled ass kicking right then, he’s going to get it. Tired or not, you’ve always won against Ail and your new technique guaranteed a victory.

“Ok, ok. Since when are you that eager to get pummeled?” You ask him as you get up, dusting your clothes.

Ail glanced at Phara, who sat up to get a better view, before he stared back at you. You could see he wasn’t confident at all, he was about to tremble. You didn’t think it was out of fear, he had no reason to, or anger, you know he doesn’t hate you. Your bet was on envy or jealousy. He was asking for a fight he couldn’t win to look cool in front of his sister.

What followed was unexpected to say the least, Ail tossed his sword aside, standing in a very open stance.

“Come on, don’t hold back because I’m-” You stop mid sentence when you see Ail begin to glow.

His whole body engulfed in fiery blue energy, two big torrents of it emanating from his hands.

“I’m not!” He yells.

Ail throws the energy at you, you have to enhance your legs again to dodge his attack. It impacts next to you and you see that it’s not fire magic as you had thought, it’s something else. It doesn’t take a genius to know it’s the same energy you are using to enhance your body. He’s throwing raw magic at you.

“What the hell?!” Your sister yelled astonished, “Ail?”

Your brother smirks at her amazement. Your superior speed keeps you safe from his bursts of energy but he is covering a huge area with it, you can’t dodge it forever. He’s not being careless with his attacks none of them go near Phara or mom.

Ail gathers a huge amount of magic, moving it like a wave. With a spin, he throws the undefined, shapeless stream at you. You can’t dodge that. You channel magic to your arms and chest and try to power through the attack. The impact hurts like hell, you were right that it’s not fire magic, it not hot at all, but the feeling could be described getting punched by a giant flaming fist. It doesn’t leave any lasting damage, no burns or bleeding, but it’s no doubt the hardest hit you’ve ever received.

Ail doesn’t push his attack, he’s being serious in a fight for the first time in your lives, but he’s not out for blood. It gives you a moment to think about strategy. You’re both using the same magic in different ways, he’s learned to use it at a distance, and you’ve used it to enhance your body. Ail may be emanating an aura, but you’re sure he’s not powering his body. If you could cut the distance you could take him out in one hit. What to need is to cut through his attacks.

Again you have to go with something untested, you concentrate, trying to channel magic into the only thing you have at hand, your sword. You may not be able to throw magic at him but at least you don’t have to depend solely on your fists. The process is slower than when you enhanced your limbs, it’s not just moving energy inside your body, you have to pass it into the sword without turning it into an attack.

“Are you giving up?” Ail says, his initial tone of relief changes to worry. “Did I hurt you?”

Your sword turns red just like your arms, you manage to put enough magic in it that the “blade” looks like a stream of pure magic, a lot longer than the wood at the core. Your eyes light up with magic and anger. You had been confident in your superiority to your brother, never saw him as a threat because of his passive personality and weakness, and now you were standing because he gave you a moment to breathe.

You get back into a combat stance almost at the same time, he charges his spinning attack again, this time gathering a lot more magic than before. You don’t plan to dodge it - you couldn’t anyway - you charge forward. You use a burst of energy in your legs to jump into a run and then concentrate all of it into your chest, arms and sword. When Ail’s stream reaches you, you cut into it with your magic infused sword. The magic in it makes the attack split, sending most of the energy around you. Most, a part of it is still painfully washing over you.

Your charge gets reduced to a slow crawl as your wade your way through the river of magic, Ail sends repeated streams, keeping it steady. You’re using your sword more like a shield than a weapon, though a shield would make it impossible to advance.

When you’re just six feet away from your brother, the wooden sword starts giving up, your magic may have enhanced it, but it’s still only a training sword. Pieces of it start flying around, Ail’s magic stream converging more and more in you with every chunk the sword looses. At three feet from your brother, Ail changes to smaller, more concentrated attacks and it shatters completely, leaving you uncovered.

You channel all the magic you can into your chest and fists, you don’t back down, you power through the pain with clenched teeth. You push your body forward and throw a punch with all you’ve got behind it, cutting into the energy like the sword had. You can’t even see the punch connect, the blue glare disappears and you see Ail drop several feet back.

You have to turn of your energy, you were running out anyway. Without it your whole body aches and hurts, part of it was from the strain of using the skill, but a lot was from your brother. You walk up to him. He’s leaning forward, it doesn’t look like he’s going to get up, but you drop on him anyway.

You had always taken for granted that you would eventually become the leader of the tribe, there was no competition, and now the son of a bitch almost beat you. Loosing something you never thought you cared about now scared and angered you. You punched him in the face, once, twice, you kept hitting him.

“Hey, it’s over Gyn, you won.” Phara told you tentatively, her voice small. She looked at you scared.

“This had to happen some day.” You said without emotion, punching him again. “One of us has to be the leader, right?”

You were scared of him stealing them from you, the leadership, the tribe, your mother and the sister he loved and you were startling right now.

“Gyntaf stop! Stop hurting you brother!” The shriek pierced your ears and resonated in the room, you stopped immediately and slowly turned towards the source.

Your mother. She had used your name for the first time.

Katya approached you two and covered you in her arms. Tension left your body, leaning on your mother’s hug. With all your energy spent and your emotions drained you let yourself rest in her arms.

You had made her talk.