Sona was surprised when he saw he was the first person to arrive. This quarry seemed ancient, almost like it hadn't been used in several decades. Sona paused for a moment when the shadow of a little creature stumbled out of the mining shaft. Curious by nature, Sona slowly crept toward the shadow. It had long since stopped moving and appeared to be laying face down. When he was several feet from the entrance, the shape came into a view. It appeared to be a short elderly man passed out on his stomach. His sense of caution gone, Sona made his way closer. He heard some kind of noise coming from the man. "Is he...snoring?" Sona asked in confusion as he carefully rolled this man onto his back. "Whoa," Sona muttered and waved his hand in front of his face. "This guy smells like a brewery," He commented and took a seat near the body. 'It would be best to keep an eye on him. This man could be an intruder.' Sona thought to himself and made sure to keep up his guard. Other students would be here soon and so would the teacher. He just needed to watch this drunk.
Time ticked by and Sona began to think he had come to the wrong place. The man next to Sona started to move causing him to jump up and put up his guard. 'I might not know much, but I won't let you take me down without a fight.' He thought to himself and looked around for help. He could hear voices getting closer but Sona wasn't sure they would make it in time. The man in front of him started to stir. His hands started fumbling around his many pockets. "Where the 'ell is'it?" The man half growled like an animal before pausing for a moment. His hand dug into one of his pockets and he let out a hearty laugh. "Aye, I knew it was'ere," The man seemed to be struggling to pull something out of his jacket.
Sona was trying to figure out what this man had planned. He was stunned when the old drunk pulled out a silver flask and unscrewed the lid. He put the flask to his lips and took a long drink before sealing it up and putting it back in his jacket. "Aye, Dwarven ale really is the best cure," He laughed again before sitting up straight. "Now, wot in Arzotz name am I doing here?" The short, stubby man asked as he climbed to his feet and dusted himself off.
"Mr Hammerbeard were you drinking all day again?" A soft energetic voice called out from behind Sona. He turned around and was surprised to see the vampire sisters again. "Oh, it's you," Elandeli's voice changed to one of a seductive nature. "Did you come all this way to see little old me?" She commented as she tried to flirt with Sona.
"No, actually I'm here for class. I have Earth affinity, too. Good to see you again Konostune," Sona replied to Elandeli and greeted her sister Konotsune. She was to absorb in the book she was holding. He looked over at the dwarf standing next to them. He was barely four feet tall and possessed a beard twice his size. "You're Kilmug Hammerbeard?" Sona asked and looked back at the two sisters. They were nodding at his question when the dwarf stepped between them.
"Oy, look it here. Just cause I'ms a drunk, don't change the fact I'm still yur teacher, and you muss respect me," His voice was heavy and drunken but he made a good point.
"Forgive my impudence, Master Kilmug. Please teach me what you can," Sona bowed his head to the short man in front of him. 'This drunk is really the best teacher of Earth magic?' Sona sighed softly in his mind and lifted his head.
"Thass more like it, runt. Now listen well, I'm Kilmug Hammerbeard. I'll be teaching you noobies how to harness the might of the earth," Kilmug spoke proudly and appeared to be acting more professional now. "Watch closely young ones," Kilmug grunted and slammed his tiny fist into the ground. The area started to shake as the shattered earth started to envelope Kilmug. Several minutes passed by and the tiny dwarf was now clad in armor the size of boulders. "Earth armor. You can shape and mold the clay at your whim," Kilmug explained as the clay around him shifted. The gigantic looking armor was slimmed down and now only covered his vital points. "Now I'm faster without sacrificing defense. You just constantly adapt your strategy in battle. In doing so you will give your opponent no time to rest or form a counter attack," Kilmug grunted and shook off the clay from his body.
"That was amazing, Master Kilmug. Teach me how to handle my powers like you," Sona was in awe at this display of power. 'I wonder how effective the armor is though?' Sona thought to himself and looked over at Elandeli and Konotsune. The energetic older sister was clapping for Kilmug but was staring at Sona. He felt a chill run up his spine from her glances. 'It looks like she wants to eat me. I better keep my distance from her.' Sona thought to himself nervously and looked to Kilmug. "How do we start, Master Kilmug?" Sona asked of his teacher trying to distract his mind from Elandeli.
"Aye, now that's simple nuff. Ya juss gotta think real hard. Imagine the Earth bending to your will with just yer thoughts. Your magic will the do rest. Now practice among yourselves while I treat this hangover," He said drunkenly before collapsing on the ground and passing out nearby.
'You can't be serious.' Sona thought to himself and turned around to look at the other students. They had all already broken off into groups and started training together. 'Is this normal?' Sona thought to himself and walked over to Elandeli and Konotsune. The two of them weren't even attempting to train their magic. "Hey ladies," Sona said shyly as he made his way over to them. Elandeli looked up at Sona and gave him a toothy smile.
"Well, well, it seems even the mighty Sona is impervious to my charm," She joked softly and gave Sona a seductive smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked looking at the man in front of her. Konotsune was still absorbed in that book. She hadn't been paying attention this whole time.
"It seems like you know how to handle Earth magic, otherwise you wouldn't be slacking off like this," Sona explained and rolled his eyes at Elandeli's advances. "Help me, Elandeli, please?" Sona asked and looked down at her. She had a soft smile on her face but a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Very well, however I don't do this sort of thing for free, you know," Elandeli shot back and walked up to Sona. "I'll call you for a favor sometime later today. Now, let's get you some training," She quickly said and left no room for Sona to object. How could he? He needed training given what was coming his way eventually. Seeing that he didn't try to fight her over that favor, she led him off to the side away from the other students. "Now, the technique is fairly simple and earth magic isn't hard to master, but it has long wind up times. Some of these spells won't be usable in actual combat unless you get the drop on your enemy. Watch closely," Elandeli instructed.
She stretched her finger to point at a massive boulder in front of her. There was a small crack in the side and Sona watched as Elandeli exploited that weakness. She turned the smaller rocks nearby to sand and started forcing the sand inside the boulder. It took several minutes for this task to finish. Once Elandeli was done stuffing the boulder with sand, she yawned softly and snapped her fingers. The boulder exploded and sand flew every which way. Sona's jaw dropped yet again at this sight. She was right though, it would take way to long to use something like that in combat. 'If I could find a way to overcome the long wind up, that would make my Earth magic deadly.' Sona thought to himself and looked over at Elandeli. She let out a cute yawn, appearing almost bored at this demonstration.
"That was incredible, Elandeli," Sona complimented her power and she let out a cute but soft giggle. "Okay, I've got time to practice before lunch," Sona muttered out loud more to himself than Elandeli. He looked around for a target to use as practice and found what he was looking for after several minutes. Another large boulder sit several meters from the one Elandeli just destroyed. Sona kept his eyes on the boulder as the ground tremble around his body. The Earth beneath his feet shattered and sunk five feet into the ground. The destroyed pieces of earth were then lifted into the air all around Sona. He lifted his arm up slowly and the floating pieces turned into lethal projectiles. Most of them hit the boulder but several missed and hit the trees behind the target. The boulder exploded after several seconds and Sona dropped to one knee. "I did it,"