At the base
Yawnn
After Gideon and Arthur departed for the training then Matilda woke up shortly after. She made her way out of the house still half asleep, scratching her head through her completely messy hair. Her face still had marks of drool that flowed from her mouth last night.
"Oh, hey Emeliya" Matilda spoke as she saw emeliya polishing reila's smooth body with a cloth.
"Good morning, you are up early today. What's the matter." Emeliya asked with visible shock on her face. She has never seen Matilda wake up this early in the morning. Sure Matilda is hard working and serious about her training but that's after she wakes up. Which she usually doesn't, this early.
"What do you mean what's the matter. Can't I wake up early for once." Matilda spoke in a half sleepy and annoyed tone.
"So where is the kid. Is he not up yet?"
"Who, Arthur? He took a bath in the pond and went with Gideon for training." Emeliya had an awkward smile on her face as she said it.
"sigh..I hope he comes back alive" Matilda's voice was filled with genuine concern.
"Well anyways, it looks like today I am early than those two lazy bags. Let them wake up today. I will make them know how it feels to get lectured"
"Who are you calling lazy bags?" Quint's voice came back from behind as he walked out of the house with Ben. "Hump, we were studying in the study room for last one hour. Why don't you try waking up early for once and train."
"What is up with you guys, don't you sleep or what" Matilda spoke as her jaw dropped and eyes opened wide.
"Haha, we do sleep, it's just we don't over sleep" Ben answered Matilda's question as he teased her tardiness.
Before Matilda could speak anything, Ben interrupted in between and continued to speak.
"Where is Arthur? Is he perhaps lazy like Matilda?"
"I am not lazy!! And he has already gone with captain Gideon for training. Captain is also elementalist like Arthur so he can still teach him some things about manipulation and manifestation of elements even though Gideon is space and Arthur is fire elementalist." Matilda explained the situation as she roughly tied her hairs in a bun.
"In that case I should prepare some healing potions for him. He will need them when he returns." Ben spoke with his voice filled with concern too.
Hearing all this quints, turned to go back into the house. His expression still stiff, just like the day when he first met Arthur.
"Hey, where are you going" Matilda asked from behind.
"Study, obviously. Hump" Quints replied short and precise and in a bit of mocking tone.
"This punk, he doesn't know what's good for him huh" Matilda spoke, stomping her feet.
Haha "come on, we all know it's just how he talks. He means no harm." Ben spoke as he clearly laughed on the cold reply.
"Hump"
Somewhere in the middle of old, dusty stairs.
"So let's move on to your third lesson" Gideon spoke
Huff huff
"Third lesson? What's that"
Huff huff…
Arthur asked, still out of breath as he descended with Gideon on a carrier chair at his back.
"Hmm, you are a fire elementalist Arthur. So you need to understand that elementalists in general use elements in two ways." Gideon raised his hand and opened first finger
"First : Manipulation.
As the name of the method suggests this involves manipulating the already available element around you. Change its shape, size or move it anywhere by controlling it with your mana."
Now he opens his second finger as Gideon continues to speak.
"And second: Manifestation.
In this method the mage generates the element out of thin air. In this method The elementalist uses their filtered out essence of mana by their elemental heart to create a copy of the element itself. Like bringing out elements from other dimensions to our reality. All in a heartbeat with just their thoughts. Giving elementalist most explosive strength and overall higher combat power compared to other magic paths."
"Huh, but if elementalist have highest combat power among other magic paths then why don't everyone chooses elementalist path" Arthur asked on hearing the upsides and strength of elementalist.
Haha "it's not that simple Arthur. First of all, choosing one path doesn't mean you are locked out of the other path by some divine intervention. You can still study and practice spells and arrays or Mysticism but the problem is that all four paths are so complex that it takes mages years to comprehend and master even one path on their own. So mages often decide to pursue one path and some geniuses may take another path to study as a hobby." Gideon spoke continuously as he continued to lecture Arthur.
This was not a punishment or a grudge. Nor was it just casual conversation between Arthur and Gideon. The world of magic and mages is multiple times more complex and proportionally dangerous compared to normal human lives.
Man with power only desires more power. They do not have a fixed goal or amount they want to stop at, and that's what makes them dangerous because even they won't know if they will betray you because they don't know how much more they want. They may feel like they have enough power until they realise that they can betray for more.
"Huh ranks? What's that?" Arthur asked as he finally saw the last set stair completely exhausted and panting.
"It's nothing more than just a system that humans came up with to measure their overall level in their paths. These ranks go from rank 1 to all the way up to rank 9. Once a mage feels like he is ready to advance, he takes a test at adventurer's guild. There are tests on various parameters like mana pool, understanding of their path and a test of their practical skill."
By the time Gideon finished speaking Arthur already reached the ground and was about to fall when Gideon leapt in the air from the chair. Leaving Arthur on the ground.
" Apparently this system became so popular that other species based their systems on foundation of this one after doing some modifications"
Gideon turns back towards Arthur as he finished speaking.
"Come on get up. We haven't even started the training yet. Though you have opened your mana channels, you are not even on the level of a rank 1 mage yet."
In reality Gideon spoke only half truth. Even he was surprised by his physical prowess. To carry a one full grown man on his back as he descended almost ten thousand stairs was not an easy feat.
Gideon actually almost believed that he would faint half way through but it left him stunned as Arthur kept moving. Slow and steady Yes, but he kept moving.
Sigh.. "He is right. There are so many things that I still don't know about magic or about mage society. I have started late and so I have to put in three or four times more efforts" Arthur thought as he stood back up with shaky legs and threw the carrier chair away.
"Hmm, you know what. Sit down and cross your legs." Gideon spoke as he realized that next training doesn't require him to stand up.
"Huh? But…" Arthur wasn't able to say anything when Gideon again interrupted him.
"Yeah, yeah now sit down and close your eyes, back straight and stabilise your breathing"
This time Arthur only showed his annoyance in heart and didn't say anything, he just quietly followed along.
But as soon as he closed his eyes, all type of thoughts started brewing in Arthur's mind. Ranging from food to all the things that happened in the past.
"You can't immediately clear all your thoughts so instead remember and think about your fight with Matilda. Recall what you felt during combat when you used that shield of fire to block the arrows." Gideon spoke softly as he circled around Arthur, checking his breathing and pulse.
On hearing Gideon's advice, Arthur immediately started to intensely think about the fight. Replaying the crucial moment tens of times in his head.
"You have mana in your body, Arthur. Your mana channels are open too. You just need to move it around on your will. For that first focus on your orb. Enter inside it. Orb is a part of your own body. Where all the mana of a mage is stored"
Time passed quickly as Arthur was bathed in sweat from all over with no results. But just as he was about to give up, the darkness slowly faded and a bright view came in Arthur's vision.
"Success"
After multiple hours of concentration his consciousness finally entered his orb.