The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

"If you really want to learn this, you will have to create some habits," Zaos said. "You will need to meditate at least for two hours every day and during those two hours, you will need to imagine yourself casting this spell."

 Zaos cast Wind Sword and hit the target again. His projectile actually pierced the object in half. That probably had been a pretty good demonstration and would make Ameria train hard. Still, instead of thinking of that, Zaos wondered if he would have to pay for the damage…

"Woah, that was pretty cool," Ameria said.

"If you practice hard with the Meditation every day, you will eventually be able to do this much, but you shouldn't try to use this spell unless I am nearby," Zaos said. "We don't want you wounding yourself or others."

"I wouldn't do that… use spells just for fun seems pretty idiotic," Ameria said.

"At least you know that much," Zaos said. "Still, I will warn you anyway. If you use the spell outside the training sessions, I won't teach you anything anymore."

"All right, all right," Ameria said.

"... In that case memorize this symbol and then draw in your head while you meditate," Zaos said.

"Why only one symbol?" Ameria asked. "I can't use the spell by drawing a single symbol."

"The goal here is to make you able to make the symbols faster, so you should learn the basics and improve your casting speed," Zaos said. "Let's see, if you reach a level of mastery with the casting speed, you should be able to do this."

 Zaos concentrated for a single moment, and then he fired five Wind Swords toward the target, and the object was destroyed for good this time. Even Drannor opened his eyes in shock this time, while Ameria was getting even more excited about learning from Zaos. Still, once again, Zaos was worried if he had to pay for the damage…

 Without wasting a single moment, Ameria sat down and then began to meditate. Drannor never saw Ameria obeying someone so fast like that. Not even the teachers who stayed the longest with her managed to achieve that much.

"Hey, Zaos," Drannor said. "Do you think I can learn that too?"

"No, it is impossible," Zaos quickly replied.

"Why?" Drannor asked.

"You probably can't sit still and meditate and train your magic skills diligently to be able to cast a spell like that," Zaos replied. "Besides, it wouldn't fit your style. That being said, you should at least know how to cast a simple healing spell. Knowing that prevented me losing my life at least three times."

 There was also the issue that his magic level also potentialized the effect of healing spells. Still, Zaos didn't have to say that and make the kid hesitate if it was worth the hassle or not. Until now, Zaos healed him plenty of times, but who can say that he will always be near to help?

"Imagine drawing this symbol on your head, keep imagining until you can do it until you can be fast enough without making any mistake," Zaos said.

 After showing the symbol, Drannor began to meditate like Ameria. Things got silent all of a sudden, but Zaos didn't dislike that. Still, what would his father think if he discovered that he was teaching magic to Drannor? Not like Zaos actually would care about his complaints, but things would be different if that makes Drannor's parents mad.

 If Zaos had brought the books Edea lent him, he could have studied, but Zaos decided to make a mental note and bring them the next day. While Zaos was thinking of what to do in order to pass the time, he suddenly noticed Ameria and Drannor's magic presence becoming a bit more powerful. It seemed that their magic training was already working. That was a sign that they succeeded in drawing the symbols without making any mistakes.

"I thought this would take a long while, but…" Zaos thought.

 Although they were kids, they followed Zaos's instructions without complaining and meditated for two hours. Since they weren't used to that, they felt their bodies a bit stiffer, but soon they recovered. The next day, Zaos showed them the next symbol they had to practice drawing alongside the first. They had to see clearly their progress to keep themselves motivated, so even though Zaos didn't notice their presence getting stronger, he did that for them.

 On the morning of the third day, Zaos was caught off guard when someone suddenly appeared in the garden. It was Nyana, and she quickly approached him.

"Hey, you have grown a lot since the last time I saw you," Zaos said.

"Not as much as you," Nyana said with a sweet smile on her face.

 Nyana was starting to look like her mother. The only difference is that her hair grew; it wasn't curly like before. Aside from that, she seemed more comfortable around Zaos. While she didn't dislike him before, she sure was cautious around him. That made Zaos wonder… Did she discover their blood relation?

"I am sorry for not being here when you returned, I hate the stiff rules of the academy," Nyana said.

"Well, don't worry about that," Zaos said and then patted her head. "Rather than that, are you having fun at the magic academy?"

"I guess it is an all-right place," Nyana said. "There are too many spoiled kids there and I can't feel closer to them."

 Zaos nodded, but deep down, he couldn't help but wonder if she was being bullied or something. While the magic academy welcomed all types of people that wanted to learn magic, they didn't receive many commoners because their families couldn't afford to pay the tuition. While Nyana had noble blood, that wasn't common knowledge.

"Thank you for asking for your dad to enroll me at the magic school," Nyana said. "Thanks to you, I am learning a lot."

 Zaos's expression froze for a second. It seemed that she didn't know anything. Still, his father also decided to tell her that Zaos was the one who asked to let her enroll at magic school.