A 'Simple' Workout
The next day at school, as I walk into the cafeteria, I spot Drew sitting at our usual table. I also look around for Cassandra but I don't see her. It seems like she hasn't come for lunch yet.
"Hey," I say as I sit opposite Drew. He nods at me in reply.
I say nothing else as I decide to focus on my lunch. After yesterday's lesson, I have been feeling hungrier than usual. My stomach feels like an empty pit begging to be filled. Without paying much attention to whatever is going on around me, I give my lunch my undivided attention.
I soon finish my lunch and stare at the empty table sadly. While it had made a difference in my hunger, the difference isn't much. I still feel hungry. My stomach growls as if to complain that it isn't full. I let out a sigh and look up to find Drew staring at me, an amused smile on his face.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing. It's just…well, what you're feeling right now is normal. The hunger will probably continue for a week or two and after that everything will return to normal."
I stare at him, a look of horror on my face. I have to endure constant hunger for a week. Would I have accepted to get magic if I knew I would have to endure this?… Yes, I would, but a week of constant hunger doesn't sound too appealing. I let out a bleak groan.
Drew lets out a small laugh. "Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. As long as you eat enough food, you should be able to stop the hunger."
Enough food eh? It seems like I am going to have to pay the kitchen a visit when I get home today. That thought brings a question to mind. I ask Drew. "Will I be having any lessons today?"
He nods. "You have lessons every day, except on Sundays. Three days will be for training with Master Hogan on the basics of magic mastery, while the other three days will be spent with Master Shawn, the combat instructor. He's the one you will be training with today."
I nod when I hear that and come to the conclusion that I will be training with Master Hogan on alternate days. I remember the lesson from yesterday and the problem I had with controlling my magic externally without it being connected directly to me. I look thoughtfully at Drew and wonder if he could maybe help me figure out how to do it.
"Why are you staring at me?" Drew asks.
"Well, the thing is, I can't feel my mag- Uua once it's outside my body and Master Hogan said I would need to be able to do it to progress further, and, well I was thinking that you have passed this stage so maybe you could give me some hints?"
"Oh. That. Most people usually find this easy to do. Well, from what I know, you're going to need to do a bit of meditation. Once you're done with lessons today and have rested, find a quiet place, close your eyes and attempt to feel your Uua. Once you have done that bring it out of you, just make sure a small strand of your Uua connects you to the one outside you. After that, slowly reduce the strand until it's gone, but while doing so, make sure your attention is focused on your Uua. After some time you should be able to manifest your Uua externally without the strand. You just have to keep in mind that even though your Uua is outside your body, it is still connected to you, even without the strand. Try to feel that connection and you should succeed after some time."
He goes into a bit more detail while I do my best to memorize everything he says and I nod to him with a smile once he is done, at least I now have some idea of what to do. Besides, I think he has already told me the key to doing it. My Uua is still connected to me, even after it leaves my body. If I can find that connection and use it in place of the strand, it should work. I nod to myself and make up my mind to test my hypothesis once I get home later today.
* * * * * *
After school, I ignore Drew's suggestion to go straight to the Metorium and head home instead. After a quick meal, to satisfy my hollow stomach, I finally head off to the Metorium.
Before long, we get to the bookshop, where Hugo is attending to a few customers. He barely spares a glance at us before motioning for us to go into the dark, empty room. This time, however, once the door closes, I beat Drew to the chase, releasing my Uua and molding it into the shape of a ball. It is still connected to me by a strand, but that didn't make me feel any less proud as I stand there, hand raised with a glowing orb of energy seemingly floating over it.
Drew opens the portal to the In-between and we move quickly through it, neither of us wanting to stay in that strange place for too long. Soon enough, we arrive at the Metorium. We follow the same path we did yesterday and soon arrive at the ATC. However, we don't take the flying platforms, instead, walking to the nearby block. After descending a flight of stairs, we reach a place Drew refers to as the Dojo. He stops there and tells me to go in.
"I wish you good luck." He says with a strange smile as I walk into the Dojo.
I am greeted by the sight of a shirtless middle-aged man facing off a bunch of humanoid creatures seemingly made out of magic. The man's movements are graceful and lethal, giving the impression that he is engaged in a sort of deadly dance as he fights. He systematically takes down the creatures, which turn into blue mist once he is done with them, and soon there is none left.
Only then does he turn around to look at me, not a trace of sweat on his well-sculpted body. He stays like that, not saying anything, only staring at me as the seconds tick by. Suddenly, my face reddens as I remember something. I bow a little like I had seen Drew do to the Masters and greet. "Karenatha Zimear."
He remains silent for a few more seconds. "You're late." He finally says.
"I'm sorry," I say flustered. "I was a bit hungry so I went home to eat before I came here."
Again, he doesn't reply, instead beckoning me with a finger to come closer. I do so and stop not far from him. His eyes rove up and down my body as if looking for something before finally resting on my face.
"Weak." He says softly, summing up his thoughts in one word. "Do you even exercise?"
I shake my head. "No."
He tuts."It seems we have to start with the bare basics then. Alright, change into this in that bathroom over there. Quickly." He pulls a set of white clothes from thin air and throws them at me before pointing to a door on the other side of the room. I grab the clothes and hurry to the bathroom to change. Once I come out dressed in the clothes, our lesson begins.
By the end of the lesson, I am sweating bullets, my muscles have turned to jelly and I am trembling all over. We didn't do any real training, at least not as I expected. Instead, he started with stretches, before moving on to some 'simple' exercises, pushing me farther than anyone should be pushed while only giving the excuse: "You are a Laen, you can handle it" before smiling creepily.
As soon as he brings an end to the lesson, I lay down on the mat and stay there unmoving for about five minutes, during which, I circulate my Uua around my body like I had learned during my lesson yesterday. It had reinvigorated me when I did it yesterday so I decided to try and see if it would make my body ache less. Surprisingly it did. After the five minutes, I am almost back to my usual self and even feel a bit better.
"See," Master Shawn says smiling, "you are back to your normal self. The exercise didn't even affect you one bit. Don't worry, what happened today was just the warm-up, next tomorrow, we start the real exercise. By the end of this week, I expect you to be in good shape."
His words chill me to the bone. Just the warm-up? If that was just the warm-up, up, I dread to think of what the real exercise would be like. I push every thought of the coming torture out of my mind.
"Where's the bathroom?" I ask him. My body feels sticky and unclean and the thought of remaining in this state for any period of time repulses me.
He points at the room I had changed in as he walks to the other end of the room where there is a door, probably leading to his office or something. I turn around and head to the changing room, remembering a door I had seen when changing before. That's probably where the bathroom is.
Master Shawn is not an easy person to understand. Sometimes he seems to be a bit talkative, like when he is teasing me about the lessons to come, and other times he is cold and staid. He seems to alternate between the two without any reason but spends more time in the cold state. I just think that he is the type of person who you just need time to fully understand and appreciate. At least he seems warmer than Master Hogan. Not to say Master Hogan is mean, but he seems a bit strict.
I take my bath quickly and change into my normal clothes. I leave the changing room and see Drew standing in the dojo, waiting for me.