章 13: The Malston Method Part 2
It was noon, and Alex, Bianca, and Eli were setting a table for lunch. A gentle breeze kept the temperature comfortable, and the sound of birds in the distance provided a calming atmosphere. Bernard appeared at the edge of clearing with a floating young man following closely behind. The mental strain of this morning's practice wore Zeph out, so Bernard used a telekinesis spell to carry his sleeping body back to camp. When the trio of servants saw them coming, they became noticeably concerned.
"Is he okay?" Bianca asked worriedly.
"He's fine, just tired. He was trying to cast the energy ball spell this morning," Bernard replied.
"What!?" Eli shouted. "I thought he was just starting to learn spellcasting today."
"He is, but he's also been practicing basic magic absorption and control for a while. I figured having him focus on this spell would train what he lacks in control and prepare him for more advanced spellcraft." Bernard answered Eli, confident in his decision to focus on energy blast.
"Yeah, but aren't you supposed to work up to attack magic. He should be working on basic cantrips at his age. At least those are safe," Bianca said, questioning this decision. She was right. Cantrips were more like tricks with magic than actual spells. They were simple and didn't require complex control. A child could even practice cantrips alone because there was little risk in the spell going out of control.
Bernard looked at her kindly. "I know you're worried for him, but he can handle it. Besides, he had the same look in his eyes that I had when I was his age."
"What look was that?" Bianca was thinking about the excited look on Zeph's face earlier.
"It was a look that screamed 'I want to blow something up,' he is a boy after all," Bernard said with confidence. "Trust me most boys think about using their magic to destroy stuff, much more than they think about making coloring things or moving small objects. After he manages to use this spell, all the cantrips will be easy as pie for him."
"You should trust him, Bianca," Alex told the young shifter. "I'm sure that Master Malston is following the same training method that his family has for generations."
Bernard smiled at the dwarf. "He's right. My father taught me the same way. The first lesson in the woods always revolves around the student developing his sixth sense and magic control. My family starts with fundamental magic control first. When the child has enough magic to start practicing spellcraft, we choose a spell that tests his limits. This forces him to use him to use his magic sense. As you can see, this can be fairly tiresome for the child," Bernard said as he looked towards the floating sleeper. "I wanted him to be a little ahead when he starts school this fall."
"Doesn't the school also teach magic control?" Eli asked. He had never attended a magic school. Elves were annoying like that. They had an instinctive grasp on their magic and how to use it.
"The school curriculum just has students study cantrips. They make the student cast the same spells over and over again until they are able to cast them at an acceptable standard. Then they move on to a slightly harder spell. The students have to rely on their own instincts to increase magic control. The school barely even trains the children to use their magic sense. They don't have the time or manpower to help each student, and developing the sixth sense is a little different for everyone."
"It seems that young master Zeph is quite talented then since he can skip the cantrips and go straight to offensive spells." Alex smiled.
"Indeed he is," said Bernard. The old man laughed internally. 'I wonder what their reaction would be if they knew he wasn't practicing the regular energy ball spell?' As he walked further into camp, he noticed that Zeph's kitten was being held by the butler. This made him look at Alex curiously.
"Young master Zeph entrusted it to me since the others have duties to attend to," the butler said rather calmly after noticing Bernard's questioning look.
"I see," Bernard nodded nonchalantly. He's known the old dwarf since he was a child and was well aware of Alex's fondness for cute animals. But, he never understood why the butler tried to hide it from others.
"Dinner is ready to be served," Bianca announced
"Well, I guess it's time to wake the boy up," Bernard said as he laid Zeph on the floor. He then created a ball of water in the air and let it fall on his grandson's head.
The water startled Zeph awake. He looked around while wiping his face. "Was that really necessary?" he asked looking at his chuckling grandfather.
"No, but I found it amusing. Come on, lunch is ready and then back to training," Bernard answered as he happily walked to the table.
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It was early in the morning, and a light fog still lingered on the forest floor. Five days had passed since training had started. It was on the sixth day that Zeph was finally able to adjust the spell without losing control. Bernard was stunned that the boy's magic sense had developed so rapidly. It usually took several weeks training the sixth sense before a person reached the same level of accomplishment that Zeph did. He expected the boy to develop it quickly but not this quickly.
"It seems your magic sense is strong enough to warn you when you're about to lose control now," Bernard praised Zeph. There was a large grin on his face.
"Yeah, I finally did it," he sighed before leaning against a nearby tree. "That was pretty tiring, but I think I can do it again in a couple of minutes. After his magic sense warned him of an impending loss of control, Zeph was able to stop adjusting the spell in time. This was his seventh attempt at the spell today, and he needed a break.
"How are you feeling?" Bernard asked while handing his grandson a glass of water.
"Pretty good, it's not as mentally tiring as it used to be. Definitely better than when I had to take a short break after every try."
"That's true, and now that you're getting used to feeling how much control you have over your magic, it'll get a lot easier."
"Man I hope so. No offense, but I'm getting a little tired of the training. It's pretty monotonous."
Bernard chuckled, "Well as soon as you manage to cast this spell correctly, I've got a little surprise for you."
"Really? Then I guess I better hurry it up then," Zeph said as he got ready to start practicing some more.
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It was just a couple of hours after lunch and Bernard was lying down comfortably on a patch of grass watching the clouds. Now that Zeph's magic sense was stronger, he no longer had to watch out for accidental explosions. Instead, he was thinking of ways to make the training more fun for the boy. He honestly hadn't thought about how boring this singular focus on one spell could be. To Bernard, focusing on something until you got it just right was fun in and of itself. Then again, he was an old man and had more focus than he did when he was younger. He was jolted from his thoughts suddenly.
*BOOM!!*
A loud explosion followed by a gust of wind scared him as he quickly looked towards Zeph. He sighed in relief when he saw that the boy was okay. Actually, he was better than okay. His grandson was hopping around with his arms up in the air cheering. 'I'll be, he managed to finish the spell in less than a week,' Bernard thought, feeling astonished.
"Ha haaaaa! I did it! Look! Look, grandpa, I did it!" Zeph screamed in joy.
The astonishment that Bernard felt was washed away by a new feeling. It was new and warm, and he didn't quite know how else to describe it. He felt tears start to form in his eyes, but he held them back. It was the first time that anyone ever called him grandpa.
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A small kitten was sneaking up on a purple butterfly. It closed in slowly, took its time, and prepared to pounce. It leaped, paws extended. Just when the butterfly was about to receive the kitten's fluffy fury, it suddenly flew away. The kitten looked on in frustration as the butterfly landed a short distance away. So it crouched back into the grass. The hunt began again.
Alex was laughing at the playful little kitten's antics as he continued to use magic as a cat toy. Bianca and Eli were setting up the dinner table, glancing at the old dwarf every once and a while. They were both slightly jealous. Unfortunately for them, Alex was the head butler. So, he could assign all the work to them while he played with the kitten. They weren't really angry about the dwarf taking it easy; in fact, they were glad for him. Alex had the most responsibility of anyone working for Mr. Malston and served the family for generations. He was like a grandfather to them, and they were concerned about his health. After all, Alex was pretty old even for a dwarf.
Bernard and a cheery Zeph walked back into camp knowing it was almost time for dinner. They saw Alex near a tent playing with the kitten and laughed the odd scene of an old dwarf in a butlers outfit teasing a fluffy kitten with a glowing purple butterfly. Zeph couldn't hold it in and laughed loudly. This caught Alex's attention. He saw that Bernard and Zeph were watching him with a smile.
"Don't stop on our account old friend. It's good to see you're having a good time," Bernard assured his butler. Alex nodded slightly embarrassed but continued to play with the kitten.
"Dinner will be ready shortly," Bianca told them.
"Yeah, and we made those s'more things that Zeph was talking about," Eli added. He made a trip back to the city yesterday to do a little grocery shopping. In his opinion, it wasn't camping without junk food. When he was about to leave, Zeph told him about s'mores, and Eli had to try one.
"Awesome," Zeph said. "Today just keeps getting better and better." He headed towards his yurt to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. He didn't know how, but they somehow managed to make a working bathroom in a large tent.
"He seems pretty happy," Bianca said as she watched him go to his tent.
"Yes, he managed to finally cast the energy ball spell today," Bernard replied.
"That's good. I was starting to worry. With his magic power, I thought he'd be able to cast that spell days ago. Was his control really that bad?" She asked.
Bernard started chuckling.
"What's so funny?" Bianca narrowed her eyes at him.
"Well, if it was a regular energy ball spell, then he cast it correctly on his first try."
"Explain!" she stated. Bianca gave Bernard a stern look.
"As I said before, my family focuses on magic control. Over the years the Malstons have adjusted many spells from beginner level to advanced and beyond. When I had Zeph first cast the spell, I told him to blow up an ice sculpture I had created as a target dummy."
"That's impossible. Energy ball is about as strong as a grown man throwing a rock at someone. How in the world is he supposed to blow up an ice sculpture with that?" she exclaimed
"He wasn't, I was just teasing him. I was surprised he could cast the spell on his first try. Then I remembered Zeph used a learning gem to download all the cantrips and basic spell formulas into his brain.
"Wait, he knows all the basic spell formula and has enough magic control to cast energy ball on the first try! Why even bring him out here for training then?" Eli interrupted. Bianca nodded her head in agreement.
"Because I wanted him to practice. I didn't know he could cast energy ball on the first try until we came out here. When I saw that he could, I just adjusted his training program a little bit. I used a little deception to make him think that those spell formulae were only a guideline and not everything you needed to cast a spell, Then taught him my family's modified version of the energy ball spell. "
The two servants looked at Bernard with a hint of anger. He could have just told the boy he was a genius. There was no need to lie to him like that. To the side, Alex had been listening to their conversation. He wasn't angry in the least. He had already figured out that Bernard had been messing with his grandson. No matter how old he gets, Alex would still think of Bernard as that mischievous little boy that liked to experiment and play pranks all those years ago. Of course, he was also looking forward to what Zeph would do to his grandfather when he found out that was tricked. If he was anything like his grandfather, Zeph could probably come up with some very interesting ways to use those cantrips.
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クリエイターの想い 
Irksome
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Random thought of the day:
If I could taste colors, I bet sky blue would be delicious.
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