Banter was traded between the household during breakfast. Detailed conversations of how the kids would be fighting in the tournament were discussed.
Elijah brought up many important details that all related to his first line. "A beast is a beast, and a human is a human."
The aged letter sealed with a teal wax was indeed another mission from Amaris, but also detailed his plan after the mission was over.
Instead of blindly sending Elijah on mission after mission, Amaris wanted to help him train his one on one fighting skills. Missions have been given every four days for almost four weeks now. In between, Elijah would join Amaris in a private Training ground that he would be shown, and not given the location to.
Before opening the letter and reading the contents, Elijah knew this would be his last training session before the tournament qualifiers.
Over the course of almost four weeks, Elijah has dove into many different biomes of The Catacombs including underground swamps, more waterfall chasms, ravines, and even passing through toxic sulfur filled caves in order to face the beasts that needed to be killed.
His skills have not transformed as much as he expected, but only due to his mana core not reaching the orange core stage. Although, the advancement from bright red to dark orange is said to take about a year with weekly missions. That is also without fully exhausting the mana core, which makes the most difference. Elijah could feel his core had greatly progressed, and had maybe another month or two before his advancement.
Compared to the other hunter's, Elijah feels confident with Amaris' teachings. Little focus was put on physical combat, with a heavy amount on how to outwit the enemy with several different spells that use the loopholes and flaws to Elijah's advantage.
Elijah had already figured out that he can technically cast two spells at the same time only if he manipulates the environmental mana first. Of course, Elijah would not use this tactic in the tournament as it would draw attention to himself. However, he would surely use the "direction of creation" loophole that allows a red core mage to cast spells similar to orange and yellow core mages. This loophole works exceptionally well with the water affinity, and is performed by creating the specified spell with a predetermined direction.
Essentially, Elijah could create a vortex of water within the palm of his hands simply by the method at which he formed a ball of water. When expanded and made into a size of his own body, the current becomes torrential and dangerous giving Elijah a powerful trump card.
…
Elijah found himself on the rooftop of the Western Hunter Guild. A small one foot fence lined the area where the steep roof and flat floor met. Small wooden rectangles filled with different vegetables lined the roof. There were only two spaces for seating, and Elijah had pulled the wooden chair with no cushion to the very edge.
The grand stone castle with four tall towers at different heights magnetized his attention. The beam of a golden light shot up into the sky as a creator of protection. Beyond the rim was a cold wind — a violent blizzard that had finally come to a halt.
…
With a quick step to his right, Elijah dodged a frosty and blunted icicle being thrown directly at his face. The cold temperature of this exact instance used to shock the temperature receptors within his face. After more than an hour of feeling the drafts of temperature cross his body, it began to feel like nothing more than a breeze.
A black short sword clanged against a thick spear of ice that almost instantly appeared in the hands of Amaris.
However, Elijah had another trick up his sleeve that Amaris had seen many many times, but still worked on him almost every time.
A small wave of water appeared from underneath Elijah's feet. The water quickly reached up to Amaris' ankle, and he just barely slipped as his momentum was not able to pick up as fast as he wanted.
It was either he was slow to get away, or he became stuck with the freezing of the water that Elijah would have jumped in anticipation for.
Half of the ice shield Amaris erected from his wrist fell to the floor with a clean cut across the middle. "Ha! Good job, I think that this specific tactic won't work on every affinity, but will still slow your opponent."
Elijah dropped his sword into a portal as he was walking back to his starting position. A shattering sound was heard along with the washing of water. "Whoops, I forgot I had water in there…"
A five thousand square foot room made of one hundred percent stone, and only magitech lights, lit the training ground.
Amaris had blindfolded Elijah on the way to the location. Although, Elijah had a rough guess as to where he was: The Underworld. The only question in his mind was why Amaris had a secret training ground here.
"Elijah, I really enjoy the idea of you zipping around your opponents with your water magic, but I do think you should use it in a way similar to how I use an ice path. Temporary, of course." Amaris said as he backed up into his starting corner.
A long spear the size of his six-foot body appeared in his right hand. "I want you to shoot yourself in the air, only ten feet up, with a strong blast of water. It will create an unpredictable current, but also give you a height advantage. Everyone participating on your level will only think horizontally, but if you add in vertical aspects to your attack, it will give you many moments of surprise."
Elijah thought of the idea in his head, and while it was dangerous, he thought Amaris was implying for him to slow his fall with flight in a method unnoticeable to the naked eye.
Blades of water with small amounts of space slammed against the ice shield, unfaltered.
The whole idea of the past two weeks of missions and one on one training is for Elijah to battle against anything that is stronger than him. Amaris truly wanted to mold Elijah into a future judge, or really someone powerful enough to fight against the mysteries of Astraea.
That is of course without Amaris knowing Elijah's intentions or future.
While Elijah didn't learn much more about the Kingdom of Gion, he learned more about Amaris' life in Astraea.
Adopted into a family in the outer north, Amaris was able to quickly obtain ice affinity through pure luck. The very moment he received his ice affinity, he began sneaking into The Catacombs even as a registered hunter.
Apparently, there are only so many missions one is allowed to take for sanity purposes.
Amaris always tells the public how his family is long gone, dead in the infamous beast raid that the people of Astraea now call a calamity.
Surely, events could progress into the tunnel gates being destroyed, and even being surrounded by the beasts outside the walls and from within the Catacombs.
A massacre…
However, it never happened, nor did the beasts outside the walls feel like they were trying to get inside.
Blunt icicles flew straight through the large and thin barrier of water. Once the mana disappeared within the spell, the water splashed to the ground and quickly froze due to the small iceberg Amaris was conjuring.
Elijah felt this was his best chance at using this spell. It was definitely set up by Amaris, but still, this was a chance to see the potential.
The force of the water felt like it had indented the stone floor beneath it. One thing was for sure, Elijah would need new shoes. His body bursted into the air with a lukewarm feeling underneath his feet. The iceberg kept on slowly expanding, but by the time Elijah had let go of his spell, he was well above the iceberg, and just barely beneath the tall ceiling.
"Excellent!!"
Coming from an unexpected spot would be a surprise to anyone. Elijah, with a couple of waves of his hand, sent blades of water directly towards Amaris. Easily, they were frozen right in front of his face.
When Elijah landed on the floor with ease from over ten feet in the air, he was surprised by a chill sword of ice sitting against the sweaty skin of his neck.
"You know you shouldn't let your guard down like that. Other than the fact that I could squash you like a bug, you still could've played it better with a trailing spell… You are mostly going up against the three main elements besides water, and you should especially use this against earth mages. They are going to be your biggest weakness because the principles of both elements won't clash like they will with fire and wind. The same goes for ice and crystal."
"I understand. I know I can win, especially in the qualifiers, but I am worried about what will happen if I win. Lorsen… Hates me. It's not that I am scared of him, but that I have nowhere to go, no future as long as he stands as the one person who can officially grant me a spot on the frontlines."
"Amaris… I want to solve the problems of this kingdom. I do… But if it gets to a point where it seems impossible, I may have no choice other than to abandon the kingdom as a whole."
Amaris walked closer to Elijah and set his hand on his shoulder. Without talking face to face, he quickly said words of grace. "You have something I resonate with. You are a breath of fresh air that I cannot bear to lose. If anyone decides to harm you, I will destroy that person… You have my pendant imprint, and it's in the easiest place to press. So If you ever get yourself into a precarious situation, call me."
"I will do whatever it takes to save you. Anything… You are the hope of this kingdom."
At this moment, Elijah felt butterflies within his stomach. A feeling of attachment solidifying Amaris as an influential figure of his life.
"Thank you, Amaris. Whenever the moment arises, I will count on you."
Amaris continued to walk past Elijah and held the door open. "Good luck, I won't be there for the qualifying matches obviously, those will be easy. But I will be there for the finals."
Just before Amaris reached for the thick stone door handle, Elijah professed one of his main desires. "I hope that you can bring me to Gion eventually!"
Amaris removed his hand from the door with a worry the passerbyers would get a whiff of their conversation.
"I know, Elijah. And I'll be honest with you, I have no idea when I can go back. I don't even know the problem with this Kingdom. Everything seems normal besides the lack of innovation that isn't magic related… It is obvious how the people here are controlled in some type of manner… How about I draw you a landmark map. That way in case something bad happens, you can leave for Gion!"
Elijah looked at Amaris in confusion.
"If something bad happens?"