"Excuse me, Sensei," said a voice off to the side.
Everyone turned to see another of the senseis standing in by the doorway.
"Dan, what can I do for you?" asked Tory.
"I have a new student for you," replied Dan stepping aside to reveal a student standing behind him. "His skill is ahead of everyone else in his class. The elders have decided to advance him a level."
"Is that so?" replied Tory. To the student he said, "Why don't you introducing yourself, young man."
"I'm Jesse," said the student with a bow.
"It's nice to meet you Jesse. Welcome to the class," said Tory with a smile. "I must admit that I'm curious as to why the elders decided to advance you."
"They said that my level of skill with weaponry was far ahead of any in my class," Jesse explained. "I seem to grasp the lessons better than everyone else and my sensei was the only one who could truly spar with me."
"It's been a while since anyone was advanced a level, hasn't it?" Tory asked Dan.
"It's been a few years easily," Dan replied.
"Well, since this group won't practice with weaponry until tomorrow, I'll just have to wait to see how skilled you are," Tory said. "Why don't we see how powerful you are with magic? Go stand over there."
As Jesse went to stand where Tory had indicated, Tory called over one of his students to stand by him. Dan had moved off to the side to watch.
"This is Cassandra," Tory told Jesse. "She is the strongest magic user in this class."
"Nice to meet you, Cassandra," Jesse said to her.
"Nice to meet you too," Cassandra replied.
"Cassandra I want you to use simple attacks, doesn't matter what element you use," Tory told her.
"Yes, Sensei."
"Jesse, I want you to simply defend yourself. Do not retaliate just yet, I want to see you defensive capabilities first. Understood?"
"Yes, Sensei."
"Good. Begin!"
Cassandra began by launching a fireball at Jesse. Jesse stopped the fireball with one hand and dispelled it. Next, Cassandra sent a storm of icicles at him. Jesse formed a simple shield around him in defense. Cassandra formed a large stream of water that she launched at him. Jesse caught it and held it swirling in a ring around him. A look of annoyance crossed Cassandra's face as she thought about her next attack. Cassandra began to gather the air around her into a ball before launching it at him. Jesse moved the water in front of him and froze it to form a wall.
"That's enough for now Cassandra," Tory called after a few more minutes. "Now, Jesse you may retaliate as you see fit and Cassandra I want you to use slightly stronger attacks, and feel free to mix them."
"Yes, Sensei," both Jesse and Cassandra replied.
As Cassandra started her next attack, she got a smirk on her face. Her first attack was to launch a lightning strike at Jesse. With one hand, Jesse redirected it. But instead of sending it back, he caught it with his other hand and seemed to dispel it. After taking breath, he stood straight and waited for Cassandra's next attack. He didn't have to wait long. Cassandra sent another fireball at him with two water attacks flanking it. Jesse caught the fireball and redirected it to cancel the two water attacks while sending a third back at her. Creating a wind current, Cassandra dissipated the fireball before it reached her. Cassandra, who was starting to get frustrated, raised half of an earth dome on either side of him and surrounded both him and the walls with icicles. With a quick movement of her arms, the walls closed in to trap him with the icicles embedding themselves into the rock and starting to drive deeper.
"Cassandra, stop!" Tory cried. "What have I told you about controlling your temper?!"
"I'm sorry," replied Cassandra as she bowed her head.
With a wave of his hand, Tory dispelled her attack and was surprised to see it empty. Everyone looked around but no one could see where Jesse had gone. Cassandra was hit from behind by a sudden blast of wind that sent her to her knees. As she landed, her hands and feet were trapped in an earth band that had a layer of ice to strengthen it. Before she really had a real grasp of what was going on, a dome of wind and fire started to swirl around her. To everyone's surprise, Jesse descended from above surrounded by a wind current that was holding him aloft.
"I've never seen anyone use magic like that," Tory commented as Jesse came down.
"I've never been exceptionally strong with magic," said Jesse. "But I've always come up with different ways of using it though. The elders think that my use of magic makes up for my lack of strength."
"How did you avoid my attack though?" asked Cassandra.
"It's easy to avoid something when everything around seems to move at a slower pace."
"What?"
"Yes, would you care to explain what you mean Jesse?" asked Tory.
"Sure, sensei. Instead of dispelling her lightning attack, I absorbed it and began channeling it through my body. Doing so, allows you to move faster."
"I don't remember being taught or reading about doing that with magic," replied Tory as he dispelled Jesse's various attacks around Cassandra. "Who taught you how to do that?"
"No one, I simply realized it was possible while practicing on my own one day."
"Did you notice any side effects from using magic in that way?"
"The only real effect is that you feel more exhausted when you dispel it."
"Interesting. I'm going to look more into this when I get a chance. For now, how about we end today's session. You are all dismissed until tomorrow. Meet at the weapons dojo at dawn."
"Yes, Sensei."
With that, the students went their separate ways.