Chapter 4

High Magister Grana

"Hyaahhh!"

With all the strength she has, Tasia lifted the boy over her shoulder and flung him through the air. He landed his back against the wooden floor with a loud thud.

"Ouch! Jeez, Tasia! No need to be so rough!" Tasia's training partner, Strauss groaned painfully, his hand was rubbing on his shoulder.

Realizing that she had used too much force on shoulder-throwing Strauss, Tasia nodded apologetically. She then helped Strauss back on his feet.

"Sorry. I got a little carried away there." Tasia said innocently.

"A little? You throw me like as if I was a sack of rice back there. Another throw stronger than that and you'll break my back for sure." Strauss complained.

Although he was a boy and a Martial Arts disciple for that matter, Strauss was skinnier than his other classmates, yet he was slightly muscular comparing to Tasia's female athletic body. This was the reason why High Magister Grana found the boy suitable to be Tasia's training partner. Though Tasia seemed to have no problem with a more muscular partner than Strauss as she could easily defeat five large senior Martial Arts students without even breaking a sweat.

This was proven during her first school day at the Academy. When Tasia first applied for the Martial Arts Class, she was squarely rejected by High Magister Grana, who saw her quite unfit to be in his class, and another reason was because that Tasia was a girl, since the Specialist only accepts boys as his disciples.

However, Tasia still kept on requesting High Magister Grana to accept her as one of his disciples. She told him that she was taught Martial Arts magic by her father since she was a child. High Magister Grana was quite surprised after hearing that Tasia was actually the daughter of one of the most well-known Martial Artist Magister in Darmenia; the Iron Fist, Feng.

Out of his respect for Tasia's father, High Magister Grana had decided to give her a chance to prove herself worthy enough to become his disciple. Her test was to fight five 2nd Young Magisters of the Martial Arts Class at the same time. It was not a difficult feat for her to accomplish. Her physical strength, combat skills and her unique signature magic had amazed Grana when she defeated her opponents with ease. After she had passed her qualification test, Grana had sincerely apologized to Tasia for being completely prejudice towards her, and had admitted that her strength and spirit had proved to him enough that she was a true descendant of Feng the Iron Fist.

Tasia never stopped suppressing a smile every time she remembered that day.

"Sorry. I'm feeling a little stress lately. I'm not sure why but I seem to have a lot of things going on in my mind since yesterday." Tasia said while rubbing her temples.

"You? Stressed? Now that's a first." Strauss's eyebrows rose. "Is it something to do with boys or something?"

"It's nothing like that…It's just…" Tasia paused in hesitation. She couldn't tell Strauss about that strange dream she had last night. He would surely think that she was being hysterical for being depressed because of some nightmare.

But the nightmare she had experienced last night was indeed her first. Tasia had never seen such horrible sights in any of her dreams. It felt almost like everything was real; the heat, the awful stench of corpse, the horde of the dead black creatures, and the warrior in the black armor.

Kishin, the single word that Tasia had remembered hearing from her nightmare. She had no clue of what it actually meant. It could probably be a name, of a person or a place, but of whom and where? Or it could just be a meaningless rant that her brain had made up?

She doesn't believe that the word meant nothing. Surely it must have some kind of a connection with her nightmare.

"Just what?" Strauss asked, breaking Tasia from her thoughts.

"Nothing. Just forget what I said." Tasia shrugged and sighed. She stepped back and offered her right arm to Strauss. "Your turn. Give it all you got if you want to."

Strauss's left hand grabbed Tasia's wrist, while his right hand grabbed hold of her upper arm. In a fluid movement, he spun on his heel and threw Tasia off the ground. The boy had used too much of his strength that he had just accidentally sent her flying a meter away. Tasia crash-landed on her hips with sickening crunch.

"Ouch!" Tasia cried out a painful wheeze.

Strauss quickly ran to Tasia, and went down on his knees. "Sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to overdo it. You told me to give it all I have, so I did. You're not injured are you?"

"No. It's just a little sore. I'll be fine." Tasia groaned as she rubbed her aching buttocks.

"Guess that makes us even, then?" Strauss smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah." Tasia grinned.

Both of them started laughing.

Suddenly three thundering claps came from the center of the dojo. All the eighteen students who were practicing their shoulder throws in pair stopped and turned their eyes towards High Magister Grana.

"Gather around, students!"

Sitting cross-legged with their hands resting on their knees, the students now formed three rows of six, facing High Magister Grana as they waited quietly for their Specialist to speak. As always, Grana wore his black canvas gi, which differentiated him from the rest of his students who all wear white gi.

"I'm truly impressed with every one of you. It seems all of you have mastered the basic essences of Martial Arts. You have got all of your stances and techniques right. Well done, my students."

"THANK YOU, LORD GRANA!" the students yelled in unison.

"From that, I believe that you have devoted your training in developing your physical and magical techniques. And I'm very impressed with that. Therefore, I believe that it is finally the time for me to teach you something more advance."

The students looked at each other with curiosity, yet their spirits were heightened by High Magister Grana's words.

"During our class next week, I shall bring you all to the Tacita River, where you will train the Art of the Soaring Feathers!" High Magister Grana verbally punched the air with his voice.

A glint of excitement sparkled in Tasia's eyes, her heart skipped with joy. High Magister Grana would be teaching them a new Martial Arts' magic; the Art of the Soaring Feathers, a form of sub-elemental magic which was said to grant its user the ability to move 'as light as a feather'. People said that whoever mastered this magic, can 'float' and 'soar' in midair. It's a very special form of magic, and a very difficult one to harness as well. It's also one of the few true Martial Arts' magic, just like Tasia's 'signature magic'.

Before any of the students could start talking to one another regarding the wonderful news, High Magister Grana gave out a thunderous voice.

"Silence! This is not a thing that you should get too excited with. You should all know of the intense training that lies ahead of you. For your information, the Art of the Soaring Feathers is a very difficult technique to harness. The path of mastering it is tough and should not be taken lightly. Using this magic without truly mastering it can cause a great damage upon yourselves and others."

"So far, as you all know, only one student from this class had mastered this magic. That is none other than our 1st Class Young Magister Saufer."

Grana pointed his finger towards a seventeen year-old student who sat at the back of the middle row. He was tall and muscular of a boy, whose oval head was covered in short slicked black hair. The fingers of his right hand were drumming noisily against the wooden floor of the dojo while his chin was resting on his left palm.

The boy was Saufer, the one and only 1st Class Young Magister in the Martial Arts Class. He was one of the five top-ranked students in Gathaspa Academy, and as High Magister Grana had stated, the boy had mastered the Art of the Soaring Feathers.

The boy then gave a merry laugh. "Aw, thaannkk yoouuu, Lord Granaa! You're tooo kind" he slurred in a drunken tone.

"You've been drinking before class again, haven't you?" Grana asked him sternly.

One of Saufer's bad habits was the drastic intake of alcohol.

According to the rules of the Magister Academies, it was strictly prohibited for all Young Magisters to consume any forms of liquor, whether they were inside of outside of the Academy's compound. Excessive alcohol can cause many negative effects on a Magister's magical essence. Just by getting drunk, a Magister might render his magical energy unstable, causing serious damage to one's own body, and sometimes to his surroundings.

However, Saufer was given an excuse from the prohibition of alcohol intake, as drinking liquor helped him to increase the capability and effectiveness of his signature magic instead of disrupting it. Tasia had heard the story from Kyro, who had fought against Saufer once. During the middle of his fight against Saufer, the Martial Artist had drunk a bottle of beer he had brought into the Coliseum with him. The intake of alcohol had somehow increased his power and magic, giving Kyro a very difficult time fighting against him. Yet Kyro still managed to defeat him in the end, thanks to the range he had over Saufer with the help of his bow.

"It was just a little siiip. A bottle tooo be exact." Saufer replied before letting out a small hiccup.

With a voice as loud as a fuming volcano, High Magister Grana shouted. "I told you to stop taking drinks before class, didn't I? Do it again and I'll be sure to have the Academy prohibiting you completely from taking any liquor ever again!"

There was no anger in the High Magister's voice, just concern and authority. Still it was enough to cause all of his students to have their hair stand on their ends, even their spines were stiffen. Only Saufer remained unaffected.

"Ay ay, Looord Granaaa. I promise it wooonn't happeeen again." Saufer nodded while flapping his hand towards High Magister Grana.

Tasia watched the drunkard boy in disbelief. He was still calm and cheerful even after High Magister Grana had scolded him. Maybe he was actually too drunk to feel anything.

"You better make sure it wouldn't." Grana said, his mood had already calmed.

After receiving his from High Magister Grana, Saufer turned to look at Tasia. To her surprise, his black raven eyes were staring directly into her, like a serpent gazing on its prey. Tasia had never before made any contact with the boy, let alone communicate with him. But the way he gazed at her was far more meaningful than any conversation could give her. He was still drunk, but his eyes were more sober than ever. Then a thin smile curved across his lips. Tasia could read what he was trying to say.

I can't wait to fight against you.

Tasia turned away and returned her attention to High Magister Grana. She wasn't expecting that from Saufer. If she was to fight him in a one-on-one battle, she would be having a very slim chance of winning. Saufer was the fourth strongest Young Magister in Gathaspa Academy, and she was just, a girl Martial Artist.

A girl Martial Artist.

That's not a small thing, Tasia considered it to herself. Her blood was now boiling with anxiety. Perhaps fighting against Saufer was not such a bad idea. He would be an ideal opponent for her in order to test the limits of her power. Besides, when else could she fight another top-ranked student like him? And what could a mere drunk do against her? Or so she thought.

"As I was saying," Grana scoffed. "Next week we'll all be going to the Tacita River for the Art of the Soaring Feathers' training. It'll be a three days stay, so all of you better pack some clothes for the trip. Again, I would like to remind you, that the path to the Art of the Soaring Feathers will be a difficult one. So prepare yourselves."

High Magister Grana stood up. "Dismiss."

"THANK YOU, LORD GRANA!" the students bowed in unison.

The rest of the Martial Arts students had already left for lunch by the time Tasia had finished changing back to her student's uniform. Just as got out from the changing room, High Magister Grana was waiting outside.

"I saw you practicing with Strauss back there, Anastasia, and I can see that you are distracted in some way. Is there something going on in your mind?" Grana asked in a soft-spoken tone.

"Actually there is, Lord Grana. But I promise I won't be distracted like that again." Tasia nodded humbly, as she understood that her Specialist does not tolerate any form of mind distraction in his class.

"Excuse me, I got to go. Good day, Lord Grana." she bowed to the High Magister, and then she walked slowly towards the exit.

As she walked down the large chamber of the dojo, Tasia heard High Magister Grana yelled out.

"Remember, Anastasia! Distraction may led a Magister to his own demise!"