Kai and the Chaos Emeralds

Chapter 10: Kai's Magic Training

After a couple of days' worth of sailing, Kai and Toad reached their destination. Toad was watching the Chaos Radar as they got closer and closer to the next Chaos Emerald.

"We're about to dock," Toad said. "Once we get off of the ship, we should head for Hazel's mansion. Since her family is the richest one on the island, she might have some idea where a large emerald is."

"Alright!" Kai happily shouted. "Let's go!"

An hour later, Kai and Toad finally reached Hazel's mansion. There were two new goons standing in front of the front door. They were huge and muscular. Kai and Toad walked up to them.

"Who are you?" one of them said.

"I'm Kai Kamai," Kai said. "I'm here to see my friend, Hazel."

"No one gets in if they're not on the list," the other guy said.

"List?" Kai asked. "What list?"

"This one!" the first one said as he shoved a clipboard in Kai's face.

"We have to have an appointment to see a friend?!" Toad exclaimed. "That's just plain bogus!"

"We don't make the rules, we just follow them," the second one said.

"Tell Hazel that Kai's here," Kai said. "She'll let me in!"

"We can't let you in!" the first one shouted.

"Try to stop us," Toad said. "We have important, world-saving business to do in there, and you two, muscle-brained idiots won't stop us!"

Inside, Hazel's older sister, Marina, was walking around her house when she heard pounding from outside. She ran over to the nearby window and saw Kai and Toad being pounded to pulps.

"No way," Marina said.

She then ran to the front door and opened it.

"Stop it right now!" Marina shouted. "These two are my guests."

"Yes, Mistress Marina," said the first goon as he stopped kicking Kai in the stomach.

Kai and Toad then got up and the two goons walked off.

"Yeah!" Toad shouted at them. "You better run! I was just getting started!"

"I can't believe that you're here!" Marina exclaimed. "Hazel will be so happy when she gets back."

"So she isn't here right now," Kai said. "Oh well."

"You guys can come inside and wait until she gets back," Marina said. "My youngest sister, Amy, is preparing tea."

Kai and Toad followed Marina as she led them inside. A few minutes later, Kai, Toad, Amy and Marina enjoyed some tea. Amy, who was a little bit taller than the last time Kai and Toad saw her, was pouring the tea for them.

"So you guys are looking for a Chaos Emerald," Marina said.

"That's right," Toad said. "We were hoping that you guys would know about it."

"You know that Hazel's the bookworm in the family," Marina said. "She'll know about anything that exists. She and my brother should be home soon."

"Where is Hazel anyway?" Toad asked.

"She'll either be at the library or at the arena, sparring with Almond," Amy answered.

"Arena?" Kai asked.

"There's an arena in the middle of town," Amy said. "Almond and Hazel spend time over there to do some training. Hazel's gotten much stronger since you guys left."

"But she only uses one offensive spell," Toad said. "And she only uses it as a last resort. Holy takes too much magical energy to use over and over."

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening was heard from below.

"Hazel and Almond must be home," Marina said. "Let's wait up here for them. I want to see the look on Hazel's face."

The door to the room they were in opened after a few minutes. Two people were standing there. One was Almond, who was wearing a standard Red Mage's outfit. The other was Hazel. She wore a long, white dress and white shoes. She still had her hammer with her, but it looked like it had been used a lot recently.

When Hazel stepped into the room, her and Kai's eyes met. A wide smile appeared on her face.

"Kai!" Hazel shouted happily as she ran up to hug him.

Kai was surprised by this hug, but it didn't matter. This was a happy occasion.

"I can't believe it!" Hazel exclaimed. "You're back!"

"It's good to see you too," Kai said. "You look great."

"And you got taller," Hazel said. "Last time I saw you, you were just about my height. Now, you have to be a half-a-head taller than me."

"Are you guys forgetting that I'm here too," Toad asked.

Hazel then saw Toad.

"Hi, Toad!" Hazel exclaimed. "I didn't see you there."

"I think you were too busy hugging Kai," Toad said. "Why are you still holding him?"

Hazel's face turned bright red. She let Kai go and then sat down in a chair right in front of Kai and Toad.

"You guys should tell me about what you've been doing," Hazel said.

Kai and Toad talked to Hazel about what had happened ever since Kai came back to the magical world. They told Hazel everything about the Chaos Emeralds. Almond, Marina, and Amy listened to this conversation.

"I've read about the Chaos Emeralds," Hazel said. "But the book I read about them said that they were a myth. Are they really true?"

"Take a look for yourself," Toad said as he reached for his backpack.

He pulled out the Chaos Emeralds.

"So those are Chaos Emeralds," Almond said. "Amazing."

"Hazel, do you have any idea where the next Chaos Emerald is?" Kai asked.

"I don't know," Hazel said. "I wish I could be of more help. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kai said. "I just wish that the Chaos Radar was more descriptive about the location of the Chaos Emeralds."

"I think I've seen one before!" Amy shouted.

"What?!" everyone else exclaimed.

"They're giving it away as a prize for the Magical Tourney," Amy said. "I found it by the beach and turned it in to the prize-committee. I didn't know that it was a Chaos Emerald."

"So it will be a prize in the tournament," Almond said. "We're in luck. The tournament starts in just a few days. We can win the Emerald as a prize."

"Can't you just buy it from them?" Toad asked.

"It's not that simple," Marina said. "Anything that is given away to the prize-committee cannot be bought. It has to be won."

"So what is the Magical Tourney?" Kai asked.

"It's a fighting tournament," Almond said. "The best fighters get together to celebrate the power of magic. I've been the champion of the tournament for a few years now."

"It should be a breeze then," Kai said. "Fighting a few guys will be simple. Toad and I just polished off a robot and a giant plant-thing."

"And I held my own against Kai when he turned into a wolf," Toad said. "Which I'm still sorry for."

"Turned into a what?!" Hazel asked.

"I'll explain later," Kai said. "It's a really long story. It took a half-an-hour to explain it to Toad."

"Anyway, we should probably start training for the tournament," Almond said. "I'll spar with Kai at the arena. Hazel, you and Toad should go to Magica Tower and try to climb to the top again. The traps have improved since the last time you guys went up there."

"Alright," Hazel said. "Let's begin."

The four of them left the room. Someone or something was watching Kai from the trees as he and Almond headed for the arena.

Thirty minutes later, Kai and Almond had prepared the arena for their training session.

"I'm going to train you in casting spells," Almond said.

"I already know about magic," Kai said. "In fact, I use it most of the time."

"That's true, but you only use Spell-Blades, right?" Almond said.

"I guess," Kai answered.

"What I'm going to teach you are actual spells," Almond said. "Spells like what Black Mages and White Mages are capable of using. Of course, I can't teach you to use their most powerful spells. I can't even cast the most powerful spells. But I can teach you basic spells like Thunder and Cure."

"Is that really possible?" Kai asked.

"Yep," Almond answered. "Every human being has magical energy within them. Though, everyone uses it differently. Black Mages and White Mages use magic to its full potential and can cast powerful spells. Ninja transform magical energy into a form known as Chakra, in order to use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Finally, most swordsmen use magic to give power to their blades, like what you tend to do.

"But there are swordsmen who tend to cross the normal barrier of magic. They can use magic like Black Mages and White mages, even if the spells are weaker. These swordsmen are known as Red Mages, which is what I am.

"I can teach you how to use magic in this way. Not only will you be an expert at close-up combat, but you'll be able to attack from afar. With this ability, a whole world of battle techniques will open up to you."

"Wow!" Kai exclaimed. "Let's start this training!"

"Alright," Almond said. "First, you must focus your magical energy into your blade, like you usually do."

Kai then drew his sword and held it out. Magical energy began to surround his blade.

"For Spell-Blade techniques, you focus and maintain the energy into a sword until the energy becomes a more powerful blade," Almond said. "For regular magic, you must focus the energy into your sword and then concentrate the energy into the tip of your sword. This is much harder then it sounds.

"Once you focus the energy into the tip of the blade, you must maintain it like you normally do. Then you must transform this energy into a spell, just like you do with Spell-Blade techniques. Then you blast the energy from the tip of the blade toward your target. Do you understand?"

"Yep," Kai answered.

"Alright, I'll find you a target," Almond said.

Almond looked around and found a large pot.

"Perfect," Almond said. "You must use a spell to destroy that pot."

"Is that all?" Kai asked. "That will be easy."

Kai began to focus his magic into the tip of his blade. Unfortunately, he could only get it near the tip of his blade. The magic began to glow red.

"Fire!" Kai shouted as he shot the spell toward the pot.

A small fireball shot from Kai's blade. It hit the pot, but didn't leave a mark.

"What?!" Kai exclaimed. "I didn't make a scratch!"

"Exactly," Almond said. "That pot was made for potions. It's made out of Magia, a rare metal that is a must-have for spell-users. To destroy that pot, you'll need a perfect spell. You won't even leave a mark until you create a good spell."

"Alright," Kai said. "Just you watch, I'll destroy that pot before sun-set."

Kai spent the whole day training to break the pot. Every attempt at creating a perfect spell failed. At the end of the day, however, he managed to crack the pot.

"Amazing," Almond said. "Still not perfect, but you managed to crack the pot. I bet that you'll break that pot in time for the tournament."

"Alright!" Kai happily shouted.

But right after he shouted this, he felt a sudden sense of danger.

"MOVE!!!" Kai shouted.

Almond didn't know what was going on, but he ducked out of reflex. This was smart because a green flash shot right over Almond. It hit the pot and completely destroyed it.

Almond and Kai looked up at where the flash went. In its place was a strange man. He was tall and wore a black jumpsuit. On the top part of the jumpsuit were yellow buttons. There was a brown belt across his waist. He wore black boots and grey gloves. He wore a green hat with a reversed "L" written on it. He wore a green bandana around his neck and had a black mask on. He had a brown mustache and brown hair. He also had a sheathed sword on his waist.

"Who are you?" Kai asked.

"I am the most powerful servant in Lord Zant's arsenal," the man said. "I have a power that everyone envies. I am the Green Thunder, the incredible Mr. L!"

He held out his right arm as he said his name. Almond looked confused, but Kai looked at this man seriously.

"Alright, two questions," Kai said. "One, what's with the weird outfit? Secondly, who's this Zant guy? Is the he King of Twilight?"

"I do not feel that I must answer that question," Mr. L said. "I was given orders to kill you and steal the Chaos Emeralds. If you hand over the emeralds now, I'll make your death quick and painless."

"Like that will ever happen," Kai said. "By the sound of things, this Zant guy wants to take over the world. No deal. I'm keeping the emeralds."

"Fine then," Mr. L said.

He then drew his sword. On the blade were the words "Poltergust Blade". He swung his blade and a purple gust of wind shot toward Kai and Almond. Kai and Almond dodged this blast. The wind destroyed every training-tool that was behind them.

"If we get hit by that, we're done for!" Kai shouted.

Kai drew his sword. He tried to focus magical energy into it, but nothing happened.

"Kai, you're too drained of magic to fight," Almond said. "Let me handle this fight."

Almond then drew his sword. The blade of his sword was a shining silver.

"I will defeat you, Mr. L," Almond said.

The tip of Almond's sword glowed with a blue light. He then cast a Blizzard spell toward Mr. L. Mr. L dodged this attack and charged for him. Their swords clashed with each other. Eventually, they both jumped back. Mr. L launched the purple gust of wind and Almond used a Blizzard spell. The attacks clashed and created an explosion. A cloud of smoke, which came from the explosion, covered the whole arena. When the smoke cleared, Mr. L was nowhere to be seen. Almond turned around and saw Mr. L right behind him. Mr. L then slashed Almond in the back and on his right arm. Almond screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

"Almond!" Kai shouted.

"That's what happens when you get in my way," Mr. L said. "Now for you."

Kai's eyes became full of hatred. His teeth were clenched together. Mr. L saw this look in his eyes.

Mr. L remembered when he gained his orders from his master. They were in a dark castle. His master was hidden within the shadows.

"Watch out for the Light Swordsman's power," Zant said from within the shadows. "I was told of his power by a very reliable source. If you see hatred in his eyes, you must be at full strength when you fight him. Otherwise, you will be destroyed."

"I understand," Mr. L said.

The flashback ended. Mr. L jumped onto the wall.

"I will let you live for now," Mr. L said. "But I expect you to be at the tournament that happens in three days. I will be waiting for you."

Mr. L then disappeared. Kai could only watch as Mr. L disappeared into the sunset. Kai then turned to Almond. He put Almond onto his shoulder.

"I'll get you back to Hazel," Kai said. "She'll heal you in no time."

"Alright," Almond said.

Kai then carried Almond back to the mansion. The whole time, Kai could only think of Mr. L. Who was he? How was he so strong? Kai only knew one thing: he must defeat Mr. L at whatever cost.