Hey everybody! Here is the Michael and the gang training to master their elements! Will they succeed? Let's see if they do!
The Raccoon, the Panther, and the Divine Gods
Chapter 21- Hard Training
Sarah's P.O.V.: As they stood on the hilltop, Ling Guang began to teach his student about her element. "Sarah, I chose this hilltop because the winds up here are at their strongest; it is the perfect place for you practice your element." "It sure is; I can barely stand up here with all these high winds." Sarah said as she felt a strong gust of wind trying to blow her off. The Vermilion Bird laughed. "As you learn to become one with air, you will have little trouble of standing on this spot." He paused before he proceeded. "Now, to begin, you must first activate your orb power." Sarah nodded as she concentrated to awaken her air element. When she started to glow white, Ling Guang continued.
"Good, now hold out your right hand with your palm open." Sarah held out her hand. "Now concentrate. Command the air around you to gather at the palm of your hand to form a ball. It might take a little effort, so take your time." The nomad nodded as she concentrated. Slowly the winds began to swirl around Sarah's hand. When she felt that the ball was stable, she relaxed a bit. Ling Guang was pleased. "Excellent Sarah! Your sphere of air looks perfect. Now try it with your other hand." Sarah sighed as she began the process with her other hand. She soon discovered that it was harder to form a second air sphere while still maintaining the stability of the first one. Just when she almost got it, both spheres burst into huge wind gusts that blew Sarah off her feet!
As Ling Guang helped Sarah to her feet, he told her to not be ashamed of herself. "But I failed to maintain both spheres! It was just too hard." The orange bird nodded. "That was only your first try; you will improve with practice. Now try again." Sarah held out her palms again, but she did something different this time. Instead of forming one sphere at a time, she tried to form two at once. She put in a lot more effort on her power to focus the air around her. Sarah commanded the winds that were blowing at her to gather at her palms. The next thing that Ling Guang saw was that his student had succeeded in forming two air spheres at the same time.
"Well done Sarah! You used your will power to force the winds to form around your hands, thus making the spheres. You have just mastered the basics of using the air power of the Elemental Orb: Connect with the air to command it. You did it excellently." Sarah smiled and felt proud of her self. Ling Guang then told her to release the spheres. Once she did, her trainer smiled. "Now let's try something a little harder." Sarah gulped before continuing. "Next, I want you to concentrate the air into the bottom of your feet…"
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Prince's P.O.V.: Once they had settled into the mountain filled canyon, Jian Bing and Prince began their training. "Alright Prince Sly, are you ready to begin?" The wolf prince nodded confidently. The tiger king smiled. "Good, now let's begin. First activate your Earth power." Once Prince started to glow bright yellow, Jian Bing continued. "Now I want you to use your power to mold a boulder from the mountain on your left." Prince nodded as he held out his hands towards the mountain and started to concentrate. He found it very hard to pull out the boulder he was to create. Jian Bing noticed this and gave him some help. "Feel the earth around you. Will the earth to form the boulder." "I will try." Prince said frustratingly.
Jian Bing shook his head. "No, do or do not; there is no try." Sighing, Prince continued. Slowly he felt the rock from the mountain moving towards him. He continued to pull it out slowly. After a minute or two, he finally got that pesky boulder to form, leaving a huge hole in the mountain. Prince was tired from the task. "Nice job, Prince Sly. Now why don't you use your power to move the rock on the mountain so that the hole will be gone?" Prince was stunned to hear that. "I can barely stand, let alone seal up a hole in a mountain." The tiger king shook his head again. "I know that you are weary, but I know you can do it. Now seal up that hole."
Prince held out his arms again and began to move the rock to fill in the gap that was formed from removing the boulder. Once he was done, Prince collapsed. He was out of breath. Jian Bing sat down in front of him. "Well done, Prince Sly." As he lay there, Prince let out his frustration. "This power over Earth is harder than I thought it would be. It took me nearly all I had to make that boulder and seal up the hole it made! I don't know how I can master this power in a week!" Jian Bing smiled. "You were warned that this training would be the hardest thing you have ever done. Of all the elements to master, Earth is probably the second hardest; at least it was for Slytankhamen I. After a few minutes, we will continue." Prince nodded.
"Do not let this training break you, Prince Sly. You have done well so far, and I know that you will master it in time for the final battle. Your friends believe in you, and so do the Four Kings." Prince smiled from his master's encouragement. After a few minutes of rest, Prince Sly got back on his feet. He was ready to continue. "I am ready to proceed." Jian Bing nodded. "Excellent, now you have experienced how difficult it was to move Earth, you should be able to command it better. I suggest you use that boulder you just created as a means to protect yourself." Prince Sly seemed confused, so his master explained. "The Earth can be used as a defense as well as an offense."
Just then, Jian Bing fired an energy bolt from his hand towards Prince! Instinctively, Prince summoned the boulder with his orb power to block the energy bolt, which caused the boulder to shatter into pebbles. Jian Bing clapped. "That was what I meant, Prince Sly. Superb job in commanding that boulder to shield you just in time. You are starting to bond well with your Earth power." Prince smiled. "Now then, I think the next thing for you to do is to make those pebbles into something useful…"
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Jade's P.O.V.: At the lake that Jade Zhi Ming had found, they began to train. "Are you ready to begin, Jade?" "As ready as I'll ever be." The young panther said. Zhi Ming nodded. "Okay, now tap into your orb power." She did and started to glow blue once more. "Now follow me." The black turtle then started to walk on the lake water! Jade was astounded. "How did you do that?" Zhi Ming smiled as he stood on the middle of the lake. "I am able to because it is natural for me. With your Water power, you should be able to as well." Nodding nervously, Jade began to step into the water. "Focus on the water around your feet; command it to lift you on its surface." Zhi Ming instructed.
Jade then closed her eyes and concentrated on the water. 'Allow me to walk on the surface. Allow me to walk on the surface.' As she focused, she felt her self rise. When she opened her eyes and looked down, she gasped. She was actually standing on the water! Smiling, she turned to her master. Zhi Ming was pleased. "Come to where I am, Jade." She nodded and walked to where her master was waiting. She had not lost her focus on the water below her feet as she moved. Jade stopped in front of Zhi Ming. "This is so amazing! I never imagined that I'd actually walk on water some day!" Zhi Ming laughed a bit. "You will get used to it. Now then, let us proceed. The first thing I want you to do is to command the water to form a bubble around you."
"Yes master." Jade then lifted up her hands and asked the water to form a bubble around her. Within seconds, a giant bubble formed around her. Jade was pleased with herself, as was Zhi Ming. "Nice work, Jade; that bubble can be used to protect yourself from energy based attacks, and with practice it will even protect you from physical ones as well." Jade nodded as she let the bubble collapsed. "Alright, your next task is to use the water as a weapon. Try to form a wave and have it come after me." Jade was stunned. "A wave? Don't you think that is a little advanced right now?" "Just try it; it will give you a good idea of how tough controlling water is." Jade shrugged. "Alright master, if you say so."
She then raised her arms again. Almost instantly, the water formed a huge wave behind her and stood waiting to strike. Zhi Ming couldn't believe how Jade easily formed a wave this big and so quickly. Jade smiled as she threw her arms out at her master, commanding the wave to attack. In defense, Zhi Ming formed an energy shield around himself. As the wave crashed around him, he instantly felt colder. That was when he noticed that the wave water was freezing around him! Seconds later, he was trapped in a frozen sphere. Astounded, he used his power to break free of the ice dome. Once he was free, the water melted back into the lake. Zhi Ming stared at Jade, who seemed really pleased with herself. Zhi Ming was astonished.
"How did you know how to freeze the water?! That is an advanced technique of your Water power you shouldn't be starting on yet!" Jade smiled as she answered. "It was simple; I willed the water to become solid by asking it to drop the temperature to freezing point. I figured that a wave would not be enough to stop any enemy, so I thought I should surprise you by freezing the water around you, trapping you inside it." Jade then held her hands up. "Look master, I'm sorry that it was not what you instructed, but I thought…" Zhi Ming held up his hand to silence her. He was smiling. "Do not apologize for you accomplishments. You have proven yourself to be a natural user of the Water power of the Elemental Orb. Freezing water so easily and so quickly would take a lot longer to achieve, and you've done it in seconds! I am very proud of you!"
Jade smiled at her master. "Though in the future, no more surprise moves, okay?" The panther nodded. "Yes master." "Good, now let's see. Since you have just demonstrated how natural a water user you are, let's try something really challenging." "Like what?" Jade asked. Zhi Ming smiled mischievously. "Like maybe how to use the water to help you breathe underneath it…"
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Michael's P.O.V.: In the burning hot desert, Michael stood before Mang Zhang. Michael was already beginning to sweat. "Oh man, it's scorching out here! Why did we come to this place?" The dragon smiled. "We have come here because the intense heat will help you in master your Fire orb power. Are you ready?" Michael nodded. "Let's do it." Mang Zhang nodded too. "First things first, activate your orb power like before." Michael concentrated until he was glowing red again. "Now Michael, use the heat to form a fire on that wood pile on your right." Mang Zhang pointed to a smile wood pile on Michael's right. Michael held out his hands at the wood pile.
As hard as he tried, he couldn't even get a spark to appear. "It's not working! Why isn't it lighting up?" Mang Zhang answered patiently. "Concentrate harder Michael. Will the heat to form flames on the wood." Michael began to focus even more on the wood. 'Come on, I need to get this wood burning! Give me some help here will you?!' A second later, a blazing fire appeared on the wood pile. Michael sat down on his butt, tired from both the heat and the effort. Mang Zhang still stood in front of him. "Nice work Michael; that is a beautiful fire you made. And best of all, you didn't need any matches!" They both laughed. But all too soon, Mang Zhang instructed Michael to get back on his feet.
"Alright, now I want you to try something a little harder." "Harder than lighting a camp fire?" The blue dragon nodded. "I want you to try and stop the fire from burning." Michael's jaw dropped. "You got to be kidding me! After putting that fire on, you want me to put it out?" "Yes; knowing how to stop a fire is as important as knowing how to start on. A true Fire orb power master must know this. Now try it." Grunting, Michael held out his arms again at the fire, and tried to stop it. True to Mang Zhang's word, the flames would not die. 'Hey, I told you to burn didn't I? So why don't you be good little flames and burn out!' A few minutes later, the fire was gone. After Michael sat down again, Mang Zhang sat next to him.
"I knew you could do it; well done Michael." The young raccoon shook his head. "Damn, why is it so hard to get this power to work for me?" The dragon put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "It is hard because Fire is the hardest element to master. Of all the elements of nature, Fire is the one with the most life and most untamable. It does not just take will power to command the fire, but it takes passion as well. You have that in spades, young one. With more practice, you will learn to control the Fire power much more easily." Michaelnodded."Thanks master." After drinking some water they brought with them, they stood up once more.
"I think your next step, Michael, is to use your orb power to shoot a stream of fire at this shrub there." He pointed to a dead looking shrub on Michael's left. Michael sighed. "Shoot flames?! I can barely start fires, let alone become a living flamethrower!" Mang Zhang nodded. "Just try it. Remember, fire is something that must be tamed. Control it; don't let it control you." Michael nodded as turned to face the shrub. "Okay, here goes nothing." He held out his arms towards his target and began to focus again. He concentrated more than he has ever done, and soon his hands had started to spark in flames. "Come on Fire power, work for me! FIRE NOW!!"
A huge burst of flames shot from Michael's hands towards the shrub and burned it to a crisp! Michael was stunned by the power he had just used. Mang Zhang was pleased. "Impressive; you are indeed starting to understand the nature of fire. Good work Michael." Michael smiled at his master. "What's next?" The dragon smiled again. "I am glad you've asked…"
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About sun set, the Four Kings and their students had returned to the fortress. All four kings stood before them. "Well done, all of you. Your first day of training was better than we expected. We are pleased with how you all started out." Mang Zhang said. The students smiled at each other. Ling Guang spoke next. "We will continue where we left off tomorrow at 7:00 am. We will meet at the same places as today. So rest up, and we will see you all again bright and early. Good night to all of you." They all bowed to each other and went their separate ways. The Four Kings returned to their private chambers, while Michael and his friends returned to their chamber.
At dinner, they told Bentley, Murray, and Panda King about their first day of training. Sarah went first. "It was exhausting! First I had to form balls of air in my hands, and then I had to learn to fly using the controlled air! And that was just the first day!" Prince came next. "My training was nearly as tiring. I had to form a boulder from a mountain wall and reseal it. I then used the boulder as a shield when I was attacked! Afterwards, I used the pebbles from the boulder to create an armor of Earth to surround myself! Now that was a challenge!" "I didn't have too much trouble with my Water orb power." Jade said. The others stared at her. "What did Zhi Ming put you through?" Michael asked.
Jade smiled humorously. "Oh nothing much, just to walk on water, form a bubble like shield, launch a wave on Zhi Ming and surprising him by freezing it in place, and finally focused on the oxygen molecules in the water to help me breathe underwater. I also was able to swim much faster because of my orb power. It was actually pretty fun!" They all dropped their jaws. "You did all that without breaking a sweat?!" Bentley asked. Jade nodded. "Yep, Zhi Ming actually said that I was a natural water user." Michael laughed. "You may not have broken a sweat, but I sure did, considering I was in the middle of a hot, burning desert." "What happened there?" Murray asked.
"I basically had to light and put out a camp fire. Not very exciting if you ask me. But man, when I shot blazing flames from my hands, the shrub was incinerated! Not only that, but I also had to focus all the heat around me into a flaming ring around my body! It was about twice my size!" They were all impressed by the young one's training. "Astonishing how quickly you are mastering your elements; you four were most definitely meant to have the Elemental Orb." Panda King said proudly. "Thanks Panda King, but we still got a long way to go before we are ready to face Neyla. We need to really master our powers as quickly as we can." Michael said.
After their meals, everyone got dressed for bed. As they went to their beds, Michael stopped Jade. "I just want so say that I was really impressed with your control over your orb power. I wish I can control mine just as easily." Jade smiled as she kissed Michael on the lips. "You will get the hang of it, trust me. Now good night, handsome." "Good night, beautiful." They then went into their separate rooms and instantly fell asleep.