Hunter woke up on the Owl Lady's couch. He went to the kitchen.
"Eda can I use the portal?" Marcus asked as he sat on the counter.
" No, you are training him here. I don't entirely trust your new apprentice. " She was making eggs.
"Eda, you have a convict training a defector. Do you really want more of the Emperor's Scouts to come here. Your house! " He made a good point. Even though no really knew about the golden guard. He was beside the emperor personally. It would be better to hide them in the human realm.
"Fine. But come back. Luz missed you a lot." She said as she opened the portal .
Marcus sighed. "I know. When the job is done. I just need to wipe out a few more nests." He turns to see Hunter awake and Luz walking in.
"Good morning, everyone!" She sat down. " why is the door to the human realm open? "
"Well, my little lightbulb, I am taking Hunter here and training him. There's an old ruin underneath gravesfield that needs cleaning up."
Luz just stared at him. The fact that Marcus had magic the entire time did make her a bit sore. He was her brother. Even if they weren't really related, they cared for each other like siblings. Her main problem about it all was the fact that what ever he was doing was dangerous. The job needed to be done, whatever it was. All she could do was hope they come back safely. She watched in sadness as they walked out. She couldn't stay sad, she was going to enroll in hexside today.
-
Hunter looked in awe at his surroundings. The trees are green. A cool breeze made them away in the sun. It was surprisingly peaceful. He took in a deep breath and said, "this is amazing."
" Yeah. The cool morning before the scorching heat of summer is amazing. It almost makes me forget about the monsters underneath the ground sometimes. " He starts walking away with a lazy smile on his face.
Earth has monsters too? They live underneath the city? Like the ones he saw in the sewer? "Where are we going?" He asked following behind his mentor.
" First, my house. You need some gear. You are at the level of a Witchling. Beginner. You must learn and master a set of spells before granted more power and more spells. I can teach you the basics to start since you have never actually done magic before. "
They walked up to a blue two story house. It looked at little old. But that was because he has been doing other things. He didn't really have time to clean up. They walked into a living room. The walked into the kitchen. He opened a panel on the floor and a ladder popped up. " this is where the ruins start. I dug my way to the entrance. " Hunter gulped as he watched Marcus climb down.
When Hunter reached the bottom, he was amazed. It was an old treasure room. Barrels filled with weapons. A book case filled with old tomes. A map of the world. He turned to really take it in the view. There was a lot more charted land in the human realm. There was a red circle drawn in the map with question marks surrounding it in the middle of the ocean.
"Hey what's this about?" He asked pointing at the mark on the map. Marcus took a book out of the bookcase. The basic elements of magic. Book in hand he turned to him. "Oh, my grandpa used to tell about this bedtime story when in was younger. I couldn't find any truth so far. But I'll keep looking." He said as he started to climb the ladder back up. " come on. I gotta to train you to at least take down a scout. "
Hunter turned to a door. Tapping and hissing was heard from the other side. He quickly climbed the ladder out of fear. When he got to the top, Marcus quickly closed up the hole. "What do you mean 'scout'? What kind of monsters does the human realm have?"
Marcus pulled a ladle hooked on the wall. That wall twists around to reveal a sword and a staff. "After several years of studying these things. I classified them by their size. The youngest ones are scouts. They are small enough to avoid the public eye. If they get old enough they become sentinels. Guardians of the nest. Royals are the ones that usually live longest. They are typically banished from the nest. The queen is always the strongest here in earth. "
They ended up back in the woods as he explained. " They are attracted to magic so I'm training you here. They are literally made of the last of earth's magic. When they sense it they try to eat to get stronger. This book is the same one I used when I was a Witchling. " He handed Hunter the book and pulled out a blanket and picnic basket.
Hunter opened the book to the table of contents. Earth, air, fire, ice, light, and darkness. From easiest to hardest in Hunter's opinion. Little did he know he wouldn't be able to finish everything he needed for his promotion in one day. As Marcus explained to him, Hunter was bait. By 3:30 pm , Hunter had mastered earth, ice and light and was working on fire.
That was when they stopped what they were doing. They both heard a screech and tapping. A long hiss and a low buzzing sound followed. "It's not every day we get pairs. You take care of the black ones. We don't need the females for the experiment I'm doing. "
Hunter was going to ask what he was talking about when he got shot in the arm with a bolt of light. A giant white crystalline bee with four wings and three stingers was in his sight. It's stingers out up and shot another. Hunter dodge rolled the shot and hit a black crystalline snake with two heads.
Without thinking, Hunter used earth magic and three rock spires shot up from the ground. Each shot impaled the creature. He watched the monster fall apart like glass. Still struggling to catch his breath, he turns to Marcus.
Vines grew and wrapped around to bee monster. The vines forced it to go lower until it reached the ground. The ground rose and a cage of solid rock formed around it. The rock then crumbled to reveal a metal cage that the creature couldn't escape from. "Sorry. For not giving you enough info on these guys." Dark tendrils then rose from his shadow and devoured the caged monster.
"Before we go back. Let's bring them some food as a peace offering. "
He dusts himself off and reaches for Hunter who is still on the ground.
Then they both get up and start walking to town. "You are gonna love pizza."