The Way's of the Sorcerer
The Old One first took a staff, with a Chinese word on the end, from the house. "One of the first things you must learn to do is retrieve and item."
"What do you mean, retrieve an item?" I asked.
"In a battle situation, you're only as good as your weapon. If your weapon is lost, you are lost." He said. "Try to take this staff from me."
"Okay." I swung a fist at his stomach. He easily sidestepped and them hit me on both sides of the face with the Chinese letter.
"You are faster than this, I know you are." He then pole-volted over me and swung the staff under my legs. Before he could trip me, I jumped forward. Then used my hands to flip forward two times. While in the air the second time, I turned in midair, pulled three exploding disks from my belt and threw them with incredible speed toward the Old One. I knew he could not possibly dodge this.
He didn't have to dodge. A cloud of purple smoke suddenly puffed out of nowhere and he disappeared. The disks flew harmlessly past. I landed on my feet. "A disappearing act. Nice trick."
"It's a ninjitsue. A ninja trick I learned a while ago." Suddenly he was behind me! He jabbed the staff at me from behind.
But I had seen this, I quickly sidestepped the attack, grabbed the staff and yanked it away from the Old One. I threw it as far as I could from the Old One. "I have succeeded."
He then simply held out his hand and the staff that I had thrown aside, jumped from the ground and came back to his hand. "Yes you have, but if this were a real battle situation, your troubles would not be over. I will first teach you to retrieve an item." He walked back to the shack. I followed. Once inside, he took a special powder off his shelf, opened the top, and poured a little into his hand. "This magic allows you to pull an item back toward you. But the item must be enchanted as well, or else it won't work. You must also chant the words, Yamju Amitsh Woo. A very simple spell."
"That's it? I expected something more complex." I said.
"Don't worry, Slade. This next thing will be very difficult. Come to the river." He took his staff and exited the cabin. Once again, I followed.
We came to the river, and once there, Old One propped his staff against a tree. He then held out his hands over the water. He pulled back, like he was practicing some kind of kungfu, and I saw the water was moving with his hands. A back and forth wave motion completely insinc with his hand movements.
"What is that?" I asked, astonished.
"It is a special magic that requires intense focus, as well as a magic powder. You must feel the water and allow it to become part of you. This is one of the most important thing you will learn."
"What do you mean?"
"I have not time to teach you all the magic I have learned, but I know you are in a war, so I will teach you how to create the fire creature." He said.
"The fire creature?" I asked.
"It requires very dangerous and powerful spells, and it could be hard to control. So you must learn to control water first. The first rule of creating a dangerous weapon, is knowing how to destroy it."
That's when I realized. "The water controlling is incase I lose control of the fire monster and it goes on a rampage, I can stop it."
"Exactly." He said. "Come stand next to the river, and practice the same movements I have shown you." I walked to the edge of the river and held out my arms. "Widen your stance." He instructed. I did as told. "Wider. Good. Now first, breath in and pull your arms back." I pulled back with my arms and breathed in deep. "Breath in through your nose and out your mouth."
The water did not move. "Why am I practicing something I can't do?"
"It is better for you to learn the movements before you can move the water. Just as it is better to learn how to sight in a gun before you fire your first shot." He replied. "Come."
The Old One led me back to the cabin. Once inside, he took a jar filled with blue powder from the shelf. "This little powder will give you temporary control of water. Atlantians always keep a steady supply on hand, I only have a little."
"Atlantians?" I asked.
"You don't think controlling water is a natural thing for them. All atlantians are still basically normal humans who have learned to breath underwater and talk to the fishes." He opened the top of the jar and poured a little into his hand. "Mix this with water, drink it, and it will give you about two weeks worth of water control." He poured the powder into a glass, filled the glass with water and handed it to me. "Drink this."
I took the glass and drank the water. A strange sensation filled my body, like water had really become a part of me. "Now," The Old One said. "Lets practice." We went back out to the river and I resumed pushing a pulling. This time, the water did move with me.
"This is amazing!" I exclaimed.
"It is rather incredible the first time. But now it's time to learn how to create the fire creature."