Magic 101 (With Kanna and friends)

Ptoom!

Flashes of light and rain pours from the clouds below us. I'm standing on top of thin air. My feet feel like they're pressed against a glass floor. Kanna blinks in

front of me. She leans back and does a high-kick.

Clang

I deflect the blow with my sword. The force of the kick puts pressure on my wrist.

"Argh," I groan and fall back.

"Again!" she blinks a second time.

I look around me. She's invisible. She appears behind me and punches me in the back.

"Too slow!"

"How am I supposed to see that?!"

She knocks me on the head and vanishes, "Use your senses. Channel your energy! Focus!"

I breathe deeply and close my eyes. I hear the seagulls chirping down below.

Splash…

The waves crash on the shore again.

Tap Tap Tap

Footsteps! I swing in a 180 degree turn. The moment she re-emerges I strike her with my sword.

Clang

Kanna falls back. She does a backflip in the air and blinks. She blinks under me and punches me in the gut.

"You're relying too much on your weapon. You need to be able to use magic on me."

I clutch my wound with my hand while still holding the sword, "It's not that easy. I'm trying to focus. But…"

Kanna puts her arm on my shoulder, "You need to stop thinking about what happened to Kobayashi."

Easier said than done. I pace back and forth, "I can't! I can't do that so easily, Kanna."

Kanna sighs. She teleports us back to the beach, "Take a break, Shiro. We can continue later," she then runs to the shed. I sit on the beach thinking. How can

I forget Kobayashi so easily? After everything that happened she expects me to stop thinking about her? Kotori points at me while staring at Tohru. Tohru

walks over to me.

"When you lived with us the first time it wasn't easy either."

"That's different though."

"How so? We have to deal with another. Who cares if he's stronger?"

Tohru makes it sound like a walk in the park. As if we could beat Magus overnight. I look at her in amazement.

"How do you manage to move on? After everything that happened you always pick yourself up and keep going!"

Tohru kneels beside and whispers, "Well. There is a human method for relieving stress."

I nod and get closer, "Please. Tell me! What is this method called?"

"Well…I can show you, but you need to close your eyes."

Confused I cover my eyes, "What's next?"

Splash

A water balloon smacks into my face and releases a pint of water over me.
"Hey!" my clothes are drenched.

"The method is called 'fun'," she giggles.

"You're going to regret that!" I look around. There is a pile of water balloons next to me.

Tohru's wing stretch out of her back and she glides over to her pile of water balloons.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I call out.

"Are you afraid I'll beat you?"

"As if!" I pick up two water balloons and toss them at her.

She glides out of the way with grace. The balloons smash into the ground and discharge the water inside.

She strafes me like a bomber and dumps her two balloons on me. I can't lose now! I roll out of the way into washed up kelp. The kelp sticks to my clothes.

"You look like a sea monster, Shiro!

My pile has three water balloons remaining. I grab them and aim carefully. She holds another pair and nosedives toward me.

Kotori jumps in front of me and blocks the hit. Her swimsuit is drenched in strange liquid.

I run over to Kotori, "That doesn't look like water."

"Nope. It's saliva."

"Gross."

"Actually, it's really clean- Look out!" she points to Tohru. She's diving right at me. I stand my ground.

I count, 1…2….3! I toss my pair of balloons. They hit her in the face.

"Ack! I lost!" she crashes into the sand. She rolls on the ground laughing, "Hahha...ahhaha."

Her laughter is contagious. Before I knew it, I started chuckling. Kotori even joined in. We all lay on the sand looking at the sky and breath in the nice ocean breeze.

Kanna walks over to us with a bucket of crabs, "No fair, You should have invited me," she gives us a pouty face for not letting her place.

Tohru and I look at each other, "Best two out of three?" we both ask each other at the exact same moment.

We played a tense match for the next three hours. Me and Kotori were on the same team while Kanna and Tohru played on the opposing team. At first, it was

a normal match, but things got out of hand. Before I knew it, there were explosions and craters. We all collapse on the floor….again.

Kanna's stomach growls. She points at the crabs, "That's dinner for tonight."

"Then let's eat!" I raise my fist in the air.

Tohru prepares the fire. By sunset we fully cook the crabs. I crack the shells of the crabs with some kitchen utensils Tohru provided and chewed on their insides.

Crunch Crunch Gulp

Tohru and Kotori bite and swallow the shells. Afterwards the swallow the soft insides and drink the body fluids like soup.

Nom, Nom, Nom, Nom

Kanna puts the crabs in her mouth one by one and swallows.

The fires crackles, snaps, and pops. The light illuminates the beach. I look at the full moon's reflection in the sea.

"This beach is the same place me and your mother would go to every summer, Shiro."

I breath in the ocean air and let out a relaxed sigh, "It's beautiful. I could stay here forever."

She wiggles her finger and playfully scolds me, "Now, now, now. We can't do that. We have a lot of work to do."

"True. Those knights will try to come after us. We need to be stronger."

"Ohh..," Kanna gasps. She sniffs the air.

Tohru leans over, "Is something wrong, Kanna?"

She sniffs the air, "Can you smell it?"

Kotori sniffs the air, "It's a dragon…"

Sniff

Tohru jumps up, "It's Lucoa! But where?"

Kanna points to the shadow of an island we can barely see in the distance, "That's where they must be held."

I hold on to my sword, "Then let's rescue her!"

Kanna shakes her head, "You're not ready yet. You still need to finish your training."

"Then I'll finish it tomorrow!"

"Shiro, that is going to be very difficult. Are you sure you can complete it that quickly?"

I stomp the floor and shake my fist, "I can! I have to. Tohru took me in, fed me, cared for me. She asked for nothing in return. Now it's my turn to help her,Kotori, everyone else!"

Kanna looks at me curiously.

Crack. Pop…Snap…

The fireplace interrupts the silence between us.

"I believe you can," Kanna nods. She slowly gets up, "Tomorrow. I will train you in magic. Good luck, Mr. Kobayashi. I will not go on easy on you!"

The next morning

We're levitating above the clouds. The sun rises in the west. It shines in my eye. I close my right eye and block the rays with my hand.

Whoooosshh…

It's beautiful today. There are no clouds. I can see the ocean from here. The flock of birds flying around. The fins of dolphins swimming with the current. Kanna and I look at each other. I can see a fire in her eyes. A serious expression that shows how far she will go for Tohru. It's like looking in a mirror at your own reflection. That is exactly how I feel for Tohru, my sister Kotori, and all my friends. That is why I can't lose. I must complete my training. I must defeat Magus. Gusts of air form like whirlpools swirling around Kanna. The air is sucked into Kanna's clothes.

Pzzt..pzzt..

Her tail stands straight like a spear. Her body glows, "I'm now at my maximum potential, Shiro. If you can't learn to channel the magic into you, you will get injured. Or worse. Are you sure you want to continue?"

I nod. I breathe and focus. I close my eyes. The air flows through my lungs. I feel the wind, I hear the oceans, but I sense more than just that. I sense a presence. I control my beating heart.

"It's…here," I open my eyes to see colorful trails of light around us, "This is...magic?"

"Good," she runs towards me, "Now we can fight!"

I parry a punch from her. The force of the blow spreads through my sword. My wrists tire. Kanna wraps around the sword and pushes down on me, "Focus!" I relax. As I do that the lights go into my body. The sword feels light as a feather. This is magic! I can use it! I shove her with my sword arm, "Hyah!"

Kanna falls back. She regains her footing before she lands on her butt. She vanishes.

"Teleportation again?!"

"You can do it, Shiro!" Tohru yells.

I grin. Right…this is nothing compared to what I've been through the past. I look around me. There are magic lights everywhere. I see a distortion to my right. Could that be where she's going to attack?

She reappears from the distortion. I swipe my sword in a horizontal slice. It hits Kanna in the face. She rubs her face. There is a visible scratch. So she does leave a trace when she teleports.

"I won't go easy on you," she turns into her dragon form. She extends her wings and glides past me.

"Oh no you don't!" Can I control the flow of magic? I kneel. The energy flows down to my legs. I jump, dispelling the energy through my feet like a jetpack. I

fly upward until I'm close enough to Kanna. Time slows down. I can see the surprise in her eyes. I thrust into her wing and jump back. My feet land on the

barrier. Feathers from her wings gently float down to the floor.

Kanna steers around and faces me she opens her mouth.

Vrrrrmmmm….

A large beam of energy is forming around her mouth.

I look around. There is no way I can jump out of the way in time. Can I shield myself? I ready my blade. I can control the flow of the magic to whatever part

of my body so far. Could I channel it into an object? I focus on my sword. My head begins to ache. I can see the magical energy rushing to the tip of the blade.

Kanna releases the beam toward me.

Ptoom!

The beam breaks the sound barrier. Violent winds lash at my legs and arms. I can see the beam flying in slow motion. I assume the stance of a baseball player.

I wait. The distance between the beam and me closes. I breathe and concentrate, staring at the beam. Closer…closer…Closer…

The intense heat from the beam is rushing through my body. Sweat pours down my head. Now! I swing.

The sword deflects the beam. The force of the blow causes my sword to fly out of my hand. It falls on the floor with a loud clang.. It bounces on the floor and

then jumps into the air again.

Clang Clang.

I see the beam fly back toward Kanna.

BOOM!

Fireballs fly in every direction. The knockback kicks me off my feet and sends me flying backwards.

I crash into a barrier and fall on the floor. I squirm.

There's so much smoke that I can't see anything.

"Ack..Ack…," I clear my throat, "K-Kanna?"

Kanna falls into the barrier face first and slides toward me. She breathes heavily.

She rolls over and looks at me in amazement. Her eyes widen.

"You did it…," she crawls over to me.

"Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head. Her hand rubs my head, "Good job….Shiro."

She looks at me with a curious glance. Tohru floats up to me and Kanna. She wraps her arms around both of us and lands on the beach.

She puts both of her hands on her hips, "So. Kanna-chan. Did Shiro pass?"

"He passes…With flying colors."

I catch my breath, "That was tough…But I did it."

We lay on the floor exhausted from our fight and look at the sky.

"Now we have to fight the knights."

Tohru jumps on me, "So, Mr. Kobayashi. Let's go rescue my friends."

I roll over and rest on my side, "Not yet."

"No, not until I rest," Kanna concurs.

"Hahha…," she points at us, "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Kanna-chan. What did I say about pushing yourself?"

"Sorry. I thought I would lose that time. He's strong…For a human," she lets out a deep sigh.

Kotori groans, "Now we got to treat both your wounds," she looks at me and smiles, "It can't be helped," she leans over, "Good work, bro!"

"I did say I would return the favor, right?"

She nods and gives me a kiss. My eyes open wide and I get flustered quickly. My face sweats even more than from the heat of Kanna's beam.

"You look like you're about to die. Did you…like it?"

"Wh-What, no. I don't…," I lied.

Once me and Kanna are fully rested we get to work. I pull out my drone. Magus can enchant batteries. So, this should be easy for a drone. I cast a spell and it and send it flying toward the ocean.

Kanna points, "I smell them in that direction."

I kneel beside her while steering with my controller, "That means there is an island somewhere. I cast a revealing spell," I flip open my books, "It should, in

theory, reveal the island even if it's cloaked with magic."

A few minutes later there is a beep beep beep noise from my controller. We found it. Now for our next move. I open a blank paper and start drawing.