Chapter 2: Slowly

The rain fell heavier around us now. My clothes were soaked and my shoes were slippery inside. As we stared at each other, it occurred to me that he was in plain view of anyone who happened to chance us. What a sight we might have been to passersby anyway; a student and her blue skinned magician Duel Spirit. Normally no one came down this road but still, my heart leapt into my throat at the thought of him being seen. Quickly, I broke eye contact, grabbed my umbrella (which had a nice puddle formed in it) and tried as dignifiedly as I could to usher him inside.

"Why don't we continue this in there…hm? Where no one can watch?" I hurried to my front steps and put my key into the lock.

Following me with his head, the Duel Spirit remained in the downpour even after I jumped into the dry comfort of my house. Throwing down my things, I waved him in. He did not move, however, only stood there. 'Am I being rude?' I thought. 'Not masterly enough? Should I invite him in? Summon him in? What do I do! Someone will see him and then they'll call the police and then the government will get involved and take him away and have him tested! I can't pull him inside he looks like he would kill me!' Yes. I was very nervous that first day.

Panic was written all over my face, I could tell. For a brief vanity induced moment I worried even more how I must have appeared to him. 'Oh my God! How can you think that!?' I scolded myself.

I was a mess. I remember how amateurish I was back then, how nervous I was around him and it embarrasses me now that I think about it. Nowadays, to get Razel to do anything other than protect me, I have to use my own powers to tug him into action. But I'll get into that later, that aspect came after I got used to the whole Psychic Duelist thing.

Anyway, when I stopped my fussing and checked back on him, he was still standing there all stoic and stern.

"Why don't you come inside? You'll get drenched out there." I finally said.

The Duel Spirit smirked at me and said, "You have so much to learn. Take a closer look."

Not knowing what he meant, I raised my brow. "I am looking closely at you. You're not moving."

He let go a short laugh. "Keep looking. Around me."

I felt my shoulders slump. I did not want to play these guessing games. But when I sighed deeply in my angst, I saw it. It made me blink quickly, but I definitely saw it. Where he stood…nothing was wet. He wasn't wet! He was completely dry. It was as if he was protected by some bubble.

"Ah~ Now you See. Yes that is good. And on your first try, albeit you were not trying very hard per say. So you are one who simply needs to relax in order to See," He mused giving me a modestly approving look. "Most humans who have their Duel Spirits take weeks even months of training in order to See. But you have done that on your first attempt."

"I don't get it. What am I seeing?" I asked.

"Not seeing—Seeing. My aura, my powers of deflection. You can See them. Tell, me how far away from me does this 'bubble' extend?" He inquired using my word.

I sighed again, this time exasperated. "Ah~ three feet in diameter? No wait…," I paused. It was getting bigger. This bubble grew wider and taller now around him. He was making it expand swiftly. He was testing me to see if I could keep up. Surprisingly, I could.

"Now it's probably 7 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet, 12 feet." I rattled off numbers as he spread his aura to gradually encompass my whole lawn and home. With each guess, I felt more confident and my face warmed at the thought.

Razel seemed mildly impressed and withdrew the bubble back to its original 3 feet. It was humorous to me since the rain that was blocked now dropped in sheets that effectively and noisily pummeled my house.

"Very good. Now I will enter your home." He walked forward to my threshold.

As he passed by me, his appearance shifted. Instead of wearing his leather and buckles, he wore an ankle length black Mandarin tunic with a long sleeved purple under-tunic and black pants. On his feet were shiny high black boots. The clothes were beautiful and I found myself staring at them.

"This is how I will appear to you alone. In the public eye, I will appear as I did out there in my battle garb."

I nodded. "How did…what did you do though?" I asked in wonder closing the door and locking the deadbolt.

"Magic can be used for many things." The blue magician waved his right hand backwards over his mass of ridged onyx hair.

I smiled in spite of myself as those spiked tresses relaxed and fell softly against his hips; a veil of black silk.

"This is how I am in my world. Only you may see me as such." He explained.

Leaning my back against the door, I remember asking him why. Why was I able to see him? Why did he come to me? Why now. What was he here for?

And he replied, "I am your Duel Spirit. I was chosen to be your warrior, your protector. Each Duel Spirit has a human counter-part. I am yours, and you are mine. It is not by any act of random selection; do not mistake that for reason. Fate decides which human we watch based upon their inner dueling spirit. Your 'inner power' as you humans call it. Your strive to live, fight, win, succeed. The stronger that emotion is, the stronger the Duel Spirit assigned."

I nodded again, following what he was saying. "Ok—I got that part. But I got you, so what does that mean?" I said… then felt bad.

I made it sound like he was some shitty prize I won at the Claw Drop game in the arcade.

"Being one of the most powerful magicians in the Duel Spirit World, I stand with the Dark Sage and Sorcerer of Dark Magic. The three of us are the superior mages. Under us you will find Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl and others."

I thought for a moment, my prideful excitement bubbling to the surface. "So, since you are one of the top three that must mean that my fighting spirit is very formidable?"

The blue magician nodded once. "Yes. You were also able to keep up with my aura's expansion. Your Sight is strong and unusually advanced. That alone sets you apart."

I blushed a bit and moved a strand of hair away from my face. "Apart? How so?"

Razel tilted his head to the side, scanning me from head to foot like a mentor would. Then with an audible inhale deep in his throat, he extended his right hand. The palm began to glow with a soft blue light. I was as mystified as a bird finding a shiny ring.

"Place your hand upon mine." His eyes watched me intently.

Swallowing, I figured how could this night get any weirder? I came away from the door and reached out to lay my hand on his. The light was warm and tingling and I giggled.

"Good, now close your eyes and slowly bring your energy into mine."

I did as he said. I closed my eyes. I waited for my energy to move, not knowing how I should do it. I think he could tell because after about twenty seconds he gave me his curt instructions. I hated not doing assignments correctly and was thoroughly embarrassed.

"You must concentrate. Focus your energy into your palm. It will not move on its own. Not yet. You must work to achieve that level of control." His voice was calm, but commanding.

"Why am I doing this?" I asked trying to picture my hand in his. The warmth got more noticeable but I figured he did it to urge me on.

"Don't speak. Just focus."

I focused alright. I focused until I held my breath from it.

"It's not working. What am I doing wrong?" I opened my eyes in a defeated manner.

I looked at him dejectedly. But he seemed pleased, in his own way. He bade me to gaze down at our hands. I did and was amazed. Our hands were surrounded, practically obscured, by blue light. It was so bright that I squinted and skirted my eyes away. The heat was like that of a light bulb. It was so surreal and fantastic that I laughed.

"This is so cool!" I said elated.

Razel said nothing but gradually diminished the light in front of me. I was sad to see it go. When it had gone out, I pulled back my hand blushing as it was still in his. He gave me an inquisitive look that clearly stated "this is no time to be embarrassed." Though he might not have been aware of it, I realized how closely we were to each other and I felt my face burn. Neither of us moved away, which unnerved me a bit.

"What was that?" I asked trying to break the awkward silence that had been growing between us.

"A simple Energy Exchange."

I shifted. "Can you elaborate?"

Razel brought his hands to his sides, the blue skin contrasting to the deep black of his shirt. "An Energy Exchange is a form of intimacy between Duel Spirit and master. Only the Duel Spirit may initiate such an act. Unless the master wishes to bring more Duel Spirits into their fold, then they may infuse their Energy into the new Duel Spirit."

By now my face was beat red. Hearing the word intimacy out of his mouth, he made this Energy Exchange sound almost sexual in nature. Nowadays I laugh because an Energy Exchange is just what it sounds like. There is nothing sexual about it at all. But at the time, I was naive.

I realized that he was in mid-sentence when I tuned back in. Something he evidently noticed and frowned upon.

"Please pay attention to me in the future. I will, unlike your human tutors, take action should you ignore me again." His face darkened, the long black tattoo's becoming sinister.

I bit back a whimper. If there is one I learned about Razel, it is that he hates absolutely HATES to be disregarded. I made that mistake this one time.

"Sorry. I won't do it again." I shamefully stared at my feet.

"Good. You will need to focus from now on. Your training has just begun and I assure you," he walked away from me and into my back room before he turned his head. He gave me one of his more evil smirks. "I'm not nearly as cordial as Dark Magician."