Chapter 63: Folami’s training II

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Folami’s training II

Another hour passed.

Their movements became smoother.

Not good.

But smoother.

Tolu could keep his stone floating for longer.

He could move it several feet without losing control.

Then he tried changing its shape while moving.

The stone twisted.

Broke apart.

Fell.

He clenched his teeth.

Again.

Akin had similar problems.

His ice would move perfectly until he attempted to reshape it.

Then it shattered.

Ore struggled with precision.

Temi struggled with maintaining her flame while changing its size.

Their concentration was being drained faster than their physical strength.

Eventually Akin dropped his stone.

He bent forward, hands on his knees.

"I’m finished."

Folami drank his juice.

"No."

"I’ve been doing this for hours."

"Then you’ve had hours of practice."

"I need a break."

"No."

Akin looked toward him.

"Master."

Folami continued drinking.

"I said no."

Temi dropped onto the ground.

"My brain is burning."

"Good."

"How is that good?"

"It means you’re finally using it."

Temi glared.

Ore sat beside her.

"How long are we supposed to continue?"

"Until you achieve flow."

Ore sighed.

"What if we don’t?"

"Then you continue tomorrow."

Tolu looked at him.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"And the day after?"

"Yes."

Akin looked horrified.

Folami smiled.

"Welcome to training."

---

Eventually, their first bottles were opened.

Temi drank hers quickly.

The effect came almost immediately.

Warmth spread through her body.

Her exhausted magical reserves began recovering.

She breathed out.

"That’s incredible."

Akin drank his.

Ore followed.

Tolu watched them.

"Does it actually work?"

Akin laughed.

"Drink it."

Tolu picked up his bottle.

He drank.

The difference was immediate.

His energy surged back.

Not completely.

But enough.

He looked at Temi.

"How many have you taken?"

Temi held up three empty bottles.

"Three."

Akin held up three.

Ore held up three.

Tolu looked at his own empty bottle.

Then at them.

"That was my first."

The three stared.

Temi slowly lowered her bottle.

"Your first?"

Tolu nodded.

Akin looked at Folami.

"You’re seeing this too, right?"

Folami nodded.

"I told you."

Tolu frowned.

"What?"

"You have considerably more energy than a normal Novice."

Tolu looked down.

He had noticed it before.

But now it was obvious.

The others had exhausted themselves three times over.

He had only needed one potion.

And even then, he wasn’t completely drained.

He still felt tired.

But there was something left.

Something substantial.

Folami leaned back.

"Don’t become proud."

Tolu looked at him.

" I wasn’t going to. But Why did you say that?"

"Because having energy isn’t the same as knowing how to use it. Even with all that energy a genius novice would still wipe the floor with your face."

That shut him up.

Folami pointed toward the training ground.

"Continue."

The four groaned.

---

The second phase was much harder.

Their bodies had recovered.

Their minds hadn’t.

That was the difference.

Their arms weren’t aching as badly.

Their breathing was fine.

Their energy had returned.

But concentration was becoming increasingly difficult.

Tolu lifted a stone.

It trembled.

He forced himself to stabilize it.

Move.

Reshape.

Move.

The stone twisted.

He corrected it.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Temi’s fire flickered.

"Come on..."

The flame grew.

Then shrank.

She tried to make it rotate.

It sputtered.

She cursed.

Folami remained in his chair.

The pitcher of juice sat beside him.

At some point he had removed his shoes and stretched his legs across the reclining chair.

He looked like a man enjoying an afternoon in the sun.

Meanwhile, four exhausted young cultivators were fighting for their lives against pieces of rock, ice and fire.

Temi stared at him.

"Do you feel even slightly guilty?"

Folami sipped his juice.

"No."

"You’re sitting there drinking juice while we’re suffering."

"Yes."

"How is that fair?"

"Life isn’t fair."

Akin dropped his stone.

"Can I at least rest for ten minutes?"

"No."

"Five?"

"No."

"One?"

"No."

Akin stared.

"You didn’t even think about it."

"I didn’t need to."

Ore laughed weakly.

Tolu couldn’t help smiling.

Then the smile disappeared as his stone dropped.

"Again."

He picked it up.

---

Time blurred.

The sun moved across the sky.

Their shadows shifted.

The dirt beneath their feet became disturbed by hours of repeated casting.

There were stones scattered everywhere.

Patches of frost covered portions of the ground.

Small scorch marks dotted the earth.

The training yard looked like a battlefield created by children who had forgotten they were supposed to be practicing.

Their clothes were dusty.

Their hair was damp with sweat.

Their hands trembled whenever they paused.

And still Folami wouldn’t let them stop.

"Again."

Tolu lifted another stone.

Stone Grip.

The stone rose.

Move.

Reshape.

Move.

It twisted.

He corrected it.

Again.

Again.

Again.

He wasn’t thinking about each individual action anymore.

He was simply doing it.

That was what Folami wanted.

No conscious separation.

No stopping.

No resetting after every mistake.

One continuous action.

Tolu closed his eyes for a moment.

He felt the energy moving through him.

Then something changed.

A stone rose from the ground.

Tolu hadn’t consciously commanded it.

His fingers had barely moved.

The stone floated beside him.

He stepped.

The stone followed.

His attention shifted.

The stone shifted with him.

He turned.

It turned.

Tolu opened his eyes.

The stone was floating beside his shoulder.

He stared at it.

"What..."

The stone suddenly dropped.

Tolu caught it with his hand.

He looked toward Folami.

The older man had finally lowered his glass.

He was watching him.

"Again."

Tolu’s heart began beating faster.

He put the stone down.

He tried again.

Stone Grip.

The stone rose.

He moved his hand.

The stone followed.

No hesitation.

He changed its shape.

The stone elongated.

He moved.

It moved.

He turned.

It turned.

Tolu stared.

He wasn’t fighting his own spell anymore.

He was moving with it.

Folami smiled.

"Good."

Tolu felt something click inside him.

Not power.

Understanding.

He had spent months thinking of spells as commands.

Cast.

Control.

Release.

But now...

The magic felt like an extension of his body.

Like another limb.

He moved his hand.

The stone moved.

He rotated his wrist.

The stone rotated.

He squeezed his fingers.

The stone compressed.

He opened his palm.

It expanded.

Tolu laughed.

"I got it."

Akin looked over.

"What?"

"Move it."

"I am moving it."

"No."

Tolu’s stone spun around his body.

Akin’s eyes widened.

"Without stopping."

Temi stopped training.

Ore turned.

Tolu was moving the stone effortlessly.

Not perfectly.

Not quickly.

But naturally.

Folami nodded.

"That’s flow."

Akin stared.

"You finally did it."

Tolu smiled.

"Yeah."

Then he heard Folami’s voice.

"Now do it while changing its shape."

Tolu’s smile disappeared.

"...What?"

Folami lifted his glass again.

"You heard me."

Tolu sighed.

"Of course."

He began again.

---

Once Tolu understood it, the others began progressing much faster.

Akin watched his own ice.

He stopped trying to force it.

Instead of thinking:

*Lift.*

*Move.*

*Change.*

He simply imagined what he wanted.

The ice rose.

He moved his hand.

It followed.

He twisted his fingers.

It sharpened.

His eyes widened.

"I’ve got it."

Folami nodded.

"Good."

Ore was next.

Her control was more subtle.

She began moving small objects without constantly looking at them.

She could guide them around obstacles.

Her breathing became steadier.

Her movements became smoother.

Then Temi.

Her fire had been the most difficult.

But once she stopped treating it like something she had to hold in place, it became easier.

The flame moved with her.

She raised her hand.

It rose.

She lowered it.

It descended.

She twisted her wrist.

The flame spiraled.

Temi’s eyes widened.

A smile slowly appeared on her face.

"Finally."

Folami took another sip of juice.

"Good."

The four looked at one another.

They were exhausted.

Mentally drained.

Their bodies felt like they had been training all day.

Because they had.

But something had changed.

Their spells no longer felt like separate techniques.

They felt connected.

Flowing.

Natural.

Tolu looked at the stone floating above his palm.

Then he smiled.

He finally understood why Folami had made them repeat something they thought they had already mastered.

They hadn’t mastered it.

They had merely learned how to activate it.

There was a difference.

Folami stood from his chair.

The four immediately became wary. All he has been doing since was sucking the life out of the juice and relaxing. Him standing up made them feel a bad omen.

"What now?"

Folami stretched.

"Now you sleep."

Akin almost collapsed from relief.

"Finally."

Folami smiled.

"Tomorrow, we’ll begin applying what you learned."

Temi stared.

"Applying it to what?"

Folami turned toward the manor.

"Combat. Go get some shit eye you must be sharp and active during tomorrow’s training."

Tolu looked at the stone still floating beside him.

His smile returned.

This time, he understood exactly why.

Their spells had just stopped being spells they cast.

They had become tools they could control. They were so young yet they had become adepts. If they were told they’ll breakthrough so soon they wouldn’t have believed it.

They all felt Folami had helped them reach the adept rank.

And that was only the beginning.