Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) by Daniel Schinhofen (motivational books to read txt) 📕

“I’ll have to ask Dia about your enchantments,” Gin told Jenn.

The fire magi looked sour about her not quite clear answer. “Well, her survival let her smash him,” he motioned to the wind magi, who was getting back on his feet thanks to Mindie.

“And distracted you long enough for me to get you,” Yukiko said.

“That is what happened,” Gin nodded.

“Hmm...” Vemril nodded slowly. “We didn’t take into account enchantments, and we weren’t expecting a fight that vigorous from fresh apprentices. This is my fault.” She looked toward Yukiko. “Enchantment is what let you hold me in place?”

Yukiko tapped her ear. “Aether storage. I can’t do that too often.”

“It was well done,” Vemril said. “We’ll be ready to go again in a few moments.”

“Very well,” Gin said before he moved to the three students and handed them each a piece of jerky. “Replenish your aether. It’s going to be a long day.”

Gregory blinked at the taste, and his lips ticked up. Koi jerky? Thanks, Brown.

Chapter Thirty-six

That first bout was the only time they won that day. Gin had the fire magi weaken their flames down to do mild burns only, as their rings normally only dimmed the fire. Two hits from a fire magi marked them as out, making things more challenging.

The next four days had mixed results, depending on which magi they faced. Vemril pushed each of them in combat. She discovered that Jenn was a tough fight, as she had been focused on using her aether in small bursts instead of letting it burn freely. Yukiko couldn’t match her in raw combat, so she stayed away from Vemril unless she could get in an attack from behind.

Five days of fighting had allowed them to get a better feeling for the overall battlefield. Their awareness of the arena began stretching beyond what was directly before them, helping each of them warn the others of impending attacks.

Every fight took a toll on their aether— only the aether-infused jerky let them keep going, but even that had limits. Each day left them drained and unable to do more than wash and eat before collapsing into bed.

Their novice friends had been jealous of their training, but used what had been their history class time to come and watch, after Dia approved them to do so. Every morning, besides Magi Squares and studying, they had a small rehash of the previous day’s fights so the novices could learn about what had worked and what hadn’t.

On the sixth morning of their week off, they all felt excited. They didn’t have fights all day that day— instead, they had other plans. Dia had agreed to what they wanted and wished them well when they’d asked her the previous evening.

~*~*~

“Good morning,” Daciana greeted them. As usual, she was the first of the novices to the table.

“Good morning,” Gregory replied.

“I had questions about yesterday,” Daciana said as she slipped into her seat beside Jenn. “Did you plan that attack with Yuki?”

Gregory thought about what Daciana was talking about. “You mean where I rushed past her, and she slipped into my shadow?”

“Yes.”

“Not in the way it happened,” Yukiko said, picking up the conversation. “We’d talked about how the position of the sun casting shadows could make it possible for me to use them to move.”

“You’re getting faster at it, aren’t you?” Nessa asked as she sat beside Yukiko.

Yukiko gave her a pleased smile. “I am. You noticed?”

“From the first day we watched to yesterday, it looked like it to me,” Nessa said. “Does it take more aether to do?”

Yukiko nodded. “Yes. Speed and distance do cost me more aether.”

“Which is why you started jumping less...” Victoria said slowly. “You’ve been using your aether sparingly.”

“We’ve all been trying to,” Gregory said. “The first few days left us all but dead. Last night, we were still tired, but not exhausted like we had been. Even with the jerky we had, it wasn’t enough to fully recover between fights.”

“But that was part of the training,” Jenn said. “I’m sure it was.”

“It would be what Gin would do,” Yukiko agreed with her. “We’ll rarely be in perfect condition for a fight. This lets us get used to being suboptimal.”

Daciana nodded. “That’s smart. I hadn’t thought of it.”

“I’d been wondering about that, and I agree with you,” Gregory told his wives.

“Yesterday was the last day?” Victoria asked.

“Yes,” Yukiko smiled, “which brings us to today. You’re going to train at Gin’s?”

Daciana nodded. “We’ve been looking forward to it.”

“Today is going to be more different than you thought,” Yukiko chuckled. “Indara won’t be there today.”

All three novices looked disappointed at her news.

“Instead, the three of us will be,” Yukiko said after a pause.

“Promise?” Daciana asked, her tail wagging fast.

“That’s what we have planned for today,” Yukiko replied. “We have approval from Dia and Indara. We didn’t think you’d object to a day of training with us.”

“Of course not,” Nessa said, a large smile on her face. The smile faded slightly. “Is… is it allowed?”

“Dia said it was a gray area,” Yukiko replied. “As long as you don’t object and we aren’t promising anything about you absolutely being in the clan, it should be fine. Gregory had training from a magi of the Eternal Flame during a day off once.”

“We would like to train with you,” Victoria said.

“After we study, we’ll all go to Gin’s,” Gregory said, “but first, Magi Squares.”

~*~*~

“Welcome to the Watashi residence,” Elsa greeted them, her smile growing larger when she saw who it was. “Welcome back. Please come in. We didn’t expect all six of you. I’ll let Baylyss know. Please excuse me.” Elsa shut the door behind them and then hurried off, not running, but clearly moving as fast as politely allowed.