The Mageknight

chapter 4

The next few weeks passed much the same, with Jace getting slowly better at sword fighting, and going back to sleep exhausted after delicious dinners. He didn't know who cooked the meals though, as there was no evidence that anyone else lived in the house, and Sorin certainly didn't have enough time to be cooking the meals, as he spent all his time coaching Jace. Without even realising it, 2 weeks had passed and Jace had nicely fit into his new role as an apprentice.

He did some chores around the house when he wasn't studying or sword-fighting, such as grocery shopping at the local shops and pulling water out of the well. Jace had objected at first, it sounded like boring farm work to him. But Sorin insisted and said it was training Jace's body to become stronger. Jace didn't think so, but he did them anyway. He didn't like to admit it, but he was a little afraid of Sorin. After all, he was able to shoot fire, was very good at using his sword, and had almost killed Jace on multiple occasions during their training sessions.

Suddenly though, one day when Sorin woke Jace up, he exclaimed that Jace was ready to start learning magic. Jace had been yearning to be able to learn magic and finally use his hollow sword. Until then, Jace's sword made a horrible vibrating noise and jiggled about In Jace's hand whenever he blocked one of Sorin's blows. He knew it was because of the hollowness, and he wanted to fill it with something. He had rushed down the stairs, and they spent the whole day in the garden. Sorin had told Jace to take out his sword, and focus on its hollowness, and focus on the yearning of filling it. Then he had left Jace and told him to do that the whole day. Jace was dumbfounded. He stood there in the field, holding out his sword out, like an idiot.After about 30 minutes, Jace was quite angry, but he persisted. He focused on his blade, hoping, hoping something would happen, so he wouldn't have to stand there for the rest of the day. however much he wanted to learn magic, he didn't want to be there in the searing heat of the midday sun.

Over the course of an hour, Jace persisted. He saw Sorin go here and there, doing the tasks that Jace usually did. Jace was happy that at least he wouldn't have to do those today. Just when Jace was about to give up hope, he tried one last time to do anything magical. He remembered the fireball that Sorin had shot, and thought as hard as he could about fire. "fire....... Fire......fire......." He mumbled. suddenly, his head, where his mark was, felt as if a firebrand was being held against it. He gasped in pain and opened his eyes. He squinted at the sudden light that seemed to be coming from his sword's blade. amazingly, inexplicitly, his blade seemed to be made from molten lava. It was li aflame and was burning quite merrily. The pain in his mark had faded to a light ache, and Jace was astounded. He had done something magical! It had taken hours, but it was so worth it to have a blade of flame he could wave about. He was anxious to keep it away from the grass though. He didn't want to set the field alight. Somehow, the hand holding the sword handle wasn't getting burnt, but Jace's other hand hurt if he put it anywhere close to the blade. Sorin came back to the garden from inside the house and exclaimed in surprise. He laughed out loud at the sight of Jace holing the fiery blade at arm's length. he taught Jace to put out the fire by feeling inside himself and finding a switch, and just like that, Jace's sword becomes normal again, the blade very hot, but intact. 

From that day on, they spent a few hours, along with sword-fighting theory and practice, to get Jace to do something magical. Each day, Jace could only manage to set his sword on fire, and Sorin said that it was because it was the first spell he had cast. It was called "Flame Blade" in the Mageknight society. There were only a few spells that one could do without an incantation or materials. They were called cantrips. Sorin repeatedly tried to get Jace to do another cantrip, which he called water bolt. He kept telling Jace "focus on water. Not on fire. Only water." But each time, the thought of water became the thought of oil or another flammable material, and his sword kept going on fire. "this is no good." Said Sorin. "you're only focusing on the fire circle of elemental magic. At this rate, you'll only become fire orientated. I need your abilities to be more diverse. What if you fall into a river and have to fight something in there! you'll be completely useless. At least a water bolt can propel you through the water to safety. You can't do anything with fire magic!"