The Wizard

Chapter 3

"The joy we have in thinking and learning makes us think and learn even more."

Aristotle.

Ezequiel sat on the porch step watching Igor who remained standing, in the yard in front of the cabin, in the center of the clearing that he destroyed a few days before, a clearing created by the powers of the elder in the same way as the house and everything around it. With the staff, he radiated successive waves of energy that went in all directions, bouncing off whatever they encountered and hitting the young wizard in simultaneous bursts from all sides. Igor dodged with great skill, but every now and then he ended up receiving a weak, but unpleasant, electric shock, as he would need to have eyes in the back of his head. The wizard intensified the discharges in order to make the young man's dodges more difficult, as he wanted Igor to use his powers and not dodges to neutralize the attacks.

Igor began to get tired when, finally, his subconscious brought to the surface a way to defend himself and a greenish luminous barrier formed around his body, shaping it. All the balls and rays of energy thrown hit the protection without anything happening and Igor laughed at the teacher's face who intensified the attacks even more. Soon after, a new memory appeared and he began to float, rising slowly and laughing, delighted with the gift of being able to fly.

"Listen here, my son," said Ezequiel, interrupting the attacks that became useless. "You are a wizard and not the Green Lantern, so act like one."

He had barely finished speaking, he hit the staff on the ground and, with a frightening thunder, an intense ray tore the air, coming out of the small globe on its top and hitting the boy's barrier. At first nothing happened, but soon after, Igor was seized with convulsions and his protection collapsed. Out of control, the poor guy fell as the attack was suspended. Without holding back, the old man began to laugh at the apprentice.

"So," continued Ezequiel, when Igor recovered and sat down, shaking his head and showing a small smile, "what lesson can we learn from this?"

"That you are very dangerous," he said, laughing afterwards at his grimace. "And I believed that I had done well!"

"Considering that this barrier was made intentionally, it was great, but I'm sure you shouldn't be knocked down by the rays, even without the barrier. They are energy, so absorb them and reuse them. In the woods, your barrier withstood the explosion of the strongest plasma balls I've ever seen in my life and nothing happened to you."

Igor got up and entered the cabin, taking water. He sat on the step, drinking slowly and thoughtfully:

"Ezequiel," he said, finally, "when I came to myself, you gave me clothes and said that you brought them from a nearby city, but on another occasion you said that we are many kilometers from any civilized place."

"It's because at that moment I didn't want you to know that I'm a wizard and I created the clothes," explained the elder. "I was afraid you were much worse than you looked."

"I understand, but I know I have to go soon," he insisted, worried. "Maybe it's not safe to stay too long in the same place."

"Came on, son, explain to me how you intend to face what you don't know?" asked the wizard, very serious. "You can even keep running away from something, but without knowing your enemy, you will never be able to defeat him. To get out of here, only walking a lot to the east, flying or opening a portal."

"How do you open a portal?"

"Only level one wizards have this ability," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You have it, but you don't remember and that's something I can't teach. This is almost the only difference between your degree and mine."