The World of Magic

Chapter 4: Leveling Up

Surprised by the unanticipated kiss from Luna, xN8 jerked back, ending it abruptly. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but reflexes kicked in and he wasn't ready for such an act from a person he just met.

"I'm sorry," Luna replied after a brief moment of silence.

"No, my fault I shouldn't have backed away."

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize.."

"Luna, trust me it was an accident, you caught me off-guard," xN8 said.

"Okay, let's just keep training you," the girl replied. And with that they were silent.

The rest of the day was spent killing boars and bushes, xN8 was a terrible shot at first, missing almost all of his marks. However by the end of the day he became somewhat better. Every time he tried to use Luna's brothers bow it scorched his hands for some reason. It was almost as if he wasn't experienced enough to handle such a weapon. xN8 gave up after a few times of trying to handle the bow and put it in his bag to keep for a later date.

By now, it was dark and the young ranger was tired and ready to go back to the village.

"No, we're staying until you feel it."

"Feel what? You haven't said anything to me all day after our...kiss, and now you're telling me I have to feel something before I rest? What's up with you anyway. You find a random trainee at the village and just take him out to the forest and start training him? You're a Mage, how would you ever know what to expect from a ranger."

"Do you not remember the bow I gave you? My brother was with me all through his training, and I've learned just about everything there is to know in a Rangers life."

"I really doubt that."

"Keep killing."

"No."

"Fine." and with that, the Mage flicked her wand and closed her eyes, casting a block of ice around xN8. The boys heart rate dropped along with his body temperature, his skin turned pale and almost a bluish haze to it. He was unable to move, and even speak! Luna stepped up to him and whispered in his ear

"You'll train as long as I tell you to. You're not going to be a failure, I won't let you."

She swung her wand and the ice was expelled from around xN8, flying in multiple directions. The boy was furious, he went to speak but the Mage once again waved her wand and as xN8 went to speak, he couldn't. His mouth was shut and he couldn't even make a noise.

"This lasts as long as I want it, so if you want it off, you promise not to say anything when I end it."

The boy nodded his head and attempted to make a noise but it was silenced.

The Mage once again swung her staff and giggled playfully.

"This lady is crazy," xN8 thought to himself. However he decided it would be best not to argue with her and to just do as she says. So he trained, he killed and killed, until it felt like he was going to drop.. but that's when it happened.

He felt a surge of power course through his veins as he killed a final boar. His hands felt stronger and his body felt.. bigger. He was unsure of what was happening, but he could make out that this was the first step of his training towards becoming a powerful ranger.

Luna came from where she was resting and looked at him.

"Wow, you sure do look a little different."

Not wanting to be silenced by the Mage again he held his breath and let her speak.

"You're stronger now. Try another shot at a boar."

xN8 quickly lined up an arrow from his quiver and took aim. He breathed in and the arrow soared towards the boar, it cut the air around it and even made a little whistling noise as it flew. It made contact with the boar and instantly killed it, even traveling straight through the other side!

"Wow that's.. insane," Luna quickly said.

Without thinking xN8 dropped his Adventurer's Bag and pulled out Luna's brother's bow. It no longer burned to the touch. He tossed aside his old bow and ran his hands over the delicately carved longbow in his grip. The carvings were of flames and animals, and he imagined what that would mean. The suspense was killing him so he lined up a shot, closed an eye, took a breath, and released it. The arrow spiraled through the air with such velocity that when it came crashing down on the boar, blue waves of energy radiated outward from the animal, and it simply.. dropped. No blood, no squeal, nothing.

"No. Not possible, who are you?!"

Confused xN8 didn't answer, still afraid of the Mage's power.

"ANSWER ME!" demanded Luna.

"I'm just a trainee. Honestly, I don't even know what happened as well Luna. I just felt stronger and used your brothers bow." replied xN8 in a quick tone.

"I've never seen anyone reach this amount of power this fast."

"Am I the strongest ranger?" xN8 asked honestly. Luna laughed furiously at this statement,

"No, most definitely not. You just learned how to do that very, very quickly. Most trainees take weeks to learn to even try an Impact Shot. But, it's seems you've got it down in a mere day. There's something inside of you that's not normal xN8, trust me, you're going to want to train."  Luna said to him.

"What now?" xN8 slowly questioned.

"Well with you learning so quickly we can skip past the Marshland, and move straight on to the beach."

They set off towards the beach, xN8 being unsure of what to suspect he simply followed the Mage's orders since she obviously knew about this place than himself. They came to a swamp which reeked of still water and mushrooms. The sky here was clouded by mushrooms almost triple the boys height. He couldn't see it but he figured the sky above this area was dark. xN8 was frightened but near Luna he felt somewhat comfortable. They shied away from the monsters not wanting to deal with them at the moment, and in the horizon xN8 noticed a bluer sky, and patches of sand approaching. He was enjoying the gradually fresher air when Luna stopped him.

"You never know what can happen at this beach. Fights break out, there are mutant animals, and lots of killing."

The word killing stirred the memories of his dead body on the battlefield, which he thought he had forgotten about. All he could mutter was a simple 'Ok' as they continued their walk towards the beach.