The Encounter

Training

We start training the very next day and although the first part of the training isn't physical but using magic also makes me feel exhausted. 

Since we are all different and are able to do different types of magic our training is completely different. Which also means we have different, shall I call them trainers, although that is such a human word to use. 

There are different things we are good at, and we have to further develop both our strengths and weaknesses. 

For the training area, Peace chose the magic traveling forest that is sometimes used to transport magicals from one part of the land to another. 

It is a golden forest with indescribable magical properties and Peace thought that kind of surrounding could help us balance out our powers and teach us how to fight well together, in harmony, humans, and magicals. 

The forest seems to hum a soothing song that makes us feel like anything is possible. 

When we first arrived it left us all breathless, even our magical halves.

Flyjoy and I have to work on sharing and also on focusing on one thing at a time. We have a lot of problems staying focused for longer periods of time since our brains keep skipping from one thing to another. 

To make good magic you have to stay focused on one thing and have it in the forefront of your mind, perfectly visualized. 

We usually do the first part right, but we quickly lose concentration and start thinking about something completely different or just sing inside our heads. 

Our trainer is Peace because he is the only one who has the necessary patience to deal with our jumbled and hyperactive minds. 

He tried many techniques and some of them didn't work at all, but some started working rather well. 

We found some of his techniques ridiculous, but we like them because of that and that makes them work. 

One time he told us to look at the apple someone brought for a snack and pay attention to every detail. 

We were supposed to notice all the small curves and imperfections, and then we had to close our eyes and imagine in our mind's eye the same apple. 

Having visualized it we were supposed to imagine lifting it in the air with our eyes closed and surprisingly enough it works. 

We are able to focus on it and make it do whatever we want. 

From that moment on Peace keeps using some unusual techniques, and we start feeling real improvement. 

We would sit under the tree our hands connected and would imagine the apple dancing in the air and similar crazy things. 

Actually, we have fun and Peace is content since we are learning both precision and concentration.

Since Sam and Luminous have their fire powers mostly under control they are given flying lesson by the Pegasus named Joy. 

Of course, the Phoenix could fly well, but they needed to practice flying maneuvers. How to fly in an unpredictable pattern and how to avoid air attacks which were Joy's specialty. 

Mind you, Joy had never participated in a battle or anything like that, none of them have, but what made him uniquely qualified was the fact that he did many maneuvers for fun. 

When he was small he loved playing a game similar to our dodge ball that required him to learn many unusual moves and actions to avoid losing the game. 

That was the first time he realized he loved doing acrobatics in the air and with years that passed by his skills had exponentially increased. 

He treats the training as a game of dodge ball where he throws things at Sam and Luminous while they are in flight, and they are supposed to dodge or redirect them. 

They can even fry them if they wish. 

Mainly the focus is on dodging and redirecting. 

As expected they are both very well focused and serious. 

For them, the focus is on the practice itself. They practice so much that I feel that even Joy gets tired of training so hard, but he never complains. 

Although not a warrior Joy understands the need for being prepared and respects their dedication. 

The rest of us feel inferior in comparison. 

They seem to be doing a perfect job, making all the right moves and performing everything with confidence and poise.

As for Dan and Gary, they are mostly taught by Pete which they both find awesome, of course. 

They are practicing tapping into magic around them since neither one of them is very good with the basic magic, as well as turning to stone at will. 

Turning to stone at will is considered as a big advantage since at the moment they are attacked they could just turn to stone and the opponent would literally hit a wall. 

Also, Gary is trying to tap into Dan's strength to be able to move around during daytime and to turn into a bigger and scarier version of himself so that he might scare the humans away. 

From all of us, they seem to have the most fun. 

Although just a child Pete is an excellent teacher and his students don't even know they are being taught, they feel they are just having fun. 

For example, Pete whispers to Dan to try to playfully hit Gary, and he whispers to Gary to turn to stone and then there is a lot of complaining but also laughing. 

Boys love playing fighting games and through that Pete manages to teach them how to channel their inner magic. 

After we have trained for a few weeks murder of crows suddenly appears and Peace tells us that it is a bad omen, we should be ready to fight.