The Dance of the Keepers

Chapter 12 Ice, Fire, and Wind

The three of us traipsed over to the mammoth-sized building labeled the Magna Training Center, about forty yards away from the apartment complex. I stared up at the steel roof high above my head in wonder, it was really something else entirely to behold. We strode up the cement sidewalk towards the glass double doors that marked the entrance. Kyle entered a code into the key pad and doors swung open beckoning us to enter into what felt like another world.

If I had thought the secret underground training facility in the Servinius Province's Tournament Facility was incredible, this was ten times so. It was the size of a warehouse, three stories tall but with only one floor. There were rock climbing walls, lap lanes, rows of targets, what appeared to be the trampoline of death, sparring mats, weapon caches, a huge clear box looking room that was labeled the simulator, and so much more.

"Woah."
I muttered at the same time Glass said:

"Wow."

"Why don't we start easy, with the rock wall?"
Kyle suggested, with no room for protest.

I grimaced slightly, thinking it didn't really look all that easy. Glass, on the other hand, seemed thrilled. We jogged over to the thirty-foot wall that was built at a very slight angle with small colored handholds. There were no ropes or safety harnesses, only a very long climb and a bell at the top. There was a trampoline at the base of the wall so I guess you wouldn't die if you fell, but I could still see the whole thing going very wrong.

Kyle leaned against a weight lifting machine and crossed his arms.

"First one to the top wins."

Glass and I glanced at each other and then raced for the wall. She had a bright smile on her face while I was stern with concentration.

My muscles strained as I pulled my body weight up, I was in good shape, especially after my first Tournaments, but that didn't mean I was ripped or anything. Glass was spider monkeying her way up the wall like she had been doing this her whole life. I pushed myself faster, irritated I was being creamed by the rookie. I was two-thirds of the way up when she reached out to touch the winning bell.

"Oh no, you don't!"
I grunted, blasting her with my wind.

She slipped and tumbled down, bouncing harmlessly on the trampoline at the floor. I smirked and continued climbing. Suddenly the hand holds I was grabbing became cold and slick and I lost my balance, tumbling down to the floor below. As an Ice Wielder she had frozen the wall. Quick thinking, however, won me the game, when I used the trampoline to springboard me with the help of my wind to the top of the wall, tapping the bell before falling gently back to earth. Glass shook her head and grinned, extending her hand.

"Good game."

I stared at her hand like it was a foreign object for a moment then gingerly shook it. She was a better sport than I had expected from a competitor. But then again, she was inexperienced. Kyle made no comments and simply motioned for us to follow him over the line of the targets.

"These targets monitor the force and speed at which you hit them. Practice striking them with a concentrated force."

I took up lane one and Glass took lane two. She formed a perfect arrow of ice and launched it down towards the target. She hit a bullseye where the arrow stuck and held fast without shattering. The scanner beside the target read:

Speed: 112.5 mph
Force of Impact: 29 ft. lbs

I was pretty impressed, to say the least.

"You seem like you've done this before."
I couldn't help but comment.

"Yeah, I've had some practice in the past."
She replied back.