The Darkness Awakening

Training (Chapter #7)

The training room was humongous. It was by far the biggest indoor place I had ever been in. I could let a few giraffes in and they could spend their entire life here with no problems, besides food that is. I looked at the old man who was now standing in the middle of the room and asked him, "So what am I supposed to do here? All I see is one giant room with absolutely nothing inside."

"We are going to train your magic." the old man said ruffling his white beard.

Surprised and honestly, a bit eager, I asked him, "How? What am I supposed to do?"

"First, tell me, can you feel the power that you felt when you fist absorbed the artifact inside you right now? Bring it all out, as much as you can."

"Okay, alright. Here goes nothing"I said as I tried to think about all the power that I felt inside me back then and then imagined it coming out the same way the old man's darkness did. I closed my eyes and focused with all my might. Unfortunately, when I opened my eyes, there was nothing.

"Do not feel so disheartened. It's a hard thing to do and nearly took me a week to do back in my training days. Practice makes perfect. Here's a tip, think of the darkness as a part of you, an extension of your own body. You are no longer a human but darkness itself. Focus deep into yourself and find where the magic has stored itself in, and then bring as much of it out as you can."

I did as the old man said, trying to think that the darkness is not something else but is actually a part of me. I shut my eyes and envisioned the darkness pouring out of me. I could feel a trickle of power emanating from within me. I cleared my mind and centered my attention on it. I imagined it pouring out of me and ---

"STOP! STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!" I heard the old man shout frantically.

My eyes flew wide open to find out why he was screaming, but I couldn't see anything. The whole place was nearly covered in darkness. I couldn't see anything, not in front of me, behind me, or even myself.

"Can you hear me?" I heard the old man's voice. He was trying to speak in a calm manner but the surprise in his voice couldn't be concealed.

"Uh, yes I can. What is going on?" I asked, also confused and surprised.

"Your magical power overflew. It was my mistake. I should have figured you wouldn't be like the others and your magical power would be much greater in quantity."

"Yeah. I know, you drilled that into my head already. More importantly, how am I supposed to stop this?"

"First calm down. Then establish the connection with your magical power the same way you did when you brought it out. And this time, instead of putting the magic inside, pull it inside of yourself."

"Easier said than done. But I'll try." I said not sounding too sure of myself. For God's sake, even he was confused. I tried feeling the magical power inside me. It was easier getting a hold of it once you've already done it once. I could feel the power surging from inside my body to the outside, though the power was nowhere near the one I felt when I first got the artifact. I tried directing the magical power back inside myself and it worked! I could feel the darkness around me clear up, all the way until there was nothing left. I gasped a sigh of relief and fell flat on the floor.

"You okay, feeling any tiredness?" the old man asked me. I could see beads of sweat on his fore-head. He clearly didn't see this coming.

"No, don't worry. I'm sure I'll live." I told him. It was completely true too. I wasn't a bit tired, but rather felt relieved and like a burden had been lifted from me.

Bang!

The door to the training room flew open and I saw that girl from earlier barge in with a concerned look on her face.

"Is everything okay? I felt a huge magical energy from here. Are you fine?" She asked, looking towards the old man. For some reason it felt like she disliked, no maybe even hated me.

"Yes. Everything is fine. It was a slight miscalculation on my part. The barrier remains safe right?" the old man asks back to the girl.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure it is. Let me go back and make sure." she said as she was leaving. She did make sure to throw a few disgusted looks at me though.

"Hey old man." I said as I started to set myself upright.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Is it just me or does she hate me for some reason?"

The old man sighs and replies, "It's not that she hates you but rather you can say that she holds a grudge."

"Why, it's not like I've done anything to her. Oh, if it's the library incident then you should know it's her fault for pointing a dagger at me."

"No, it's not the library incident. Her father was the lead person on the artifact retrieval mission. The scroll was meant for her since she was the strongest one of us left. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it out alive. Plus, the artifact landed in your hands, even though her father sacrificed his life so that he it could be.. for a lack of better words.. in proper hands. No offence intended. So it's a given that she harbors a little ill will towards you. "

"Oh. I'm sorry. I never knew." I said, feeling genuinely bad for thinking of her like some kind of psychopath.

"It's okay. You don't need to be apologizing. It wasn't even your fault anyway. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe it was the other way around. Only time will tell. Alright. Let's take a break before we continue. I need to get a drink. We'll meet back here in an hour. You can go read a book until then if you want. I heard you're a book-worm after all." the old man teasingly said as he walked away.

Sooo. This is what I am now huh. No longer a human but a magical creature of some sort. Well. I'm still alive and that's that matters. I have no idea what awaits me, but I sure as hell am not going to give up now.