Project 7 the First: The Hero's Great Come Back

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It was a sunny day. Lance was looking forward for some training, but he did not know where to start. He packed some stuff in his backpack, and he was ready to go. He went down the stairs to tell his parents that he needed to leave. Surprisingly, he did not find anyone in the kitchen nor in the living room. So, he finally got a bottle of water and took his leave.
"So, where should we go train today?" asked Lance as he walked in the neighbor hood.
"How about that secret place where Justin brought you," Pagos suggested. "Anyway, no one would see you there, right?"
"But," said Lance as his smile faded away, "he might be there training, too."
"And how is that connected to your training?"
"Well..."
"No excuses!" Pagos mildly repremanded. "Come on! Make haste! If you really want to become stronger you need not waste time. And, I need to teach you something."
"Really?" said Lance with overwhelming joy. "Is it a new move?"
"Maybe."
Lance exploded with too much excitement. He was always excited for something new. As for now, he has just begun to discover new moves and mastering them. There are still more that he does not know yet, but with that heart to learn new things he might be able to learn a lot of tricks.

Justin was not training at the moment. In fact, he was nowhere to be found along the area. Maybe Pagos was right after all. Now, Lance can train comfortably.
When they settled down for a while. Lance was all jumpy for a second. He kept asking Pagos what he was going to teach to him.
"Lance, a Frost mage does not get jumpy just because of a new trick. He is rather patient and humble at the same time," said Pagos sounding like a baby-sitter.
Lance became irritated for a moment and said, "You're such a grouch! You're even worse than my dad. You might probably be an old man if that's the case."
"Lance Garen, you take that back!" said Pagos frustratedly.
"Fine. Whatever. But, you're still a grouch," said Lance.
"Whatever," said Pagos, finishing the conversation. "Now, let's start. Listen closely to everything I'll be saying. Before I teach you more complicated moves, I'll first teach you the technique of transforming without saying 'Awaken'."
"What? How is that possible? I mean you can't do that without a go signal!" Lance was thinking limitedly.
"It IS possible if you would save your questions for later," said Pagos. "Now, every creature has this energy flowing inside of them. It allows them to perform magic of their own specialty. It is called Oraekisu. It is a system in your body that allows you to perform magic by distrubuting the Oraekisu all through out the body. The Oraekisu is carried through a vein that is connected to all your internal organs and muscles. There are two kinds of Oraekisu. One is the active and the other is the dormant. The magicians and the other magical creatures use the active to perform different types of magic while the mortal humans and animals use the dormant to make sure that they won't use it destructively. By these two types, there is balance around this world."
"It sounds complicated, but I understand," said Lance, trying to digest everything.
"Good. Now, each magic performed in each part of the body is being controlled by the Oraekisu. Even transforming is a kind of magic that requires a huge amount of Oraekisu when you depend on transforming the easier way," Pagos explained thoroughly. "Your school allows that because the other way of transforming is harder, but it requires a less amount. That's what I'll teach you today."
"It's all clear now."
"Excellent! I see you're picking up the pace," said Pagos in amazement. "Let's see if you could still catch up. I want you to do an excercise."
"This will be a piece of cake," said Lance with pride.
"Oh, yeah? Let's see if you'll be able to finish this exercise in a blink of an eye," Pagos taunted.
A rock as big as a fist suddenly appeared about twenty inches away from him. Lance was wondering how it was related to this exercise.
"Now, Lance, this will be your first exercise. I want you to use your mind to make that piece of rock float for at least a minute. And, if you do, you may even try moving it around," said Pagos.
Lance's excitement faded when he heard the instructions. He went all dumbfounded.
"Okay... I guess I'll have to try," said Lance.
"Try it?" questioned Pagos. "No, you DO it. And remember no cheating." Lance let out a big sigh and said, "Fine."
He sat down on the grass and started the exercise. He stared at the rock silently. He concentrated deeply. He forced his mind, but it did not work. Then, a fart noise suddenly came out.
"What in the world?" said Pagos, irritated. "Do you have any manners?"
"Sorry, old man," said Lance with embarrassment, "I just can't hold it."
"Don't call me that!" Pagos warned. "Get back to your work."
"Huh... What's the point of this exercise anyway? I don't see it helping!" Lance said.
"Stop whining!" said Pagos. "This is part of the training."
"It's so hard!"
"Well, if you try to concentrate more then it would be easier," Pagos said slowly. "And you said it's gonna be a piece of cake.
"I say it's hard now. And, I am trying to concentrate," Lance said. "Honestly, how is this related to my training?"
"Let me say this. Your Oraekisu comes from your cardial area. From there, it carries it to every part of your body. Now, by using your mind to lift that rock, you need to concentrate on that area and try telling it to carry it to your mind. It will allow your mind to zap particles of energy to that rock, and that energy will carry that rock by your mind."
"Oh," said Lance finally understanding the concept. "Well, you didn't tell me earlier."
"You didn't ask. Now concentrate."
It was silent again. Lance closed his eyes gently. It was quiet for a while already. Carry that energy to my mind, he thought over and over. Then, after minutes of concentrating, blue aura glowed around him. I can feel it, he thought. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and focused on the rock. He pushed more effort staring at the rock.
The rock was suddenly surrounded by blue aura. It trembled mildly on the ground. Then, it started to rise slowly.
Lance was amazed with it. Then, it dropped. So far Lance could do is to make it float for about five seconds.
"Is that the best you could do?" said Pagos with a tone of underestimation.
"Hey," Lance said with frustration, "you should at least say some words of encouragement. I held there for five seconds."
"That isn't enough. We're going to train out here until the sun goes down. Before this day ends, I want you to master the other way of transforming. Unless you get this exercise, you'll be able to find it easier to transform the fast way," said Pagos
"Fine."
Lance tried it again, but it was for a short time. The rock fell on the ground again. He did it again and again until he got so tired with it.
He was so exhausted, so he fell on his back like he came from jogging. As he was lying on the ground, he stared at the trees that were mildly being blown by the morning breeze. It was so calm around him. The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees and the river was flowing slowly. It was a perfect time to relax. Then, he remembered in one of his classes about concentration. When you focus on one thing, you should maintain it. Keep everything else away from what your trying to do. The best thing is to find peace not only in your surroundings, but also inside of you.
That suddenly hit him.
No wonder he get everything wrong. It is because of lack of peace inside.
He took a deep breathe and forgot everything that was hindering him from passing this exercise. He closed his eyes and focused. Blue aura surround his body again. It grew slowly. Then, after a while, he openend his eyes.
Now.
The rock had blue aura all of a sudden. It rose slowly in thin air. Lance waited for it. He just focused on the rock.
He did it!
A minute already passed and the rock was still floating. Lance was full of joy to see that he really did it. He tried moving it around. It went to different directions.
Pagos seemed happy to see him doing it. He was amazed that Lance was able to improve in just a short notice. He did not gave up on what he was supposed to do.
"I'm glad that you're able to do this," said Pagos like what a father would say.
"I told you I could do it!" said Lance with great joy.
"Now, we'll be going to that technique. In order to transform using the faster way, you need that concentration. You also need imagination," said Pagos.
"Ooh." He stood up from the grass and waved his two hands in front of him and said, "Imagination."
"Okay. Imagine if you were in battle mode. You would always begin with a battle stance, right? And, of course, you have your weapon. In transforming the faster way, you need to channel your Oraekisu all throughout yor body at the same time you need to summon your weapon or make a stance that will symbolize your power and skills," Pagos explained.
"I get the idea, but where will I summon the weapon?" asked Lance.
"That's where the pendant comes in," said Pagos. "You see, the pendant that you are wearing is not only a piece of fashion jewelry. It can also act as a magic tool. It can summon any creature, weapon related to your power, or spirit. It can even summon my power. But, summoning my power has a consequence. I'll teach you that some day."
"Sounds interesting. What is that called?" said Lance curiously.
"It's a technique called the Acceptance of the High Throne Possession. It may somehow be a forbidden technique," Pagos warned.
"Aw, it sounds awesome," Lance mused.
"It may sound awesome, but it has a cost. You should only use it under certain conditions. I will discuss this with you some day if you improve even better," said Pagos.
"If you say so," said Lance. "Don't worry, master, I will become stronger than anybody I face. Bet on it!"
"Let's see, then. Now work on the transformation technique." Pagos was proud of Lance. He was amazed with his determination to become stronger. It was not the first time he met people like him, but he was different among the rest.
"Okay. Here goes nothing," said Lance. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He held his pendant as he tried to focus. Then, he glowed with blue aura. He opened his eyes and pulled his pendant from his necklace. Afterward, the pendant glowed and slowly transformed into a weapon. As it did, he also transformed his appearance.
He was already in his full gear.
Pagos could not believe that he aced it on his first try.
"Wow, I'm surprised that you did it on your first try!"
"I'm even more surprised than you," said Lance. He looked at his entire figure, and he was shocked to see his appearance.
Lance was still wearing a fur coat with the hood, but it was a snowish-blue colored one with a symbol of a white dragon behind him instead of a snowflake. His sleaves were painted with wavy, silver lines along the wrisk area. He noticed his hands were painted with weird black lines that were probably extended to his arms. Inside, he wore a navy blue, high-necked sweater with a white swirl in the middle. He still had the snowflake necklace, but the blue gems were gone. His pants were the same, but it was tucked in his black snow boots. His weapon was not an ordinary staff like what he formerly used in battle. It was a spear with a snowy wide, white blade. Holding the blade was a silver snowflake head with blue gems decorated on it like his pendant. The shaft was simply plain silver. He was still wearing that same mask from before to hide his identity. And, his hair was still the same as before. But, to sum it all up, he looked like a different frost mage.
Lance stared at his weapon in amazement. He did not know what to say, but he liked his new form.
"Wow, I look awesome," said Lance in awe.
"And, I'm proud of you," said Pagos.
Lance noticed the snowflake on his spear was glowing. He knew it was Pagos.
"Thanks, old man," he said with a giggle.
"Stop calling me that," Pagos said with mild frustration. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a huge amount of air. Then, he said, "Now, are you ready for a journey?"
"Huh?" Lance wondered. He thought that they were just going to stay in their spot for the whole day. "Where?"
"Oh, you know..." said Pagos thinking that Lance knows the answer.
"No," said Lance, "don't tell me-"
"Yes," said Pagos interrupting Lance's sentence. "We're going to Excalion!"

***End of Chapter 22***