Call of Ring(Compleled)

18 Next Day

Blake met Apollos once again at the familiar booth in the market for his morning fritter. Sharina seemed happy to see them both again. It was time for his second day of training. The day before had followed a similar routine as to ones previous. After a few shots with Apollos, he excused himself and met Gaius and Dorkus in the reading cave for a few more hours of knowledge intake.

This morning was the first morning, however, that he was not handed any coins after tea. Blake was polite by nature, so he didn’t dare inquire why his daily stipend had not been awarded. As he was exiting the house, Dorkus called out:

“It was nice having you in our home Blake. You will now be under the care of Apollos. Gaius and I wish you well in your training.”

Blake processed this later as a rather odd good-bye and wondered whether he would ever see them again.

After exchanging some pleasantries with Sharina, the two men excused themselves and walked through the market toward the ominously vacant booth they had entered the day before. Blake followed Apollos into the small opening of the booth and instantly they were back in the same room as the day before. Apollos went straight to his eclectic chair in the corner of the large space. It was the only furnishing in the place. Blake watched him but stood to await whatever instruction might come next.

“Today, I must dictate a review of your accomplishments before we continue,” Apollos declared in his deep voice that was surprisingly more authoritative while they inhabited this space.  

Blake remained silent, hoping that Apollos would continue without any reply from him.

“You have faced a man who possessed the earth element, and you defeated him. You conquered a man who had the gift of fire. You also helped me escape a mage who had mastered the element of wind. All these things you accomplished through your own power. Nothing supernatural, only a born instinct for reflex and hand-to-hand combat. And in the midst of all these events, you decided to fill your mind with knowledge. Finally, you decided to act on your compassion, helping to save the children of our community.”

Apollos paused long enough to indicate that he now required a response from Blake.

“It is true that these things did happen to me, but I want to know what is next. I wish to know how to possess the powers that my assailants have somehow learned,” Blake responded with a hopeful inquiry.

“Do you remember the three questions I asked of you yesterday?” asked Apollos.

“What do I hear? What do I feel? And, what do I sense?” replied Blake with confidence.

“Ah yes. But the relevant fact is not your simple memory of the questions, but how you responded to the exercise. You heard and realized that hearing must be fine-tuned so as to tune out distractions. What you feel can also be polluted by desire and it can deviate you from your intended path. And finally, what you sense… this is where you advance in elements and consequently levels as a mage.”

Apollos continued:

“I did not congratulate you yesterday, but you passed the only exercise necessary for you to begin using the elements of our world. As you stop and examine life around you, you will hear better, feel what’s important, and sense which elements you can use to combat evil, fighting ultimately for good.”

The exercise of today is quite simply a repeat of yesterday’s. The difference is that your understanding has changed. You now know who you are, and what abilities you possess.

Not needing further explanation, Blake closed his eyes and leaned into the silence.

“I hear the steady murmuring of voices from the market. Another voice is becoming more clear…

‘I don’t believe the announcement sent by King Adelai. No one has even dreamed of eliminating the wild beasts from Stella Woods. And to attribute it to a foreigner who was brought in as a prisoner? It’s insulting to the good people of Midori Empire.’

Blake spoke these words aloud, the ones he was hearing somehow in his subconscious.

A familiar voice responded, so Blake continued to speak what he heard aloud.

‘What will you do to help correct this misinformation?’

Blake couldn’t believe his recollection of the voice. It was Aesar himself speaking, inciting someone to plan something against him.

‘It is time for me to defeat him.’ replied the other voice.”

Blake continued speaking aloud with his eyes closed. His only audience was Apollos, but today there were no interruptions from his drunk mentor.

“I feel that I must be on guard for the next attack on my life. And finally, I sense two things. First that a new element will be used against me in this attack. Secondly, I can use any of the elements that I have seen thus far to protect myself.”

Blake opened his eyes to see an even larger grin displayed on Apollo’s face than the day before.

“This teacher is proud of your learning, my son,” declared Apollos.

“Come now, we must go and celebrate.”

“More drinking,” thought Blake to himself silently.

“But before we leave this sacred space of learning, I must tell you one more thing. There is a place called the Calvin School of Magic. You must attend this school on my recommendation. You have learned already all I have to teach you, so must go tomorrow. Tonight you will be my guest, but we must celebrate.”

Questions flooded Blake’s mind, but he tried to cast them aside for the time being as he was expecting his next enemy to strike. They exited the space as mysteriously as they had come into it. In a flash, they were exiting the mysterious booth back into the busy market. They turned left and headed toward the watering hole.

As they walked, Blake felt like a new person. His ears overheard the conversations of others, detecting the smallest detail that might be relevant to his cause. His feelings were in overdrive, but somehow paradoxically, he remained completely in control. His new learning allowed him to sift through irrelevant things he was overhearing. Blake felt almost excited to sense what he would need next.

To his surprise, nothing happened out in the market. They simply entered the same establishment, joining some other men already inside. As they pulled up a few stools, Apollos paid for the first two shots.

“Cheers to graduations,” said Apollos.

Blake remembered that he had no coins. He was now under the tutelage and care of this man. He wondered what he would do with the afternoon. It seemed as if he would not return to the den of books in the house of Gaius and Dorkus.

Apollos ordered a second round, slapping down two more coins on the counter.

Blake’s right food suddenly felt like it was burning. He looked down to see that a part of the bar had caught on fire. Standing up quickly, and turning to look where the fire had come from, his eyes met the eyes of his newest attacker.

“I have come to get rid of this foreign imposter!” yelled the man while flashing another lightning strike toward Blake. With his reflexes still functioning at a premium, Blake dodged the flash of electricity but turned when he heard someone yell out in pain.

Apollos had been struck and was wreathing in pain.