The Chosen One

• [ 45 ] •

I suck in a large breath of air, thankful that the fight is over. If it is at all possible, I am even more exhausted than before. I slowly raise myself off of the ground when I see Mr.Barden enter the arena. I stretch out my arms for a few brief seconds before taking my stance.

I am immediately dodging the array of snow coming at me. I utilize the humidity of the air to form my attacks, then I will rely on the melting water from the snow if that is not enough. With all of my training, pulling the water out of the air is as easy as running a mile.

I form a whip of water extending from my sides. I move the whips so that they shield me from my instructor's attacks but will also advance against him. I lash Mr.Barden for a third time before I am forced to move from my position. The cause? Arrows made of pure ice.

I pick up the ice weapon from where it struck the ground and hurl it at my teacher. I throw it just as I would as if it were a knife. Mr.Barden is prepared for this as he dispels it, but not before the weapon grazes his arm.

We trade advances and attacks, my efforts not meeting up to the talents of a master. I clench my jaw and gather any water within the arena that I can grasp. With this, I create a diversion. I send a large wave of water towards my instructor. As expected, he easily avoids my attack. What he doesn't suspect is that I bring the water back form behind him to attack with instead. Because this is his blind side, Mr.Barden is knocked over harshly when I pull the water back the way it came. I use this time where he is distracted to put use to the water I stored aside. I attack with all I have to give, Mr.Barden narrowly being able to keep up.

The battle is suspenseful, all of the students and teachers wondering if I will be able to defeat the master. Mr.Barden resumes with his ice weapons, they all breaking into pieces when I dodge their range. An idea pops into my head that may or may not contribute to my ultimate victory.

I use the little water left in the air to make balls of water, the shattered pieces of ice floating within them. I check the three balls of water at my instructor at the same time a boulder of snow forces me back. I can't see what has happened, for I can hardly breath. I forgot how bad this hurts.

I turn to face my instructor while laying down. I am astonished to see that he too is on the ground, clutching his bleeding wounds. The ice shards worked, unpredictable and practically invisible within the water until it was too late. With neither of us able to resume the battle, the outcome is a tie.

I heave myself off of the floor and almost fall right back down. I stand up straight once a wave of dizziness passes over to walk towards my instructor. I bow down to him when I reach his position on the floor and offer him a hand. He takes it and I pull him up by putting my weight into my legs. Mr.Barden gives me a proud look, accompanied with a nod.

"You are very resourceful, never lose that." He tells me.

"Thank you sir." I respond respectfully. Leaving me behind with a nod, Mr.Barden exits the arena, only to be replaced by Mr.Jacobs. With an inaudible sigh, I walk back to the middle of the arena.

The thing is, the element of fire is the most difficult for me. I have not made nearly as much progress with it as I have for my other abilities. Both of my instructors find it odd why I have the principles of fire manipulation down, but am unable to extend it further than that. Mr.Jacobs gave me a book of all the great fire elementals to ease my worries.

The reason he did this is because almost every single one of The Greats took longer than the average person to get fire manipulation right, but they still were farther along than I. That is why when fire manipulators master their element, they are usually older, taking more time to hone in on their skills and master the main subelements as well.