Journey Of The Elements

Chapter 5: Training with my dad is hell

'Woosh'

Blue fire sailed by my head. I just barely dodged it, rolling in the sandy floor and being rewarded with another mouthful of sand, my arm throbbed slightly. It doesn't hurt as much as it did a few hours ago, I've gotten used to the pain. The fire is so hot that some places the sand has melted into glass. I don't know how long I've been sparring with my father for. It has to have been at least a few hours. It's like walking through hell. Well maybe not but it would be just as hot. He won't let me use my normal fire, says I need to get used to using my blue flames but it's so tiring. Will I even have strength for the tournament after this?

"Sarah! Focus!" I dive out of the way of another blue fireball from my father. This gave me yet another mouthful of sand. I have to stop eating this stuff. I try to counter with my own blue fire but all that comes out is a tiny blue spark.

My father sighs but then chuckles, "I was expecting more but now that I think about it you've done even better than I did when I first started training with intense flame. We will break for lunch and start other training after."

I groaned in relief and sunk to the floor. I gratefully accepted a water skin, a monsters organ made into a container for water. Don't worry, it's washed a lot before being used. I first rinsed the sand out of my mouth, spitting it out beside me, and then drink the water.

My father came over and sat down beside me. He chuckled as he grabbed a scrap of my clothing, "I guess you should have just worn the armor."

I looked down to see my destroyed clothing. My red T-shirt was now burnt black in places and flaking off, there really wasn't much of it left. My black track pants were either torn from the rough sand or burnt and flaking from my father's fire, there wasn't much of them left either. At least my under armor is fire proof and doesn't get damaged by the sand.

We ate some fruit my father had brought for lunch, neither of us talking. He didn't even break a sweat but I think he was letting me rest, which I was grateful for. Unfortunately it didn't last long.

My father stood up, "Alright, now that we've done some endurance training for combat let's do something more practical, out of combat skills training." I climbed to my feet, nodding my head. My father brought his hands up facing each other, I copied him. "I'm going to teach you how to make a good light source that can also be used as an explosive." He created fire between his hands but then formed it into a ball, "Create a flame, round it out and then compress it."

I did as he said, creating a flame between my hands. I rounded it out, curling my fingers to help and moving my hands closer together to compress it. There, a perfect sphere of fire sat in my hand.

My father looked very surprised, "Even so tired you managed to do it with just needing hand motions for assistance. How did I produce a child so talented?" I blushed at his comment. Am I really that good?

Just as I was thinking this my little ball of fire exploded. I hissed as it burned my hands and arms slightly. Fire elementals might have higher fire resistance but that doesn't make them fire proof. High intensity heat and fire still burns us.

My father chuckled, "Maybe you're very talented but you do still need practice and training. Here, let me see your burns." He took my hands and looked at the red and pink marks on my arms. "Not too bad. It's a good thing it was only your first try. As you get better they become more powerful." He pulled a container of burn ointment out to place on my burns so they would heal faster and wouldn't blister. The only reason I haven't gotten burned until now is because my father kept aiming for my under armor. He didn't want to burn me with his blue flames.

After the ointment was applied my burns looked less angry and red. My father then put the ointment away and took a few steps back, putting distance between us. "Alright Sarah, let's see you do it again but use more fire and compress it tighter. And remember, stay focused. If this fails then you'll get more than some small burns."