korah, after realizing instructor Belle was asking him to move closer, blushed a little and moved towards her without disturbing the other students.
after few seconds, he was close enough to hear and whisper responses to her, he sat down.As if on cue, instructor Warren paused the session and asked "what is the most important quality of a mage?" All the students looked at each other, unsure of the answer but after a while, responses started pouring out randomly from all the students present like an avalanche.after few minutes, instructor Warren cleared his throat loudly to stop the noise then he continued "the most important quality of a mage is a strong sense of determination. Without determination, a mage will give up too easily and never reach their full potential." this response, got all the students nodding their head in agreement especially Korah since he could relate to the importance of determination in his life's journey so far.Instructor Warren paused for a while as if waiting for his statement to sink and resonate with the students, then he continued "Determination plays a key role in the quality of a mage, the extent of their powers and In the strength of their magic spells. This should serve as a reminder to you, it should constantly ring in your head whenever you feel the need to give up, feel tired, discouraged or feel that improving is not worth the effort." after speaking, he gestured to the students to continue with their meditation. After his speech,as if injected with stimulants, the students felt invigorated, it seemed as if a new window had been opened before them, they were able to get themselves in the exact mood needed to get in touch with their elements and it became easier than expected.At the end of the session, both inspectors got up from the mat and inspector warren made a standing gesture to the students the he proceeded to say." this is the only lesson meant for sensing elements. If you have not succeeded, go back to your rooms and practice and if after that you still can't sense your elements, don't come to class tomorrow" this was met with wide eyes from all the students, after a glance at them, he continued " we have little time to prepare you so we do not have time to wait for everyone. we only need ten students to represent us so we will continue to cut down the numbers until we have the desired number. Good luck" he walked out at the end of his speech and dismissed the students. Korah was a little taken aback by the strictness of the instructor's words, but he also understood the importance of being able to sense his elements. He made a mental note to practice more as soon as he got back to his room. Back in his room, he sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. He focused on his breathing, trying to calm his mind and prepare himself for the task ahead. After a few moments, he began to concentrate on his elements, since he had three elements, he had to get in touch with them individually. his classes with the principal had been very rewarding for him so he was close to having an instantaneous connection with all three elements. Korah started with his first element, fire. He imagined himself standing in front of a huge flame, feeling its warmth and power. He closed his eyes and let the feeling wash over him, trying to connect with the element on a deeper level. After a few minutes of concentration, he saw a bright light deep within himself and to his surprise, he felt a small spark of energy within him, as if the element was responding to his call. With wide eyes, he tried to do all the fire spells he knew and it felt so easy and so natural it felt more powerful than it had been in the past. with same enthusiasm, he moved on to sensing his second element wind.Korah took a deep breath and cleared his mind, focusing on the sensation of air around him. He imagined himself soaring through the skies, feeling the wind rushing past him. As he concentrated on the feeling, he felt a gentle breeze brush against his skin and he saw within him, a whirlwind which was moving with so much intensity and speed. he felt like he could totally control it and bend it to his will. After what seemed like eternity, he realized that he had now established a connection with wind and was determined to make a strong and instantaneous connection with lightning his last element.After a little break, he took a deep breath and centered himself again. He focused on the electricity in the air, trying to feel the energy coursing through his body. He imagined himself standing in a thunderstorm, feeling the lightning strike around him. As he concentrated on the feeling, he felt a surge of electricity within him, as if the element was responding to his call he noticed he could fully control his lightning element as well as the others. With a grin, he began to try out lightning spells, and he was amazed at how much easier it was to control the element now that he had made a strong connection with it. he couldn't wait for dawn so he learn more, make progress and move to the next level of magic.After what seemed like an eternity to Korah, morning came and after a few hours, it was time to go for the next session. After leaving his room, he noticed the school was back to it's normal routine it was as if the events of the past few days never happened. Along the way, he thought of Lily and he realized that it's been a while since he saw her so he decided to check on her after his class.As soon as korah got to the training hall, he noticed the number of students had reduced and he attributed that to the difficulty in connecting with one's elements in one night. After a few more minutes, instructor Belle walked in. she did not seem surprised at the number of students in the hall but after glancing around for a while, she showed genuine surprise on her face when she saw Korah. "what a surprise" she thought.After taking a head count of the students and recording them to be thirty, she started the day's lesson. "What do you all know about the levels of magic?" she asked. A fair skinned boy who was in front put up his hand and responded " The first level is Inception. This level is the starting point for all mages. Mages at this level have just discovered their magical abilities and are still learning how to control and harness their powers while the second level is Amplification. At this level, mages have gained more control over their abilities and can amplify their powers to increase it's potency". Instructor Belle nodded her head as if to say she agreed then she said " we have other levels after Amplification but you all should get to amplification so that the rest can be introduced to you". she glanced at everyone then she continued to speak " today's lesson is about going to the the Amplification level. before we get into that, I will test you all to make sure you have instantaneous connection with all your elements".she immediately conjured water in the hall and cast a spell to bind all the students the she continued " use your powers to protect yourself, conjure it to look like a coat so I can grade your control over your elements" immediately, different colours began to appear in the room. coats of two colors began to appear on every student with Korah being the exception because he had a coat of three elements.Instructor Belle walked around the room, examining each student's coat closely. She paid particular attention to the level of control they had over their elements and their ability to maintain the coat for an extended period. After a few minutes, she stopped in front of Korah and examined his coat of three elements closely. "Well done, Korah," she said, "You have done exceptionally well to control three elements at once. You truly have a gift for magic." korah thanked her and continued to concentrate strengthening his coat. Instructor Belle then continued the lesson, explaining the basics of amplification, how to strengthen one's powers to get to the level of amplification, then she taught them the best posture and breathing exercise to practice if the wanted to strengthen their elements. she demonstrated the pose to them, and took the whole day to teach, correct and direct them. Korah paid close attention to Instructor Belle's instructions, determined to improve his magic and reach the level of amplification. He practiced the posture and breathing exercises diligently, feeling the energy within him grow stronger with each passing moment. As the day wore on, he noticed his ability to control his elements had improved significantly, and he was able to maintain his coat for a longer period of time. At the end of the day, Instructor Belle dismissed the students, reminding them to continue practicing the exercises she had taught them. Korah left the training hall feeling energized and excited about his progress. He made his way to Lily's room, eager to catch up with her and share his experiences from the day.When he arrived at Lily's room, he knocked on the door and waited for a response. After a few moments, Lily opened the door and smiled when she saw Korah. "Hey, Korah! How was your day?" she asked, inviting him inside. Korah eagerly told her all about his day, from the lesson on amplification to the breathing exercises and posture they had practiced. Lily listened attentively, nodding and asking questions along the way. When he finished, she smiled and said, "That sounds amazing! I'm glad you're making progress." Korah smiled back at her, feeling grateful for her support. "Thanks, Lily. How was your day?" he asked, eager to hear about what she had been up to. Lily's expression shifted slightly, and she looked down at her feet. "It was...okay," she said, her voice soft. "I've been working on some new spells, but I'm having trouble with one of them. I can't seem to get it to work no matter how much I practice." Korah felt a pang of concern. He knew how important magic was to Lily, and he hated to see her struggling. "What kind of spell is it?" he asked, hoping he could help in some way. "It's a healing spell," Lily said. "I've been trying to perfect it for a while now, but it just won't work. I don't know what I'm doing wrong." Korah thought for a moment, then an idea came to him. "Maybe I can help," he said. "I have learnt how to connect with my element and it helped me strengthen my control over it, I will guide you on how to connect with your element after which you should be able to perfect your spell"Lily looked up at him, her eyes shining with gratitude. "Really? That would be amazing, Korah," she said. Korah grinned, feeling happy that he could help. "Of course," he said. "Let's start now, if you have time." Lily nodded eagerly, and they sat down on the floor together. "First, you need to relax and clear your mind," he said. "Then, imagine your element within you, flowing through your veins and radiating from your fingertips." Lily followed his instructions, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She imagined her element, as a huge tree within he and focused on the feeling of warmth and energy that it brought. "Good," Korah said, sensing her connection to her element. "Now, try to resonate with it, imagine yourself as the roots and leaves." Lily concentrated, trying to connect with her element. After a long while , she opened her eyes and smiled in amazement. "I did it!" she exclaimed. "I can feel the difference." Korah smiled back at her, feeling proud. "Great job, Lily," he said. "It is very late now so I have to go back to my room but I think you should try connecting with your other element after which you should try to master your spell again. "Thank you so much, Korah" she piped. Korah grinned back at her, feeling happy to have helped. "Anytime, Lily," he said. He left for his room feeling very satisfied with himself because he seemed to have made more progress with his training after helping Lily out.All he had to do was to practice his pose and solidify his control over his powers before the instructors come up with another deadline to cut more students off.Early the next morning, korah jumped up from bed with a start, visibly disturbed. Apparently, he was plagued with a very disturbing nightmare throughout the night. It used to be a common occurrence while he was still at the orphanage, but since he got to the mage academy, he has been sleeping better and had totally forgotten all about the nightmares which always seemed to take away his sleep every night. Korah rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of the dream. He couldn't quite remember what it was about, but he knew it had been terrifying. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, reminding himself that it was just a dream and it wasn't real.He got out of bed and started his usual morning routine, trying to push the nightmare out of his mind. As he dressed up, he tried to recall if anything significant had happened yesterday that could have triggered the nightmare. But he couldn't think of anything. Korah made his way to the training hall, his mind still fog
Korah had never known his parents. He had been found, abandoned on the steps of a small orphanage on the outskirts of the city. The nuns who ran the orphanage had taken him in, but life had never been easy for him.He was small for his age, with scrawny arms and legs and a shock of unruly black hair. The other children teased him relentlessly, calling him names like "runt" and "mouse". Korah tried to ignore them, but it was hard. He felt like an outsider, like he didn't belong anywhere.Korah had always known that he was different from the other children. He had no magic, no special powers that the other children had. In the city of Arindale, where magic was commonplace, being without it was a curse. The children who had magic could control the elements, summon creatures, and even fly. They were the elites, the chosen ones, and Korah was not one of them.Despite his lack of magical abilities, Korah was determined to make something of himself. He worked hard at his studies, and the nuns
Immediately after the tests, the principal and instructors in the school stood up and came before everyone. They separated the mages from non mages, and the also put together the mages in groups based on the elements the had exhibited. After all that was done, korah was the only one left without a group so he was asked to stand aside. The principal gave a speech about the history of the mage academy and welcomed every mage to the academy. He also asked senior students in the academy to assume the roles of group leaders so as to carry the new students along and to teach them about the rules guiding the academy. After the speech, the principal declared the end of this year's round of testing and admission.The principal cast a look at korah and before leaving he asked korah to follow him. korah walked quietly behind the principal until they got to a remote part of the academy after which the principal looked at korah again and invited him into a small room. Inside, korah stared wide eye
The chirping of birds and insects and the sweet scent of fresh dew on grass roused korah from his slumber. He had spent the night in deep meditation, trying to be in tune with his powers. Before standing up, he rubbed his eyes lazily and just took out time to reminisce about his life so far. He was going to be fifteen years in two months time, he had tasted the good, the bad and the ugly in his almost fifteen years of existence. He thought back to when he was bullied, neglected and mocked, he thought of the kindness of the nuns, the principal and his new found friends. He was happy to have been given a second outlook of life due to his lucky encounter with the magic artifact in the cave without which he would still be a worthless orphan who knew nothing about magic.After spending a little more time in bed, he stood up and started the day with breathing exercises, meditation and brushing up his magic skills.Today, the principal was going to have a long session with all the students o