The cave rang with the sounds of clashing metal, I thrust forward with my spear aiming for his chest, only to have him parry me, directing my momentum past him. I stumbled slightly as I passed him, the air of his body passing blowing across my face. I turned as quickly as I could and held my spear horizontally above my head, blocking as he came down hard with a doubled handed slash. When the weapons connected it sent a painful shock into my hands, loosening my grip and making my fingertips hurt.

     I was beginning to become fatigued as I attacked with a combo of quick thrusts and slashes, he easily stepped out of the way or blocked them with his sword. He was deceptively fast for an older man.

     I had the reach with my spear, giving me about two feet more reach than his sword, he however had the speed. He began his offense, slashing and stabbing at me from alternating directions, fast enough I reacted simply on instinct. I was able to keep up at first, but as time wore on I became slower and slower, just barely blocking his attacks. My weapon was heavier and it was beginning to show, I was breathing heavy and sweating profusely. Even though I was draining quickly, I was thankful for the physical training Jack had put me through. He took notice and began to attack faster, I stepped backwards trying to put some distance between us.

     Slowly, his attacks began making it through my defense with what seemed to be almost no effort on his part, his face blank in concentration. His eyes never shifted towards his next move, he never gave anything away.

     He slammed my arm twice, forcing me to recoil in pain while he followed through with a sweep of my feet. I fell backwards hard, hitting my head on the cave floor, closing my eyes on the impact, my spear rolling away. When I opened them again he stood there above me with his short sword pointing at my neck, he leaned in, slowly pressing the blade on my neck, as he smiled. I closed my eyes in defeat and waited.

"You are getting a little better Adam, but we really need to work on your speed! Probably don't want to skip and physical training days either, that heavier weapon will need to be compensated with strength. Lastly, if you lose your weapon, you'll lose your life. Try to hold onto it next time."

     He removed his blade and helped me onto my feet, I brushed the dirt off my clothes as I got up. The air filled with the dust of my defeat as the smooth, fine dust left my clothes. I clicked the spear on my back into its holder as I turned to face him.

"Every time I get better you step up the skill level. Jack was right about you being a master in hand to hand combat. How about you let me win once or twice?"

     He replied with a chuckle, showing he had no plans of easing my training anytime soon. I smiled back, secretly thankful for the real life training he was providing. He put his arm around my shoulder like an uncle as we made our way to the others at the planning table.

     Draioct and a few of the Earth Dragons had been watching our practice and were now chuckling silently off to the side. I lifted a large piece of Earth from the cave floor and threw it at them as I walked by, attempting to catch them off guard and get my chance to laugh. I turned and grinned expectantly as I waited for my large dirt clod to impact my targets.

     I however had forgotten that Draioct was in my mind and he reacted for the group, catching the earth and turning it to dust, harmlessly clouding around them. Much to the amusement of the Dragons as their chuckle turned to outright laughter. I couldn't help myself and laughed along with the group. These moments of happiness are much rarer these days and should be enjoyed.

"Better luck next time Adam." 

     Othello chuckled out as I playful chased after the lumbering Earth dragon for a moment. We went around the group twice as everyone in the cave laughed at our roughhousing. I gave up after a few good circles with now progress on catching him. I settled on a playful punch t Draioct's leg before making my way over to the side of the room to rest from my sparring.

     Othello sauntered over a sat down across from me. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked at him. He cocked his head to the side questioningly trying to figure out what he had done that was amusing.

"I am sorry Othello it wasn't you. You just sat down like a dog on his hind legs, instead of lying on your belly like the other dragons. It wasn't something I had seen before."

     His dark face lifted into a large dragon grin as he chuckled along with me.

"I suppose your right aren't you. I have no idea why I sat like this. It just seemed to make sense."

     We laughed on for a moment before beginning our conversation. He smiled at me warmly before speaking.

"So I know that you have just finished sparring with Mr. Holbrook, and that you may need some time to rest. However, when you feel completely rested, would you like to come work further on your Earth mage skills? I have some free time and would love to work with you."

"Yes thank you Othello. I do need to continue practicing. I actually feel pretty rested already. Let's head over to the training area and begin."

     We stood up and made our way out to the backside of the cave and through a few corridors. The Earth dragons had the wonderful insight to build a expansive training area into the back of our cave system. It was a large area, full of simulated scenarios we could run into in battle. A few castle walls, some buildings, and a big open area. This gave us lots of options on how to train.

     Today followed Othello as he made his way into the flat open area of the arena. It was the best place to practice moving the elements around. We stopped in about the center and turned to face one another as he began speaking, Draioct pushed himself into my mind so he could learn second hand while he helped Jack with some metal working.

"Ok Adam. Shall we begin where we left off? We can see if you strength has improved."

     I nodded my head and turned to face the back wall, my body subconsciously relaxing and centering in preparation of my training. Over the past few weeks I have found the ability to quickly clear my mind and go into and almost trance like state when performing mage spells.

     Othello had explained to me that all mage abilities can have strength levels just like physical strength. This may seem unimportant until you get to using Earth spells. Earth is incredibly heavy, and the stronger you are the more earth you can move.

     When it comes to shooting say flames most mages have about the same strength levels so most people don't notice. However Alpha riders who strengthen moving earth and then later shoot flames have been known to have the ability to blow holes in walls with the power.

     I was now working on strengthening enough to pick up larger pieces of Earth.

"Ok now Adam. Now focus on the strength of the earth as before. Pay attention to its density. It seems solid, but it is actually flowing, slowly but flowing nonetheless."

     I closed my eyes and focused on the earth beneath me. Earth was very different form the elements that I had already learned. With fire I created the flames and directed them at my will, but with earth, I moved something already present.

     I slowly flowed a stream of energy from my core and into my hands and feet, carefully dispersing it within myself. This gave me the ability to manipulate the earth. I then reached out and grabbed the earth a few feet away with my mind.

     I then proceeded to lift as much of the earth as I could, my brow actually breaking into a sweat as if I was lifting a weight with my hands. I could feel the strain on my mind as the height of the earth increased. A piece of earth the size of a cow rose from the ground, little pieces falling off as it climbed into the air.

"Good Adam, good. Now, throw it as hard as you can at the wall opposite to us."

     I nodded my head in response, trying to keep my concentration on the earth. The weight was feeling heavier so I pushed a little more energy in, relieving some of the strain. I slowly turned the earth in the sky until I was facing the wall. Then with a burst of raw energy I blasted the dirt away from me.

     It struck the wall with surprising force, a loud resonating thud filled the cave with its impact.

"Wonderful Adam. Your strength is increasing dramatically. I believe it is due to you being an Alpha, in addition to your hard work. You seem to progress through learning much faster than a normal rider. I cannot wait to see how you progress with time."

     I nodded and smiled at him while thanking him for the compliment.

"You are most welcome Sir. Now let us begin working on your ability to manipulate the earth to things such as walls and pillars."

     We spent the remainder of the evening practicing there in the cave. Towards the end Draioct finished helping Jack and made his way over to practice first hand.

      I rounded off the evening sparring Mr. Holbrook one last time, a final butt kicking to help me sleep that night.