Alden had a great view of the sky as he landed flat on his back. Upon impact, all the air rushed out of his lungs causing him to inhale loudly. He arched his back as pain flared through him, but quickly rolled to the side and bounced back to his feet. A feirce wind blew by his ear, pushing Alden's hair to the right side of his face.

Where he had just landed moments ago, the ground had been gouged out from a horrifically dense burst of air from Uano. Alden raised his eyes to that silver-haired demon and gulped. She had a smile that said, "do your best!" as she mercilessly threw him around like a ragdoll.

The ground below him began to vibrate, causing Alden to spring forwards towards Uano. The ground where he had launched himself from caved in due to Uano's magic, creating a deep hole that he would have been stuck in. Alden built his flames upside him as he flew towards Uano, concentrating them inside his right hand and left leg.

Not yet . . .

The flames seemed to have a mind of their own as they pushed against Alden's control like an unruly dog. Uano's silver hair began to float upwards as she used even more spirit wind magic. Her eyes almost seemed to glow with a sharp, piercing gaze.

Alden recognized these signs, as he had seen them hundreds of times right before he would be thrown off into the distance by a hurricane-force wind. Right as her fingers twitched, and her eyes widened a bit, Alden released the spirit flames in his right hand with his palm facing his right side.

The world was lit up by a small sun for just a moment. The explosion expanded and was so powerful it threw him to the side a few dozen feet, but that was all he needed. The blast of air passed through where he had just been, tearing up a trench of the earth a meter deep and dozens of meters long. While he was still flying through the air, Alden released the flames in his left leg and exploded forwards with horrific force. The grass behind him was instantly turned to ash as a flame burst into existence.

The two sudden changes in direction made him feel sick, but he powered through. Alden soared forwards towards Uano with a newfound speed, much to her surprise. She grinned as she realized what he had done, almost as if she was proud. Alden reached forwards in an attempt to grab her, and finally win, but at that moment, she shifted her feet.

For the first time in the long hours they had been dueling for, Uano bent her knees, and leaned forwards. Alden was sure she would've tried to dodge since she enjoyed using wind so much, but instead, she threw a should straight into Alden's chest. The earth around Uano also formed a huge mound behind her, instantly transforming her into an immovable mountain.

The tables had turned after just a moment, and Aldren was unable to stop. He rammed straight into Uano and bounced backward. All his inertia reversed, causing Alden's head to spin widely.

Alden was stunned on the ground for a moment, but he eventually staggered to his feet. His chest was already turning purple. He reached upwards and touched it with his hands to access the damage. Alden let out a sigh of relief, it was just a bruise. Alden stood up with a nasty grimace painted on his face. It hurt like hell. Alden gripped his hands into fists and gnashed his teeth in rage.

This bitch . . . I'll kill her!

Fire swirled around Alden widely, but just as quick as they appeared, they disappeared. Alden quickly collapsed to his knees and almost passed out from fatigue. The adrenaline rush from his spirit fire was the only thing keeping him awake. Noel, who had suddenly appeared on top of Alden's head, transferred her thoughts to him as she completely snuffed out his fire. Like a light switch, all his anger was turned off in an instant

Your flames are your weapon, and you use them, not the other way around.

Alden sat down and gingerly took Noel off his head. He frowned and responded to her.

It's impossible. I can't . . . I don't understand how I'm supposed to resist those feelings.

Noel flicked her tail erratically and placed herself onto his lap, and began to purr.

With time, you will learn. You did fine.

Alden closed his eyes and thought about how this cat could be so nice to him at times, yet also annoying at others. The duality of man . . . wait, she was a cat. The duality of cat?

No, that doesn't have the same ring to it . . .

Alden quickly forgot about that thought as Uano walked over, and sat across from Alden. She exhaled and spoke in a joking tone.

"These old bones are so brittle, how could you be so mean to this grandma?"

Alden snickered and responded in an equally joking manner.

"For an old grandma, you can still throw me around like a feather in the wind."

Uano took out a packaged lunch as she returned Alden's quip with a quip of her own.

"That's just because your weak, dear."

Alden shook his head as he was handed his portion of lunch.

"Your just on a different level. It's not fair . . . I could barely get you to move an inch."

Uano shrugged and bit into her sandwich. After swallowing her bite, she began to bait Noel over to her with freshly caught fish. As she preoccupied herself with Noel, she spoke to Alden without looking at him.

"Well, I would hope so. If I couldn't handle a beginner like you, well, I don't think I would be qualified to teach you anything at all."

Alden nodded and quickly devoured his food without speaking. Like a hungry dragon, multiple sandwiches quickly become one with Alden's stomach. Uano watched him and chuckled.

"Slow down, it's not going anywhere."

Alden responded with a grunt. He may be on earth, but his tastebuds were in heaven. It was always the same with Uano's cooking. No matter what it was, it always tasted good. The cheese seemed to naturally melt inside his mouth, and the meat was wonderfully juicy. The bread was crisp, offering a soft inside but crunchy outside like it had been toasted. This myriad of flavors was something Alden felt grateful to receive every day. He exhaled with satisfaction and asked Uano a question.

"Hey, let's head back. It's getting dark."

"Who said we were finished?"

Alden's eyes widened and he let out a surprised sound from his throat.

"Eh?"

Uano sighed and shook her head at his foolishness.

"Combat isn't the only way to learn how to control one's element. In fact, the most common way is to meditate while exercising a small but constant flow of spirit energy."

Uano sat across from Alden and assumed a crisscrossed sitting style. She closed her eyes, and let her hands fall onto her legs. She then seemed to almost stop breathing. Alden took a breath to ask what in the world when she was doing when suddenly he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Alden looked at Uano in surprise. He could feel the air and earth stir as she exercised a small amount of control over them. It was like someone was tapping the ground, and waving their hands in the air to create a current. It wasn't a lot of spiritual energy, but the control was beyond masterful.

The ground seemed to churn itself around her, almost like it was sand. The air also bent to her will, causing her hair to shift ever so slightly as a slight wind blew. Then, after a few seconds, she opened her eyes with a smile.

"Now you try."

" . . ."

Alden closed his eyes and assumed the same position she had, and tried to relax. He reached inside himself and grabbed hold of his spirit energy. Quickly, flames burst all around his hands, feet, and ears. The flames burned widely, quickly becoming out of control. Alden felt his lips curl into a frown as he remembered how snarky Uano had been to him as she beat him over and over.

"Alden. Remember, control yourself."

Uano spoke gently to Alden, but it was too late. Noel quickly ate all his flames and fell onto her side with a larger than the normal belly. She let out a small cat groan and spoke telepathically to Uano and Alden.

No more . . . so full.

Alden and Uano laughed loudly, completely opposite to his murderous attitude just a second ago. Once they stopped laughing, Uano shrugged and stood up. After helping Alden to his feet, Uano gingerly picked Noel up and placed that feline cat onto her shoulders.

"Well, I guess your right. Noel can't absorb any more of your flames, so it would be dangerous to continue."

Alden felt the joy from that funny situation fade, replaced by a sense of failure. He had failed to control himself so many times he lost count. He had Noel consume the flames at least a dozen times during their combat training, and at least once while he had tried to meditate.

"I feel like I'm trying to stop a tsunami . . . I don't understand how I'm supposed to resist these feelings. Why did I have to get fire? Why couldn't I get water? I would love to be a miracle healer . . . damn these flames."

Uano began to walk back towards the village. She rustled Alden's hand and spoke her old lady wisdom.

"Curses can often be blessings in disguise."

"It has to be one hell of a disguise, then. . ."

Alden muttered to himself as he followed her. Uano came to a sudden stop and laughed loudly. She turned around and spoke out loudly.

"To think I didn't realize we had a spectator sooner! Come out, girl, I know you're there."

Alden turned around in surprise. There, a girl only a few inches shorter than him stepped out of the bushes with red cheeks. She laughed anxiously and put a hand on her head. Alden got a better look at her. She looked to be around 5’2, with sea green eyes and dirty blonde hair, almost brown. She had rounded, childish features despite entering puberty. A few freckles dotted her cheeks and space under her eyes, but not in a bad way.

To Alden, her eyes looked eager, despite her apologetic attitude. This girl was the type of person who annoyed him the most, the outgoing ones. They always wanted to do something, go somewhere, which Alden found very annoying.

Tasha Sendle, daughter of the Cheif of security of Eope, hated this small town. It was not the town's fault, but rather her own. She hated how peaceful it was, which is to say, she hated how boring it was.

Tasha Sendle was not someone who dealt with boredom well. That's why when the village suddenly erupted into cheers, she was greatly surprised. Tasha quickly flew out her door and gazed at a blindingly white horse and silver-haired woman who smiled at everyone as she entered the village. Tasha didn't recognize her, but she heard everyone talking about her in the crowd.

"It's her! The silver witch! I heard she slew a thousand monsters by herself!"

"I heard she made a dragon bow to her spirit magic!"

"She's so pretty- ugh!"

That last one was cut off as the person's significant other quickly silenced him. Tasha let off a giggle as she gazed at this so-called hero. Her silver hair and wise eyes almost made her believe the tall tales she heard. She excused a calm mind, and despite her wrinkled skin, she was still beautiful in her own way. Her eyes still held that familiar sharpness of youth, and her hands grasped the reigns with the strength that didn't belong to someone her age.

Tasha was someone who had a keen eye, and as such, she didn't forget to notice a small boy about her age riding next to the lady. His eyes quickly averted the crowd, and he seemed to subconsciously scoot closer to that silver-haired lady. He seemed to be pretty shy, but this attitude didn't match his looks. His fiery red hair and eyes screamed aggressively, but his meek downcast face and tucked elbows signified a shy personality. Tasha also couldn't help but notice how handsome he was, but she was certainly not attracted. Not at all. Definitely.

Tasha basically tore her eyes away from that boy and returned her eyes to the silver-haired lady, when suddenly, her father barked at all the people clamoring to get near the hero. William Sendle's voice carried far over the crowd with a boom, probably enhanced with wind magic. Quickly, a path opened up, and she disappeared deeper into the village. Dozens of people followed her but kept a distance as her father set up a perimeter around her so that a path was always available.

Tasha, filled with curiosity about this hero, quickly wiggled her way through the crowd and jumped to her father.

"Hey, didn't I say- oh! Tashy, what are you doing here?"

Tasha felt her cheeks become dyed a crimson red and she threw a punch at his leg.

"Don't call me Tashy! I'm almost fifteen."

Her father hopped on one leg and grinned, obviously faking the pain to satisfy his beloved daughter. If Tasha could so easily harm the chief of security, well, he wouldn't be chief in the first place.

"Ow, don't hit your old man like that!"

William began to walk, keeping in line with the other guards surrounding the hero's carriage. William spoke to Tasha quickly.

"Alright, hurry up and spit it out. Other people will begin to get jealous if I let you stay so close."

Tasha glanced at the crowd of people, who had already begun to grumble at why she was allowed so close. She hasted her words and spoke quickly.

"Who is that lady and boy?"

"Oh, that's the Silver Witch Uano, and the boy said his name was Alden, although he doesn't seem like much of a talker. Now, go on."

"But!"

"Skidaddle, dear. I'll tell you everything you want to know once I finish escorting her in a few minutes."

Tasha sighed, and ran back into the crowd, and quickly found her way home. Once her father returned home, Tasha greedily listened to his story about the silver witch.

"It all went down about 14 years ago when you were just turning one . . . I still remember the fires like it was yesterday . . ."

William Sendle had been 17 at the time, but that didn't stop him from carrying a sword and shield. Back when the village had only just been settled, monster raids were common, but they had seen nothing like this.

William looked on in horror as thousands of monsters poured out from the trees, some tall and bipedal, while others ran on six legs and had multiple heads. It was like the doors of hell had opened, allowing demons of all kinds to race out onto the earth. One creature had long fangs protruding from its mouth like razor blades, and deep crimson red eyes. Its claws gleamed like a white diamond in the sunlight, and its pitch black fur had not a single scratch on it. It was a 4th grade Razor Fanged Wolf, something that could take on the village by itself. It used elemental wind magic to speedily change direction while slashing with its razor-sharp claws and teeth. It was a speed demon of unprecedented strength.

Another creature William could see sprinting towards the village was a Red Horn, a type of goblin that grew to 3 meters tall and often wielded a club of some type. They had thick, red skin which was stronger than hardened leather. They had enormous strength, not because of their muscles, but because of their affinity with Earth. They are stupid, hardheaded creatures, but they are determined. Through the earth element, they can draw up Earth-type spiritual energy, and deliver devasting blows with it. Through this mastery of Earth Empowerment, they are classified as a 4th-grade monster.

These are only two examples, but William spotted at least ten of these high-grade beasts among the thousands of lower grades they came rushing towards the village. William felt his legs shake, despite the various defenses they had built up.

Surrounding the village, was a thick wall of logs with sharpened points at their peaks, and beyond that, a deep trench stretched all around the village. Through these two things, many lesser monsters would find it hard to get into the village at first. This would buy them time to take out the higher grade monsters and hopefully rout the dumb, lower grade ones. That was the strategy that the silver witch had made.

William Sendle was only 17 years old at the time, and as such, he and all the others knew nothing of the silver witch. To them, it was a simple folk tale from the central capital. They knew nothing of what a true Arch Elemental Master could do. After a minute or so, the monsters finally reached the walls, and like a tidal wave, they crashed into the wall. The wall groaned, and many cracks could be heard, but it still held firm. Then, dozens of monsters began to climb over the wall. Many of the lower grades were stuck under the wall, being trampled by the stronger monsters. Normal 8th-grade goblins, 8th-grade grey wolves, and 7th-grade midnight bear's made up these lower-grade monsters.

William and the people beside him fought hard, but many of them had to die to bring down only one of these higher grade monsters. Many of Williams friends who he had eaten with, played with, and grown to know were slaughtered in the blink of an eye, but not in vain. After a minute or so of combat, that's when she arrived. The Silver Witch.

Instantly, the flow of combat changed. The ground underneath all of the higher grade monsters became soft and malleable, causing the heavier monsters to get stuck. With their movement impaired, dozens of arrows began to pelt them from further inside the village. Then, razor-sharp blades of wind hurled forwards, heavily wounding even the toughest of monsters. The red horn, prized for its hardened skin, was bleeding profusely as it struggled to free itself.

Eventually, with many sacrifices, the higher grade monsters began to thin out, eventually leaving only one remaining, the Razor Fanged Wolf. This creature, with its mastery over Wind magic, used condensed winds as footholds so that it wouldn't have to step onto that mud-like surface the Silver Witch Uano had created. It snarled and snapped with its huge fangs, and launched itself towards The Silver Witch with bullet-like speed.

But it never reached its target.

William knew that this person was the only reason they were able to wind until now. Her supporting earth magic and razor winds were the only reason they were able to preserver until now. If she died, it was all over. So, William held his blade in front of him and stood in the beast's way. The beast's chest hid him like a freight train, and one of its claws accidentally tore a huge gash from his left shoulder to his chest, but it was only a glancing blow. This beast was so strong, that a glancing blow, not even intended to hit him, was enough to put him on death's door.

William fell backward, stumbled, and fell unto his back. Despite how he knew he was most likely dead from the beast's claws, he still felt happy. He could hear the death cries of the beast as blades of wind shredded it.

William had knocked it off course and slowed it down enough for Uano to finish it. Just like that, everything faded to black. While he was unconscious, without the higher grade monsters to lead them, the lower grades were quickly dispatched and routed. With the leadership of the silver witch, victory was secured.

Tasha blinked in surprise.

"Wait, how did you die? You're still alive!"

William chuckled at his daughter's panic.

"I didn't die, just fainted. Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like that. But that's what happened, well the general gist of it anyways. She really saved us . . ."

Tasha was awe-inspired as she heard from her father about those high grade beasts.

"Are those beasts still around today? I never knew high-grade monsters lived near us."

"No, no. The central capital sent knights to wipe the forest clean many years ago. Don't worry, those beasts are long gone."

Tasha's father patted his daughter on the shoulder before standing up with a sigh.

"Alright, now head to bed Tasha. Its late."

Tasha nodded absent mindedly, but of course, she was going to do just the opposite. She remembered seeing that red haired boy and the Silver Witch leave town a few minutes ago.