Lee was shocked that he was going to need to duel the old wizard. He asked “Well if we are going to duel what are the rules?”

The old man smiled. “Well, let’s just say the rules are the same you’re likely to get from a real opponent”

Before Lee could say anything else the old man fired a water spell that knocked him off his feet. Lee grabbed his chest and yelled up “that hurt! I wasn’t ready”.

The old man said “Oh, I’m sorry. Why don’t you get up, clean yourself off and tell me when you’re ready?” Right as Lee was getting up the old man shot another attack. Lee used wind magic to block it and quickly got to his feet.

“That was a dirty trick!” Lee said

The old man laughed back “Oh please young River, I’m holding back a great deal. Keep in mind when you face a real opponent they will not be so polite or wait for you to be ready”. He shot multiple water attacks at Lee. Lee blocked 2 and dodged the other.

The old man commented “that training with your young friend has made you pretty nimble. That is uncommon for wizards. You should keep that in mind”. The old man shot a few more spells and Lee was unable to evade or block them all this time.

Lee was on the ground again clutching his stomach. “This is unfair! When you shoot so many it’s impossible for me to block or dodge them all”.

The old man asked “what is it you told me you liked wind magic so much? You said you wanted the ability to use it to move around quickly. As you read in those books, when it comes to blocking, wind is one of the worst forms of magic. But, if you’re able to use it to help you move, you should be able to dodge these attacks with ease.

He shot a few more water spells at river. The old man intentionally used water because it was easy to see and he could control how hard the impact was. It was ideal for teaching defense.

Lee tried to use wind magic to dodge the attacks but failed to control it properly. He lost his balance and tumbled on the ground. The old man said “if you use too much power you might end up hurting yourself. Was all that control and speed training I taught you for nothing brat?”

The old man fired again. This time Lee was able to evade it; he knocked himself a little off balance but stayed on his feet. The spar went on for about 10 minutes. The old man said “we’re done for today. You did well for your first time”.

River kept his guard up “how do I know this isn’t a trick?”

The old man answered “It would be counterproductive to have you worried about a sneak attack while we train other things. You can trust me that we will have no more sparring today. I’m disappointed you never tried to counter attack though. Be sure to come up with an attack plan tomorrow”.

River could tell the old man was telling the truth so let his guard down. He walked up to Lee and said “I’ve taught you a lot on how to be a wizard; but I want you to keep something in mind. While what I teach you is correct, it is up to you to make it your own. As you continue down this path, you will learn you need to find your own style to fit your unique strengths”.

Lee asked the old man “what are my strengths?”

The old man laughed “that’s something you should know better than I. To name one, I’d say the fact you’re learning martial arts. Most wizards will find a mix martial arts and magic hard to deal with. I myself have almost entirely focused on magic, my martial arts skill novice at best. You keep your ability to fight in mind as you face opponents”.

They continued with their usual training the rest of the day. The old wizard watched over Lee’s progress with a growing pride. Most youngsters would complain about the endless repetition of fundaments but Lee did them whole heartedly and with effort. Even if his talent was 3rd rate his work ethic was second to none.

The old man thought of his past experiences with magic. Though he reached great heights he felt it was delayed because of weak fundamentals. Due to his amazing natural talent he was able to make up for it and even as an adult get great results, but he was a rare exception.

For most wizards you’re stuck with the fundamentals you’ve cultivated in your youth. Though the old wizard was unsure of an exact age where training them becomes nearly pointless; he would guess once you get past the early 20s your body’s fundaments are engraved and will not easily change.

The old man had learned well from his past mistakes and developed what he was sure, would be the best methods for training young wizards. Lee was receiving that instruction. Though Lee may lag behind other young wizards for now in terms of raw magical power as he grew he would eventually reach heights that would leave them all in dust. Well, almost all other wizards. This was not his first student after all.

He only now realized he was sad to have not seen many of them for so long. He now knew in his heart Lee would be his final student, and this time he made sure to know his young students heart well. He made sure there was no evil in it. He hoped Lee and others he had trained would pass his teachings on to other worthy students after he was gone.

Of course he was in no hurry to go just yet. He knew before he left this world he had past mistakes to correct. If it was the last thing he ever did he would be sure it was done. The old man was pulled out of his thoughts by Lee “it’s getting dark now. I need to go home but I’ll be back tomorrow. This time I’ll have a plan ready for our spar, you just wait!”

The old man laughed “we’ll see about that young brat”.

Sparring became part of their regular training. The old man believed in a practical approach to teaching and if one must ever use magic to fight, the best way to prepare was to practicing dueling over and over again. As time when on Lee developed more techniques which were entirely his own. He also incorporated more martial arts into his dueling.

As weeks turns to months and months to years he continued to evolve his techniques. He learned to cast spells nearly as fast as the old man. His control over his magic increased and he was even able control some of his spells in the air. The more powerful the spell the harder it is to control once released but being able to control even fairly simple and weak magic isn’t easy.

The old man emphasized using magic in creative ways. He trained Lee on how to sense the magic in others so attacks there were unseen could be dodged or blocked. The old man stressed how important this skill was. He said “remember, even with unremarkable magic, if you’re caught off guard it can be deadly”.

Lee felt a little bad the old man never directly taught Alura but she didn’t complain about it. She was happy to learn by Lee teaching her as she taught him how to fight. Though she liked learning about magic her passion was more in hand to hand combat. The years that went by were a happy time for Lee, Alura, the old man and Lee’s family.

*****

Lee woke up on his 14th birthday. After getting ready he headed down stairs to meet his mother and father.

Lee’s father said “happy birthday. You’re growing up so fast; it seems only yesterday that you use to sit on my knee”

Lee’s mother said “happy birthday sweetie, we’re making your favorite again, boar stew. It will be ready later tonight and you’re teacher and Alura are coming over as well to celebrate”. As she hugged him she noticed this was the first birthday Lee would be taller than her. Yes it was only by maybe an inch, but still she was sad her baby boy was growing up.

Lee asked his father “do you want me to help you with the farm work today?”

Lee father said “no, take the day off and go meet your friend. Actually, I’m going to give you 3 silver coins to go into town and have some fun”.

Lee hesitated saying “father, I don’t think we can afford that. Getting the day off is already more than enough of a gift. Add the boar stew on top of it and I couldn’t ask for anymore”.

Lee’s father brushed the comment aside and placed the money in his hand “its fine Lee. You don’t get to go into town to have fun very often. Usually whenever you go it’s delivering something or picking it up. The farm is doing well now. We are fully out of debt and have been for a while. Now go enjoy yourself. You’re only young once”.

After a little more convincing Lee agreed to take the money and to use it to have a fun day on the town. Before Lee left his mother asked him “by the way Lee, we’re curious. How are you and Alura getting along these days?”

Lee was confused “we’re getting along great of course. She’s my best friend after all. Why do you ask?”

Lee’s mother went to sit with her husband at the table “No reason, be sure to have fun and take her with you too. It’s more fun to go with someone else after all, right?”

Lee agreed, of course it was more fun to go into town and have fun with a friend rather than alone. Knowing she would be coming over for dinner he said to his parents “remember, she doesn’t like to be called Alura in person. Stick with Al or Allie”. Lee left the house to go to the stream.

Lee’s father said to his wife “he sure isn’t very perceptive when it comes to the ladies is he?”

She raised her eyebrows at his comment “look who’s talking” and sipped from her glass.

Knowing today was Lee’s birthday and he’d get the day off, Alura agreed to meet him in the morning instead of after Lunch. They still met each other near the stream where they first met. It was a natural half point between their 2 houses.

Alura was there early in her usual clothes but was holding a bag she had brought with her. When Lee came she waved to him. “Hello Lee, happy birthday!”

Lee answered back “Hello Al, so what’s in the bag? I thought we agreed not to give each other presents on our birthdays?”

Alura said “oh, that’s for later. Anyway, you’re parents told me they wanted to you go and have fun in town so I brought something along for that. Still, I want to keep our tradition of a daily sparring match alive before we go, if that’s okay with you?”

Lee said “Sure, I’ve gotten close to beating you a few time recently. You better watch out today!”.

She laughed “Big talk for a man who has never won even once! You’ve gotten close a few times recently just cause of luck and you know it!” She put the bag on the ground and stepped into the open field. They squared off against each other and took their stances.

Its true Lee had gotten close to defeating her numerous times; increasingly so over the past six months. They never thought about it much, but the reason why was clear. Lee was growing bigger and developing more muscle. Alura had grown too but Lee was starting to outpace her. She found she had to be much more careful with all her holds or he would counter them and over power her.

She was still the more skilled of the 2 and that was a gap that might never close. She had trained since she was 3 by some of the best fighters in the entire continent. But Lee had been trained by her for 6 years now and was clearly highly skilled too. His execution was only slightly worse than hers. But his weight and strength advantage had grown. He easily had 10 pounds of muscle more at this point.

Alura tried to strike him but couldn’t get through his defense. The strikes that did hit where not clean and she felt he was able to brush off the comparatively weak attacks. She saw him over extend trying to get a hold on her and countered it. She took him to the ground to try to lock her hold in and force him to give up. She pulled hard with all her might but she couldn’t get it fully locked in place.

He knew what she was up to and fought with all his might. He was in a worse position than her and she had used her superior skills to get him there. She would not let him escape easily. She felt him start to give just a bit. Right when she thought she was about to win she felt him trying to break her hold.

Even being in a better position she felt her grip on him loosening. He was turning on the ground making it hard for her to keep her hold. She felt a great surge of strength from him and he was free and putting her in a lock of his own. She tried to get away but being on the ground she didn’t have the mobility.

She attempted to counter him but on the ground she could move liked she wanted. This reminded her of the same feeling she felt when training with her father. The force being used was just too strong and her arms and body could not resist. She felt it lock it. She tried to escape but the hold was tight and expertly done. One of her arms was now pinned and the other was in a useless position to do anything.

She tried to generate power from her hips but on the ground with his weight on her it was meaningless. She couldn’t break the hold. Her face turned red in anger “let me go!”

Lee said “then you give up?”

Alura said “I’m not admitting to anything. Now let me go!”

Lee laughed and said “come on, don’t be like this. This is the first time I beat you. Can’t you give me some credit or at least admit defeat this once?”

She turned her head away from him and said nothing. Lee saw a strange red blush appear on her face he didn’t understand. He felt like it would be best just to let her up though even if she didn’t want to admit he won. He released her stood up offering her a hand.

She took it but didn’t look at him. She turned away from him started kicking up clumps of grass and rocks. Lee said “come on don’t be a sore loser. How many times have you beaten me? Look, we all have to lose sometime don’t we?”

She turned to him and said “don’t think this changes anything! I’ll beat you next time for sure!” Lee thought she would with a look that determined. She stared at the stream silently for a long time. “Do you remember the first time we met and I protected you from those bullies?”

Lee said “of course I do. I’ll always remember that day. You really helped me out. I’m sad I got picked on, but seeing how it was able to make the 2 of us friends, I’d say it was worth it”.

She smiled at that. “You’ve changed a lot since then. I thought you were the weakness kid I’ve ever seen, but look at you now. You managed to even beat me. You’ve gotten strong Lee”.

Lee smiled “it’s all thanks to your training.”

Alura was quiet for a while and said “So you agreed you’ve changed... Do you think I’ve changed too?”

Lee looked at Alura. She had gotten taller. Lee remembered when she had shorter hair like most boys, but she grew it out over the past few years and now in a ponytail it fell below her neck. Her green eyes were always eye catching. He also noticed she was starting to get more feminine curves too. Not that he really cared. She was like a sister to him after all. But he had to admit a lot of boys his aged did stop to look at her now.

Lee said “Yeah, you’ve definitely changed a lot too. You’re really starting to more look grown up Al”.

She smiled as he said that “You know Lee, it’s okay if you call me Alura, but just you. To everyone else it’s Allie”.

Lee asked “when did you stop wanting to be called Al?”

She laughed “that was a while ago. You’re the only one who still did it”.

Lee wasn’t aware of when that started to happen. He said “Okay, Alura it is then”.

Alura turned to Lee with a slight redness in her cheeks “Lee, if you get stronger than me then you need to promise to protect me alright?”

Lee was taken aback by this. He always knew her as someone who would hate others to protect her. Still he needed to answered “of course I’d protect you. You know that!”

She walked up to him, now less than a foot from his face “No matter what?”

Lee was confused by this but said “Of course, no matter what”. She blushed and turned away. Lee asked “are you feeling okay? I thought you always wanted to be the type to protect yourself”.

She laughed and gave a shy innocent look. “Well, I guess I’d be okay being protected, if it was you”.

She picked up her bag and said “well, we had our match, now let’s go into town. Your treat right?”

Lee said “Yeah my treat, I know you aren’t the type to pay if you don’t have to.” He teased

She laughed and said “Well, I don’t mind being paid for as long as it’s… well, I anyone I guess” she teased.