“I did it!”-Rachel's sudden shout made me look up from my smartwatch.

“Mm? Great! Congratulations.”-I smiled at her.

She was constantly turning around as if looking at something hovering around her. That should be the elemental she contracted.

We’ve been waiting for like two hours or so, and she finally could contract with an elemental, which in all honesty, it’s pretty fast. Not many elementalists can make a contract in under a day.

“It was all thanks to you… I didn’t know if this would really work… But it did! I really made a contract with an elemental!”-She exclaimed with a big smile on her face.

“Haha… I told you. You already had the affinity, and thanks to adapting your mana to Natural Energy, it was just a thing of time for you to actually make a contract with your first elemental.”

“Yes!”-She was still looking around her.

{It’s somehow sad that I can look at them directly…}-I thought to myself.

Elementals being spirituals beings, they’re hard to see without being in a contract with them. So, unless you have special eyes, it’s almost impossible to look at them, and while my eyes can normally see them, right now they’re limited, so I can’t look at them.

“So? What kind of elemental is it?”-I ask her.

“Um… It’s… It’s a fire elemental… I think?”-She says.

“Mm? What do you mean with you think?”

“I mean… I somehow feel it is a fire elemental… But its color is weird…”-She said while frowning.

“Just why don’t you ask it? It should be possible for you to communicate with it, right?”-I tilt my head.

“Right… Mm… What… What elemental are you… sir?”-She asks.

“Hahahaha!”-I just couldn’t stop but laugh at her.

“W-what!?”-Which made her blush.

“You don’t have to actually talk to them… You’re both connected. Just send it your thoughts, like some kind of mental communication.”-I shrugged.

“Oh… Mm? Right… Ah! Okay…”-She started talking again to the air. “I-it says that it is true… That what you say is true…”

“I know I’m right.” I chuckled a little. “Though why are you still trying to speak to it as you would to some other person?”

“Can’t I?”-She suddenly asks.

“I mean… It’s not like you can’t… No one says that’s wrong… But why would you warn your enemies when talking to your elementals? It’s like shouting, ‘Hey! My elemental is going to do this next!’, it would be just weird, you know?”-I shrugged.

“Oh… Right… I guess I understand what you mean…”-She nodded, before looking at some point in the air and frowning as if focusing too much.

{Is she trying to send her thoughts? Haha… That looks freaking cute…}-I said, chuckling to myself.

“So?”

“Um… It… She says that she’s a fire elemental… But a special one…”-Rachel says, still frowning. “Her flames are kind of… Stronger? Or so she says…”

“Huh?”-I frown. “What’s her color like?”-I tilt my head.

“… It’s not red… Maybe more like a crimson? Like a really strong crimson… But still kind of brilliant…”

“…”-I looked at her dumbfounded. “What the heck…?”

“Is it something bad…?”-She asked me, before turning to look at what I supposed is her elemental. “What… Do you mean? Um… She says that there’s no way she’s something bad…”

“I mean…”-I still looked at her in confusion. “It’s not bad per se… But it’s really weird…”

“What do you mean?”-Rachel asks once again. “I’m not really understanding anything here…”

“Look here.”-I raised my hand, and from my palm, a normal fire started burning. “This here, is a normal fire, right? You can actually see it everywhere.”

“…”-Rachel nodded.

“Then… You have this.”-The fire over my palm changed its color and turned into a crimson flame that looked pretty much like blood with how intense the color was. “This here, it’s not the same flame. It’s stronger and far more dangerous than a normal flame. If what you say is true, that elemental of yours is made of this fire. Which makes her quite a rarity, to be honest.”

“Wow…”-She looked at the flame in awe, before suddenly looking beside it. “T-the elemental… She’s beside your flame… She’s… Whispering something…”

“Mm… I guess I’m right then…”-I frown while extinguishing the flame.

“Um… Is there a problem…?”-Rachel asked with a worried face. “Also… She… She is asking you to summon that flame again…”

“*snort…* As if I’ll do as she pleases.”-I invoked new flames, but this time, it was Spirit Fire. The ghostly blue fire burned over my palm, and Rachel's eyes suddenly widened and quickly followed something in the air, before looking over her shoulder with a weirded face.

“Um… Can I ask… What’s that fire…? She’s quite scared…”

“Don’t worry too much. Just teaching a little feisty elemental how to have manners.”-I smirked. I may not be able to see them now. But that doesn’t mean I can’t scare them or even kill them. Targeting everything around me with Spirit Fire should be enough to kill any elemental that is surrounding me, after all, they’re spiritual beings, and if there’s something that Spirit Fire can burn quite easily, are spiritual beings.

“So… Going back to the topic.”-I extinguished the fire. “What you have there is a special elemental. It’s quite a powerful one, in all honesty, it’s weird that someone that’s just contracting her first elemental could contract with one like that.”-I shrugged. “The fire that she commands is commonly called Blood Fire, for its color mostly, some people also call it Evil Fire, Demonic Fire, Hell’s Fire, and whatever bad term they think about it.”

“Is it… Evil then…?”-Rachel said, before looking behind her again. “Um… She says she’s not evil…”

“Well, she’s right. Elementals aren’t to be considered evil, nor good, they’re mostly neutral, like nature itself. But the crimson fire that she commands is indeed quite terrifying, as it burns faster than a normal fire, and is even harder to put off. Normal water would just evaporate in contact with it, and that gave humans the belief that it is an evil fire made to destroy and annihilate, comparing it to hell’s flames.”

“And… Is it true…?”-Rachel asks.

“Nah. Not at all… As I was saying. It’s just a powerful version of the fire element. Like an upgrade, if you will. Normal fire is already quite the uncontrollable element, imagine it being stronger. It’s easier for people to think badly of it. And well, Hell’s flames are quite more dangerous.”

“Uh… You sound as if you’ve seen them…”

“Hell’s flames? Mm… Let’s say yes to that. But I’m not going to talk about it. Now. It’s time for us to start your training.”-I stood up, stretching.

“Training? Do you mean…”-She started.

“Exactly. I’m now going to teach you how to use your elemental effectively.”-I smiled at her. “This won’t be easy. That’s for sure. But you already have most of the work done. You have an elemental with you. Now it’s just a thing about how to train with it.”

“All right. I’m ready.”-Rachel said with a clenched fist and a determined look, as if ready to start training.

“Nice. Then. Sit again cross-legged.”

“Huh? But I thought I was going to learn-”

“I know.”-I interrupted her. “But how do you expect to control fire when you’re not able to control Natural Energy. I told you before, you’ll need to use your elemental as a proxy, as a nexus for you to control that energy. And for that, you need to learn how to connect with it first.”

“Oh… I thought I could start fighting already…”-She said while pouting.

“*chuckle* Relax… You’ll be able to soon enough. At least you’ll be able to do some basic stuff by the end of the week. After that it’s just developing your abilities.”-I shrugged.

“Okay.”-She nodded and then sat cross-legged.

“Perfect. Now, relax, let your mana flow, and start breathing. Just like when you did before to contact the elementals, you need to connect yourself with your contracted elemental. You need to let her energy flow through you, mixing it with your mana. Breath in, and then let it out.”

“…”-Rachel started breathing.

“Remember. Don’t force it. Let the energy flow freely inside of you as if it was your own. Let it permeate each cell in your body, let it flow with your own mana. It’s not your enemy, it’s your closest ally now.”

The training went for two hours, but I had some other place to be so we had to stop it. The good part is, that Rachel radiated fire energy by the end of her training, still in an unconscious way, but it was already a great step, as she’s slowly accepting her elemental’s energy into her body, with time, that energy would increase inside her, and fire would become just like another limb to her, one she can control freely thanks to elemental.

{I guess it didn’t go bad at all, having contracted such a powerful elemental in her first try, that’s good for her…}

***

After training with Rachel, we both said our goodbyes and as usual, I went towards Cube's training center. I had my own training to do and also train with Olivia, who I basically left out since Friday.

“She’ll sure be pissed… *sigh…* I hope she doesn’t get too bothersome.”-I said while walking inside the training center.

“Wow! Look who it is! You finally decided to come? I thought I wouldn’t see you at all after this weekend…”-Olivia welcomed me into the place in her usual tone.

“Knock it off… I told you I would be occupied this weekend, right? It was not a surprise for you.”-I kept walking to our usual training place. Under the looks of all the students that were trying their hardest to train for the finals. Including Hajin, who was far out in the corner lifting some weight while getting all red.

{At least he has increased the weight he can lift a lot… Maybe I’ll drag him someday to the gravity chamber.}-I thought after glancing at him.

“Yes… But still. You could at least answer my texts… I’ve been texting you all day.”-She said while following me with a frown.

“Oh, come on. We were going to see each other during training as usual. Besides, I had some things to do.”-I shrugged.

“Training Rachel? Still?”-She asked while lifting her eyebrow.

“Yeah. It’s until next week, you know? I got paid for a month of training. That’s what I’m giving her.”

“It’s not fair… I’ve been asking you so long to train me… And you train her since the first time she asks for it?”-She pouts.

“Well, let’s be honest here.”-We enter the gravity chamber. “I told you since the first day you started pestering me that money was a faster way to convince me to train you. You didn’t listen to me.”

“Come on! I’m not rich… I don’t have money to pay you…”

“So? What’s the point then? I’m already training you. For free. And you’ve beaten yourself, going far over what you thought was possible for you, right? That’s like a plus in all of what you did.”-I shrugged before starting the gravity chamber.

“*sigh…* I hate you…”-She deflated herself with that sigh.

“*chuckle* There’s always the choice to leave, you know?”-I smirk at her.

“And waste all that effort? Hell no! I’m going to suck you dry while training! I’ll make each second of the hell I went through for that bet worth a ton!”-She shouted.

“You do know that those words can be misunderstood, right?”-I lift my eyebrow.

“Huh…? Well… It’s not like someone else is listening, right? Or what? Did you get excited or something? You already rejected that possibility. So, don’t go thinking about it now!”-She smirked.

“Pfft… As if I needed it. Idiot. Come on. Let’s start.”-I went to the circle at the center of the place.

“Hey… Are you able to train with that arm?”

“This? No problem at all. Don’t worry about it.”

“But… I’m quite curious. Who could do that to you…? I can’t even imagine it…”

“Well, I’m not invincible, you know? There are a lot of ways to defeat me.”-I shrugged. {For now, at least…}

If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m quite limited. This place would be just like a playground for me, with Baal being like a little kindergarten child trying to be the king of the playground.

“If you say so…”-She just said.

We then started training, and right after training her, I started training myself, which was kind of hard without my left arm. Not like it really stopped me from training.

After that, it was just the same as usual, helping both Hajin and Olivia restore their energy, and then back to my room to sleep.

I could take the bandages on Tuesday, and the rest of the week was pretty much the same as Monday. It was morning energy training, then classes, training Rachel, and ending the day with training in the gravity chamber and training Olivia.

Of course, what did change was Tuesday and Thursday. As I agreed with Angelica, we met after classes, and went towards Seoul, where we… Let’s say… Had a little cardiovascular training.

I’m not going to lie. She was a fantastic-looking woman, and more so naked. I was truly surprised when she first undressed in front of me. That day, I almost got late for my appointment with Rachel. We also decided that both free days and once she’s out of work on Saturday and Sunday would be perfect days for us to meet.

{For the moments… It seems she’s under control… So, I guess everything’s fine, I’ll just be a little bit cautious.}-I thought while waiting for magic classes to end, during these classes I just stay on my seat while drawing random stuff on my notebook, it’s not like I’m great at it, I actually suck at drawing, but it is somehow distracting or relaxing to just draw lines and see what the hell comes out of it, like buildings, houses or stuff with weird shapes that doesn’t have any kind of definition.

“Mm?”-I felt someone nudging at me. It was Hajin. “What?”

“The teacher’s been glaring at you since a few moments ago when he noticed you are not paying attention to classes.”-He whispers to me.

“So? I don’t think he’s going to do anything to me. Unless he wants to get another humiliation.”-I shrugged, while focusing once again on my book.

“Dude… You’ll force him to turn into a Djinn if you keep doing that…”

“Let him. It’s not like I care.”-I kept drawing. “Now, let me finish my Mona Lisa.”-I said to him while drawing a few more random lines.

“…”-Hajin’s stare was focused on the drawing. “Mona… Lisa…? That’s… You know what…? Sure… I’m already seeing the smile… Somewhere… Around there…”

“Right? I knew I had a talent for this.”-I smirked while doing more random lines.

For the record, the prick was trying to teach us how to make magic circles once the magic power is outside our body, he had a smug face plastered all over his head, but he was only doing basic spells, and even then, he had to wait like two seconds for the magic circle to form.

{I don’t even know what he’s so proud about…}-I thought to myself.

For the rest of the classes, I just made lines on my notebook, until it was finally time to leave.

Going outside of classes, I went with Hajin towards the Archery Range. Today was his bet with Chae Nayun.

“Hey, are you sure about this?”-I asked while texting something in my smartwatch.

“Mm? About what?”- Hajin asked back.

“About humiliating her in front of so many people.”-I said while looking around at the number of people that’s been going towards the same place as us.

“Mm? I didn’t think you would be worried about her, or something.”-He gave me an awkward smile.

“Huh? I’m not.”-I turned to look at him. “I’m just curious why would you go out of your way to do this when you criticized me for doing what I did with Jonghak.”

“It’s different, okay!? I’m not about to smash her completely on the floor with my bare fist while laughing like a maniac!”-He retorted. “I’m just winning an archery competition! That’s all…”

“Jeez, relax man.”

*Vrr... Vrr…*

“Oh.”-I looked at my smartwatch, only to find a picture of Angelica in our chat, she was dressed in her work’s uniform, while pulling her shirt to show me her boobs, which had quite the sexy lingerie. “…”-I didn’t know what to say, but just appreciate it.

“W-what!?”-Hajin’s shout woke me up.

{Oh, right…}

“Dude!? What happened there!? I thought you talked to her!”-He asked.

“I did… But when I clarified things and told her that I wasn’t looking for a formal relationship and that it was better for us to go our separates ways… Well… She told me that we could just be in an informal relationship… Just sex and no emotions attached.”-I shrugged. While answering her.

“…”-Hajin had his mouth opened. “And you accepted that?”

“…”-I just scratched the back of my head. “It wasn’t a bad offer… You know…?”

“She’s crazy. Like REALLY crazy! This isn’t going to end up well.”

“Nah, relax, we’ve had sex two times already, and she’s good. Nothing has happened to her. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I’m telling you… This isn’t going to end up well… You should stop it before it gets too late.”

“Relax. I have it under control.”-I shrugged.

*Vrr… Vrr…*

“Um? Oh, nice!”-I said while looking at the text.

[Olivia: Hey, I got the popcorn! Going to the Archery Range ASAP!]

“What? Another pic?”-Hajin asked exasperatedly.

“Nah, nothing of the sort.”-I smirked while answering Olivia.

[Cristopher: Perfect! I got the drinks with me. I’m walking with Hajin towards the place. I’ll save you a spot.]

“…”-Hajin looked at me dumbfounded. “Just… Why…?”

“Mm? Why what?”-I asked him.

“You two are usually in an explosive relationship, why the heck are you so coordinated today!?”

“Dude. There’s a show. Of course, we would like to bring drinks and stuff.”

“*sigh…* Forget it… I didn’t ask anything…”-Hajin raised his arms.

“Oh sure. By the way, I’ll need your help with something.”-I told him already inside the Archery Range.

Looking around, the place was filled to the brim. There were too many cadets here. It was even hard to find a good spot among the big number of cadets.

“Mm? What is it? Can it wait after the bet?”-He turned to look at me, among the jeering from some of the cadets.

“Nah, has to be before.”-I took a bag from inside my backpack, it was a thermal bag. “Can you please cool this down with your stigma?”-I gave it to him.

“Huh?”-He looked inside and found a few cans of beers and some cola. “You’re using me like a refrigerator…?”

“Oh, come on! They’ve been in my back all day… That thermal bag doesn’t make miracles.”

“*sigh…* Fine…”-He said while focusing his stigma’s magic into the bag, cooling down the cans of beers and cola. “There you have it… I’ll be leaving then.”-He gave me the bag and went towards the spot from where the archers shoot.

“What the heck took you so long!?”-Chae Nayun said while frowning.

“Sorry, got distracted on the way here. So? What are the rules?”-He answered.

I then went towards the best spots I could find, which was actually at the fourth row of seats, almost at the end.

“Shit… I should’ve come sooner.”-I murmured.

*Vrr… Vrr…*

[Olivia: I’m here, where are you?]

[Cristopher: Fourth row. Left-most seats.]

[Olivia: …]

After a little while, Olivia got to our seats.

“Why so far away?”-She asked me while sitting. She had a few bags of food and one big popcorn bowl.

“Weren’t there two bowls?”-I ask. “And when I got here everything was full already”-I shrugged while putting the drinks down and taking the bowl from her.

“No, but we can share, this is enough for us both. And I also brought a few sweets, chocolates, junk food, and even two burgers. I think we’re covered with food.”-She said while rummaging through the big bag she was carrying.

“Wow. I didn’t think you would bring so much. And even chocolate! Nicely done! I’ll teach you a good technique later.”

“…”-She looked at me. “I should give you more chocolate later, maybe that way you’ll end up teaching me everything you know.”

“*snort* Good luck. You wouldn’t even be able to learn half of them.”-I then opened the thermal bag. “Beer or cola? I bought these beers from Prague, I have Staropramen, Svijany, Kozel y Urquell.”-I said while rummaging through the drinks.

“What are those names?”-She asked while lifting an eyebrow.

“Beers. I didn’t know what to buy there, so I just went with a little bit of each, they were good. I loved the Kozel one though.”-I shrugged.

“Mm… Give me that one to taste it.”-She said.

“Sure. Here.”-I took one Kozel and gave it to her while taking one Svijany for me.

“Wow… They’re freaking cold. How did you keep them cold with just that bag?”

“This bag is insanely good with keeping things cool. That’s why I bought it on my way back from Prague. The attendant at the liquor store told me it was a great product.”

“Um… Hi?”-Suddenly a voice interrupted us. It was Kim Suho, who was sitting in front of us with Yi Yeonghan, Yoo Yeonha, and some other cadets from our class and other classes.

“‘Supp? Is there a problem?”-I asked while opening the beer.

“You see… The competition is about to start… And you’re making too much noise.”-He said.

“Mm? Really?”-I looked at the spot where Hajin and Chae Nayun were talking. And indeed. They already in position and it seems like they were going to start soon. “Oh, you’re right!”

“It’s starting!?”-Olivia raised her head from looking at the bag of food, giving me a chocolate snack, while taking some kind of junk food for her. “Why didn’t you tell us before!? Argh! I almost lose the show!”-She said, making the guys down frown.

“This isn’t a show…”

“Huh? What the fuck are you talking about? Don’t you see everyone here? This is pretty much a freaking show. I could start making bets here and people would just start paying.”

“That’s a great idea!”-Olivia said.

“Hush! It’s starting! There’s no time to prepare.”-I said while pointing at the range where Nayun and Hajin were standing.

“Oh! That could be easy money…”-Olivia sighed dramatically.

“*sigh…* You guys…”-Kim Suho frowned after sighing.

“It’s starting, man, ignore it.”-Yi Yeonghan tried to distract Kim Suho’s attention.