(very old) the Seals of Elements (discontinued for now)

[Chapter 42]

---Hunter---

The following days Ayra just either ignored me or avoided me as much she could.
I decided not to dwell on it and spent most of my time in my room or the treehouse, together with Jade.
The day after I had removed the spell, I decided to try out the anti-illusion enchantment that Jade had found.
With the help of Alexander, I managed to get the spell in place and got it working.
Well, I hoped it was working.
I wanted to test it together with Kenji, but he was busy with training Ayra, and I didn't want to disturb them after what I had done, so I didn't really know.
Now, after three days, it was almost time to leave.
With a sharp gasp, I opened my eyes.
I had been practising Astral Projection with Aphelion and Alexander.
You're getting better at this. I think that you will be able to Project yourself without the help of Aphelion soon. Alexander said.
Thanks. I replied. It indeed gets easier every time.
Jade sat in front of me, looking at me curiously.
She was with me with most of my training.
Laying next to me was Alfa.
"How did it go?" Jade asked.
"Great." I said, scratching Alfa behind his ear.
Jade stood up and held out her hand.
I grabbed it and she pulled me up,
"Tomorrow we leave, right?" I asked.
She sighed and said, "We do. Is Ayra still ignoring you?"
I nodded. "She still does, yes. But can you blame her? At least she has Kenji to look after her."
We both climbed out of the tree and started walking through the garden.
Alfa appeared out of one of the shadows and followed us.
After some time we had reached the end of the garden and Jade stopped.
"Do you want to spar with me?"
I also stopped. "Shure. Why?"
She looked down. "I have been neglecting my Shapeshifting and Battle magic. Since we are going on a journey tomorrow I want to shape up a little."
"Okay, then go change. I will see you at the training grounds."

================================
---Jade---

I arrived at the training ground after I had changed into my battle gear.
Hunter was already waiting on me.
He was wearing his usual armor. with those strange shoes of his.
In his hand was Shadow-Cleaver.
I looked at his eyes and I saw an unusual glistering.
"Hunter?" I asked carefully.
He blinked a couple of times and then looked at me.
"Yes?" He said.
"Are you okay? Your eyes were all weird."
"Realy? I was just having a conversation with Alexander."
"About what?" I asked, now curious.
Hunter started grinning like a madman.
"Oh, nothing important. Just get ready."
Before I could react, a rock came at me.
I managed to create a flimsy shield, but it flickered out and the rock hit me in my chest, knocking me to the ground.
"You wasn't lying when you said you have been neglecting your Battle magic." Hunter said laughing.
Instead of getting back up, I focused, and with a flash of light, I turned into a mouse, quickly scuttling away behind a barrel.
"Oh, so we're going to play hide and seek ey? Fine with me." Hunter said.
The barrel I was hiding behind started to shake.
Oh no. I thought.
The barrel exploded and water washed over me.
In fear of drowning, I turned back into a human.
"Dude!" I shouted. "Are you trying to kill me or something?"
He laughed. "You said that you wanted to spar. So why not take it seriously?"
I just grunted and summoned some projectiles and sent them his way.
He, however, raised his hand and a tile came loose, hovering in front of him like a shield.
After the projectiles had hit, he pushed his hand forward and the tile came hurling at me.
I managed to create another shield and to stop the tile from hitting me.
Then came the fire.
Just a constant barrage of fireballs, with no remorse.
 I struggled to keep my shield up.
Sweat trickled down from my forehead.
Then I got an idea.
I pushed my shield forward and turned into a ferret.
Dashing forward, I dodged his attacks.
When I got close to him, I skitted between his legs and changed back into a human.
Before he could react, I hit him with a blast of raw magic, knocking him to the floor.
I summoned a sword and pressed it against his back.
"I think I win." I said.
"No, you don't." He retorted.
All of a sudden I was knocked back by a blast of gold light.
I landed on my back and before I knew it Shadow-Cleaver was pressed against my throat.
"I win." Hunter said smugly.
I sighed. "Fine. I give in. But how did you do that?"
He laughed and put Shadow-Cleaver away.
"It's called Magnus's Grace. I did it once before, but I never tried to do it again. That was what Alexander and I were talking about. He told me how to use it properly."
He held out his hand and helped me up.
I looked up to the sky.
"It's getting late. We should go and take some rest. We have a long voyage ahead of us."

The next morning we all met at the entrance gate of the palace.
Ayra still ignored Hunter, but he didn't seem to bother anymore.
He grabbed Kenji by both shoulders and said, "Stay on the road, and please don't do anything stupid."
Then he took an envelope out of one of his pockets and gave it to Kenji. "Can you give this to Arrogon? It is rather important."
Kenji nodded and put the envelope away.
He then turned around and left together with Ayra.
After that, we got into the carriage that would take us to the Atlantean outpost from where we would take a ship to Atlantis.