Heir of Nuadha: The Story of Bardox

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Sweat perspired along his brow, his muscles ached from exhaustion – sore from the hours Bardox had remained in the same position continuously summoning barrier spike after barrier spike as Professor J charged at him from all angles. Since leaving with his mentor the morning after becoming a full-fledged milletian in training a month prior, all he had been training day in and day out was how to defend himself against attacks. Something he had learned at an early age from his father – Lennox – was that being an Alchemist, though powerful, left you defenseless when alone which was the reason most alchemists traveled in Guilds, so he wasn't in the least surprised that he was training this first. What did surprise Bardox and bothered him though, was how tedious defense could be. At first when he had started to train his barrier spikes he could see the progress he was making easily, quickly being able to summon two at a time after only two weeks of training – breaking his brother Leymore's record if his memory served him correctly – but now....

Frustration beginning to set in Bardox once more summoned another set of barrier spikes as Professor J launched a torrent of water balls at him, the soggy pellets splattering against his defenses and breaking them as easy as if they were made out of nothing more than paper rather than wood. With a growl he quickly dodged out of the way of his mentor's continuous barrage of attacks and summoned more barrier spikes to protect himself, the pattern continuing long into the day until the sun was high and beginning its decent over the horizon, the warm afternoon hues melting over their clearing and the mentor and student who chased each other in it.

Water splattered along Bardox back as Professor J got him from behind, his barrier spikes spluttering into dust before him. Collapsing to the ground from the impact Bardox laid there for a moment, relishing in the feeling of the damp soft grass against his face and arms, the heat from the day getting into him and causing his breath to grow labored. "Have you grown tired already Bardox?" Professor J's baritone echoed above him from where he lay, his mentor squatting next to him in order to better check his condition.

Not wanting to appear weak before his mentor Bardox struggled to push himself up, getting his shaking arms up from under him – his cylinder digging into his chest – before inevitably crashing back to the ground, a weak, "not in a million years," tumbling off of his tongue even as dots blurred his eyes.

A small smile, so subtle that Bardox would never have noticed it – even if his eyes had been open fully at the moment – crossed over Professor J's features as he let out a breath and composed himself before effortlessly standing back up and straightening his posture, "good, then you will be more than willing to go one more round before we call it a night." Professor J had no doubt in his mind that Bardox would take the bait, the boy showing with each passing day his determination to surpass that of his father and brother, never seeming to quit regardless of how much he ached or grew weary. It impressed him. When he had heard about the youngest son of the great Lennox considering becoming an alchemist once graduating into a milletian he had rolled his eyes and scoffed, seeing nothing more than a brat trying to outrun an enormous shadow that he could never hope to surpass within his mind. Upon further research on the boy though that view had changed. While Lennox was gifted in alchemy – a true hero of his time – and Leymore was born with nothing more than natural talent, Bardox was different. He had more of his mother in him then his father. A fire lit his eyes and with every move he made there was an air of defiance that spoke volumes, as if he dared anyone to even suggest that he couldn't do something, and relished in proving them wrong. Pushing himself to not be a carbon copy of another but rather make another wish to copy him instead.

Watching as Bardox once more pushed himself off of the damp earth Professor J knew without a doubt in his mind that this young man would be perfect for what he had in mind. There wasn't many milletians who were determined enough to be able to do what he planned to teach Bardox, many would scoff and never even give the thought the time of day, brushing it off as an unfathomable possibility. Bardox was not one of those, and once he proved himself, Professor J would be ready to let him in on his plan and would truly teach him how to become the strongest alchemist that had ever lived.