The White Mage

Chapter 5

When I returned, I found Eren asleep. I sighed and shook my head. Pulling the covers over him, I watched his face. I hesitantly placed my hand on his head. His hair was surprisingly soft. I kissed his forehead and went to my bed.

"I don't believe I've ever seen you this way."

"Hush, Book."

I quietly removed my boots and laid down.

*****
"White, wake up!"

"What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

"That's a reasonable time."

I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to tame it. I looked over at Eren's bed, but he wasn't there. I threw my covers off, jumping out of the bed. Then the door opened. Eren looked at me, confused. I sighed then turned angry.

"What were you doing, leaving the room without telling me!?"

"Shut up and eat."

"Eh?"

I noticed the tray of food in his arms. I stared at him, a little shocked. He walked over and set it down on the nightstand.

"You challenged all the mages in the town, you'll need your energy."

"Oh, thanks, I guess."

"I guess?"

"It's a challenge just to get her to say thank you, enjoy it boy."

"Oh."

"Now, you'll be able to see real magic. A mage battle is intense and one slip up can take even great mages like me down. No matter your level or your opponents level, there is always a chance of winning."

"Really?"

"Indeed."

*****
"It seems only a few people answered your challenge. And it seems almost the whole village came to see."

"It seems so."

I walked to the center of the clearing. The ones that moved slightly closer were obviously the mages. There were three. A boy, maybe twelve. A man, maybe in his thirties with a brown beard. And lastly, a young woman much like myself.

"You know the rule, when you fight, you fight alone. Anything else is free game. And know, you won't be able to beat me without the will to kill me. Now, who's first?"

The boy stepped forward. Suddenly, the wind picked up. So his attacks would be air based. He held his hand out and a tree branch snapped. It's point turned towards me as it flew though the air. I lifted my arm, causing a large wall of earth to rise between it and me. The branch shattered against it and I moved my arm forward, sending the wall of earth at him. The boy got knocked back and pinned to a tree. The earth fell away almost immediately, but it left him dazed.

"Next."

The man stepped forward. He ran at me, rocks covering his arm as he ran towards me. He was a little slow, weighed down by the rocks, but he packed a lot of power. I didn't move until he was almost on top of me.

"White!" Eren yelled out my name.

The next second, I was right behind the man.

"Huh?"

"How slow."

As he turned around, I flash stepped to the other side of the clearing. I used a boost of air to jump into the air. I grabbed four red vials out of my holster and whipped them at the man. Wherever they landed, flames burst to life, surrounding him. He panicked and tried to smash out the flames. I blew some air at it, creating a fiery tornado. The man was thrown out and smashed into a tree, his beard slightly singed.

"You next."

The flames went out as the woman stepped closer. Then the flames picked up again, but weaker than before. She was a fire based. Or at least that's what I thought until I saw rocks moving towards the fire. So, she used lava, a combination element. Simply using water based attacks would be stupid. Earth or fire attacks would only help her, and using single element attacks wouldn't work. So, I had to go combination element too.

"Book, I need my staff."

Book, who was resting in Eren's arms, suddenly jumped up. His pages opened and my staff rose up. Eren grabbed it and tossed it to me. I caught it, twirled it, and slammed the end against the ground, ignoring the lava forming near me. The clouds started closing in above us and the wind started picking up. The best way to cool the heat is to make a storm. I kept the rain over us and away from the onlookers.

Soon, her lava was nothing but rock, the earth was too muddy for her, and flames would go out. She had no more cards to play. Except one. A dirty card. She was closer to Eren and Book that I was, so she started running at him, pulling out a knife. Her knife was about to reach Eren, when I stepped in. With one hand, I had her wrist in the air, and with the other, I had my own knife at her throat.

"That was a dirty move." I said in a dangerously calm voice.

"You said no rules."

"Because I didn't think someone would sink that low."

I could feel a warmth gathering on my shoulder. I glanced at it. Blood was gathering on a thin scratch on my shoulder. I focused my aether, healing the wound. I twisted my hand, making the woman scream out in pain as I broke her wrist. I let go and put away my knife as she went to nurse her wound.

"Anyone else?"

"Me."

I slowly turned to Eren. He gazed back in confidence. I sighed and moved to the other side of the clearing.

"You realize you've just started learning and you know nothing but how to focus your aether, right?"

"We'll see about that."

Stones started rising up and flew at me. They got knocked down by a gust of wind created by a wave of my hand. I sighed. Eren knelt down on one knee and pressed his hands against the ground. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. I was caught by surprise as a path of ice came towards me. I slipped on the ice, but caught myself by landing on my hands and pushing myself backwards away from the ice.

"Book! How dare you teach that to him! A combined element!? You know he doesn't have the amount or control of aether for that!"

"I would think not. Every time you weren't looking, he was focusing his aether. He asked me to teach him a spell and that's what I did."

I stormed over to Eren, who was on his hands and knees. I glared at him and he looked up at me with a little fear in his eyes.

"I would slap you again if you weren't hurt. And I thought I told you not to do anything stupid while I was gone."

"Heh, sorry."

"Moron."

I knelt down and put his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist. He held onto my back, resting his head on shoulder.

"You don't have to carry me."

"Shut up, idiot, you can barely stand."

"Thank you."

"No problem, kid."

~~~~~

A/N- May or may not edit soon. Idk, I'm just posting this because it's been awhile.