6. Training.

Weeks passed with the continuation of their training and it happened that the revelation of the seer was coming to pass. Eric was finding it extremely difficult to master the sword. Even young Harris was better than him and this seemed to frustrate him but whenever he remembers that without passing that stage, he can not go back to the real world, his zeal will be increased yet it was not yielding any improved result.

One of the days when Zachary left him to keep practicing with Harris under the sun while he takes a rest inside. Harris said to Eric. "I remember what the seer told you."

"Of course, I also know what he said but I am going to prove him wrong." He replied thinking that Harris was referring to the impossibility of him knowing how to use the sword.

Harris knew that was what he was thinking from that response, so he had to go straight to the thing which he was referring to. "No, I'm not talking about being a swordsman."

"Then what are you talking about?" Eric asked because he did remember any other that the seer told him on that day.

"He said you have magic. Maybe, you should try to learn how to cast spells?"

It was now that he recalled this and truly Harris was making a point, but who would teach him how to cast spells was the question he was now asking himself. "Is there any magician in his world?"

"Ummm," he thought, and since he was confined to Hillcrest alone, there was no way he could know the answers to that and his father Zach did not like to speak of the world outside Hillcrest. If not for the appearance of Eric, he wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet the King or any soldier. "I think my father will know one if there is any?"

"Then I should ask him," he dropped the sword and walked towards the house.

As Zach saw him come into the house, he asked. "What is it? Why have you stopped training?"

"I want to ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"Do you know any magicians in this world?"

"Why are you asking?" Zach was full of surprises as a result of that question. Magic once existed in Palind but that was a very long time ago, he was still a child when magicians were recognized in the world so hearing about magic again was a bit strange as he wondered who told him again magic and magicians.

"I want to see one. Maybe they might find out what is wrong with me and why I can not handle the sword." He lied about that because he did not want Zach to know about what the seer told since he was not even sure whether he had magic as said.

"Well, I'm sorry but there is none in Palind. So get back to training and join Harris."

"What about outside Palind?" He asked again because he really needed to see one since he had taken the words of Harris to heart.

"You don't want to leave Palind."

"If I can find a magician out there then I will leave Palind."

"You won't find any human beings outside Palind. All that you will come across if you leave Palind is nothing but monsters and bet, you won't even survive a day out there. So return to your training."

He did not have to argue again, so he went outside again and joined Harris as he picked up the carved sword again to resume his training with Harris.

Harris saw the disappointed look on his face and predicted what it was so he did not ask him about it. Instead they continued the training.

After a long time, when Zachary was done taking the rest he had gone in to have. He came and saw the two of them still training as they clashed the carved swords together.

He looked for a while and saw that Eric was very bad at holding the sword. Harris was really far ahead of him in the use of the swords. So he whistled, signaling them to stop and come closer.

The rate of speed which used to call the training to a stop and draw closer to Zach proved that they have been waiting for him to come out and suspend the training.

He told them to sit down and then he asked Eric. "You said you want to meet a magician, but you did not tell me why."

Zach had only said those words casually but Eric read a different meaning to it. He thought that Zach knew that he lied to him about why he wanted to see a magician, not knowing that he did not really hear him. So he began to panic as he did not want to tell Zach why he really wanted to meet a seer.

Then Zach said, "Anyway, it does not matter the reason why you want to see one, the truth still remains that there are no magicians in Palind nor outside Palind. Yes there used to be, but not anymore. They all died and some vanished never to be seen again, that was when I used to be a child, it's been upto fifty years since the last one died and was buried. It was a few years after their death that these monsters began to trouble our world. First it was the orcs which happen to be our worst enemies. They are also the most populated, no matter how many we kill, they still multiply rapidly and their growth is extraordinarily fast. Soon other creatures began to join them. Even the most dangerous of them all; that is the dragons also attack us. Every seven years, the dragons will come out of its unknown cave and will burn down a village or city to ashes. This is how bad the world has become since the magicians left us."

At the end of hearing this, Eric kind of understood why he had magic if though it was not yet confirmed, but for the reason of him saying that all their troubles began after the magicians left, then it will have to be fixed by the return of a magician. And the magician that will put the world in place happened to be him. So he asked. "Is there a cave or tomb where a book of smells can be found?"

For him to now ask that question, Zach began to suspect that he had magic and would like to learn how to cast spells. That was why he was asking for magicians and a book of spells? Thus he asked back, "Are you a magician?"

"I don't know." He preferred to use those words instead of lying.

Even though he had not given a straightforward answer, Zach was already beginning to have the belief that he was a magician. So he thought of what every magician loved to use in combat, while he said. "If there is a book of spell, only the seer should know where to find it. In the meantime, you will stick to your training. But not with the sword again, instead with a staff." He got up, went into the nearby wood and made a good staff for Eric pending the time when he would get a better one.

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