A sly grin inched its way onto my lips, “Let’s see, you guys took roughly a month or two to learn to summon lesser elementals. I could teach greater elementals, but, what’s the point if you can’t use them in combat, or when you’re in a pinch? So today,” I held up a request from the request board, “we’re doing some extermination.”

“No way!” Pyro ran up to my desk and grabbed the paper, “Guys! He’s serious! This is freakin’ awesome!” He was pretty excited, until he properly read the request. “Wait, this is to kill those sludge monsters near the lake. Dude, no way,” he slammed the paper back onto the desk, “I’ve seen real strong mages pass up that job. How are we going to kill those monsters? There are thousands of them!”

“Oh Pyro, we’re not going to do it, our elementals are. There are only two rules I’m enforcing. You can’t use other spells while we exterminate them, and you can’t move more than two metres away from your elemental.”

“Isn’t that rather reckless?” Aldis appeared from nowhere, removing his Invisibility spell, “In a real-world scenario, a mage won’t just stand-by his elemental and do nothing. There would be a plethora of spells in exchange.”

“Old man, if you don’t know anything, you might as well eavesdrop on someone else. The objective of this isn’t to foster synergy of mage and elemental, although, that will also be achieved–the objective is to learn how summoned elementals fight, their styles, strengths, weaknesses. And more importantly, teamwork.” This will also let me know how well they work under pressure.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “as long as you ensure their safety,” and quickly left, a little embarrassed.

About a week later, Dawn managed to convince her parents. Volt’s fiancé asked me to take care of him. I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. Volt was the oldest in our little group. Maybe he had mentioned that I was a grand and powerful mage? I hoped so.

After breakfast, we packed our belongings onto a carriage and left Aquan to visit a town called Silverport. As its name suggested, it was built around a great port and a little north of the town was a huge silver mine. The sludge monsters made their way from the sea to the quarry where the mine was. We found lodgings quickly, packed our stuff away and headed out to scout the quarry. “Eric, I mean, this might be a little late to ask, but are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Yeah, it’s a splendid idea. Don’t worry, if things get dicey, I’ll come to your rescue.”

Pyro was clearly excited about it, and his brother Volt was a little more confused about what he wanted.

We all stood at the centre of the quarry, two large cranes towered above us and about half a dozen mine entrances around the quarry. “Remember, stay close to your elemental. Don’t use any spells. You have full control over your elemental. You may choose to let it act as it sees fit, or override that with commands of your own. Good luck guys,” I released two Phoenix Waves into the sky and they exploded a little, lightening up the quarry like fireworks.

I used Levitate and sped out of the quarry. The sludge monsters came running out, some slow, some fast. Immediately, they began firing off their elementals’ powers. Walls of flame, fireballs, lightning bolts, and water everywhere. Inevitably, water doused fire and lightning was just about the only thing slightly effective. In no time, they were overburdened with dozens, maybe hundreds of sludge monsters. At this point they just screamed and resorted to spells of their own. I jumped down, and blasted a path open with Phoenix Wave, then casted Ice Wall to ensure we could walk out unhindered.

They wiped the black slime and sludge off, shaking in disgust. I didn’t say anything, and waited about five minutes, watching them wipe themselves clean. Well, sort of. I was stooped down whilst I waited on them. I summoned Phoenix. No, this wasn’t to be mistaken for Phoenix Wave. Phoenix himself was the king of the fire faction in the spirit realm. He was quite a hasty fellow, burning with passion and pride. The only reason he agreed to form a contract with me was because he liked my dry sense of humour.

They stood in silence and shock as they looked at this fiery avatar. It was like a humanoid figure engulfed in flame, and his true form was of course, the grand bird, Phoenix.

“Will he be helping us?” Volt asked.

“Nope, he’s just here to keep me company. Dawn,” I looked at her to the side, “I’m disappointed in you the most,” a hurtful thing for me to say to her of all people.

“W–why?” she asked, stamping lightly, to show her frustration.

“Remember I told Aldis one of the objectives of this mission was teamwork? You need to know your place in the team. You hindered Pyro a lot and halved his elemental’s fire power. Your element is water, think about who it will hinder, and who it will help. Pyro, you’re panicking, as such, you’re not even finishing the attacks you started. Even attacks that Dawn’s water didn’t touch, was ineffective. If your elemental has started attacking a group of them, don’t stop it to attack ones that are closer. Your elementals are that of a gaseous element, the sludge won’t hurt it. And it also moves its core around to avoid physical attacks, so you don’t have to worry about your elemental being hurt. What you need to do is ensure it doesn’t touch you.”

Volt looked at me, expectedly, eagerly, like he was waiting to hear advice from me. In a case like this, he had two roles. Distraction and first attack, but he apparently didn’t pick up on this. “Volt,” I said, and he looked at me even more intensely, “you’ve been doing good. Just stay focused. Think about what I did to make them come out, and you’ll know what one of your roles are. Now, back in you go, guys.”

I looked on as they began very differently. Volt’s elemental began, with a flare of sorts that attracted their attention like flies to a flame. “You have students?” Phoenix asked, his voice laden in sarcasm, “This is hilarious! Is this real? Am I dreaming?” he laughed out.

“Let me stick my foot up your ass, if it hurts, it’s not a dream,” I replied. He chuckled, then busted out laughing obnoxiously.

Down on the court, they played a somewhat strategic game. Dawn soaked the monsters after Volt distracted them and condensed the water to make it harder for them to move. Volt then electrocuted them as much as possible, but because of their biological makeup, they didn’t die from this combo, even if it was good. Pyro did as I advised and focused a little more on a smaller die of attackers, which resulted in a better result for him, but he cut his team members off from his mind to focus on said advice. In fifteen minutes, they were back where I was, wiping themselves off again.

“Dawn,” I said her name and her face cringed a little, bracing for a tongue-lashing, “incorporating use of the water’s ability to increase density, good thinking, and good job. You were nearly perfect in just one try.” She beamed brightly.

“Pyro,” I sighed, which made him a little defensive, “tell me, what did you see Dawn and Volt doing?”

“Uh,” he rubbed his neck, “fighting?” and gave a nervous laugh.

“You idiot!” Phoenix exploded, and pointed at Pyro’s elemental, “It uses fire! Fire burns things! It’s not a good starter unless it has an explosive element in it. But it’s a good ender! It’s always a good ender! Become the ender!”

I laughed at how much emotion Phoenix put into that lecture, “What he means is, fire takes a while to do damage, but it will eventually kill its target. In this fight, you don’t have the leisure of waiting for that damage to happen. Volt has lightning, an instantaneous effect, all you need to do is finish the targets that have been electrocuted. You didn’t pay any attention to your allies, which ‘killed’ all of you faster, so to speak. Do you see now where the teamwork comes in? Lightning to distract, dense water to trap and make the targets vulnerable, lightning to deal instant damage, and fire to finish them. This is the correct order in a case like this, and possibly in many others.”

“Okay, we got it this time!” Pyro exclaimed.

“Hold on. The three of you need to utilize your space and environment. You could’ve survived this round longer if you’d just move around. Anyway, another round, and we head back to town.”

This time, their attacks were coordinated, they made use of the space available if the sludge monsters surrounded them too much, but still ended up being overwhelmed in the end. Teamwork certainly got better. They were learning how to work with others, but they’d be toast if their opponent had an ounce of unpredictability in them.

We walked back to town, cleaned up and discussed a little, what we learned. We quickly went to bed though, they were all exhausted and Dawn was an early riser.

Day two of our extermination, we returned rejuvenated, but groggy as hell. Thanks to Dawn, we woke up inhumanely early. I couldn’t believe I actually saw the sun rise. She’s not normal.

I walked with my breakfast, because I got out of bed way too late to eat it. “Alright,” I crunched on the sandwich, “today, each of you gets a round by yourself.”

“Huh? I can’t go in there alone!” Dawn complained, “What can water do?!”

I chuckled, drinking milk from a glass bottle, “Since you seem the most excited, you’ll go first. And don’t downplay water like that, Hydra will be mad at you. Besides, you’re smart, I’m sure you’ll find a way. Take as much time as you need to make a plan.”

She puffed, and I gently dropped her off using my Levitate. One Phoenix Wave and I bolted out. “Don’t you think that was pretty harsh?” Volt asked, “I mean, she’s your–”

“Student?”

“N-no. I mean, you two are…”

I looked up at him from my squatting position. I had a habit of doing that, even after learning Levitate. “We’re only, exploring each other. Nothing’s official yet. Besides, out of you three, she’s the most dependent. She needs this the most.”

As with yesterday, she doused their lower halves in a pool of water and condensed it to slow them, but she had no follow up. In a case like this, she’s the most useful one, but she just isn’t understanding how flexible water is.

“Why don’t you just tell her?” Donna interjected.

Well, I could. I looked on as the slimy monsters surrounded her. But learning first hand is the best. In no time, she was covered in grimy sludge. Good thing those monsters were mostly harmless. I casted Flame Strike, conjuring a large pillar of fire that incinerated all the monsters a few metres from her. Of course, I ensured she wasn’t burned. She looked at me after I rescued her, totally mad at me. She didn’t break eye contact for a second.

“Want me to tell you what to do?”

“Hmm!” she glared angrily at the side, now refusing to look me in the eye.

Oh well, she’ll figure it out.

Next was Volt, he performed admirably well on his own. His mind was probably a lot calmer when he didn’t have others to think about in the middle of a fight. In this way, his elemental’s lightning was much more erratic and not stifled.

After about thirty minutes, I called him up. “Good job, man. You kept them at bay, you moved to suit the situation and kept an eye on your enemies at all times. I can’t complain,” I said, then looked at Pyro and pointed down the crater with a sly smile on my face.

“Hey,” I greeted Phoenix after summoning him, “your favourite student’s about to try on his own.”

He looked at the others, then at me, then down to Pyro, “Well, I guess this’ll be funny.”

After a few minutes he walked out, tired of being soaked in sludge and slime, then stopped midway and re-entered the quarry. This time around, he finally began using fire attacks with a bit of a blast wave incorporated in the initial attack. This way he was much more effective and could afford to hold his own for much longer.

“You recognised the issue and fixed it. Also, very aware of your surroundings,” I complimented his use of boulders, cranes and debris to throw the oncoming monsters off and break their stride, “Good going.”

“Hey, I know you’re the summoning guy, but teach me that spell, dude. It’s freakin’ cool!” Pyro requested me to go out my bounds. I thought about it, then refused in my mind. However, the Order wasn’t a school, it was just a gathering of mages and a gathering of knowledge. If you didn’t benefit from the presence or work of another, then why join in the first place, right? I asked which spell he was talking about.

“You know, the one with the bird. The one you nearly killed us with,” he said with a broad smile and earned an appalling look from Dawn.

“Eric! What did you do?” She asked me, still irritated by my results of her performance. I calmed her, telling her that it was just a misunderstanding.

Out of nowhere, footsteps encroached us; a woman, desperately running to us and hardly able to catch her breath. “Ple–help, us. Please. There’s, something,” she took a deep inhale, “in the lake,” and breathed heavily again.

I guess the Order’s robes were pretty easy to spot.

We halted our training and hopped in the carriage to return to the town. There were anomalies about the place, capsizing tables and such. They were wraiths, something that represented the disfiguring of magic. They weren’t inherently good or bad, just slightly destructive. They sometimes appeared when a frighteningly huge amount of magic goes unstable, or when magic is released too quickly, and the most seldom, when two sources of magic try to bind with each other but have a hard time doing so. I stopped the carriage and slapped the horse so he might escape unharmed. “This has turned into serious business. You may come along, but do not interfere. I’d prefer you find somewhere to hide altogether,” I advised, looking at the multiple unconscious villagers.

Phoenix and I combed through the town, taking care of the wraiths the moment we saw any. And of course, Pyro came along, then Volt, who was worried that his brother might do something stupid. And of course, Dawn wouldn’t just stay by herself. Knowing they were behind me, I summoned Hydra to protect them at all times.

Do you know what caused this? I asked Donna in my head, hoping the signatures of magic in the air could lead to an answer.

“Unstable magic. It’s familiar. And it’s in the lake. Eric, I don’t know what’s going on, but I know we have to find out. Take care of this and hush it up as soon as possible!” She sounded a little desperate, which was rare.

To the lake I went, a little south of the town. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it, but the mother of all wraiths was seeded in the centre of the lake. The size of that thing was incredible. It was about three times the height of a watch tower. “Eric! Kill it, quickly!”

I didn’t even reply, just commanded Hydra to go back to the spirit world with Volt, Dawn, and Pyro. “You too, Phoenix.”

He shook his head, “I’ll stay.” I couldn’t argue, nor did I have the leisure.

There were about three dozen other wraiths around her, all bigger than the usual size we saw in the town. I casted a spell called Web of God, which wrapped water around every target I saw and connected them to each other, like a web. Of course, they took notice of this, but nothing is faster than that of light. “Hand of God!” I shouted and the zenith of all lightning bolts shot down from the sky, striking the leader and running through the water web to electrocute the others. But of course, it wasn’t enough. They flew at me quickly, and I had to decamp, but not before casting one or two Chain Lightning, a weaker bolt of lightning that jumps from one predetermined target to another. When they reached up to me, I casted Flame Strike exactly where I was standing, then trapped them with Frost Trap to keep them in place. Flame Strike took a couple seconds to really fire up, so the trap was needed. Before it could fire off, I glided away using Levitate and left them to burn.

They were incredibly durable, so I tried an arsenal of spells on them to see which was most effective. Wraiths didn’t seem to have any special weaknesses or resistances against certain types of magic, so my only option would be to go all out.

“Use your cooldowns, take it down.” Donna advised, just as I was thinking.

I glided far enough away and hid behind a wall. Whatever spells they threw at me, hit the wall first, destroying it rather quickly, but I was given enough time to cast my latest experimental spell, Timedial. Everything progressed slowly and I was able, somehow, to move at normal speed. I glided over to a nearby house to break their line of sight, then climbed atop it and casted Purist, a double-edged spell. It increased the user’s spell potency by one hundred percent, effectively doubling it, but it rendered the caster immobile, so the speed increase of Levitation was nil whilst Purist was active.

I focused, bound them with Web of God, and brought down Hand of God five times in quick succession. The minute those devastating bolts were casted, they slowed to a crawl like the rest of the world affected by Timedial. The others joined up, forming an even more powerful spell. I stopped Timedial and the spells all concentrated on the biggest wraith, disintegrating it into nothingness like it wasn’t there to begin with. The smaller ones suddenly disappeared too. Just as I was about to smile, blood flew out my mouth. I slumped to my knees and held my head in pain. My magic felt like it smashed into a wall and my body paid the consequences. Using my strongest spell, one right after the other, and getting the backlash from Timedial as well did not feel good in the least. I breathed exhaustingly, reminding myself to hurry up and master Division.

“There’s something very important that we should retrieve, and it’s at the bottom of that lake, I can feel it. Please, Eric.”

Alright, alright, don’t get antsy. I removed Purist and glided downward in the direction of the lake, taking my sweet time to recuperate. To swim down, I casted a sphere of air around my head that had a line leading to the surface of the water. At the bottom of the lake was a tome, or, according to Donna, her codex.

“This is it! I’d no idea what happened to it, but I finally have it after all these years!” It sounded like she wanted to cry tears of joy.