The next morning, when Will awoke a disappointed Archimedes stared at him. Will could feel the displeasure emanating from the cat's eyes.

"Archimedes, I just woke up can this wait?" Will yawned.

He shook his head side to side, signifying 'no.' The whole time, he didn't lose focus once.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming downstairs," Will yawned again.

Will briefly splashed water on his face, rubbing the water in an awkward unfocused manner. With eyes, half-opened he followed Archimedes down the loft's stairwell.

Archimedes jumped onto a chair next to Elder Thaddeus, who also had a pleasing look. Will realized this was the first time, he had ever seen his master upset. Even in the worst of times, his master smiled and found a teachable moment.

"What happened yesterday?" Elder Thaddeus asked him seriously.

"Master, I took your advice and accepted every duel," Will replied. The seriousness of his master's voice was like a shot of caffeine to the brain. Will became immediately alert.

"Yesterday you lost focus. Why did you conjure your golem instead of [earth wall]? Just because you get seriously injured doesn't mean you should lose concentration, even for a second. Yesterday, your spell against Ryan should have started with [earth wall]. Then you could have cast [entangle] and [poison cloud]," Elder Thaddeus reprimanded him.

"Master, you watched the duels?" Will asked.

"Of course, I watched the duels. I wanted to see how much you've grown over the summer. You manage to eke out a win by sheer luck. I told you, you were ready to use that [erode] spell. What if that spell backlashed against you, and eroded the ground under you? Somehow you willed that spell to work, and out of stupid luck it worked," Elder Thaddeus chided him.

"Archimedes and I are disappointed in your performance," Elder Thaddeus said sadly.

Those words stung Will's heart. Even after winning all six duels, his master was disappointed with his performance. He replayed yesterday's events, after getting hit by the glass shards his thinking became erratic. He never cast another spell after getting attacked. His master was right, he won by luck.

"Master, you are correct. I did not perform my best yesterday. After being hit with those shards, my thinking became erratic, and I did lose concentration," Will agreed.

"You lost that duel because you stayed rooted to the same spot. You were too arrogant! You could have outrun the radius of the blast zone. This is not entirely your fault. I have not taught you any movement spells. It is a fault of terramancers, the earth element leads them to stay grounded more often than not. Unlike the other elements, wind, water, and fire; terramancers are not dexterous," Elder Thaddeus said.

Will thought for a moment and then recalled his stats.

Name: William vont Ballard

Race: Human

Rank: 0

Class: Merchant

Sub Class: Spellsword

Attributes:

Constitution—50

Strength—50

Dexterity—46

Intellect—66

Charisma—15

Ranks Skills: Management (50), Diplomacy (35), Accounting (52)

Class Skills: Appraisal (15, 100), [Radar]

Abilities: Journeyman Swordsmanship (1, 50), Journeyman Terramancer (1, 50), Gaia's Blessing (multiplies your spell strength x2).

Will dexterity had always been his lowest. It was the only stat not at the journeyman rank. Will usually stayed still when casting, because for his spells to work he needed to be connected to the earth.

Even in Will's conjuring book, terramancers were described as slow, bastions of defense, with several destructive offensive spells.

"Will starting this morning, I'm going to teach you two new spells. I was saving the first until later in your training. The first is a movement spells for journeyman terramancers called [tectonic earth]. Once cast, the spell allows the caster to lock onto the earth underneath them. Then use that earth to travel anywhere there island. Once you reach the master rank, the earth underneath you can expand to a kilometer or more and you can also raise the land, similar to a set of stairs.

The second spell is [earthen dome]. This is a common novice spell. I didn't teach it to you, because it doesn't have a lot of applicability. This spell allows the caster to create a protective dome around themselves or another. Some novice terramancers also use this spell to imprison their opponents. However, at journeyman rank and above the spell become more and more useless as most elemental casters are taught how to counter the spell. Yesterday, I realized you could have used another defense spell, besides [earthen wall].

After breakfast and mediation, Will and Elder Thaddeus engaged in their usual morning sparing session. However, there was a surprise twist.

This morning as the two faces each other, with unsheathed swords, Elder Thaddeus cast [inferno] and [flame strike]. Both spells caught Will off guard, and singed his clothes, causing Will to lose focus once again. Before Will could cast a spell, he realized Elder Thaddeus' sword was below his neck.

"Again," was all Elder Thaddeus said, throwing Will a recovery potion.

Will drank the potion and readied himself for the next duel. As soon as Will was ready, Elder Thaddeus cast [firestorm] and [dragon's breath]. To Will's amazement, he saw a dragon's mouth open and spitfire flew directly toward him. Both the [firestorm] and [dragon's breath] scorched Will's clothes and caused the severe 4th-degree burn. His skin and underlying tissue blistered, and puss began spewing out. Just before passing out, he once again saw his master's blade under his chin.

Will awoke in the same burnt clothes, what was left of his outfit spelled like smoke. Will lifted his head off the ground and looked at his master.

"Again," Elder Thaddeus said, ready to duel again.

Fear overtook Will. He began to visibly shake, never in his life had he suffered such pain. The thought of going through that pain caused his body to tremble. Just the thought of standing and facing his master in a duel was terrifying.

"Stand and fight, or be burnt again on the ground," Elder Thaddeus threatened.

[Fire—

Will stood, stopping his master's spell. Suddenly, Will saw his master step back and a small laceration appeared on his cheek from the backlash of stopping his spell.

That was his opening. Will jolted toward his master. Will cast [earth wall], [poison cloud], [sandstorm], [earth spike], [rock golem], and [iron lance]. Will's mana whirlpool feel like a cork in the bottom unplugged? The mana in his whirlpool emptied like a river in a drought.

Will encircled his master, he planned to attack him from begin and stick his sword against his master's back. Will ran as fast as he could, he was two meters, a meter, a half a meter from his master's spine. Just as he felt a sense of joy for beating his master, a giant blast sent him flying meters away in the air. Will felt as if he had jumped into a pot of frying oil. He felt his soul was on fire. Will vomited blood midair before he crashed onto the trunk of a tree.

"Argh!" Will vomited blood. He felt his spin was broken in half.

"Again!" his master yelled, Throwing him a max recovery potion.

The pain from his bones snapping into place and regrown skin, almost caused Will to pass out from the pain. Only the determination, that he almost had beaten his master.

Will stood as the last of the pain faded. Will's shirt had long since burned to dust, and his pants now resembled oxford shorts with patchy holes. Will stood resolute, determined, he would win. Will had never back down from a fight, not on Earth and not on Terra. His will to win became like granite. He looked at Elder Thaddeus differently, not as his master but as his next rival to overcome.

Elder Thaddeus cast [dragon's breath], [firestorm], [flame strike], and [inferno]. Will moved towards his master and cast [erode], [earth wall], and [sandstorm]. The seven spells met in the middle and collided with each other. Like yesterday, glass shards flew towards Will but [earth wall] blocked them from touching him.

Will multicast [fertile soil], [nature's blessing], [entangle], and [poison cloud]; however Elder Thaddeus [inferno] scorched the ground destroying all plants in his vicinity.

Then Elder Thaddeus cast [meteor] and [flame strike]. Will glanced at the meteor above his head and then at flame strike snaking towards him. Will cast [erode] at the meteor and [earth wall] at the flame strike. The Will casted [meteor], [rock golem], and [iron lance].

Elder Thaddeus looked approvingly at his erode [meteor] and blocked [flame strike]. He saw the rock golem angrily charge at him with the iron lance point straight for his face, and the Will's [meteor] descending on him.

With a flick of a finger, the [rock golem] and [meteor] disappeared. Elder Thaddeus' casting was so fast, Will failed to see what spell he used.

"Sparing is over for today. Good job, remember this determination. Tomorrow, we'll face off again. I feel I've been too easy on you.

Then Elder Thaddeus instructed Will how to cast [tectonic earth] and [earthen dome]. Both spells weren't difficult to learn. Will learned [earthen dome] immediately, but he had trouble getting the earth to move under his feet with [tectonic earth].

After the conjuring lesson, Will got dressed and left for his classes at the Knight Academy. However, no matter how hard he washed couldn't get the smoke smell from his hair and skin. The entire day, his classmates asked him why he smelled of smoke. Even Marshall Cheng looked at him curiously, during the military command test.