The next three days follow the same timetable as the first. By the fifth day, I notice that I am not as tired as I had been the last few days and for the first time since my training started I am able to stay awake after my session with Drew is over.

“Aren’t you going to sleep today?” Lathia asks as I find somewhere to seat near her.

“Nah,” I say. “I’m feeling a bit tired, but it’s not so bad that I need to sleep immediately.”

“Aw, our little Ian’s finally getting tougher.”

“Who are you calling little, I’m taller than you.”

“Are you six feet? No? I rest my case.”

I give her a look. “So you want to do things that way.”

She holds out her hands. “Relax tiger, I’m just joking.”

I let out a small sigh. “I’m just glad I’m not learning any more kata after today. I’m sick of them.”

“And you think learning magic is easier? Ha, you know nothing.”

“I'll still prefer it to katas.”

I shoot a look at the twins and Emma who are talking about something on their own. I found out they were all dating each other yesterday and am still unsure how to feel. I’ve heard of and seen relationships like this but all those were only in fiction, seeing something like this in real life is somewhat strange. Also, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that the quiet Emma would want to date people like them.

“Are you jealous?” Lathia asks suddenly.

“What? Jealous? No, of course not!”

She gives me a coy look. “Then why have you been staring at them all day.”

“Nothing. Well, I just find it strange that they’re all dating. It's the first time I’ve seen something like this after all.”

She shakes her head slightly. “Poor unexposed little Ian.”

“You’re still calling me little,” I tell her.

“I know.”

We fall silent after that until Drew calls us to eat. I lay down sometime later, a full stomach and a slight smile on my face, feeling strangely satisfied.

No one speaks as we all lay down contentedly, staring at the sky. “Do Laens get paid? For the missions they do?” I ask suddenly.

“Yes.” Drew answers.

“Really?” I ask surprised. I had just asked the question randomly, I hadn’t really expected it to be answered.

“Duh. Some people devote all their time to the Order, if they don’t get paid how will they take care of themselves, or their families, heck, how will the Laen be able to do all they need without some money.” Lathia says.

“Where do they get the money from?”

“Who cares man,” David answers this time, “we’re here to relax not ask dumb questions about where our money comes from.”

At that moment a bunch of questions are already on the tip of my tongue, like the average amount paid, the highest possible amount that can be paid, and so on when David speaks. In the end, I decided to listen to him and keep quiet. Sometime later I head into a tent and go to sleep.

The next afternoon, Drew brings our trek to a halt prematurely. He looks out into the distance, signs of noers flickering behind his eyes. Then a smile appears on his lips.

“We’re almost there. Let’s stop for today.”

“Why can’t we try to get there today?” I ask, “We’re almost there right.”

“It’ll take us the whole day to get there and we have to do your training today. Don’t worry we’ll get there early tomorrow.”

After setting up the tents, our training begins.

“We don’t have too much time so I’ll only be able to teach you a few combat and defense noers, and give you some tips here and there. Your Basic Noer Studies textbook should be able to teach you the rest of what you need to know.

“First of all, you should know that most spells are based on the laws of science so learning more physics… and chemistry… hell, just learn everything related to science and you should be able to make or easily understand certain spells.”

I nod. He had mentioned something similar before.

“First things first, I am going to teach you Hilla’s Barrier. It’s the most popular shielding spell amongst the Laen, it is also the only shielding spell I am going to teach you. It can neutralize a lot of magical attacks and also resist physical ones. It works in a simple way, providing an equal but opposite amount of force to resist physical attacks, and naturally resisting everything else. The only thing is, the more powerful the attack you have to resist, the more Uua you are going to need to pour into it. But, there is a plus. When you’re resisting physical attacks, if you provide more than enough force, it can result in a knockback effect. Attack me with everything you’ve got.”

I nod, activating the enhancement noer while also circulating my Uua rapidly. As an added plus, I surround my fist with telekinetic energy, a little trick Drew had taught me a few days ago, which increases the force behind my punches. Telekinesis is the creation and manipulation of force so covering my fists with directed telekinetic energy is the same thing as putting more force behind my punches.

When I feel like I’ve gathered enough energy, I dash forward and punch at Drew. Just as the punch Is about to land, a faint blue barrier appears between me and Drew, strange white markings moving within it. My fist lands on the strangely solid barrier and it absorbs the force behind my punch. The light seems to push back against me and the next thing I know, I am flying through the air. A few months ago, I would have landed on my butt, but now, even though I stumble, I manage to keep my footing.

I look at the strange light and can’t help but smile in anticipation. I want to learn that noer.

Drew moves his hand and the barrier grows and turns into a dome, completely enveloping him, the next second it shrinks, moving around him.

“As you can see, it can change size depending on how large you want it, and also it can appear anywhere around you, depending on how far you can project your Uua from yourself.”

“Project?”

He gives me an exasperated look. “Your Uua can only remain coherent for a certain distance around you, outside that distance it deteriorates and eventually disperses. Didn’t you have trouble creating an orb with your Uua when you first started learning, that was because your range was limited to your body, obviously it has increased but I don’t know by how much.”

“How can I find out how much?”

“Just shoot out your Uua as far as you can, where it dissipates is your range.”

I nod and form an orb with my Uua, I point my hand away from everyone and release it. It flies for about thirteen meters before dissipating. I am somewhat disappointed by the range but it is what it is.

“What’s your range?” I ask Drew.

He raises his hand and what looks like a large bullet shoots out from his palm, flying for more than fifty meters before disappearing. Impressive, I can’t help but think.

“Can I increase my range?”

He nods. “Just push yourself every day and it should increase. The good thing is that it usually increases several meters at a time, but it's not too easy to trigger the increase. Also, in the future, when referring to your range, just call it your domain.”

“My domain. Got it.”

He nods. “Anyway, this is the noer for the Hilla Barrier, learn it.”

I look at the contorted symbol floating mid-air and do my best to memorize it. When Drew stops the projection I close my eyes, visualizing it before recreating it with my Uua. The first few times I try to make it, I make a bunch of mistakes but soon I get it right. As I make it I recognize a few of the alphabets making it up, for instance, a part that creates force which is similar to the one found in the telekinetic noer.

Slowly I create the barrier, wanting to make sure I get it right. I watch, a bit excited as a faint blue barrier appears in front of me. Drew studies it for a moment, nods to himself and then proceeds to tell me to drop the barrier and create it again. I repeat the process again and again until I can get the barrier up pretty fast. By this time it is getting dark and I am beginning to feel fatigued, still, I grit my teeth and push on. At this moment I am beginning to understand why Lathia said I know nothing when I told her I preferred learning magic to kata. Somehow, this is more tiring than practicing the kata.

“Okay,” Drew says after I drop the barrier for the final time. “Block this punch from me and we’re done.”

I nod, sighing with relief before prepping myself for the attack. I don’t have too much Uua at the moment but I should have enough to make the barrier. I nod at him to show him my readiness and he nods back. He takes a deep breath, looking as if he is prepping himself for the punch before suddenly dashing forward, startling me.

I react almost instinctively, activating the barrier I have been practicing for hours now. I don’t have too much magic at the moment and hope that the barrier will be able to stop Drew. Drew’s punch lands on the barrier and for a moment he stops, then he bounces backward a few meters. He lands on his feet, a slight look of surprise on his face.