The Paladin Order Reformed 12 Piqued

"Ok, that was a great warmup, now we can actually get started." They all looked at me with loathing and sighed audibly.

I grinned with satisfaction. "Now, now, there's no need to thank me. Don't worry I'll whip you guys into fighting shape in no time, trust me."

I pointed to Jake first, he looked around hoping I wasn't referring to him. He was disappointed to find I was.

"Jake, you're going to have the same exercise you just had, but it's going to be a little more intense."

I direct him to the spot he was at previously, repeating the same cycle. After he was ready I cast [Taget Summon] but with a little modification. He starts quickly dispatching the hovering lights that appear around him, I explain while he works.

"The targets have a center now, so if you hit the center then the orb will disappear with the first shot. It takes two shots if you don't hit the center. As you continue the speed and amount of targets will increase, try to eliminate all of them." He looks over at me slightly panicked.

"What if I don't get all of them?"

I gave him a small, but sinister smile. "Then you'll start again until you do."

Jake immediately starts to shout his oppositions and eventually hurls curses as the orbs increase in number, but I ignore him and continue to Joseph and Mathew.

"You two will be doing something slightly different then what you did previously." I position them both in the same spots they were before and say.

"I want you two to work on your patience, you're too eager to fight. This can be a good thing, but I want you guys to be able to stay level headed in battle." After stating that, I summon two targets directly in front of them saying.

"You see these will change green after a random amount of time, you just have to hit them when they turn green 20 times in succession. Sound alright?"

They both grin at me, Mathew speaks up. "That sounds fine commander, my brother and I know of our downfall, we simply cannot help desiring the exhilaration that comes with compet.i.tion. Isn't that correct brother?" He nods in agreement.

"Indeed, quite right brother. Come let us amend our shortcomings and better ourselves through our labor."

This is the first time I've heard the two of them talk, and to be frank their demeanor surprises me. I a.s.sumed them to be more dimwitted, that's my fault for judging a book by its cover. I walk to Dontae allowing the duo to continue their endeavors without the scrutiny of my supervision.

As I approach Dontae he gives very little effort hiding his distaste, I ignore it and say. "Next stage Dontae get ready." He looks at me, then begrudgingly readies himself, I point above the fencepost where I placed the ring previously. I summon a target just above it and say.

"You see that target, I want you to mentally cast [Firebolt] as soon as you see it. It will only stay visible long enough to be hit with a mentally cast spell. You need to hit it 10 times, then it will start disappearing quicker, you need to hit the target 30 times in order for it to completely disappear."

He looks at me in complete disbelief then says. "You want me to learn mental casting? Just like that? You do realize that it takes great mages years just to cast a simple spell mentally?"

I look at him in annoyance before saying. "There are three things keeping you from being able to cast mentally."

"One: you're an idiot, Two: most of the stuff you've learned is wrong, and Three: you don't completely understand how casting works, so you won't be able to do it well until you learn."

He's obviously internally conflicted from me saying that everything he's ever been taught is wrong, I quickly mend my misgivings with an explanation.

"Mana is an energy created by your body that is harnessed by your mind, your mind uses that energy to create whatever you're imagining. So it doesn't matter what you call something as long as you can imagine the effect it'll have, for example, you could call a spell that controls weather calling it [Pink Sheep] and as long as it helped you imagine controlling the weather, then it wouldn't matter."

He seems to soak up every bit of information, I see that as a sign to continue.

"You were probably taught that spells need to have an incantation, but they don't. An incantation only gives it more power by absorbing the mana particles in the air. But to mentally cast just picture the effect you want in your mind's eye and use mana, then then you'll create whatever you imagine as long as it's feasible in reality."

He nods, hopefully understanding everything I explained. He looks to me seemingly enlightened saying.

"That makes so much more sense, I always thought there was something missing whenever I was in lectures at the academy. See most of the doc.u.ments that Sir Magnus published were discredited by the headmaster after he disappeared. All the work published by Sir Magnus was at the academy, so the headmaster must have destroyed all his work after he discredited him. The only doc.u.ment that wasn't rejected was his publication on incantations, so eventually, it was just a.s.sumed that incantations were needed for spells and mental spells were only achieved at a high-level of Magecraft."

I think about it, and it actually makes sense. I thought Dontae was just stupid and didn't understand how spells work, but I guess that's not the case.

Wait, if that's right, then why did Sir Richard have a copy of Sir Magnus's work? Could he have gotten a copy before Sir Magnus disappeared? He disappeared in 463 AC, so it could be possible that he and Sir Richard knew each other, but did they? Why would he have a copy of his work in the first place?

I stood there and mulled over my thoughts, but I couldn't find a solution. I just shelved it and let Dontae continue.

I walk over to Rachel, picking up a pair of wooden swords, and toss one to her. "Your challenge will be me, it'll be a quick match to see how much good those techniques are doing for you," I say throwing her a lopsided grin, she gives me a defiant one in return.

"Sure, the winner buys the other a drink." She said with a little fire, I like that. I walk to a plot big enough for sparing, then get into a stance.

"Sure, I'll do you one better, If your sword touches me I'll buy you a drink. That seems like a great deal to me."

Her response is a quick downward slash aimed for my head, I sidestep casually, and the wooden blade strikes the air where I was a moment ago. I give her critiques as she fights.

"That was a good strike, but I easily saw where you were going to strike. Maybe try a feint or two to spice it up." I say as she thrusts a couple of jabs at my chest as I avoid them.

She strikes aiming for my leg, when I move to deflect it She changes its trajectory at the last second and goes for my head. My instincts kick in and I quickly duck, her strike pa.s.ses over me. As she tries to recover I sweep her legs from under her. I place my sword at her throat proudly grinning at her.

She looks at me with a triumphant smile, which confuses, why isn't she disappointed. She nods at my leg, I look down to see her sword barely touching my leg.

"I guess you owe me a drink commander." I sigh relinquishing, allowing her to have this win.

I rub my neck and admit. "Yeah, I guess I do don't I."

I look over to where Dontae's practicing. "Are you sure you don't want to get one with him? He did ask you first."

She looks in his direction and takes a moment to weigh the possibility, then smiles half-heartedly.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen, I mean he's got so many other options. Right?"

I chuckle almost feeling bad for him. "Right, so many." I help her up, ending the match, leaving me with a bill to pay in the near future.