Read Online Forest of Illusions (The Broken Prism) by V. St. Clair - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: V. St. Clair
Ads: Link
with.”
“ Which brings us back to why I’m not going easy on you during these training sessions. If you’re tired of getting stomped, then get better at fighting.”
Asher lowered his eyepiece back into position and Hayden dove out of the way just in time; he felt the ripple of magic pass by him as he rolled back to his feet and spun his amber prism around in his eyepiece. He turned towards Asher and cast Obscure just as the Prism Master was preparing another spell.
His mentor cocked his head to one side in surprise as his vision became foggy and unclear, giving Hayden time to swap out his amber prism for his clear one.
“Not bad, Frost. I haven’t had Obscure used against me in years,” Asher conceded before dispelling the effect.
Pierce! Hayden aimed through his clear prism, using one of the first combat alignments he had learned this week in his clear prism. Asher cast a shielding spell fast enough to protect himself from most of the effect, but a thin cut appeared on his right cheek and began darkening with blood.
He retaliated with a battery of spells so quickly that Hayden had no idea how he even managed to turn his prism fast enough to find them all: Darken momentarily blinded him, Expand made him feel like he was about to explode from the inside out, Push sent him hurtling backwards through the air and landing at the edge of the cliffs, and he had no idea what spell Asher hit him with to knock him unconscious.
When he woke up, the Prism Master was wearing his red robes again, sitting beside him on the grass. It looked like he’d moved Hayden away from the cliffs, and had been reading a paperback book to kill time until Hayden woke up. When he saw Hayden stir, he tucked the book into a pocket in his robes and extracted a banana, offering it to him.
“Here, get some energy back. I don’t want you fainting during the rest of your classes,” he greeted him.
Hayden struggled to sit up and accepted the fruit, peeling it and taking a bite only to discover that he was really hungry , though lunch had been barely an hour ago.
“Are you sure you didn’t accidentally kill me during that last round?” he asked uncertainly. “Because my body feels like it’ s actually dead and just hasn’t stopped moving around yet.”
Asher huffed in amusement.
“Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget how slow your casting is compared to mine and I don’t remember to go easy on you.”
“You’ve been going easy on me this whole time?” Hayden asked, aghast. “I thought you were unleashing your full fury on me…I was beginning to wonder if I’d done something to make you mad.”
The Prism Master laughed again. “Heavens no, I’ve been pulling my punches so that I don’t annihilate you completely. That would be counterproductive and demoralizing for you. You managed so well with the Obscure and Pierce combo that I got carried away and returned to my normal casting speed.”
“If you normally cast that quickly, I don’t see how anyone can fight you at all. You don’t give anyone a break long enough to get a spell in of their own,” Hayden grumbled.
“You’d be surprised.” Master Asher seemed to glance down at the Focus-corrector on his left wrist without truly seeing it. “I am not the only fast-caster in the Nine Lands.”
Treading into uncomfortable territory Hayden asked, “Was my father faster than you during your last battle with him?”
“Not really,” Asher tilted his head thoughtfully at the memory. “We were fairly evenly-matched on that front. The problem was more that he had a vast array of powerful magic that I’d never encountered and had no idea how to defend against , courtesy of the Black Prism. You know how hard it is to defend against a spell you’ve never seen: do you use Shield or another warding spell? What if it penetrates both of them?” he added rhetorically.
“It must have been scary, fighting him,” Hayden said lamely. “Knowing that you were probably going to
“ Which brings us back to why I’m not going easy on you during these training sessions. If you’re tired of getting stomped, then get better at fighting.”
Asher lowered his eyepiece back into position and Hayden dove out of the way just in time; he felt the ripple of magic pass by him as he rolled back to his feet and spun his amber prism around in his eyepiece. He turned towards Asher and cast Obscure just as the Prism Master was preparing another spell.
His mentor cocked his head to one side in surprise as his vision became foggy and unclear, giving Hayden time to swap out his amber prism for his clear one.
“Not bad, Frost. I haven’t had Obscure used against me in years,” Asher conceded before dispelling the effect.
Pierce! Hayden aimed through his clear prism, using one of the first combat alignments he had learned this week in his clear prism. Asher cast a shielding spell fast enough to protect himself from most of the effect, but a thin cut appeared on his right cheek and began darkening with blood.
He retaliated with a battery of spells so quickly that Hayden had no idea how he even managed to turn his prism fast enough to find them all: Darken momentarily blinded him, Expand made him feel like he was about to explode from the inside out, Push sent him hurtling backwards through the air and landing at the edge of the cliffs, and he had no idea what spell Asher hit him with to knock him unconscious.
When he woke up, the Prism Master was wearing his red robes again, sitting beside him on the grass. It looked like he’d moved Hayden away from the cliffs, and had been reading a paperback book to kill time until Hayden woke up. When he saw Hayden stir, he tucked the book into a pocket in his robes and extracted a banana, offering it to him.
“Here, get some energy back. I don’t want you fainting during the rest of your classes,” he greeted him.
Hayden struggled to sit up and accepted the fruit, peeling it and taking a bite only to discover that he was really hungry , though lunch had been barely an hour ago.
“Are you sure you didn’t accidentally kill me during that last round?” he asked uncertainly. “Because my body feels like it’ s actually dead and just hasn’t stopped moving around yet.”
Asher huffed in amusement.
“Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget how slow your casting is compared to mine and I don’t remember to go easy on you.”
“You’ve been going easy on me this whole time?” Hayden asked, aghast. “I thought you were unleashing your full fury on me…I was beginning to wonder if I’d done something to make you mad.”
The Prism Master laughed again. “Heavens no, I’ve been pulling my punches so that I don’t annihilate you completely. That would be counterproductive and demoralizing for you. You managed so well with the Obscure and Pierce combo that I got carried away and returned to my normal casting speed.”
“If you normally cast that quickly, I don’t see how anyone can fight you at all. You don’t give anyone a break long enough to get a spell in of their own,” Hayden grumbled.
“You’d be surprised.” Master Asher seemed to glance down at the Focus-corrector on his left wrist without truly seeing it. “I am not the only fast-caster in the Nine Lands.”
Treading into uncomfortable territory Hayden asked, “Was my father faster than you during your last battle with him?”
“Not really,” Asher tilted his head thoughtfully at the memory. “We were fairly evenly-matched on that front. The problem was more that he had a vast array of powerful magic that I’d never encountered and had no idea how to defend against , courtesy of the Black Prism. You know how hard it is to defend against a spell you’ve never seen: do you use Shield or another warding spell? What if it penetrates both of them?” he added rhetorically.
“It must have been scary, fighting him,” Hayden said lamely. “Knowing that you were probably going to
Similar Books
