NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: Chapter 30
As soon as the sun came up, I was already at the place where Pakku had refused to teach me. The weather was supposed to be nice today, an old lady had told me, and knowing the peculiarities of her joints, I believed her.
I had to wait two hours at the playground until Pakku arrived. During that time, I tried to think of many reasons to convince him, and after almost two hours, I started to get angry and tense. But Pakku arrived on time and there was no explosion.
«You again?» he asked indifferently, «I told you, I won't train you for free.»
«I don't have any money», actually I do, but I need it. «I can work.»
«Work, huh?» thought Pakku. He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. «I have a few jobs. The question is, will you do them?»
«What is required of me?» I asked, already interested.
«For starters, to help with the construction», he said with a smile, but I just scratched the back of my head, «In the near future, we will not have enough space due to overpopulation, so the Chief has decided to lower the walls, about fifty meters deep.»
«And why don't you want to do it? If all the mages got together, it would be done in a month, maybe two.»
«Because of the Fire Army. If they attack at that time, we won't be able to resist them because we will be tired and exhausted. And doing it alone is too risky, and no one will risk the inhabitants», he grinned at me, «But you're not from here. Do you agree?»
«First the trines, work next.»
I wasn't afraid of heights, so I agreed. Yeah, and it's interesting. I've never been climbing before, so it'll be interesting. Well, and the fact that you have to work, it's not so terrible, after all, I'm not going to work for thanks.
«If something happens to you, then my efforts will be pointless. So no», he thought for a moment and then continued, «But I can train you, in the morning and you can work in the afternoon, is that okay?»
«Deal», it could have been worse, «When do we start?»
«Now.»
And he attacked me. I felt that he didn't want to kill me, but he is the strongest northern style water mage, which didn't make it easy for me. I was mostly defending myself, rarely attacking, and that was because attacking allowed me to get set up, since he was much faster. And his skill was much higher than mine. You could tell he'd been practicing all his life.
I was defending and couldn't attack, and he was attacking with minimal effort, but he couldn't get me. And who would tire first was not known, as my defense required a lot of effort due to my opponent's unusual style.
Nevertheless, I lost. I had much more reserve, but his attacks were really something. Yes, I could twist him with blood magic or just ram him with brute force, but I wouldn't learn anything new that way. This means I have to study again.
After that kind of sparring, there was a lecture. If I generalize, it turns out that although the basics are the same, the rest of the approach is radically different. If in the southern style everything is focused on efficiency and strength, by reducing movements or reducing smoothness, then in the northern style they prefer to make an extra movement or an extra turn of the palm and the smoother the better, this in turn reduces the cost and increases the subtlety and better control of the element itself, the stronger the style.
It was interesting, and I got down to business. Pakku was a nasty old man, but as a master and teacher he was excellent, and he was quick to approach me, which was a testament to his teaching experience or talent.
But I was satisfied. If the first half of the day was study, the second half was practice. What can I say when I have practically done everything in a month? I was beginning to think that there was nothing more for me to strive for in water magic, but Pakku showed me that the limit was far away.
Trouble came when I wasn't expecting it. By the time I finished, I was doing almost everything on autopilot while thinking of new techniques and ways to use them, and it turned out to be to my detriment. The thing is, the way I was lowering the ice, a lot of people, from children to old people, came to see it, because it looked exciting from the outside. And when I was about to lower another piece straight down, I was distracted at the most inopportune moment.
I was called by a beautiful girl who invited me to her house. Her intentions were clear to me, and I didn't mind her company, but things didn't go the way I wanted them to that day. As a result, I got distracted and gave a little more energy than I should have, and a section of the wall fell not 3 by 3 meters, but 5 by 5 meters, from which I flew down with all the ice. It would have been fine, but my legs went forward and my head went backward, so I hit the back of my head and was unconscious for a moment.
It was fifty or even seventy meters to fly, so while I was flying I managed to wake up and soften the blow a little. And I survived, but I landed neatly on an icy fence. On my back.
A lot of people came running and surrounded me. Only I didn't care. I was in a lot of pain. And it only hurt above my waist. I don't know how long I lay like that, but after what seemed like a long time to me, I was gently picked up and carried. As I realized later, I was taken to the healers. But I could tell from the stories, because halfway through I fainted from the pain.