He stood his ground as sweat trickled down his cheek, watching as the massive, scar-covered goblin began to rush towards him with its heavy stomps echoing out against his ringing ears.

…Hold! He thought to himself.

Just as it stomped within reach of him, rearing its club that was larger than him back, he sprung forward with his sword tightly gripped between his sweat-laden fingers.

“Raaagh–!” The burly goblin let out a deep roar.

As it swung its club down towards him, he swiped his left hand, unleashing a small burst of wind directed at the weapon itself.

It wasn’t very powerful nor far reaching, but it was just enough to subvert the attack, causing the muscular, oversized goblin to miss him–slamming its club down just to the right of him.

In that moment, he rushed forward with his heart beating like a drum in his ears before he slashed his blade across the chest of his foe.

“Gragh–!”

The large goblin roared out in pain as the gash opened across its torso, spraying out blood.

Yes! I can do this! He thought._.

As the burly goblin stumbled back, bleeding from its torn chest, he caught a glimpse of his wand that fortunately wasn’t snapped beneath the large fiend’s step.

–Come on! Please work! He thought.

With a wave of his hand, he drew in a gust of wind from behind his wooden wand, knocking it towards himself.

Recovering and drooling over itself in anger, the towering brute stomped towards him with its heavy steps quickly approaching, sending vibrations of fear beneath his boots.

As the wand flew overhead, he jumped up–barely catching it in his grip just as the goblin arrived in front of him, launching a massive swing of its club.

“–!”

With the wand between his fingers, the swirl of mana that burned inside of his body cooled into a honed calm as he pointed it towards the mindless brute.

Between him and the wooden club, the rocky ground rose, breaking off and forming a circular shield that was suspended in the air before him–defending him from the swing, though the shield of rock was shattered by the blow.

It was enough though as the fragments of stone pelted against his skin, he held his wand pointing forward.

The moisture in the air magnified as droplets of water were born around the two, coalescing at the command of the young mage into a cube prison around the massive brute.

“Great Water Prison.”

He smiled with heavy breaths coming as he successfully used the spell.

Feeling the shift in the air’s moisture and temperature, Celly watched alongside Julius as the last of the goblins were finished off–leaving just the burly brute who was now trapped within the aquatic hold.

With one last squeeze of his wand, he commanded the true nature of the spell: “Crush.”

The perfect cube of mystical water collapsed in on the prisoner within it, crushing the goblin as the azure blue was dyed with crimson.

–For the first time, in the face of a fight, he smiled.

As the crimson-dyed water splashed onto the stone, leaving only a crushed corpse of the large goblin, his heart thumped with triumph.

“…I did it!” He proclaimed.

“That you did!”

Slumped around his shoulder was the heavy, muscular arm of his father, who ruffled his black-and-blonde locks with a grin.

“I see those lessons are paying off!” Julius laughed.

Though he appreciated the compliments and closeness from his father, Julius was soaked in the blood of the goblins which he had butchered with that blood-soaked, black blade of his.

Celly stood by them as well, looking at the aftermath of the water prison.

“–” He looked up at his silver-haired tutor, longing for her evaluation of how he did.

“I can tell you’ve been taking your studies to heart, Emilio,” Celly told him with a gentle smile, “That was a perfect Water Prison.”

A smile stretched across his lips as he received the words of approval from his teacher. He bashfully scratched his cheek after sheathing his blade, chuckling a bit, “I got sorta lucky in the end there. What kind of goblin was that, anyway?…I thought they were all tiny.”

“That one there was a ‘Hobgoblin’–big bastards, as you can see. Not like it made a difference against your magic, anyway! Ha-ha!” Julius laughed, “goblins tend to grow from well…Nevermind!”

For some reason, Julius shifted the conversation away after exchanging a glance with Celly, avoiding some information from being told.

Instead, Julius ruffled his hair again before patting him on the back, “Good job today, kid–really. You made quick work of those goblins–I saw you, too. You weren’t just relying on your magic, either.”

“Yeah…” He nodded.

“You’ll make a fine adventurer in a few years, Emilio,” Celly smiled.

Finishing off the hive of goblins, it was time to head back, which meant he had to hike once more. By the time he got back home, it was already sunset.

As his mother presented him with a hot dinner, he swallowed it faster than any he had ever had before.

For the first time in a while, he neglected studying magic as he instantly plopped into bed with his face buried against the pillow.

“How was it today?” Irene asked from her bed.

“Tiring,” he answered, muffled.

“I see…Was it fun?” Irene asked.

At first, he didn’t know how to answer that, instead simply falling asleep before he could properly answer.

…I’d say it’s about half-and-half, he thought.

–

This set-up became a recurring thing throughout the next couple months.

Each day he’d practice magic under Celly, but three times a week, he’d go along with his father on quests that were deemed suitable for him to be brought along with.

With Celly, he’d moved on from learning just water magic, as he earned an “Ethereal” level grasp on it and moved on to other elements; wind and rock were natural for him, but fire was a bit difficult to properly practice as it was highly destructive in nature.

Still, he was improving at a rapid rate, flinging spells naturally that continued to surprise his tutor nonetheless.