"I'm sorry," Shoji said. "Could you please repeat that?"

"Just attack me!" I️ exclaimed. "I'll see if I️ can activate this spell!"

"Fine," he said. "If you really want to." He took out his grimoire and looked at me. I nodded and he took a deep breath. He then swiftly moved his arm horizontally towards me. Three waves of air came at me, an I flipped to the Ice Magic spell. I put my hand out and just as the grimoire said, arrows made of ice appeared. I shot them at the air, making both spells cancel out.

"It's official," I said. "I️ have Lightning, Healing and Ice Magic."

"I just can't believe it," Shoji said, coming over. I put my grimoire back in my belt and smiled at him.

"Watch out, Shoji," I said, grinning. "That 100 win gap is gonna widen soon!"

   "Hey guys!" Nozomi exclaimed, rubbing towards us. "Guess what?"

   "What's wrong?" I️ asked. She held out a sheet for me.

"We can take the Magic Knights entrence exam in 5 months!" she exclaimed. "I've been waiting for you two to get your grimoires so we could all try out together!"

"Sure," Shoji said. "Of course, I'll need time for the girls, too."

   "Shut up!" I️ exclaimed, walking over to Nozomi. "Come on. Let's go train." The two of us walked away, heading for a different part of the forest.

   "There's a good spot!" she said, running to the top of a hill. I️ followed, and saw a giant oak tree at the top.

   "Whoa," I️ gasped, looking at it. "I️ always knew this hill had a giant tree at the top, but never thought it was this big!"

   "I usually train here," Nozomi said, pointing at the tree. "Phsyical training is key to controlling your magic. I'm not the strongest mage out there, but my strength is perfect for my body size. That's what Mom and Dad say at least."

   "I️ trained with you sometime, too," I️ said. "But never up here."

   "Sunset is the most beautiful time of day," Nozomi said. "Especially in the summer months."

   "Well," I️ said, looking at her. "What's first?"

   "1,000 push ups!" she shouted, getting down on the grass. "Come on, Nanami! Get to t! We're practicing at least 3 hours a day!! Better hurry because it's past 3 already!"

"Seriously!?" I️ whined. "Why!?"

"Stop complaining!" Nozomi shouted on her 10th push up. "Let's go!!" Groaning, I️ got down on the soft grass and started my push ups.

"994... 995," Nomozi counted my push ups. She had finished long before I️ did, and a hour had already past. Sweat was running down my face onto the grass.

"I️... can... do... this..." I️ panted, reaching the last push up. Then, I finally fell to the grass, panting and sighing with relief. "It's over."

"Nope!" Nozomi exclaimed, looking down and smiling at me. "We have 5 more hours of training to do! Let's keep going with one hour of jogging!"

"NOOOOO!!!!" I shrieked, staring at the sky.

"What happened to you?" Mom asked as I walked inside. I was covered in dirt and sweat and Nozomi had to help me get inside.

"She's going in the tub," Nozimi said, heading to the bathroom with me. "Get cleaned up. I'll bring you clothes." She closed the bathroom door and I turned on a hot bath. Taking my dirty clothes off, I got into the warm water and sighed.

"She's gonna break me into pieces," I muttered, dunking my head under the water.

After my bath, I was able to make it to our large bedroom. We divided it with our bunk bed, with me getting the right and Nozomi getting the left. I saw a plate of food on my desk and looked at Nozomi who was sitting at her desk. She didn't look at me, but was reading a book.

"Better eat up," she said, turning the page. "It's gonna be a very long 5 months." I smiled at her, knowing she was looking forward to training with me.

But she was right about the tough part. I was aching all over the next few days, but Nozomi had me train anyways. After the first month, my body got used to the vigorous training, but then Nozimi made the training 4 hours. Each month, I found out, she was adding a hour. My body started to get stronger, and so was my magic. She had us do drills like push ups with one arm, sit ups, jogging, hand stand push ups, etc.

I guess training with Nozomi started to grow on me, because the 5 months of training went by in a flash. Even Mom and Dad noticed my strength improvements.

"I can't believe you have to leave tomorrow," Mom cried, hugging me and Nozomi. "You are always welcomed to come back if you choose to. We'll be looking forward to hearing from you!"

"It's going to be fine, Mom," I said. "We'll defiantly come back and visit."

"Yeah," Nozomi said. "And if either of us don't get in, we will always come back and look after the village."

"We will wish for the best for both of you!" Dad exclaimed as we sat at the dinner table. Mom brought out dinner, and we started our last dinner in our home. We all laughed and chatted about all different things.

When it was about midnight, we heard a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" Nozomi asked as Dad went to open the door. It was Shoji.

"Please!" he cried. Dad was blocking our view, so we couldn't see his face. "Please help!"

"Shoji?" I asked. "What's the matter? All the girls run away from you?"

"Nanami!" Shoji cried, looking at me. Tears were falling down his face, and there was blood on his arm. "Nanami! Please! Help me!"

"Shoji?" I asked, running over. "Shoji, get a hold of yourself! What happened?"

"I'm going to take a look," Dad said. "Everyone stay here." I helped Shoji inside, but Nozomi ran after Dad.

"I'm going to make sure Dad's alright!" she called, closing the door. I helped Shoji sit next to our fire, and Mom came over with a towel to clean Shoji's arm. It wasn't cut, only meaning it was someone else's blood.

"My parents," Shoji whispered, looking deeply into the fire. "They're gone."

Nozomi Amachi(16) - Light Magic, Healing Magic

Nanami Amachi(15) - Lightning Magic, Healing Magic, Ice Magic

Shoji Yangi(15) - Wind Magic, Creation Magic