Chapter 143 - Little Crush

"Fire Shield. Interesting." Approached King Michael when he noticed Mogranius putting in great effort on training Eric(sipping a cup of hot tea while sitting on a tree stump. Why should he tire himself if he can just rest while working?).

It has been a while and Eric still didn't master the Fire Shield completely. However, he did make great progress. He is only a few days away from forming a steady reliable 2 inch thick shield which can surround him from each side. Mogranius' method of training really helped him accelerate his progress.

Every individual Fire Witch or Wizard has different perceptions and can progress through different methods. They aren't all the same after all, there will always be people who progress slower at a certain task than the other, it doesn't neccesarily mean that they are dumb or useless. They just have different perceptions, understandings and styles.

"I remember learning that about 200 years ago." Giving out a small smile and a joke afterwards to appear more approachable, he continued in a friendly sarcastic manner. "It became my best friend after I ran into "Peaceful" Demons for the first time!" It's not easy to fight off tens to hundreds of opponents, especially if one got cornered. Luckily Mogranius knew both the Atomic Fire spell and the Fire Shield.

"Ha!" Laughed out Mogranius. He still doesn't like how King Michael is slowly taking Mogranius' spot as Eric's mentor. But he knows it's for the best after all. And he can heavily relate on the Demon part. Even though he preferred using the "Atomic Fire" spell against those Peaceful Demons.

"Try battling a mutated whale." Rubbing his eyes afterwards when he remembered the "Atomic Fire" spell, King Michael could already put two and two together about what happened that day. 

"Is it weird that i want too?" Added King Michael in, i wish to say sarcasm? But his face was both eager and curious, making it clear that he actually wants to do it. But since he started cracking unintentional jokes with Mogranius, he definitely seems approachable(and funny too).

"Um hello!" Spoke out Eric in quite a strong concern. "I have an issue here."

"What the hell!" Shouted Mogranius the moment he turned around and saw something he didn't expect to see, at all!

"How did you even manage to do that. It goes against so many rules!" Yelled King Michael. Small mis shaped issues would occur sooner or later, it's just the process of learning. But this, he didn't expect it at all. Even Mogranius' who mentored the Electus before expected something less bizarre than this.

"Electus' raw power. It won't explode don't worry, at least i hope! You will see many sights like this, good luck." Although sarcastic, he did show acception. He accepted King Michael as Eric's Mentor even though he didn't like it at first. I mean, considering King Michael's years of research and Grand Mastery in the Arcane arts of Fire Controlling, Mogranius will finally have someone to look up to and learn from(that isn't himself) and Eric too.

What they saw however, was a highly misformed Fire Shield. It was too lumpy, had many spikes, seemed to even have a nose. And instead of having it's usual light shade of fire as an overall colour, it was black here and there.

Tilting his head to the left, Mogranius decided to point out. "It looks like Xakro if you tilt your head like this."

Having no idea how Xakro even looks like, King Michael followed along and had the decency to point out. "Wow, he did not age well."

"He is actually curs..."

"How do I stop this thing?" Shouted Eric interrupting their deep prosperous research. They instantly noticed that the Fire Shield kept changing forms the more Eric panicked(Although not a breeze for Eric, this is the start of a detailed research about Fire Controlling. There aren't such books anymore).

Some forms were even very inappropriate. Perhaps portraying Eric's thoughts? I know what you are thinking, but no. They weren't s.e.x.u.a.lly inappropriate. He isn't about that. The forms were just a rageful mess, even a boulder crushing someone was formed. A snout of a Wolf appeared too, and the black shade brought theories that Eric still might have not conquered his phobia he got from Black Wolves.

"Just stop concentrating. It should be easy for you." Well there is the sarcasm. But he just wanted to stop this mess before it might actually explode. Although highly unlikely coming from a Fire Shield, with such raw power it isn't predictable.

"Ha Ha!" Forced Eric a sarcastic laugh, which made him drop his entire focus on the Fire Shield(i'd like to say, around him?). The Fire Shield afterwards, mostly disappeared completely in mid air, but some dark flames transformed into normal randomly spreading fire and flew towards the sky for a little bit before they disappeared. Dark flames, they overlooked it's value greatly.

"What exactly do you guide him to focus on for such results to appear?" Asked King Michael curious and yet a bit nervous. Thinking about the Inner Demons was his first thought and a plausible theory, maybe they are preventing him from progressing. He is a kid after all, how much can he handle?

"Protection. He is focusing to protect. It worked well for me before." Even though he did not like his methods questioned, he still awaited for King Michael's thoughts on it. He has far more experience after all.

"It should work well for most individuals, but he skipped right to the second Power instead of practicing the first." The way how King Michael respects Mogranius' teaching and still point out what's wrong, made Mogranius feel more comfortable. Every King should be skilled in Speechcraft, but unfortunately they often aren't and choose to yell for what they want. Rather prehistoric if you ask me.

"Your point being?" Mogranius wasn't being harsh with this, just curious. Just what idea could King Michael have in mind?

"Patience won't work for him." That sentence got everyone in shock, but it was still what Eric wanted to hear desperately. Even though he wants to protect his own, he still wants to attack whatever tries to hurt his own. His Inner Demon of rage craves it. But how would feeding the rage, help beat the Rage?

Trying to respect a Level six Fire Wizard's thoughts on this instead of yelling at this nonsense, Mogranius added. "So you think that he should have a more rageful mindset."

"His mindset is already rageful. While caging the rage will benefit him in time, i have a method which can help him form a perfect fire Shield while still caging the rage and even reducing it faster. A method i wish i knew before i tried my first Fire Shield." King Michael's words got everyone puzzled. What exactly could he mean by this? If it isn't further described or even shown, it will never make sense. Countless theories can fly around in their minds and most could prove ineffective.

"What did your first Fire Shield look like?" The question a lot have been waiting for(or at least since King Michael started talking about Fire Shields).

"Umm... very inappropriate. It looked like a P..."

"Minors around." Coughed Commander Alia as she walked in towards the group of Fire Wizards. It was rather heartwarming to see, likely the last of their kind consulting such important matters.

"Oh...right." murmured King Michael when he realized his flaw. But actually, he felt more embarrassed that he almost said that with Commander Alia near. He doesn't mind if Eric hears it. He has one after all. "Actually, perfect. I need you." Soon after he said "I need you". He stopped right away and tried to figure out how to dumb down this method for these people to understand. Which was rather difficult to do.

But the point is, he ended the sentence inappropriately. While Commander Alia even got a little bit shy(which has been common ever since she met Mogranius), Mogranius was starting to boil with rage. He thought that King Michael is moving in on his lady. But that wasn't the case of course.

Understanding how embarrassingly he ended the sentence, he tried to save it right after by adding. "I need your skill with the blade to help Eric understand the Fire Shield better." At least, he can think about explaining this method calmly now.

Mogranius sighed in relief. Commander Alia's cheeks calmed down and Eric was still confused and didn't exactly understand what's going on with the male female drama. He focused on more important matters. For example, he thought about hoe Blades are mostly used for attacking, so how can it help?

Trying to portray his pure intention furthermore, he gave another short explanation. "I would of asked Woldemir for help, but he is busy training the Platoon."

"Hop two three four!"

"Hop two three four!"

"Hop two three four!"

They heard the Platoon running from a distance right after. Almost half of their training schedule includes running so it isn't a surprise to see them run. I can't tell for sure what the Gang would say if they knew that Woldemir the almighty GrandMaster in Swordsmanship is making shoes for the 4 Calidum Lutum and teaching a Guard how to make them as well.

"Oh i'd be glad to help such an adorable Electus." Being already very near Eric, she grabbed Both of Eric's cheeks hard and played with them as if she was playing with an adorable baby.

Eric both didn't like it and liked it a lot. Obviously publicly being treated like a baby in front of 2 men is embarrassing, but that embarrassment came from Commander Alia. A person he cares about a lot. So emotions battled against each other. "He will be the most powerful person on Earth but he is still a sweetheart." Being already crouched down to his size, she let go of his cheeks, stood up and grabbed his shoulders with both hands and said "Right?"

"Umm....Right. Yes... Right." He did not dare to look straight forward though, since he is shorter than Commander Alia by a foot(she is 6 foot tall), he only looked up and still tried to avoid eye contact(which was very hard) Commander Alia looks very physically fit, no doubt attractive. And Eric doesn't want to seem perverted. His face simply became smoking hot in embarrassment while Commander Alia couldn't hold in her laughter.

Noticing how he tried to be well mannered, respecting a Woman's personal space(even though she wasn't respecting his, although intentions pure.). Seeing what was going on here, she just proceed to give him a tight hug(in a non s.e.x.u.a.lly provoking way that is(duh)). She managed to figure out how red faced Eric gets every time she pays him more attention or playfully touches his face. She knew that it is either a little crush, or he is missing a motherly figure(even though Woldemir filled both spots). Either way, hugs are nice(unless from a stranger). And if Commander Alia can relieve so much stress from a child, then why not?

However, the affection she is showing is a surprise to both Eric and Mogranius. When they met her, she simply wanted to kill them. Even after she accepted them and declared Eric as the new King. She was still moody. Now her attitude feels like a source of never ending sunshine. Reasons behind it are numerous. King Michael however, wasn't surprised because she was mostly like this ever since she arrived in Gaster Kingdom. But he did perceive both of their confused faces. And Eric's red face even after the effect of the cheek squeezing wore off. He too understood what was going on here. Even Mogranius understood, but didn't make a big scene out of it and showed sympathy(amazing).

"Alright." She spoke out confidently breaking the awkward silence her affection caused. "How can I help?"