The Four Guardians

"Ok… So now we know that you have potential and that you just suck at controlling it, we can start the actual training."

Eva and Tia stood side by side watching as Tempus brought out a variety of equipment found within the academy.

"So, these are training balls. We are going to use them to test your accuracy and consistency. I'm going to place these two balls on pillars and I want you two to use whatever spell you want to knock them off. Simple enough, but there is a catch. I will be measuring your spells Magi Points each time. Each spell you fire must have the exact same Magi Points as the last."

"So we should use an easy to cast spell and keep that going?"

Eva was excited to begin the training, although it wasn't for her she wanted to train to protect Tia.

"That is correct. You need to hit the ball 100 times without missing once and trying not to go over or under on Magi Points. Seems easy right?"

"Easy? There is no way I can do that? Tia won't be able to do that either, she's only just recovered."

Tempus was aware that neither of them would be able to complete it. He was aware of their limits and skills but wanted to push them beyond anything they've achieved before.

"Sure she can. You both can. Take it in turns and see how it goes. Oh, and if you mess up I will have you fight one of these.

Ice Manipulation! Glacial Knight!"

Tempus exclaimed as out from the ground formed a crystal knight constructed of ice. Although it was made of ice the knight stood tall and wielded a large pike, twice the size of Tempus, powerful enough to pierce the arena walls without struggle.

# # #

The training began with Tia and Eva taking turns to hit the ball. Tia shot tiny water droplets from the end of her staff each hitting the ball with perfect accuracy, light gentle rain carefully landing on its target.

Eva launched fireballs, no bigger than Tia's droplet at the ball. Each colliding with their target.

"It seems like you've got the hang of it… you've both nearly done 10…"

Eva and Tia ignored Tempus as they knew he would only distract them. Eva continued to produce results whilst Tia began to reach her limit. Sweat started to pour down her pale face as she fell to her knees.

"KEEP GOING TIA!" Tempus shouted. "IF YOU GIVE UP NOW WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF YOU!"

Tia regained her composer and attempted to stand up. Eva attempted to help but was stopped by the crystal knight. Tia's body was already passed its limit, it never even had time to fully heal.

She climbed back up and pointed her wand at the ball. Her hand was shaking uncontrollably. Her face filled with frustration and anger as she tried to steady her hand.

"Tia… you don't have to keep going…" Eva said.

Tempus stood watching from behind the ball. Looking at the pained expression on Tia's face.

Out the end of Tia's wand small droplets fell to the floor, one after the other. Quickly gaining speed before a large jet of water escaped her wand.

The water quickly pierced through the ball and the pillar, the jet approached Tempus who had managed to erect a magical barrier before it reached him.

The force from the spell forced Tempus back against the wall. Fighting to keep the barrier alive whilst also trying to contain the spell from destroying anything else.

After several seconds the water collapsed and Tia's wand fell to the ground, broken in two. Tia looked at her wand and then to Eva, who was equally as shocked. The two of them turned to Tempus who was climbing out from the damaged wall caused by the barrier which was infused with it.

"Well, would you look at that." Tempus said as he crawled out, soaking wet from the water that leaked into his shield.

"I must say I'm impressed. I kinda wish I wasn't standing in the way."

"What was that!" Eva exclaimed.

"What do you think? That was all Tia. Although your training wand did break and you look a little pale, you are still standing, aren't you?"

Tia hadn't said anything to Tempus since the training began. She thought that no matter how much training she had it wouldn't help. She went along with his schemes in hopes that maybe something would happen, unaware of the power she just unleashed. She looked down at her legs to see if she was standing, she felt her c.h.e.s.t to see if her heart was still beating.

"B-but… how…" Tia said.

"What do you mean how? I don't know how you did it. It was all you. You managed to survive a spell. And a powerful one at that. Now we can move onto the next stage."

"Don't you think she should rest?" Eva refused to believe the situation in front of her. She thought that Tempus was interfering again but was unable to tell, except this time, Tempus had no involvement.

"Second Stage!" Tempus exclaimed. Tempus pulled out his book and created two more Crystal knights from nothing but air, both equipped with rapiers.

"Both of you are to destroy these guys. Use any spell you want. They will slowly walk towards you so make sure your spells keep them at bay. They will kill you if they get close."

Eva and Tia began to realise what made Tempus a Guardian. They had watched his magic many times already each time surpassing their expectations. But they felt as if they were only witnessing part of who he truly was.

Tempus handed Tia another training wand and the Knights slowly began to walk forward, each step caused the ground below them to crack. Tia moved as far back as possible based on instinct, allowing her time to recover.

Eva watched her Knight and tested it with a few weak shots. Each fireball was cut precisely in half falling behind the knight, leaving no mark. They both realised that it wasn't going to be easy, and they both failed to realise how to pass the test.

The knights walked closer and closer, each step more threatening than the last. The spells that were being thrown at them were all sliced before they got anywhere near their target.

"Tia!" Eva cried out. "Use the water spell from before!"

"B-but I don't know how?"

Tempus watched as Eva and Tia struggled to deal with his test. He questioned giving them a hint but didn't how much he should interfere. Time was running out for them and he was unsure if they would make it in time.

"Did they teach you about the Magic Puzzle Visual?" Tempus asked.

"Magic Puzzle? What is that?" Eva shouted over the onslaught of spells she was unleashing.

"You should think of magic as a puzzle piece. Each element, material, entity, everything is a puzzle piece. To create a spell you've just got to combine the pieces. These knights are Ice, Earth and Animo. With Ice and Earth, I can create a nice looking statue, but with Animo, I can complete the puzzle and make a knight.

There are tons of different things you can put together, use what pieces you have to create things. Don't forget about both your bodies!"

"Don't forget about your body?" Eva repeated "I'm fully aware that I'm lacking mana right now! I don't need you to remind me."

"That's not what I meant…" Tempus said, ashamed that his teaching skills have fallen over the years.

"WELL, WHAT DO YOU ME- Ah..."

The Knights grew ever closer with only a few feet separating them. Tia and Eva were pushed up against a wall. Within a few seconds, the knights would be able to cut them open.

"Tia!" Eva shouted. "I got an idea, but we don't have time. Take my hand!" Eva held out her hand to Tia next to her who held it squeezed it tightly.

Eva's wand emitted a red light which quickly disappeared into Eva's body. The red light traverses its way around her body into the hand that connected her to Tia.

Tempus watched as he was unsure of what was happening. He prepared himself to cancel the Knight spell but quickly found himself impressed.

A large light emitted from Tia's open hand. She held it out in front of her and launched a large mouth of flames engulfing both of the knights in one. Leaving nothing but a puddle behind.

"Wow. I'm impressed." Tempus said. "What did you do?"

"I remembered our bodies. Although we've always been taught about using our wands and other catalysts to use spells I remember reading that you only need that to initialise the spell. Once the spell was created I send it around my body and into Tia. It was a gamble but it seems her pure mana made it stronger."

Tempus looked at both of them with a smile across his face.

"I'm impressed you knew how to do that naturally. Mana can travel through many things. You are wrong about one thing, however. The catalysts still control the spell even if it was within your body. Just look at your wand."

Eva looked at her closed hand and saw nothing but ash and scorch marks.

"Your training wand broke. It couldn't handle a spell like that. Just like with the water blast it was too strong. Once you find catalysts you are comfy with you'll learn how to not damage it when you cast spells."

"Ah!" Tia jumped up. "I have a question…"

"Go for it." Tempus said.

"Is it possible to cast spells without a catalyst?"

"It's been theorised. It may be possible to use your body as a catalyst. The reason we use a catalyst is so we can control the mana and manipulate it. So maybe one day we'll see someone strong enough to do it. I don't see why it would be impossible."

Tia and Eva looked at each other and leant on one another to catch their breath whilst regaining all the mana they lost.

"Don't go resting just yet." Tempus said, pulling out his book. "I have one final test."

Eva and Tia weren't given any time to heal. The presence that Tempus emitted froze them in place. As if they were trapped in a cage with death.

"I shall use Beck's element and fight both of you!"

Tempus raised his hand towards Tia and Eva. Razor-sharp cuts appeared around various places on their bodies, their clothes were torn from an attack they couldn't even see

The two of them stood trying to regain their composure, the attack happened so quickly that even their bodies needed time to realise it had been cut. The two stood facing one of the Demon Realm's strongest, stronger than anything they've ever faced before.

# # #

"Thanks for inviting me in, Master Beck!"

"No need to worry, Zackary. Your friend was very interested in seeing this academy. I'm glad to be able to show you around whilst she runs around sightseeing."

Zack and Beck strolled around the academy, looking into the classrooms and watching the students. Although Zack had no interest in most of it he was happy to see that Kat was going to a good place.

"When will I be able to meet up with Kat?" Zack asked

"I shall take you to her in a minute. She should be finished any second now."

The two continued to walk with Beck answering any questions Zack threw at him.

They stopped outside an old wooden door that looked as if it hadn't been opened in years.

"She is just down here." Beck gently opened the door and began to walk down the hundreds of stairs that were on the other side.

Zack blindly followed. The room was barely lit, the walls were surrounded by darkness and the sound of their footsteps echoed around.

"Are you sure she is in here?" Zack asked.

"Yes, of course. Why look, here she is."

A large gust of wind lit various torches hung up on the walls. Chains and shackles hung below them with disembodied hands still attached from the prisoners that lived there.

Zack moved forward with care as sweat poured down his face and his legs started to tremble. He walked forward but stopped when he noticed he had kicked something.

He looked down and saw the mangled dehydrated corpse of what was once his friend. Kat's body sat crumbled in front of Zack. His eyes widened and his heart beat faster than it has ever done before. He leant down to feel Kat's skin. He attempted to pick her up but failed to do so. Her body dropped out of his hands back onto the floor. It was as if every bone and organ was removed without any cut, leaving only the skin.

"Y-you… w-what did you do!" Zack pulled out his sword in rage charging towards Beck.

"Please don't do anything rash. I only borrowed some mana." Beck said, launching Zack across the room without lifting a finger. Zack was pinned up against the wall and watched as Beck drew ever closer.

Beck flipped through the pages of a book he picked up from the floor.

"Th...that book… T-that's not normal"

"Oh, this? It's a gift from a friend, rather ominous don't you think? The Necronomicon. A wonder book full of mystery and power. The power I've longed for this whole time. They say just looking at it will make you go insane."

Inside the academy, all the students studied as hard as they could. Working to make sure they graduate. But no one was aware of this academy's dark secret.