Chapter 199: Unlocking Wind

Elara:

Lorien seemed to recognize the realization dawning on my face. "You are so accustomed to relying on your physical strength and training that you keep forgetting you have other options. Your magic isn’t separate from you, Elara. It’s another part of your strength. Learn to use it alongside everything else you have mastered."

His gaze held mine for a moment, and I finally understood what he was doing. This wasn’t simply a sparring session or his way of torturing me like I believed. He was actually teaching me, exactly as he had promised Sera. Unfortunately, his teaching methods still made me want to kick him.

I drew a breath and focused on the magic beneath my skin, searching for that familiar coldness that accompanied my ice. Throwing him off with a burst of ice seemed like an excellent way to end this humiliating situation, although I wasn’t entirely certain how wise it would be to summon ice while he was holding me this close.

Before I could settle on a better approach, I reached for the power anyway. The response came instantly, but it wasn’t mine. A sudden force pressed against my body, pinning me more firmly to the mat without causing pain. My eyes flew wide as I felt Lorien’s magic wrap around me, holding me in place with an invisible pressure.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, struggling against the force. "You told me to use my magic!"

"I told you to remember that you have it," he corrected calmly. "There’s a difference between using your abilities and assuming your opponent will politely allow you to finish casting a spell."

He wasn’t wrong, but I glared at him anyway. "You are enjoying this far too much."

"Perhaps." He didn’t even bother denying it. "But listen carefully, Starlight. You aren’t fighting a human opponent who has no magic. You are fighting another magic wielder. If you rely on a single spell and assume it will work, someone like me will turn it against you before you have even finished thinking."

He eased the pressure just enough for me to move one arm, then watched as I immediately tried to summon a gust of force to push him away. He countered it before the spell could gather enough strength to move him. I tried again, this time reaching for ice, but he disrupted my concentration with a pulse of wind that scattered the frost forming around my fingers.

"Faster," he instructed. "Don’t announce your intentions through your expression. Don’t spend five seconds deciding which element would be most convenient. In a real fight, your opponent won’t wait while you consider your options."

I gritted my teeth and tried again. Ice failed. Illusion didn’t seem like much help in the situation. I still hadn’t tapped into my sealed wind magic. And whatever shadow magic Professor Stroll had seen in me, I couldn’t sense even an ounce of it.

Another attempt at forcing him away with a spell met the same result. Each time, Lorien countered my spell with infuriating precision, pushing me to react more quickly, to stop thinking of magic as a separate tool and start treating it as an instinct I could trust.

Frustration began to build beneath my ribs, hot and restless despite the cold sweat gathering along my hairline. I was tired of being pinned down. Tired of having every attempt thwarted. Tired of knowing that I possessed power I couldn’t fully control. But beneath the frustration, something else was stirring, something warm that seemed to gather deep within my chest and spread through my limbs with every failed attempt.

It was somewhat a familiar sensation as I had experienced them before. Having a little idea of what this growing warmth was, I reached for it instinctively, and this time, instead of searching for ice or trying to summon a carefully shaped gust, I simply let myself feel the power. It surged beneath my skin, unfamiliar yet strangely natural, as though it had been waiting for me to stop forcing it into a shape it didn’t want to take.

Lorien’s expression changed. "Elara-"

I didn’t hear the rest. The warmth reached a breaking point, and I caught hold of it without thinking, releasing the magic with a sharp, breathless laugh that escaped me at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

The air around us exploded outward as a powerful gust erupted from my body, sweeping across the gym with enough force to lift Lorien clean off the mat and send him flying toward the opposite side of the room.

My heart leaped into my throat, and for one terrifying second, I thought I had actually thrown the Headmaster into the wall. But Lorien twisted effortlessly in midair, caught himself with a controlled burst of wind, and landed on his feet several steps away as though he had merely decided to take a walk across the room.

I remained on the mat, breathing hard, my hair falling loose around my face as I pushed myself into a sitting position. My arms trembled with exhaustion, and the air still seemed to hum around me, carrying a strange, exhilarating sensation I had never experienced before.

Lorien didn’t speak immediately. He stood several feet away, staring at me with an expression I had rarely seen on his face. His usual amusement had vanished, replaced by something far more intense. Awe. His blue eyes seemed brighter than before, and for the first time that morning, I couldn’t find a trace of teasing in them. Slowly, he straightened, his gaze never leaving mine.

"Starlight," he breathed, almost as though he was afraid that speaking too loudly might break whatever had just happened. "You have done it."

I blinked at him, still struggling to catch my breath. "Done what?"

His lips parted into a smile, but this one was different from all the others. There was pride in it, genuine and unrestrained, and something in my chest tightened at the sight. "You have finally unlocked your wind power, Elara."