The berserkers were overjoyed to see Thor back again after lunch, and greeted him with a long round of head rubs and pats that had the Lightning Cerro in full happy puppy mode until the teacher came over to scold them all for not working.
Daniel decided to stay and supervise Thor while the others went to see how the mages were doing, and Karl let Hawk out of his space to fly around for a bit before meeting with the mages in their corner of the training fields.
They all knew the Hawk very well, and what it meant for their training, but the ones working on their shields were relieved to see that Thor had found a new spot to train and that he wasn’t planning to exhaust them with his enthusiasm today.
Karl could have sent out Rae to tear apart their shields, but the students would never be able to keep up with the pure violence of her attacks for long. All that he would accomplish was to terrify the students before their next mission away from the school.
If they were afraid that they would run into something like Rae, that could tear through shields like butter, they would be much more hesitant to go, and good mages were essential to party safety on missions.
Letting them train with the warriors was the more humane option.
It only took Karl a moment to identify the Fire Mages among the group, and to activate Skill Master with them included in the targets.
He had to hope that it was working, as Hawk wasn’t actually using any fire-based skills as he defended against the attacks, but his mind was relaying satisfaction as he observed the way that the fire mages adjusted their spells, and how they could use the same skill as both a large fireball and multiple smaller ones.
“Was he planning to practice his new skill at all?” Rita asked as they watched Hawk use nothing but Rend to deal with the attacks.
“He is, but he’s taking a watch and learn approach until he’s satisfied with the amount of understanding he has about fire magic. I’m actually surprised that it was fire magic. He already knows Rend, Shred and Wind Shield, so I thought if anything he would go for more air magic attacks, and not fireballs.” Karl replied.
“That does seem odd. Perhaps it was related to the Elemental affinity of the drakes that were used in the potion? If they were descended from a lineage of fire magic users, then it would make sense that the potions would push him toward fire magic.
It might explain the change in feather colours as Hawk drank the potion as well. If the Fire Element was particularly strong, it might have tried to fully convert him from the wind to the fire Element.
Most magical beasts have an affinity, and I’ve never heard of it changing, but then wild beasts don’t refine potions, so it might not happen in the wild except in very rare cases.” Rita pondered.
Hawk became more confident in his new comprehension of fire abilities as the class wore on, until finally, it was time for him to show off his skills to these mages.
While his regular attacks went out in a predictable pattern, the water mages delayed their casting, and let loose their barrage of Ice Bullets toward the moving targets. Then, a massive fireball flew from Hawk’s mouth, and the air filled with steam as Hawk laughed in joy.
“Dammit, did he learn fire magic just to mess with me? What did we ever do to him? I swear that bird has a vendetta against water magic users.” One of the mages ranted, while Rita and Alice tried, and failed, to resist the urge to laugh.
Karl walked over and gave the boy a compassionate pat on the shoulder.
“I wish I could say that you are wrong, but you’re not. Water attacks simply wrap around Rend and keep going, and it drives Hawk insane. First it was the Wind Barrier to block them, and when that wasn’t enough, he took a growth opportunity and refined his progression into a way to completely counter water magic.” Karl informed the downtrodden mage.
“I knew it! I told everyone that he was picking on me, but nobody believed me. They said that I just had good aim, and that’s why Hawk always intercepted my attacks. But he really does have it out for me.” The boy complained.
“Not you in particular. Water Magic. His vendetta is against the spell.” Karl offered.
The nearby mages laughed. “That’s essentially the same thing, since he’s only good at one element.”
Hawk chirped happily, but Karl could pick up a bit of taunting in that noise, as if asking the mage why he could only use one Element when Hawk himself could use two, plus Rend and Shred.
The class Professor blew his whistle, marking the end of the training session, and Hawk landed next to Karl, proud of himself for mastering his new fireball skill so well in one class.
But he had also learned the trick to changing it in form, and when the mage glared at Hawk, he nonchalantly tilted his head back and spit three small fireballs into the air that just hung there and hovered before dissipating.
The other mages chuckled at the bird showing off, and the boy got more sympathetic responses from his classmates.
“Sorry about your luck, man. But that’s definitely one more round in favour of Hawk. Better luck tomorrow, but now that he’s learned how to vaporize icicles, you’re not going to have an easy time of it.” One of the earth mages laughed.
“Doesn’t he just swat your attacks out of the sky with Rend?” The water mage countered.
“This isn’t about me. I have accepted that Hawk is far too good at this training.” The Earth Mage dismissed the talk of his own failures with a smile.
Rita whistled to catch everyone’s attention. “Alright, you’ve all had your fun. Hawk, say goodnight to your friends, it is time to pick up Thor before he harasses the Berserkers into insanity.”
“You left the Cerro with the Berserkers?” One of the girls asked.
“He’s learning Earthquake. He caught on pretty quickly, and he’s figured out how to activate it by smashing the ground with his tail instead of needing a weapon.” Karl explained, while the mages quietly laughed at the thought.
Rita led him away, with Hawk taking to the sky to float around and examine the school grounds, and the mages packed up their bags to go back to the dorm for the evening.
Rita was exactly right about the situation, and when they arrived back at the Berserker training ground, they were playing baseball. Or perhaps it was volleyball without a net. Karl wasn’t quite certain what the rules were, as Thor and a group of barbarians were alternately tossing a ball to be swatted with blunt weapons and bouncing the ball back into the sky after it was hit.
The professor supervising them seemed to have given up on understanding what they were doing, but the ball appeared to be one of the ten kilogram metal training balls from the Strength warriors area.
Just the fact that they could swat that thing up into the air was impressive, even if they were using lower strength activations of their skills.
“Thor, it’s time to go. Come back after the next point.” Karl called out, and the Cerro made a happy bugle in return.
The next berserker caught the ball and held it instead of continuing the game, and smiled at Karl and the ladies.
“Welcome back. Just repeatedly using Earthquake was wearing on the mind, so we started a new training game. Thor is incredibly good at it, with that Lightning over his tail. His aim is impeccable.” The berserker explained.
“Well, as long as you’re all having fun. But it’s time for dinner.”
That was the magic word, and the berserkers cheered as they went to grab their bags and shirts, which had been discarded at the edge of the training grounds. Thor trotted happily back to Karl before vanishing into his space to soak in the pool, getting his new and improved scales sparkling clean again.
The mass of Holy Stones at the bottom of the pool gave him a gentle aura, like fresh laundry and sunshine, and Thor wasn’t going to miss out on any chance to be clean and relaxed. It was slowly becoming a recognizable part of his presence, as the extended naps in the pond imbued every part of his body with the clean scent of Holy Magic.
