Heavy breathing. A body screaming in pain as it is pushed past its limit. Sweat draining all of the moisture from the body in a desperate attempt to cool you down. These were honestly rather normal things to experience, especially for knights, warriors, and builders.
A spellcaster though...
They don't tend to do that kind of physical activity. So, why were Cas and Eric being forced to do as such by Alix. Well that requires some explanation of the previous day's events.
You see, after Cas made his proclamation to no longer be a mind slave Alix's interest in the boy grew. The reason, well she happened to have noticed a pink string reaching out from her to Cas. This was quite unexpected for the girl as she had assumed that monsters were the only ones applicable to be connected by the string but this threw that idea out the window.
So Alix decided to help Cas to see what sort of effect the string would have on him. So that was why she was training Cas. Eric, on the other hand, was part of a similar but different experiment. Alix wanted to figure out what caused the string to react and extend to a being. There had to be some sort of reasoning behind why it connected to Mo, Felix, and Cas but not anyone else.
Besides, Eric worked as a control group for her experimentation with Cas. And who would refuse an opportunity for growth.
"I never agreed to this!" Eric cried out exhaustedly. "This is torture! Cruel and unusual punishment!" Alix glared at the boy and screamed to ensure that he heard her. "IF YOU HAVE TIME TO COMPLAIN THEN YOU CAN RUN AN EXTRA LAP!" Eric turned to the girl in disbelief. She had gotten way too deep in her role.
Alix had on a black t-shirt and baggy, blue camo pants. She also had on sunglasses, even though it was first thing in the morning and the Blaze wasn't even visible yet. How was she even seeing them? Eric trudged along the path reluctantly.
'Why are a pair of spellcasters running in the park first thing in the morning instead of practicing magic?' Eric looked ahead of him to see if Cas was in as much pain as he was. Cas was also breathing heavily and drenched in sweat but he seemed to have this weird determined look on his face. "Yo!" Eric called out to Cas.
"What is it?" Cas responded. "You agree that this is too much right?! I mean we're supposed to be sitting behind desk and studying like normal spellcasters. Instead we're running out here first thing in the morning like a bunch of wannabe knights. It makes no sense!" Eric vented.
"If Mistress Alix feels that this is what we must do then we have no reason to doubt her teaching method." Eric was bewildered. "Don't tell me my only companion in this is also insane!" The two boys continued to be forced to run until Blaze shone bright in the sky. I'd say they started around four in the morning and now it was around eleven.
Other than running, Alix had made the boys do several other physical exercises to work on their physical strength. This was of course after they had run for around three hours straight with no breaks and vomited their souls onto the ground.
Now the two boys were on the ground panting and their tongues hanging out of their mouths. "Look at you two." Alix stated. "Sitting around panting like a pair of dogs. No, a pair of dogs would at least be sitting at the ready to continue. You two are no better than newborn pups." Eric didn't even have the energy to respond to the girl's insult.
"Go clean yourselves up and come over to the school. We shall have our next part of training over there." Eric's eyes widen in fear. 'There's more training?!' Alix picked Mo out of the Lake and placed him back into his fish bowl.
"Yer really enjoyin' this, ain't ya?" Alix shrugged. "It is quite interesting in a way. I never really had anyone to command or teach so this is an experience indeed."
"Are ya sure that yer not just venting yer repressed frustrations from all the years that yer mother has spent beatin' ya into the ground and callin' it trainin'?" Alix continued walking as she side-eyed the fish. "That has nothing to do with the current situation. I would never relent my frustrations on anyone like that. I would just find someone to punch."
Mo eyed the girl with suspicion, "Ya mean somethin'. Not someone."
"I know what I said."
...
Cas was rather excited as he made it to school. Which was something that he never believed that he would feel. He was in one of his classes for the day. Not quite sure which one but he never paid attention to anything they were teaching at the school anyway. You see, Cas was a commoner and a dirt poor one at that.
The clothes that he wore to school were basically just rags that he had been given while growing up and never grew out of. He had a rather small and frail frame.
His parents had sent him to this school in hopes that the boy had any level of talent in magic so that they could use him to make a living. Sadly for them, Cas literally could not cast spells no matter how hard he tried. So, they instead opted for the boy to find a different career path. Though there was only one career a poor, weak boy like Cas was fit for.
A slave. Cas's parents had sold him to one of the lower ranked noble families to make some sort of profit from him. Now, he technically was a servant not a slave. However, the way that he was treated was definitely more akin to that of a slave than a servant.
But, that didn't matter anymore. He would get better. He would become stronger. Cas began to wiggle with excitement until a foot forcefully dug itself into his side causing the boy to fall over.
"Oi. Stools don't shake." Ah, I forgot to mention that in his classes Cas does not have a seat per se. He instead kneels on the floor and is used as a stool by his young master. Seems like something I should have mentioned earlier.
"Apologizes." the noble ordered
Cas picked himself off of the ground and returned to his original position. "I apologize, Young Master Flint. I will-" He was kicked in the gut before being able to finish his sentence. "Stools don't talk, low breed." Cas sat upright again and nodded getting him yet another kick. This time to the face.
"I just said don't move! Do you like getting hit or something? Huh? Is this fun for you?" Cas fixed his position again not responding to not provoke an attack again. Unfortunately for him, he still was hit again. "You should speak when spoken to, low breed! I'm really getting sick of you today!"
I know that this situation seems quite terrible, but look on the bright side. This is actually one of the nicer ways that his masters have treated him. Cas continued to fulfill his duty without a care in the world. He was just excited to get to Inengway's office after school so that he could continue to receive the help of his benefactor, Alix.
'I wonder what she'll teach me next.'
...
"So you know absolutely nothing about magic? Like not even the most basic of basics?" Cas nodded apprehensively to Alix's questions. The girl sighed. "Why the hell are you two even at this school anyway? One refuses to tell me anything about his magic and the other doesn't know anything about the subject. It is hard to believe that you two are spellcasters."
Alix stared at the two boys that were avoiding eye contact with her. She had arrived in Inengway's office ready to continue training them. The idea was for her to help them improve their spellcasting ability. Though she ran into a few issues.
Cas doesn't know anything about magic. All he knows is that he can not use magecraft, similar to Alix herself, so she asked what other types of spellcasting he had been practicing. His response...
"Other types of spellcasting? I thought that there was only the one?"
"What!" Alix stared at the boy astonished by his ignorance. "Why would there be only one type of spellcasting?! That's like saying that there's only one way to use the sword or one type of food to eat. It is the most basic of basics. An idea so simple that toddlers would be able to understand it. How do you not know this? They teach it at this school?!" Cas averted his gaze as he responded. "Well, I never really paid attention to the classes here after I found out that I was unable to cast spells."
Alix clenched her fist tightly as she considered punching the boy. She managed change the topic of conversation by posing the same question to Eric.
"Hey. What type of spellcasting do you use?"
"I'd rather not say."
"I would rather you do say. Now, tell me."
"You wouldn't be able to help me with it anyway."
"Just stop beating around the bush and tell me." Alix was getting impatient. She continued to pester Eric for a few more minutes to no avail. He just refused to tell her the type of spellcasting that he used.
"What the hell are you hiding your spellcasting type for?!" She questioned highly annoyed. Eric, similarly to Cas, averted his gaze as he responded.
"It's just a sensitive topic, Mama Wolf." Alix held her head in her hands.
'Sounds like this is gonna be more work than ya first thought. Huh, Lexi?" Mo spoke smugly inside of the girl's mind. 'I never should have agreed to help these annoying fools." Alix sighed.
"I'll just have to go over the basics with you two. Since one of you actually needs them and the other just won't give me any information to give any sort of specified assistance." Eric and Cas both bowed deeply to the girl and thanked the girl.
"I appreciate your patience, Mistress Alix."
"Sorry for this and thank you, Mama Wolf." Alix looked at the two boys and shook her head.
"I have no time to regret my decision so let's just get started."