Jaya releases my fist a second later. “Good. At least you keep your wrist straight and can aim.”
I rotate my shoulder. Is this what Ax felt like out there? Where did that magic come from? “Did you…did you cast a spell?”
“Of course. What, you think I can catch a punch like thatnaturally?”
“But I didn’t hear you. Can, can you…”
“Oh, Gods no. Wait, haveyouever met someone who can mind cast?”
“No.” To be honest, I have been working on it for ages, but nothing has come to fruition. In theory, mind casting, casting without saying the spells out loud, could work, but no one has proved it yet.
“I haven’t either, but cage casting is the closest it gets,” Jaya says. “You must chant under your breath so your opponent doesn’t know what to expect. Here, watch my lips and listen.”
While the directive gives me an excuse to look at her, I don’t want my gaze to tell her anything, like, for instance, how bloody beautiful I think her lips are. She steps closer for me to hear. That’s the only reason she stepped closer, I know, but I can’t stop something inside me from roaring awake and pushing for me to do something. Something…charming.
“Did you hear the spell?” she asks.
Blood. Focus, Jatin.“No. What was it?”
She sighs. “A shield spell. Please tell me you know those, both physical and magic.”
“Of course I do.”
“Okay, good. Your opponent, Tenson, is a yellow forte wizard. He likes wind bursts, so either throw up a bubble shield or combat wind with wind. Like me, he also favors orange magic, particularly speed enhancement.”
I nod. “Got it.”
“Cage casting is also about letting the magic flow continuously.” She touches my hand and traces up my arm. Even over my cloak it feels amazing. “Pick a finger and focus. Let your Touch flow up and down your arm and not all at once. Okay, chant with me this time, and actually cast the spells. Each one should appear at once and disappear as you start a new spell.”
She steps back. “Ready?”
For fifteen minutes we build shields crafted for strong gusts of yellow magic. I’ve trained to cast continuously, but never quite like this. A white shield spell isn’t even fully destroyed before Jaya tells me to start the next. She taps my arm to indicate when I should change. It’s an advanced teaching method and I wonder where she learned it.
A knock on the door whips our attention back to the real world. I almost forget there was anything beyond this closetlike room.
“Hey,” Sims calls.
Jaya pulls back the soundproofing.
Sims bashes the door open and charges in. “Two minutes!” He pounds on the wall in emphasis. The way he looks, I think he wishes that wall were my head.
“He’ll be ready, Sims. I got it!” Jaya yells back.
“You better. What’s his fighting name anyway?”
She turns to me in question, and I shrug.
“Do I have to do everything?” she whispers to herself. “The White Stranger!” she calls.
Sims spits. “Weak.”
“Then anything you bloody well please, Sims.”
He grunts and turns to go, waving two fingers at her. Only two minutes left. That’s all? I don’t even have time to be nervous.
“We’ll probably regret that later,” Jaya says. “Take off your cloak and pull up your sleeves.”
I unfasten the cloak. “Why the sleeves?”
