“Leo?”

Suddenly, another voice called out to him. Leo turned and found Celine and Kazu standing by with worried looks on their faces.

“Are you alright?” Kazu asked in concern. “You just walked off without saying anything.”

“I-I… I just…,” Leo paused before uttering, “I thought I heard something.”

“Heard what?” Questioned Celine.

Hearing her say that raised questions for the sorcerer himself. Was he hearing someone call his name, or was it simply his mind playing tricks? Neither Celine nor Kazu noticed anything, so Leo assumed it as his imagination. But even so, he couldn’t shake that someone, or something, was out there. Although, the looks of concern on his friends’ faces told Leo to give them an answer.

“Well, what did you hear?” Kazu urged Leo.

“…Nothing,” he lied and asked, “Anyways, have you guys finished eating yet?”

The witch and Kagemusha looked at their meals and saw they were empty. They went to set them aside, but their concern for their friend hadn’t left them. Celine and Kazu returned to Leo, who was a quick stretch before training.

“So, how far should the distance be?” Leo asked them.

“How about from here to the apple tree?” Suggested Kazu.

“Sounds like a good start,” Celine agreed, then eagerly announced, “I’ll go first!”

The boys looked to each other and shrugged before backing away. Celine started to concentrate her magic as she envisioned herself appear by the tree. And as she did so, violet-pink aura radiated from her, as it did for Leo. Merely seconds have passed, and the witch had yet to teleport from where she stood.

“She’s taking a pretty long time,” Leo whispered to Kazu.

“Well, what did you expect, Leo?” The Kagemusha whispered back. “Celine’s always doing this when she wants her spells to be perfect.”

“And I’d be done already, if you two weren’t talking behind my back!”

Celine’s outburst at the boys caused them to snicker like children. She ignored them and returned to building up power for her spell. When she felt it was enough, the witch disappeared, then returned beside the tree. Celine checked her surroundings but was startled coming face-to-face with Ariel. She fell back and hit the ground, causing Leo and Kazu to laugh at her hysterically.

“It’s not funny!” Yelled Celine.

“Then why are we laughing?!” Kazu shouted back, still laughing.

Enraged by her embarrassment, the witch launched her magic at both boys. But Kazu’s warrior instincts came in time, summoning a blue barrier before him and Leo. The blast collided with the barrier, successfully protecting them both.

“I keep forgetting how angry she gets when we laugh at her,” Kazu pointed out.

“Me too,” cringed Leo. “Alright then, looks like you’re up next.”

Kazu’s barrier disappeared when he turned to his friend, looking at him as if he’d gone mad.

“You’re joking, right?” He questioned, hoping Leo was. “What’s to keep her from firing another blast at me?”

“Oh relax,” The sorcerer insisted. “Once Celine fires her magic, she gets over it afterwards.”

Unsure of Leo’s logic, Kazu made a glance at the supposedly angry witch. She was leaning against the tree, combing through her violet-red hair. Though his skepticism didn’t go away, the Kagemusha decided to take his turn. But rather than using the same spot as Celine, Kazu went even further than that. He moved past Leo and stopped between the end of the field and where he last stood.

“You’re going to teleport from there?!” Yelled the sorcerer.

“Just thought it’d be more of a challenge!” Kazu yelled back confidently. “And it’ll provide me some distance if I don’t reach the tree!”

Leo and Celine were left puzzled, while the Kagemusha prepped himself. He took a deep breath, brushed back his mid-length black hair, and began honing his magic. It didn’t take long for a dark-blue aura to blanket over his presence. After the next few seconds, Kazu vanished from where he stood. Though astonished, Leo turned back to find his friend at the other side of the apple tree. The Kagemusha cheered at his success, leaving the witch, however, suspicious of the whole scene.

“You practiced teleportation with your father, didn’t you?” She bluntly asked him.

“I may have asked him for some pointers,” vaguely admitted Kazu before yelling, “All right, Leo! It’s your turn!”

The mention of “fatherly advice” didn’t go unnoticed by the sorcerer. He couldn’t argue though, it might’ve been better than practicing on their own. But Leo felt a bit cheated by Kazu hiding that sort of information. Fortunately, he won’t let the Kagemusha get away with such a trick. The sorcerer turned and walked to the other end of the field like Kazu did.

“Hey, Leo!” Celine shouted. “Where are you going?!”

“I thought I’d do what Kazu did!” He yelled back, stilling walking. “But this time, I’m going to take things even further!”

Knowing Leo, Kazu could tell his cousin was up to something. But he wasn’t able to see the smirk planted on the sorcerer’s face. They watched as he walked past where the Kagemusha stood but didn’t stop there. Leo continued until he was inches away from the opposite side of the field. The two magic wielders by the apple tree now understood what their friend was up to.

“You don’t think he can teleport from over there, do you?” Kazu asked Celine, holding a tone of doubt.

“Only one way to find out,” She curiously stated.

Leo kept his direction to the trees as he prepared the spell. He imagined teleporting to the apple tree with Kazu and Celine as expected. But as his magic surfaced, his friends witness the sorcerer disappear in an instant.

“Whoa!” Kazu uttered loudly.

“That was faster than you, Kazu,” commented Celine.

“Yeah, it was.”

The two jumped at the sound of a familiar voice behind them. Celine was clinging to her chest, while Kazu panted heavily to calm his heart. Then, when the voice broke in laughter, they turned to see Leo clutching his sides. The Kagemusha was still surprised that he had trouble uttering a sentence.

“How did you…?”

“Magic just comes naturally for me!” The sorcerer laughed.

Leo planted a hand on Kazu’s shoulder as his amusement subsided. The Kagemusha even laughed a bit, while Celine looked annoyed over her friends’ behavior.

“You guys are acting like children,” she negatively commented.

“Technically, we are children,” stated Leo. “But there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun.”

“Oh, really?” smirked the witch and said, “Then, you won’t mind me having some fun of my own.”

Before the boys could reply, Celine dropped to her knees and cast a spell. A thin, pink light singed its way toward Kazu and Leo, creating a vibrant circle around them. Then suddenly, four long, thorn-like vines shot up from below. Leo recognized the spell and caught on what Celine was trying to do. Out of instinct, he grabbed Kazu’s arm, and teleported them both out of sight. And just in time before the vines came and pierced the ground. Both sorcerer and Kagemusha reappeared on the field to witness what had happened.

“The ‘Wild Vine’ seal,” Leo pointed out proudly. “I guess this means we’re moving onto combat training.”

“Finally, we get to the fun stuff!” smiled Kazu deviously.

Right after saying that, Kazu jumped away and summoned his own magic. Leo turned back to Celine doing the same with a sinister smile on her face. The sorcerer’s instincts told him that he was in for trouble.