I don't mind these walls, or any obstacles.

Malanie walked along the outskirts of the camp, kicking a rock nonchalantly, a mixture of boredom, frustration and more so contemplation apparent on her face. Usually, she was one to stick with a task, but magic was another story. It was easy for her to get distracted.

She made it to her personal, makeshift training range. It was in an obvious place out behind buildings, but somewhere people didn't bother to go most of the time. An abused dummy stood alone out in the open. Making her way to a spot several yards in front of the dummy, she sat on the ground and reached into the leather pouch on her hip, pulling out half a dozen rough, albeit sharp stone knives made especially for throwing. Next, she withdrew a small glass bottle and then a rag. Pulling the top off of the container, she pressed the rag against the lip, tipping it over and letting the liquid inside - oil - seep out onto the cloth. Setting the container down, she began to rub the oil on the knives, until each one was coated thoroughly except for at the bottoms where she held them.

Magic, weaponry, warriors. They went so nicely together, but she seldom, if ever, had seen them being used all at once by a single man.

Picking up one of the knives, she raised a finger to it, summoning a small flame that danced upon her fingertip, and lit the weapon. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the flames engulf the knife slowly.

Maybe, she imagined, an archer who could fire a single cursed arrow at a the feet of league of men and take them out before they could retaliate. Or utter a single word and a shield that was once useless could become near invincible for an indefinite amount of time. Of course, this was easier said than done. Magic was time consuming to learn, and being a skilled warrior equally so. So maybe, if warriors spent less time with physical training and more studying the ways of magic, and wizards spent more time practicing physically, the end result wouldn't have the full strength or capabilities of either profession... but, instead, you get a decently skilled man who is capable of both, opening many more doors. And then, should a war come again, there would be no shortage of wizards or warriors but a well balanced army.

Or maybe not. Her idea had flaws all over. For now, it was just a hobby and a daydream. She had just barely chosen a path, her options were still out there.

Lifting two flaming knives, she stood and took aim, facing the dummy. In a blink, the weapons were shooting through the air. One hit the pathetic excuse for what was supposed to resemble a human in the neck, the other continued on past, striking the ground feet behind. She muttered a curse, moving to retrieve the knives.

Varoc wandered around camp,looking for something to do,then smelt the faintest waft of fire in the air,knowing exactly what it was,after having burnt himself so much,he followed atfer the faint trail,leading to where a girl was throwing flaming knives. he stayed back atleast twenty to thirty feet,in awe at watching her 'flaming knives.. interesting concept..' he thought to himself

Once she had collected the knives, she made her way back to the place where the other knives were and repeated the process. The second time, she threw two again. One striking it's chest, the other striking the arm. The last set of knives went completely past the dummy. Melanie grew increasingly frustrated. She could hit the dummy four out of six times, but should it be a real person, it wouldn't be fatal - especially with the factor the person could avoid it. She had to get better, and she would, if it took her all year.

After a half an hour or so, she decided to pack up and leave the training ground. She put everything away and began away from the area, when her eye caught a boy several feet away. She blushed, not because she was shy, but because she hadn't noticed him. It was awkward, sort of like when someone walks in on you while you're singing, and you don't notice them until the end of the song.

She shook the blush away, storming up to the boy and gripping him by the collar. "How long have you been there?" she demanded, "Nevermind. Look, it's rude to watch people like that." she lowered her brows at him, moderately annoyed, still gripping his collar tightly.

"Hi,um.. just half an hour?.. you seem pretty good with those knives.. i like how you incorporated the usage of fire and knives!..but i saw that you hit your mark.. four out of six times.. i believe i can help you.. i think its the fire thats throwing you off,instead of dousing the entire blade,why not only half it it?" he grinned at her,seeing if being friendly,or giving her advice would tame some of her fiery attitude,but knowing very well it would most likely backfire

"It's not the fire." she let him go, crossing her arms and turning to the side slightly. "It's the knives. They're made of stone, they're not the right density. Plus they're jagged, not very aerodynamic. I need real knives." she blew out with her mouth, the hair in front of her face floating up for a second. She had formed the knives using magic, but they were hardly usable. Stone wasn't her strong point.

Melanie looked back to the boy, raising a brow. "Hey, aren't you the guy who always fails the fireball spell?" she asked, more rhetorically than anything. Everybody failed with fire once in a while, but this guy was another story. "Alright, how about a deal? If you can get me half a dozen decent knives, I'll help you master that spell. I'm not really great at it, but compared to you I'm a master." she said bluntly. That was Melanie, full of herself and prideful. It was either her destruction or her strongest point.

"......yes.. thats me.." his ears lowered at the sound of that,but then raised quickly at the sound of her idea "Sure,i can get you some knives.. or if not,i can see what i can do to smooth out those stone ones.."
he then scampered off quickly, disappearing in the distance,using small jets of air, propelling him to nearly double his running speed. he then came back with a large sack of knives."Hey! i got you what you wanted!" he called out to her,panting softly,opening the sack in front of her "I think its about..thirty in that bag.."

Melanie raised her brows, looking down at the sack and pulling a knife out. "Where did you..." she bounced it in her hand slightly, testing the weight, then ran her finger along the blade, cutting it in the process flinching slightly "Alright, whatever." she shrugged it off mostly, still wondering how he managed to find so many knives so quickly. She took the bag away and sat it down in her usual spot - the area had been charred from where she had trained in the past.

"OK, look. Fire is different from say, stone or something. When you're dealing with it, uh... great. Lets see..." she looked for the right words to describe what she was picturing. "First, you bring the fire up, right? But you have to be able to control it, otherwise being able to bring it up is totally useless." she held out her palm, creating a fire over it. "Well, just show me how you do it first." she watched him, diminishing the flame and crossing her arms.

He holds out his hand,standing a couple of feet back,making air slowly swirls in his palm,then burst into a small crackling fire "I can make it to begin with.. its just building onto it and sustaining it is the problem.." he focused on keeping it going,slowly trying to add to it further

"Stop." she quickly moved over to him, grasping his wrist. "You're doing it all wrong. Alright, look. It's not just about controlling the fire. You can't just make a fireball unless you can contain it. It's like.. OK, imagine a clear glass orb above your hand." she held her palm up again. "The clear glass ball is the air. You have to be able to do that before you move on. It's not just understanding fire, it's understanding the elements around it, get it?" she asked. "The sphere of air contains the fire. You have to control the air around the fire and the fire at the same time, but it'll become automatic once you get used to the feel." she made a small orb of fire appear in her hand, swirling around inside the orb of air.

"Once you have that basic technique down, you can expand the fire, but you have to keep the air around it expanded with enough room to spare, otherwise it'll just be out of your control." the ball continued to expand until it was roughly the size of a plate. "The fire will just control you, and you'll be afraid of it." the orb in her hand began to change in shape, the fire spiraling and bending in odd angles, as if alive. "If you can get the basics down, you can twist it and change it however you like. Just don't get cocky and go past your limits, start out small until you're comfortable moving up." she warned. "And of course you'll have to adjust the spell depending on location, taking in factors like gasses and the oxygen, which can be denser or thinner depending on where you are. For example, higher elevations mean thinner oxygen, meaning it'll take more energy to create and sustain a fire. And areas rich in oxygen, it will take less. If you ever get a chance to train on a mountain top you'll see what I mean, the difference is amazing." she watched him closely, "Now, try again." she said. She didn't expect him to be much better right away, but hopefully, her rough lecture would help. She could go into further details, but she passed, figuring it was better for him to study it himself to further understand.

"Ok..so air controls the fire,letting it take shape..expanding the air lets the fire grow without going wild.. make sphere of air,build the fire inside it,slowly build it up,keep the air compressed,in a circular form" he makes a small dome of air in his palm,and then slowly a fire flickers to life in it,slowly growing bigger,expanding the air and fire together,taking deep breathes to steady himself,slowly making it into the size of a baseball "H-how am i doing? i have my eyes closed so i can focus beter.. is it getting any bigger?

Melanie sighed and rolled her eyes. Crouching down slightly, she slid a leg quickly along the ground, sweeping it underneath the boys feet to knock him down, before standing and walking so she stood over him. She sat a foot down on his chest, raising a brow slightly. "You really think that's a good way to learn? It's not. Keep your eyes open. If you can't concentrate out here, in the middle of nowhere, then how to expect to concentrate on a battlefield?" she asked. "Have you learned anything yet?" she asked, moving off him now.

She held a hand out to help him up, tapping her foot impatiently. "By the way, I'm Melanie. But call me that and die, I just go by Mel around here." she said, still not looking at the boy as she waited for an introduction on his part.

"Waaaaagh!!!" he grunts as he is tripped up,making the fireball vanish,he then loks up at her,shyly taking her hand,not looking inot her eyes"Im..varoc.. and i just relax and focus here..and take my time.. so i dont have to be such a burden elsewhere.." after he stood up,he dusted himself off "I know im a bad excuse for a wizard.. but im trying really hard to get better,i just take longer to learn things then most" he clenched his fist,mentally scolding himself,making fire singe his hand lightly 'idiot idiot idiot idiot!' he thought to himself

Melanie jerked her hair, getting the hair away from her eyes, before looking at him again and crossing her arms. Reaching into her pouch, she took the old, jagged knives out and replaced them with ones from the bag Varoc had brought. Picking the bag up, she made her way over to the dummy after grabbing Varoc's wrist and tugging him until he got the idea she wanted him to follow.

Once there, she sat the bag down beside the base of the dummy, where she planned on leaving it until her next training session. "You see this dummy?" she asked. "It's basically useless. The only thing it's good for is training practice, that was why it was created. It has no other propose in life." she looked from the dummy and back to Varoc, eyes sharp. "You're perfectly capable of becoming a good wizard, but no matter what you do, you can't throw your hands up and say it won't happen. Got it?" she asked, poking his chest with a finger.

"You.. think i have potential? " his eyes widened and a smile crept onto his face,looking at her with a renewed vigour "Ill try to not let you down! i shall work really hard at getting this spell down"

"Everyone has potential, but not everyone is willing to build onto it." she corrected quietly. "And you will get that spell down." she said, emphasizing her certainty. She wasn't one to give up or say she couldn't because it seemed too possible. She knew she could, she just had to apply herself. The same was for this man. Now that he was more confident, she figured she had better head off, she had errands to run in the marketplace.

"I have to go. See ya around." she called, waving her hand as she walked away.

He smiled at her,intently practicing that same spell for the rest of the day,afterwards,just laying out there in the field,not nearly as many burns suffered this time. he smiled as he thought of her words over and over,using them as his motivation. He held his hand out,slowly building up the fireball,the air around it swirly calmly,expanding it at a slow but somwhat moderate pace,till it was the size of a grapefruit