Markus prepared a duffer bag with a change of clothes and a toothbrush. He didn't come with anything at the academy so when he had to leave, even supposedly temporarily, he didn't leave with much.
He was up at 6 and got himself ready. He knew that this instructor could help him- call it intuition. He had been around enough bad figures to be able to at least vaguely discern who had good intentions and who had bad ones.
He went to the courtyard where he saw the headmistress, already dressed and looking far too energetic than one should be in a morning, talking to another woman. She seemed similar in age to the headmistress but her hair was deep crimson. She was about 160cm, shorter than the headmasters' 178cm, however she had a far more terrifying presence. Whilst the headmistress seemed calm and indifferent, the woman she was talking to had an aura that screamed violence and power.
'Talk about intense…' Markus said to himself, half concerned already.
He approached and the two stopped their conversation.
"Who're you?" The crimson haired woman asked. She had brown eyes and rounded features around her face, yet was quite fit. She wore a combat suit, which was sleek around her body yet provided some padding in core areas.
"Markus Windwave ma'am." He said, bowing his head to her.
"Who's this?" She turned to ask the headmistress.
"This…" she said as she moved to go behind Markus as she placed her hands on his shoulders "is your new pupil."
"You can't be serious… come on Lotty- one strong wind and he's a goner! I know I'm good at my job but even I can't create miracles." She said, exasperated
'I'm still here…' Markus thought to himself, not daring to move.
"You will find there's plenty to work with. Now get a move on." She said, pushing Markus toward his instructor.
"Sorry ma'am instructor- I don't know your name…"
"Nuune. Bailey Nuune. But you're only to refer to me as Instructor Nuune." She said with a defeated look on her face.
"Understood instructor Nuune." Markus said
"Come here- your collar is crooked. A student should always be presentable-" she said as she approached
"Wait but my collar is straight- I checked before I—" he tried to say but he was too slow.
Bailey had closed the gap the instant she knew her plot failed and gave Markus a chop to the back of the neck, striking his essence point and knocking him out cold.
She caught his unconscious body and threw him over her shoulder.
"Gosh Lotty- do you even feed him? He's malnourished I think. Very light and his essence is thin. Can hardly say he can use an element." She said as she carried him out.
"There are… deeper problems. I suggest you look within and do your… thing. I am to receive a report in four months to deliver to 'her'. Please produce something."
"Sure- I'll cure world hunger whilst I'm at it and make myself a water wielder." She said, still upset about this seeming less hopeless arrangement.
Several hour later, Markus awoke in a cabin. He was sleeping upright on a couch and opened his eyes to see Bailey on a chair, flipping a… knife made of fire.
"Finally- I thought a mere whack killed you!" She exclaimed, angry about how long it took him to come to.
"Wha- where am I!?"
"Relax- you're at an undisclosed camp in a forest far away from the academy." She said, dismissing the knife of fire she dabbled with.
"Get up, let's not waste the rest of the day!" She said as she indicated for him to follow her outside the wooden cabin. Outside he found that in every direction of 50 metres, there were no trees.
"The cabin has a seal in place, keeping everything in the forest away. I don't suggest venturing out on your own. I'd like to begin by explaining the way elemental power works—" she said but was interrupted
"I already know. Most people have an element. They can train and develop it- most stop at learned or even expert. Whilst you can train technique, you cannot increase your overall essence amount, which is set at birth and is relatively random. I know all of that! But what I don't know is why I can't use my essence properly- and why I have so little!" He shouted in frustration
Bailey roundhouse kicked him in the ribs and send him tumbling through the dirt.
The air was knocked out of him as he coughed on the ground.
"I'm not one of your teachers or peers to listen to your crap or take crap from you. You will do as instructed and hold yourself together- or I will beat the soul out of you. Now get up and fight me!" She said walking menacingly toward him. With the sun behind her, her shadow soon towered over him and triggered fight or flight. He chose fight.
Letting as much essence as he could flow through his body and toward his fist, Markus let out a wind blast… that just made her hair wave in the wind, as if a gentle breeze was coming through.
Bailey pursed her lips in trying to stop herself but she couldn't. She broke out in a fit of laughter at his pitiful excuse for an attack. What was worse is that he used all the essence he could muster in that- so he had nothing left.
She doubled over and held her stomach. Meanwhile Markus was still on the ground, hurt, confused and now embarrassed.
'Yeah- laugh like they all do.' He thought to himself
"Oh don't pout!" She said as she saw him clearly getting upset. He was still a boy and being laughed at by an adult was quite… impactful.
"Relax kid- I'll fix you up."
"What-"
"Yeah- it's no biggie. See I had some time to analyse you and also looked at your combat abilities- pitiful combat abilities. Your essence storage is corrupted. Where the hell did you get an infection like this!"
"I wish I'd know…"
"You don't know how you awakened your powers?"
"I… lost those memories."
"Hmmm. Either way- this can be resolved. Sit down and meditate."
Markus hesitated for a while but did as he was told, remembering her threat of not doing as she told him.
He sat down on the ground and crossed his legs toward him and connected his hands, looking like a young monk in a suit and with hair.
"Okay now what I need to do is… burn your infection."
"W-what!?"
"Yeah- no other way. Burn the house down, and let the magical wood rebuild it. It's going to hurt- a lot. And if you lose focus, you're going to die. But if you stay with me, then you'll live- corruption free. Ready?"
"Is this a trap question?"
"You bet!"
She then sat down behind him and channelled her flames.
At first there was warmth radiating across his back. Then heat. Then intense heat… and then a scorching feeling spreading across his body. His lungs couldn't seem to inflate deeply. His organs felt like they were turning to ash. Every point of conduit within his body which allowed essence to flow seemed to be seeping lava. Bailey expected to be done soon but to her horror, the infection persisted. In a battle between man and disease- the strongest would win. Thankfully for Markus, Bailey was an Elite flame wielder.
Eventually she burned it all- but not without impact. Markus felt that his instructor was a demon from hell scorching him alive. By nightfall it was over. The instructor from Hell had finished her job and Markus was recovering. Now… only time would tell how much essence he had.