THE MOMENT
"That's good! Very good!" the old magus smiled encouragement at his teenage apprentice. She had just released a perfect red-orange fireball. They stood outside in the courtyard of his tower. One of the test targets smoldered from the impact; but, she didn't seem as pleased with it as he was.
"Yeah, I can make that work," she mumbled to herself. "But it needs more color. " The teen flicked her wrist upward, then she placed her hands on the empty air in front of her and began wiggling her fingers. The magus had no idea what she was up to. He was willing to let her indulge her quirks throughout the training, but he wanted to formalize her apprenticeship as soon as possible. She was obviously very gifted with magic and he was eager to shape that natural talent.
She was the first apprentice he could remember that didn't struggle with a basic fireball spell. She was able to cast it the moment she learned it as if she had simply slotted the knowledge into her mind.
"Let's discuss the terms of your, -" she ignored the magus and interrupted him with her own thoughts.
"This one?..." her finger stopped dancing and she raised a hand at the enchanted test targets. The one she ignited had already reset itself and was ready to take another blast.
A bright pink fireball shot out of her hand. It sped to the target and exploded into shiny pink and gold sparkles. Pink flames consumed the straw target and it released golden wisps of smoke.
"Oooh!" she grinned. "That's a definite maybe. What about this one?" She was talking to herself and the magus was torn between being curious about the pink fireball and getting frustrated at being ignored.
"How did you,-" his curiosity won out. But, the magus was interrupted again when a neon-green fireball shot from her hand. It exploded with green and silver sparkles on impact and consumed the target with green flames.
"Nah, I like the pink one better," she looked down at the empty air, then tilted her head. "Invisible? How does that work?"
"Apprentice!" the magus raised his voice. "We must discuss your future," he looked down at her expecting to have her attention. He did not.
She kept her focus forward and raised her hand. The magus heard the sudden 'woosh' of air igniting. He instinctively looked at the target a saw it enveloped in thick black smoke as an unseen force devoured it.
"Nah, I think I'll keep the pink one for now,..." she touched empty air again. The magus' frustration peaked. If he was going to get her attention, he needed to show her how much more there was to learn.
"APPRENTICE!" the magus roared. Lightning struck the ground next to him and he grabbed the bolt of electricity to hold it in place. "You will give me your attention now." He was glad to see she did look up at him. Her eyes were wide with awe. He continued. "If you ever wish to use ancient, powerful magics like this, you must… what are you doing?"
The magus held her attention for a full moment before she reached forward and touched the lightning bolt trapped in his grip. He expected her to violently regret the action, but instead, she sighed.
"I can't learn that one," she shook her head.
"Of course, you can," the magus smiled. "You obviously have a great talent for magic. You merely need the proper guidance…," finally, he was able to get the conversation on track. I currently have no other apprentices, so I'm sure we can come up with a schedule that suits y-"
"No thanks," she shook her head to interrupt him again. Fireball is the only thing I can learn from you," she said. She loosed another bright pink fireball on the target as if to prove how well she learned it. Then, she nodded to herself and made a dismissive gesture at the empty air.
"You're content learning the bare minimum?" The magus decided to try another tact. "What kind of lazy, good-for-nothing wizard are you hoping to become?" she grinned and giggled at him.
"Who says I'm a wizard?" she asked.
"What?" the magus asked. "How did you learn the spell? WHY did you learn it??" All the unresolved frustration of being ignored only made it harder to think clearly. He was simply asking questions as they came to mind.
"Learning it was easy," she smirked and nodded at him. "I just had to talk to a wizard trainer. As for why…," she snapped her fingers and a plume of pink smoke erupted around her. When it cleared, her entire outfit had changed. She now wore a dark violet, nearly black hood that covered her forehead, nose, and mouth. The rest of her was now wrapped in the same silky dark cloth.
"It's one of the very few Wizard skills that Ninjas can learn. Bye," another pink plume of smoke erupted. She was gone when it cleared.