The Taste of Seduction

Before Austin could even joke about the rocks next, she stopped and playfully rolled her eyes at him, making him laugh as he knew what she\'d say.

"Come on… I stopped," she began, already excited for the next part of the training. "Now… the rubber balls? I hope you have plenty?"

Austin couldn\'t help but chuckle when she said she hopes that he has a lot of it. With a snap of his finger, a box of rubber balls appeared on her side, surprising her with what he did.

"That kind of teleportation magic… will I be able to learn that, too?"

"Of course," he said, proud of her progress. "With how you are able to use your magic due to your quick progress, you could get the hang of it in no time."

She couldn\'t help but smile. With her reaching out for a rubber ball from the box beside her, she knew that she had to finish learning this first before learning new spells from him.

"Alright… now how to do the rubber ball?" she asked, knowing that there is an introduction coming from Austin before she tries it out on her own.

"Right then," he said, getting a ball from the box even though he was quite far away from it. With a light gasp coming from Meredith, the ball flew from the box and was caught by Austin\'s hand with just a wave of his finger for its movement. "Rather than tearing it in half, you have to make it \'pop.\'"

She looked at the ball on his hand. As Austin focused on the ball at hand, he stood still for a solid five seconds. He closed his eyes and the moment he opened it, the ball popped and it deflated in an instant, making him drop it to the ground the moment it was destroyed.

"It looks simple, but it is actually complicated," he began, putting his hands back in his pockets and leaned on the garden table behind him. "I\'m going to tell you this so you can start on it immediately. It will really take you time before you can get the hang of it. But once you do, the final one will be easy."

Meredith blinked her eyes a few times, thinking that the rubber balls would be the last.

"There\'s one more?"

"Yes."

A long, heavy chain like it holds a ship\'s anchor appeared slowly in front of them as he waved his hand. The item followed his movement, the chain now levitating before them the moment it completely appeared. He then continued talking.

"The breaking of the soul tie requires you perfect, undisturbed control and focus. The training I\'m giving you know from the leaf, to the rocks, to the rubber balls, then this one heavy chain… it will prepare you for the ritual."

Meredith silenced, absorbing what he said.

"Alright," she said, nodding once as she fully understood what she signed up for. "I can do this."

"You can, and I know you will," Austin commented, the woman sighing as she didn\'t agree to what he said next. "But after you train for today with the rubber balls, you need to rest."

"Austin, no!" She shook her head profusely, disagreeing with him this time. "We have less time before the full moon starts; we roughly have three days! My progress… isn\'t it already good enough?"

"It is, Meredith. And I am proud with your progress."

He then walked towards her, putting both of his hands on her shoulders to further explain why he decided for her.

"But remember that you shouldn\'t rush everything, Meredith. You just started learning. The rubber balls would take a toll on your energy, I\'m telling you. You need to replenish your energy the whole evening today before you try breaking this big, heavy chain tomorrow."

"But Austin—"

"Gwen, your mother, the most powerful witch, will tell you the same," he interrupted, giving her a small smile. "I know that you are her daughter and that your ancestors are great… but they did not rush to be one; they did not rush to perfect everything."

The moment he removed his hands from her shoulders, she was quiet for a moment. As she reflected on his words, he does have a point, her frustration and impatience slowly fading a way as she took a deep breath and released it.

"Alright…" Meredith gave him a small smile, now squeezing the rubber ball that was in her hand. "I\'ll do my best, then."

"Good," Austin replied, now going back to where he stood a moment ago and continued his explanation. "Now for the rubber ball, it requires both ways. How you tore the leaf and how you broke the rock… they go hand in hand for you to pop the rubber ball."

Indeed, it does sound simple but it\'s actually difficult to do. With combining two concepts of how her magic focus and control could work, she furrowed her brows as she closed her eyes, trying to do her first attempt.

She saw that the energy property of the rubber ball was light brown in nature and it was moving in a circular motion, clock wise. As she also remembered that she has to follow the pattern with her focus, and apply the pressuring sensation to break the rock, she knew it would not be that easy.

It\'s like asking to move your left arm up and down and your right arm circling at the same time, maintaining the focus for the two to make it work.

"Tsk!"

She clicked her tongue when she noticed that she followed the pattern first and did the pressure the second. She knew that she had to do the two at the same time so she can make the rubber ball pop.

But how?