I took two weeks and I almost broke my neck more times than I'd ever admit to mama, but I finally figured out a way to do it.

Through lots of fine tuning I figured out that if run on all fours and use magic while I'm at the end of a leap right before my foot leaves the ground and then a quick second one while I'm fully parallel with the ground I'll rocket up and forward. I then land on my hands and repeat. I use close to minimum powered bursts so I don't break myself.

After this it all comes down to muscle memory. Which means it's time to run laps. It is at this time I grow my claws. Unlike my human finger nails these things are closer to steel. But it doesn't mean this isn't murder on my hands. I may be part fox, but it doesn't mean that I'm meant to walk on all fours. Callouses please come faster.

I also learn that I can alter my trajectory in the air if I need to, with bursts out of my hands. Sprint training is now broken into three categories; endurance, technique, and acrobatics.

I'm starting to get worried though. While I'm training I never see Zorlo, but whenever I go inside he is always right behind me a few minutes later.

*

A couple months later, and winter is starting, and I'm struck with inspiration. I don't want to leave foot and hand prints everywhere from training in the snow, but I also can't slack off.

Now that I have the form down I release bursts in the air above the snow instead of touching it, creating artificial hand and foot holds in the air. I crashed plenty of times though.

Even though the snow made for a softer landing but the more I crashed the wetter I would get. Wetter means colder. It ended up being the more I crashed the shorter my training regiments were.

But now that I had developed air-made hand holds, I realized that my range was not limited to parallel travel. Basically, I can run in the sky! I'm going to call it "wind walking."

I don't go too high I don't want to get caught or kill myself. This also gives me a wider range of acrobatic ability.

I should also mention that mama doesn't let me bring my sword in the house so the only training I get that way is swinging my invisible sword like an idiot. I usually do it in my room after I wake up before anyone notices.

But while wind walking I've felt so alive and free. I can fly. This is the best world ever!

*

Spring hit and I decide it's time to work on my combat ability. Being able to go fast means nothing to an adventurer who can't deal any damage. For this I sprint into the forest and find a stick and begin trying out the wind slash Zorlo used to kill the white wolf. I also try and develop less lethal ways to use air bullet now that I'm further away from the house.

It took two months before I had a break through. I simultaneously develop sonic boom and whirl-ring. Sonic boom was a loud attack that would disable an opponent with sound... my ears were ringing for days until I felt like I had mastered the concept.

I realize that it had been too long since I had seen wind slash, so I couldn't figure out the concept. Whirl-ring was a practical application of my self-training. I could make air spin, it was the first thing I learned when I discovered magic. Instead of making a whirlwind or tornado I concentrated on a making a single ring spin as fast as I could. It got to the point I could make several at will and when I couldn't figure out wind slash I experimented with throwing self-contained rings of condensed wind magic.

It was a spectacular success. I could send them straight or curve them in the air. And by accident I learn one ring could slice half-way through a full-sized tree trunk with ease. It was easy, fast, low cost, and deadly. I think I found my primary magic attack. Heck, I could even ring fling with my feet. With a little training I'll be a force to be reckoned with.

I maintained training various versions of the Whirl-ring until I found a couple options I liked. The only problem was the bigger they got the harder it was to maintain its shape. If it was too big it would turn into a whirlwind and would lose its killer edge. Too small and it wouldn't do enough damage.

The end products were a whirl-ring the size of an average dinner plate, and another non-lethal whirlwind attack I called Tiny Tornado. Tiny Tornado was just what it sounds like; a man size funnel of air that would send anything it touched flying. I could probably make a full size natural disaster someday, but my house was nearby and hurting my family was the last thing I wanted.

Lately I've found that it's taken much longer to deplete my magic reserve. Were my techniques just that efficient or was papa really that much stronger? Since he had three tails.

On my third birthday, I had my answer.