Free Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) by Mitchell Olson

doesn’t have any friends. She could totally be dating someone and not want us to know about it! From now on, I’m going to be on high alert for any suspicious males casting admirable glances at the ‘Lady’ Shiva. Also, maybe it’d be fun to go tail her after work.
    “It seems like you got the basics, Ash,” Yazma said. “Why don’t we get on with today’s lesson: advanced flame creation.”
    “Let’s do it! Where do we begin?”
    “We already learned how to create flame,” said Yazma. “But in that lesson, we learned how to form flame that emits from the palm of the hand. We did so because the palm is the best appendage to emit from. There are many theories as to why, but they all boil down to one simple explanation: it’s just the easiest.
    “But today I’m going to show you how to form flame from a smaller source, the tip of your finger. Why would you want to form flame there? Because, a smaller focal point takes much more concentration and control. This has the added benefit of being a much more controllable flame.”
    Yazma held up her pointer finger. “Now do as I do, and try to emit from the tip of your finger.” The three followed her lead. Not surprisingly, Shiva and Aura did so immediately. This was still pretty simple stuff to them. Ash on the other hand, who was the primary pupil of this lesson, struggled with it a bit.
    Even with his hand balled up and pointer finger extended, his flame naturally emitted from his palm. This resulted in his hand spontaneously bursting into flames several times. Each time his flames tingled his hand till it tickled. He watched as the flame went from engulfing his entire hand, to just his pointer finger, and then finally the flames started trickling up until they emitted only from the tip of his pointer.
    Aura gave an encouraging nod. Shiva rolled her eyes, painfully bored at something she considered child’s play.
    “Well done, Ash,” said Yazma. “Now, focus on that spot, emit, and separate the flame to form a fireball.”
    Again, Shiva and Aura were able to do this immediately, and had already done so. Ash took a little longer, but like the first time did get it eventually. With a little concentration, he could dance a pebble-sized fire pellet off the tip of his pointer. The next exercise was a little trickier. They had to switch between forming flame on their right hand and left hand as quickly as possible. At last, Shiva was defeated! This time, like Ash, she was stuck slowly switching from right to left.
    Aura on the other hand was extremely proficient at the drill, and could switch between right and left hand rapidly and even emit flames from both hands at the same time. He hoped his skill would win him favor with Yazma.
    “How about we leave these two to practice for a moment while you give me a more private lesson?” he said while he juggled his fireballs, moving in closer to the teacher.
    Yazma sidestepped Aura, ignoring him once again. She continued to coach her less seductive pupils. “You’re doing good, just keep working at it. Take all the time you need. No pressure. There, you’re getting it. Good job. Shiva, maybe you should take a break.”
    Shiva, her mind still somewhere else, was being left behind by Ash. Within only an hour of working at it, Ash was up to Aura’s level of skill. He could emit flame from both his pointer fingers and rapidly switch between hands. Shiva could do it too, but at a much slower pace. Maybe if her heart was in it like usual she could switch faster. Meanwhile Aura was keeping himself busy by practicing emitting ten tiny flames from the tips of all ten of his fingers. It was no easy task, and with Yazma around he couldn’t find the concentration to make it work.
     
    After another hour of training, Aura discovered why Shiva had been seriously spacing out all morning. Their training was interrupted when someone he’d never met before entered the courtyard unexpectedly. Well, almost