Tornado at the Tower

"A Torren's skill is basically dictated by their Aura. In other places, it is referred to as Qi. However, a stronger Aura or Qi does not always make a stronger Torren. Because one's Aura or Qi is directed by one's Kai. One's mind. One's sentience. One's consciousness. Further, a Torren cannot Torrent without the Torrensium stones that serve as the link between a Torren's Aura and the Torrent around us."

-Lecture Series 218, Archon Visevis

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Obsidian Torrens Academy, Kingdom of Maceria, Obsidian Empire

17 Aramar 11 AE

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The winter wind bit at Yvaine's cheeks and she strained to breathe in this thin air. She fought to keep her eyes open amid the slight blizzard. The diaphanous training garb clinging tightly to her skin did not help. Thunder clouds threatened with flashes of lightning above. But she was finally here.

Aeris Tower.

"You're here not because you're strong, young lady." Archoness Derana's cold stare burned through her soul she could melt. "You're simply here because someone else was weaker."

'Who is she to say that?' Yvaine barely managed to keep her thoughts to herself. Twenty other students stood with her on the marble platform open to the elements, in a perfect rectangular array of four by five. It did not help that she was the only odd one out.

The Torrent Instructor stood at barely four feet tall. Her thinning gray hair was secured neatly into a bun and her face with patchy pale skin featured more wrinkles than a crumpled paper.

'Aren't Archons and Archonesses supposed to be about fighting with the Torrent? Why is this twig even a Torren in the first place?' She was always singled out by Ser Marcus, but she gave the Martial Class instructor merit to immediately judge her simply by who he is. Tall. Big. Strong.

Not this twig.

So Yvaine did not shy from her condescending stare. But she did not dare look back at the woman either. Instead, her eyes focused on the back of the student in front of her. The Archoness did not ask her a question so she did not answer. However, she assessed the teacher from the corner of her eyes as best she could, trying to find some credit in the teacher's condescending bearing despite her apparent physical lack.

Unlike the full plate armor Ser Marcus always wears to outdoor classes, the Archoness wore a simple gray robe that flapped wildly in the wind, barely secured in the waist by a leather cinch. Beneath the skirt, however, were comfortable leather breeches over light hunter boots. Yet the Archoness's garb looked way more comfortable than the students' cloth jerkin and breeches in this cold winter despite the light clothing.

Lightning flashed, immediately followed by a thunder crack. She winced in surprise but managed to keep her equanimity. This did not go unnoticed, however.

"On my word, one of you will be back in Martial Class today." Archon Derana's eyes looked around, addressing the entire class. But Yvaine knew, that sneer was directed at her.

Was that a threat?

"Positions!"

The students broke formation, spreading out to seemingly random locations on the platform. She only arrived this afternoon and she was not oriented into anything at all. She had no idea what's going to happen next. But she knew the drill. The movement between classes in the Torrens Academy is dynamic.

She entered this class midway through their curriculum. The class will not be adjusting to accommodate her.

Yvaine decided to follow her instincts and moved as well. She picked a spot not far from where she stood and faced another student. The student, a girl about her size with a broken nose, glared at her. Another student beside her only looked at Yvaine curiously. Only then did she notice that all the other students have paired up. As the only odd student, Yvaine had no pair.

"Young lady." Archoness Derana's voice came not a moment later. Her lips are curved in a smile but her eyes held a darker meaning. "Over here."

Yvaine's feet instinctively brought her before the teacher.

"Gauntlets!" Archoness Derana's hands found the gauntlets hanging on her belt.

Yvaine likewise did the same. The two Aerium stones embedded on each of the gauntlet palms glowed as her Aura connected with the surrounding wind. She heard the familiar snapping clicks from the other students' gauntlets and felt the alienation of some of her flow. She knew better than to try and hoard all the Aeris and just let equilibrium resettle, taking what she can, giving when it's yanked.

However, the most alien Torrent flow of all was right in front of her. Archoness Derana's Aeris was immutable. She tried taking bits and pieces from it but not a tendril of wind surrounding the teacher submitted to Yvaine.

She could vividly remember the Aeris Theory's teacher's words regarding the flow. "The Torrent is all around us. And nothing manifests this more than Aeris. It is the most dynamic and most abundant of the Torrents. Hence, do not bother hoarding it. There is enough for everyone. Aeris combat is won not by the one who controls the most wind, but by the one who controls theirs most effectively."

Archoness Derana seemed to have missed Ser Indusra's class as she blatantly did the complete opposite. Yvaine tried some more to nudge and pick at the edge of the Archoness's wisps but to no avail. The threads were too strongly attached.

Archoness Derana smirked. She noticed Yvaine's attempts.

"Stance!" The Archoness's voice rang through the now howling wind.

Yvaine spontaneously crouched as Archoness Derana likewise fell into a fighting stance, hands raised, and prepared for combat. The other students followed. Her heart thumped wildly in anticipation. Yvaine's Aeris began to swirl beneath her feet as she pumped herself for the fight.

"Fight!"

Out of nowhere, Yvaine found herself flying backward, completely detached from her Aeris, landing painfully on the floor and rolling back some more. She groaned as she tried to stand. She felt so hollow. A second ago, she was powerful. In the next she was empty.

Another gust of wind pushed her back again. Yvaine managed to land on her feet this time, almost stumbling backward. As she was regaining her ground, her mind reached out to the wind around her again. But all that met her was a vacuum. Nothing.

Archoness Derana hoarded it all. The twig of a woman had malice in her eyes as she smiled and danced. Another blast blew Yvaine dangerously close to the edge of the platform and she was not stopping.

The other students seemed to be in perfect sync sparring against each other from the corner of her eye. No stray shots, no collateral damage. And Yvaine was flailing clumsily in the air.

She went overboard. The tops of the pine trees on the field below her were merely the size of her fists. A fall from this height would be fatal.

Her instincts kicked in. She remembered how she moved in the dream. And fortunately, out here in the open was no longer a vacuum. The Archoness seems to have a limit on the area she controls. Yvaine finally managed to grasp some Aeris.

Everything slowed down and Yvaine could see that Archoness Derana was moving non-stop, sending a barrage of attacks in her direction even as she was already falling.

Yvaine's body moved on its own. She gripped her core and flipped backward mid-air then her hands motioned their familiar rhythm – punching the open air behind her. In a split second, the Aeris obeyed and she bulleted back towards the platform.

Four wind walls nearly knocked her off her trajectory, but she pierced them all and safely landed on the platform floor breathless. Upon her landing, she did not bother dodging the incoming onslaught. Yvaine pushed back.

It was like stopping a downhill rolling boulder. Yvaine's shoulders snapped and she got pushed back to the edge again.

However, she held on this time. Yvaine was angry at the unfairness of it all. At this prison. At this teacher. At herself. Her blood boiled in rage and she screamed to let it all out, pushing against the Archoness's Aeris with her own.

The battle raged and a violent tornado swirled right where their wind attacks collided. Yvaine no longer cared about equilibrium. All her previous lessons on Aeris theory were thrown out the window the moment this twig of an old woman decided to throw her overboard. She wanted revenge.

The other students now stood still, gaping at the fight between student and teacher. Fortunately, they were spread out far enough from being sucked into the growing vortex.

The maelstrom blocked Yvaine's view. So she did not see when Archoness Derana moved. The Archoness maneuvered to the right and using the tornado as an anchor, slingshotted herself around to tackle Yvaine from the side. But as soon as she was within view, the novice noticed it.

Time moved slowly for Yvaine. She easily saw the Archoness fly around the tornado with arms pointed at the vortex, seemingly holding at an imaginary rope as she flew around.

At this, Yvaine shifted her position, crouching to a low horse-riding stance just as the teacher harmlessly flew overhead. Then she twisted to the left, turning on the balls of her right foot, and casually pushed up, blowing Archoness Derana off-course, high above to the air.

"Enough!" The Archoness's voice echoed through the chaos.

A strong gust fell from the sky and slammed everyone to the floor. Yvaine was suddenly brought to her knees. Archoness Derana hovered in midair above all of them, her face a mask of anger and hatred, her right arm extended downward, palm-down.

Yvaine did not shirk from her glare. Yvaine still hated the old bat. But Archoness Derana had earned Yvaine's respect.

"Twenty marks from you, young lady." The Archoness seemed to relish at these words. "For failure to maintain equilibrium."

It was unfair. It was only her first time. But Yvaine did not bother arguing. She already showed her what she can do. She will get her respect and recognition. She will prove herself to them all. So she just nodded in acknowledgment without breaking eye contact. However, she began to feel the pangs of stress and fatigue.

The Archoness slowly floated back towards the platform as the other students groaned trying to stand. Some were more hurt than others.

Yvaine helped herself to her feet as well. But a gust of wind took her by surprise and finally slammed her down. Her chest hit the floor hard, knocking her breath out. She also tasted the metallic taste of blood in her mouth as her jaw met the floor. Her dislocated shoulders were likewise screaming.

"I did not tell you to stand, young lady."

Yvaine gritted her teeth at the rushing wind forcing her entire body flat on the floor. The wind around her is alien again. A vacuum.

The other students were able to stand without problem. She was really singling her out.

"A Torren's power is not measured by the force of their Torrent alone. But also by the skill at how they apply that force. You not only lack the power. You also lack finesse."

The gust of wind stopped. Yvaine furtively tried to push herself up. When she met no further resistance, she raised her head just enough to glower at the teacher. The Archoness's eyes met hers with equal malice.

Archoness Derana flicked her index and middle fingers up. Yvaine was pushed by a precisely controlled gust of wind back to her feet. She staggered backward but caught herself from falling back in the opposite direction.

"Gauntlets off."

Yvaine struggled to move her shoulders to hang her open hands on her hips. But the moment the Aerium stones on her palms felt the attraction of the belt, the gauntlets loosened and she slowly pried her hands off them.

"I pray you do not lose that spirit, Renegade. You will need that now more than ever. Class dismissed!" The Archoness turned her back on everyone and proceeded back to the tower.

Yvaine held back the rising tears as she held her head high, still in defiance while watching the teacher's back disappear from the door on the far side of the platform. Apart from the howling wind and the occasional thunder crack, the prevailing sounds around her were either pained groans or muttered curses. Curses directed at her.

Frustration, anger, and hatred boiled inside her. Frustration at herself. Anger at the injustice of it all. Hatred at the fact that Archoness Derana was right. She was weak.

But then a realization dawned on her. The Archoness broke her word. The class was dismissed without mention of anyone going back to Martial Class. The class was dismissed without mention of 'her' going back to Martial Class.

Despite the curses and the long stares, Yvaine shook her head and smiled at herself, then limped towards the safety and comfort of the interiors of Aeris Tower. And probably towards the Infirmary. Her wheezes at Martial Class just days ago seemed trivial now.