The Trial of Strength

The letters shifted and misaligned, the paper seemed to open up like a book. But that was impossible, it was a single piece of parchment.

Pages resonating with Resan began to pour out and into my mind, this scroll was imparting upon me information, my mind is racing trying to catch a grasp of what it was trying to tell me. My mind is getting foggier as more information melds with my thoughts.

Pour Resan into the fist...

Align your innate Resan with a thought of the element

Picture your element as you would any other object in your head

Project it, let it fly.

Meld it into reality, refine your Resan to the very purest form you can.

Once it leaves, remain stalwart, vigilant, a break in focus is a break in elemental acuity.

Churn your inner power into any part of the body, enhance yourself, steel yourself.

You are the vessel for this power, it is your power.

Use it.

What was that?

It was a technique, I'm sure of it. A way to use Resan offensively. It mentioned the use of elements. So, it's a way to enable the use of elements in my combat too? Apparently everyone has their own element that their Resan will meld into upon their own thought process willing it to happen. However, this scroll also imparted onto me what would happen if you tried to use a power you do not possess.

If I were for instance, to use fire. My Resan would spike and not be usable; it would deplete my energy quicker than if I had just tried to use an element that is compatible with me. Is that why people were so shocked that I was a dual element user? I can use more than one option, be more unpredictable.

Regardless, I have to commit to this now, I must practice before I am selected to fight.

I slip down from the chair and sit on the floor, the carpet was also a light blue, just like the rest of the room. I shut my eyes and delve deep down into myself, I see that Resan again, smouldering within the very pits of my core. It whirls, bubbling and begins to shift and change. I remember the very first element told to me, lightning. 

I try to imagine the very nature of lightning, the storms that I lived through in my youth. The way it would strike with such speed and finesse. The bolt twisting and turning from the skies. My Resan begins to shift from its usual white-ish colour into one of a deeper blue, it gains more light as I continue to ponder on the intricacies of the lightning bolt. Each crackle, each branching bolt that stems from the main bolt.

I feel it. My veins are pulsing, I can feel the crackles, the Resan is spreading around my body; I have to guide it. Slowly, move towards the fist...

I see the Resan take shape, it was fully in the colour that the orb showed me. My very skin is rippling, my hairs are standing on edge. My eyes are closed, yet I see it all, my body is working in unison. It feels amazing. 

Continue the focus, reel the power. The crackling gets louder and louder, my Resan begins to scratch together, causing the sparks of lightning to keep popping out, it's thrashing out wildly in the room now. Due to the Resan being pooled out to my fist, all of the lightning is erupting out of it now. It feels like a wild storm that is placed directly onto my fist. I open my eyes and whip my fist into the air.

When I do this an arc of lightning erupts out of my fist, bolstered by the strength and speed of the Resan that supports the action, it cuts through the entire room. It leaves an outline of a streak of lightning on the floor and wall, the dust from the attack was the remnants of the wall and floor that were instantly destroyed.

Oops.

This was an incredible attack!

In this one moment of jubilation, it was all interrupted by a screen that suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the room. On the screen was a gigantic arena, the arena stretched to an unbelievable size. Hundreds upon thousands of people were all gathered, screeching in wanton bloodlust. It was a crowd.

A man raises his hand in the middle of the arena and the entire crowd becomes dead silent.

"Greetings, today is our long awaited trial to enter the academy. Many of you in the stands today were once apart of this sacred tournament. Many of you today will be selecting those who have the most potential. As you all know, the academy has four houses, and within these four houses are those with a power that is truly resounding. The professors also have a power in this decision, pay heed to those that fight here. They fight to impress you. In hopes that they will be selected to join one of your houses, to fight for your glory. 

Now let the trial begin!

Our first battle is between Endrick, who boasted a fearsome potential from the Trial of Power. Then we have Orean, who passed the Trial of Will with very little difficulty.

Endrick vs Orean, begin."

They both come out from differing sides of the arena. The sand on the floor kicked and thrashed from the sheer sound of the cheers that erupted above them. They were thirsty to see this fight, to see blood, to see the guttural obsession of gaining strength.

I pay attention to the fight in hopes of gaining some kind of epiphany as I had with the technique I had just learned. Whilst watching the fight I also continue to refine my Resan with the technique, trying to complete the manifestation of the lightning quicker as to increase the effectiveness in combat.

Endrick and Orean finally begun their fight, the sand kicked up as they both ran towards each other. Endrick was the first to strike, he thrusts his right hand balled in a fist towards Orean, I could see something purple resonating around his fist. The attack misses Orean, however, the purple energy around his fist explodes into a bloody rage and it begins to pulse down upon Orean. Orean is forced to his knees almost instantly as if fighting a force that is smashing on top of his head.

Gravity. That's right, Endrick was bestowed with gravity. What a fearsome ability...