Baira sat underneath a blue tree with teal leaves. Thanks to the remnants of Celestial Tera from the waterfall, the fauna in Watercliff were the most diverse and plentiful this side of the Red Forest. She was going over the notes she had planned to deliver to Noki in a few hours:

Tera is the energy of life that works as the foundation of both Corporeal and Ascendant Arts; without Tera, there is no way for mortals to ascend towards the celestial realm. But don’t you think it’s weird that we have to wait until we are eighteen before we can learn Ascendant Arts? What happens to our Tera then? Does it just change? I think there has to be a middle ground, where Corporeal Arts meets Ascendant Arts and it turns out I’m right. It’s called ‘Stratal Arts’, well it’s actually called ‘The Stratum between the Earth and Heavens’ but I think ‘Stratal Arts’ sound better. Anyways, I think it’s something that you can do…provided we can achieve a Partial Ascension.

“Excuse me? Ms. Monsari?” Baira looked up from her scroll to see a nervous girl waving at her. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but the physical lessons are about to start and I was-”

“Sent to get me, I got it, thank you.” Baira resumed her writing as the nervous girl slinked away. For as long as Baira could remember, the Monsari name always made people feel uncomfortable. Who cares if her family is one of the vassals of Queen Mairi? She hadn’t heard from her parents or any of her siblings in six years so as far as she was considered, she was just Baira. There was only one person in this village that didn’t want to curry favors from her or shy away at the mention of her name, and he was currently waiting on his elixir.

“Oh that’s right! I need to check on the extraction process,” Baira said aloud before remembering that everyone within the school grounds could possibly hear her. Once you achieve Stone Soul Body, your physical strength, along with your senses increase dramatically; a whisper a mile away could sound like a conversation being had directly next to you. She assured herself that most, if not everyone, would be passively using Tera to filter the noise of the outside world and made her way to the Alchemical Wing.

She had only gotten half a stride from the tree before she heard her name being called. This time when she turned to see who it was, it wasn’t the visage of a timid girl but that of a man dressed in a blue robe with a white belt. “ Instructor Jahn,” Baira said before bowing, “how does the day find you?”

“Questioning why you aren’t lining up for your physical lessons.” Baira had made an error in her previous assessment, there was a third reaction her last name got her:disdain. Jahn was a member of the Okari Family, another vassal house to the queen, and his family held a grudge against the Monsari. Baira never gave it much thought since it happened centuries ago, but there are members of both families that were alive when it happened.

“Oh I just thought since no one has challenged me to a duel in over two weeks that I could use this as free time. I was just headed to the Alchemical Wing to…” She trailed off the moment she noticed a faint smile creep across the older man’s face.

“Ah but today there is someone who wants to challenge you, and they’ve been waiting patiently all this time.” Instruction Jahn had very delicate features; light brown skin, soft green eyes, and a perfectly manicured beard that connected with neatly buzzed black hair. When he was excited however, his eyes shone a dull green and his Tera felt more…sinister. “If you’ll follow me, Ms. Monsari.”

“By your lead,” Baira said before bowing once again. It wasn’t like she had any choice; Jahn was not only an instructor but also had a Golden Soul Body and a Heavenly Aspect, he could have zipped her to the practice arena before she could even gather her Tera. No, he wanted her to follow him because here, his rank superseded hers and he wanted her to know it. Baira didn’t care about vassal ranks at all, but she never liked people that lorded power over others.

The walk to the practice arena was surprisingly quiet. Normally at this time the school is full of students either studying, heading to lunch or going out on supervised expeditions to the Red Forest. The general emptiness of the school made every step on the stone tiled floor stretch out for an eternity. It was only when she rounded the corner that she understood where they all went; the practice arena.

“Form up!” Jahn bellowed and the students parted like a white robed sea. He walked down a small flight of stairs, stopped and then leapt fifty feet into the air. When he landed, he made no sound and stood directly in the center of the cleared platform. “The Divination Ceremony is only two days away. The Kolo from Queen’s Embrace will be arriving tomorrow and will also be at the ceremony.”

Baira made her way, without jumping, towards the platform. It was a large wooden square resting on a stone platform, with a massive blue circle in the middle. To each side of it was a shelf that stored various weapons.

“As such,” Jahn continued, “ we will be testing both your combat prowess and Tera capacity. Today is the last day of combat prep and so those that have yet to duel, will do so now.”

Baira knew exactly where this was going, there were only two students whom none of the other students dared to challenge.

“Baira Monsari, please enter the ring.” Jahn turned partially so that his right side faced Baira. She leapt up onto the platform and saw another smirk form on Jahn’s face.

“Mion Okari, please enter the ring.”

A streak of white shot into the air and landed on the platform with enough force to break the wood and crack the stone. Mion wore only his outer robe and pants, leaving his bare chest exposed. “I’m glad you reminded me of lessons today, I feel quite eager to work out some…tension.” He laced the last word with promise of pain, clearly not satisfied with the earlier events that had transpired.

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“That’s a surprise,” Baira said, “ I thought picking on someone who has no way of fighting back was exactly how you relieved your tension.”

A few of the students giggled but one look from a scowling Mion silenced them immediately.

“Combatants, take your stance!” Jahn’s voice surprised the crowd, with a few of them entering a combat stance out of reflex. Baira assumed the Rushing Tide Stance, one of the twelve beginner styles, and Mion remained still with his hands by his sides. “Begin!”

Baira sent a small portion of her Tera to her eyes to activate Divine Sight. In an instant, all of the Tera around her became visible. White streams of power, mixed with the faintest blue,flowed from her body; while a similar but denser aura, with streams of brown, surrounded Mion. “So he’s already gained some insight on his aspect, figure’s it’d be earth based since mine is water.”

Heavenly Aspects refer to the secondary nature that Tera can take. The four common aspects are Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Nature.Each aspect has a natural counter and amplifier; Wind amplifies Fire and counters Earth, Water amplifies Wind and counters Fire, Earth amplifies Nature and counters Wind, and Nature is amplified by Earth and Water, but only amplifies Earth. As the practitioner ascends and grows in power, so does their connection to the aspect. Diamon Soul’s can manifest their aspects as if they were the real thing and it’s said that all of Queen’s Embrace is nothing more than a manifestation of Mairi’s aspect.

Baira made the first move. She rushed at Mion and delivered a powerful left kick to his temple. Mion intercepted it with his forearm and when the hit landed, it sounded like the clanging of iron. Unphased, Baira dropped to the ground, spun around and kicked his right leg. The brutish boy ignored the strike and countered with a blow of his own. Baira moved out of the way just as the ground exploded from the impact.

“So not only is he aware of his aspect, but he’s been able to incorporate some of it to his attacks. I guess he’s not without talent.” Baira was generally surprised at Mion’s level of combat ability; to be able to use part of an aspect without fully ascending was an impressive feat that marked someone as a potential Ascendant. “If someone like him became an Ascendant, I’d fear for both the Heavens and the Earth below.”

This time Mion was the one on the offensive. He hadn’t taken the time to learn any of the practice styles, that much was evident by the wide, clumsy swings that accompanied each punch, but he more than made up for that with his raw strength and Tera. One of the basic uses of Tera is physical enhancement; the stronger the physical body, the more Tera can be poured into it. Mion could split trees in half when he reached Earthen Soul at age ten; combined with his Earth Aspect and Stone Soul Body, he could reduce a boulder to rubble with one well placed strike.

Baira wasn’t about to let that happen.

She knew that in a direct physical confrontation that even her body wouldn’t be able to survive many hits from him, no Stone Soul could; but, battles between Divine Artists were rarely so one dimensional. Baira dodged each one of Mion’s attacks effortlessly, her Rushing Tide Style worked extremely well with her Water Aspect, allowing her to control her momentum to a much greater degree.

“All that talk from before, and all you can do is run,” Mion said as Baira created distance. “ You won’t win if you just squirm around the ring!” He charged at her with a flurry of blows, each one cratering the floor beneath but missing her entirely.

He had a point, she couldn’t win if she just evaded his attacks without striking back, but in a few more moments, all she’d need is one blow to end things. While it’s extremely impressive to use Aspects before ascending to Iron Soul, it’s also risky. For starters, it drains Tera at an exponential rate due to the effect on the body; Aspects add a massive physical strain to the body that Tera tries to offset by repairing. Mion was overconfident in his Tera reserves, so much so that he hadn’t even bothered to use his Sight to see how much he had left.

Baira and Mion continued their dance with Baira watching him carefully. “This is the one!” Baira ducked underneath a straight jab and charged forward with one of the Stratal Arts she studied; Rushing Tide: Cascading Fist. By flowing her Tera in a manner similar to her Aspect, Baira can temporarily grant her body the properties of water. In this case, she can strike with force of a raging river by accelerating her body and stopping the moment she strikes her target.

The moment her fist struck Mion’s chest, a burst of blue Tera erupted from the point of impact and jettisoned Mion out of the ring, covering him in a spray of aqua blue. He tried to overpower it with his own Tera, but found himself unable to. A split-second later, he was buried halfway into the side of a stone wall. Baira looked at her slightly damp hand and dropped to the floor in exhaustion.

The crowd of students went deathly silent and Baira knew what they were thinking. Mion was by far the strongest when it came to Corporeal Arts, yet he was just bested by Baira. It would make sense if it were a practical exam, seeing as she was the top student in all things related to Tera use and application, but to win in actual combat was-

“Draw!” Jahn announced, kicking the crowd into a buzz.

“Draw?” Baira said in between breaths.

“Mr. Okari is outside of the ring, and you are unable to stand on your own. Both of you are unable to continue the match, so naturally it is a draw.”

Baira normally wouldn’t care over winning or losing, at least not in this context, but she had just pulled off a Stratal Art in as close to a real combat scenario as she possibly could and it worked. “I can still-”

“Report to the infirmary to recover your Tera, Ms. Monsari,” Jahn ordered. One look at his face and Baira knew that he too was displeased at the outcome, albeit for different reasons. A small part of her took some solace in that and bowed, just as Mion removed himself from the stone. “The rest of you will go over the forms, starting from Morning Wheel and all the way to Waxing Night.” Groans filled the air but Jahn ignored it and focused on Mion. “As for you Mr. Okari, perhaps some one-on-one instruction in the utilization of Tera is needed?”

If there was an Anger Aspect, Mion would be channeling all of it through his body. Through a flexed neck and gritted teeth he managed to spit out ‘by your lead’ all while keeping his auburn eyes on Baira.

“That’ll be all,dismissed!”

With that, all of the students cleared the arena and headed inside to the Cultivation Room to practice the meditation forms. Mion and Baira stared at each other until Jahn stood between them and hauled Mion off. Finally, alone in the arena, Baira looked down the hall towards the Alchemical Wing, sighed, and headed to the infirmary.