Statera: The Balance of Yin and Yang

Nakatago

After the public altercation and Tomokai's rare show of anger, it seemed that the whole Faculty was on tenterhooks. Aaryan was much more subdued, and the Yin congees of his year kept to themselves. There was a cloud of apprehension hanging over everyone's heads, which took a few days to clear.

On one thunderous Gold-day, we had our first weaponry class. Advisor Lokni introduced Sethina, the other Sento assistant. I guessed it meant that trainings were about to get more dangerous or difficult if we needed another Sento assistant.

I liked Sethina. She was serious but made hilariously inappropriate remarks, and was insanely strong; I saw her performing a few muscle-ups on the bars screwed into the wall before class had started. I would bet she gave Advisor Lokni a run for his money. She was also the first pure Yin-style fighter since Advisor Tethys who could hold her own against a Yang opponent.

We were going through basic weapon handling. It was meant to be an introduction to a selected variety of melee weapons, after the first four and a half weeks of basic conditioning and training. The following week would be a lesson on ranged weapons. Advisor Lokni mentioned that Yang users would be further pursuing Yang infusion into their weaponry in their Yang majors, but this class was a purely weapon handling one. There would be no energies involved.

Sethina gave a demonstration on staff and nunchuk handling, while Tomokai showed us the basics of katanas and daggers. Advisor Lokni had not taken part in demonstrations – he didn't seem to like being in the limelight. There was something familiar about the forms, they looked to be variants of the cha'anko or ta'aeci forms we had been practicing over the past weeks. 

"Alright kids, choose your weapon like how you would choose your lover," Sethina said, smirking as she raised an eyebrow. "Not with your brains." 

Advisor Lokni covered his eyes with his hand and sighed. I felt an ounce of pity for the man. Both his Assistants were almost the exact opposite of him.

We were told to pick a weapon 'according to our gut'. The weapons had been infused with energy by crafters, who studied at other Faculties or other Academies, and would respond differently to different people. We would then study and refine our weaponry studies on our own, and the instructors would assist as needed.

In the end, only those who were specialising in the Combat streams would really be having much mastery with weapon handling. To those in Healing, it was more of a status symbol, really.

I watched as Xue picked through some of the weapons, pretending not to know how to use them. I was not sure which was more difficult: to fake mastery, or to fake incompetency at something. Seeing the way that Xue held the katana with practiced ease, even though he pretended to cut clumsily at a bamboo dummy, I was convinced they were equally difficult.

Enki picked up a staff and looked quite impressive with it. Elora cycled through various katanas and daggers, before settling on a set of tanto. The feral look she gave while stepping through a few sequences left me slightly disturbed.

The knives unnerved me, so I looked at the less blood-drawing objects. Nunchuks? I tried them, but felt clumsy and hit myself several times. Ouch. That would leave a few bruises tomorrow.

Maybe a staff? I picked a long stick up and whirled it around several times. It was alright, but nothing fantastic. And I nearly hit Hera and Sophia, both of whom had the misfortune of coming too close.

A plain dark wooden sword with a slight reddish hue caught my eye. The whole sword almost seemed to be made from one plank, its surface smooth. I grasped the sword in my left hand, moving through a ta'aeci sequence that I'd seen Sethina go through with a real sword. It felt natural, like it belonged in my hands. As if its energy was responding to mine.