9th of Glade, Year 125, A.o.S
ϟ It was a few days after passing Aya's final test that he found himself in the garden of the compound. There amidst the garden, Barakael sat in a meditative state. He found during that test that his inner fire got the better of him, and he found that meditating and communing with the elements helped calm him. Practicing his Elementalism craft, along with meditating, helped to center himself greatly. He had been there since before the sun rose over the horizon, finding his center. He would sit and meditate till he felt the disturbance in the air that someone was approaching.
Vagos had come, as it would be he who was instructing Barakael in his elemental craft, as the man was quite the expert, if not a master of Elementalism by now. "Thank you for waiting, now let's get started." he noted, motioning for Barakael to stand. "You know the basics of Elemental magic, so this will be more about figuring out how to incorporate it into combative situations. My approach to it is that each elemental nature has a purpose. Fire for attack, wind for evasion, water for augmentation, and of course, earth for defense.
I will show you two techniques for each nature, one for beginners and one for moderate-level users." he noted as he began to pull aether around his hands, Vagos gesturing for the quarter giant to mimic his movements. "Let's start with the easy stuff." he smiled, as water began to form in place of the aether, the moisture in the air coalescing into form. The same was happening for Barakael as well. "Water is the element of change, and has grace and fluidity, moving with the flow of energy. It can also be used for healing if you are inclined. However, the two moves I will teach you are more suited to augment your combative capabilities."
With a deep breath, the water began to coat his forearms and legs from the knee down, Barakael watching the movement of Vagos guiding it and mimicking what he saw. "This is a supplementary technique called Cascade Grip." he began, the water around his hands tightening and forming a glove-like layer around them. "As the name suggests, it supplements your grip strength, allowing you to hold on to things, be it your weapon, your opponents, to disarm them, or mundane things like climbing slick surfaces. It may prove difficult within the Atraxian climate, so I would suggest always having a water source on hand to enact any of the water techniques. Now give it a try yourself."
Barakael nodded, attuning his aether to water as he collected it from what moisture in the humidity remained. He encouraged it to tighten around his hands as it did for Vagos, as the cooling moisture sheathed his hands in waterying gloves. "Good, it should come in handy for various situations. Now onto the next water technique. This one is called Mist Channel." he states, pooling the water he had used earlier into the cup of his hands, taking a deep breath. With a controlled exhale, he blew a silvery mist out and around them, until they were enveloped by it.
"This technique is more a distraction than a supplementary skill; however if applied correctly, you can use it to supplement your strategy." he said as he soon vanished from view, leaving Barakael alone in the fog. "This technique will allow you to distort or amplify your voice, which can distract, intimidate, or confuse enemies." he said, demonstrating each instance. "Now you try, attune your voice to the mist, ask the water to boost or distort your voice." he instructed. Doing as he was told, Barakael closed his eyes and gave the water permission to boost his voice. When he opened them, he let a roar that mimicked a lion's.
Applause from Vagos echoed as the mist began to clear, the vastian teacher proud of his student, granted this was only the beginning. "Well done, now onto the next element, wind." he noted, making a gesture as what was left of the mist cleared away instantly. A vibrant and playful breeze began to dance around them as Vagos began his explanation. "Wind is the element of movement, and is associated with unrestricted freedom. As such, it can be quite a boon to your agility and evasive skills. The first of the techniques I wish to show you is called Wind Walking." he said as winds began to coalesce around his bare feet.
"This technique allows you to move swiftly by decreasing the resistance in the air around you and can even allow you to sprint across long distances by generating a wind current beneath your feet to glide you forward." he noted as he darted around the arena. "Now you try and catch me by doing it." he encouraged, Barakael wasting no time. The wind happily came to his call as he attuned to it, focusing his communion with the element on being fast and untouchable. The wind was more than happy to oblige the quarter giant. The two soon found themselves racing around the compound. Some of the servants were startled, and some cheered them on as they darted from one end of the estate to the other.
Coming back to the arena, the two now had a glow of sweat covering them as their race came to an end. Vagos chuckled as he patted Barakael on the shoulder. "Well done with keeping up with me, now onto the next one." he noted, catching his breath before taking the wind that was at his feet and shaping it into a vortex that coated his legs now, causing him to rise into the air. "This is called Air Viel, which will allow you to take to the sky. Not only will it allow you to evade mid-air, but it can be used to cover ground far better than Wind Walking could." he said as the vortex propelled him up and around, as if flying like the birds and avialae could.
Barakael nodded as he did the same, calling the wind to his legs, filling his request with wanting to fly as free as the birds did. Soon, he found himself lifting off the ground. Shock then gave way to excitement as he tried to maintain his form and stay afloat. Vagos laughed as he watched. "Dont worry as you progress your craft, you will find that you'll get better control." he encouraged, showing the elementalist how to get back down to solid ground. "These can come in handy with evading attacks or travel. Now onto the next one."
Patting the gladiator on the back, he went into a grounded stance, gesturing for Barakael to do the same. "Earth is steady and unmoving, indomitable with the most resiliency. That's why it is best to use it as defense. Now hurl a fireball at me." he commanded, to which the gladiator did as instructed, tossing a ball of flame at Vagos. He watched Vagos plant his feet in the ground and arc his right arm up as a barrier of stone arcing up in the same direction as his arm. "This technique is called Stone Wall, good for quickly blocking incoming attacks. Now it's your turn."
Waiting till Barakael was ready, Vagos ignited flame within his palm and hurled it at the gladiator. Mimicking the same movement, Barakael summoned forth his own wall of stone, asking the earth to block him from harm. The two would do this several times, as he had done with the other past techniques. When Vagos believed he had a good grasp of things, he moved on to the next one. "This technique is called Crag Shell, as when you are fighting, you are mostly using your arms, so with this technique, one must stomp their foot. This will rouse the ground to rise up in a shell of spikey stone." he explained, demonstrating it by stomping his foot as a curved wall of spikey stone jutted up, before dissipating moments later.
He would watch as Barakael mimicked the technique to his satisfaction. Once he was, Vagos allowed them both to take a break for a moment, allowing Barakael to catch his breath, just now realizing how long they had been going for. They were still one element away from being done; it was the one that Barakael was most comfortable with. He would take the chance to replenish his strength by eating some of the snacks that the servants of the estate had brought to them, scarfing them down as if he hadn't eaten in days.
When he was done, Vagos motioned for him to join them, as now they would end on a good note and tackle some fire techniques. Given the non-combative personnel a moment to clear the arena, Vagos would begin. "Now for the final element, your favorite as I'm aware of. Fire is raw power made manifest." he began, forming flames in the palms of his hands. "It's beautiful to witness, but all-consuming if not controlled and directed. It can be explosive or a source of warmth and light. Just depends on how you wield it. For you, however, I see it being used most effectively as a tempered weapon to protect those around you." ϟ
"Vastian Speech"
"Tallenese Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"
