Renzo
The first-floor hallways of the Academy were packed with fellow students when Renzo made his way out of the dining hall. The others had already gone, saying they had errands to handle before meeting again in the forest. So Renzo, with just over half an hour to himself before he was expected to be anywhere, decided to take a tour around the castle and try to learn where everything was.
The problem with this pn, however, was how quickly he could get lost. There were too many doors and staircases for him to keep track of, and the surges of people moved in all sorts of directions, which only disoriented him further. But as long as he kept the windows - and the light that trickled in from the blue skies outside - he could more or less keep his bearings.
Two left turns down a long straight corridor with few people in it brought him outside the castle quite suddenly, depositing him into a courtyard. It wasn’t quite the exterior, which he knew was several dozen yards to his left, but it was open to the air, and quite rge. Small groups of students lingered at the courtyard’s edge, chatting or scribbling notes while gncing at their peers.
His eyes, however, were drawn to the center of the courtyard. Three people were fighting there - sparring, he corrected himself. One was clearly an older student - taller, broader, and with the easy bance of someone who didn’t need to prove anything. A few heads in the crowd turned as he moved, and more than one voice dropped to a whisper. Renzo couldn’t hear what they said, but the tone told him enough: this wasn’t just a cssmate. He was someone worth watching.
It was an unarmed exhibition. He scooted closer through the small crowd that was forming, trying to get a better view. This was his first chance to see how serious cultivators fought each other, and he wasn’t going to miss it.
The two juniors, a man and a woman, both had silvery hair tied back into short ponytails. Even their outfits were the same, save for longer sleeves on the man’s uniform. They were clearly twins, and moved like it, their paths mirroring each other perfectly, and their strikes nding in a beautiful rhythm. Renzo caught a hint of their power as they struck at the senior student, holding nothing back as they hammered blow after blow, trying to break through his guard.
And yet, the older student didn’t yield. He stood steady like a boulder holding back a creek, stopping each of the twins’ attacks with consummate ease. When they did force him to give ground, it was in tiny increments, and he took a half step back. Renzo wondered why he didn’t strike back. You couldn’t block forever, no matter how strong you were. Then, just as soon as he had the thought, the older student took one step forward, swiping the girl’s foot out from under her. She tumbled to the grass and rolled a few feet, the momentum of her jump kick actually carrying her well out of the fight.
The brother was next to go, as the older student took a step back, avoiding the attempted grapple, then darted in before he could recover. One leg curled around the back of his knee, and the older student smmed a palm into his chest, flipping him neatly in pce and sending him crashing down to his back. Renzo let out a gasp of surprise as he saw the momentum so quickly flip to the defender’s favor.
“Fuck! I had him that time!” Dain barked, smming a fist into the grass. He sat up fast, eyes narrowed. “How the hell did he read that slip feint? I masked it—didn’t I?”
The girl rolled her shoulders loose, cracked her neck, and bounced on the balls of her feet once before unching back into the fight. Renzo wasn’t sure, but he thought he could see her moving more slowly the closer she got to her opponent. Still, she tried to trick him, fshing one foot out in a feint before stomping down and channeling all the momentum into a high punch. Again, she visibly slowed the closer she got, until her fist stopped an inch away from the older student’s face. He shook his head.
“Not quite enough,” he said, his voice full of good humor. “And now you’ve left yourself completely open.”
The girl, straining to bring her fist closer, looked at him in some confusion, then let out a grunt of surprise as his palm struck her just below the ribs. She doubled over under the impact, and then, as if in a half-second dey, she was flung back away from the older student - as if she’d been caught by some powerful gust of invisible wind, and went tumbling back again. Several students in the ring of spectators jumped out of the way as she rolled towards them, ughing.
“Someone else take a turn,” the girl snapped, springing upright. “Maybe one of you can actually touch the bastard.”
That shut most of them up. Turning his head, Renzo stared at the older student, wondering what he’d done there. He hadn’t moved his body at all to intercept that attack, yet it had still been stopped in its tracks. It looked like a trick - until he remembered how hard the girl had pushed.. She’d put real effort into it, but it was as if there’d been a barrier that pushed back, exuding more force the harder she tried to break through it.
“You’re getting better,” the older student said. “Dain, you nearly managed to slip through my slowing effect with that st attack. But you let me know what you were up to the st time I blocked you. It was pretty obvious you were feeling for weak points. Next time, don’t be so obvious. Dolin, you’re moving too fast. You know the secret to a good feint is bance. Don’t throw out random moves if you want to trick your enemy. You have to convince me that you’re really going to kick me before you try to punch me.”
The crowd murmured its agreement, and a polite round of appuse rang out. “You’re pulling new tricks again,” Dain said, cracking his neck. “Last month, you didn’t shift your weight on the parry. That threw me.”
“Well, the difference in Rank does py a part,” the older figure said. “I am an Adept now, after all. But technique can help you more than you know. Take that lesson to heart, Dain. Power isn’t everything. It’s what you do with the power you do have that matters.”
He tapped a finger to the side of his nose in a familiar gesture, and Dain nodded, grinning as the two embraced. “I’m gd you could stop by for a visit. I’m running out of honest challenges in the Circle.”
“Next time,” Dain said with a grin,“I’ll break through your guard. I can feel it.”
“Keep feeling it," Dolin said with a snort. “I’ll be the one to actually nd a hit.”
The Adept ughed at that and shook his head. “You’re still in your first year, Dain. And you spent too much time fighting me. You might be part of the Seven, but that doesn’t stop you from learning.”
He caught the girl, Dolin’s eyes, then said in a serious tone, “You never stop learning.”
“Fine. You win.” Dolin crossed her arms but smirked. After a second, her mask broke, and she also hugged him. “Enjoy your stupid Circle - until I rip it back.”
But Barker shook his head. “I can’t stay, sadly. As much as I like throwing you two around, I’m supposed to be meeting Jorath for lunch, and I don’t want to be te and suffer even more of his lecturing.”
Renzo perked up at the sound of the familiar name. This stranger knew Jorath? They were the same rank, but it was still a surprise to hear Jorath mentioned so casually by someone else. What was even more surprising were the groans given by several older students in the crowd, and the ughter of agreement from the twins. “That’s true. He’s already bound to lecture you on something stupid that nobody cares about. Don’t want to make it worse.”
They embraced again, and Barker walked towards the edge of the circle, heading right for where Renzo stood. Several of the crowd called out farewells, and a few even stepped forward to shake his hand or embrace him. As he passed through, Barker caught his eye and gave him a short nod. Before he could think better of it, Renzo asked, “What is the Circle?”
That wasn’t quite right, he thought. He’d meant to ask how the man knew Jorath, and what life was like as an Adept and graduate of the Academy - because that’s clearly who he was. Barker came to an abrupt halt, looking mildly surprised. “How long have you been here?”
“Just two days,” Renzo said. Noting the further surprise, he added quickly. “I got noticed te. Jorath brought me here. I know I’m a month te, but-”
“Ah, you must be Renzo,” Barker said. A rather wide grin split his face, and he held out his hand. “Jorath mentioned you. He seemed to think you were more than capable of making up the lost time.”
“Well, Renzo, the Circle is a student-run organization inside the Academy,” he expined. Turning to face inward, he threw an arm around Renzo’s shoulder and pointed at the twins, who were watching the exchange with interest. “Those two there - Dain and Dolin - they’re part of the Seven. They’re sort of the best seven fighters in the school, one for each element. You can challenge them at any time you want, as long as it's during free time. The Seven have more power than any student, you see, and even more than some faculty. It’s about proving yourself.”
Renzo blinked, not sure he understood the significance. “So it’s like… a group of fighters?”
Barker shook his head, ughing heartily. “Yes, but it’s more than that. Much more. Being a part of the Circle is almost mandatory in this school, you know. It even affects your grades and who gets to take part in tests outside the school. The teachers pay attention to the Circle, see. The better your standing there, the better you’ll do both in and outside this castle. You want access to high-level tests? Permission to take on missions early? That’s not the instructors—it’s the Circle.”
Barker put a hand on the small of his back, grinning, then called out to the twin. “Dain! Teach this new blood what the Circle is about!”
Then Barker gave him a shove and vanished into the crowd. Just like that. No announcement, no grand farewell - only the space he left behind and the ripple of heads turning in his wake.
Renzo stared at the ring. Was he seriously about to fight one of the best students in the school? On day two?
Was this how things worked here? Was he ready? He turned back to the center, feeling a heady mix of apprehension and excitement in his chest at the prospect. Well, it was only a simple sparring match, he thought. It couldn’t hurt. Could it?