Sand & Shadow

Chapter 8

The rest of the morning was spent solidifying fact from fiction when it came to what each clan could do and how they actually fought, both as units in the army and as individual touched martial artists. Akur was a fount of knowledge in this area, and whatever he had done in the army long ago had left him with a well rounded expertise in the fighting capabilities of each clan. Much of what Sehl had read in the legends of his peoples was helpful in expanding his imagination on what was possible at the higher stages of Touched abilities, but was quite removed from the reality touched martial arts today.

For example the story of General Famlin setting an entire navy ablaze with a swarm of locust fire constructs in the great eastern invasion 200 years ago is more the extraordinary exception than the practical norm of Fire Touched abilities practiced today. Which has much more to do with the whole formation releasing simple fireballs at the same time to rain down on enemy positions. In fact the average Fire touched soldier could release 20-30 of these fireballs over the course of a battle before their touch was spent.

So while Sehl would be facing the best and brightest young people of his generation, none of them would be creating suits of elemental armor any time soon. To pass the entrance exam of the Capitol Academy Each prospective student would have to demonstrate at least a Tin level of mastery over their Touch. One rank below the average soldier in the army, which was an impressive feat considering most applicants to the Royal Military academy would only have had access to their touched abilities for a few months.

The rankings were simple, and although there were meant to be a means of gauging strength in the military and government, most people had a vague understanding of what each rank meant, especially for their own clan. Almost any one with a Touched ability would start at Copper, a rank that denoted a minor ability to manipulate your clan's element. From there the rankings went; Tin, Bronze,Iron, Steal, and Desert Steal. Each rank increase was harder to differentiate from the others, the differences debated by scholars in what was a useful qualifier for an increase in rank.

For example it was generally agreed upon in the fire clan that someone was considered close to Bronze rank when they achieved limited immunity to burns and heat. But while this was a good measure of someone's potential in their given Touched abilities, it was not combat. Something that Akur made sure to hammer into Sehl's head, literally.

"So it seems like fire and water are natural balances, while earth and air are opp.."

*SMACK*

Sehl's hand flashed to the feeling of stinging insects that now covered the back of his head.

"Ugh, Akur, what was that for?"

"You haven't even gotten to the academy yet, and already you sound like one of those cushy academics. They think because they have read some books and have studied some famous manuals on Touched combat that they know what it is to fight."

"Don't I have to know this stuff for class?" Sehl mumbled, still rubbing at the back of his head.

"Sure, as long as you remember that there is no-"

"No teacher like combat... I got it Akur"

Akur looked around and tugged the yak's leads into the shadow of a cleft of the rock. On this side of the desert the ground would become harder and more rockie, until small sporadic tufts of grass started to appear and the sand receded altogether. There the Sule would cut through the landscape dividing the edge of the desert with the rolling fields that gave Verdant its namesake.

Akur yawned and stretched before hopping off the front of the wagon with a litheness that betrayed much more physicality than his wiry one armed frame would suggest. Sehl just sighed and arched his back, trying unsuccessfully to work out the ache of sitting on the wagon seat all day.