Statera: The Balance of Yin and Yang

Ramiel Lokni

I sighed, placing the complaint letter down and pinching the bridge of my nose. Only three days into the new term, and fourth-year prodigy Aaryan had already managed to incur the wrath of several Yin congees, demanding he be punished or expelled over his blatant disrespect for Yin energies.

Otherwise, they argued that his access disk might be revoked since he had no business touching corrupted items.

This was a matter I needed to discuss with Tethys.

But first, I had to attend to the Sento class with the new congees. They seemed an impressive enough bunch on paper, with almost two-thirds of them Supplicants, and the remaining third having entered the Faculty with impressive results. I gazed over the entrant papers spread over my desk, and settled upon the papers of one Elora Young – her father had been a general, and her mother a Healer. The result of such formidable parents was that her energy had been unbelievably strong from what I had sensed last Gold-day. She was one to watch, I was sure.

Neatly, I filed the papers into my drawers and sealed them with Yin energy – even if my rooms were locked, it paid to be cautious these days.

Leaving my office for the training grounds, I nodded approvingly at the full attendance of congees. Tomokai extricated himself from a group of congees and came to stand by my side.

I surveyed the thirty-eight congees – already, they gravitated to certain cliques. A strong presence tingled at my senses, and my eyes were involuntarily drawn to Elora. Frankly, her aura was on par with Aaryan and with a tinge of warmth associated with Yang congees. I fervently hoped she was not going to be a female version of him. A girl of similar height stood next to her, but this congee was broader in build compared to Elora's lanky proportions. The girl's black hair was shaved at the sides and the top tied into a ponytail, her grey eyes shifty and observant. I focussed my concentration, and felt a vague sense of cool energy. Yin characteristics in that one.

I crossed my arms, and ran my thumb over my lip. A name from the entrant papers suddenly popped into my head: Aletheia Leigh, non-Supplicant. Perhaps Elora did not subscribe to Aaryan's ideologies if she was friends with that congee. They were conversing with two other males – one was Enki, a congee I knew to be older than me.

Interlacing my fingers in front of me and cracking my neck, I cleared my throat and put on a faint smile. "Good afternoon congees," I said drawing the attention of the scattered congees that. "Today's class will be quite simple. Tomokai and I will be demonstrating a few sequences for you to understand the art of Sento."

I nodded at Tomokai. This was probably what he was looking forward to the most – he would like the attention. It was a necessity to demonstrate techniques that would pique an interest, and it made sure the students respected my proficiency. The attention, however, I could do without.

"After that, we will teach you some basics to get you started."

Tomokai beamed and walked onto the training mat in the middle of the training room. He begun a sequence of cha'anko which was typically well suited to those who favoured the Yang. It was fast, precise and intensely athletic. I smiled to myself as the congees marvelled at Tomokai's performance, his aeriel flips, jumps and a series of powerful punches and kicks. The sequence ended with a palm strike to the floor that echoed around the training room and the congees exploded into applause. He winked at them as he bowed off the mat, a sheen of sweat dripping off his self-satisfied face.

~~~

I clapped together with the other congees as Tomokai bowed off the mat. It was no wonder Tomokai was lithe, if he had to execute so many leaps and aerials. It was like watching a panther coil and pounce on its imaginary prey. I hoped we weren't expected to learn that? I doubted I could land into a split...

Advisor Lokni took his place in the middle of the mats. He had swapped his Qun from the other day to a similar attire to ours. It was the standard issue Sento outfit, same length as a regular shirt but with a stiff collar, short sleeves and Mandarin buttons that ran down the middle. His face was solemn as he took a deep breath in as he brought his palms up, and then breathing out as he returned them to his hips.

Beginning in a wide stance, he started a gentle, slow form that was the complete opposite of Tomokai's earlier showcase. It was no less riveting though, his fingers curling and pointing nimbly as he lowered into extremely challenging single leg holds, and occasionally executed graceful spinning jumps into silent, stable landings. It was like watching water personified, so fluid his movements were. Yet it was also like being faced with the earth at times, with all of his stability and strength. I was no expert, but anyone with eyes could have recognised that Advisor Lokni was a master in the art.

After his elegant demonstration, Advisor Lokni waved away our polite applause embarrassedly and begun explaining the history of Sento to us. He described how the different forms and regular training could aid our control and manipulation of the energies, as well as help our reflexes and sparring ability. My eyes drifted around the area as he talked. It was not so much a room but a gymnasium. The practice mats stretched along the entire room, and along the walls were wooden practice dummies, target boards, weapon racks and a series of racks filled with weights and other equipment. It was like a grown up's playground.

I turned back to Advisor Lokni's speech. Certain forms like the cha'anko that Tomokai had shown were Yang stimulating, while other forms like the ta'aeci that he had demonstrated were Yin building. Elora and Enki were chattering excitedly about the cha'anko, but my mind was looping on Advisor Lokni's demonstration of ta'aeci and the fluid grace.

Then, the torture began. 

~~~
A/N: What do you think of Ramiel?