Statera: The Balance of Yin and Yang

It is my duty

To say I was nervous might be an understatement. Worries that there would be a repeat performance of – Aletheia Leigh, don't think about that.

When Advisor Lokni said that we would all be wearing protective gear, I exhaled silently in relief. At least it would provide some sort of buffering. Though if Elora's recent improvement in energy manipulation was anything to go by, I doubted my chances were good if she was unable to control herself.

As per the previous time, we drank the balaka – and I noticed Tomokai – or Kai as he had asked me to call him – looked more like his normal self than he did in weeks, a cheeky smile on his face.

It was difficult watching the man a shadow of his usual self, though he tried hard enough when Advisor Lokni wasn't near. I could guess well enough who he was talking about the other day by the lake. Even Elora, clueless as she tended to be, noticed the change in his behaviour.

We grimaced at the balaka – knowing the taste did not make it any easier to bear. Strapping on the training vests which were supposed to protect our vital organs from energy or physical strikes was quite a hassle as the material was thick and quite bulky. And if you looked closely enough, there was an aura around them, like how the air above hot surfaces was wavy and distorted. I wondered if just a handful those might pay for my fees.

We crossed the large training room and found an unoccupied corner on the mat. Xue was partnered with Enki a short distance away. I took a deep breath, trying not to think about what happened the previous – Theia! Don't go there.

Elora looked at me worriedly. She still felt guilty about what she had done. "Are you sure you'll be alright? Do you want to swap with Enki or Xue instead?"

I smiled as reassuringly as I could. "I'm sure. Anyway, the balaka should be alright this time. I'll let you know if I feel anything strange. And anyway, you'll be able to tell now."

We started practicing our individual sequences, and just like the previous time, my ability to manipulate energy slowly dissipated. However, my sense of energy had grown even stronger over the weeks. Where before, I no longer felt my energy once the balaka kicked in. Now, I could still feel my energy in my chakra points, just that their flow in my meridians was stagnant and unyielding to my control. Unnatural.

I recalled a passage from "Brewing for congees", and it had mentioned the side effects of excessive usage of balaka. That was probably why sparring sessions were few and widely spaced out.

Advisor Lokni called to check for everyone's status, and his eyes lingered a little longer on Elora.

"Okay?" I asked Elora. She nodded and concentrated intensely on trying to use her energy, but as far as I could discern, there was nothing. She gave me a thumbs up. A niggling thought harassed me at the back of my head, but I pushed it aside as much as I could.

As we assumed our positions, Advisor Lokni stood near Enki and Xue, but I knew he was watching Elora to make sure no accidents happened. As per usual, I started attacking first, except I was finding it even harder to find holes in Elora's defences. We completed the sparring up to the tenth sequence which we had been taught.

It was my turn to defend.

My hands become clammy as flashbacks of burning pain and seizing lungs ran through my mind. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead as we moved through the first sequence, an easy dance of jabs and blocks.

Nothing was out of place. As the second sequence began, the flashbacks of the hot and cold strikes overlapped with the current bout, though Elora's current strikes were absolutely energy-free. My concentration faltered, as I struggled to parry and step around the attacks in rhythm.