Chapter 2: The Proving
Jaden followed Kiyara as she walked to the back of the hut and exited via the backdoor, leading to the empty backyard. She looked around and was briefly overcome with nostalgia as she remembered that the yard used to be where she and her brothers would play should boredom struck them. A makeshift playground, consisting of large, rusty metal tubes along with a few planks, once lay dormant at the heart of yard, and now only a crater remained at where it once stood. A single stray missile from a Havoc Dreadnaught and the playground was gone. It was from that moment on that Jaden began to despise war. It took away the one thing left in her life that was a part of her childhood.
How coincidental as the place where she once frequented is now where her life may change forever through one ritual: Her Proving.
“Alright Jaden. This placed seems suitable. Let us sit here as I explain the Proving to you.” Jaden complied and they both sat on the dusty ground, facing each other.
“As you’d probably have known by now, the Proving is the ritual that us humans undergo to unlock the Magical Energies that lies dormant and locked within. Not all humans go through this ritual; it is only required by those who wish to take advantage of the power. As Energy Bladesman, Magical Energies plays a large role in our training; hence the Proving is a must for us. However, never neglect the training you received before or you will succumb to Magical Overflow, becoming a thrall to the very power that you once commanded. Remember the last sentence of our motto.”
“Never let our emotions get the best of us.”
Jaden listened with her attention fixed upon her mentor. She recalled the stories she heard from her mother about Dark Viper. She remembered her mother mentioning that Magical Overflow led to his fall as he allowed his anger to amplify his Magical Energies, losing his will to his own powers. As Magical Energies are the product of Iblisan himself, they turned evil as quickly as their own creator, and when in control of a weak-willed being, his personality is twisted. Thus, Dark Viper became the very thing he would otherwise swear to destroy, and Jaden vowed never to become like him.
“Now, let us get to the ritual. First, meditate. You need to use your conscience to speak directly to the Magical Energies within you.” “Speak? What for? Won’t it try to take over me?” Jaden queried. Kiyara nodded and replied, “Yes it will but unlike Iblisan, they are not as aggressive. Instead, they are opportunists. They will use your nightmares against you, trying to force your anger or sadness so that they will be amplified enough to take over your soul. This is where your training comes into use. Prove them that you will not yield and that you can see through the façade. Tell them they have no control over you and they will submit.”
“What kind of Energies do I have and how will the Magical Energies look like?” Jaden questioned. “That depends. Your mother had Light Energies while your father had Dark Energies.” “Wait. Mom had Magical Energies? I never seen her use it before.” Jaden retorted. Kiyara replied, “Yes she does. However, she never truly unlocked it as she doesn’t really need it. Dementius can sense it inside her though.”
“Anyway, chances are you will get either one. It is rare for one to possess more than one type genetically. Light and Dark together is especially unlikely. I’ll explain why after your Proving.” Kiyara explained. “They can take up any appearances when you meet them but they can’t change their overall color. Light Energies are blue while Dark Energies are red. You should be able to tell once you meet them. So, are you ready?”
Jaden nodded while her heart began to beat faster out of anxiousness. She was going to meet her ally and adversary and hoped that her Proving went smoothly. Still, in case anything was to happen, she gave one last smile to her mentor and cherished the moment. Kiyara returned the smile with her own and reassured Jaden that nothing bad was going to happen. Jaden accepted the confidence that Kiyara had in her student but hoped that it was not false.
She shut her eyes and went into a meditation trance. The surrounding sounds faded away and her once tensed body went cold. The feel of her blindfold disappeared and the ground beneath her seemed to have vanished. All she could hear was her heavy breathing and her body felt like it was suspended in the air. Finally, when her eyes opened, she was no longer in her backyard, but in a different world.
She stood upon a barren wasteland, the grounds beneath her dried up and devoid of plant life. The large, hot sun lit the area with an orange hue and virtually no water was seen. Around her were ruined buildings, all of which were made of concrete. Littered around the area were corpses, most of which were unidentifiable as they were mostly destroyed. A strange sense of familiarity struck Jaden as she felt that she had seen this place before. It eventually hit her that her Magical Energies were using one of her more recent nightmares, though she barely remembered the true horrors of it.
She trudged through the deserted ruins and began to recall parts of the nightmare. The horrid sight of the destroyed buildings and dead people reminded her of her hatred for war and how much lives it destroyed but she frequently reminded herself that her Magical Energies were trying to fool her and that it was just a dream. The whistling wind made her cold and the eerie landscape made her pessimistic over her situation. She then began to hope that the Proving was as simple as Kiyara said it was.
Jaden continued to walk through the ruins until a loud thud halted her movements and nearly stopped her heart. Without any weapon to defend herself, Jaden began to panic. She ran to nearby rubble and hid behind. The noise she heard was followed by metallic clashes, almost as if there were people fighting. She never recalled anyone fighting in her nightmare; hence she began to wonder if that was her Magical Energies. She took a peek and was met with awe.
A pair of Warriors was fighting against each other. Both were clad in heavy armor and armed with a sword and shield. Surrounding them were the corpses of Jaden’s friends, most notably Kiyara and her brothers, and that briefly struck her with fear. She pulled back to regain her composure, once again reminding herself that it was just a nightmare. She then peeked at them again and began to realize something unusual about the Warriors.
One of them was entirely blue in color while the other was red. Their eyes, hair, skin, armor, weapons, everything was blue and red. They battled each other with not only their weapons, but with magic which mirrors their color. The blue man was using Light spells while the red man was throwing in Dark spells. Jaden could not believe what she was seeing. Both Light and Dark Energies resided within her but she could have sworn that she heard Kiyara saying that such a thing was rare. Enthusiastic to get things over with, Jaden jumped out of her hiding place and approached the duo.
As she was within proximity of the two Energies, she spoke to them, trying to grab their attention. However, they continued their fight, ignoring Jaden entirely. They clashed swords and threw spells at one another until Jaden’s patience ran out. She snatched a nearby rock and threw it at the blue Light Energy man, hitting him in the head and getting the attention of both the Energies. Still, the duo stared at her while Jaden waited.
“So? Aren’t you two supposed to be trying to make me sad or angry?” Jaden queried. The red man nudged the blue man and told him, “She’s here for her Proving.” “That is no reason to end our fight. Your Energies are not welcome here you spawn of darkness.” the blue man retorted. “Oh now you’re just asking for my full power.” the red man threatened.
“What’s with all the fighting? Why don’t you two just get along?” Jaden exclaimed. In retaliation, the blue man gave a straight punch to Jaden’s face, forcing her onto the ground. Jaden felt a sting of pain surging from her nose and was amazed at how aggressive her Energies were. “Hey! Her will’s mine for the taking, not yours!” she heard the red man shouting. It became clear to her that they were fighting over who should take over her will. The blue man retorted, “She’s mine!” and kicked Jaden right in the abdomen. Jaden was thrown a few feet ahead as she growled in pain from the Energy-induced kick. The pain was too unbearable for her to overcome and she could not bring herself to stand up.
“That’s pathetic! Try this one for power!” the red man bellowed. With a push of his left hand, he released a strong surge of Dark Lightning towards Jaden, electrocuting her and putting her into a world of hurt. Jaden screamed as hostile Dark Energies surged through her body and in a frantic attempt to prevent his rival from winning; the blue man shoved the red man and began yet another duel. Though she was no longer being electrocuted, the damage was done and being unarmed, she could not help but feel helpless.
Kiyara calmed her mind as she was entering her meditative trance. Thinking that Jaden would take her time with her Proving, she decided to use the time to have a rest. Her meditation was eventually disturbed when she began to hear hyperventilation nearby. She opened her eyes and gasped as she saw Jaden breathing heavily and moaning in seeming pain. It eventual intensifies into occasional screams and Kiyara began to worry for her student’s well-being. She held Jaden’s shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her up but it did not helped at all. She pulled out Jaden’s blindfold and recoiled as twin flashes of blue light surged out. Her eyes were open, yet she was still in her nightmare. The glow was unusually bright and intensified along with her screams.
Glacier and Dementius ran into the backyard seconds later, complaining about Jaden’s screams. Both were equally terrified to see Jaden in the state she was in and ran to Kiyara’s side, hoping to hear any good news from her. Glacier shook her daughter continuously, shouting, “Jaden! Wake up! What’s wrong? Jaden!” Dementius attempted to read Jaden’s mind but the stress that she was suffering from prevented him from entering, causing headaches at every attempt. Glacier slapped Jaden lightly but alas, nothing worked.
After regaining much of her strength, Jaden stood up, fighting against the pain that was crippling her movements. The two men noticed her and using the opportunity, the red man dashed at her, attempting to make another attack. The blue man tailed him, not about to let his rival win the battle. It became clear to Jaden that her Energies were not going to question her or challenge her emotional will; hence she brought all her combat training into focus. As the red man approached her, he brought down his sword upon her, attempting to kill her. Jaden sidestepped, dodging his attack, although the pain she felt caused her to lose her balance briefly.
Taking advantage, the blue man darted towards her and attempted to pummel her with his shield. Realizing the blue man’s actions, Jaden picked up a nearby wood and use it to block the attack. Using it as a makeshift weapon, she swung it hard at the blue man’s head, causing him to stumble. She then turned her attention to the red man and hit his abdomen, forcing him to bend down before hitting his back. She turned back to the blue man in time to see him throwing his shield towards her. She tried to block the shield with the wood but the impact knocked her to the floor. As she sat up, she realized that her wood had snapped in half.
In a brief state of panic, she looked around for any weapons and spotted a katana lying next to a nearby corpse. She darted for the weapon while the red man made a botched attempt to grab her leg from his prone position. Now with a real weapon in her hand, she adopted the Reverse Grip fighting style that she trained herself in and waited for the red man to stand up.
“Foolish human. You should’ve attacked me while I was recovering.” he taunted. He rushed towards her and made a slash but Jaden brought in her sword, parrying the attack and shoving him away. With a graceful flip, she brought her sword down upon the red man, forcing him to block with his shield but still knocking him down. The blue man, now without a shield, sprinted towards her and thrusts his sword at her. Jaden stepped backwards just in time to dodge it and grabbed his wrist with her free hand. She elbowed the blue man right onto his nose and brought down her elbow upon his wrist, forcing him to disarm his blue sword. Suddenly, she heard electricity surging from behind, hinting that the red man was casting yet another spell. Remembering that Light Energy can be used to absorb Dark Energy, she picked up the blue man’s sword and turned around into time to absorb the red man’s Dark Lightning spell.
As the red man persisted, Jaden pushed forward towards him, fighting against his powerful spell. Using all her strength, she pushed the spell back at him. It barely hurt him as he is a being of Dark Energy but it stunned him long enough for Jaden to rush in and stomp his right wrist, forcing him to disarm his sword. Tossing away her katana, she snatched his red sword. The red man stood up and was about to punch her but recoiled as she pointed both swords at both men. They watched as their previously unarmed opponent has stolen both their Energy-infused weapons and are now at her mercy. Jaden panted with exhaustion and choked, “I…tire of this fighting. Stop…or I will cut you both down! I don’t care…if I lose all my Magical Energies in the process.”
Oddly enough, both men smiled upon hearing her words. They began to applaud, causing Jaden to feel rather suspicious of their behavior. “She bested us both…” “…and maintained her composure. I must say that I’m impressed.” the blue and red men said respectively. “She’s unlike most humans who would be quickly overwhelmed by us and their emotions in a situation like this. This is most unexpected.” the blue man added. “I guess it is official then. She passed her Proving.” the red man said, invoking a strange amount of joy in Jaden. Thinking that they may no longer be a threat, she brought down both her swords and said, “I passed? But, you two barely tested my emotional will.”
“We never truly planned this. Dark Energy and I were truly fighting and we were uninterested in doing your Proving. But, not everyone can remain calm after being bullied by two powerful beings…”
“…or better yet, defeat them. I guess I’ll have to tolerate your presence Light Energy. This human has earned enough of my respect to make me serve her.”
“So am I.”
A smile slowly formed as Jaden began to realize that she not only passed her Proving but earned the respect of her very own Magical Energies. She began to wonder if such respect from these Energies were even supposed to happen. The toll that the fight took eventually came and after losing much of her balance to dizziness, Jaden fell to ground. Her eyes slowly closed as her drowsiness forced it. Before darkness came in, she heard the blue man’s last words.
“We are yours to command.”
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