The pair of monarchs looked at each other for a long moment as Torrin held his bow.
"Rise, young Rin, and follow us." The woman finally spoke, her voice like a balm to the soul, sweet and kind, something about her tone made the command irresistible. Torrin immediately straightened and took a step forward before stopping himself. As he did, his brows furrowed.
'What the hell?' he thought, 'What type of magic is that? Some type of compulsion?'
Seeing his face, the Elven Queen let out a tinkling laugh, "So you noticed? You are something indeed..." her voice was cheerful, but no longer made him want to follow her every whim. The leaders of the elves walked from the room then and Torrin followed, thinking over what had just happened.
His thoughts were cut short when they exited the teleport room, his eyes widening at the sight. Enormous trees were everywhere. Turning around, he saw the room they had just left had been carved out of the base of one such tree.
The tree's base was at least 300 feet across and it soared into the sky high above, unfurling branches along the way that were as thick as a man's torso, green leaves with silver striations along them sprouted from each branch.
Torrin noticed that many such rooms were carved from the trees, there were no visible buildings. Bridges hung suspended high off the ground connecting the trees together. Torrin had never seen anything like it and it left him feeling mystified.
As the pair led Torrin along a pathway on the ground between the trees, he saw many elves bowing as the party passed. They eventually arrived at a smaller tree than the rest, this one actually sporting a small stone building attached to it.
From the building came a serious looking man, tall and thin wearing a scowl as he looked at Torrin. The man's hair was blonde, almost the same shade as the King's, but cut short. He wore rune inscribed leather armor and sported two short blades sheathed on his back. Whereas the monarchs both had delicate features, this man's face was more rugged--adding to his intimidating look.
'Ah, shit... What'd I ever do to this guy to make him look at me like that?!' Torrin cried to himself.
"My King..." The rugged elf said, bowing to the king, before turning to the queen and repeating his bow, "My Queen... How may I be of service to you?"
The King smiled and bid the elf to rise before pointing to Torrin, "This is Rin Gram, he is a human with a particularly special core... Queen Lisson has bade us to help teach the boy our ways of magic."
The leather clad elf's scowl returned more fierce than ever as he looked to Torrin, "My King, I cannot in good conscience teach one of THEM--" the King held his hand up in front of the scowling elf who had taken a step toward Torrin.
"I believe you misunderstand me, Ollivel," The King said softly, "I am not asking you. I am telling you."
Ollivel blanched at the soft reprimand--his pale skin becoming almost gray--before bowing quickly once more, "Of course, my King... I will do as you command."
King Fellen turned towards Torrin with that same not-as-kind-as-it-looks smile, "This is Ollivel, our Master of Combat. He will conduct your testing to find what element you are most closely linked with. You are in good hands."
The King and Queen whisked away without another glance or word to Torrin, leaving him with the scowling elf. Torrin watched them go for a long moment, before turning to Ollivel. He nearly jumped out of his skin as the elf was unsheathing his twin blades, stomping towards him.
Torrin put his hands up to show he meant no harm, saying, "Eh?!"
The elf did not stop or slow in the slightest, in just a moment, he was on Torrin, swinging his blades in intricate patterns, trying to take his head from his body. Torrin quickly ducked the swing of the left blade and summoned his Celestial Bronze sword in its scabbard to block the right.
"Uhh... Hello?!" Torrin asked in confusion, unsure of why the elf was attacking him.
After another moments hesitation, he unsheathed his own blade, infusing it with Sword Energy and blocking an over-hand chop. The elf's leg kicked out like lightning, hitting Torrin in the chest and sending his sprawling head over heels. Just as the foot made contact, Torrin returned his blade to his ring so he could control his landing better.
After rolling for over twenty feet he infused mana into his arms, pushing off the ground to arc into the air and land on his feet. He instantly re-summoned his sword, ready to defend himself.
"Can we at least talk first?!" Torrin asked, confusion tinting his words.
'I really don't want to kill their Master of Combat! That would make Lissy extremely pissed!' he thought desperately as the enraged elf stomped towards him once more.
All along the trees and hanging bridges above where they were fighting, elves of all types began pausing what they were doing to watch the show. Some even cheered when Torrin got kicked back.
"Your kind deserve no words, vermin," Ollivel spat, fury wrote across his face.
"What is my kind?! Didn't your King ask you to teach me magic?!" Torrin asked, desperately trying to defuse the tense situation.
"You dare tell me what my King commands?!" Ollivel shouted with wide eyes, as mana coalesced around his blades, coating them in flames.
"Well, I can't say I didn't try..." Torrin grumbled under his breath.
Mana shot from his core, infusing every muscle, bone, and tendon with mana. He allowed his mana to flow over his skin as well, forming a thin mana barrier. He tensed his muscles, sliding into a simple sword stance--left foot forward, center of gravity slightly lowered, with his right elbow bent and slightly behind his chest, allowing his blade to hang horizontally towards Ollivel.
The elf shot forward, both his blades held high as he descended upon Torrin in a frenzy. Torrin parried and dodged, but never attacked back. He really didn't want to have to deal with Grams and the queen berating him for instantly failing his mission.
The speed of the two combatants was fairly even, but Torrin's mana barrier began taking hits, causing him to constantly have to reinforce it. The advantage was Ollivel's as he had two blades, each one seeming to act independently of the other. Torrin hadn't been pressured like this before and was starting to lag behind.
'Damn it! This guy is just as fast as I am since Grams put these fucking weights on me!' Torrin lamented his bad luck. He hadn't expected to be in a fight so soon after being weighed down by Grams.
Torrin kept pushing himself to swing harder, move faster, and to try to out think his opponent. His feet were moving in a rhythmic pattern, his body twisting and turning to avoid his opponent's twin blades if he couldn't block them. When it came to skill with blades, Ollivel was better than Torrin. Each movement of the elf was both graceful and brutal--a beautiful dance with deadly implications. Torrin was slowly accumulating cuts all over, but the fire of Ollivel's blades instantly cauterized the wounds.
The two clashed once more and Torrin was sent stumbling back, barely catching his footing. Torrin summoned his ornate scabbard and wrapped it in his sword aura, trying to match Ollivel's twin blade techniques. Ollivel glared at the boy with hate filled eyes as he advanced. The two continued their battle, the clash causing a ruckus in the otherwise quiet forest.
The pair danced around the pathway, dodging and parrying, Ollivel always on the offense and Torrin trying to keep from hurting the elf. Torrin gave up trying to match the elf, dismissing his scabbard to his ring and allowing mana to seep into his mind, speeding up his perception.
Ollivel began to seem as if he were only walking. Torrin shot toward the elf and used his enhanced perception to parry or block each attack with his single blade, pushing Ollivel back. Torrin would activate his enhanced perception for a split second, watching the twitch in the elf's muscle, the way he leaned in or back, understanding the incoming attack before deactivating it and blocking the strike. Using his mana like this took all of his focus.
Torrin was finally feeling drained after half an hour of battling, the only reason he'd lasted this long was his Saen enhanced body. The battle seemed to last hours to Torrin as he continually sped and slowed his perception to keep up with the elf's brutal assault. A headache throbbed in his skull, but still not wanting to harm the elf, he decided a bluff was in order as Torrin had realized he wouldn't be able to end this fight without someone getting seriously injured or killed. As the two backed away from each other once more, Torrin put away his blade.
"I concede, Ollivel! You've bested me, so let's end this farce already..." Torrin trailed off as the elf began walking towards him once more with teeth bared.
'Fucking shit, why won't he just let this go?!' Torrin thought sullenly.
With a sigh, Torrin raised his hand--palm facing the elf. He summoned mana through his pathways to coalesce in a ball in front of his palm. He added the intent to gather ambient mana and mana of all kinds swirled together, increasing the size of the mana bomb. Once the ball was the size of his head he condensed it.
"I don't want to harm you or anyone else here, Ollivel, but I will not allow you to kill me for no reason..." Torrin called out calmly to the approaching elf.
"STOP!" the word reverberated through the air, mana fluctuations bouncing this way and that along with the sound. Everyone froze and a smile tugged at the corner of Torrin's lips.
Torrin glanced over at the King and Queen he'd noticed watching from afar some time ago. They approached swiftly, standing beside Torrin with a thoughtful expression.
"Rin, dismiss the spell." The queen said, her voice echoing in multiple tones at the same time with that mystical, compulsory quality.
Torrin just looked at them as if he hadn't heard, palm still facing Ollivel.
"Is this what you had planned? Allow Queen Lisson to send someone here to learn and have them murdered?" Torrin asked in a low tone with a raised brow.
"I said dismiss the spell," Queen Dawnel repeated, her voice attempting to intensify the compulsion. Torrin had already used Saen to enhance his hearing--blocking out the strange sound magic--so he just stared at the pair.
Torrin chuckled lightly, "Queen Dawnel, I came here in good faith to learn your ways of magic... You not only attempt to control me with some strange manipulation of sound magic, but also allow one of your people to attack me without provocation as you watch from afar... What is the meaning of this?"
His eyes narrowed as he stared into the Queen's eyes, whispering in a low tone to be sure only the two monarchs could hear, "I've avoided hurting your people, but do not mistake my kindness for weakness." Torrin said in a grave tone as he allowed his mana bomb to dissipate.
"Everyone, the display is over! Please, return to your business." The King called out magnanimously, a large smile on his face as if it were all a joke, "Come with me, Rin, and I'll explain."
The queen harrumphed and walked away. Ollivel looked to Torrin after she left and plastered a grin on his face, nodding his head at the boy whose once elegant outfit was now ripped and burned.
'Is that respect in his eyes?' Torrin wondered, confusion marring his face as he saw the gesture.
Torrin's mood had quickly gone from excited to annoyed from being attacked, but he nodded and followed the King and Ollivel into the building the rude elf had originated from.