The following day, Concordia woke up and approached the third field, the field of Wind. Keiran awaited her patiently.
"You're finally here" he said.
"Have you been waiting for too long?" Concordia asked.
"Not really" Keiran said.
"I guess it's time huh?" Concordia asked.
"Yep" Keiran said and stretched his hands forward.
"For this phase of your training these are the conditions. You must utilize both the Kraken Andromeda's Surf Mode and Andromeda Mode. You will be attempting to down…" Keiran was saying as an inflated ball suddenly shot out of the ground.
Numerous hard rocks shot up as well and surrounded the ball. The ball began to generate strong winds around itself that flowed around the rocks and itself in the form of a field of Wind.
"…the ball at the centre of the defensive rock formation however…the entire formation will be moving as well" Keiran said with a smirk.
Suddenly, the ball leapt into the air and began to zoom about rapidly. The rocks surrounding it began to rotate omnidirectionally in what appeared to be a random fashion however they never collided with the ball or with one another.
"KRAKEN ANDROMEDA! ANDROMEDA MODE!" Concordia called as her bow and quiver materialized.
"KRAKEN ANDROMEDA! SURF MODE!" Concordia called as her arrows fused beneath her feet to generate a surf board.
Concordia stood on her arrows and lifted herself into the air with mental focus. The cumulative mass of her arrows acted as support to prevent the arrows from snapping. Concordia pursued the ball and rocks that defended it. They darted about haphazardly however the rocks defending the ball never collided with one another. Concordia took aim.
"I see…this is similar to horseback archery however I'm not pursuing a stationary target but rather a mobile target and I have to match the speed of the target to maintain an even distance between myself and the target. I also have to anticipate its movements while battling my own inertia every time I have to stop or alter direction" Concordia thought and focused her aim.
Keiran smiled.
"Exactly, the field of Wind is by far the toughest. In the field of Earth, you had to aim while taking into consideration the Magnetic Field and its strength as well as the material composition of your arrows. You had to deal with an invisible force but at the very least your target was stationary. In the field of Water, you had to combat depth, weight, material composition of your arrows, the River's flow as well as Water Resistance. Your target was suspended so that you could only hit it after satisfying all the above conditions. It was more difficult than the field of Earth however, your target was still stationary. You need everything you've learnt so far to overcome this challenge" Keiran thought seriously.
Concordia fired her first shot however the rocks that rotated all about the ball blocked the shot. She pursued the ball and aimed a second time.
"Those rocks rotate all about the ball however they never collide. That should imply some level of uniformity to the movements of the rocks. They are not moving in a completely random fashion. If their movement connotes some level of uniformity, then there must be certain spaces in the formation where their positions never overlap especially with regards to the rocks within the same orbit. Those spaces where their positions never overlap must be openings within the formation. Without those openings, the rocks would collide. I'll have to observe the formation closely" Concordia said and observed the formation closely.
As an Archer, she naturally had very good eyes. It didn't take her long to figure out the pattern to the rotation. The formation's movements were haphazard however by observing its movements, Concordia gradually began to discover patterns. These patterns allowed her to sync her motion to that of the formation's and by matching its movements almost exactly, she could maintain her distance to the formation and could combat inertia to an extent. Her aim gradually improved as well. When she fired her next shot, it went right through the space between the defensive rocks at one of the points where the positions of the rocks never overlapped however sharp currents of Wind within the formation carried her arrow, deflected it and repelled it out of the formation.
Concordia narrowed her eyes.
"I'd forgotten about the field of Wind at the centre of the formation. It appears the Wind flows through the Defensive rocks however I'm willing to bet that they don't all flow in the same direction" Concordia said and shifted her position.
She fired again but this time the arrow was expelled from elsewhere.
"It's as I thought. On top of finding a path through the defensive field of rocks, there's a second barrier which is a field of Wind. The ball lies at the centre of this field. I doubt this test was designed to be impossible so there must be a pathway where the current of Wind connects with the Ball" Concordia thought. "Keiran, can I use my Kraken Andromeda's alternate forms?" Concordia asked.
"Sure, for as long as you don't use the Formation Dream Realm Border Wall Defense in this particular field. The point of this exercise is to hone your precision and not your brute force" Keiran said.
"This trial is quite similar to that of the Earth and Water trials. It involves some level of reading the forces acting on a particular field. In the Earth Field, I had to read Magnetic Force. In the field of Water, I had to read the Stream's Waves. Archery also revolves around the ability to read Wind Speed and Direction. If I alter the characteristics of some of my arrows and give them the properties of Wind Vanes, I should be able to test the direction of the Wind. Kraken Andromeda's predominant form is that of an arrow though I can alter it to Twin Tomahawks and generate a bow and quiver. I should have realized from the moment I was able to alter the properties of my arrows that it didn't necessarily have to assume the form of an arrow. I suppose my major weakness was in the application of my Elemental Affinities. I've always been able to alter form and matter however I sorta did this subconsciously. I've been applying my affinities all along without full knowledge of actual application. The Ivory Arrows and Steel Tomahawks are proof of that but now that I understand application a bit better, I can widen my ability to alter my sigil's forms and functions" Concordia thought with a smirk as she generated a number of ivory arrows lined both along and across with a framework of feathers bound such that they caught air instead of allowing it to pass through the framework. Utilizing her focus, she channeled the structures towards the formation.
"KRAKEN ANDROMEDA VER. WIND VANE!" Concordia called as the Vanes entered the formation through the spaces where the rock formations never overlapped.
She began to feel the tug of Wind on the Vanes since she was bonded to her sigil mentally. She let the Vanes flow through the currents in the direction the currents tugged them in however when that current led the Vanes towards a space in the formation that would eventually lead to the expulsion of the Vanes from the formation, she'd suddenly pull the Vane from that current and drop it into the flow of another current, then retrace its flow. If that current led to expulsion of the Vane, she'd alter the current on which the Vanes flowed yet again until eventually the Vanes made contact with the Ball at the centre of the Formation. At that moment, the Ball and the formation dropped to the ground and disappeared.
"I see, you can't force your way through the currents to reach the Ball. To reach the Ball, you must read the Wind's flow by testing its direction with Wind Vanes. If the Wind leads towards an undesirable path, one can withdraw the Vane from that flow and place it on another flow till the Vane eventually reaches the centre of the Formation" Concordia realized.
"Congratulations Concordia. You've finally mastered the three predominant fields of the Archer. Exactly right, to hit your target flawlessly, you must factor into your shots all the forces acting on your arrow between the time of its release and the moment it makes contact with your target" Keiran explained.
"Those were some really tough fields Keiran" Concordia sighed with a laugh.
"Yep, ironically though, those are your affinities. You should practice a bit more. Once you master these fields, your aim will be flawless" Keiran said.