AKITO
Aki was nervous as they walked towards the arena. They were led to a small door which opened to a square area under an open ceiling. There were spectators all-round the arena. He observed them but he did not recognise any one of them.
When the line moved further in, he could see there were 10 small tables for each one of them. They were instructed to stand from right to left which made him the first from the left. As they stood out there waiting for the instruction, he saw a petal of the Magnolia flower on the table among other things. There were also few small containers which consisted of water, a little bit of sand, fire in a small earthen lamp and also bit of scrapped metal.
"Each one of you has been provided with a petal of Magnolia flower. You can use any of your preferred elements on this petal. The test is relatively simple you have to maintain the chosen element on the petal until I have said so. Keep in mind that the damage of the petals would result in a direct elimination. Any differences in the physical properties of the petal will also result in direct elimination. I will be showing you a demo."
The examiner instructed them as he took the small petal and demonstrated his own elemental control. Using Magnolia flowers were one of the most effective methods to control one's elemental powers.
There are five elements that are cultivated and can be mastered, they are- fire, wood, water, ice (normally one has to master water to control ice), metal and air.
Water being the easiest one to control whereas Air was the hardest one. The examiner showed his control of water by forming a spherical bubble encasing the petal. He maintained it for few minutes and when he sent the water back into the container, the petal remained the same without any changes and dry.
"As you have observed, I controlled the element but the petal was not damaged and there was no change in its natural Qi flow. This is what we expect from you. You may begin now."
For Akito the only element that he ever felt natural with was fire. He had tried to master other elements like wood and metal even Air but they didn't have the same feeling as he had with the fire. With fire it was like a feeling of home. Whatever he wished for, the fire will always bend to his will.
His sensei was an expert in air control. He had taught him whatever he knew about fire control but the majority of it was his own instinct.
Now there were five levels or stages of fire elemental control a cultivator can achieve. With the increase of each level the strength and the power of the fire also increases as well as the colour of the fire also changes.
The 5 stages are - orange, red, blue, yellow and violet.
Aki can easily control the red fire (second stage) but if he wants to catch the eye of Kijuro Tokugawa and impress him enough to take Aki as his student, he will have to achieve the impossible. The next stage of blue fire was harder to control and maintain with his current level of cultivation. If not full control at least he will try to convert half of his flame to blue.
With that conviction in mind Aki picked the petal with his Qi and started to call for the fire in the lamp. The reaction was instantaneous. Fire always comes to him like an iron to a magnet; the petal was immediately engulfed in orange flames. He smoothly transitioned the orange to bright red flames.
Now came the difficult part, he started pouring more Qi into the flame and began the process of next transition keeping in mind to maintain the balance of the Qi flow.
While Aki was busy concentrating, the examiner had already begun the inspection from the other end of the line. The first contestant was eliminated directly as he burnt the petal, and rest few also were eliminated until he reached Asami. She had a chunk of ice floating in between her hands.
"Ice control, impressive but the challenge is to melt it back and retrieve the petal." The instructor informed her as the transition from ice to water is very difficult to achieve and requires immense concentration and perfect control of the Qi.
Asami transformed the ice back to water smoothly and then sent it back to the cup. And the petal left behind was dry with no damages not even a single crease.
"Cultivator Asami Shimura- Pass." Asami had a little smirk on her face as she started to walk out but not before sending a small wink towards Izumi oni-chan who was beaming at her with pride.
But then she remembered the bunny-chan, so she turned her head to look how he was doing only to be rooted in spot with shock. The young boy has somehow manifested the blue flames which were burning brightly in his hands. Asami cannot believe what she was seeing, a wandering cultivator can achieve this level of mastery was unheard of.
Akito had no idea the ripples he was causing. He was straining too hard to maintain the flames. Sweat was rolling down his face and he was soaked completely with exertion but he held on. His Qi was pulsating happily with the presence of the stronger flames.
He noticed the examiner coming in front of him but he didn't let his concentration break. He can't botch it up, now that he had reached here.
"Contestant your petal." The instructor asked quite shocked as he had very rarely witnessed blue flames in these competitions. Aki slowly let the flames go back to their original state. His Qi was reluctant to pull back as if it was sad to let the flames go.
Once the fire was back in the lamp, he handed over the petal which was not even warm to touch. Aki held back the smile as the instructor examined it.
"Cultivator Akito-Pass."
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