Yu was staring up at the entrance to the burning mountain and walked to an archway filled with flame. She tapped her badge against the plaque on the right side of the arch and the fire dimmed. She walked through and it flared back up behind her. Following the perpetually burning signs, she found her way to a training center and entered. She passed numerous sculptures made of fire, shaped in all kinds of ways. One in particular Yu found beautiful as it was a large flaming panther that reminded her of a friend back at home. Yu hoped Ebony was ok and had absorbed the core before she was challenged.

Yu was sweating slightly by the time she made it to the building and sweat even more when she entered, feeling the stifling heat of the flames along all the walls. The signs directed her to training room 1 which was her Aura training room. Yu knew she had a resistance to fire due to a Qi fruit she ate over a year ago. But the odd part was, it didn’t stop her from getting hot, it just stopped her from actually burning to death. Yu had been hesitant to do extensive testing, which she personally thought was entirely sensible.

Either way, Yu was something of a mess when she finally reached the door to her classroom. She slid the ever-burning door to the side and entered, to find it filled with at least forty other disciples and an elder. She slid the door behind her shut but it was stopped halfway by a large hand which ignored the burning of the wood. The hand belonged to a boy between one and two heads taller than her and he was giving her a cross look. She stepped to the side and found a place not too close or too far from the other disciples. She copied the elder’s stance, a relaxed attention with her feet shoulder length apart and her hands behind her back. All of the others were looking at her in some form or fashion causing her to blush and look down.

A few minutes later the room had closer to sixty disciples and the dragon’s roar sounded indicating it was time for class to start. Yu did what most of the class did and looked to the elder who was standing there with his hands behind his back moving his attention from disciple to disciple. Unlike Yu and nearly all of the other disciples, not a speck of sweat or particle of soot showed anywhere on him or his white uniform. He was immaculate, his slightly red skin had a barely visible glow against the burning walls. His black hair was up in a simple topknot matching a simple trimmed black beard. Yu found him to be of average build and height. In mortal years he would look around 30 or so. His eyes were brown and they scanned every disciple from top to bottom, staying longer on a few for who knows what reason. Yu felt they stayed on her for longer than the others, but it also could have just been her imagination and the pressure of that gaze.

Having finally run through all the disciples, he finally spoke in a gravelly voice that sounded like it spent a lot of time in smoky rooms, which made sense Yu supposed. “Good afternoon, disciples. I am Elder Taiyang and I will be instructing you in combat for Fire Aura.”

The students all responded with, “Good afternoon, Elder Taiyang.”

He nodded and walked slowly to the center of the room, turning in a slow circle. “What is fire? How is it created?”

Yu blinked at that question. Her father had answered that very question when Yu asked him after she struggled to control her Flaming Acceleration skill. She couldn’t understand how the fire made her move faster and just blurted it out. He had surprisingly seemed pleased with the question. “Daughter, the world around us is filled with vibrancy and is always in motion to demonstrate that. Fire is created when the world around us moves so fast it cannot contain its own fervor and bursts forth. And the force of that is what drives fire to burn. The more and faster one causes the world to move, the hotter the fire. If you feel for it when you set yourself ablaze, you will understand how to control it. If not, you will just be another whelp waving her arms about like that fool, Jingxi.” That was an elder that died fighting her. It was a long story.

One of the disciples raised his hand and said, “Burning ferocity.”

The elder snorted and said, “No.” Then he walked up to the disciple, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and threw him to the ground. “Twenty push-ups without Qi, now. If they are not of perfect form, you will start again.”

Then he turned back to the group. “When one wields fire, they risk their health and lives. Fire is unforgiving, cruel, and utterly indifferent to the lives it ruins. If you answer a question in this class you wield risk, just like when you wield fire. Now, what is fire and how is it created? Not what it does, or how it feels. What. Is. It?”

Nobody else raised their hand so Yu decided to try. What were a few push-ups to her anyway? Elder Taiyang nodded and she said, “It is what happens with the energy of the world moves so quickly it bursts into being. It becomes hotter or cooler depending on how much energy and how fast it moves?” You ended it as a question because the elder’s face scrunched in a scowl. He stared at her for a few breaths without saying a word.

Well, push-ups it was then. Yu sighed and started to lower herself for the exercise when he asked, “Who taught you that?”

Yu stopped and answered, “My father, elder. He is a very accomplished Fire Warrior.”

He looked curious then and seemed to think. “You are Fenghuang Yu. Is your father General Fenghuang Da?”

“Yes, elder.”

He nodded, tapped her badge with his finger, and turned to the rest of the class. “That is correct. In this class risks taken are either punished or rewarded, depending on their success. Just like with fire, success leads to power, failure leads to being burned. As you answer correctly you receive a commensurate reward.” He gestured to the student returning to his feet from the push-ups and said, “The opposite is also true. We do this in all the fire classes in this sect so you live every day with the understanding that wielding fire is a risk. As disciple Fenghuang Yu stated, when you call upon the power of the Heavens and the Earth around you and cause it to burst forth with the energy of life and motion, it burns indiscriminately. Now, has anyone in this class not yet learned a Fire Aura skill?”

Nobody responded meaning everyone had. “Excellent. You at least are not complete fools. We provide one free skill for a reason during your Welcoming after all. Everyone that has only learned Flame Thorns please step to that side of the room.” About two dozen headed there. “Everyone that has only one skill other than flame thorns raise your hand.”

And Elder Taiyang started dividing the room up into groups. Yu was in a group of six who knew Fire Summoning. It was easily her favorite Fire skill. It might have been her overall favorite skill if it wasn’t such a drain on her Qi pool. Elder Taiyang went around to each group giving instructions. He asked them all to practice and study how their energy flowed and to gain an understanding of the details. To the entire class, he called, “This is for all skills. Study the energy flows. We are going to be spending a good deal of time focused on the efficiency of your specific Fire Aura Qi. If you have more than one affinity, you will find this in each of your classes. You will learn that each Qi flows differently based on its nature. Fire is different in that the energy will act as fire acts, which I described earlier. Think about that as you proceed.”

To her group, he specifically said, “Fire Summoning is the most Qi-intensive grade 1 Aura skill this sect offers. I’m sure you have all noticed how quickly it drains you.” Yu nodded with the other five. “There are ways to help offset that but the best place to start is to summon a small object and study the Qi flows. Watch how it moves the way fire does and find ways to improve the Qi flows.”

He called to the class, “Focus on your Qi flows for the next hour. After that we will change to something more fun.” Yu smiled with the others.

She watched all of the other disciples in her small group summon some sort of object. Yu noticed that all but one struggled to create an object and their precision in the objects was very low. A smaller boy only a little taller but skinnier than Yu, created a small dagger out of fire and was twirling it between his fingers. He summoned it in just a breath and it was of excellent precision, looking like a palm dagger designed for quick jabs and to cause heavy bleeding. Yu held up a palm and created a small silver flaming statue of a Bai standing on all fours on it. Yu heard quite a few gasps and she looked up trying to figure out what happened. Everyone was staring at her and her hand. Yu blushed again but couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. She had used fire in the arena too.

Yu looked around and asked quietly, “What?”

Elder Taiyang bellowed, “What the nine hells are you all staring at her for? Everyone stop what you are doing and give me twenty Qi-free push-ups. Now!” That last word vibrated through the room causing the flames to flicker.

Fire skills winked out all over the room as the disciples scrambled to get into position. “Did I tell you to stop using your skills? No, I did not! Now it’s thirty push-ups. Get into position and await instructions.” Yu recreated Bai next to her hand as she got into the push-up position. “Thirty quality pushups, Go!”

As they were doing that, he said, “If you turn your attention from fire it will burn you. Do not let yourself get distracted until you are capable of running skills while focused on other things safely. You will avoid burning to death while in this class.”

***

After the impromptu physical exercise, the class was fully focused on the assignment. Yu had no idea what he meant when he said that she needed to study how her Qi flowed. She tried to analyze it as she changed the shape and size of her statue and watched inside herself as the energy flowed in her meridians. Nothing seemed to stand out to her about the Fire Qi, but she did gain an understanding of how the flow itself could be shifted slightly. It made barely any difference but maybe with practice she’d improve.

Feeling annoyed at the lack of progress, she stood with the rest of the disciples and watched her instructor who was once again at the center of the room. “I’m sure many of you felt something new when studying your Qi, and many did not. It can take time and some will not manage it at all. If you truly want to excel though, you must do it through actual use of the skills. Follow me”

He guided them out of the room through the burning building and outside into a scorched and blackened yard. In it were twenty steel practice dummies, ten close and ten far. Yu was smiling, hoping for the same thing the rest of the students were. “None of you are empty-headed or you wouldn’t be here so I don’t need to tell you what this place is. The distant dummies are for the Mana users, the near are for you Aura users.” A bunch of disciples turned their heads to Yu but Elder Taiyang kept going. “I will be calling you up so you can practice with each target. You are to use your skill until you are nearly empty of Qi but not completely so. Use your preferred skill. These dummies are enchanted so don’t worry about harming them. If any of you can manage to make it glow from the heat, I will reward you. That is one of the criteria for advancing to the next class by the way, so I do not expect any to accomplish it. Now sit over there and stay back until called. For this first lesson, we will be doing one at a time so you gain some understanding of the difference in styles, methods, and skills. In the future all ten will be used at a time. As long as you are in a Fire class you will be able to come here and use this practice area any time a class is not.”

Yu had used a lot of Qi in the summoning practice so she walked slowly to the back and sat, intending to use the time to refill what little Qi she could. First called up was a boy, very muscular and tall like the majority of Aura users and most in this class. He went up and his hands flared with normal red fire as he punched and kicked the armless and legless steel target dummy with a lot of force but little finesse.

Throughout the practice Yu sat in the back, thus she couldn’t see everyone. But what she witnessed was mostly Flame Thorns and a lot of punching and kicking with strong blows and acceptable, if not particularly good form. Yu focused inward and attempted to gather Qi.

Yu opened her eyes after a while to muttering and gasps and saw everyone’s eyes turned to the boy in her summoning group using dual summoned daggers with a great deal of precision. Yu watched and noticed he attacked with a little too much flourish, clearly showing off for the group but the dummy did give off a wisp of steam. But his Qi failed before he managed to make it glow. Or perhaps his fire was just not hot enough.

Either way, Elder Taiyang noted his accomplishment. “Well done, Bo Ming. You will receive dragon points for causing the target to react in your first class.” This caused more whispers. Yu nodded and returned to her meditation until she was woken by very loud banging. One boy, almost as large as Neng Po, was smashing mightily into the target dummy with red flaming hands, causing the vibrating noise to be heard throughout the practice yard. While the dummy was wobbling regularly, it did not glow, nor steam. He was just beating it with pure force. Yu exhaled and shook her head. Everyone had their own methods she supposed.

Yu was just wondering why her name hadn’t been called yet when she heard it. “Last for today is Disciple Fenghuang Yu.” Yu sighed. Did he save her for last for a reason or was random? It probably wasn’t random.

Yu walked up to the target, took a speed-focused attack stance which left her limbs very compact, then set her hands, forearms, and elbows alight in silver fire. Taking a breath, she started her attack.

***

Elder Taiyang had wondered what the sect leader’s disciple would be like. Would she be one of the proud peacocks that strutted around the school and demanded the world pay attention to them because they were so great? He didn’t attend the arena battle because he had actual work to do, but he heard about how this tiny little spit of a girl kicked the ass of everyone put in front of her, including that water-wielding Bao brat. And then she mouthed off to one of the empire’s princes right before she choked him into unconsciousness. He also heard rumors of her abilities but, again, he would believe what he saw. He had been around too long and heard too many stories that turned out to be drama to believe what he heard around the elder admin building and housing.

When she answered his question about the nature of fire perfectly, he wondered if maybe she was a bookish sort. It was beyond what a nine-year-old, he doubted that too by the way, should be able to know. Then he realized who her father was and his whole view of her changed. General Fenghuang Da was an extremely gifted Fire Warrior that kicked Taiyang’s ass when they came up together through the army. Military training camp was tough but Taiyang managed to survive it and perform well enough to earn this post. Da though, was a nightmare on the field of battle. His dual affinities of Fire for offense and Metal for defense were an absolute terror to behold and be a victim of.

Taiyang could not imagine that man allowing this puny child to be a show-off unless he had a reason, or she had the right. He better understood her with all that blushing and timidity when all eyes were focused on her in the room. She must have been so public at the arena for a reason, just like Da would have been.

Her fire was quite interesting as well. He would do some research, but he did not recall ever hearing of a record of silver fire. And she wielded it with extraordinary control, creating that highly detailed statue of a tiger cub. Even its stripes and fur seemed to show. Incredible, but understandable knowing her father. And here she was, her hands and arms flying so fast only the silver flashes of fire would be seen by most of the disciples in this classroom. He saw their faces, eyes wide and mouths open. Most of them doubted, like him. Now he knew better, and so did they.

***

Sweat was streaming off Yu’s body as she released her forms into the dummy. An elbow strike caused clanging sounds not as loud as that large boy from before, but much more controlled. Her arms flew, fists, palms, forearms, and elbows striking the dummy’s soft points. It jerked sideways as her fingers swept in a hooking chop that struck its ribs just below its non-existent armpit. That was followed by a palm strike to its liver right below the sternum which would have ruptured it, causing internal bleeding. Not being against a real human, Yu could finally go all out. And she did, glowing in the feeling of being able to fully release her pent-up angst and emotions. While she had friends and shared what she could with them, this was the first time since arriving at the sect that she could totally let go.

Her elbow would have broken at least two ribs and sent one into the lungs underneath. Her forearm would have cracked the sternum. On and on she went until her Qi was too empty to support the Flame Thorns and just before her silver flames would sputter out she screamed as she leaped up and a flame-covered knee smashed the side of the dummy, causing a clang that reverberated throughout the courtyard and the entire factotum to wobble.

It wasn’t enough, but it still felt like an amazing release to Yu.

Panting and drenched, she turned to Elder Taiyang, bowed, and returned to her seat, collapsing into a sitting position and then falling back to look up at the smoke-filled sky.

She heard the elder speak then. “I hope everyone learned something from watching your fellow disciples’ skills and how they used them. While everyone takes different approaches to be a Fire Warrior, there are constants. You must be strong and have control of both yourselves and your flames. If you are missing out on either, then you will struggle to excel in this class, the sect, and in life once you leave. That is all for today. You may go. Disciple Fenghuang, please stay for a moment.”

Yu struggled to her feet and approached the elder. Thanks to the heat of the area, she was already dry, but that meant she felt sticky and salty and not clean. Yu bowed and said, “I apologize for my lack of control, Elder. I will accept whatever punishment you think is deserved.”

He raised his eyebrows and said, “You did as instructed, nothing more. Your control seemed quite adequate based on that poor target’s remains before it repaired itself. Which is the first thing I asked you to stay behind for. While you did not cause the dummy to glow, you did cause it to steam and receive substantial damage.” He tapped her badge and then said, “The other thing is your schedule. I understand you are only going to attend this class one day per week?”

Yu sighed and nodded. “Yes, elder. I’m sorry to say my master has filled my schedule to the point that I am only able to attend one class per week with all my instructors.”

He nodded. “Your master surely has a reason but it will put a great deal of pressure on you to keep up.” Yu slumped and said, “I know, elder. I am going to see how the week goes and discuss with him possible changes at the week’s end if required.”

Elder Taiyang snorted at that. “I wish you good luck getting your master to change his mind on something.”

Yu laughed once and said, “I agree, elder. Do you have any recommendations on how I can keep up in your class?”

“Actually yes. Is it true you have multiple affinities?” Yu nodded. “Then focus on understanding the differences between them. Look at the varied Qi flows in your body and learn them. Your father was especially good at understanding the nature of fire when I knew him and it was one of the reasons he was such a terror on the battlefield.”

Yu’s eyes opened wide. “You knew my father?”

The elder before her smiled and said, “Yes.” And that was all he was willing to share about the matter before turning around and walking away.

***

Fire Mana class did not go as well since Yu did not have a Mana skill of the Fire Affinity.

“Well, I don’t know what you can possibly accomplish in this class without one. Just sit and watch,” said the elder tersely.

She was very strict which was fine, but also completely intolerant of Yu’s issues. How was she supposed to have a skill in every class right at the start? She couldn’t possibly have enough points for that. Well, technically she didn’t know how much skills cost, but she was confident they were a lot based on what she had heard. What was she supposed to do?

Thankfully, that class was nearly the same as the Aura class and they focused on skills and understanding the Qi. Yu could have done that with an Aura skill. Well, she could have if she hadn’t used nearly all her Qi in the prior class. That was definitely something to remember. She needed to save Qi for all her classes. How that was going to work she had no idea.

Sitting there tired and useless, watching everyone else work, Yu frustratingly reflected which skills she needed to focus on getting. Looking at her schedule she made a list based on the order of her classes.

First was Mana in Fire, then Aura in Water. She had both for Earth and was ok with healing as well. Darkness in Aura was next, which she was planning on taking on anyway with Neng Po. She had both in Lightning also. That left Wood, of which she needed combat skills for both Aura and Mana. Ugh. How in the nine hells was she supposed to afford all those skills so quickly? Taking Frozen Qi and Thundering Breath seemed like terrible choices in retrospect. Why didn’t she think that through? At least she would be done with classes for the day so she could contemplate what in the hells her options were.