"About eighty years ago, a mysterious storm popped up on the continent of Atheris, slowly consuming the capital. Inside this storm, monsters that would have you pissing your pants and calling for momma and buildings and monuments foreign to our world began appearing. People were hunted like cattle, men and normal weapons bout as useful as sticks against these new friends from the storm. Not long after, the Stormborn came about, people all over the world started becoming gifted with abilities and powers beyond imagination. This made it possible to fight back, but it did little to stop the storm itself. There was no end to the monsters and beasts appearing from within the fucker. After about thirty years, the storm fully consumed the continent. We took on as many refugees as we could here in Valdoria, but millions died in the end."
Igor paused, letting the weight of his words settle over the courtyard.
The assembled applicants stood in uncomfortable silence, the morning sun beating down on their anxious faces.
"Not long after that, little kitty storms began appearing on our very own continent. These were tiny compared to the fucker on Atheris, and for who the hell knows why, would just disappear after a short time, of course, not before the monsters that emerged pissed about all over whatever unfortunate settlement the storm happened to appear above. To combat this threat, our Order of the Stormwatchers was built by Grandmaster Raeghon and his council. Funded by every major kingdom in Valdoria, it quickly grew, offering fame, coin, and honor to any Stormborn with bollocks large enough to join. Soon we had enough manpower to defend the continent from these smaller storms."
The Watch Commander's voice hardened, his scarred hands gripping the stone balcony railing.
"The job of a Stormwatcher is to defend Valdoria from the storm at all costs. We are not governed by any kingdom. Our allegiance belongs only to the world. We study the storm, and we fight the storm, because one day the Great Storm will cross the sea from Atheris and reach our continent. And when that happens…"
Igor's gaze sharpened as he looked upon the quiet crowd of applicants, his eyes moving from face to face with deliberate intensity.
"We need to be ready."
The words came out cold and final before he went quiet, letting every syllable sink fully into the minds of those assembled below.
Rowan wasn't nearly as shaken by his words as everyone else appeared to be. His master had already told him all this ten times over, drilling the history into him until he could recite it in his sleep.
He stifled a yawn, his eyes scanning the faces around him. Most had gone pale, their earlier bravado evaporating like morning mist.
When suddenly Igor spoke again, a wild grin splitting his weathered face.
"We pissing ourselves yet?"
He looked around the courtyard with obvious amusement. "No? Well, you should be. To those of you who joined because you were looking for some nice coin, or for people to fawn over you in the streets and drop their panties at the sight of ya, just know what you're signing up for…"
He let the pause drag out, savoring the growing tension.
"There's a damn good chance that every single one of you who passes today will die within your first couple years."
The words hit hard.
Small, restrained gasps rippled through the crowd. Rowan looked around to see sweat building on brows, fear coiling in eyes even as the applicants tried desperately to hide it. Some shifted their weight nervously. Others swallowed hard, their throats working visibly.
Well, everyone except Jared, that is.
By the gods, someone throw this kid into a storm already.
Rowan got chills as he looked at Jared, who smiled ear to ear with the look of an animal eager to be let loose, his eyes practically gleaming with barely contained excitement.
Rowan shook his head and looked back up to Igor, who suddenly straightened his posture, clasping his hands together with a sharp clap that echoed off the courtyard walls.
"Good... now that that's all settled, let's move on to today's exam."
Rowan couldn't help but chuckle as Igor continued, "This test will be conducted in four stages. The first of those stages will be a simple showcase of your ability to use Aeth. If you're not familiar with the term, then... well, leave now and save us all some time. But nonetheless, it is what we call the essence that Stormborn control and use for their abilities. It is also what we believe to be the central element that makes up the storms. It was first discovered when the first stormborn appeared, whether or not it's always been here just unable to be felt or seen until now or appeared with the storms we have no idea. We don't fully understand it, but the smart fuckers in this here castle believe that Aeth is the essence of the gods. Does that mean the storms are a result of their making? Of their wrath? Who knows, but let's all hope not…"
He paused.
"So without further delay, when you hear your name called, step forward."
Rowan waited patiently as people started to get called.
He observed them carefully as they stepped forward in front of the Watch Commander, analyzing their posture, their confidence, or lack thereof.
First was a girl, a peasant girl by the looks of her worn clothing and callused hands. She looked to be shaking with nerves, her fingers trembling at her sides. Likely the poor girl was forced into this by her family. It was a common thing when lower-class people became Stormborn — their parents thought they'd escape poverty if their child became a Stormwatcher, never mind the cost to the child themselves.
"Do you know of the three forms, girl?" Igor said, looking down upon her, his voice gritty as gravel.
"Y-y-yes, my lord." The girl's voice was shaky, her eyes bouncing around, having a hard time landing upon the stern gaze of Igor.
"I'm no lord, girl. I'm Watch Commander. You'd do well to remember that."
"Y-yes, of course, my lor— I mean, my Commander."
Igor sighed in frustration, rubbing his temples. "Just call me sir."
"Oh, yes, s-sir."
"Now let's start with Emission."
The girl nodded, her throat working as she swallowed hard. A Stormwatcher down in the courtyard pointed her toward a wall on her right where she would target her Aeth.
She closed her eyes and raised her hands, breathing deeply in total concentration. Her whole body tensed with the effort. Soon her brows began to furrow with strain, and Aeth began to circulate in a purple swirl in front of her outstretched palms. Circling and circling, it formed into a ball-esque shape as it condensed. It was small, about the size of her palm, when she finally opened her eyes.
With a push of force, the ball of Aeth began to fly through the air at... underwhelming speeds before crashing into the wall, leaving no damage in its wake besides some burn marks scorched into the stone.
She gulped, and sweat poured down in a trail on the side of her face. She looked between her hand and the wall and eventually up to Igor, who simply stood there with a lackluster look on his weathered face before flicking his wrist at her dismissively.
"Okay, okay. Reinforcement next." He yawned as he leaned on his hands, his elbows posted firmly on the balcony railing.
The girl nodded hesitantly before the other Stormwatchers in the courtyard hurried to shuffle over a small tower of cinderblocks, the blocks scraping against the stone ground.
The girl went through her routine of concentration once more, her chest rising and falling with deep, measured breaths. The Aeth coiled into her arm, wrapping around the muscles and bone like glowing purple tendrils. She released a heavy punch to the top of the cinderblock tower with a heinous grunt that echoed off the courtyard walls.
But just as anticlimactic as before, out of the tower of ten cinderblocks, only two were broken and the third slightly cracked, hairline fractures spreading across its surface.
Igor rolled his eyes, barely stifling another yawn. "Manifestation now, girl."
She nodded, and soon concentration consumed her once again. Aeth coiled in front of her just like when she'd used Emission before, but this time the Aeth was more condensed and cohesive, less chaotic, more controlled as it attempted to form what looked to be a small dagger. The purple energy twisted and shaped itself, taking on the rough outline of a blade. It floated in the air, bathed in ethereal purple light that cast strange shadows across her pale face.
The girl opened her eyes and reached out to grab it, her fingers trembling with hope and exhaustion.
The dagger shattered in her grasp, dissolving into wisps of purple smoke.
Her first test of the exam was an utter, absolute failure.