CelestialShadow
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Chapter 20 - Time to leave
🕑 Added 2023-11-22 17:21:24 +0000 UTCJust like Fellion said, Adion had a much harder time this time around. This wasn’t surprising, considering that previously, Adion only had to focus on one part of his aura. But day by day, Adion improved. And he trained hard. He had Fellion making sure he never slacked off after all.
Fortunately, he managed to hold all of his aura at least for a while when just under four months had passed, but it would quickly slip out of his grip. His aura changed all the time. Most parts stayed the same, but a lot of things that Adion didn’t even know what purpose they served constantly changed and were incredibly difficult to hide. But it was enough for him to progress without Fellion's help in the future.
Adion didn’t know how long it would take him to get to this level without Fellion's help, not just the knowledge and instructions but Fellion's ability to probe parts of his aura and tell Adion what they were. That was an ability he didn’t think many among the sapi had. He believed that regardless of the soul pill's value, Adion had gotten a bargain.
Adion felt a little different after all this aura training. He felt much more aware of himself somehow. It was as if he could remain calm easier as he immediately felt his mood's effects on his aura. His ability to hide his strength and space core improved a lot during the months as well. He had been allowed to continue his physical exercise every morning as Fellion saw the merit in staying in good shape. He always tried to be aware of his aura during this time, paying attention to how it changed and what parts reacted to what he did. He didn’t have any great epiphany, but he got a lot better at sensing his aura and quickly grabbing hold of it.
“You are now able to continue practicing without my help,” Fellion told Adion as their practice had just ended for the day, “It took us four months, but even if you might feel that to be a long time, it is actually extraordinarily short. You have one more week remaining before our deal ends. It's not too bad for you as I believe that you have more to gain in your aura training among humans. And too much training by yourself without applying it in the real world might stagnate your progress. However, I would advise you to spend the remaining time here making the most of the situation. Converse with different beasts and get used to how the aura of beasts works, from the Stone to the Diamond stage. It is not something you will have convenient access to when you get home. I will also be here to answer your questions if you have any. So make the most of it and train hard for one more week before I bring you away.”
“Thank you for your advice. I miss interacting with humans and am excited to go home. But I will heed your advice and make the most of the remaining time.”
So now Adion was free of lessons for the first time in a long time. He had been practicing by himself before but always with a specific goal to reach before showing Fellion his results and then moving on to the next lesson. Now, it was up to him to decide which direction he wanted to go.
Adion decided to spend a lot of time with White whenever he was at the cave; it could be seen as practicing his aura sense in a way, and Adion would have to say goodbye to him soon. He had gotten close to the Deep Snow Wolf during the past year, or at least Adion thought he had. He had always been training before coming to this forest, and with him being a sparkless, he spent most of his time in the family manor and didn’t really have any opportunity to make friends.
So it wouldn’t be wrong to say that White was the first friend Adion ever had, and Adion didn’t plan on this being goodbye forever. He would visit in the future.
He heeded Fellion's advice and spent a lot of time talking to the beasts in the area. All the beasts around knew that their leader was training a young human, so they were curious about Adion as well. He tried to talk about himself as well as he could. He would also ask questions in return, as Fellion never talked about much besides aura.
Most beasts were part of a tribe similar to the family clans that humans and elves had, and they would train and go out hunting for food and then come back to rest and meditate. Many beasts hadn’t really thought about the human part of the world and didn’t seem to have any hate against Adion.
When Adion tried to tell them about the Outskirts, the beasts seemed to be interested in going there to fight sapi someday, which made sense, as Adion was like that, too. He was planning on heading to the Outskirts and training there for a while before making his way to Cyalis. He couldn’t exactly start having life-and-death battles against other sapi, and he needed those fights to hone his Will. He would also need the money from the meat and beast cores as he didn’t have a penny to his name.
It would feel a little weird after being friendly with these beasts for so long, but Adion had seen friendly beasts before coming here, and that didn’t stop him from fighting the Gray Wolves when he got here. He needed the meat, he needed the fur, and he needed the fighting experience.
It was how the world worked, and Adion was putting his life on the line, so he wasn’t feeling too guilty about it. The world was a dangerous place.
Adion took it easy on his physical exercise the last few days. He had spent a lot of time on his sword technique and physical exercise in the previous four months. He was in a growth spurt and needed to constantly put on muscle to keep up with his taller frame and get used to fighting with a bigger body. He hadn’t increased his mana practice more than the two hours a day he had allocated. He knew he could do that once he left and needed to focus on his aura training above all else while he was there.
When Fellion finally arrived one week later, Adion felt stronger than ever, which he was. He was a middle Bronze mage, after all. And even though the aura training for the past year hadn’t increased his strength, he thought the training had somewhat helped his mana sense. And even if it was just two hours a day along with some meditating, over the course of a whole year, it adds up, and his teleportation and, in particular, his fire magic had slowly improved over time.
But even if aura training didn’t increase his strength, it was incredibly valuable, and he had greatly improved. He could now keep his strength down to low Iron stage, and he was sure that even someone with a good aura sense wouldn’t be able to see through him as a peak Iron stage. He had tested his ability against the beasts around and noticed that he was still no match for Silver beasts, but beasts in the Bronze stage were sometimes fooled by him. They could fool him in return, though. Generally, two people with equal aura control and aura sense could hide their aura from each other but not unravel the other one. It was harder to notice a hidden aura than to conceal your own.
He was also stronger than ever physically. Eating high-quality meat along with his training gave him a chiseled and lean physique, with solid muscles aided by his middle Bronze core. He was about five foot nine and still growing. He would turn 15 in a few months, after all.
“It has been interesting having a human among us for the past year, and I am proud of your effort and improvements, young Adion. Should you return one day, I wouldn’t mind listening to your stories and sharing mine in return.” Fellion told him as they stood outside the cave.
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Adion answered. He had already said goodbye and was ready to begin his journey back home.
“Well, then,” Fellion said and turned around. “Hop on.”
“Wait, what? We are flying?” Adion asked incredulously.
“I might not value each year as highly as someone as young as you, but I still don’t have enough time to walk you back when flying only takes a few days. Hurry up.”
Adion agreed with the logic of it. He just never thought that he would be flying on Fellion and thought it might be a little awkward.
Won’t I be too heavy? Sure, he is bigger than me, but not that much bigger.
Adion didn’t voice his complaints, though, and hopped up on the back of Fellion. Just as he sat down, Fellion took off into the sky. Amazingly, he didn’t feel the wind blowing him off as he had imagined he would at this speed. But then he remembered that Fellion had a wind core, as he had let Adion sense it for his training.
He probably controls the wind to decrease wind resistance. It’s really a spectacular view. The forest has no end.
They flew so fast that Adion could see the horizon constantly refilling with new trees in the direction they were going. After a few hours, they changed course slightly, and Adion could see a vast mountain range in the distance that they had avoided.
I wonder if I will ever see all this forest has to uncover. The old temple I found shouldn’t be the only remains from the Age of Wonder. I wonder what else is out there.
The sun went down, and night arrived, but Fellion didn’t stop. He kept the same pace he had during the day and didn’t seem tired at all. Adion wanted to be able to fly one day. Sure, long-distance teleportation would also be nice, but flying just had a certain feel to it.
Adion had fortunately packed his backpack with some food, but as he was just sitting still, he wasn’t in any hurry to eat just yet. He was a Bronze mage, and the need for substance wasn’t at the same level as when he was a Stone mage.
The flight took four days before Adion could finally see fields of grass clear of trees and fields with humans cultivating different kinds of food. It was a great feeling to finally see this view that reminded him of home.
Fellion landed a few miles from the edge of the forest and let Adion step off.
“This is goodbye for now, Adion. Remember not to trust too easily. I know that you were but a child when you came here, but you will return as a man. People can be fickle, and if someone knows of your space element, even someone you trust, they might be quick to sell out your secret for enough gold. But if you meet someone you do sincerely believe won’t betray you, don’t be afraid to open up about your secrets. Otherwise, it can eat away at a relationship.”
“I will keep that in mind, Fellion.” Adion answered, “Thank you for everything. I will come visit one day and bring you some gifts.”
“Mmm, I look forward to it. Farewell.” And with those words, Fellion took flight again and left Adion to muse about everything he had been through. Until a sudden thought disturbed his mind.
Damn! I forgot to ask where the hell we are.
