CelestialShadow
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Chapter 16 - Aura
🕑 Added 2023-11-22 16:28:08 +0000 UTCFellion turned around and continued walking after taking the pill.
“Shouldn’t we be making an Oath or something?” Adion asked.
“What’s the point? I already have the pill, and you can’t take it back. But don’t worry, my word has yet to be broken.” Fellion responded.
The big owl then continued, “Besides, it is a long way to the closest Moonlight Oak. No matter what you humans believe, an Oath is just empty words if not spoken in front of a Moonlight Oak.”
“Really?” Adion asked, “But the Oath is spoken to the Will of the world. I know Oaths can be broken, but it will have consequences, right?”
“Only if the one breaking the Oath believes it to have consequences. But there is no outside interference. Remember that if you find yourself in an Oath ceremony in the future.” Fellion advised. He then switched the subject without saying more, “I will show you to a cave where you can stay during your time here. There should be plenty of food around for you to eat for a while, and I will leave it to White to provide you with meat during your stay so you can focus on your training.”
“Oh? Great, thanks. And thank you too, White.” Adion said to the big wolf still walking alongside him.
“Woof!” White just gave his usual happy bark in response.
“I will warn you that I will teach you as I see fit. If it takes a whole year for you to simply feel your aura, then that is as far as you will go,” Fellion said.
“Don’t worry, I will work hard,” Adion said.
“See that you do. Considering you have reached this far while so young, you should have great mana control and a strong Will for your age. But that will only carry you to Diamond. No matter how good you control mana or how strong your Will is, you won’t reach the stage above Diamond without aura control.”
“You have to have aura control to reach above Diamond? I’ve never heard of that. What exactly is above Diamond, by the way? I only heard of the term Soul stages but nothing more.” Adion asked.
“I guess I could tell you a little about it, considering I will be your teacher for a year.” Fellion said and then continued with an impromptu lecture for Adion's benefit, “The Soul stages are three stages of advancement in any beast’s or sapi’s journey to power. Above Diamond is the Soft Soul stage, then Hard Soul followed by Pure Soul. As far as I know, no one has reached beyond Pure Soul since the Age of Wonder, and much is left to know about those stages. I have a certain interest in gaining knowledge, you see, and have traveled and learned much, but I know far from everything.
“To advance from the Stone stage all the way to Diamond, all you need is to gather sufficient mana and a Will strong enough to advance. Those two things are also important later, but you can’t solely rely on them anymore. To advance to the Soft Soul stage, you need to be aware of your soul. You need to integrate your core into your soul so that it is not solely a physical thing but resides in your soul as well. And aura is very much a thing from the soul. We will continue that talk tomorrow, though. Just know that it is essential for advancement in the future.
“For beasts, it is not much of a problem. If we have the bloodline, we can advance from Diamond to Soft Soul without much more effort than in the earlier stages. But the sapi are not born with innate use of aura to the same degree as beasts are, often leaving it to the wayside as they focus on their mana control. And when they reach the peak of Diamond, they realize that they can’t advance anymore, not through lack of Will but because they lack the skill set in controlling aura. And they are by then often too old to do anything about it and have no choice but to die full of regret.
“I believe this is slowly changing, though. And do not think that all sapi are useless in aura when you get back. There are those who know of its importance and have given it much attention. You will by no means be the greatest aura user of the sapi when we finish.”
Adion tried to melt all the information he was given and didn’t know where to start with his questions.
“You said no one has reached above Pure Soul. What do you know about the stages above that? Is that when you become a god?” He decided to ask as he was very curious about the peak of power he was aiming to reach one day.
“As far as I know, no one has managed to reach above Pure Soul, but who could know for sure? Little is known about the stages above, but through the context in old writings, we know that it is not the stage of gods, at least. That is something so far above us we can’t begin to imagine it. But don’t think too far ahead. You are only a Bronze mage. You should focus on the here and now and take one step at a time.” Fellion answered.
“Alright.” Adion thought about asking why no beasts approached the mountain he arrived in but decided not to. He didn’t want to bring Fellion's attention to that place if he didn’t need to. He liked Fellion well enough, but his reaction to the soul pill had opened his eyes to how valuable the things he had actually were.
Adion wouldn’t mind giving an Elixir of Life as well for Fellion's help; he would surely appreciate the extra lifespan, and Adion had plenty of those. But he had no intention of doing that. It was possible that if Fellion saw the pills Adion had, he would not only take them, he would kill Adion, kill every single beast in the area who had even seen him, throw all his morals away as they paled in the light of the power these pills held.
Even if Adion also knew how valuable the pills were, he wasn’t that obsessed with them. If he worked hard enough and advanced, those pills would eventually become useless to him. And he had already taken the best of them, of course. And since he has so many, the value of a single one dropped in Adion's eyes. But he had to remember that others wouldn’t think the same way, and he would have to take great care not to reveal their existence in the future.
Adion instead asked something else he was curious about. “How do beasts advance exactly? Doesn’t it require great mana control to feed your core with mana?”
“That is only how it works for you sapi. While most of you inherit a spark that aids you in your journey to become a mage, we beasts have something we call a bloodline. Basically, our bodies attract the mana to our core by itself. Then, when we feel it has become full, we use our Will to advance just like you do.” Fellion answered.
“So the strength a beast will reach is determined by its parents?” Adion asked.
“Yes. As well as one's ancestors. But it is not something set in stone. You can reach higher if you have the Will. And in the higher stages, most beasts learn to use mana and advance much like the sapi do.”
“I see. By the way, what kind of beast are you? I’ve never heard of a beast like you before.” Adion decided to finally ask.
“We are called Wise Soul Owls. I do not know if the sapi have another name. As far as I know, there is only one tribe of us on Shiora, and besides me, there is not a lot of contact between us and the sapi.” Fellion answered and then came to a stop.
They had reached the entrance to a small cave, and even if it didn’t seem that big, it was spacious enough for Adion to live in.
“This is where you will stay. I will come to get you tomorrow morning to start your training.”
After saying those words, Fellion unfolded his large, mighty wings and took flight, soon out of sight for Adion and White.
“I’m starting to think I don’t need to hide anything when I return. No one would possibly believe me anyway.” Adion said to himself.
“Woof!”
“Yes, thank you for bringing me here, White. You were a great help. Let me know if you need anything, and I will do my best to help.”
The wolf gave another happy bark and entered the small cave to lay down and rest. Adion soon did the same. It all happened so fast, and Adion needed to think things through. There were a lot of things to process.
Even if I want to return to the sapi part of the continent, I can afford to wait a year. This opportunity will not show itself again. I need to practice aura. I have always held pride in my mana control, but if what Fellion said is true, that won’t matter once I reach the peak of Diamond. And I am far behind even the weakest of beasts.
But I can’t start that yet, so I might as well meditate to increase my strength.
Adion spent the rest of the day meditating before falling asleep with White in the cave.
The next morning, Adion woke up and went outside the cave, only to find Fellion already standing there. If he didn’t see him, he would almost not believe he was standing there as he couldn’t sense him.
“Fellion, you should have woke me up instead of waiting for me,” Adion said.
“Time is not as important to me as you young ones. If I were in a hurry, I would have woken you. It’s more important that you are well rested.”
Adion wanted to ask how old the owl was but didn’t think it was appropriate.
“Follow me,” Fellion said as he started walking away. And Adion hurriedly followed, leaving White alone in the cave.
“Tell me what you know about aura,” Fellion told Adion.
“Well, not a lot. It is like the feeling of a person, right? Like someone can feel the strength of a person, and if they have a sinister aura it might tell you they are bad people. My grandpa could also always tell when I was lying. Was that through my aura? I’ve also heard that the really strong can learn much more about a person, such as their age. But I thought that was just something that came along with strength.”
“It is possible and perhaps likely that aura sense can increase with the strength of the mana core even without deliberate practice. But I assure you it is nothing compared to the ability most beasts possess. And as for your knowledge of aura, it seems elementary.
“Aura stems from the soul, you see. If the soul is the sun, aura is its warmth. And the soul carries with it everything a person is. Meaning that theoretically, with a sharp enough aura sense, you could tell everything about a person, even read their minds and perhaps every thought they have ever had.”
Adion paled when he heard about such a scary power. Can Fellion read my mind?
“Don’t worry though, it’s only in theory. It was just an example so you know how far one can go with a strong aura sense. As for me, I cannot even begin to understand how to read your mind even though you lack control of your aura. Such things are hidden instinctively and are extremely hard to overcome even when we compare our huge difference in strength. I suppose it is somewhat like how a Water Mage can’t just control the water in his opponent, leaving a dried husk behind. Even a Diamond against a non-mage would find trouble in doing so. Another person's active Will is something extremely hard to bypass.
“But the knowledge one can get is by no means something to scoff at. I don’t think there is a Diamond on this continent that could willingly lie to me without me knowing. Sometimes, I know more about a person's mood than the person himself. I don’t think anyone could sneak up on me without knowing. And I can communicate with you just through the use of aura, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“It seems like a bit of a scary world where everything is laid bare to see like that,” Adion said.
“Hah! That is only the case for people who lack aura control. With a good aura control, you can hide anything you want.”
Suddenly, Fellion disappeared. No. When Adion turned his head, Fellion was still walking beside him. But his presence felt extremely strange.
“It seems you humans have some aura sense after all, which is not that surprising. Every living thing you have met so far has been giving off aura. Even if you never consciously thought about it, when it suddenly disappears, you can feel the difference.”
“Yes. It is as if the sun suddenly stopped warming. It's still there; it's still bright and shining, but I can’t feel the warmth on my skin anymore.”
“That is a good analogy. I have hidden my aura completely. Well, not completely, but as close to completely as I can. But your aura sense is so weak you can’t notice. Usually, I, as well as any other beast with some competence, hide a part of their aura. You can’t go around exposing your strength and mood to everyone around you, after all. Of course, a higher aura sense might bypass a good aura control and find out what is hidden if they focus enough.
“This will be the first thing we practice. You have to get used to sensing aura. And you need to consciously think about it. Something very hard to practice in the human part of the continent where it would be impossible to find someone with as great aura control as I to practice with.”
Fellion and Adion had arrived in a small clearing. And Fellion led him to the middle of it.
“Sit down and close your eyes. I am going to hide my aura and then slowly reveal myself. When you sense my presence, I want you to point to me as accurately as possible. I will then reveal my location with a cry, focus on the location and the aura you sense, and try to connect the two to make a better guess next time. We will continue this until you can pinpoint me exactly with just the aura of a living being without any power. Anyone could sense my presence if I revealed my entire strength. It takes a much greater aura sense to feel even the weakest of beings, not even having formed their cores yet.”
“I will try my best!”
Adion sat down in a meditative position and closed his eyes. He could feel Fellion's presence, but it was not very accurate. Fellion then disappeared from Adion's aura sense and then reappeared what he thought was behind him about six feet away. He yelled out his guess, and Fellion let out a cry. He had been a little off but was in the right area. They continued for only 5 minutes, with Adion's guesses always staying somewhat accurate, before Ferrion spoke again.
“It seems I underestimated humans a bit. Or maybe you are more gifted in aura sense than others.”
“I used to practice with a blindfold in the forest with my grandfather. I guess I got used to sensing his presence without seeing him. I always thought of it as my mana sense while doing it, though.”
“I see. Well, don’t get conceited. Even a newborn pup could do as much. We will jump straight into the aura strength of an Iron core beast. Only then would the effort yield results, I think.”
They continued the training, but now Adion was much less accurate with his guessing. The glaring sun had become a small candle, its warmth not as easily perceived. But he continued to practice diligently, and it produced results. By the end of the day, they had even moved on to the aura of a Stone core beast. But it was difficult, and Adion was exhausted after an entire day of practice with only a few small breaks to eat and drink.
“Very well, we will end here for today. I must say that you are making progress much faster than I thought. I’m glad. We will continue in the morning.” Fellion said and turned to leave.
“Will you teach me how to hide my strength like you?” Adion asked.
“Naturally, it will come in time. But how can you manipulate your aura without sensing it first? Go back and rest.”
“Yes, thank you for today, Teacher Fellion, and please take care of me in the future.”
Adion put his left fist into the palm of his right hand and gave a short bow—a customary sign of respect from student to teacher. Fellion didn’t seem to have a problem with this way of showing respect and simply gave a nod before flying away.
When Adion returned to his small cave, he found it empty.
I wonder what White has been up to today. How much better is his aura sense? Will I be able to surpass him with Fellion’s training?
Adion was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but he had a full mana core and didn’t want to waste his training time. So, he practiced his teleportation and fire mana control for two more hours. After that, he went to sleep without White beside him for the first time since they had met.
