9 months later…
9 months later…
As the night relinquished its hold, a faint hint of dawn graced the horizon, yet the sky remained veiled in darkness, adorned with twinkling stars like scattered jewels.
A boy could be seen amidst the swaying grass and gently rustling trees.
Like a wisp of shadow, he moved gracefully, his feet gliding across the dew-kissed ground.
His every action was connected like flowing water and as endless as the ocean stretching unto the horizon.
With each step taken by his feet and every action made with his hands, a soft sound was produced which added elegance to the ethereal scene.
The sounds were rhythmic and beautiful.
As the boy kept dancing, the sounds produced with his every action made an enchanting music that echoed in the surroundings.
It was beautiful, yet strange.
As the music wasn't made vocally, nor was it made by an instrument.
It was also not made by birds as there were no animals lurking in the surroundings.
However, the music kept resounding in the area enchantingly. Magically following the rhythm of the boy's dance.
As the colors of dawn painted the canvas of the heavens, they also embraced the boy in their warm embrace.
The soft glow highlighted his every gesture, making his dance seem like a celestial celebration for the sun itself.
His performance, witnessed only by the rising sun, felt like a sacred ritual—a tribute to the Goddess of Sun herself, Solana, whose divine influence painted the sky with her grace.
A soft chant echoed harmoniously along the sunrise.
[Fourth Solar Sacrament: Supreme Sun Serenade]
The boy soon stopped dancing, he uncontrollably knelt on the ground and breathed heavily.
'This technique is really strange…' Jin thought as he frowned.
He could feel all the muscles, nerves and bones in his body trembling as a sharp pang of pain continuously ravaged his body.
Groaning in pain, he thought, 'And this technique was supposed to be done from sunrise until sunset…?'
The dance he performed earlier was the technique he had unveiled in the Book of the Sun's Fourth Solar Sacrament, the Supreme Sun Serenade.
It was a ceremonial dance which was performed by the sun's worshippers from sunrise until sunset.
This was supposed to be performed without any break at all. However, Jin could only barely perform it for an hour.
Furthermore, every action made with his body brought severe pain to his body. He could also feel his body break down as he performed the dance.
However, even then, Jin smiled, 'Still, it's worth it.'
He had always been interested in the phenomenon that could be produced using worldly energies.
The flames of his father's Burning Sword Style and the illusion of tides by the General's Tidal Arts that he had witnessed once.
It was an understatement to say that he was fascinated by them.
That was why even if it was painful, he was happy to be able to do the Supreme Sun Serenade.
The reason precisely being the phenomenon that it brought whenever it was performed.
The music that resounded in the surroundings with his every action made Jin exhilarated.
'I wonder how stronger it would be if it was complete…' Jin thought with a touch of bitterness.
Like every other aura art, the Supreme Sun Serenade was divided into two; the technique itself and its aura circulation method.
Lacking the organs required to control and contain aura, Jin was only able to perform the pure technique of the solar sacrament.
However, unknown to him, just this fact alone would shock the predecessors of their family.
As something they weren't even able to comprehend was being mastered by a young boy like him.
Throughout the 9 months that passed, he had also witnessed countless techniques by other people.
Included among these was Lord Axton's Howling Spear Style.
A spearmanship technique which produced howling sounds just like those of the wind with every swing of the spear.
Jin remembered how embarrassed Anton was when he introduced them to his father who wanted to meet them.
At first, they were nervous.
However, they saw how doting he was on Anton.
He even thanked them for being friends with his son by performing his technique and letting them comprehend what they could.
Despite that, Marco, Rowena, and the others only enjoyed the opportunity of witnessing the castellan's technique.
After all, they were only children and didn't yet have the insight required to learn from a professional at the caliber of the castellan.
Still, the case was different for Jin and Tanya.
One had inhumane talent while the other had a fraudulent supernatural power.
The siblings were both able to comprehend the castellan's technique through their own ways.
Jin smiled as he remembered this pleasant memory.
However, the pain from his whole body made it difficult for him to do so.
He rested for a few minutes before getting up and striding towards the house, 'I better wake up sister and dad…'
It was the third day of the week and therefore, he and his sister had to attend the Training Center to attend their Weapon Proficiency Class.
Looking at his father and sister who were both snoring loudly, Jin smiled.
However, after a few minutes, the smile on his face vanished without a trace.
"Sister! Wake! Up!" He shouted while shaking Tanya intensely.
He thought that Tanya would get used to waking up early as time passed by.
However, they had already been attending the Training Center for around 10 months and she was still not used to waking up early.
Instead, it was becoming harder and harder to wake up.
Leo stood to the side with a guilty expression on his face.
He knew full well that Tanya had inherited that habit from him as he was just like that when he was a kid.
'I feel like I'm seeing my younger self…'
He thought as he looked at his son trying to wake his daughter up, 'Is this how my parents felt when they woke me up everyday…?'
Jin was practically shouting at his sister's ears, but Tanya was still snoring as she slept like a baby.
'Could it be that instead of getting used to waking up early, she built immunity on me waking her up instead…?'
Jin had a helpless expression on his face.