60 Aura Detonation

Here I am, walking through the wilderness accompanied by seven knights and a carriage carrying a brat and an emotionless maid. Oh yeah, and an assassin on tow.

I'd say the sun was shining down brightly on a beautiful day, but I didn't even know if that would be accurate as I am blindfolded.

For the past 6 hours, from morning 'till noon, I've temporarily relinquished my sense of sight to help me better focus on sensing the movements of the wind. And I'm happy to say, it's kinda working.

The part of my mind working on my sight is now being, let's say 'rerouted' into my Wind Sense. I was also wearing a simple tunic and leggings. If I ever damaged my butler uniform with this training, Weiss would punish me again.

*FWOOSH*

A pebble flew right towards my leg from behind me, but I sensed it the moment it was thrown. From the size and shape according to the drag, I was pretty sure it was a pebble.

I easily dodged it with minimal movements. Something I learned from getting beaten up by Weiss is that it is better to avoid using precise and light movements to conserve energy for other stuff.

That pebble was thrown by one of the knights. When I started this Wind Sense training, I asked them to occasionally attack me with no warning.

Throwing anything they could find off the ground. Whether they be pebbles, twigs, clumps of dirt, slashes and thrusts from their swords, and even Aura projectiles from Rebecca. That last one was significantly powered down to a non-lethal force. Taking a full-powered Aura projectile as a Neophyte stage would be a death sentence. Fortunately, Rebecca knows how to control the strength of her Aura.

Sensing something whizzing through the air, I quickly predicted the trajectory of whatever the knights threw at me this time. Again, from the size and shape according to the drag I could sense, it was probably another pebble.

It was aiming for my leg. With the goal of minimizing movements, I slightly shifted the position of my leg so that it would barely miss its target.

I was confident about my move. But the universe really loves proving me wrong.

Just as the projectile passed my leg, it suddenly changed direction mid-air and grazed my thigh.

"ARGH!!"

What the fuck? That caught me off guard! How did it suddenly change direction like that? Unless it was not a pebble...

I hastily took off the blindfold and looked around.

I turned around and looked at Rebecca.

"Was that an Aura bullet?!"

"What's a bullet?"

"I-I mean... was that an Aura projectile?"

Rebecca rested her chin on her fingers as if contemplating how to answer my question.

"Hmm, yes... and no."

"The fuck does that mean?"

"I stuck a small patch of my Aura on the side of a pebble, then threw it. The moment you dodged the pebble, I detonated that small patch of my Aura."

"Which then drastically changed the direction of the pebble mid-air. That's... that's possible? Remotely detonating Aura is possible?"

Rebecca nodded.

"Of course, only 3rd Stage users can use this technique. But mind you, this is a difficult technique to learn."

I was stunned. There is a lot about Aura that I still don't know. Weiss never taught me about this.

Wait a second...

"Where did you learn this?"

"Weiss." She answered frankly.

I fucking knew it. That old monster is still hiding some secrets. Probably because I'm still not strong enough.

But learning about this from Rebecca is quite lucky. Knowing about Aura detonation should be useful in the future. If I ever encounter a 3rd Stage, I'd be mindful of any Aura 'mines'. It could save my life.

"Here, a potion." Rebecca offered a low-tier potion to heal the abrasion on my thigh. But...

"No, let it scar." I refused to take the potion.

Rebecca shrugged and pocketed the vial of potion and gave me a piece of cloth to bandage my wound.

I didn't want to become reliant on potions. To become dependent on someone else's money leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Minor injuries like this abrasion shouldn't be an excuse to waste precious resources. The scar this wound will leave behind would be a reminder. A reminder that I should never let my guard down.

With our chat concluded, I slipped on the blindfold once more and focused on my Wind Sense training until we reached our next stop—Clegg city.

Count Hepburn's territory rules over 2 cities, a few towns, and a few dozen villages. Some of the villages are quite isolated from outsiders...like mine.

As soon as we entered the city, a few of the knights immediately went to find a store that sells Lobon cuffs.

The sale of any product made of Lobon, or even just Lobon metal or ore itself is restricted in the kingdom. Only those with the proper authority can buy or sell Lobon, like rich merchants or knights of the kingdom.

A store the knights that broke off from the group to buy Lobon cuffs was a Coventry store branch...

Coventry... that's the name of the fat bastard that sold me right?

If possible I didn't want the knights to even spend any money that will just end up in Malber Coventry's deep pockets. But it couldn't be helped. The Coventry Company is one of the few businesses that got the thumbs up to sell Lobon products.

As soon as the knights returned with Lobon restraints, we immediately cuffed the mercenary to restrict her Aura and quell any danger that might come from her.

We booked an inn and spent the night there. Now that we had her Aura restricted, I can finally try torture.

She didn't talk. My torture methods were amateur at best. Luckily we had enough potions to make sure she doesn't die. Nevertheless, I spent most of the night trying out every torture method my imagination could muster up.

When the sun rose, our group set off for the last trek to the Hepburn manor.