Practice

This new aura took a bit of mental fortitude and manipulation to get used too. I would believe I had mastered it enough to move, only to have it fizzle out and dissolve as soon as I tried, or worse, transition into Beleros Aura and heal everything in range. It would have been nice if the System menu came with controls. A slider or on-off switch, but there wasn't a toggle I could turn on, or a cheat that would allow System to take over and handle the aura. I had managed to create a new spell, now I had to master it.

Deciding to incorporate the tricks I'd used when I'd entered the Ring of Hidden Depth's alternate realm, I sat down and began meditating. It was easy enough for me to activate the aura, my will, focus, and intent were firmly established, I just needed to create a magical 'muscle' memory to ingrain the spell into my magical matrix.

Pathways and circulation channels needed to be formed within my magical neural net so that this aura was an instinctive ability, it needed to become intrinsic, something so deeply rooted that it became as much a part of me as Belenos Aura.

Because Aura's worked differently than spells creating an Aura was just the first step. With a spell, casting ended once intent was released. With Aura's intent was both the end of the process and the beginning. It was really similar to a kind of computer program that looped.

Cyronax Aura Intent = Input (Will)

While Cyronax Aura Intent = = 0:

Then Cyronax Aura Intent = Off

While Cyronax Aura Intent = = 1:

Then Cyronax Aura Intent = On

I needed to soft-code a toggle that allowed me to turn the aura on and off at will, and as long as I choose to keep the aura active, make sure the aura would continue to radiate.

There were a few other fiddly bits I needed to work through. Knowing how to extend the aura, how much power was required for a specific radius. What and how much the temperature of the surrounding area was affected. And if the aura acted differently towards living organisms, liquids, and materials.

Having the ring helped. After hours of attempting to get control without using the Ring of Depths, I had given up and entered. Using the teaching Entity and the time dilation allowed me to practice and perfect my control. If not for the ring's advantages, in order for me to master Cyronax Aura would mean that the process had to take place in the real world and required real-time considerations.

Time was not subjective. Still, between learning to understand the function of the Aura, testing my success in the real world, it still took time. And as I practiced, the passage of day to night, and night to day passed for all of us. I would have hated to have tried this without the functionality of the ring that allowed what was really a tedious process, to be done in a matter of seconds.

The task was frustrating, advances occurring slowly. Beleros Aura did not want to play nice with Cyronax, but painstakingly, I made progress.

I created the pathways and circulated the energies needed to build a stable infrastructure of magical conduits that would allow me to internalize the process and automate it. The process, using meditation, perception, and my entire concentration took a little over 28 hours.

[Cyronax Aura – Journeyman Rank.]

System's notification took the guesswork out of my accomplishment. I knew I had succeeded in leveling up the Aura to a useable level.

I was famished and parched by the time I finally released my will. My body was screaming at me demanding both nourishment and water. I desperately needed to use the restroom. And my legs had cramped from sitting in a lotus position, the pain excruciating as blood flow was restored.

I had no idea how those cultivation masters I'd read about in Manga or Wuxia managed to sit for days, months, and years, without muscle atrophy occurring. They were always able to spring up fresh and capable, no matter how long they had spent cultivating. I suppose it was the difference between reality and fiction. You could get away with anything in a novel. But for me, I had to send a blast of healing magic towards my legs in order to ease the cramps and allow me to stand.

I held off on experimenting and validating my mastery of Cyronax Aura. My conviction that I had progressed and mastered the aura was secondary, and really unneeded after the System notification, but my next attempt to circumvent the Maze's protection would wait until I met my body's need for food and water.

My hunger was such that even Sidhe trail rations, rations that came in two forms was satisfying. The first type was pretty standard, very like a trail mix compacted and pressed into wedges, it tasted amazing. Nuts, dried fruits, honey, and some type of grain that was oatmeal-like in appearance and taste made for a protein bar very similar to something I might find on Earth.

There was also jerky stored, but I had never been a fan, the taste not something I enjoyed, and I was happy I wouldn't need to taste test this product, because while the trail mix had eased my immediate hunger pangs, there was actually a stew available.

While I had been in meditation and experimenting, the rest of my party had set up camp. Unsure how long I would need, they had organized a hunt, established a cook-site, and someone had enough field experience to make a campfire stew.

The jerky which had been reconstituted with some freshwater was thankfully soon replaced by fresh meat. Tubers and root vegetables had been foraged to add to the pot, as well as some of the trail mix.

The result was a complexity of taste and smell that was comparable to anything Jennie had made for us. It was probably the freshness of the ingredients that had been gathered from the surroundings that added the depth of flavor and created a taste profile that was steeped in earthiness.

Cordyceps, a rare caterpillar fungus on Earth, were abundant and plentiful on Talahm. The ingredient could be harvested from every other tree it seemed. The easy availability of this unique food item didn't detract from the richness of the broth. The ingredient allowed for umami to develop and complement the complexity of the soup, a taste sensation that any Master-class Chef would be envious of.

It was interesting that an ingredient that I would never have been able to afford on Earth was used as almost a throwaway seasoning here. More a condiment than a rarity. It was just one more difference between the two planets.

But at least this one was pleasant.