Aura & Dragonoid transformation

{1st POV, Ethan}

[The next day]

"So, are you gonna start attacking me or what? He-heh ..."

Tiamat asked me while snickering mockingly.

Right now, I'm lying face-first on the ground. Forget about fighting I can't even stand up. One day has gone by after the agreement between us. I just came to start our daily training.

Right after I arrived here, I dropped over my face because of the sudden increase in gravity. Yes, Tiamat is releasing her magical powers and reinforcing the gravitational pull, making the pressure of the place increase by five times compared to regular gravity.

The result? I can neither move nor stand on my feet; laying on the floor like a corpse.

"Right, done playing, or is this all we are doing for today?"

I asked her in a neutral tone, I was on the brink of going berserk a few times already.

"Alright, alright..!!"

Saying that she decreased the pressure to a relatively tolerable extent, still more pressure than normal but bearable. With some difficulty, I was able to stand up but my movements are still very frigid.

"You'll be fighting me like this starting today. As you become accustomed to the current degree of pressure, I will gradually increase it. Let's begin!"

She signaled to me, this will be a nightmare of torture…

********

"Huff, huff... "

I think I saw my life flash before my eyes? Today I felt like I'm about to die multiple times. The training (torture) just ended a minute ago, if you can even categorize what went on as training. If before the training was like a beating today it was akin to pure sadism, I believe Tiamat is hell-bent to make a masochist out of me. I was much slower in dodging because of the pressure, even though I can follow her movements perfectly fine. Yet, my body can't respond as fast as it is supposed to, honor goes to the increased pressure. She breaks me first then heals me, then breaks me once again only to heal me again. This process of breaking and healing continued for god knows how long, at some point I lost count.

[Endurance +120

Strength+ 50

Speed+ 90]

'Fuck you..system!'

Even the rapid increase in endurance did nothing to reduce my pain. If I have to turn into a masochist to increase my endurance then I'd rather not.

"Get used to it, this method will not only help you to better enhance your combat experience. Better yet, it will also temper your mind so you won't go berserk easily."

I heard Tiamat's word, I hate to admit. However, this method is certainly more effective. I can see the physical improvement in the system as for the physiological growths, I can certainly tell I became less prone to going berserk at the end.

"How does it help me mentally?"

I thought to ask her the reason.

"It's simple: as I continue to beat you, your pride begins to fade. You must have seen that the longer I beat you, the less likely you are to go wild. That's because I'm making you understand that you're not invincible and that I'm stronger than you."

Well, the concept is pretty straightforward, what you'd expect from Tiamat, she doesn't like complicated stuff.

"Get up already and stop laying on the floor; we'll keep doing the same practice for a long time."

She spoke and send me back to my room. There Alizée was waiting, as usual, after eating dinner she again messaged me to sleep. She is really a hard-working maid, I'll certainly keep her happy and satisfied in the future.

************

"Come on! Faster, you can do better."

Tiamat shouted at me.

"Ugh, I'm trying, damn it!"

I yelled while kicking at her head, Six months had gone since she began training me under higher gravity. After about two weeks of adjusting to gravity five times, I was able to battle to my full potential. So, she upped the gravity once more, which took me a month to acclimatize to, and she continued to do so until she reached ten times the normal gravity.

For the past two months, I've kept dueling her under ten times the standard gravity. Even though I can currently react well despite her pressure, I am still yet to confront her effectively.

I continued to attack her in the hopes of landing a miraculous hit. Only for her to neutralize my moves by throwing me or flipping me on the ground.

'Thud….'

After she kicked me to the side, I fell to the floor once more.

"I believe I've reached my limit."

I still fall short by a step, no matter how much I utilize super control to optimize my physique to the current environment, It's as if there's a barrier inside my body preventing me from obtaining better stability.

"Do you think it's a little too harsh? So, what do you think about now?"

She inquired, Only for the pressure to double compared to what it was before. I collapse to my knees, narrowly preventing slamming my face into the floor with the assistance of my hand. Blood raced to my throat, and I gritted my teeth to keep myself from fainting as my consciousness began to blur. It was becoming harder to breathe.

As I fought the mountain-like pressure crushing me down, veins sprang across my forehead and my eyes became reddish. Undoubtedly, six months ago, I may have gone insane.

My endurance soared like a meteor as I continued to struggle against the pressure, reluctant to admit defeat. My, endurance went past the thousand mark at some point, and something within me began changing. My entire body began to circulate a peculiar force that didn't originate within my mana core, but rather through my whole physique. It engulfed me like a coat after expanding across every inch of my skin. Moreover, I felt completely fine under the immense pressure. As if the previous pressure was an illusion, leaving me astounded as I couldn't understand what was happening.

[Endurance+ 80, Vitality+ 160]

[Congratulations! Master, Due, to achieving 1020 points in endurance attribute, you have awakened your aura.

Aura is an ability that allows the user to exert their vital energy to create, an invisible armor around themselves, providing incredible offensive and defensive capabilities. The aura is made of vital essence, it does not require mana to use.]

"Ahh! You just needed a little more effort to awaken your aura, as expected."

Tiamat cheered happily as if awakening my aura had been her goal all along.

'So this is the aura…'

I'm familiar with the concept of aura; it's primarily used by human knights to combat wizards. The vast majority of mankind has relatively little mana; only one in every hundred individuals has enough mana to cast spells or learn magic. Others employ aura to enhance their overall attacks and defense. To awaken aura, each practitioner has to engage in a great deal of combat and tap into their physical body's full potential.

"So, that's what aura is all about! I sense a unique energy permeating my body as if it were a suit of armor."

My physique has indeed toughened up, and all of my physical attributes have drastically improved.

"Now, what?"

I asked her as she certainly has a plan, yet, she won't tell me what exactly it is.

"During this period, you will understand how to improve your aura and effectively manipulate it, and your tail should materialize shortly now that your physique is approaching full maturity.

Thereafter, I'll instruct you how to morph into a Dragonoid."

'Wow, she really does plan ahead!'

She had meticulously planned each step. From 10 of thousands of years old monster, you'd expect something like this. Whatever her plan is, it's not bad, and for the time being, I can follow her instructions.

"All fine, I'll follow your advice."

I agreed to her arrangements.

**********

My long and tough training began just like that. I spent the next month learning how to correctly control my aura. My aura was flowing uncontrollably everywhere at first, even though I could manage it with super control when it was contained within my body; yet, as I let it out, it scatters all over the place.

Tiamat advised releasing a small bit of aura once at a time and wrapping one limb. So, I started with my right arm. It wasn't easy at first, and there were times when I applied too much aura to my body, which caused it to hurt instead. Still, I was able to wrap my right arm within four-five days, before my left arm, and in this way, I was able to cover both legs as well. It became much easier to use aura after the first time; the most difficult part was covering my torso and head, which took more than two weeks to complete. Tiamat was still taken aback by the fact that I was able to control my aura with only one month.

The ability to employ aura while fighting was the next step, and it's also the best method to accumulate more aura. The more you fight, the more your body pushes itself to the limit, and your aura progresses. I fought her for over two months until it finally happened. My third trial occurred, and when it was completed, I materialized my tail.

My tail was completely black, just like the rest of my body. Our tail has only one benefit: it greatly increases our mana capacity. The mana capacity of most dragons gets doubled, and certain lucky dragons get a threefold boost. I was an exception; my mana increased by five times, surprising both myself and Tiamat. When I inquired the system about it, it just stated that the situation was random and that it couldn't explain. But Tiamat quickly deduced that it was because of my aura. The aura of most young dragons does not awaken this early. But I did, and this allowed my body to handle more mana than others, resulting in a greater boost in my performance; it was only a hunch. Nonetheless, we were both pleased, so everything was OK.

I've finally grown up and now resemble an eighteen-year-old boy. My body is sleek and chiseled, with just the perfect amount of muscle in the appropriate places, and my height has increased to 6.3 feet. In general, I resemble the embodiment of adonis.

"Now, that you reached the full maturity. You can access your Dragonoid form. I'll teach you how to..."

The Dragonoid form, commonly known as the half-dragon transformation, is the most combat-focused mode. Scales replace our skin, and wings, tail manifest, plus our hands turn to dragon claws. Despite this, we maintain our human form and stature, giving us greater mobility than the massive dragon body.

Since the dragon form is my original form, the transformation was rather simple. I needed to master my dragon-to-human metamorphosis first. Before I learn how to become a Dragonoid, It wasn't much difficult with super control.

I'm a lot like the black dragons, as you might anticipate. My entire body is coated in jet black zodiac-like scales, with ruby-red eyes. My entire body measured nearly 50 meters in length; yes, I was enormous. Next, I had to learn how to keep only my wings, tail, and draconic claws, yet, not turn into a complete dragon. As I said, it was rather easy to accomplish with the help of super control, and multi-tasking.

The next challenge was to fight while maintaining both my Dragonoid body and aura. This was not problematic either, but the power boost was a little too great. Initially, making managing the power output a bit tricky.

**********

"All right, your training is now complete. I've perfected your foundation, refined your physique, and awakened your aura while also teaching you how to harness it. Now all you have to do is come up with magic techniques. Don't rush this because it will take a long time."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

I answered Tiamat by nodding, it does indeed take a lot of time for normal dragons to create their original spells. My training had been going on for two years. Only two more years remain till Tiamat announces my coronation as the crown prince. I'm now stronger than I've ever been, and while I still didn't master any force, my powers have skyrocketed. I can't wait to go outside and put my strength to the test, but there's one more thing I need to finish. After it's over, I won't be afraid to leave the endless sea.

"Grandma! … I want to go into the thousand monster island."

I pleaded with her, only to be met with a terrifying stare. Now, time for the mission impossible!

[Everyone, I have an important announcement to make as my studies are starting again, l won't be able to write often. So, I'd probably release 3 or maybe 4 chapters a week at most. I apologize if you are disappointed, but I can't focus on my studies if I spent the day writing, as writing a chapter is hard.

I hope, you enjoy the chapter and comment on how you feel, add to your library as well. Thank you.]