A Year of Progress (Part 1)

Since making the deal with my father, the days slowly passed. Of course my parents and Dante visited the Course of Reflections. They were really impressed by the course, especially the last part. Everyone praised the last section, and I couldn't blame them. It was something unusual after all. My mother couldn't help herself from complaining about my inability to charge money for such a project. I didn't try to change that though. She'd always complain, mothers are like that.

Right after the trip, my training and practice resumed. My new Aura wasn't easy to awaken. Though with time, the progress was there. Besides trying to get a grip on my new Aura, Frosty taught me Hal Wshtar every day. The language was really hard to understand, speak or even write.

Sometimes, I'd complain about the difficulty, to which Frosty would only laugh at. One day, he told me something that stopped me from complaining. My father tried to learn that language without any help. No one was there to explain the words, meanings or differences. No one was there to point at things and simply tell him the name. All my father had was his predecessor. He could only listen, and try to work out what certain words meant.

Frosty never explained how my father was able to listen to his predecessor, since they never met. That was just another mystery concerning my father. These two things took most of my focus. Albeit sword as well as my movement technique required more practice, Aura was much more important for a few reasons. Mainly due to the deal me and my father made.

Though that being said, I didn't train crazily like before. My family was there, as well as the wolves, Turry and Curly. Dante learned something each day, and as my mother predicted, he really leaned towards the artistic side. Even when he saw Runes and how beautiful Formations could be, he had no interest in learning. Instead, he'd pester me to show him more, rather than learn all of that himself.

The news of my new course also spread like fire. People rushed to Arangard in order to try it out. Tara and Teri visited the course as well, and on the way back told me all about it. She was really livid about me doing the project for free. To this day, I'm not sure whether she joked or seriously reprimanded me back then.

Uncle Crow together with aunt, Drak and even Dawn, had a go on the new course too. They were finally able to visit us more often, thanks to the fast travel Formation. That thing made the place a lot more lively. Of course Drak got annoyed, especially after Leran showed off the course at Arangard. He even went as far as to ask me for something even more amazing. I declined of course.

There was no way I'd promise something like that again. There were other talented people with great knowledge in Formations. If Sedon or other cities wanted to build something, they had a range of choices. Though a part of me knew the reason. I wouldn't charge them much, or at all. Besides, my time was really valuable. Especially when monsters like my parents walked around. The dream of catching up to them seemed distant. They always assured me about my good progress, or how diligent I was. Yet, something inside me called for more.

My parents told me to awaken and control my new Aura. That process took me a year. A year, just to awaken and control it, not master it in any shape or form. My initial idea about Auras was pretty shallow, but time taught me a few things.

My new Aura represented the mood of a sharp sword, as well as another thing. My Aura wasn't normal, or rather, didn't have normal effects. My father helped me discover that, after the Aura fully awakened. For whatever reason, my Aura didn't harm things on the outside. It would seep inside a body, item... anything really, then wreak havoc there.

Though it seemed unbelievable, there were methods to stop my Aura. One of them was the use of another Aura. Of course weak Auras wouldn't help much, but strong Auras could defend against mine without any issues. The other way required some special materials. My father had access to some mean chunks of metal, and my Aura couldn't penetrate them. He assured me that no one really had access to such metals, because the knowledge didn't come from our continent.

We also tested against Formations, and to a large degree, my Aura could be stopped. The thing was, my Aura was considered weak at the stage. Father told me how powerful it would be, once my strength and control improved. This all sounded nice and fine, but there was a catch. My Aura wasn't special in effects alone. Awakening and usage of the Aura required some pretty strict conditions.

A blade, sword, dagger or anything sharp had to be in my hand. Otherwise, the Aura would awaken. Although such a constraint was a bit painful, it wouldn't be too bad on its own. That was only one negative thing about my Aura. The other was energy consumption. Just maintaining that Aura required a lot of energy. My energy pool was simply too small, and the Aura too strong.

A single swing of my sword, with the Aura awakened, cost me about ten percent of my whole energy. Of course that single swing was a few times more devastating than a normal swing. Nonetheless, the energy consumption was really taxing. Even with proper control, the consumption wouldn't be that much smaller. At least according to my father.

They figured that out after extensive testing. Normally, an Aura would act like a bubble, of course mine did as well. The problem was, for some reason the 'bubble' my Aura created was already condensed. Hence the need for an increased amount of energy, just to maintain it.

My father also told me something interesting. The stronger person became, the more defined an Aura would become. That of course meant, the effect of my Aura and how it appeared, could or would change in time. He seemed to have a vague idea which way it would go, but didn't hint at anything. That was my job to figure out, after all, they did the same.

On a positive side, he told me my Aura could be even stronger than his Domineering Aura. Whether he said that just to motivate me or not, didn't make much difference to me. I had to believe in something.

Due to the properties and effects of my Aura, I decided to name it Formless Aura. My parents liked the name, but told me that newly awakened Auras usually had no shape or form. That task was up to the user, and their skills. For some reason though, I had a different feeling about my Aura.

Nonetheless, after that one year of constant practice, my mother had to admit defeat. "Don't worry, I'm not going to stop you anymore. We had a deal, and you worked hard. Just make sure to return sooner this time… Two years is a lot of time, you know?". "My plan is to visit a few cities, our family and train a bit. Besides, my friends will come along. We should be safer together", I replied.

"... Right. Here, take this for now. I call them second skin, and they should fit your friends perfectly. Suly isn't back yet, so you'll have to leave without her. Hehe, she'd choose the Formations over any sort of trip, I can tell you that much. Anyway, your father will provide you with a few things as well. After all, your friends need the ability to leave the North in the first place", she added.

Although she excluded Suly, there were still three sets of 'second skin'. "Take Teri with you. After all, he and Tara are together. It wouldn't be nice to separate them for a long time", "Yea, and perhaps you'll find a boyfriend for yourself.. Pak… What? She's almost twenty-one". The exchange between my parents was always… something else.

"Don't listen to that idiot. Just make sure you are safe, and don't trust people easily. I'm sure you are itching to tell your friends the good news. Run along then", she added. Besides informing my friends, these second skins required some more work. Perhaps they were perfect for my friends, but without appropriate Formations, they'd be useless. 'Anyway, I'll grab Tara and Teri first, then collect Dawn', "Curly! We are leaving!", I called out.

With Curly on my neck, I grabbed Turry and left for Apium. There was no need for me to ask Frosty, especially with the fast travel Formation in place. Turry would easily make the distance between Varia and Apium in a few hours.

"Huh? It's quite rare for you to visit me. Something happened? Had a fight with your mom?", Tara asked, surprised. "Are you an idiot? I'm here because they finally let me go to the Endrosian Empire. That means, you are going as well", I announced the news. "Really? Hehe, that's not bad news indeed… Can we take Teri as well? I'm not sure for how long we'll be gone and…", she asked.

"No, sorry. Only two people can go with me…", Tara's disappointed face wasn't priceless, her reaction to my next words was. "Pah, of course he can. I already have something prepared for him as well", "You bastard! Stop playing with people's feelings!". "Stop complaining, pack your stuff, grab Teri and let's go", I added.