Lesson

Half an hour passed, and fervent screams could be heard echoing from within the cave. Alexander was sitting beside the tunnel leading into it, his arms stretched out strangely, looking irritated about something.

"Ah, damn it... I can't move anything," he grumbled, his voice tinged with a bit of pain. "Now that the blood has cooled, the consequences of this fight have finally appeared. It's not a cramp, but it certainly hurts."

He heard calm footsteps approaching, sounding like someone wearing wooden sandals. He looked to the side and saw the same nurse who had healed Yasuo. She looked at him with some concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling beside Alexander.

Alexander smiled, a somewhat tired smile trying to downplay his situation. "I am, but I've been better," he said with a weary face, making the nurse laugh.

"What are you feeling, Mr. Shura?" she asked.

"I feel like every muscle in my body hurts like hell, and I can't move," he explained, trying to lift his arms and failing miserably.

"That must be a consequence of your fight with Mr. Genichiro; it was impressive," the nurse said, invoking her aura, a golden yellow color extending just a bit from her body.

"I think 'fight' is a strong word; it was more like a cat playing with a mouse about to be devoured," he said, making the nurse laugh. "Besides, you healed my friend earlier; thank you. What's your name?"

The nurse moved her hands closer to Alexander, her aura extending and covering his entire body. He then closed his eyes, seeming to concentrate, the young elf just observing.

"Take away your pain, take away your affliction, like a merciful hand, heal, heal. Healing magic: Merciful Hand," she recited a spell, and Alexander felt a familiar sensation, an immense warmth spreading throughout his body. Then the pain disappeared, as well as the muscle fatigue. He raised his arms, feeling strength return to his body.

"Damn, healing magic is incredible every time I see it," he looked at the nurse again. She had green eyes like emeralds and hair as red as a rose, her ears were very thin and not very long. "Thank you very much, Miss...?"

"Yukiko, you can call me Miss Yukiko," she said, standing up. "Mr. Shura, I recommend not exerting yourself too much today, rest, and if possible, cultivate; it will help strengthen your body."

"Cultivate, right... Sure, thank you again."

The nurse laughed, a somewhat timid laugh. "No need to thank me, sir. If you'll excuse me, I'll return to Lord Genichiro's arena; there must be an injury waiting for me in the cave." Yukiko bid farewell, entering the tunnel once more.

Alexander took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and assumed the posture he was already familiar with, his aura revealing itself as he began to cultivate.

Another hour passed, and the noise inside the cave had stopped. The sound of several footsteps of men who had been training coming out of the tunnel could be heard, along with groans and complaints of pain getting closer. After a few seconds, they emerged from the cave, looking very different from when they entered: torn and dirty clothes, some with broken bokkens, all injured in some way.

"My leg..." Taigen groaned, limping, noticing Alexander and heading towards him. "Shura, how are you?"

Alexander opened his eyes, his aura still present, still channeling. "Taigen," he said, seeing the man's battered state. "Wow, you took a beating."

Taigen sat in front of him, with difficulty and feeling a bit of pain. He laughed. "We took some good hits from Mr. Genichiro even with him holding back. It seems we're not all as tough as you." Taigen paused, looking at the intense aura of Alexander. "Wow, you can maintain concentration to cultivate while talking to me?"

"It's a bit hard to keep the concentration to cultivate and do anything else, but this way I can improve in cultivation," Alexander explained, genuinely impressing Taigen.

"Your fight with Mr. Genichiro was also impressive. I thought you were strong, but to withstand a direct hit from him is another story."

"Honestly, I thought I wouldn't even withstand one hit. I was more surprised than you."

Both stopped talking when Genichiro emerged from the tunnel, stopping near Alexander and Taigen. He seemed to inspect something.

"Young Shura, who taught you to cultivate?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"My younger sister Inoue, sir, she's always had a talent for magic," he replied.

"I see, is your sister a healer by any chance?"

This question made Alexander curious. "Yes, she is a skilled healer. How did you know?"

"By the way you cultivate."

He sat down near the two, on the rocky and uncomfortable ground. He was also sweaty but not dirty or exhausted like the men he had trained. Nurse Yukiko also appeared, standing a meter behind Genichiro.

"Miss Yukiko, please take the men to the infirmary and instruct the nurses, please," he ordered politely.

"As you wish, sir," Yukiko nodded quickly and then walked away, her wooden sandals making a bit of noise.

Genichiro's gaze then returned to Alexander. "You're cultivating incorrectly, boy," he explained.

The air pressure changed as if Genichiro's body was forming a breeze that became more powerful every second. Then, like a powerful combustion, wild flames appeared, enveloping Genichiro's entire body, fierce flames of emerald green color.

A green aura... That's why he's so powerful; this is the true strength of someone with a green aura! I was already getting anxious to see the color of his aura.

"Pay attention, young Shura, this also applies to you, young Taigen," he called their attention. "The cultivation process has the same principle, attracting the forces of heaven and earth and absorbing them, fusing with our power. But there are different cultivation techniques. We are magical warriors, so we have to gather the world's magical forces and fuse them into our muscles: arms, legs, chest, abdomen, and even the head. Ultimately, our focus is the body, the external part."

It was possible to see the bright green aura approaching the body and covering it like a cloak, but there was something more. Perhaps due to his invested points in perception, he could see something in Genichiro's aura. It wasn't just approaching and staying static; it moved, movements reminiscent of water flowing through a river, climbing up the arms, legs, chest, and to the top of the head.

"You, young Shura, are gathering your energies inside your body, in your solar plexus. This is a cultivation technique for battle mages and healers who need the energy inside their bodies to cast spells. Now, try to focus on absorbing the world's energy to the external part of your body."

After hearing the words of the huge samurai, Shura couldn't help but try.

Breathing deeply and closing his eyes to concentrate, he thought of something. It was difficult to change the way he was used to, but he wasn't going to give up. To start changing his technique, he began to slightly flex his muscles, a bit of the arms, a bit of the legs, a bit of the abdomen, and a bit of the chest, in this cycle for a while.

"So you're understanding how it works, but your order is wrong. Start with the legs and go up. Also, use the muscles of the neck and back, all the muscles you can," Genichiro explained. "You already have a lot of strength in your body even cultivating incorrectly. Have you awakened your natural element?"

Alexander's aura faded, and he was sweating. It wasn't easy to do something like this.

"My natural element? What would that be?" he asked, catching his breath.

"For someone so strong, I'm surprised you know so little about auras. We are magical warriors, so we use magic for combat. Magic is a natural element of the world that encompasses all other elements: fire, air, earth, and water. Everyone who uses magic has an element with which they have a natural affinity. By cultivating thinking of this element you have an affinity with, you could say you get stronger much faster."

"Natural element is..."

A thought came to Alexander's mind. System, explain the Paladin class, please.

[Class: Paladin] [The Paladin class represents honorable and powerful warriors, followers of the sacred words of the gods. Possessing three subclasses: "Herald of the Holy War" focused on damage, "Bastion of Faith" focused on tanking, and "Servant of the Pious Light" focused on support. Paladins have a natural proficiency with the elements of Fire and Light and a natural resistance to the element of Darkness.]

That's it! I need to think about fire!

"Sir, let's suppose my natural element is fire. What should I think of to be as effective as possible?"

"If it's fire, think of a fire, the biggest fire you can. The bigger your thought about this element, the more strength you'll be able to gather."

"Think of a fire, huh."

Suddenly, images of a great fire on a television screen came to mind, videos showing the destruction by wild flames, fire trucks passing through burning trees to ashes, the California fire of 2022.

Mr. Genichiro stood up. "That's it for now. Eat and rest, and later we will train with bows and arrows."

He said, walking towards one of the castle towers. Taigen also stood up. "Ah, I urgently need a bath! I wonder if Miss Yukiko would like to join me?" he laughed.

Alexander was the last to stand up. He looked up, observing the immense blue sky. "Fire, huh."