Chapter 19

It was a nice and peaceful day in the dining room of the Count's Cafe. Customers sat back leisurely eating their food and engaging in conversation. Sunlight flitted through the blinds of the shop which were partially open, and there were faint clacking sounds every now and again as waiters set down trays of food, making sure nothing was required of them. All in all, the Count's Cafe almost seemed as if it were completely peaceful and still. However, anyone who's ever worked in the food industry will tell you the kitchen is almost always the opposite.

"We're out of eggs!"

"Table four needs their check!"

"Got an accident near table seven!"

Many employees rushed around the kitchen, miraculously managing to not run into each other as they went about their individual tasks. Today was Easter and they were absolutely swamped taking care of the extra customers.

"Yes sir, I'll be sure to get it to you right away."

A manager by the name of Maurice had been mistaken as one of the waiters. He didn't complain, taking their order and handing it off to someone else. Every seat in the restaurant was filled. Friends and family sat in burgundy leather-covered seats next to the edges of the restaurant with deep purple curtains. The bar stools each had someone in them as the patrons drank alcohol on the ebony colored counter, chatting and laughing. Every so often, someone would get up and walk over to another group and ask to borrow the extra chair at their table. With so many customers, they'd have no shortage of dirty dishes and this made the manager worry. Maurice quickly looked around for an employee who wasn't already busy and saw Aero leaving the restroom.

"Nathaniel, you take care of the bathrooms yet?"

"Yep, spic and span." Aero said nodding.

"Great, go take care of the dishes then." the man replied dismissively, turning to leave.

" I've already taken the liberty of doing them sir."

"What?" Maurice stopped and gave the employee a sidelong glance.

"They're done." Aero repeated. I finished them not too long ago."

Maurice raised a brow. "Really? Let's go see then." The two of them went to go check up on the aforementioned work and he saw with mild surprise that the dishes were indeed cleaned and put away without the manager having to ask.

"What do you want me to do now sir?"

Aero's unusual answer caused him to pause. The employee in front of him wasn't known for his work ethic. Nathaniel's work was by no means bad, but it was never great either. It was acceptable, and that's all it ever was. He would come in to work, and do exactly what was told to him, never more. He never any stayed extra hours when they were short staffed, but it's not as though he was OBLIGATED to. His work was the bare minimum.

"Okay..." Maurice said slowly "Then go chop the vegetables."

"You got it." he said nodding with a smile and rushed off leaving the manager scratching his head.

"Chopping veggies..." Aero grabbed a head of lettuce next to him and skillfully twirled the knife in between his fingers before setting off to chopping. "This job thing isn't so bad, I mean it's a little annoying, but I get to do whatever I want afterwards. I could probably use the money to start a few hobbies too..."

Having finished chopping, he began scraping the lettuce into a large silver strainer when one of the employees lightly bumped into him.

"Ah." Aero's hand recoiled to his chest after feeling pain on his hand. Opening his palm, he noticed a small cut on his index with blood lightly coming out. Aero stared at his finger with a mixture of amusement and confusion. How long had it been since he'd last seen his own blood? A couple years at the very least. With his aura in place, Aero could take considerable blows and remain relatively unfazed. He came back to his senses when he realized something.

"Shoot, I can't chop veggies like this." Aero stealthily took the knife with him as he left not wanting to leave evidence of what happened. Fortunately, the rest of the employees seemed far too busy on their individual tasks to pay any attention to him. He probably could have ridden around the restaurant with a motorbike and they still wouldn't have taken notice. Returning to the bathroom, he placed a sign on the front of the door.

*Busy cleaning, apologies for the inconvenience*

"This is bad." Aero irritatedly grumbled to himself as he rinsed off his finger. The blood kept coming back a few times before it finally stopped leaking. "Shoot...now what? They won't let me handle any food with a band-aid on my finger. And if I don't wear one, then the cut will just reopen if I go back to chopping." He shook his head "Never realized just how useful aura was."

Aero paused for a moment, deep in thought. "Could I...unlock my own aura?"

There were two different documented cases when someone would have unlocked their aura. The most reliable means was having an experienced aura user unlock it for another. While very often strenuous to the person unlocking it, this was a reliable method. The other option was rather different. The user must go through some kind of experience, usually an event in their lives that often leaves an impact on them. This sort of mental change caused the spirit to react as well, unlocking the aura.

"Okay..." he closed his eyes, blocking out the noises from outside. "I can do this."

There was an obvious reason why no one was able to just unlock their own aura at will. They would have to HAVE aura in order to be experienced with it. And there was no such thing as someone who was experienced with aura while not already having it unlocked...until now at least.

Aero's face became visibly contorted, beads of sweat visibly formed on his face. He clenched his jaw and grabbed the ceramic sink to keep from falling over as a burning pain came from his chest.

"Come on." Aero grunted. "Come...ON!"

With one final exertion, the final barrier inside his spirit cracked and shattered, causing him to feel a warm soothing feeling sweeping throughout his entire body. Aero took a moment to catch his breath, watching a weak gray aura coating his body.

"Good grief." the former student took a seat on the toilet to rest and held up a still trembling hand. "The amount of aura that this 'Nathan' has in this body is pitifully low. It's a good thing he's not a huntsman."

Aero narrowed his eyes as the cut on his finger slowly disappeared on it's own as if it were never there in the first place. "Alright." He picked up the bloody knife from before and stabbed it down onto Nathan's hand with a smile. There was a loud clacking sound but the aura protected his limb, and there wasn't a single scratch on the palm.

"Perfect." Aero said satisfied, standing up and dusting himself off. "Let's go chop some veggies."