Chapter - 2 : Aura & Armed

"Are you ready son?" My father asked as he stood in front of me. There was a heavy silence.

We were in the backyard right at the time when the sun was just peeking from the horizon. My mother looking over us from the veranda.

"Yeah Dad, whatever it is that you are planning to do to me," I replied in my flat usual flat tone.

He placed his hand on my head and told me to close my eyes and clear my mind. Soon, I felt a pulse on my head and a strange kind of heat.

"It is by Will we forge our future. Through this, we become a paragon of an Ideal and Profoundness to overcome our mortality. Infinite in hope and unbound by the shadow, I release thy soul, and by my shoulder, I honour thee." He chanted in a solemn voice.

Something inside me I never knew existed shattered like glass and I was flooded with this warm energy like a blanket. I was filled with this strange sense of power that I never felt before, a fire was lit inside me which took me a few moments to compose myself.

I opened my eyes and looked at my hands. They shimmered with a while glow, alongside my whole body before fading away.

'Fascinating.' Midst my shock, I saw my dad having a wide grin.

"You have an insane amount of Aura, son." My father told proudly.

"I suppose that's a good thing," I asked to clarify while moving my body and knocking on the ground.

"It absolutely is!" He exclaimed. Patting his son's back. "Let's have a special meal to celebrate."

As they made their way back to the house where Pearl was waiting, humming a soft tune.

'You have no idea son, the bust of initial Aura when yours was unlocked knocked down most of the things nearby.'

"Could you please prepare one of your specials today honey?" He requested as we all made our way to the dining hall.

"Of course dear. I'm glad it all went well. How are you feeling Grey?" She asked me while she pumped herself up for the special task at hand.

"I feel as if I satisfied a strange kind of hunger I never knew existed," I replied with some thought and sat on my chair.

The meal was prepared rather quickly and we all enjoyed it. In the middle of the meal, dad started to explain what exactly Aura was. It appeared to be a bit simplified for a 4-year-old to understand.

In essence, Aura is an ability that all those with a soul can use, at least with enough practice. Because Aura is the manifestation of the soul, it can appear very differently depending on who is using it. It can be used offensively and defensively. Though it is predominantly used for protection from harm.

He also explained that there are unique powers known as a Semblance. It is developed from a person's Aura and typically helps in battle against Grimm. A "Semblance" is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power as an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. The nature of one's Semblance is noted as representing an aspect of their character. They are like muscles and are able to grow and evolve.

"S-so what's your Semblance dad?" I asked, trying to take in the supernatural aspect of this reality.

"My Semblance allows me to see a few seconds into the future which later evolved to give a premonition in the form of a gut feeling, followed by a flurry of Indigo feathers. Impressive no?" he asked with a smirk.

"..."

"Grey? Are you not gonna ask your mom's Semblance?" She asked with a pout.

"I was gonna ask mom. Of course, I wanna know what your semblance is." I quickly replied. It had become quite clear to me in these few years that in some aspects my mom was quite childish.

"Ah! I'm glad you asked. My semblance allows me to control all kinds of vegetation. Initially, it was just small plants but how I can control any form of vegetation and its various aspects." She had a wide smile as if the previous frown was a lie. She pumped her chest in pride that seemed to say, 'Mom's awesome right?'

"....I see. Wa-Wao mom that's amazing." With a twitch in my brow.

'Are all semblance this world breaking?! How do people maintain order in this world? How is humanity even alive? My dad has future sight and my mom can literally control an aspect of Nature. I hope they are the exceptions and not the norm.'

I silently prayed in my mind.

"Oh, I almost forgot, your training will start tomorrow. Steel yourself for what is to come, refusal is not an option." I could see the worry in mom's eyes with her shoulders stiffening and a bit of reluctance in my father's, but it faded as quickly as it came. But his blank face told me all that I needed to know.

"Why can't I refuse?" I asked with some heat. I needed to know the purpose behind this preparation and the secrets of my family.

"You need to be worthy and strong to inherit our family's Legacy. Furthermore, you need to be ready to enrol into one of the Huntsman Academies when you become 17 years old."

After which he explained what a Huntsman is. Huntsmen and Huntresses are licensed elite warriors dedicated to slaying the Creatures of Grimm and whose duty is to "uphold the peace" of their world. They are the best and brightest warriors of Remnant, ranking higher than Kingdom police and even military, in terms of strength, and skill.

I got an answer, but not 'the' answer. We both know this, but it seems he deemed it was too early for me to learn them. I don't blame him. I would not tell a 4-year-old about the true gravity of his future either.

'Childhood is a short season, to not cherish it would be a great loss.'

"What if I don't want to be a Huntsman?" My mom flinched at my question.

"Sorry son, but you don't have a choice in the matter. You will receive training and at least get a Huntsman licence. Either you comply peacefully or I'll have to do this by force."

His tone was firm, with no room for any negotiation. His head hung low while my mother didn't dare to meet my eyes.

The air weighted on the parents like a mountain on their back. My mother was looked as if she about to break down into tears. While my Father had a pained expression.

Sigh~

"I understand Father. I will meet you outside tomorrow morning. Good Night Mom."

I didn't wait to properly see their reaction and left. I just saw a glimpse of relief and guilt on my parents.

And thus my training began. I was quick to realise that my dad was a sadist...no, not really but it felt like that sometimes. Even my mom participated after overcoming her guilt in a few weeks to help me train. As if I wasn't suffering enough from a future seeing master of close combat, now I had to deal with mother nature.

They were a perfect combination of a mage and fighter archetype. Even without future sight, they were a couple, so coordination was no problem but with his semblance...It's a perfect harmony of man and nature, with me on the receiving end...

Mom would throw solid barrages of leaves and sticks at me that I would have to dodge and be wary of small vines around my feet and big trunks of vines trying to puncture a hole in me, she would do all of this with a benevolent smile on her face. Which to me slowly started to appear more and more malevolent.

For the first few weeks, all I was told by dad was -

"Dodge as if your life depends on it."

And dodge I did. Attempted to, at least. I was beaten black and blue and it didn't go any easier from there. Especially after mom joined in. I got hit, smacked, choked, bruised, thrown, pierced, punched, kicked in ways I never knew possible and my body was abused to the extend I was wondering if would cause some future complications.

It made me wonder about my life choices. or lack thereof.

But Aura would heal everything. Insignificant cuts and minor wounds would be gone in seconds to minutes, while any greater injury would take hours to days and broken bones mended in less than a week.

When I was too injured to train my dad would teach me material on the level of pre-school to Elementary school as the years rolled by.

When I turned 6, dad took me to the basement of our house that I never knew existed and it was comparable to a government facility. It was a whole floor with many rooms and the walls were made of really solid material.

" I know you have had many questions for a long time now son, especially now that I have shown you this. You have been very patient with us, I and your mom are really grateful for your understanding. You have always been more mature than your age, so I hope you can wait for a few more years. I'll tell you a big portion of it when you turn 12 years old." He gently told me as we reach the end of the corridor in front of a metal door.

"It's ok dad, I can wait. As long as you are willing to tell me someday. But why are we here?"

"We are here to so that you can finally pick a weapon for yourself." He spoke with a grin, as he opened the metal door. Light blinding me for a moment,

"Lo and Behold! This is our family's armoury that contains the accumulation of weapons, armour, articles of clothing, etc. that our predecessors have deemed worthy to be passed on to the future generation of our family." My dad declared while dramatically spreading his arms.

"Woah." Promptly ignoring my dad's antics, I was truly impressed at the assortment of weapons and armour. But once again made me question my family's agriculture business.

I walked around the rows and rows of shelves and showcases. After 30 mins of roaming around in this library of weapons, I picked a few things.

A platinum suitcase of 12 high-quality black knives infused with gravity Dust.

A pair of black gloves reinforced with a metal alloy, also sewed with gravity dust.

Both these were a set, to recall the knives once thrown and perform manoeuvres if possible.

A sci-fi looking black pistol that had golden engravings and a super heavyweight, semi-automatic sniper rifle of the highest class, scope the size of a small water bottle, among other add-ons. As to why I know so much about the sniper? Well, the label said so. Its case looks like a fancy metal guitar case with some wood for aesthetics and apparently when kept inside the whole case can turn into a small cannon. Moreover, there is gravity Dust in this as well to reduce the insane weight to bearable amount which is still too heavy for a 6-year-old.

Then, I picked a large (maybe a bit too large for my age) dark red cloth which somehow was able to regulate temperature, environment resistant, pierce and cut resistance and can harden when infused with aura. I was planning to use this as a scarf and a hood to cover my head/face when needed.

And finally a Katana. Why a katana? It was the only thing that was not a mecha shift weapon. I already had guns so a katana work just fine for large enemies that my knives would be too small to deal any damage. It also can be infused with all sorts of Dust.

pft

Seeing me struggle to drag all sorts of heavy weaponry to the door made my dad burst out in laughter.

"Are you trying to go wage a war or something son?" He asked. Still laughing.

"Heh, with the training you both are putting me through, I might as well prepare for one. Now stop laughing and help me!" As I pointed at the 'Guitar Case'.

"Hump* I guess we need to up your training a bit for you to be able to wield these efficiently." He grinned menacingly.

sigh*

At this point, I had accepted the reality that I was currently in. So I knew, the best way to face the upcoming hellish training was to stand straight, shoulders back and take the onslaught head-on.

"I don't even care at this point. So what's for dinner dad?"

"Oh! It's a feast today my son. It's your mom's special chicken recipe!"

"I call dips on the leg piece!"

"Hey!... Then I call dips on the breasts!"

With such banter, both father and son made their way out of the basement while carrying what could be labelled as mini weapons of mass destruction. It was both heartwarming and a chilling sight if anyone was present to see it.