When Adion got back to his cave after his training session with Fellion, he noticed another presence already there, one he was very familiar with by now.
“White! You’re back! How did the hunting go?” Adion asked in an excited tone.
“Woof woof!” The big white wolf jumped up and barked happily when he heard Adion's voice. Even though White had always had extremely white fur, it seemed to Adion that it had gotten even whiter somehow.
“I guess there aren’t many beasts in the area that are a match for you. In this snow, you should be unbeatable. You seem a little different, though.”
“Woof woof!”
“Oh, you have reached the high Silver stage. Congratulations! I guess that is why your fur is a bit different.”
Adion had heard from Fellion that beasts usually change appearance as they get stronger. Most beasts get bigger, like Fellion, who towered over Adion despite being an owl. But there were also other differences, like changes in fur, scales, and feathers. The color of eyes could change, and sometimes beasts could transform into a completely different size and shape from one major stage to the next.
White seemed to get a whiter and more radiant fur as he advanced. His eyes shone with a sharp silver, now with a touch of golden light in them. Adion tried sensing White’s element now that he knew a little about what to look for, but he couldn’t get a clear grasp. He could rule out space and fire, but other than that, he wasn’t entirely sure.
I know he should have a snow core, but I can’t feel it yet.
“Well, even if my advancement speed has slowed down a little, it won’t be long before I surpass you, White. You should continue to work hard, or you will be left behind.”
Adion and White continued their conversation, which was not so one-sided anymore. White had been away for over a month, fighting enemy beasts. Thankfully, running into beasts stronger than White is not common, at least not in this part of the Endless Forest.
After telling White that he should continue to be careful while hunting in the future, Adion started his mana practice, with White lying down to rest beside him.
The next day went by the same way as the previous, and by the end of the day, Adion had gotten a firm grasp of the part of his aura that revealed his space element. He was not very good at hiding it yet, but thanks to his practice in hiding his strength, his progress was a little smoother.
“Well, it seems you have this under control now. All that is left is practice. I will once again let you train by yourself for a while before moving on to the last thing I will have time to teach you. Practice diligently because our next session will be the most difficult part of your training so far,” Fellion told Adion.
“Isn’t it better to move on right away? Now that I can practice by myself, I should make the most of the time I have you here to teach me.”
“No. It is better to focus on this one thing for now to get a clear grasp on this part of your aura. It will be crucial. I promise I’m not trying to deceive you. I truly believe this is the best way for you to learn as much as possible. Focus and practice diligently, and you will be fine.”
“Okay then, thank you as always, teacher.”
“Hmm,” Fellion gave a nod and flew away.
I fear Fellion isn’t planning on giving me any vacation, even I have some days for rest every year. Oh well, I should not waste this opportunity and train hard. I can take a short rest once I get back to civilization. I am falling behind a little on my physical exercise, though. Now that I don’t have Fellion waiting for me, I should start my mornings with some sword practice and physical exercise.
The days continued to pass one by one as spring once more approached. Adion spent some time doing physical training, and he found that he could practice his aura control at the same time. He would need to hide things while fighting in the future anyway, so he thought it was good to get used to it.
After two months of training by himself, Adion could now hide his space core much better. In Adion's mind, his hidden space element was kept about 5 inches off his body. He didn’t know how well that would be able to hide it from people looking, but he was happy with his improvement.
His ability to hide his strength had improved as well. He was now comfortable keeping his strength down to high Iron stage and could hold it 4 inches off his body. He was even comfortable doing all this while fighting. It took some focus away, resulting in him not being able to hide it as well as when he sat still and solely focused on it, but he was improving in both areas.
And that was even more impressive considering Adion had finally advanced to middle Bronze during this period. Adion was now very happy he had found a way to hide his strength, as he was confident that although a few people might be able to reach middle Bronze when they started at Cyalis Academy, no one was high Bronze. And Adion was middle Bronze at only 14 years old. He began to believe he might actually reach Silver by the time he was 17 and came to Cyalis.
He had no intention of revealing that kind of strength; it would just start the questions leading to his space core and the strange power he had gotten from the wisdom pills. Adion had decided to only reveal peak Iron strength when he returned, reveal low Bronze strength after a year or two, and finally middle Bronze strength when he arrived at Cyalis.
He would pretend to be a fire mage among other people, even though he was much weaker in fire than an average fire mage his strength. But Adion had practiced a lot with his fire mana and had taken a Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill. He believed that was enough for him to fool people.
Adion still somewhat wanted to use his space powers as well, though. He thought that maybe he could freeze space without anyone noticing, as his space mana wasn’t visible to the naked eye, and most people wouldn’t be able to feel it through their mana sense.
Adion decided to ask Fellion about it as he saw the big owl walking towards him.
“You have improved a lot,” Fellion said, “Keep in mind, though, that I can still see through you clearly, and you never know who might have specialized in sensing elements and how well they can see through you, so be careful and continue practicing.”
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
“Yes, I know. Don’t worry, I will make sure to reach a stage where not even you can see through me.” Adion said with a slight grin. He then asked Fellion, “By the way, I won’t be able to use my space magic when I return if I don’t want to reveal my space core. But can’t I still use it sneakily? Like freezing space for a short time? I don’t think many people can notice the increase of space mana with their mana sense.”
“Hmm,” Fellion mused, “Maybe not mages at your stage. But this is certainly not a bulletproof plan. Sooner or later, the truth will come out. Perhaps you can freeze space openly and claim it as a Gift of Ganta. That is a much more plausible explanation than you having a core of the space element after all.”
That’s a great idea! But I don’t know much about Gifted. Can I really fool people when they start asking questions?
“I know Gifted have special powers that cannot really be explained, but what exactly is a Gift of Ganta?” Adion asked.
“I don’t know more than the sapi, but I might know more than you. As far as I know, having a Gift of Ganta is incredibly rare and highly sought after. Those who have such powers are called Gifted. They can do magic that cannot be explained or learned.
“Everyone with a fire spark can be taught how to conjure a fireball as well as how to increase size, heat, and speed. It will take practice, but there is a well-known theory on how to accomplish it. But a Gifted can do things outside their element, such as flying, healing, and telepathy. At least I have heard of sapi and beasts with those powers. It is a very rare thing, and every Gifted, no matter the ability, is highly valued by the top powers of the continent. Even if one were poor, weak, and without connection, one would, without a problem, get in the Diamond class at Cyalis Academy. Something I believe you are interested in.
“Even if someone you knew before discovers this, it wouldn’t raise any warning signal as no one is born Gifted. The power almost always manifests itself in a life-and-death situation. Like the Comet, the famous mage of a Noble family in the Alago Empire who has reached Diamond with a fire core and is Gifted with the ability to fly. According to the story, the Comet was hunted by some beasts along with his brother in his youth. They ran in such a panic that they accidentally fell off a steep and high cliff. When the Comet saw his brother fall to his death, he felt such an intense desire to save him that he managed to make not just the fire mana obey him as had been the case his entire life. Now, his Will affected gravity itself and gave him the power to fly and save himself and his brother.
“This did not mean he suddenly got an affinity to gravity mana, if that even exists, the Comet can not do anything besides flying. This is why Gifts are so strange. They are a single strange power that can be in any element and do anything. It can’t really be improved either.
“Of course, countless people die and see their loved ones die every day without awakening such powers. It is incredibly rare. It is also so far impossible to recreate. When the Gifted try to explain how to use their power, it seems impossible to recreate. If someone with a fire core wants to throw a fireball, he can slowly practice mana sense and mana control. Practice manipulating fire for years and, either by himself or with a teacher's help, finally manipulate fire in a way he has intended with his Will. But according to a Gifted, you just have to Will the thing, and it will happen, no countless small steps to follow but all at once.
“Of course, people try to recreate it, some even jumping off cliffs in their effort to. But so far, no one has been able to learn the ability of a Gifted by doing so. It is seen by most as a gift of the world itself, by Ganta, hence its name,” Fellion finished his lengthy monologue.
“Wow. You know a lot about the sapi part of the continent. I’ve only heard the name ‘The Comet’; I never heard the story of how he got his powers.” Adion said.
“I am interested in all kinds of knowledge, and few things are more interesting than the powers that Gifted wield. If you find out anything about their power in the future as you infiltrate as one of them, I would be very pleased to hear what you have learned.”
“Sure, I will let you know. But I’m not planning to infiltrate them or anything. Is there such a thing as a group of Gifted sharing secret information?” Adion asked.
“Probably not, but it would be convenient now, wouldn’t it?”
“Mm, I guess so,” Adion answered, confused if Fellion was serious or just joking around.
Both options seem weird. Let’s just ignore it.
“Well, enough about the Gifted, and on to the last part of your training,” Fellion said.
“We will move on to the last part that I believe to be essential for any mage with aura control—hiding your presence. This can be done in a theoretically easy way: simply pull in all your aura, and there isn’t anything there for anyone to sense. Unfortunately, that is very difficult in practice. If you thought pulling in just a few parts of your aura was hard, this will demand almost impossibly more power. It will also not be easy to take hold of, even though it is not simply a part of your aura you most locate, but all of it. But sensing all of your aura is no easy task either. I believe we will have to work together on this for a long time.”
“So the idea is to pull in every part of my aura? That seems to be impossible.”
“It is probably impossible for you, yes. But to go unnoticed, you don’t need to hide your aura completely. Remember that even though your space mana is not hidden from me, it would take a human expert to find it. And he would have to specifically look for it. So even though your aura isn’t hidden completely, if no one is looking for you, you will go unnoticed.”
“I see, so if someone is looking at me and trying to sense my aura, they would be able to sense me, but if I was hidden and they didn’t know to sense an aura, then I would go unnoticed?”
“In a way, yes. But there are many things you can do to expose and hide yourself. I believe human assassins are all trained in this. It is crucial to be calm. If your mind is buzzing with thought, this will be reflected in your aura. Remember that most normal people who have not developed a core wouldn’t be able to sense your presence even without you hiding your aura. But there are exceptions, such as killing intent. As far as I know, all living beings are innately sensitive to killing intent. If you wish to kill someone, you can not let it show through your aura. Even a common child without magic would be able to sense it.
“Your strength is also something you need to reign in, as this is something many mages can notice. In fact, just hiding your strength completely will go a long way in hiding your presence, and this way of going about it is somewhat of a perfectionist angle. But I believe this will help you in many areas in the future. To be able to feel all of your aura is very difficult, but it will give you greater overall control, and it will be easier for you to find new parts of your aura in the future.
“Anyway, we should start. Close your eyes and try to reign in all of your aura. You will not manage to grab ahold of all of it, so grab all you can feel. I will then probe all over your aura so that you can grab hold of the missing parts.”
“Alright, I’m ready to start.” Adion readily answered.
Adion focused on his aura and tried to feel all of it. He could easily grab the parts that revealed his space core, his strength, and, to a large degree, his intent, but his aura contained everything he was. As Fellion probed him, he could feel parts of his aura he didn’t know about yet. It was very hard to hold everything at once, and it felt like as soon as he tried to hold on to something new, something else would slip out of his grasp. After a while, he managed to somewhat hold onto parts of his aura that he didn’t really know what they entailed. When the day came to an end, he asked Fellion about it.
“It seems that a lot of my aura reveals things I don’t even know.”
“Yes, that is obvious. Even for me, a lot of my own aura eludes me. I can feel your aura, but a lot of it tells me nothing, or perhaps it tells me many things, but I cannot decipher it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t control it to a degree. I advise you to continue studying your own aura and the aura of others. Experiment with it, and who knows what you might find. Anyway, good work today. I will continue to train you going forward, as this part will prove very difficult without someone to point out the parts of your aura that you have missed. When you can grab hold of your entire aura consistently, you can continue to practice hiding it by yourself in the future. Hopefully, you will reach that degree of control in the remaining four months.”