“This is a Blue Healing Pill I made recently,” Dellia said as she pulled out a light green pill.

“How do you know that it’s a Blue pill?” Adion asked.

“I can feel it through the pill’s aura,” Dellia said.

“Pills have aura?” Adion asked, surprised.

“Well,” Dellia hesitated, “I’m not sure if it’s the same kind of aura that sapi and beasts have, but that’s what I’ve been taught it's called.”

Interesting. It shouldn’t be aura, right? When I felt almost like a presence from the pills I found at the old Celestial Phoenix Sect, I thought it was my mana sense that reacted. But I guess I didn’t have much of an aura sense by that time to tell the difference.

But aura is a thing of the soul. I doubt pills have souls.

“How do you feel it exactly?” Adion asked.

“I’m not sure,” Dellia said, “I’ve just been around pills and elixirs for a long time, and eventually I got a feel for it.”

Hm. I should practice telling the difference between the grades of pills. I’m curious what kind of sense picks it up.

Wait a minute. If she can feel the difference between Blue and Green pills, what about my pills? Can she feel them? She shouldn’t have done so yet, I guess. But if I take them out of my case, she would probably definitely be able to.

Wait! Damn! I forgot the Supreme Healing Pill of Mesana I carry in my pocket. I’ve gotten so used to it being there that I had forgotten. But how can she not feel it right now? We’re sitting pretty close, and this is a pill made from an actual goddess. It would be like someone practiced in feeling the difference in aura between Stone and Iron mages suddenly faces Fellion with his strength on full display. No chance they could miss him.

Is this a case of ‘that’s just how aura works’? I can’t assume that. Maybe my own aura is getting in the way somehow, or maybe pills don’t actually have aura. It’s something else. I need to figure out how it works before I accidentally get myself into trouble.

Adion shuffled away a bit from Dellia and put hand the pill he carried in his pocket. His heart beating slightly faster.

“Now it’s your turn,” Dellia said excitedly, “How can you fight Silver beasts?”

“Oh yeah,” Adion had forgotten about their deal, “It’s better if I show you. Do you mind?”

“Of course not. Go ahead,” Dellia said.

“It’s not going to hurt, but it might be a little scary. Are you ready?” Adion asked.

Dellia hesitated for a second but eventually nodded her head. “I’m ready.”

Adion took command over the space surrounding Dellia. He then Willed it to freeze, not allowing anything but him to move through it. He could feel how Dellia was stuck in his grip. She was only a low Bronze mage and stood no chance against Adion.

This is kind of scary. It feels good to be more powerful than someone else. It’s kind of addictive.

Adion felt that he could keep her frozen for a long time, but he had already shown what he could do, and there was no reason to show off at the expense of scaring Dellia too much, so he let go, and Dellia could finally breathe again.

“What…” She stared at Adion wide-eyed, “What just happened?”

“I know the feeling, girl,” Rufus said, “We all reacted in a similar way the first time Adion showed his Gift to us.”

“So you’re Gifted,” Dellia said in realization, “What an amazing Gift! And you can do this even to Silver beasts?”

“Yes, but the stronger my opponent's Will is, the harder it is to hold them still,” Adion answered.

“Incredible,” Dellia said in a low voice, “A bronze mage at such a young age, and you’re Gifted as well. You’ll definitely get into the diamond class at Cyalis, you know. How luck- Eh, how powerful you’ll become!”

“Mm, I will,” Adion nodded. He understood her hesitation using the word ‘lucky.’ Even if a lot of things could differ from one Gifted to another, one thing remained true for every Gifted. No one gets a Gift surrounded by family in the safety of your home.

“Don’t forget me when you get to the top, alright?” Rufus said with a smile.

“Don’t worry, Rufus,” Adion said with a slight grin, “A god needs his followers, right?”

Rufus stared at Adion with his mouth open. Then he let out a thunderous laughter that echoed through the camp, probably waking up any people who had managed to sleep already.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Adion, we’re getting ready to leave. Make sure you get something to eat.” Adion woke up the following day to Benji’s voice calling him outside his tent.

“Alright, I’m coming.” Adion yawned and stretched his body. He hadn’t slept for long as he and Rufus had stayed up half the night keeping watch.

When Adion put his head out of the tent, he noticed that the sun hadn’t risen yet, but it was still fairly bright outside.

Do we really have to leave before sunrise? I’m not sure escort missions are worth it. Adion thought grumpily. He was fine going without much sleep, but he didn’t like going off someone else’s schedule, especially since he was having a good dream.

“Got a good night’s sleep?” Benji asked as he saw Adion stepping up to the campfire to grab some freshly grilled meat.

“Until I was woken up,” Adion responded.

“Oh? Grumpy Adion?” Sahra looked up with a grin, “That’s a rare sight.”

“He’s just a teenager, after all,” Benji stated calmly.

I’m grumpy? Adion tried focusing on his aura to feel his mood better. It was a little different but hard to pinpoint exactly. Adion was used to feeling a certain stress and pressure in his aura; he didn’t usually have the peace of mind to act grumpily.

“Sorry,” Adion said with a serious expression, “I shouldn’t lose focus.”

“Haha, relax, Adion,” Benji smiled, “It’s fine not to be on high alert all the time. It’s technically still Sahra’s and my watch, so eat and relax.”

“Mm,” Adion sat down and started filling his stomach.

“Bah! Why do we have to leave before the sun even rises?” Rufus loudly grumbled as he came walking over.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“See? You should be more like Rufus,” Benji said.

“I don’t think you know what you’re saying,” Sahra said with a doubtful look.

“Wise words, Benji!” Rufus smiled and put his hand on Benji’s shoulder, “I knew you were the boss for a reason.”

“Morning, Rufus,” Adion greeted while eating.

“Well, if it isn’t Adion the Beast Freezer,” Rufus said with a grin.

I knew I shouldn’t have told him about that.

“Oh?” Sahra was interested, “The peak Baby mage goes by many names I hear.”

“Why am I the only one ending up with stupid nicknames,” Adion muttered.

“You have to do cool stuff to get cool nicknames,” Rufus advised.

“What’s not cool about freezing stronger opponents still in space, rendering them unable to move?” Adion questioned.

“I guess that’s pretty cool,” Rufus admitted.

“What do you want to be called?” Benji asked.

“I don’t know,” Adion shrugged, “Just Adion is fine.”

“A name can indeed be mightier than any alias,” Lomin said as he walked over, “As a person gets more renowned through their life, their name carries a heavier weight. Just look at Pelli, anyone who hears that name can feel the story behind it.”

“Only if you’ve actually heard the Primordial Story,” Rufus said.

“I don’t think so,” Lomin said with his usual calm smile, “Words carry power. I don’t understand even the surface of it, but it’s a truth that can’t be doubted.”

Is that true? Adion thought to himself. Lomin has a way of saying things that make everything that comes out of his mouth sound like the truth, but that doesn’t mean everything is.

“Alright,” Benji interrupted Adion’s thoughts, “Gustad and his family are looking ready to move, so we should hurry.”

It didn’t take long to take down their tents and get ready to leave. Adion’s mood improved as the sun showed itself by the horizon, warming his slightly cold body again.

After a few hours of walking, the group passed by a slightly hilly area. Benji warned Adion and the rest of the group to be on guard, as this was a terrain perfect for ambushes.

For the first hour, nothing special happened, but Adion still had his focus on his space sphere and aura sense.

Suddenly, Adion felt something. Two large beasts were hiding behind a small hill in front of them. Adion felt their shape through his space mana sense.

Some type of bears? What’s their strength?

Now that Adion noticed where they were, he could feel their presence, but he had no idea how strong they were.

“Benji,” Adion said, “Two bear-like beasts are behind that hill. I don’t know how strong they are.”

Benji’s face turned serious. He thought for a second before yelling, “Beasts! Stay in the carriages. Rufus, stay behind and guard them. The rest of you follow me!”

Adion saw that everyone in Gustad’s family who had opted to walk got a scared look and hurried to their carriages. Even if a few of them were mages, they were only Bronze, and this area was filled with Silver beasts.

Benji rushed ahead, and Adion, Sahra, and Lomin came up behind him.

Adion could feel that the two beasts had felt them approaching, which was not surprising as their aura sense trumped Adion’s group greatly.

“They’re running away,” Adion said as he felt the beasts' movement through space.

“We follow!” Benji yelled, “Lomin, hurry ahead. Try to slow them down if you can. We won’t be able to match their speed. Since they’re running, they shouldn’t be too strong.”

Lomin was a wind mage and the fastest of the group. Even if he couldn’t fly, he could run.

Lomin distanced himself a bit from the group and released crazy amounts of wind behind him to push himself ahead. Adion wanted to do something to help, so he focused on the beasts as they were almost out of his space mana’s reach and called on space to heed his Will.

Freeze.

The beasts froze momentarily, but they carried a great momentum, taking a lot more Will to freeze than if they had been standing still. Adion was also far away, making it more challenging for him to use his Authority. The beasts weren’t even frozen for a second, but they had lost all their momentum.

Adion came around the small hill and finally saw the two beasts a distance away. They were Heavy Earth Bears. As they had been attacked by Adion, they didn’t bother hiding their strength anymore and showed off their low Silver aura.

“Only low Silver!” Adion yelled. The rest of his team would surely notice soon, but every second might count.

“Lomin, go all out!” Benji yelled.

Lomin, who had now almost caught up with the beasts, conjured vast amounts of wind, wind that Adion now realized was loaded with the concept of sharpness. It cut into the beasts, and pieces of fur and tiny drops of blood flew around wildly. No significant damage was done, but it worked wonders to slow them down.

The two beasts turned around and charged towards the group instead, as there was no running anymore.

Benji shot out a big ball of fire to one of the beasts, and Sahra spayed the other with small bullets of fire.

Can fire be more solid, a concept of hardness? Or stable like my space?

Adion didn’t think long about it as he noticed that the fire from his two companions didn’t have any Will holding onto it.

Don’t mind if I do.

Adion used his Authority over the small amount of fire that had caught on to the beast Benji attacked.

It’s stronger. It’s hotter.

Adion smiled. He could feel that the fire was different from the one he conjured himself. If the fire were allowed to continue burning, it would surely lose this ability as soon as the Will of the world took over. But Adion was quick; he had Authority over this fire now, and he wanted those concepts to remain. What could the world do about it?

Adion manipulated the flame away from the beast's hide, where the attack had landed, and made an attack of his own with the fire. Adion’s favorite spot, its face, and particularly its eyes, got smashed by Adion’s well-controlled flames.

Burn. Adion Willed. Hotter and dig deeper.

Benji stopped for a second and stared at his fire acting so strangely before turning to look at Adion.

“How is that fair?” He asked with a tired smile.

It only took a few seconds for Adion to kill the beast using Benji’s fire. Sahra and Lomin also quickly got their opponent down on the ground. It was only two low Silver beasts, after all.

“What’s going on?” Sahra asked.

“Benji was kind enough to lend me his fire,” Adion said with a bright smile.

“I don’t remember lending you anything,” Benji said in a slightly grumpy tone.

“Then you shouldn’t have let go of it with your Will. What a waste of concepts.” Adion shook his head scoldingly.

“That…” Sahra hesitated, “You can do that?”

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

“But…” Sahra said.

“Don’t think about it,” Benji sighed and then turned to look at Adion, “I’m finding a Moonlight Oak as soon as we get to Wender.”

“Sounds good,” Adion agreed. He could understand Benji's curiosity. Without Authority, it would still be possible to do what Adion had done, but why would anyone waste Will to take control over fire when you had a core full of fire mana? And the Will of the world would just struggle for control right away. But Adion had used Benji’s fire and even made use of his concepts. To do the same without Authority would take great skill in mana control and a really strong Will. Anyone strong enough to do so would just waste their time as they would have even better concepts in their own core.

What a pleasant discovery. Adion thought to himself.

And those concepts seem a lot closer than just a moment ago. Who needs to wait for moments of inspiration when you can just take others' hard work for yourself?

It had been a while since Adion had such trouble keeping himself from smiling.

Sahra and Lomin decided to heed Benji’s advice and let the questions go for the moment. They made their way back to the carriages with the beast’s bodies and were met with many relieved faces.

“Why did we have to chase them, by the way?” Adion asked.

“Hm?” Benji said and looked over, “It’s always a good thing to clean up beasts that wander in the Empire. We will get a reward from the Outskirt Guild for doing so. And Silver beasts are not dumb, even if they’re not as intelligent as sapi yet. Who knows if they came from a stronger group of beasts and were on their way to report our location and strength.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Adion said, “Is it this dangerous in every Kingdom and Empire?”

Adion thought it was weird that nothing more was done about Silver beasts running around killing people within the Empire's borders.

“I’m not sure, but I would say so,” Benji said with a serious expression, “It’s a dangerous world, Adion. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re safe just because you’re away from the Outskirts.”

Don’t worry, if it’s one mistake I only plan on doing once, it’s that.