With one urgent motion of Jacob's right arm and one urgent shaping of his fingers, Martin and Evelyn ceased all motions.

After another few motions, all three Adventurers stepped back. That included Adam because they had shown him what the basic signs meant. Though, it did take a few seconds for him to make the connection before following them.

After they had stepped about ten meters away, Martin suddenly spoke up in confusion. “Boss?”

“He's breaking through. Don't bother him.” Jacob replied, causing both Martin and Evelyn to utter a silent OH.

A moment later, they nodded and agreed to not disturb Paul for the moment. So, the four people remained silent. However, it did not take long for Evelyn to grow bored by staring at Pual’s body without the ability to witness his fluctuating Aura. Instead, she took a glance around herself before catching the unerringly concentrated gaze of her party leader and their newest unofficial member.

Noticing Evelyn's gaze switching between Jacob and Adam, Martin did the same. Though, being less observant, it took him a moment to recognize the problem.

Leaning on Evelyn slightly, Martin whispers. “Do you think he's seeing the same thing as Boss?”

“The same?” Evelyn repeated before shaking her head in denial. “I do not know. But he is definitely seeing something.”

“Sigh…” Sighing, Martin whispered again, though his voice was filled with perplexion. “Just what kind of Methodology did he use to Awaken that allowed him all those Skills right from the start?”

Ceasing her observations, Evelyn looked at Martin as if he looked like an idiot asking her just that, after all, like him, she had used the most common Methodology available to her. However, just as she wanted to retort about his stupidity, just like she always did, a thought came to her. “Are you that curious? Just ask him then since he never told us a name, just a vague, very vague description of its functions.”

Frowning at the possibility, Martin refused to reply immediately. Yet, the more he thought about it, the more his desire grew to know. Still, for the next few moments, he kept that desire down until thought of a good enough excuse in his mind to walk to the kid he now knew as Adam.

“What do you see?” Martin whispered the moment he was by Adam’s side.

The whisper broke Adam’s intense gaze on Paul. Only he refused to say anything at first. Ultimately, Adam was aware that he needed to establish some trust between him and the party, especially due to his very recent revelation.

“Auras.” Adam whispered back. “Specifically, I am observing how a new Color manifests since this is my first time witnessing it. Why do you ask?”

“Just… Just curious since I can't see anything going on.”

“Too bad for you. It's quite interesting and revealing, in my opinion.”

“Right… So… Been thinking about this for a while… Remember our small introduction back when we first met? Ah… I am talking about the one around the campfire when I introduced everybody?”

“I do. What about it?” Adam, slightly curious about what this was about, affirmed the memory.

“So, It just occurred to me that while I introduced everybody else, I forgot to reveal the full introduction of myself due to Evelyn’s outburst.” Martin specified, belaying his own faults. “Still, due to her outburst, you've heard that I am a Yellow Apprentice Adventurer, but it was never revealed what kind of Adventurer. Right?”

Quickly recalling the moment, Adam nodded. “You're right. But unless you're something special, and if I take into account what your companions revealed about themselves, it should be anything but special. Right? At most, it would be something along the lines of Warrior?”

Wincing at the slight verbal jab about being ordinary, Martin quickly recomposed himself as he was already neck deep inside, so he might as well go all the way.

“Technically speaking, Boss and I used the Warrior Methodology to Awaken after our First Nightmare.” Martin explained, though he completely missed the golden side eye glancing at him. “But since there are different Roles, Boss became a Shielder while I, a Swordster.”

“Mmm…” Adam hummed before speaking up. “Martin, my friend. I may only have known you for less than a full day, but I can tell you're not the kind that schemes. Be honest. What do you want to know?”

“Umm… It's obvious that your Methodology is… Unique. With many Skills even though you’ve yet to gain any Colors at First Rank.” Martin finally went to the core of his desire. “Look. I am just curious since it's my first time encountering a Unique Methodology. Ah, I say Unique because I am excluding the Church since theirs is special, I am told. Anyway, can you at least tell me its name?”

“Mmm…” Unloading the little tidbit of information, Adam gave him a name that was partially about his origin, learned from the Artificial Dungeon Portal he was led to, and partially about its core function. “Aurora Unfolding. That is its name.”

“...” Staying quiet for a moment, Martin released a brief sigh. “You are truly not from around here. are you?”

“Something like that.” Adam replied. “Anything else you are curious about?”

“Maybe?” Martin added, yet nothing more came out of his mouth because he could not decide on what was appropriate and what was not. “Can you tell me what Skills it possesses? Mine are Balance, Guard, and Strike.”

“You only have three?” Intrigued, Adam asked, though he refrained from infaring what a Skill actually did. Thankfully, it wasn't hard to extrapolate from the names. “Will you gain more as you go up the stages or ranks?”

“Yes. One per Color for the First Rank, with more awaiting me if I manage to reach the Second Rank.” Martin somewhat proudly replied, but then he recalled that the same went for all the Basic Methodologies the Adventurers Guild shared with their people. “You?”

Remaining quiet for a moment, Adam pondered on what to say. “Sorry, my new friend, but I don't want to blow your ego by telling the truth. Just know that it's a lot more.”

“More at base, or more at First Rank?” Martin asked, not entirely giving up. However, when Adam refused to elaborate on anything without confirming or denying it, his mind simply began to imagine the numbers. “Ten at First Rank?” No reply.

“Fifteen?” Martin forced himself to utter, yet there was still no answer.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Twenty?” Once again, there was no answer, and when Martin observed Adam’s young face from the side, he saw an unmistakable absence of any signs to tell him the truth. “Fine… I don't want to know anymore.” That said, Martin gave up on any further questions and returned to Evelyn, telling her the name before simply refusing to elaborate on anything else.

Meanwhile, Adam wondered about his Methodology, The Five Grandmasteries, the Twenty Masteries, and the hundred and twenty Skills/Petal Combos he possessed right now.

Frowning for a second, Adam dismissed the problem since it was evident there was too much dissimilarity in the Methodologies to reliably compare them with just the little tidbits Martin just revealed.

Instead, he focused on Paul and his newly gained light blue or azure color refusing to stabilize. On the contrary, to Adam’s Aural Vision, it appeared as if the Azure Aura only gained in depth with every moment that passed. When suddenly, it quivered and gave birth, in a manner of speaking, and from its depths, a Blue Aura manifested, enveloping the five beneath it and becoming the first outer layer.

However, as Adam observed, he noticed that while there was more momentum stewing within it, Paul’s breakthrough ceased for the moment.

Likely because he is missing some conditions. Adam noted in his mind. A shame, would have loved to see more.

In truth, it had taken about ten minutes for Paul to go from Green, which was the fourth stage within the First Rank of Essence Mastery, to Blue, the sixth stage. Additionally, the sixth stage was the stage where things became more mystical because the sixth stage was also called the Aural Vision stage, where one gained the ability to see and perceive Aura naturally.

Opening his green eyes, Paul stared at a new world before him. A world seeped in new colors, causing him to remember the excitement of that very first moment he Awakened only to realize that he was no longer a simple commoner but an Adventurer if one who had yet to register himself at that time.

Either way, just as a new world unfolded before him, Pual looked around with slight disbelief that after nine hole years of agonizing lack of growth, he finally broke through, and then, he saw the very first anomaly before him.

Quickly switching between Adam and his other three party members, Paul realized the truth.

“Where is your Aura?”

“Ignore the anomalous kid for now.” Jacob suddenly intervened. “Congratulations on reaching the Blue Stage.”

Firmly reminded of it, Paul voiced out his disbelief. “I… How?”

“How and why? I do not know.” Jacob reasoned out. “However, my guess is that you had long since cleared the condition to progress. You simply buried it deep within your heart that you failed to notice. So the clear condition merged with the Azure Stage blockage since the Azure stage is all about unveiling that which is hidden the deepest within us, no matter how painful it is.” That said, Jacob added one last line. “At least, it is so if your goal is a White Aura. I imagine the Black one has a different requirement.”

“Also… Remember that you have been stewing on your potential for nine years with your hard work?”

“Wait… You mean?”

“Yes. That is exactly what I mean. Expect more breakthroughs in the near future unless, of course, you suck it all up again.”

“I…”

Still having a hard time believing what had just happened, Paul had few words to share. Unfortunately for him, Jacob did not give him the time to process. “Your progress aside. Do you still feel the same reluctance to progress toward the Nightmare Gate now that you broke through?”

“I… Umm… I am not sure.” Paul replied while frowning. Quickly remembering what his problem was, he gave a firmer answer. “But I still think it's suicide if we get caught at any point.”

“Good. Keep thinking that. That means you're sane.” Jacob said, totally serious in his demeanor. “But are you still hesitating to do it? Or will you use your newfound breakthrough to make it less suicidal?”

“Ugh… Fine. Let's do it.” Paul declared angrily. “But if I die right after breaking through, I will be haunting your mother-effing ass for the rest of your life. You hear that?”

“Loud and clear.” Jacob replied with a smirk, after all, for the first time since he met Paul, the man had cursed at him instead of bottling it up. Moreover, Jacob was sure more changes were coming. “Now, use your newfound Skills and guide us to our destination, Ranger!”

“Yes… I mean. I will.” At the same moment, Paul ignored everything else and focused on his new and improved sight to once again make sense of his surroundings. Still, when he saw the footprints on the ground, he was reminded of just where to start.

“Track!”

Not quite seeing the result, he quickly recalled the instructions his father had so long ago told him and tried again by mustering his Essence to his throat before calling out the Skills name.

“Track!”

Immediately, the already impressive view around him became even more spectacular with details and impressions.

Regardless, just as he wanted to focus on it, a young male voice reached his ears.

“Trace.”

Turning around, Paul stared at the kid and bellowed out in annoyance. “What?”

Not replying immediately, Adam walked toward him and spoke again, only slowly, word by word. “T… R… A… C… E.”

“What?”

“Remember my vocal movements. My tongue motions and the sounds they produce. T… R… A… C… E.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because there is more to the Human Tongue than simple innate understanding between us.” Adam replied. “It's a Magical language, and since you'll be guiding us, You will need the extra juice. So repeat after me. T… R… A… C… E.”

“Humor the kid.” Jacob ordered from the side.

“Fine.” Paul replied grumpily because not even a few moments after his breakthrough, the kid was already belittling his success. Still, he did it and went through multiple emulations before acquiring the perfect tone.

“Good enough. Try your Skill again.”

Nodding, Paul just did that, however, the moment his Essence touched his throat and he uttered the new word and pronunciation out, and when did, he instantly noticed a difference.

The new word reverberated not just with his throat but his whole body, almost like that was how it was meant to be.

Though, in truth, Paul did not notice too much difference.

Probably because he was too new to using his new visual prowess. Regardless, he took any advantage he could right now when he reoriented his attention to the footprints around him.

That was when he noticed new impressions left upon the world, one not originating from physical touch but aural ones. Additionally, he distinguished them with ease, as if every Aura was unique, which it was to his knowledge. Nonetheless, there was one that stood out more than others, much more.

Not only because it was stronger but because it seemed to impress a sick sensation on everything it touched.

Whatever it did and however it did, Paul was certain who did it.

“Jake… I think I can confirm the Grandmaster theory.”

“Unfortunate… But it does not change things.” Jacob told the team. “We will follow the tracks till they are too fresh for our safety. Then we will switch paths and rely on you, Paul, to lead us around them or through them if need be. Understood!”

“Understood.” That said, that was what he did.

Paul led them until he could no more, and the tracks delivered onto him the splendors of imminent proximity. Sharing one look at his party, he did not even bother saying anything and simply did what a Ranger was supposed to do.

He led his party toward their destination.

Multiple times, he'd reference the rough map indicating the location of the Nightmare Gate, but even that ultimately reached an ultimatum. No matter how he scrutinized or theorized, there was simply no way forward without alerting the enemy.

Shaking his head, Paul explained his problem, but Jacob already knew the solution.

“Here is what we will do.” Jacob announced, and it was clear that he would not allow any backtalk this time.