The whole debacle my roommate caused last night was still creating waves the next day. The dorm manager found out, leading to all the guys being led out. I'd already managed to get cleaned up before then. Turns out, about half the guys were in on it with Vance.

When I found a moment back in the dorm room, I wrote a letter to Vance, giving him some answers to what he asked at the bathhouse. I wrote about the blessing of the world and hinted that something might have changed my blood, but I didn't say what. I also gave a quick overview of my story and how I ended up here. That should be enough for him. At the end of the letter, I asked about the man he mentioned.

Shortly after, the dorm manager called all the boys to his office. Innocent or not, we were all scolded and assigned some night duties to clean the dorm, which…let’s say, I was only half useful in doing. The cleaning in peace had given me inspiration for a few ideas. Then, everyone was told to see the discipline council in the morning.

When I came outside, Hadrian was already waiting for me. I told him everything that had happened. The old man just snorted. The feel of his gaze was communicating to me, “So what?”. He began to explain.

"It seems that useless council will have to wait. I’ll take you to see a few places. First, we’ve got the library here. When I’m done beating knowledge into you, this will be a place to study. Of course, only once you regain your eyes. You could attempt to read through the touch domain if you enjoy the challenge. Keep in mind that the elves don’t come here, but the exiled and remnants do.

After leaving the library, Hadrian guided me down a few corridors to a place radiating tranquility. My soundscape immediately picked up the presence of many plants, trees, birds, and a handful of insects. A refreshing mist swept across my face without leaving any trace of moisture while the rays of the sun warmed my back. The sounds of nature enveloped us - the melody of chirping birds, the flutters of wings, the whisper of grass under the wind. And beneath it all, the familiar hum of those azure symbols resonated.

"This is the Mindscape Hall. It's like the chamber you were in before, but more effective and, unfortunately, more crowded. You’ll get used to it. You may come here after training with Vivian if you wish. Not before, however. This will be a useful place, eyes or not.”

Then, he must’ve not been able to hold back any longer. He hurried me over to the training ground. We began without pause. This time, even with him hurling the sword again, I caught it before it could crash into my chest, a small victory. Although a cut was on my palms now, that’s right, dull metal swords, he did mention them yesterday.

Then, the onslaught began. The metal clang of the parry was pure luck and instinct. The cuts would end up driving poor Layla crazy again. I wonder if I could get clothes sent to the baths and wash them before I go to the dorm room tonight? It would solve the issue. While I was thinking about things that barely mattered, Hadrian saw fit to push the flat of his blade on my head, slamming me down.

“Clear your head, idiot; the danger is still real, even with dull swords. Focus, or you may even end up dead before you’re ever useful. What kind of troublemaker did I end up picking?"

He was right, just giving his sort of care insultingly. I was adjusting to how this man acted. Annoying as it was.

My focus intensified on my aura, striving to push my hearing to new limits while bringing my aura perception up to full speed. I also started using the touch domain again, but only with my right foot. This reduced the difficulty to the minimum as I sent aura pulses into the ground. My mind had churned out this idea while cleaning the dorms last night. An excited beat came to my heart as it worked. This was my new threshold of control, but it was working.

Hadrian's movements became more apparent, helping me react faster and keep my balance. That bit of information let me anticipate a little earlier than last time and read him more accurately. Even so, I was still getting heavily beaten. He mostly left my face alone this time, but I got many cuts on my body and legs and a few on my arms.

An hour into our training, he suddenly stopped. There was a pause, followed by a deep breath from him.

“You idiot, what are you doing? Do I have to hold your hand in everything? Send your aura to those cuts before you bleed to death during training. As much as I enjoy this, beating a dead horse is pointless," he scolded.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I reddened at that; the faint touch domain I could manage at my feet told me he was right. I was standing in a pool of my own blood; to heal myself, I circulated my aura throughout all the damaged parts. Of course, Verdenia soon came after and used herbs and her healing on me. This time, however, my brand was doing more. The moment I wanted to heal, my mind's eye sent an intense burst of nature's essence from the brand throughout my body. With the assistance of aura, my healing was rapid. You could practically see the cuts close.

However, this required all my concentration. Only my connection with the soundscape remained, as it had become automatic. The other two, the touch domain and aura perception, disappeared, as I had no attention left for them. This meant that healing like this during a fight wouldn't be possible for a long time.

"Lady Elnara gave you a unique gift, Falond. If you learn to use it properly, you'll always have an extra advantage. Eventually, you'll need to heal like this during battle. It will be slower, but it will still work. Let's keep going."

And just like that, another cut appeared, this time on my shoulder. Over time, I tried to heal, primarily through the brand. However, trying to do that while focusing on the other processes was too much. The only result was a few more cuts and bruises from Hadrian when I lost connection to the other information sources. The soundscape prevented me from being completely defenseless, but I wasn't skilled enough yet for it to be sufficient.

Before long, our training session was over, and Hadrian left. Vivian appeared again with a mix of annoyance and worry on her face.

"Put down the sword. I can't use metal on you. I'm not as skilled as Master Hadrian. If we spar with those, I might accidentally end up gutting you."

Fine with me, bruises were better than cuts, and sparing with wood let me take more risks to push to my limit. In the back of my mind, I was curious when they'd let me attend some of the classes they occasionally mentioned. But first, I sat down cross-legged, ready to heal. As I did so, I placed the sword beside me, a sign that I wouldn't use it.

A few minutes later, my state was practically back to normal. The bruises were still there; they had healed a bit, but not completely. All these struggles made me accept my situation more, that this was my path. But deep down, something was off. It was as if a part of me was missing, a section of myself…stolen?

I sifted through my memories, noticing small gaps, but I had no idea what had happened during those times. Some details told me Elnara would know something, but that was all I had to go on. But at this point, there was barely any contact with the elves here—the opposite of when in the encampment on the other side of the portal.

"Dreaming won't get us out of this, Falond. Let's get this over with," Vivian said.

I was getting used to catching swords; the thought depressed me. Getting up, I grabbed the wooden training sword. As we began to spar, I found that the added information from my right foot, provided by the touch domain, allowed me to dodge even more. And surprisingly, my parries were becoming more common. Make no mistake, though, this spar was entirely one-sided. The only difference was that my defense was getting tighter.

The day went on. Instead of pushing myself to do more with my aura, I focused on passively using aura perception, the soundscape, and the touch domain. As for improving my aura perception, I wasn't quite sure. For the touch domain, that was easy enough, getting used to having it in not just my feet but also my legs, arms, and hands. Maybe there was a certain way to use it on the skin? Many ideas were coming to me now. I’d go to that mindscape hall and think about it after this.

Vivian wasn’t as bad as she seemed. While she was unnecessarily irritated, I considered it the price of passage. My self-imposed silence made it harder to figure out why. Mainly since gestures and looks could only communicate so much. Seeing as I had no paper around, my hands were tied. Part of me was still rebellious. Despite all that, she started to give me pointers disguised as mocking; she was teaching me in her own way. Vivian feared something, and it seemed more intense than before. But what could it be?

However, she didn't hold back. If anything, she moved even faster today. After a few pointers on how to keep aura in the feet better, I’d kept up with her. By the end, I could tell she was getting frustrated as my parries became more precise and my dodges more fluid. I didn't know how to help her, not that someone like me was able to.

The food came at the very end of sparring this time. To make up for it, the meal was twice as big as yesterday's. There was bread, potatoes with mushrooms, and some sauce. It was pretty good, but I again noticed the lack of meat. After finishing the meal, I approached Vivian.

“What? The sparring is over for today. I already have enough on my plate without you bothering me.”

Why was everyone here so grumpy? I must have rubbed off on them.

Ignoring her attitude, I gave her a slight bow to show my gratitude. No matter how she masked it, she was giving me pointers. There was also the fact that she couldn’t hide her emotions well as we sparred. I didn’t know what she feared, but it made me pity her. I guess appreciation was all I could do. For a few days, the sparing process between Hadrian and Vivian continued. Sometimes, I’d go to the mindscape hall, falling into a pattern.

That was a mistake.