We're spending the second, and last, night of the excursion at a tower two miles from the camp..

It's supposed to be a good place for air users to meditate.

Sigh..

I'd rather just go home. Make some crystals so I can get some time off later.

We've arrived. My entire class is going to be spending what's left of the afternoon, and then the night, here.

Being taught how to channel our auras by Nicolas. Ugh.

What a waste of time.

The tower itself is vaguely impressive. It's tall, but not as tall as the central tower of the academy.

It doesn't have marble walls, instead it's build in some kind of grey bricks. The roof is still made of blue tiles though, like the Cathedral of Air in Bightkeep.

We scale the winding stairs that rise through the base of the tower to the top. The kids are already a bit tired from the walk here, and they're wearing backpacks with a sleeping bag and other necessities given that was lent to us by the school.

So they're pretty exhausted by the time we get up the stairs.

There are platforms that extend out from the floor, through open sections of the walls. Like some kind of zeppelin hangar.

Nicolas is going on about how we should be careful not to fall down, and that we should enjoy the view. Crap like that.

I'm not in the mood to listen to his shit.

I put down my pack in a corner. I'd rather be allowed to just sleep by myself, but if that's not an option, at least I can limit the amount of children I have to endure.

Julius walks over, and puts his pack down next to mine.

He then turns around and goes back to the group, to listen to Nicolas' lecture

Sigh..

I should stop pouting. I'm like a petty child that got scolded. Well.. Literally..

Still. This isn't going to do much for me.

I have to be with these children for the next nine years of my second life.

Might as well try my best.

Nicolas finished his sermon, and we were given the rest of the day off, though he expects us to work on our auras.

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I go to the platform that extends towards the west. I'll be able to watch the sunset that way. I haven't in a while.

Julius approaches, and I wave him over. Whenever we're made to practice channeling our auras, we sit back to back. It really helped him relax, and meditate. Like it did for me, back when.. Well..

``Come sit, I got us a good spot.'' [Nathan]

``... Okay.'' [Julius]

He sits down behind me, and we take a deep breath together, as we always do when we're about to meditate.

Nicolas is going on in the background about how to try and communicate with our familiars, and how we should think about their names.

Idiot.

Dad told me long ago. We don't pick their names, doing that is only going to make them harder to communicate with. They have names already.

Imagine meeting someone for the first time, and just as they are about to introduce themselves, you grandly tell them that you decided what you're going to call them.

Well, whatever. I told Julius how to get in touch with his familiar, so at least Nicolas won't ruin it for him.

And I decided that I'll practice invocation-less channeling. If Shawn could figure it out on his own, I should be able to as well.

Enough.

I need to clear my thoughts.

Inhale.

Exhale..

I drift into mindlessness. I feel something brushing against my consciousness, and I try to brush back.

Images flash across my mind. Too fast for me to see them, slow enough that I know they exist.

It overwhelms me, and I pull back.

Too much.

I can't contain it.

Again and again, I try to keep up the link, and each time I instinctively pull back.

Relentlessly, I try.

Something moves behind me, pushing against my back.

I pull myself out of my trance, and slowly open my eyes.

Julius is standing behind me. He's shivering, almost shaking.

I stand up, concerned. Then he stops. A serene calm descents over him.

I recognize that feeling.

A smile on my face, I open my mouth:

``What is his name?'' [Nathan]

``Edward.'' [Julius]

He answers without hesitation, unlike his usual speech.

``Now ask him for power. Say the words.'' [Nathan]

I tell him, reminiscently.

``Freedom of the air gather though me, by the will of the son, I command!'' [Julius]

The second he says it, mana gushes out from the nape of his neck, down across his shoulders and back like a cape of light.

He lights up the dark tower, like a candle in the night.

The aura covers his entire back. A coat of blue light.

I haven't seen an aura this strong since my parents.

Julius turns around, an excited look of bliss on his face.

My chest tightens.

``I did it.. I!-'' [Julius]

He stammers in disbelief.

I look at him-

``.. Well done.'' [Nathan]

-And smile.

In a second, the other children of the class is around him, marveling at his aura, asking him questions faster than he can answer.

Nicolas also joins the crowd to give him encouraging words along the line of "Good work child" and "Look children, persistence pays off".

I stand back from the crowd. Silently, I look at my hand. In my minds eye, I see the dim lines trace across my forearm, wriggling like water running down a window.