That night, after the great feast, Kairos is in Relestia’s room looking after her.
The crystal holding the princess safe had been carried around on his neck since the beginning. During the portal travel, the dimensional barriers will apply immense pressure on any time-space containers. Because of this, Kairos had lost many of his belongings on the way here. The only Time-space ring that survived is the Thunder God’s Ring, however, the dimensional transfer had destabilised the divine treasure’s runic structure and it no longer responses.
Of course, it will function once again if he can restore the runes, but in this strange land many of the materials needed may not exist. For now, Kairos found himself penniless.
He rubbed his temples slowly, hoping to ease the cloud over his mind. Without spirit stones, it will be hard to maintain the seal on the princess.
There is a backup plan in case something like this happens. Kairos or any cultivator could use their Ki and maintain the seal to keep the devil restrained.
Unfortunately, in his current condition, he is not confident to suffice. Moreover, the Heavenly Energies in the air is almost non-existent. He had been trying to gather the ambient energy since he arrived but replenished almost nothing. Kairos can only conclude that this place, Axis Mundi, is a lower realm than Gaia. He could feel a headache in the making.
A tiny squeak caught his attention and Kairos turned his head towards the sound.
“Aisa! You’ve found me!”
Hello Kai~! Oh no you…
“It’s fine. Do not worry. Tell me, how did you find me?”
Aisa chased you through the portal!
“Have you got a way back?”
The dragon shook her head. Even if she can find the way, she cannot help Kairos, especially now.
“How are my brothers after I left?”
Aisa had reassured them. Don’t worry, Kai. They will be fine!
Kairos nodded. The preparations are long done before this day. They will be able to handle any obstacle and danger.
It is most fortunate that the Crown Princess Relestia is safely with him now and not the cordoned off area within the Crystal Valve. When the Devilheart family send assassins after her, they will receive a pleasant surprise. Without her, they will not dare to act rashly.
“Did you see the test about my magic aptitude?” Kairos asked, and the little dragon who had been peeking quickly explained.
The crystal ball had displayed an overly large Life Circle for him. However, this does not mean that Kairos only has Life magic conduits within. The remnant mana of the Circle 9 healing spell he casted lingered so strongly within him that it simply outweighed everything.
The crystal ball detects the natural mana flowing into the magically gifted individual to determine what aptitudes there are. The testing is usually done after making sure all magic had been drained to be accurate, but these heroes were summoned from non-magical worlds.
Unlike Ki, mana is not normally stored within a person’s body but found everywhere in the land, the water, and the air.
For the magically gifted, there will often be one or two conduits for all sorts of magic circles, and these are considered secondary aptitudes.
These conduits allows mana to flow through the mage to be weaved into spells. This means the more mana channels available, the more power could be harnessed.
If there are enough conduits for a particular magic circle to be channelled then it is considered a primary.
Of course, these mana channels do not exist for the magic circle but quite the reverse. Mages first appeared by discovering these mana channels and through centuries of research they found use for it through creating magic circles – the brain child of countless sages.
*Thump Thump Thump*
Kairos and Aisa looked at the door as knocking interrupted them.
“Sir Kairos, we are healers sent by the Jarl to take a look at Princess Relestia.”
“I appreciate the offer but the princess is merely asleep. Tell the Jarl he have my thanks.”
The healers were confused but they did not insist. Relestia’s condition is tricky and dangerous if messed around. After they were turned away Kairos had an early night.
Early next morning, the new heroes were gathered in the field for their physical test. A Knight Captain was there to brief them on the day’s activities.
With as much respect and hospitality he could muster, he barked, “YOU MAGGOTS!! Time to wake the hell up! Start running like your lives depends on it, because it does! Run run run!”
They started a long jog with a knight captain leading the way.
In only the first hour, many were already out of breath. The two professional gamers, Shinku and Shinra, were dead last, fighting for their lives every second of the run.
The Knight Captain squinted and scoffed, “You slugs are so far behind, my bedridden grandmother can out pace you! You living waste of fresh air!”
They were followed by the Grimoire Researchers, Mary and Andrew, who only did slightly better as they must have some level of stamina to go around archaeology sites.
“Dung beetles can roll manure quicker than you can run!”
Luo Wen Wen the hacker did surprisingly well, considering she has a desk job. It was only after the second hour that she started to tire and that’s because she is used to the morning drills in the military.
The Knight Captain slightly nodded with appreciated and remarked, “Sloth.”
Berengaria of New London became exhausted only after the third hour, and she received a respectful, “Turtle.”
She is only slightly behind the sniper Lie Feng who the knight contentedly called a ‘Penguin’.
Richard XVII came in first place four hours later. The Knight Captain briskly walked over to him and patted him gently on his back, “Well done. With your batch protecting the world we are all screwed. Thanks for nothing.”
The knight turned heels and returned to the castle without a second word.
As for Kairos. He had a hellish experience as well. What is more difficult than coming first place is to remain ordinary-looking.
He had to guess the physical strength of these heroes had, and estimate what would be reasonable for a general. Kairos had to pace himself perfectly and even squeezed out the sweat to show exertion when he could’ve carried a wagon and ran the entire way; a wagon with everyone sitting in it.
Although he ran till the end, his speed was fourth place, behind Berengaria and ahead of Luo Wen Wen. The knight looked at him distastefully and mumbled ‘amoeba’ before turning his head. For a warrior to lose to a young girl seemed shameful.
Of course, to receive such a result, Richard and Berengaria are not your regular students. They had been trained harshly since young in all things a ruler and his wife should know, and that included real combat.
The group met up on the way as they slowly strolled back to the castle. For some reason they were excited to know what nickname the Knight Captain came up with for each person. No doubt it will be stuck with the group for the rest of their quest. Along the way, no one talked to Kairos, although the girls kept trying to steal a look at him while the boys were giving him dirty looks.
Kairos is familiar with this kind of treatment when he was back at the Saint Cadets Academy in year one – they are simply looking down at him.
By the time they reached it was already high noon, seven hours since they awoke. A mage was waiting for them, the blonde lady from the night before.
She addressed the group briskly and led them to a garden courtyard ignoring their complaints of hunger and pain in the limbs.
“Here we will start your first magic training. Each of you will learn spells according to your aptitude in time to come but today we will be focusing on Chantless Spellcasting.”
Kairos who had studied the mages of the south was flabbergasted by the unreasonable words he just heard. Chantless Spellcasting is a skill considered to be the epitome of magecraft in Gaia, and the only way a mage could fight a practitioner face-to-face.
In his knowledge, spells were meant to be used against armies and not in a combat because of the lengthy incantations. Only the top spellcasters can use such an advance technique and usually at the cost of power. If Axis teaches its budding mages Chantless Spellcasting, then they might be centuries ahead of Gaia’s spellcasters.
The blonde Court Mage continued, “Make no mistakes, you must master this if you want an actual chance to survive a magic duel. We humans are weak in magic compared to the naturally endowed elves. You cannot even begin to imagine what powers their Archmages wield, and they are nothing but flies when compared to the Elf King Veritus.”
Kairos stared with mouth open.
If any of the Grand Mages of Gaia heard this, they will probably cry.
He soon discover that Chantless Spellcasting has a system that helps spellcasters visual the incantation without saying it aloud. The more precise you can picture it, the more potent the spell will be, perhaps even retaining all of the power an incantation provides.
And the faster you can do this, the quicker you can unleash the magic.
Kairos understood the Court Mage’s lessons almost immediately and he borrowed a book on Chantless Spellcasting that he finished almost right afterwards. With his photographic memory, all the time he needed to read a thick binder is as fast as he can flip through it.
Unfortunately, knowing what he knows did not help him use it. Somehow or rather, there is a rather dissociative perception of what he knows and what he does. The only remedy he could think of is practice.
The group had their lunch in the courtyard while practicing Chantless Spellcasting on the easiest spell, the magic bolt. The spell is merely a gathering of mana in the air to be shot out at the target using the incantation Ciagm Olt B’ Vah. Most of the heroes succeeded the incantation with their first attempt, only Kairos had to try three times. They looked at him with distain, and even the girls started to ignore him despite the previous magnetism.
The first time he failed, it was because the mana he gathered overly dispersed in all the magic conduits in his body. The second time he failed, he had activated only his Life Magic conduit and gathered too much energy. Kairos felt the mana from a thousand metres being pulled over and had to hastily stop. Fortunately, the Court Mage did not seem to notice the phenomenon.
He finally succeeded on the third try but only barely stopped the spell from fizzling out.
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A weak life magic bolt flew out and struck a weed growing a metre away. By the time the magic touched it, half of the spell’s power had dissipated and it only caused the plant to turn greener.
The Court Mage furrowed her brow but otherwise did not say anything. Everyone else are shooting out robust magic bolts of the magic circle they chose, and already proceeding to practice Chantless Spellcasting.
In the end, Kairos’ magic talent is only considered average. The heroes even wondered why he was summoned. Only Kairos understands that this is already an incredible personal improvement. As Aisa once told him, his Origin Cultivation Method will continuously enhance his talents and allow him to develop new ones. With time, he will only become stronger than anyone else here.
After pinning down the basics he started trying out the Chantless Spellcasting. Although he had a clear understanding of how it works, the actual use escaped him. The others were a step behind this time, still trying to wrap their heads around the concept.
Their lesson continued for over three hours and they had their meals brought to them.
The courtyard quieten as all of them immersed deeply into their practice. They are all prodigies selected by the summoning spell and had the mind-set of one. To be stumped by a problem is unacceptable and they started competing among themselves while conveniently leaving Kairos out.
It was in the middle of one of such competition that a few knights approached carrying all kinds of items.
It is time for the next lesson.
The knights greeted the Court Mage and then took over the class.
Each of these men are battle-hardened veterans in their thirties. They looked at the young heroes proudly as if these are new squires. In fact, sixteen year olds are already older than some squires and they usually become a knight from eighteen to twenty-one. However, here there will be an exception. If any of these heroes could prove themselves in the next few months, they will be knighted by the Jarl.
It’s a little old for them to start playing with a sword and such a limited time to learn, but these are heroes.
“To be a knight, you must be able to wield Aura and fight. This technique is the speciality of the human race and something that will grant you advantage in your coming battles. Commit what you are about to learn to absolute secrecy or be labelled as traitors forevermore.”
One of the knights came forward holding a parcel the size of a full-grown man. She set it down with a thud so dense that the floor shook.
“What the heck is so heavy?”
The heroes were stunned and when she unwrapped it, to their surprise it was a very large black rock. The bulk was nothing to a cultivator like Kairos, but for regular people it was impossible for a woman to carry.
Ignoring their exclamations while secretly pleased, the knight explained, “This is the taboo stone. A cursed object.”
Murmurs were rampant but she continued, “Before you learn more about Aura Arts, I want each of you to step forward, drip a drop of blood onto the stone and vow never to reveal the knowledge you learn to another. If you break your promise, you will die an excruciating death by the curse.”
A couple of them immediately frowned. Only Kairos, Lie Feng, and Wen Wen who have a military background remained expressionless. It was expected that there will be countermeasures put in place despite them being the heroes that is supposed to save the world.
“What if we met companions during our quest and we want to teach them?”
The lady knight looked to the Knight Captain for a solution. After a moment, the latter said, “If they can help your cause, it will be wise to empower them. However, only on two conditions. The first is that they must swear absolute loyalty to the human kingdoms and second they must also never reveal the knowledge to another soul. I will write a scroll that you may follow to speak your vows.”
The Knight Captain created a lengthy article that covered all loose strings, double checked it, and then handed to the heroes. He ensured each person spoke exactly as he had written and the ritual was completed.
None of them know in what way the promised excruciating death will take effect should they fail to keep their word but they do not question if the magic will work.
The lady knight continued, “Now you must be wondering what are Aura Arts that it warranted such secrecy. You will discover that it is a treasure worth every safeguard we’ve put in place and more.
Aura is the manifestation of your will, allowing you to perform impossible feats that can match the might of magic. Once you wield it, you will understand my words.”
She nodded to the other knights and they handed each person a white smooth pebble.
“We will now test your Aura aptitude. This shall be the most important moment of your life because it is your one and only advantage over the elves.”
The three regions on Axis Mundis are balanced because each race have their advantage. While the elves are magically endowed and gifted in archery, the humans have Aura Knights – powerful warriors that can dominate the battlefield.
The Knight Captain looked at Richard and Lie Feng carefully before saying, “The two of you have incredible magic potential to help you excel as Aura Knights. I am looking forward to your results. Now, let’s proceed. Look at the marble in your hand and direct your strongest thought into it.”
With either enchantment or enhancement aptitudes, as long as their Aura don’t turn out to be too weak, the two of them will definitely amount to greatness.
Guided by the knights, the summoned ones projected a thought onto their pebbles at the same time. It can be a memory, desire, dream, or hope, as long as the feelings involved is powerful enough.
Soon, a symbol appeared on each pebble.
The Knight Captain went forward and scrutinised their results one by one.
He approached the gamers first.
Shira has the emblem of a sword with the number V above it.
A Class 5 Warrior’s symbol: An Aura that could greatly enhance his fighting ability to superhuman standards. The potency is impressive as well, with most knights only gifted with Class 1 or 2 Auras and Knight Captains having Class 3 Auras.
Class 5 is the Knight Lord’s standard, and having a high starting point means that Shira has a lot of room for improvement.
The Knight Captain calmed his turbulent heart, telling himself the excitement has only began.
He looked at Shinku.
She held the emblem of a shield with the number IV above it.
Class 4 Protector Aura.
It maybe a little weak for a hero, but still it is a Knight Captain’s level. Moreover, it grants her powerful defences that perfectly fits her magical talents which lies in healing, sanctification, and nature spells.
The Knight Captain gave her a nod then moved on to the next pair: the Grimoire Researchers.
Andrew has the emblem of a Dragon with the number III above it.
For one of magical lineage, his Aura is expectedly low. Those who have talents elsewhere that they can depend on, seldom see the need to contest in physical battles. Without a strong will to overcome one’s foes, even a hero will not have a power Aura.
However, the Dragon is a rare magical Aura. It doesn’t have much physical effect but allows one’s magic to become as fierce as a dragon’s. Well, in Andrew’s case, with an Aura that is only Class 3, it is more like a dragonewt’s.
Mary did better with the emblem of the Moon with the number IV above it. Hers is the Aura of the Night, as expect of Nyx’s champion and Class 4 is respectable as well. The Night Aura allows one to blend into the shadows or summon horrors from it to plague one’s enemies.
The Knight Captain nodded again at them then looked at the pair of soldiers.
The Hacker Luo Wen Wen has the emblem of a mage with the same number VI above it.
It is once again a magic-related Aura that allows her to see deep into the mysteries of magic and understand things quicker than others could. She can learn spells and use them as one who is beloved by the arcane. At Class IV she could learn any Circle four magic almost immediately upon seeing it. Of course, to be able to use it she will need to have the relevant magic conduit in the first place.
The Knight nodded at her and then turned to Lie Feng.
The Sniper had the emblem of a dagger with the number VI above it. An Assassin’s Aura, and one that is at a rather high Class 6. It is a mixture of the Death Aura, Murderous Aura, and Shadow Aura that allows one to operate specific skills to enter and exit protected places to kill. It is an impressive Aura that few can acquire and perfect for someone to have on the team. Further, Class 6 is already a high-ranking Knight Lord’s level.
It was an amazing find that when combined with Lie Feng’s magical talents, he might make the best knight of all the heroes here.
The Knight Captain patted him hard on his shoulder and laughed.
“You did well, boy. You have the Assassin’s Aura. All you need now is to learn how to use it together with your enhancement magicks and you are all set. I look forward to seeing you wear the colours of a Grand Knight one day.”
The Knight Captain went to the pair of students rather excitedly, perhaps the one with the Enchantment aptitude will be another surprise.
He checked Berengaria’s pebble first. It had the emblem of a sceptre with the number VI above it. The Aura of Power. It lets her overwhelm the opponents that have a weaker will than her, allowing her to take down even a more powerful warrior in battle.
The Knight Captain went to Richard. Hopeful that he will have an Aura that matches Lie Feng. These two boys are the only hopefuls with magical talents that fits a knight.
Richard held in his hand the emblem of a crown with the number VIII above it. It allows him to command any person with a weaker Aura than his. If his target does not have Aura, it will become a contest of will.
“The Aura of a King. Impressive! This is a rare one, only the Jarls wield it and yours is a class 7 Aura, the highest one yet.”
Richard smiled proudly. He has finally proved himself in the lead. The group here are all exceptional but it only made his desire to be their leader even stronger.
The Knight Captain saluted the heroes and said, “Now that you know about your Aura, I shall explain what it does so that you may better understand. The Aura is what we call when the force of one’s will manifest. With it, you can apply your intentions upon another, or enhance yourself. For example, Richard with the Aura of the King can make all lesser men bow down and obey him. Berengaria can topple even the greatest man if her will is strong enough. Some of your Auras are magical in nature. For you, you applied your will upon yourselves, allowing magical abilities beyond other magicians.
There are also a few among you that have composite Auras, like Shira, a Warrior, Shinku, the Protector, and Lie Feng, an Assassin. You will find your Aura capable of both affecting your enemy and enhancing your abilities.”
When the Knight Captain paused, the lady knight quietly went forward and whispered, “Sir, we still have one hero not yet tested.”
In his excitement, the captain had forgotten about Kairos. He had heard of a failure among the heroes. Someone with only healing magic, the Life Circle. A leech that will require others to protect him as he have no offensive spells, not even a secondary Magic Circle.
The other heroes as well had not taken notice and Kairos himself did not bother.
He looked at the pebble in his hand. The emblem of dust cloud in a spiral with the number IX above it.
The Knight Captain came over and took a look then quickly turned to the lady knight, “Find the records on what this emblem means.”
The search took a good hour before someone came running into the courtyard with an ancient text; the scroll already yellowed with age and tattered on its edges.
The messenger passed the object over without daring to take a peek and then left just as quickly. The secrets of a hero is not for him to know, and he is still very much in love with staying alive.
When no outsider is around, the Knight Captain opened the scroll to read it, struggling to understand the archaic and faded letters.
“The Demiurge emblem. In theory, the Aura exists. We have yet to see a living example, but rare is not impossible.”
After taking a while to read a few sentence the Knight Captain scanned through the entire document in silence. The emblems were drawn by a few aged sages that studied all the possible Auras in the world. Their research was comprehensive and fairly accurate, although time to time an unseen Aura may pop up causing the pebble to be left blank. However, there are a few Auras also never seen before that had emblems, and these are the ones that the sages theorised.
Today, the Knight Captain found one of the fabled Aura, and perhaps the rarest of them all.
He looked up after a while with bloodshot eyes and grabbed Kairos’ pebble from his hand to confirm the symbol.
“This is definitely the emblem drawn in the scroll. It called this the Demiurge, an ancient name with three known meanings: ‘The World’, ‘The Origin’ and ‘The Creator’.
The scroll describes it as the Will of the World. The Aura holds powers unknown, only theorised to be possible but never yet seen before. If someone else had this Aura, it was never recorded.
Not only is your emblem unseen before today, it is of Class 9, the highest class! Only the Knight Grand Cross have Auras of such power. The force of your will is the likes I have never seen before in one at your age. Perhaps it is true you are a Great General in your country.
Sir Kairos, if you master your aura, you might become the hero of heroes and at that time, your will is law. Be very careful with this power.”
Suddenly, the heroes started crowding around Kairos again. The ladies seemed to think that he is the perfect male specimen; handsome and talented. The guys treated him like their brother, giving him a pat and a nod.
Kairos remained expressionless, but their superficial nature irked him.
The Knight Captain nodded at all of them, pleased at the new heroes. All of them made the mark, but they are not yet knights.
“Enough celebrating,” He barked, “You may have the potential, now tell me, which of you knows how to use your Aura?”
The group went silent at once. They know, having a strong will and an incredible Aura is meaningless if they can’t conjure it.
The Knight Captain gestured with his arms, and all the knights that came with him stepped forward to each hero. Nine knights for nine heroes, each held ten pieces of gemstones in their hand.
“These knights will help you discover how to use your aura… through battle. They will be your combat guide. The gemstones will bring your conscious into another dimension where you may contest your will with warriors of the old. You will not die while sparring with the ancients, you will may find yourself becoming exhausted quickly. Do not persist or your mind may break. I do not want to explain to the Jarl why his heroes fried their brains and turned into bumbling idiots. Now, begin.”
The knights corresponding to each hero started explaining the way to activate the gemstone and how to return. They also explained the rules of combat within the other dimension and what they need to do to learn Aura Arts. After the long boring explanation are done, the consciousness of these nine heroes were pulled into the gemstones. They discover that these gems are merely a gateway and not the actual destination.
The place where the heroes were taken is a collective memory of all the Aura Knights that had passed away. In this place there are legends and heroes, kings and Grand Mages; any person who was once a knight and died in Axis Mundi is recorded here.
As the nine marvelled at the heroes that stood so lifelike in this place, outside of the memory realm the Jarl had step into action.
Kairos whose conscious was stuck in another place did not feel the protective talismans he had placed around Relestia’s room had started burning.
The stratagem he laid in the room was weak due to the lack of Heavenly Energies on Axis, but there should be enough defences to keep her safe until his return. However, he did not account for himself to be so pre-occupied that he could not respond.
The unconscious princess remained unaware in her sleep as the binding charm spell woven by the shamans covered her room.
Three dragonlings that were nestling in Relestia’s bed opened their eyes at the same time.
The Fire and Ice dragonlings were slightly larger than their Lightning sibling, but all of them had the fearsome yet dignified poise of an ancestor dragon.
They looked up at the spell that enshrouded the room and hissed. They are young but Kairos had entrusted the princess to them as his last line of defence.