“Relax, young master. A nervous mind will not help you,” Solario suggested.

Instead of replying, Rune chose to take a few deep breaths and calm his noisy mind. A few seconds later, the chaos stilled within him and he once again could feel the presence of his two Auraweaver guards in the room with him.

Solario’s presence stood out to him like a bright candle in a sea of darkness and Luna’s was almost the same except it was fainter and weaker than that of Solario.

“Good. Now reach out to the objects around you and feel their Aura,” Solario further instructed.

Rune reached out with his Perception until the necessary objects were all within the range. He picked one of the objects at random and focused on it. It was a rock the size of his entire torso. He could immediately feel the ebb and flow of Aura within it. More specifically, he could feel the Telekinetic Aura emanating from within the object interacting with the Natural Aura in the atmosphere and keeping itself lazily afloat in the air. 

“Now, do the same with the others.”

Keeping his attention on the rock, Rune picked out another object, a plant this time, and focused on the Telekinetic Aura within it. Unlike the rock, this plant’s entire body wasn’t suffused with the Aura. Only its fruits floating above its leaves, tethered to the plant by strong stems, were coated with the Telekinetic Aura. Now with the two objects under his Perception, Rune proceeded to do the same to the other six. Some were more plants, some rocks and some weapons and tools that possessed the Aura.

“Start cycling. Draw them all in.” Solario’s voice threatened to break Rune’s concentration. A spike of fear shot through him before he grabbed onto the connections more firmly.

Rune started cycling. He drew upon the Aura of the objects locked under his Perception and they yielded to his summons without a fight. Golden Aura flooded his Aura channels and he guided the current towards his Core, which at the moment, was filled to the brim already.

To advance from an Acolyte to a Warder, one had to wait till their Aura core was filled with as much Aura as it could hold and then proceed to push even more Aura into it. It was like trying to fill an already full bucket of water with the intent of wasting not a single drop. This process condensed the Aura core, pushing one towards the Warder level. And Rune couldn’t wait to bid farewell to the Acoloyte position.

His core pushed back aggressively the moment the extra Aura crashed into it. Rune trembled and broke out into cold sweat as he kept the flow steady. He pushed the Aura harder, stuffing it into his core, demanding room to be made. His ears started ringing and he was filled with the overwhelming feeling of his core on the brink of bursting under the pressure. Rune continued at it.

Rune’s core shivered violently in a sea of Golden Aura, itself being a bright, golden sun. He kept cycling as tendrils of pain crept up from his abdomen. The Aura clashed violently and it all seemed like it would never end and Rune would have to give up until an even brighter dot of light formed at the centre of his core. With renewed vigour, Rune kept going until the bright dot grew and engulfed his entire core in an even brighter golden light. 

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A sudden pause ensued. Everything was silent. The chaos and pain suddenly left him. And then, his core imploded into a sea of Golden light that washed over his entire body.

It felt like an eternity until the chaos stilled within him and the pain started to leave him.

“Congratulations, young master. You’re a Warder now.” The warmth and pride in Solario’s voice filled Rune with an unknown emotion. He felt like crying.

Finally! FINALLY!

Rune turned his focus inward, towards his abdomen where his Aura core was and the changes were apparent. The golden sun that was his core before now shone even brighter and a darker shade of gold. He could sense the density of the aura being cycled within it and even could tell that his Aura wells had increased significantly. With a grin, Rune jumped to his feet and looked at the objects scattered around him. The plants and rocks that had been brought to provide the necessary Telekinetic Aura for him to cycle now looked dull and almost lifeless, lying on the floor instead of floating in the air like they were moments ago. He had siphoned their Aura and due to that some plants were dead while others were weak.

That’s when he was reminded of something. 

Solario stepped into view and Rune could see the smile forming in the stoic man’s eyes as if he could read Rune’s thoughts. 

“How do I activate the Sight?” Rune asked.

Luna, his other Auraweaver guard, joined Solario and they both stared at their Master. 

“You cycle Natural Aura to your eyes.”

“Natural Aura?” 

“Yes, Ru boy. As a Warder now, you can cycle Natural Aura into your core and your core will do what it has been doing since birth. It will assimilate it and churn out Telekinetic Aura,” Luna explained.

“Yes, I remember now. Before, I couldn’t control the rate at which my core absorbed Natural Aura and cycle it into Telekinetic Aura. Now, I can control the rate.” Rune curled his fingers into a fist.

Closing his eyes, Rune extended his Perception outward. He could sense the Natural Aura more clearly now. What used to be like a heavy, damp blanket around the world now felt like air, flowing in the atmosphere, brushing past gently. With the same ease with which he drew upon Telekinetic Aura, Rune concentrated and gently pulled at the Natural Aura present around him. The Aura responded instantly as if it were waiting for him.

Natural Aura filled his channels and the sensation was incredibly novel. He had expected it to feel different and carry no signature but it was still bizarre to experience it. When Telekinetic Aura flowed in his Aura channels, it felt like millions of tiny, buzzing honey bees travelling in his body. Natural Aura on the other hand felt like the water of a lake. It carried no sensation except that of a certain weight being guided through his body.

Rune directed the flow upwards, towards his eyes. The sensation that gradually pooled around his eyes tickled his eyeballs. When sufficient Aura had been gathered in the channels around his eyes, Rune opened them. He was immediately thrown into a world of swirling colours and patterns. Every kind of Aura blossomed like ink in water in front of his eyes. His jaw hung open in awe.

Rune turned his sight towards his two Auraweaver guards. Dark colours churned and pumped through Solario’s body like a controlled storm. A sea of Blue aura coursed within Luna. Both of them must have dropped their veils if he was able to see their Auras.

After looking around a little more, Rune dropped the control over the pool of Natural Aura around his eyes and let it flow downwards towards his core. The world returned to its normal coloured state and Rune beamed. He couldn’t wait to discuss this with his friends. He couldn’t wait to see them. He couldn’t wait for Valentine’s party in two weeks.

“You should go inform your parents of your rise to Warder, Young Master,” Solaria said as he pointed to the door behind Rune.

“They must already know. They would have sensed it,” Rune replied but moved towards the door anyway.

Solario and Luna fell in step behind him as they left the training hall.