11. More training

So how exactly do I do it?

Alex asked Kagami exited.

Well, thanks to the Skill, it's not that difficult. You feel your Mana inside you. So, you really just need to use your Willpower to infuse it with your intent. If it helps you, you can picture your Mana as you have seen it with your Aura sense.

That's all?

Yes. As I said, at the most basic level, the Skill does most of the work.

So, Alex did as she had said, and as soon as he felt for his whole Mana and concentrated on the principle of augmenting his body, a surge of power filled him up to the brim.

He felt so energized and hyperfocused that he couldn't hold still. Standing up and wanting to do something, he looked around. His eyes caught a leaf falling in slow motion, the water of the stream flowing just differently, and he realized that all sounds had a deeper tone. In absolute fascination, he even forgot the need to move and simply stared.

As the boost stopped, it took him by surprise. A wave of weakness swept through his body, and he had to catch his fall with his hands to not make a face-plant. As he was down on all fours, an itchy, tingly feeling was in every fiber of his body.

Puh! That was something, but the weakness is heavy, and my god I feel like I should scratch my bones and every other part of my body from the inside.

Yes! That's another reason why it is not good to blast your whole Mana in one blow.

Kagami said that and laughed without mercy.

As long as you don't empty yourself completely, you are safe from weakness. Another good reason, to learn how to infuse just a part of your Mana. But the itching, if it is what you feel at the moment, you have to get used to. It´s just how the Essenz feels for you.

As the Essenz is slowly pushed out of you, by the new incoming Mana, it changes you a tiny, tiny, tiny bit. Like those experience points you told me about.

He looked at her, trying his best not to claw at his own skin.

Do you mean that I could just let the augmentation continue permanently and get stronger? Well, if I could get used to being itchy all the time, I mean.

Kagami nodded.

Yes, I mean, if that wasn't the case, how would a Crafter or every other noncombatant Class holder progress?

But it is a matter of fact that the Essenz, if you're in a state of stress and danger, is a little more efficient at changing you.

So, we have nearly two hours until you are full again, and if you want to try out that inventory, before it gets dark, we have maximal time for one more try today. As I think it is better, if we do it with a full Manacontainer, at least for the first time.

Alex thought about her words for a while, and finally said.

Well, another try today will not make a lot of difference, I think. We can go at it tomorrow fresh and use the time between for the fighting and Aurasense training. As I understand, the Aura sense doesn't use Mana, or I would have gotten itchy before.

No.

Kagami answers.

It uses Mana. But for looking inside you, it uses so little; the Essenz is pushed out in such a short time that you will not sense it. Even if you form out your Aura, to investigate another Life form, it uses not too much. The amount of your Exessmana would give you a volume of about a cube of 10 cm side length. And if you are just feeling it instead of healing or something else, you can pull most of it back out again.

If you lose concentration, there is a possibility that part of your Aura and Mana are severed from you, partly or completely. That is what you have to do with intention when putting something in your inventory. And as I told you, that is painful and will heal slowly.

Do you think we could try that Auraforming thing, while I regenerate my Mana? I mean, I could also train with the sword or go for a hunt. There is not much meat left for the evening meal.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Kagami thought it through, visibly. Alex thought she looked quite cute with her thoughtful face. Stop, he thought! That's how I look. Dammit! I really need to deal with his new gender and everything that comes with it. Until now, he had just postponed thinking about it. And a lot of things he had thought about were difficult, as he was not alone. But he would never be alone again. Kagami was right in his head. He really needed to deal with the situation. Her Answer saved him from those uncomfortable thoughts.

Why not do all three things together? We can go to the edge of the wood, where you can do some sword training and try the Aura in between. If you make some noise while at it, perhaps you can lure in a bunny.

Sounds good! Let's go.

With that, he got up and, after putting the blanket back in the camp, jumped over the stream.

Not only was the edge of the trees nearer that way, but he also hadn’t seen the view in this direction for now. Stepping out between the trees, he was a little disappointed. Just more low hills overgrown with grass. His grove was not the only one in sight, but there was no sight of this huge Wilderwald forest, which Kagami had said was in the east. It must be a good way beyond the horizon from here.

Ok, what now, he asked?

Well, you better regenerate some more Mana before we try something with your Aura sense. It will be easier that way. So, you can swing your sword or whatever. As for the bunny luring, you could sing!

Kagami replied, grinning.

But try to use both of your voice boxes; it will be louder.

Both of my…

Fuck! I totally forgot that you told me that I have two voice boxes. Why do I have two voice boxes?

Well, that's just a thing that an Elf has.

I think it's just because each of your lung wings has its own windpipe, and so does it have its own voice box. Oh! I totally forgot; you didn't use the Darkelf language at all. You really have to try it. I'm really longing to hear it. I would be the first to hear it in such a long time, and it should sound unique.

Why unique?

Just do it! Pleeeease!

As Kagami made big puppy eyes with her pleading, he simply couldn't say no. It wasn't so easy, he had to search for the knowledge, as you search for a technical term you learned a long time ago and haven't used since then. But as soon as he got hold of the first few words, the rest came naturally.

But even as he could speak them, he stopped, bewildered after the first few words. Hell, it sounded strange. Like two people speaking at the same time in different pitches. While saying the same words, each pitch changed independently of the other.

He spoke again, some nonsense, just to hear the sound.

The pitch of the voices seemed to dance with each other, sometimes going apart, sometimes coming together, going parallel to another and then seemingly rotatig around each other. He just knew the purpose of this dance. This language had a lot fewer words than others. Lover, friend, disliked person, enemy and nemesis were all the same word. The difference is only in the interaktion of the two voices. It was utterly fazinating, he was so under the spell of his own voice, that he just started to recite every poem and songlyrik he knew. He didn´t know how long he did that, but as he stopted, more from the lack of material than the lack of fazination, Kagami applauded. Switching back to common, he could just say:

Wow! That was not something I had expected. We will have to play around with that in the next few days. I'm curious what I can do with that.

It sounded so nice!

Kagami squeals quite cutely.

What were those words you were saying?

Just lyrics from songs and a few poems, I know. Of course, they don't rhyme in a different language.

She clapped again and asked,

Oh, nice! Can you sing one of them? Perhaps you can sing it in two pitches, as if you were your own chorus.

Well, I can try! But I better get comfortable using both on the same pitch first. Let's see how it goes.

He got into a basic fencing stance and unsheathed his sword. Then he started singing one of his favorite songs, the Unforgiven from Metallica, and after he got both voices comfortable going at the same pitch, he started slowly moving in time with the song.

He was quite happy after a while, going from song to song. He always loved music, but he had been given a voice that made his singing quite tortuous to hear. He couldn't be sure, of course; your own voice never sounds really like you hear it for yourself, but he might finally have a decent singing voice. For him, that was nearly as good as having magic. He might really like his new life.

Just as he started with House of the Rising Sun and thought about trying to experiment with the pitch a little, Kagamis voice disrupted him.

Bunny incoming to your left!

Just like last time, the Bunny did run at him in a frenzy. But this time, he knew what to expect. As it jumped, he took a fast step to the side and hit it with his free hand.

Even if he didn't hit it very well, the bunny got smashed to the ground, where he was able to pin it down and cut off his head with the sword. Kagami hadn't lied; it really was very sharp.

Hey, why didn't you hit it in the air with your sword? Swish! That would have been much cooler.

Holding it by the hind legs and letting it bleed out, he looked at her.

Because I want to eat it. If you damage the innards, you can throw away a lot of the meat. You will never get the taste of it to go away another way. I need a lot of training before I can behead one of these in mid jump.

Ah! Ok.

She said.

Should we go on? Or would you like to try the Auraforming and sensing?

Alex thought about it and looked at the sun, which was standing low by now.

No, let's do that tomorrow. It was a long day. Let's go back and eat.

So, they walked back, and as Alex started cooking another stew, Kagami asked.

So, do you have a plan now? I mean, how will you train, and how long will we stay here?

Well, I think training is easy to plan. For once, I will sleep every night on this combat training Artifact, even if it will not help much. And over the day, I will always train the augmentation first, and the rest in between, while I need to regenerate Mana. Hopefully, the book about plants will help, so that I can find some edible plants. The menu needs some variation.

The question of how long we stay here, I'm simply can't answer. After I'm sure, that I don´t make a fool of myself the first time I meet other people. And there is still the inventory. Depending on how long my Aura needs to heal, after I have at least the money stored.

In short, no clue! We will see. All we can do is start the training montage and hope for the best.