Chapter—Training in river side
The moon hung like a heavy, silver coin over the city as Kael stepped out of the convenience store. The bell chimed a lonely note behind him, echoing the hollow feeling in his chest. His face was a mask of stone, frozen in a perpetual state of defeat. He began to walk, his footsteps heavy on the cold pavement, heading toward the small apartment he called home—a place that felt more like a cage lately.
Suddenly, a sound cut through the silence.
It wasn't a loud noise, but a whisper that seemed to vibrate inside his very skull. He paused, looking around the empty street. Shadows stretched long under the flickering yellow streetlights. He shook his head, thinking it was just the exhaustion playing tricks on his mind.
But then, it came again. Clearer. Sharper.
"Do you want to be stronger, Kael?"
Kael flinched, his shoulders tensing as he spun around.
"Who's there?" he snapped, his voice cracking with a mixture of fear and irritation. "Stop messing with me! Leave me alone!"
He quickened his pace, his heart drumming against his ribs. He didn't want a fight; he didn't want a conversation. He just wanted to disappear.
"Come to the woods," the voice urged, now sounding melodic, almost hypnotic. "I will give you something that will make the pain go away. Something that will make you feel better than you ever have."
Before Kael could shout another rejection, a shimmer appeared in the air. A cluster of magical blue light, like crushed sapphires or glowing dust, began to swirl around him. It didn't feel threatening; it felt warm, beckoning. The light began to drift away, forming a faint, glowing trail that led toward the dark silhouette of the distant mountains.
Kael stood at the crossroads of his life. He looked back at the city—a place of his failures—and then at the blue light. In his despair, curiosity won over caution. He began to follow the trail.
He walked for hours, leaving the asphalt behind for the crunch of dry leaves and the scent of pine. The trail led him deep into a rocky ravine, far from the reach of civilization. Suddenly, the light vanished. Kael stopped, panting, looking at a massive, sheer rock face that blocked his path.
"Great," he muttered, kicking a stone. "I've lost my mind and now I'm lost in the woods."
Rumble.
The ground shook. The massive rock didn't just move; it folded inward, sliding away with the grind of ancient stone against stone to reveal a dark, yawning entrance. Kael backed away, his breath hitching.
"No worries," the voice echoed from the darkness. "Come inside, Kael. Your destiny is waiting."
Swallowing hard, Kael stepped into the threshold. As soon as his heel cleared the entrance, the rock slammed shut behind him, plunging him into a silence so absolute it felt heavy.
The next morning, the sun rose over a different scene entirely.
Luke stood in the center of a bustling plaza, but he wasn't Luke. He was Auron, his tall, silver-clad form a beacon of safety for the citizens. He had spent the early morning hours helping clear debris from a minor construction accident and patrolling the borders.
"Why did you skip college today?" Auru's voice chirped in his mind.
Auron leaned against a fountain, watching the water sparkle.
"There were no important lectures today," he replied internally. "I felt it was better to be out here. If something happens at the school, my illusion will handle it and alert me. Besides, I wanted to see if anything 'important' was happening in the world."
"Well, we've finished the patrol early," Koru chimed in, her voice bored. "There's nothing left to do. Can we take a rest? I want to play a game."
Auron sighed softly. "Fine. Let's find somewhere quiet."
He took to the skies, a streak of light crossing the horizon until he found a secluded, isolated riverbank. The water rushed over smooth stones, and the trees provided a thick canopy of shade. He de-unified, returning to his form as Luke for a moment to let his companions out.
"Yes, you can rest and play here," Luke said, stretching his arms.
"What are you going to do?" Auru asked, tilting her head.
"I want to try something," Luke said, his eyes narrowing with focus. "I saw Marin use Aura Flame. If she can do it, I should be able to as well. I need to master the higher levels of aura control if I'm going to stay ahead of whatever is coming."
Luke sat cross-legged by the river. He began to focus, drawing the energy from his core into his palms. He held one hand with the other, trying to compress the aura until it ignited. The air around him began to distort from the sheer pressure of his power.
CRASH.
The sound of something heavy falling echoed from just beyond a dense thicket of trees.
"Something is happening over there," Auru said, her playful mood instantly vanishing. "We should go."
Luke didn't hesitate. He unified back into Auron, his cape billowing as he blurred through the trees toward the source of the noise. When he arrived at a small clearing, he saw no monster and no accident. Instead, the air was thick with the scent of ozone and burning energy.
A localized pillar of blue fire—an Aura Flame—flickered in the center of the clearing.
Auron stood back, analyzing the energy. It was refined, sharp, and intense. Who could be out here? he wondered.
"Who are you?"
Two voices spoke in unison from behind him. Auron turned sharply.
Standing there was Evelyn, her eyes wide with surprise, and beside her was a tall, elegant woman with a commanding presence—the Aura Master of France Celine.
"Aura Master Auron?" Evelyn gasped. "What are you doing here?"
Auron crossed his arms, maintaining his stoic persona.
"I should ask you the same. Why are you both away from your respective posts? Shouldn't you be in class, Evelyn? And shouldn't you be in France, Celine?"
Celine stepped forward, a polite but weary smile on her face.
"We meet weekly at different secret locations around the world to practice. It ensures no one can spot us or track our techniques."
Auron's mind raced. So that's where Evelyn goes when she disappears from campus.
"And what exactly are you practicing?"
Celine opened her mouth to speak.
"We were practicing the Aura Fla—"
"Aura Spheres!" Evelyn interrupted loudly, stepping in front of her mentor. "We were just practicing high-output Aura Spheres. Nothing special."
Auron felt a flicker of amusement. They were trying to hide the Flame from him. He gestured toward the fading blue embers on the grass.
"Do you think you can fool me? I saw the Aura Flame. I know the difference between a sphere and a manifestation of pure intent. Tell me the truth, or I'll assume you're hiding something dangerous."
Evelyn sighed, deflating.
"Fine. Yes. We were practicing the Aura Flame."
"Why hide it?" Auron asked, genuinely curious.
"Kaizen said it was best," Evelyn muttered. "He wants us to keep the higher techniques secret for now."
Auron felt a pang of confusion. Kaizen—the man who claimed he wanted the world to understand and embrace Aura—was gatekeeping the knowledge? It didn't add up, but he pushed the thought aside.
"Well, it's a coincidence then. I came here to practice the Aura Flame myself. It would be beneficial if we practiced together. We can learn more quickly by observing each other."
Evelyn looked at Celine, who nodded.
"If you wish, Auron; perhaps we can learn from you as well."
They began the session. As they worked, Auron watched Evelyn. She wasn't focusing on the flame yet; she was moving her hands in a strange, oscillating pattern.
"What are you doing, Evelyn?" Auron asked.
"I saw a boy once," Evelyn said, her voice filled with a strange kind of respect. "He used an Aura Sphere in a way I've never seen. He called it Aura Reversal. I've managed to mimic it slightly, but I want to perfect it."
Auron froze internally. Aura Reversal? That was my technique. He hadn't expected her to be obsessing over something he considered a "basic" utility move.
"Show me," he said, keeping his voice flat.
Evelyn took a breath. Five Aura Spheres appeared around her, but instead of spinning outward, they began to rotate in an inverse polarity, creating a vacuum effect that pulled in surrounding energy. It was good, but shaky.
"The boy... he could do ten or twelve at once," Evelyn said breathlessly. "He positioned them so perfectly that the reaction was instantaneous."
Auron decided to play along.
"Let me try. I'm new to this concept."
He deliberately made a few "false starts," letting the spheres flicker and pop to avoid suspicion. He didn't want them to know he was the "boy" she had seen. But after a few moments, he centered himself.
"I think I understand the mechanics now," Auron said.
He then proceeded to explain the exact physics of the reversal—how the force of each Aura sphere needs to be balanced against the internal pressure of the user's spirit.
Under his guidance, Evelyn and Celine both managed to stabilize their spheres.
"It's so much easier when you explain it that way!" Celine exclaimed, her spheres humming with new power.
Auron looked at his hands, thinking of the weeks of grueling solo practice it had taken him to invent that move.
"It seems easy because the person who discovered it did the hard work of trial and error for you," he said quietly.
"Now," Auron transitioned, "the Aura Flame."
He closed his eyes. He remembered his previous failed attempt. He visualized the energy not as a ball, but as a liquid—gasoline waiting for a spark. He snapped his fingers mentally.
WHOOSH.
A brilliant, steady pillar of blue fire erupted from his palm, perfectly controlled.
Evelyn's jaw dropped.
"Have you... have you practiced this before?"
Auron remembered his one failed attempt.
"Only once. I didn't succeed then."
"That's impossible," Evelyn whispered. "It takes at least twenty or thirty tries just to get a spark, and years to stabilize it. You did it in two? Even the girl I recently taught took nearly ten tries, and she was a genius."
Auron paused. A girl? He realized she was talking about Marin. So, the day he saw Marin use the Flame, she hadn't just "discovered" it; she had been secretly training with Evelyn. He felt a strange sense of relief and motivation that Marin also practice for new things as he did.
And she prove to be his competitor still now.
As the sun began to set, the trio prepared to depart. Celine looked at Auron, her expression serious.
"Auron," she said. "You are an incredible talent. But why do you hide yourself so much? We know you want a normal life, but why hide from the government? Even AuraMaster Mizu lives a normal life—the world doesn't know who he is, but at least the authorities know they can count on him. Why do you stay in the shadows?"
Auron remained silent. How could he tell them he didn't trust the government? How could he explain that once you become a "resource" for the state, you stop being a person?
Before they could press him further, Auron turned.
"That is a conversation for another time."
With a burst of speed, he took to the sky, leaving them behind in the darkening woods.
"Why does he always run away?" Evelyn sighed, watching his streak of light vanish. "What are you so afraid of, Auron?"
Late that night, back in his room, Luke lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. Evelyn's words echoed in his head. Why am I hiding? He felt a deep-seated distrust of the systems in power, but as he closed his eyes, he realized he couldn't quite articulate why he felt that way. It was an instinct, a cold shiver down his spine whenever he thought about stepping into the light.Hw questioned himself.
Meanwhile, miles away, inside the dark cave, Kael stood before a throne of jagged obsidian.
The shadow on the throne shifted, eyes glowing with a malicious, ancient hunger.
"So," the voice purred, vibrating through Kael's very marrow. "Finally, you are here, Kael."
Kael looked down at his trembling hands.
"Why me? Why call me? I'm a loser. I can't even beat an average fighter. I'm nothing."
The shadow leaned forward, a terrifying, toothy grin spreading across its face in the dark.
"That," the voice hissed, "is exactly why I chose you."
End of chapter.