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Chapter 14 - Presence

Three months later.

Red Spire Academy, Forgotten Courtyard.

Crack!

The iron bottle in Elias's hand split clean down the middle, a soft red glow fading from within. It clattered to the stone floor.

Elias gasped for air, forehead slick with sweat. "Haa... finally..."

He looked up.

Cid stood a few feet away, leaning against a wall.

Cid nodded once. "Took you long enough."

Elias groaned, flopping onto his back. "You finished a month ago. You could have moved on without me."

Cid glanced at him, quiet for a moment. "Didn't feel right."

Elias blinked, then grinned. "You're such a weirdo."

Footsteps.

Yuri stepped into view, holding three more iron bottles, out of habit. He froze whe he saw Elias's split metal.

His eyes widened. "It took me 4 years to pass this," he thought.

"I just was trying to make them a little bit stronger."

"T..They are m..monsters."

Yuri walked over slowly, inspecting the crack. His fingers brushed it.

"It's clean," he muttered. "You flooded it just enough to break the inner structure. Not brute force. That's real control."

Yuri looked between them. For the first time in a while, he actually smiled instead of shying away.

"Stage Two."

He turned towards a tree and raised a single finger.

A tiny ripple passed through the air.

A branch fell down and leaves scattered.

Yuri turned back.

"You've learnt to push your Power into things."

"Now you learn to push it outward. Into the world around you."

Cid and Elias exchanged a glance.

Yuri's voice lowered.

"This is where Aura begins."

"Stage Two, Presence."

Elsewhere,

Screams echoed through the air.

Elite Class 2 clashed against one another in a bloody free-for-all, training under instructor Korr, a hulking war veteran with one arm cut off.

"STOP AIMING FOR THE LEGS, YOU IDIOTS!" Korr bellowed, slamming his fist into the dirt.

Class 2 was brutal, filled with muscle heads who saw combat as sport. No meditation, no nuance. Just raw strength and punishment.

Farther up the slope,

Elite Class 3 meditated in near-perfect synchronization. Their instructor, Mistress Raval, sat at the center, speaking softly:

"Your Power is noise. Aura silence, until you can silence your Power, you are children playing with thunder."

They trained for precision but only on theory. Few in Class 3 had real battle experience. They looked refined. Controlled. But when pressure hit… they cracked.

And yet…

Elite Class 4 was the most unpredictable.

They trained in an open colosseum-style pit, surrounded by illusion traps and moving walls. Their exercises were designed by Instructor Flint, an ex-rogue who made everything a survival scenario.

Today's task? Survive ten minutes with your Power sealed.

One student was crying. Another was climbing a wall like a rat. A third had passed out entirely.

Flint just cackled. "How're you gonna fight when your Power's gone, huh?! What then?!"

But then....

Elite Class 5.

Silent. Disciplined. Isolated.

Only Yuri Falk trained here once and now it was reserved for simulations, theory lectures, and one-on-one spars with instructors.

The few that remained in Class 5 were being groomed for direct selection into the Royal Army. Top tier. Cleanest records. Most pressure.

Instructor Tessai, a cold, sharp woman with black hair and redgloves, monitored them with eyes like knives.

"The moment the tournament begins," she said coldly, "You're no longer students. You are weapons, pray you don't rust."

She paused.. glancing toward the empty section Yuri once trained in.

"...And hope the monsters stay where they are."

Back in the courtyard, Cid and Elias stood opposite each other now, focused and still.

Yuri stood before them, quieter than usual.

"This is where most give up," he said. "Even the prodigies."

Cid's eyes opened. "Because?."

Yuri didn't look at him. "Because it hurts."

He gestured for them to sit straight.

"Aura isn't just leaking Power… it's expanding it. Every inch of your skin must breathe Power. Like mist from your pores. That's how you reach the true Aura state."

Elias frowned.

He sat down with them.

"Close your eyes. Don't think about controlling it. Just push outwards first."

Cid closed his eyes.

Nothing happened.

He pushed again.

Still nothing.

Elias's brow twitched. "It's like trying to move a limb you don't have."

"Exactly," Yuri whispered. "Now keep trying."

One month later,

The same place.

Elias sat, shirt drenched in sweat. His hands dug into the grass.

Something radiated from his skin.

Around his feet, dirt and leaves shifted.

He opened his eyes.

A faint silver aura shimmered from his shoulders… and vanished.

Yuri watched silently from the shade.

"I haven't lost control of my Power since I started training them." he thought.

Elias turned to him. "That it?"

Yuri nodded slowly. "That's it. You're finally breathing."

Elias glanced at Cid still meditating near a broken tree stump. Still silent. Still struggling.

"I'll wait," Cid said.

Yuri blinked. "You're already ahead. Why?"

Elias interrupted, voice low. "He waited for me."

Two Months Later

Evening.

Cid's entire body shuddered. His breath hitched.

Then.

WHUMMMM.

"Ahhhh," Cid groaned in pain.

Yuri and Elias were shocked.

"It's not that painful, is it?" Elias asked.

"Yeah."

A rush of invisible pressure radiated from his skin.

He gasped and opened his eyes.

Yuri barely smiling, nodded. "Stage Two complete."

He stepped forward and sat in front of them.

"You were supposed to learn Aura when you reach Elite Class 3,"

"So you mean, Elite Class 3-5 students all can use Aura?"

Yuri answered. "Yeah."

Elias panicked. "Then how will we get chosen for the tournament?"

Cid stayed silent.

"Your Aura pressure increases as you gain more strength. Your Aura is nowhere strong enough to compete with even Elite Class 3 students."

"But I have a technique i haven't told anyone and it made me the strongest."

Cid and Elias looked at him. Waiting.

"Aura and Power Attribute."

"When I used Aura on you guys a while ago I also used my Power Attribute, Gravity. To increase the pressure."

"So it depends on your Power attribute."

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