Lisa was massaging Aran's arms. All of the bruises from his match with Huck were slowly healing.
Improving his condition is the top priority as of now. That's because he pushed himself a while ago when he called out his own Spiritual Form.
The magic molecule that he infused slowly returned throughout his nerves. The fact that he was able to resist it is pretty astounding. Most magicians wouldn't be able to control it. However, even after losing consciousness, he was able to read the situation very well and managed to stop the activation sequence. His deep thinking and concentration are more valuable when it comes to a fight or flight decision.
The sun finally goes down. The night sky that was illuminated by the stars covered the whole horizon.
Lisa was gazing at it with a frown, or so to be considered as a worried expression. She continued to massage Aran's arm while Huck is rubbing his legs with a warm napkin embedded in the water.
The two of them managed to take care of him while he was asleep, helping him recover his lost magic molecules.
Sleeping soundly as he is, Veldrey and William entered the room.
"Good evening, how is Aran?" William asked.
"Well, he is pretty much asleep. I think the lost count of his magic power inflicted a fever. He is really burning up, is that normal?" Huck asked.
"Of course it is, losing that much mana in a short amount of time will burn you up. But the recovery is pretty quick. He will be okay tomorrow, as long as you take care of his towel and other stuff." William replied.
"I'll be cooking us some dinner. You guys, please go take a rest now. We've done a lot of things for today, it is no good if we stay exhausted until tomorrow." Veldrey walked into the other room as he told them that he will be making some dinner.
All of the ingredients and the firewood that he has gathered were staying in one place. Inside the sack, there is a lot of fish and vegetables. Since the river is fully packed, there is no doubt that there will be a lot of marine animals lurking in the river, after all, it is connected to the sea.
The peak of the hill that they are in is close to the ocean on the west. The river connects into the other lake, but the center area of it connects to the ocean. Most fishermen don't even go into the ocean anymore. In order to catch and sell fishes every day without any hassle or difficulty, they just go to the nearest river and do their job there. This is how the kingdom became so much rich with the abundance of food.
Heading inside, William undressed his black coat and hanged it on a rack near the door. He closed it and sat down on the sofa. Sighing really deep, and leaning on the back with his shoulder placed on the top, he has been scrutinizing for rest for a long time.
The moment he stabilizes himself with the rejuvenating anti-stress sofa, he closed his eyes and started to talk.
"You know, I'm really impressed with Aran. The fact that he managed to learn all of the basic steps in less than an hour is really exceptional. I really like how determined and simpleminded he is when it comes to studying." Huck and Lisa turned their attention to him with slight scorn on their expression.
"Umm, what exactly did happen? That massive aura earlier is not something you can see every day. I was thinking that maybe Aran awakened something?" Huck asked him. He sat on the other sofa.
"Well, let's leave it at that. Indeed, he had awakened something. But because he cannot fully grasp it, there's no telling that he just reached the tip of that thing. But he didn't actually manifest his spirit." William answered.
"A Spiritual Form? You mean Aran can use it now?" Surprised, Lisa leaned herself forward as he stopped massaging Aran's arm.
"Yeah, and he nailed it on his first try. The first thing that we did was enable him to feel the presence of the light energy particle. This would allow him to sense all kinds of living things, material or whatnot. By that default, Aran can specifically pinpoint the precise position of something even if they are moving." He answered.
"Heh, that's pretty awesome. I didn't know he had that talent with him." Huck complimented Aran with his accomplishment.
"Indeed, that's why I am pretty much stuck with him. Those bruises that he has, came from me. The training we did consist of light and quick overdrive sparring. With his perception and sharpened sense, he needs to avoid or counter my movement or attack in less than a few seconds. That's how I trained his speed." He continued.
"Woah Woah Woah, are you kidding me? Aran has been sensing the light energy particles non-stop while you are attacking? Dude, that is out of this world. You literally pushed him too hard." Huck huffed.
"I agree. In the first place, Aran doesn't have that much core strength and stamina. The way he moves is probably based on how he asserts himself in the cave for like every single day. But he doesn't really have that much experience nor stamina in his own physical attributes. I think it is pretty condescending for you to involve him in that kind of training." Lisa backed Huck's comment as they countered William's way.
"I know, that is why I discovered that he is actually an idiot." He replied with a smirk.
"What?!" Lisa stood up from her chair. She had a fierce look in her eyes, glaring as if she is about to kill someone.
"Woah there, I didn't really mean that much, please calm down. What I am saying is, even though he is aware of his weakness, he didn't give up. He put his trust in me and he managed to execute it very well. That is how eager he is to become stronger, but it is also going to be an annoying feat to deal with. He is an idiot who doesn't know his limitations on fighting." William enlightened her. Lisa calmed herself down and apologized.
"I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me." She said, slightly flustered as she averted her gaze from William.
"No no no, that is okay. In fact, I actually discovered right now that you are pretty attached to him. I wouldn't want to incite the Alliere's wrath." He teased her.
"Huh?! T-There's n-no way! I'm not attracted to him or whatever!" She defended herself even though it is visible on her cheeks.
"Arara, you couldn't possibly deny that after all of the things you've said to him yesterday..." Huck sighed.
"Y-You heard that?"
"You were pretty loud."
"Ugh..." Lisa sulked.
"Hahaha! I'm just kidding, I know you guys are close with him. But anyway, let's get back to the topic. The moment that Aran managed to persevere in a lot of situations means that he is also prone to any danger that he might encounter by the time he goes into the academy. As you can see, he is very straightforward but not really careful. And that is one weakness of him. Not giving up is acceptable, but pushing yourself too much doesn't imply that you are strong and have a will of strength. Aran needs to realize that he cannot do that much." William said.
"And that actually interferes with his ability, am I right?" Huck asked.
"Yeah, that's right," William answered.
Both of them curled their lips as if they are hopeless about his improvement.
"The fact that Aran's body is pretty weak means that he cannot perform Jzerein's penumbral sword techniques. His ideals pretty much have ended at this point." He continued.
"T-That..." Negating his pain, all of them got surprised in an instance as they heard Aran's raspy voice.
"Aran!" Lisa encouraged him to stay on his bed but he is not listening to her.
"No, I get the situation and the reason now. I am weak in terms of physicality right?" He asked directly to William.
"Yeah, precisely correct."
"Then, let's improve it as well." Aran gained confidence as he spoke out.
"What? Aran, no!" Lisa exclaimed.
"My body is weak, that's why I cannot perform that much of a magic sequence. Then all I have to do is to train my body right? Is one week enough for that?" Aran asked.
"Considering your condition, I think we can make an exception. If you really want to start from the basics then we must indeed start at the very bottom. That is the reason why we are here anyway. And of course, one week is enough to help you boost your physical attributes. Instead of normalizing our training with the Spiritual Form, we will use that time to improve your physique." William answered.
"Alright then, I think that is going to be my goal. Listen, I know that you guys are worried about me, but I'm doing this for myself, I do not want you guys to be involved in whatever things I do because I will just be a nuisance for all of you." Aran sat down.
"Very well. If that's what you like, Aran. I'll be glad to help you with your body training. After all, I'm the master of these kinds of things. We will be doing a lot of crunches!" Huck pat Aran's shoulder. He then gazed through Lisa to ask for her approval.
As she noticed his stare, she averted her gaze.
"I'm not so sure..."
"Lisa, I know that I'm pushing myself too hard. But if I don't get any results, I wouldn't be able to stand beside you. We have similar goals and I want to become strong in order to reach that." Aran placed both of his hands on top of Lisa's palms. Doing that made her pretty nervous but she sighed.
"Yes, that would be pretty good." She responded as she smiled.
"Seems like everyone is getting along now, why don't we eat for now?" As they were effectively immersed in their discussion, Veldrey came out of the second room with a tray full of food. He placed it down on the table. On the center of the tray, a large bowl, with the fish as the main dish, a soup full of vegetables.
"Woah! This smells good!" Huck rushed in.
"Well then enjoy the meal." He said.
Everyone dug in.
Aran who's having trouble getting the food had Lisa offer him help by pouring soup into an extra bowl and handing it over to him. She smiled as soon as Aran got it.
"Thank you, Lisa." He gestured.
"Enjoy..." She replied.
"Mmm! I didn't expect you to be good at this, Veldrey." William launched himself with the food. Digging as if there is no tomorrow, he literally just finished his bowl in under five seconds.
"Well, I'll have you know that I'm not just good at pounding hard metals. I'm also a husband and a father, so I need to learn all of this stuff, you know?" He responded as they both chuckled.
The night simply went by After eating and cleaning for a bit, they all went to bed. There is enough room for everyone to stay in. William and Huck took the two sofas, Veldrey slept on the chair while Aran and Lisa shared the large bed.
Aran was looking upward in the ceiling while sweating. He found himself in a difficult situation as he was very close to Lisa who's been soundly asleep. His face was a mere combination of weirdness and a mortifying fluster. He couldn't sleep. He felt like he is unable to move because he might accidentally wake Lisa up.
(Damn it! Why am I in this condition?! I can't sleep with her in my side like this. It is really embarrassing! AAAAA!) Losing his mind like that.
--
As the night goes by, deep inside the darkness was a temporary shade. A part of a void to say the least that has been eclipsed by the moonlight.
A certain place is full of pillars, it is a hidden basement. Neither someone who's a hunter or a normal civilian can enter. Inside it, were a group of people who wears black robes.
Their numbers exceeding for about seven of them. Waiting in the dark hall, someone is sitting on a throne-like structure. A particular chair that is built for it.
With clouds slowly moving, one person jumped from building to building, leaping in every direction until she landed on the dark hall.
"What's the news?" A rough deadly voice enumerated inside the small place.
"Yes, master. The academy has successfully finished its examination. We were able to go inside and pass it. We have a certain badge that will prove our states." A woman's voice resonated in the dark area.
"I see, that was magnificent." The mysterious figure responded.
"What about that boy?" Standing up from his throne, he approached everyone closely.
"Yes, we figured out something that resembles it. Based on his movements, he is definitely one of us. He moves well like us." Someone from the stand answered.
"There's no doubt, he has our blood. You guys continue to observe him, participate in any training they would execute. Gather more relevant information. Once we got the signal, we're going to strike it. For now, let's remain composed and try to have their attention by giving subtle warnings." He instructed.
"Yes, Master!" Everyone responded.
The woman who gave the report earlier finally revealed herself. But of course, her full view is not certain. Her white hair was long, she has a wolf ear, a slight fur on her skin, and her eyes are glowing in sky blue.
"We'll take him back..." She replied.
"Indeed, that woman is reckless. Disobeying our Alpha's law and allowing herself to get married to a human being. That was such a stupid idea." A guy replied behind her.
"Well, up to this date, they are still ignoring him. It is probably because he doesn't know it himself. We just need to wait until he awakens it." Another respond.
"What are the odds that he will be showing his true self?" Someone raised a question.
"There's little chance, but the academy is planning something big for this time around. We should participate and scrutinize him. Releasing his true nature is our top priority." The woman said.