Meeting the lord of the aura is the most disgusting of all possible troubles. Yes, the young officer of the guard was only at the Formation stage (1), the initial level of skill, but it was not an ordinary mortal to resist such a force.
The sisters frowned at the lawman, who paid no attention to them, however. The guardian was only interested in a young man who had demonstrated good skills with a carving knife.
"We need to understand how he uses his aura…"
Ragne concentrated. As my grandfather used to say: "Masters can use the aura to merge with anything. Some subdue the elements, others command the animals, and others use the connection with such ephemeral concepts as time and space. There is an infinite number of application variations, as many as there are creations within the universe. Guessing exactly how the master uses the aura is almost impossible, but if you manage, you will get an advantage...»
Under the intrigued gazes of bystanders, the sword itself flew out of the guardsman's scabbard. As if it were alive, it pointed towards Ragne, but suddenly froze, and returned to its master.
"Too easy, show me what you can do, kid." Entertain me.
The officer was full of confidence, even refusing to use his aura.
- Do you flaunt the Formation Stage (1)? You should be crying, not showing off some low-grade shit.
A lunge forward threw Ragne toward the enemy. His eyes caught on a wooden doll that had been dropped by one of the customers ' children, and a kick sent it straight into the officer's face. The latter casually waved it away, at the same time putting the blade under the young man's wide swing in such a way that he cut off his hand. At the last moment, Ragne let go of the knife and dived into the lawman's legs.
The armored body slammed hard into the stone paving stones, and before the officer knew it, a sharp pain shot through his side. In the fall, Ragne managed to pull the dagger from the opponent's belt and drive it into the liver. The pull-on himself widened the wound, but the edges of the plate armor prevented it from being fatal.
"You bastard!"...
The pale guardsman tried to throw the young man off, but his hand was immediately caught in the grip, after which it was crushed under the knee. Pulling the dagger out of the wound, Ragne nearly drove the point into the eye socket. With his free hand, the knight managed to grab the weapon but missed several punches to the face.
"I'm going to die! He'll kill me!"
Panic-stricken thoughts caused the guardsman to release his aura, which caught up the sword that had flown away after the fall and lifted it over the young man.
- From above!!
Mirra's warning call revealed nothing new to Ragne. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sword fly into the air. Leaning to the side, he let the blade pass close to his head, and before the weapon could stop in front of the knight's face, Ragne caught it with his bare hand and pulled it down. The sword plunged into the open mouth of the owner, death came instantly…
- Run to the gate!
There was no time to celebrate the victory, the young man broke off in the direction of the golden gate after the sisters. The surrounding people did not interfere. Some winced at the sight of the spreading pool of blood, in the center of which lay a lifeless guardsman, and that was all.
The five sisters, who were desperately kicking their feet, kept their expressions of shock on their faces. Tell me who, that a simple man defeated the master of the aura, and in a miserable second…
"He's not homeless. People with these skills don't end up on the street…"
The conclusions of the girls, regarding a common acquaintance, boiled down to one thing: nothing is clear but very interesting...
Soon, the border of the golden gate was left behind, the guards at the peak of Formation (1) did not even try to pretend that they wanted to stop the assassins. For the aura masters, the laws of the states meant little, they only respected each other, and a talented young man could become someone truly impressive.
"Welcome to the Halls of Issus." Let me ask you, do you want to use the services of the masters, or have you come to study?
Like a phantom, a forty-year-old man with small stubble and gray eyes appeared in front of the young people. He looked rather unfriendly, but his polite speech was different from his appearance.
Elin took on the role of diplomat.
"Hello dear master, we would like to take an aura detection test and enter one of the Issa Halls as students. Here, here are one hundred and eighty gold coins, the payment for six…