In the middle of a forest clearing near a mansion were two boys sparring with short swords against each other, one was quite tall for his age, with military-style cropped brown hair and a well-built physique for a twelve-year-old.
In front of him was another shorter and younger boy, with black hair gathered in a small ponytail behind his head as well as a childish and adorable appearance, despite being tired and sweating he remained alert with his eyes fixed on his face. opponent, with a haunting poker face with a small smile pasted on his face.
They were Beori and Thyred, who routinely practiced fencing here in the afternoon until almost dark, two years had already passed since that accident and Beori had obtained those fragmented memories.
During this time many things happened that perceptibly changed Beori, in addition to some that had gradually changed him without noticing it, from that day on Beori regularly had dreams about new fragments of memories, showing memories of that old man in what that seemed to be different moments of his life, as well as some very shocking events that had left a deep impression on Beori, in addition to all those memories were so realistic that it almost seemed that Beori lived them.
- Ah, I give up! I don't know how you're so good at swordsmanship if you've only trained for two years, maybe you have a lot of talent to be a knight so why don't you train aura with me in the morning too Beori? – Thyred exclaimed as he threw the practice sword aside and sat down to rest.
- I'm not talented at all Thyred, I just follow what the books say and I can defend myself quite efficiently because of that, but if you used your aura you would defeat me in an instant - I humbly replied Beori.
In these two years, he gradually adapted to those realistic memories that could attack him at any time and place, sometimes they could invade his mind while he was eating and others while he was bathing, but over time he learned to repress them so as not to be affected in his life. besides that these years, he basically spent all his time sleeping, eating, reading, and training with Thyred in the afternoons.
And as for swordsmanship, there wasn't much to say since in his acquired memories he had managed to master many types of weapons for the sake of learning more about martial arts and cultivation, so more than practicing it felt like he was "remembering". " the training of memories, giving him great mastery with the sword.
But because there was the aura that was used by everyone who became a knight or swordmaster, being good at swordsmanship was not enough to win a real match, an example would be his current training with Thyred, thanks to his " experience" and swordsmanship was able to achieve a draw with his brother despite the difference in age and musculature, but if Thyred used what little aura he was able to control he would defeat him in an instant.
- Well it would be abusing my strength if I fought with aura…by the way, haven't you decided yet if you want to focus on magic or aura? – Thyred asked curiously.
Hearing the question Beori made a thoughtful and philosophical expression as he tossed the sword aside and looked at the sunset, which didn't quite fit or give the aura of wisdom one would expect when done by an adorable 9-year-old.
- You know brother, I have been thinking these years and I feel that none of these paths is right for me, I feel that it would be limiting my future perspectives and my field of vision… so after thinking about it for so long I have decided to create my path – story slowly and philosophically while trying his best to give an air of wisdom, which was lost in his amused appearance of a spoiled noble child.
Since he began training with his brother Thyred two years ago, he was asked which path he wanted to enter, the magic path or the aura path. But he had been delaying the decision under the excuse that he didn't know anything about either, so he had been taking basic training on both while choosing which one to take.
Because when they tested him it was shown that he only had average talent in both they let him go ahead and practice them for him to choose, but the decision had been delayed for as long as two years and he still hadn't chosen a path...
- Pfff, but what nonsense are you saying Beori, you can't just say that you will create your path, don't you know how many generations of wise and talented warriors have passed to perfect the magic and art of aura to the point where it is today? – Thyred exclaimed agitatedly.
He was very fond of Beori, that's why he wanted to prevent him from taking a bad path and becoming a waste, they gave him the freedom to choose between being a wizard or a knight, but Thyred was convinced that he should choose magic since, although it was quite good at swordsmanship, he had a slender and frail physique, so he was not well suited to aura training.
In addition to the fact that he managed to prove to be very intelligent and insightful in these two years, as well as being dedicated to reading every morning in the library of the mansion, so he believed that he could become a great magician despite not having much talent in the field. Magic.
- Well don't worry about it Thyred, anyway, before magic existed someone had to have been a pioneer in creating it, I'll just take that path... by the way brother, you should come back quickly since tomorrow will be Nielphie's presentation ceremony, if your butler discovers you wandering around you will be in trouble - answered Beori without much encouragement, and with a little treat at the end of the sentence.
Thyred wanted to continue rebuking and persuading Beori but gave in to the threat after remembering the event of the next day, due to its importance he had to be prepared practically from the day before and as the second son of the house, they were even stricter with him...
As for Beori... because of his "special" situation, they were still relatively tolerant of him and not so strict, otherwise, they wouldn't have left him up in the air about what he would do for so long, especially in an esteemed family. noble as the Guthald family.
Saying a quick goodbye to Beori, Thyred hurriedly ran to the mansion with his practice sword trying to get there before sunset to avoid the scolding, seeing Thyred's back get further and further away Beori turned his attention once more to the horizon while I was thinking
'This world is different, here it's impossible to cultivate in any way I know since the world rules are too different... because there is no spiritual energy or any usable energy for cultivation I haven't been able to make any progress in my cultivation in these two years…'
Beori was lost at this point, despite having awakened the memories inherited from that powerful old man, these were practically useless for his current self. This is thanks to the difference between the two worlds… or rather between the two realities.
That mighty old man was an unfortunate but persistent cultivator, cultivators were those who harnessed spiritual energy and their peers to cultivate and transform their body, extending their lifespan, physical, mental and spiritual abilities as well as awakening special abilities depending on the cultivation process...
This could be achieved through special breathing methods or energy absorption through skin or food, by absorbing and processing this energy he could adapt and change his body with it through cultivation methods and practicing martial arts, gaining not only superhuman power and prowess but also special abilities once reached high levels of cultivation realms.
But in this world everything was very different, although the energies found in the environment are varied and fundamentally different, they all have something in common, they are part of the great cycle of the world, and for this reason, it is impossible to completely detach them from it and absorb them in the body to cultivate.
In addition to this, these energies are fundamentally different from spiritual energy or any other that he has seen in inherited memories so that no known cultivation method would work in this world leaving him at a total loss, in these two years Beori in addition to reading and researching the magic of this world I tried every cultivation method I could remember that was feasible, but practically none of them worked and the few that showed any results were mostly harmful and useless.
That was why he was postponing his choice on which path to choose as he wanted to choose the path of cultivation in his memories, but seeing the results so far he was about to give up until he got a revelation last week while reading one of the oldest books in the family library called "Origins of Modern Magic".
It talked about very esoteric and ephemeral concepts on which current magic and its creation are described, although for many this kind of book can be very advanced and impossible to understand, they were a revelation for Beori and his countless years of inherited memories...
From there he had a bold and exciting idea since cultivation was seemingly impossible to do in this world and he didn't want to waste all his memories and efforts of his life to follow the route of magic already created in this world might well force away. in the middle of the two options.
And he decided to mix them and create his magical cultivation method, although it could be a long, winding and thankless road, Beori was not afraid of challenges.
- Well, first I should start by trying to mix a bit of magic with a basic method of body cultivation - Beori whispered.
Body cultivation, as well as in the world of magic, there are different paths to explore and become a great magician such as necromancy, divination, spiritual magic, etc. In cultivation, there were also different types of cultivation to become a strong cultivator, but there were mainly three methods of cultivation.
Spiritual cultivation; one who sought to gradually transform the body with spiritual energy to make it more compatible with it and obtain supernatural or divine abilities related to it.
Body cultivation; sought the complete and infinite evolution of the body, forging it as a weapon through the use of spiritual energy or special natural materials (such as pills or special medicinal baths) to obtain an immortal and indestructible body.
The cultivation of the soul; which sought to cultivate and transform the very soul of a person, turning it into a very special source of power and obtaining very special abilities from it, as well as the ability to survive, even if the body was destroyed as long as the soul survived.
Of these 3 Beori cultivation methods, he tried the first two over 3 years and it was impossible for him to try the third; since it seemed his soul was fundamentally different from the old man from his inherited memories, so being a soul from this world, soul cultivation was completely impossible.
And of the two that he tried, spiritual cultivation did not yield any results, only causing adverse reactions from the world laws and seriously injuring him several times without any result.
As for the cultivation of the body, he managed to give some results, but these were mostly very unsatisfactory or caused serious consequences since he did not have spiritual energy or any complementary elements in this world, but at least some things were moderately usable.
Raising his left hand into the air he took a deep breath and calmed his breath before whispering a short breath into the wind, trying to gather the Mana from the surroundings around his palm.
"ᚨᚾᛏᛟᚱᛏᛃᚨ "
Whispering the ancient runic language the Mana gathered in his almost invisible hand trembled in reaction to his words as if reacting to his sentence and began to mythically transform, gathering into a small sphere in front of him suddenly a spark emerged from nowhere and became a warm, luminous sphere of concentrated flame light floating slightly in front of his hand.
This was one of the most basic and easy-to-learn spells in magic, one that even commoners with no magical talent could learn with a few years of effort Torch, which gathered mana from the environment and turned it into a warm sphere that transmitted light and heat, quite useful on a cold night, or when lost in the woods, but it had practically 0 offensive power.
Having successfully cast the torch spell, Beori did not lose focus and raised his right fist as he took a fighting stance with his right fist to deliver a heavy blow, but still holding his left hand up channeling the spell.
Suddenly the Mana began to converge on his right arm as if he was preparing a spell, but this time it was very different, as he did not whisper any runic spells and the drawn Mana moved violently like the air in a storm.
His right arm suddenly popped out many veins as if it was holding unbearable pressure, and some parts of its delicate young skin were torn and blood gushed from it.
Unable to take any more mana gathered in his arm, he yanked him forward, throwing a punch with all his might while letting out a loud cry.
- haha! –
*Blow*
His punch was aimed at the magic torch he had previously created which was still constantly flowing ambient mana to keep it alight, and once his fully mana-infused fist touched the sphere, all of the previously accumulated Chaotic Mana in it was propelled forward. , colliding with the magic touch in a special cataclysm causing an explosion of fire towards the direction he threw his fist.
The move made in his right fist was one of the basic attack methods of body cultivation, "rock smash fist" with which channeling energy into your fist and strengthening it could easily break a medium rock as long as your strength and spiritual energy were enough. But because there was no spiritual energy in this world, he could only forcibly channel Mana and create a short burst of mana forward.
Putting these two moves together turned basic magic without any offensive properties into a powerful beginner-level offensive spell comparable to "Flare", but despite the power of this combination, it did not come without consequences.
Looking at his arm, it could be seen with the naked eye that it was scratched and lacerated on many sides and the skin on his knuckle was completely burned by the power of the blast, looking at his injured arm while keeping his typical poker face with a small smile, Beori I sigh while thinking.
*Sigh* 'It seems like it's impossible to use anybody's cultivation skill without hurting myself unless I can somehow cultivate my body and make it stronger, but well this is enough for now, little by little I'll change the mistakes and one day I'll be able to forge my path
Taking the canteen hanging from his waist with his left hand, which was intact, he took a few gulps from it and then distributed some of its contents to the wounds on his right arm.
In the canteen, there was a vicious and odorous bubbling green substance, which after being applied quickly dried up becoming a scab that covered his wounds, shortly after applying the first aid he took his practice sword and went to the mansion to rest and prepare for the next day's event.