With her daughter's talent and bloodline, it had only been a matter of time. It was when Shuyren described how pivotal tiny Tara's role had been in the Aural Beast raid, that Di was absolutely floored.
Tara gives a restless sigh, nestling against her mother. Happily, nothing seems out of place and she didn't look harmed in the slightest. Tara can't help herself as she starts tearing up with Di patting her head. It was all very reminiscent when she hadn't seen Karuna or Xia for a long time because of their work, that she got very emotional. They stand in each other's presence after much time apart and many things witnessed.
"You mentioned treasure?" Tara sniffles, looking up at Di expectantly. Di rolls her eyes before twirling her little girl around in the air. Tara laughs before she is grounded again.
"I did, though I don't think they're as impressive as what you brought home, starlight," Di admits. The bodies of two entire Vein Plating beasts is enough for the Hufang's to dismantle for a month nonstop. It is clear to members of the Weapon Forging branch, who are in charge of making armor as well, that these two are special types. With Shuyren's instructions to be especially careful and use every available part diligently, they are certainly suspicious but would take an extra month to be diligent.
"We had to fight our way into the barrier for about a month. I was finally able to make an opening after a few breakthroughs. Thanks to your discovery, we were able to split our forces into two groups: one to explore the ruined city and the other for the chamber you found."
"Turns out it was merely the center point of an expansive maze. Many places within were either blocked off because of natural causes or some sort of restricting power!" Shuyren says.
Tara's shocked at this news. What secrets are hidden within the maze's corridors?
"With our forces divided, our topside team was forced to return earlier, that's when that snake decided to get in," Di's glares angrily.
If she had known that the Shépi family would try to steal from her family, she would have tried harder to take a few of them out. "But at that point, my group had practically disappeared beneath. It's my personal opinion that no other families attempted to explore the depths. Out of the treasures, we found rooms full of gold, mysterious ores, and most peculiar of all, a library. Only this book was intact with all the others ravaged by time."
A slim black book appears in Di's hand. Neither Shuyren nor Di had ever seen a book give off such a powerful aura before. The title was indecipherable to them because it was a different language entirely. The cover was made from the velvet skin of some powerful beast and each page was like that of a giant insect's wing.
As Tara saw the book something peculiar happened. Deep within her soul, the ancient spiritual energy within her seemed to move a little. It surrounded that ball of energy that had shot into Tara's body all those months ago. Now from rest, it began to churn slowly. Tara was only faintly aware that something was different but couldn't place it.
[Mysterious Book Acquired]
"May I keep it?" Tara asks, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Oh, this? Only if the Hero of Gatse does not mind sparring with this old woman. I want to see how far you've come." Di challenges, putting the book away and putting some distance.
In honesty, the object made Di nervous but it was better in her family's hand than in someone else's. And though she was certain Tara had the biggest chance of understanding what was in the tome, Di wouldn't hand it over easily.
Tara moves first with a prowl. Di did not have the knowledge of any of the Twin Sphere's movement techniques so she was caught off guard as Tara faded from view before striking from Di's right side.
Tara uses her weakest form of Ember Gather which causes Di to easily block the sneak attack.
"Ah, so this is one of the moves you used in your first battle. Does it have a name?" Di asks offhandedly, catching Tara's foot.
With her own aura, Di uses Ember Gather as she pushes Tara's foot away. Tara is flung into the air and a vibration travels through her body. Since Tara trains in Twin Sphere energy, she's able to flip in mid-air and land on her feet.
"The Body Arts did not give them a name so I named that one Ember Gather." Tara replies, this time using Sunny Dance to put some distance, "And this one is called Rain Scatter!" The faint form of a crescent wave of aqua foam shoots forward from her hand towards Di.
"Oh! A mental attack with a real material form? Interesting! Have you gotten to this yet?" Di jabs out two fingers and a solid amber light beam shoots through the air. This energy pierces through the foam causing it to evaporate into mist.
If Tara didn't dodge out of the way at the last second, she would have been at least grazed. A hole about three centimeters in circumference appears in Shuyren's barrier before it reforms.
"What was that?" Tara exclaims with excitement. She hadn't had enough time to process the next bit of ancient psychic energy! Di merely smiles in response. It looks like she still had some tricks left.
"Once you figure it out you can fight me again for this book," Di decides. That move has exhausted her solar body energy. She had used it several times when fighting moving suits of armor within the maze but every time she used it drained her. 'Since you've become a true aurator, you can send a message, yes?'
The barrier Shuyren places down is much stronger than before but Di was still careful. Tara instructs her mother on how to use Sunny Dance before she goes into detail about what she's discovered concerning Ember Gather and Rain Scatter.
When Casian, Ashne, and Kohra are later told about the skills they're excited and begin to train the ability after Tara displays it with her aura. It is later that evening Shuyren announces a family tournament for the younger generation.
Those who make the top five will have the chance to take on the Eightsword Martial Academy's entrance exams. The rewards for the top five were something from the family treasury as well as personal instruction from any Elder they choose!
As Tara continues her auxiliary skill training, things change drastically due to the announcement and spoils of the raid.
Both Elder Zaigo and Fraiz could no longer teach Tara personally and had two other members taking over her lessons. Thanks to the two Aural Beasts she and Shuyren had brought back, Elder Zaigo was the only one within the family with the qualifications to dismantle them.
Gaste sent the other Aural Beasts bodies from the raid that were beyond their forgers and alchemists' ability to craft in exchange for money to the upper Hufang family.
All of Elder Zaigo's direct apprentices were busy dismantling this loot. This leads to Elder Fraiz and his apprentices to catalog and store what could be used for alchemy and inscription making.
When Tara asks Shuyren if she can assist with the dismantling and cataloging in place of textual lessons, the two Elders can't deny the request.
The adults are startled at how neat Tara's cuts are as she carefully pulls apart a Ripple Weasel only to be more surprised at her memory for what parts have been used in other fields. Thanks to her Luck, Tara's quick to bottle things like blood, eyes, and tongues. Tara's older family members are impressed as she's basically the jobs of two people.
Her combat training changes as well! Elder Xaei and Jin finally began to teach Tara the final piece of an aurator's repertoire. Body Arts and Weapon Art were nothing compared to Aural Arts!
Two more months pass by quickly and Tara's eleventh birthday happens. A huge party is thrown within the upper family. It makes the festival in Gatse honoring her victory months prior look small in comparison--and the town had gone all out with the influx of money thanks to the Aural Beast raid!
The highest amount of gold an aurator had gotten from the Hufang family had been 40 coins. Most put their newfound wealth away from their kills and selling of the bodies, but some had been very grateful.
When they went to donate for the festival they were thoroughly rejected and ordered by a decree of Shuyren to share with poorer families within the town walls. This had been Niven's request of Tara. Niven had been graced with a newfound life as a full-fledged aurator thanks to her master's teaching and gaining lunar mind energy from her savior.
Not one to forget the graciousness of the community that had raised her, Niven had put all of the funds gathered from the raid. She placed it in the hands of the aunts and uncles who had looked after her as a young child after her parents passed. Witnessing this, Tara learns it is best to be gracious to those that help her and pay back kindness with kindness.
During her party, Elder Zaigo finally makes a reappearance from his own seclusion with shining eyes. He's clearly made a breakthrough into Bone Crystallization.
He bows to Shuyren with deep respect. Shuyren had shared the Twin Sphere technique with him before his dismantling of the solar Spark Lion and lunar Bubble Tiger.
Under the belief that Di had acquired it from the ruin trial, he had happily accepted it. What surprised Shuyren and Tara was that he had been compatible with both energies! This allowed him to finish dismantling faster!
"Matriarch, Young Lady Tara, this old man has finished dismantling the Spark Lion and Bubble Tiger. I will soon begin forming armor and weaponry from their remains to be placed within the treasury. But before I begin I've come to give gifts to Tara, who is apparently our best novice dismantler. The first as requested, though I am no jeweler, is this set of bracelets made from one of the Lion's claws and Tiger's fangs."
Despite his claims of not being a jeweler, the twin bracelets were gorgeously made with etchings into them.
'The Matriarch placed a small inscription pattern onto to help you gather Twin Sphere energies on them. I helped with my own insights so you should be able to amass lunar energy during the day and solar energy at night faster.' He conveys a telepathic message. Tara quickly slides them on and grins. The two inscriptions give off an amber and turquoise shine. After placing them on she already felt energy gather faster.
[Twin Sphere Bracelets (Wrist Guard): +2 Defense, 20% Spirit Recovery]
"My second gift is these!" Out from his spatial ring appears two gemstones. One is an ash gray square with amber energy swirling within. The second is a black oval with turquoise energy. They gave off powerful pulses of aura!
"Baby brother, it can't be," Shuyren whispers as her eyes widened.
Zaigo grins and laughs boisterously. "It seems that Tara is our family's lucky star! Yes, these are Soul Beads! Legends say that Aural Beast souls sleep within these stones! A beast must be truly guarded by Heavens and coveted by the Hells to form one of these after they pass!"
All of Tara's older cousins felt their stomachs turn green with envy! If they were able to input those stones into their weapons, the power they'd get would be immeasurable! And now it was wasted on a child!